3 3. Ighos Grandparents Home (2/2)
Igho only smiled. He was not sure if coming here was a smarter idea. Although it was exciting to see Ase Creek, he was not sure the rest of the holiday would be that interesting. He would wait and see.
Then they left the town and entered a narrow lane with bushes on all sides again. His uncle drove for about ten minutes and entered a big compound, with a single building to the left and another to the left. Igho marvelled at the neatness of the place. Then Ufuoma emerged from the building to the left at the sound of the car to welcome them. Both grandparents also followed behind him and embraced their grandchildren.
”Digwo, grandpa! Digwo, grandma!” Onome and Igho chorused their greetings in Isoko.
”Vreh, wa dooh, emo me!” Grandma said in response. Grandpa was smoking a pipe and he periodically puffed smoke into the air. Igho had not seen anyone smoking a pipe before except in films. It thrilled him.
”Grandpa, what is in the pipe you're smoking?” Igho asked.
”Oh, it's tobacco,” Uncle Utomudo replied.
”Wow, the aroma is great, not like cigarettes'!”
”Don't tell me you want to smoke it?” Utomudo teased him and laughed.
”Leave the boy alone!” Grandma chided her son. ”My Igho will not smoke.”
”Well, I'm sure Igho would want to try every fascinating thing he sees here before the holidays are over!” Utomudo said and laughed some more.
Ufuoma got their bags from the booth of the car and took them inside the house.
”How are Emetena and my other grandchildren?” Grandma asked Igho.
”They will go to America tomorrow or next!”
”So, it's only you they sent to us?”
”Yes,” Igho said a little gloomily, tears welling up in his eyes.
”Come here, child!” Grandma said and folded Igho in her warm embrace that smelled of many old spices. ”Don't worry. You will have the best holiday. Trust me!”
”Thank you, Grandma!” Igho said and brightened up. He didn't want to disappoint his grandparents. Igho felt comforted. He felt that Grandma understood his plight. From that moment, he was determined to enjoy his stay in the village and make his grandparents proud of him.
At that moment their grandparents' neighbours, Oghenekome and his wife Cecelia returned from the farm. They joined in welcoming Onome and Igho and Uncle Utomudo from the city. Their only son, Esomowho, who was 15, instantly took to Igho and they became friends.
Ufuoma quickly climbed the orange tree in the centre of the compound and plucked some ripe oranges and got down. He peeled and offered them to the newly arrived city dwellers. He also broke coconut that had been smoked for months over the rafters; Igho and Onome relished its juicy taste that melted into their mouths. They didn't know coconut could be that tasty. A coconut tree also stood in the middle of the compound alongside the orange tree although it towered into the sky above the orange tree.
Everything in their grandparents' compound fascinated Igho and Onome. Behind their grandparent's house were plantain and banana trees that grew wild. It was also where the yam barn was located. The barn was empty although a few yams still remained in neat rows on one side. A new one was being prepared for the harvest that would soon happen.
Behind their grandparents' neighbour's house facing them stood a huge local pea tree also called ube. There were also plantain and banana trees and many coconut trees that had ripe fruits in them. Igho and Onome were happy that their grandparents' compound was a rich orchard that would provide them endless fun. Igho and Onome were also glad that their grandparents had one room full of dry palm kernel nuts. They were fascinated at the sight.
After Uncle Utomudo stayed for a while and ate a delicious meal of banga soup garnished with fresh fish served in a clay pot, and eaten with starch, he got ready and left. He asked Igho and Onome to be of good behaviour and not give their grandparents problems. They promised they would be good children and waved him bye. Then he drove off.
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