Though a small seed of doubt remained in Ego's heart, she accepted his story. She had nothing to lose by believing him. Besides, what else could make a grown man cry with such helplessness if not genuine pain?
Compassion overwhelmed her.
"Come here," she said softly.
She pulled him into an embrace. For a moment, Ndubisi remained stiff, almost as though he had forgotten what it felt like to be comforted by another human being. Then his shoulders relaxed.
"You have been through a lot, my dear," Ego whispered into his ear. "I can feel your pain. It must feel as though the gods of your fathers have forsaken you. But take it from me, your journey to a better life—a life far greater than anything you have ever imagined—is about to begin. Remember, it is after the darkest hour that the light comes. So don't lose faith."
She gently patted his back.
After a few moments, she pulled away. Ndubisi looked at her and managed a smile.
"Thank you," he said. "It feels good to hear those comforting words from you."
Ego returned his smile, but something was still bothering her.
"I'm a little confused."
"Why?"
"How long have you been banished?"
"Well over a year now. Why do you ask?"
"I was wondering whether your banishment happened around the same time you saw me in this forest. But clearly, it didn't. So why were those people chasing you that night?"
Ndubisi took a deep breath.
"When I was banished, I was sent away with nothing. Not even a small keg of water to quench my thirst."
He paused.
"I traveled immediately to a neighboring village, believing that because I was the son of a well-known and wealthy trader, people would welcome me. I was wrong."
"What happened?"
"The news of my banishment had reached them before I did."
His face hardened at the memory.
"The villagers rejected me. Even people who had once done business with my father wanted nothing to do with me. I had to beg for food and water just to stay alive."
He shook his head.
"I went from one village to another looking for somewhere I could be accepted, but everywhere I went, I met the same fate. I never stayed in any village for more than a day."
He looked around the forest.
"Until I came here."
"This forest?"
"Yes."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"Strangely enough, this was the only place that accepted me completely. Nobody chased me away. Nobody called me a murderer. Nobody cared about what my uncle had told the Igwe."
He paused and looked at Ego.
"I found my place here."
Ego listened without interrupting.
"Now, to answer your question," he continued, "three days before we met, I returned to my village."
"Why?"
"To see my uncle, my stepmother, and my sisters."
"You went back despite the banishment?"
"I was curious about them. I wanted to know how they were doing."
His expression suddenly darkened.
"When I got there, I discovered that my uncle had inherited everything that belonged to my father."
Ego's eyes narrowed.
"Everything?"
"Everything."
He swallowed.
"And worse still, he had taken my stepmother as his wife. They were living happily together."
Ego stared at him.
"I was furious."
Ndubisi clenched his fists.
"How could they murder my parents, frame me for their deaths, have me banished from my own home, and then sit comfortably on everything that belonged to my father?"
His voice trembled with anger.
"It was painful enough knowing they had destroyed my life. Seeing them happy afterward was unbearable."
"What did you do?"
"I wanted to deal with them."
Ego noticed the anger returning to his face.
"But before I could do anything, my uncle's first son, Okenwa, spotted me."
"The one you mentioned earlier?"
"Yes. He raised an alarm immediately."
Ndubisi shook his head.
"I didn't wait around to be captured. I beat him badly enough that he won't forget me anytime soon, then I ran."
"And they followed you?"
"All the way here."
Ego suddenly understood.
"Then they must have been the people I saw that night while I was outside the hut."
Ndubisi exhaled slowly, some of the anger leaving his body.
"They probably were."
Ego was quiet for a moment.
"Was your uncle not married before?"
"He was. His first wife was Ndidi."
"And she?"
"She gave him three sons—Okenwa, Onyeneke and Emenike."
"What happened to her?"
Ndubisi shrugged.
"During the two days I watched them from a distance, I never once saw her. Maybe they got rid of her."
His expression became thoughtful.
"My stepmother would never have agreed to become a second wife."
Ego nodded slowly.
"And what about you? Were you ever married?"
"No."
"Never?"
"I was betrothed to Ukamaka."
"Betrothed?"
"My father arranged the marriage. It was supposed to strengthen the relationship between our two families."
"Did you know her?"
"Barely. I met her only once when we were children."
"And your parents died before the marriage?"
"Yes."
Ndubisi sighed.
"To be honest, I was never interested in the marriage. It was one of the things my father and I used to quarrel about."
Ego nodded.
"So you have been living here for quite some time. How have you managed to survive all this while, especially with all the dangerous animals and other things in this forest?"
Ndubisi gave a faint laugh.
"I have had my fair share of craziness."
"I'm sure."
"I deal with the evil things one at a time."
He glanced into the surrounding forest.
"But the wildlife..." He smiled. "The wildlife is actually one of the reasons I am still alive and sitting here talking to you."
"How so?"
"When I first arrived, I hunted simply to survive. Whatever I caught, I ate."
"That makes sense."
"But after some time, I began catching more animals than I could consume. Rabbits especially."
"Rabbits?"
"Yes. More rabbits than I knew what to do with."
He smiled.
"So I remembered a trick my grandfather taught me. I would bathe the rabbits with warm water, then put them in a cage."
Ego looked puzzled.
"Why warm water?"
"To calm them down."
He continued.
"At night, I would let them out to search for food. By morning, they would return."
"And they actually came back?"
"Most of them did."
He smiled proudly.
"I started rearing them. With my grandfather's method, I was able to keep them under control. When they became fully grown, I would take them to the nearest village path and exchange them with traders for whatever I needed."
Ego smiled.
"So while everyone thought you were simply hiding in the forest, you were actually building yourself a small business."
Ndubisi shrugged.
"I suppose you could call it that."
For the first time since he had begun telling his story, Ego noticed something different in his face.
He was still carrying pain.
Still carrying anger.
But beneath it all was something she hadn't noticed before.
Resourcefulness.
This wasn't simply a man who had survived the forest.
He had learned how to live in it.