Cornelius Akpabot was a good judge of character, so when he decided that there was something not quite right about the visitor who had just entered his parlor, he knew he wasn't far from the truth. Besides, the one eye in the middle of the man's head should have alerted him.
"You are well" the man greeted him.
"You can leave the ground" Cornelius responded.
"Own a seat," Cornelius went on, indicating the rocking rafia-palm chair in the corner.
"Your happiness is mine as well" the stranger said seating.
Cornelius went to the kitchen and brought out two bottles of Palm-wine, cool and frothy, just the way he liked it. He brought out two calabashes and set them in front of the stranger next to the bottles of palm-wine. Cornelius also had some eba and ogbono soup in the kitchen, but he was not giving that up. He knew the smell had diffused and found itself in the parlor, but unless this stranger specifically asked for it
"Can you hear any smell?" the stranger asked, licking his lips.
Cornelius shook his head.
"I bring you kola-nut!" the stranger professed, pulling out three white kola-nuts from behind his head.
Cornelius hated kola-nut. It was bitter! Why did people eat that stuff? "Er... You have done well" Cornelius said, trying his best to remember the way to respond in his language. You see, Cornelius had spent the last several years of his life in America. Having returned to the waterside to live in the house he had built for his now deceased parents, it would take him a while to get back into the customs. There was something about this stranger that made Cornelius uneasy. Perhaps (and only perhaps) it was the fact that the man had just one eye which was placed squarely in the middle of his forehead.
The man winked at Cornelius (actually he blinked, but with one eye...)
"My son, I have come today to bring you grave news." He cleared his throat and took a bite of the kolanut, proffering some to Cornelius who was too polite to refuse. Cornelius held the kola-nut in his hand waiting for the man to continue speaking, but the man waited for Cornelius to take a bite. He did so, grimacing as he tried to smile and nod his approval. Damn these people.
The stranger continued, shuffling his feet as he spoke.
"Today, my son, is the day you have become a man..."
Cornelius wondered where the music was coming from. He heard sinister music, like from the movies, as the man spoke.
"Today, you will join your ancestors in becoming the Lion of the Akpabot clan."
Cornelius looked under his chair but there was nothing to indicate a radio or any other such device.
"Today, you will be the one that was prophesied about!"
The music was rising, trumpets and horns blaring along with the theme. Cornelius pushed the stranger's feet aside, checking under his seat to make sure.
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