EXILE - Chapter Fifty-two

Ibekwe did not follow Ifeme to the stream after the incident that occurred on the day that he made Okoli to believe that he was changing. The day that he left the stream without looking back to see if was following him. Since his arrival, Okoli had decided that it was best that they ate their meals on a long table, together, as family. Okoli felt that it was a good way of showing that they loved and cared for each other and he was very pleased with the thought of eating with all of them on the same table, watching them chew the pieces of yam or clench their teeth after a failed attempt to break a bone. The whole sharing a table idea felt different to Ibekwe, maybe strange, but it was a quiet, mouth moving ritual that he wasn't going to trade for anything in his new world.

He cleared the dining table the following morning after forgetting to clean it the previous night. He removed the gourd that Okoli had used first, then the stew-smeared bowls, and finally he washed the bowls