Shift that to the left, Rogers said as he point at the portrait of lord Darwin that was hanging on the wall. No no no, that chair should be at the other side, he said, and walk to where Mitchell was standing to help her carry the cushion. " this chair have to be here, it will allow the visitor see the beautiful portrait of her majesty the queen and lord luggard." he said to Mitchell, but this time, with a British accent.
Rogers is a Messenger in a mission house. Reverend father Charles, who is a Scottish finds it difficult to call the name chukwuemeka, decided to call him Rogers, that's how the name Rogers came about. Chukwuemeka did not only love the name Rogers, but also instructed his wife and children to call him Rogers henceforth.
Reverend father Charles had agreed to honor Rogers invitation for a feast in his house for the celebration of their child's dedication. So he has to impress father Charles and his friends that will be coming for the feast.
photo source
But first, his family has to learn the use of the cutleries. " Mama Ada, the knife is to be in your right hand while the fork is in your left hand, that's how it is done," Rogers said, and stretched his hands to collect the cutleries from her. " But how can I be eating garri(eba) with a knife and spoon, I have never seen that before" mama Ada said while dropping the cutleries on a plate instead of handing them to Rogers whose hands were still hanging in the air to collect them. " You are a Bush woman, allow me to enlighten you" Rogers said while patting her on the cheeks. " Leave me joor, but you married a Bush woman na" she said, and slapped his hands out of her cheeks. " I love this Bush woman" they both smile and he continues coaching her on the use of each cutleries.
It was a thorough cleaning and arrangement of the sitting room and the dining table that Saturday, the eve to the feast. Please Mitchell, make sure every place is thoroughly clean before I come back, he said. He picked the bunch of keys that were kept on the table, walked to the store room and brought out a dusty generator. He was coughing when he came out with it . Let me go service the generator. He said to Mitchell.
The Sunday was a sunny one, the reflection of sun was everywhere inside the sitting room. Rogers had ordered Mitchell to pull the whole curtains down, thereby giving the room a dark look that made the room beautiful to him. There was a sporadic horn from the outside of Mr Rogers compound. He quickly hopped out of the chair he was sitting and peeped through the window, it was a land cruiser jeep. He readjusted his tie, and flipped his suits with his hands to make sure everything was normal.
You are welcome sir, Rogers said, after he had opened the door and ushered father Charles and his friends into the room. " I was expecting to see the room of iganbi man, but am seeing the room of a British man" Father Charles said after seeing the decorations and the painting that were hanging on the wall. Please can we stay outside? The room is stuffy, let's get some Fresh air outside father Charles requested.
Rogers could sense the dissatisfaction from Charles' voice. A traditional Igbo song was rattling through the speakers. Charles and his friends were shaking their heads rhythmically to the beat of the song as they sat in the shade of four coconut trees that were in the compound.
Rogers was already sweating heavily inside the suit he was wearing, instead of him loosening the tie, he was busy tightening it the more. The table was set, as mama Ada and Mitchell had been busy in the kitchen all those while roasting the pork meat for the feast. The friends of Charles had come with the expectation of eating igbo traditional food. They were all seated and ready to eat the special food Mr Rogers had promised father Charles, as mama Ada wore a gown Sweeping the ground while beautifully smiling" let get to the table, Rogers said. They all sat hoping to see fufu or garri but to their disappointment, as they opened the plates, it was pizza and roasted pork. The countenance of their faces changed, their anticipation dashed. They all sat looking at the food while Mr Rogers began eating hoping to urge them on to eat since it was their traditional food. They all stared at the food, and then left some minutes later without touching the food. "We would have loved eating your traditional food instead" Father Charles said to Mr Rogers before hopping into his car and left.