The headman’s wife purposed in her heart to weave a reed and sisal basket for the queen as a return gift to her. It was going to be a hard task completing an intricate woven basket in 48 hours, but she was prepared to try the best she could. She really loved the scarf and placed it neatly around her rotund neck, albeit it didn’t match with anything she was wearing. The Towa women always seemed to wrap their bodies in tattered pieces of cloth with cords made from tree bark, which seemed to hold the pieces together. They always appeared primitive.
However, underneath all that were beautiful women with glowing skin and hair neatly bundled up in plaits. But their clothing left a lot to be desired. Their men didn’t seem to care much about their women, let alone how they looked. The children on the other hand were full of life and pretty loud too, which was the exact opposite of their mothers, who always seemed repressed and unhappy.
The Towa men were heavy drinkers and loved to have a good time. They didn’t seem to be responsible people or appeared to have done a day’s work; the women seemed to be doing all the hard working, such as working the fields, tending to the domestic animals, fetching firewood and water, including all the other chores that women do. Maybe this was why their faces always looked sullen and expressionless, probably from sheer tiredness of being overworked and being unloved.
This was a stark contrast to the Goza men, who took pride in their macho responsibilities, which they were proud of. The king quietly thought that they were a bunch of lazy layabouts and he didn’t think he would want to prolong his acquaintances with them. He also felt that their women were wasted, but he shrugged off his dismay and put it down to a selfish culture.
However, he was going to bide his time until tomorrow when he would ask the headman to take him around their village, so that he could see in full whether these people were enterprising and worthy to be his allies or not.
The last thing he wanted was to associate with people who would not be able to defend themselves let alone their neighbour when trouble would come. He was looking for business acquaintances as well as a fortified empire as an ally. The proof is in the pudding, he thought to himself.
Later that day, after hours of drinking and idle chit chat, the men retired to bed and the visitors were taken to a square hut at the end of the compound to sleep there. The king thought he would be given his own special room but found that he was to share the same with all his entourage, a prospect he took a deep sigh of disgruntlement for. The only consolation was that he was at least offered a bed made of plywood and straw for a mattress. He had a thin worn-out sheet with holes in it and an old blanket. The rest of the men slept on animal skins on the floor.
He sighed deeply again and wished he had not bothered to come to Towa. The king had to use some of his clothes for a pillow. Tamura was very embarrassed for the Towa people and thought to himself how little the Towa people understood how the king lived and how little they regarded his royalty.
Then again, he thought it was not surprising as these people seemed to be living in squalid conditions due to their sheer laziness and lack of purpose for life, except for heavy drinking and slouching around. Tamura smirked at how strange he thought the Towa men walked so fast as if they were in a hurry to go and do something important somewhere, yet in contrast they were so born idle in every sense of the word. He wondered if they even bothered to regard the king’s visit as something important at all.
In the morning, the king woke up with a grump and grunted, “Tamura, you need to get my things ready right away because I am getting out of this God forsaken place immediately!”
Tamura knew when the king was not messing around and he did not dare to argue and said, “Yes, King, right away.” Chief Bongo knew the king was furious at the conditions that he had slept in. However, he was not sure if it was because of the rough bed or the Chega and Makaba’s symphonic orchestra of snoring all night.
In spite of the king’s rant, Chief Bongo felt he needed to advise the king to hold his cool until the tour is finished before leaving for home, as it would be rude and be considered offensive by the Towa people if the king did not fulfil his promise of taking a grand tour of the Towa village. Chief Bongo knew how to pacify the king when he was having one of his infamous rants. He also knew that the king listened to him and took his advice seriously as the two men had built a strong relationship over the years.
Chief Bongo said to the king, “My dear King, good morning, can I please have a word in private?” The king nodded without saying a word and the rest of the men left the room to give them some space. He said, "King, you know why we are here and I know that under the circumstances you want to get back home, but the purpose of our visit will be worthless if we do not finish the trip as intended.
“So I am begging you please, let’s have the tour out of the way and we can head off home as soon as we finish it, we don’t even have to stay for lunch. At least that way we will not be perceived as being rude or snubbing
