Chopchair

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven B ambe Peters welcomed the ideas and was happy with their determination to give him back his due, or at least recover what he had lost. But he cautioned them: “Although we want that throne very badly, I want us to think about what we are going to do before we start. We should not put our feet into hot waters. What if the story my mother has told me is not true? If even it is true, and there was another prince in the palace like myself, is it going to be easy for us to march into the palace of a dangerous Chief and seize power? If that Chief is indeed my father, then I do not think that…” “That man whom I hear is like a tiger, if his sons are like Bambe Peters,” one of them chipped in, pointing at Peter Nwolefeck, “then the two of them, plus the other males in the compound can combine to peel the skin off our backs.” They all therefore resolved to give the entire endeavour a second thought. *** When the issue was referred back to Bambe peters he told them: ‘To succeed we have to know many things, very many things. First I want to know whether…” He pulled up his jumpa and revealed a tattoo with a curious design above the navel. “I want to know whether there is somebody in the palace who has this same thing. He told them what his mother had told him when revealing 44 Linus T. Asong his past to him: that whenever twins are delivered each is given an identical mark on an identical spot, a different one for a girl. “We have to establish,” he continued, “that there is someone, sixteen years old who looks exactly like me in the palace. I want a Bambe to go to the palace or to the school or wherever. We will also have to establish that there was a girl of my age who was born on the same day with me and who has not this mark, but a circle.’ The venture offered so much excitement that volunteers were not lacking. He had hardly finished talking when Bambe Isaiahs volunteered to spy on the prince. His offer was quickly accepted because the mission involved going to the school compound. Amongst them all, he was the only one to have set foot in a school compound. *** Bambe Isaiahs’ strategy bore all the hallmarks of genius! First his investigations established that the Prince attended Government School at 4-Cormers Foto. He arrived the G.S. compound early the next day and took up a sitting position from which he could see all those who came up from Betaranda or the Nkwini-Nkeh hills. He had no problem recognising his foe, who looked so much like Bambe Peters that had it not been for his neat dress he would have easily mistaken the prince for Bambe Peters. The striking resemblance spurred him to pursue the rest of the investigation because it now meant that with just a little effort a Bambe would be Chief, with the others occupying positions of honour in a place previously reserved for a chosen few. As we the case n many of the schools in the Division, there were very few teachers, and so he was not afraid of being apprehended. In fact, in this particular school, there 45 Chopchair were only two teachers, the Headmaster and a lady whom they called Miss. He hung around the school until it was break time and them he accosted the prince to whom he introduced himself as a prince of the royal line of Small Monje, seeking admission into school. He said (and which was true!) that he had attended school up to class 4 in their village but wanted to change. He bought groundnuts and bananas which the two of them ate. He said he would study the place, teachers, pupils and even the weather before making up his mind about transferring. He resurfaced immediately after school and continuing his conversation, he indicated that he would need a sleeping place for that evening before returning to Small Monje to make up his mind. There in the school the Prince was considered extremely proud. Additionally, his wealthy background alienated him from the other children, so that he did not have any real friends. It was not that he...