The king pondered for a minute of Chief Bongo’s suggestion and he replied reluctantly, “Very well then, but if I have to stay and endure these worthless vagabonds another minute, my head will most certainly explode!”
The tour of Towa was very swift and lacked intrigue or style. The so-called marketplace was dry with very few and spaced out market stalls and a couple of shops which sold all sorts of merchandise, but without any specific items of trade as the main focus. There were hardly any people coming and going to buy and the king wondered if the Towa people even counted to a hundred. He concluded that maybe the people were still in their beds. In any case, he couldn’t care less and just wanted to get this disastrous tour over and done with.
As soon as the tour was over and the headman had brought them back to the yard, they were offered cooled drinks as the heat of the late morning had started to pick up. They all drank in haste as if they were being chased.
The king and his men bade the Towa people farewell and headed back home in a hurry as they couldn’t wait to get away from there. The headman thought the king was going to discuss with him a way forward regarding their friendship and future relations, but to his amazement, the king did not give him a second look as he departed. On their way home, the men discussed everything about the Towa people from the hospitality, the men, the women, the children and their general way of life. There was a general consensus that the Towa people left a lot to be desired and the men agreed that they would not be returning to Towa in a hurry.
On the other hand, the Towa people felt they had found themselves an ally with whom they can visit and share merchandise with for generations to come. The headman was oblivious to the fact that they did not even have anything special to trade with, Goza was far richer in comparison. They were convinced the people of Goza were pleased with their stay in Towa, especially the king. On the contrary the king was livid that he had visited in the first place.
The Towa people did not read the disgruntlement on the king’s face as he wore an expressionless face to avoid embarrassing the headman and his people. Chief Bongo had courteously advised and recommended him to remain calm and collected to the end of the visit.
When they got back home to Goza, the men went off to their homes and the king went back to his, shouting from the door to the maid that he wanted a hot bath run for him immediately with the usual bath salts that he enjoyed soaking in. His wife, Queen Eleaza, and Leona went to speak to Tamura who was standing at the door with the king’s goods.
Tamura spoke before they even asked as he could see the confused expressions on their faces and said, “It’s a long story, but as you can see the king is not happy in the slightest and the trip was a wash out!”
“Well, I am just glad you came back in one piece. Are the rest of the men all right?” the queen asked.
“Oh, yeah, they are all okay, we weren’t in danger whatsoever, it’s just the trip was a waste of time really,” added Tamura.
“You go home and rest and I will see you later on,” Leona said to Tamura.
“As long as the king doesn’t need anything else for now?” asked Tamura with concern.
“Oh, no you know what he is like with his baths, he will be sitting in there till next year. If he needs anything else, I will see to him, now go!” added Queen Eleaza.
“Okay then, see you later, Leon, and thanks, my dear queen,” said Tamura as he left to go and have a rest for the rest of the day.
Chapter 20
One autumn morning of that year, Mabige and Mama Haga prepared themselves to visit Goza as they had promised Tamura and Mara. Mama Haga, however, was very apprehensive leaving Papa Haga who had had a lingering chest infection which caused him to cough and heave for weeks on end. Papa Haga insisted that she went to Goza and that he was feeling a lot better after taking pot loads of herbal concoctions he had found in the bushes and self-medicated. He swore by those herbs, which he claimed were a secret recipe passed onto his family for generations by his ancestors.
Mama Haga took a lot of persuading to leave him and had asked her neighbour Mama Rufus to keep an eye on him as he was going to be all by himself, while she was away. Mama Haga knew she had to go to Goza as it was paramount to see how Mara was doing to ensure their future as living beings was secure. She, however, felt a little guilty for not praying much since Papa Haga fell ill, he was her main focus for a while. However, she had by now managed to memorise most part of the prayer, which she felt would impress Mara.
Mabige was on the other hand very excited to visit Goza for one reason only and that was to meet Beko. On their way to Goza, he said to Mama Haga, “I wonder what she looks like and if she will like me at that?”
Mama Haga teased, “And here was me thinking you are going there because you miss Tamura and the children, yet all the while you are busy thinking about that girl, well, silly me.” They both laughed.
Mabige felt like running to get to Goza quick as Mama Haga was getting older and her walking was slow. However, he thought to himself that good things come to those who wait – after all, he was definitely going to see her today. He decided to be patient, and
