At the Village.After Callum stormed out of the room, he drove to the Village. Although he travelled by air with his family, his driver had left the city a day before their arrival with his car to enable him to move around. Likewise, Uncle Emma was glad to see him.“Welcome, my in-law. How is your family?” He asked, and looked out for his family.“My family is good.”“Why are you not here with them?” He asked anxiously.“I left them in a hotel. They will arrive tomorrow.”Now, he gave Callum a questioning look, and he explained, “I will bring them after I have inspected the house.” “I see. We will have a meeting with the elders and inform them of my brother's death thereafter.”“I got it, my in-law.”They walked through the egress and ingress gate which linked the two compounds together. Nevertheless, the community had not linked the house to Uncle Emma or Callum. They believed the rumors which Emma spread indirectly through the youths that the money bag, who Beck duped, confiscated t
At Mr. Emma Aaron's Compound.Callum was having his meal in the guest room when Emma returned. Meanwhile, he placed an order for palm wine for the fifty elders who he expected. Soon, Callum was through and joined him in the hut.“Welcome back, my in-law,” he greeted. “Thank you, I hope you enjoyed your meal?” “As usual,” he teased. Thereafter, the elders came one after another. Incidentally, the first three elders arrived first. When they saw his car parked and saw him seated quietly in the hut with Emma, they have credence to their assertion.“I greet you, Mr. Aaron,” they greeted one after the other.“Welcome to my abode. I have seats,” Emma offered with an angry tone. “Welcome my elders,” Callum greeted too, with a confusing expression. “Thank you, our in-law.”At the exact time, seventy-five percent of the elders had arrived, and a quorum was formed. Then, Emma addressed the elders, “I thank you for honoring my invitation.”“You are welcome.”“It is said that, when one person see
Now, there was silence in the hut. They looked at each other, searching for the answer to Emma's question. After a long silence, Jeremiah dare to speak, even though he was aware that his point will not make sense.“How can you ask suck question, my fellow elder? Does he not have children? His children should settle his bills.”“Which children?” One elder cut in.“Is it your children who pay your bills?”“Jeremiah, you are a crafty person. Did you place a fine on him for not training his children?”At this point, Jeremiah was ashamed of himself. Then, another elder spoke, “Let us not forget that for Beck's age, his funeral would attract a cow, one thousand tubers of yam, one hundred kegs of …”“Shut up. Who would provide all those items? Does he have a male child?”“His daughters, of course.”“If you are his daughters, will you provide?”The elder was dumbfounded. Then, another elder requested, “Emma, tell us, when do you intend to bury your brother? Let us settle this and get out of h
“Miss him indeed. I don't understand why my husband chose to organize a funeral for him, just to waste money for nothing.”Now, mama and her mate were through with the children and had joined the group. Then, Emma advised, “My daughter, I know how you feel. You have the best husband in the world. If he can forgive your father and decided to wipe any stigma that he had brought upon you and your siblings, I think you should be grateful for that.”Now, Ada saw reason with her husband and cheered up. She looked at him and appreciated for the first time by giving him a hug.“Thank you, hubby. I appreciate.”“You are welcome, my dear. I know it not easy.”Nevertheless, the youngsters were all over the compound, climbing trees and plucking fruits. The maid, who had been lonely in the midst of adults, felt free and guided them on their escapades.“Madam, the driver wished to leave. Where do I keep the goods?” Their driver asked. Then, Ada turned to her mother and requested, “Which room are yo
“Be careful with the water, please. Or we may go to the brook and get for ourselves if we exhaust it.”The children heard enough of 'be careful' that day, but they did not mind their mother. After they took their bath, they were famished, Cynthia strolled to her uncle's house for food. She assisted in preparing the food, and thereafter, ignorant of her mother's wish, she took their meal to their house. “Mom, dad, everyone, dinner is ready.” She called out after setting it on the dinner table. “Oh! Cynthia. We would have had our dinner at Uncle Emma's compound, instead of ruining here,” Ada pointed out. No one gave heed to her complaint. Thereafter, they had their dinner quietly and everyone was fine except Ada, who was apprehensive. Nevertheless, there is always a disadvantage to every advantage. Callum deserved to be appreciated by his wife in a special way, but she was mindful of the house and was unsettled. However, Callum must make her do it.“I'm exhausted,” he cried out, and
“Not at all. I came for my uncle's funeral.”“Hiss. Are you proud to call him your uncle? You have money to throw around,” Dora declared sarcastically. They laughed happily, and she continued, “Welcome back, all the same. How is your family?”“My family is good.” Now, Evans, was not happy when he saw Joe opened the gate, so, he walked out of the group while Sarah continued chatting with her relations.“Frank,” He called out. Frank, who was behind him, appeared at once. “Yes, uncle.” “Good. Arrange for someone to man that gate. The children cannot do that.”“I got it, uncle.” “Oh my God!” Sarah screamed. Now, Evans and Frank halted and looked at her. Evans had to walk back to her when he saw her looked on in trepidation, and Frank followed.“Oh!” Evans exclaimed when he saw the source of her fear.“Don't panic. It came to welcome the children to their maternal homes,” Emma pointed out. Now, Sarah had moved closer to her husband, and he encouraged her, “Calm down. It won't attack.”
“I have brought the gate men,” Frank announced when he got into the parlor. Now, Callum and his wife looked at Evans for his response, while Sarah fixed her gaze on Frank.“Men?” Evans asked anxiously.“Yes, uncle. They insisted on working. We will choose the best.”“What are they for?” Callum asked.“I need someone to man the gate. The children cannot be opening and closing the gate.”“Oh! That is thoughtful of you. In that case, they can run different shifts. How many are they, Frank?”“They are ten.”“Ten is not too many. Turning them back may be humiliating,” Callum made clear.“Why did you allow them to come with you when you were asked to come with just one person?” Ada rebuked.“I wonder,” Sarah supported.“Don't let that bother us. It is just for a few days. They can start at once,” Evans remarked.“All right, uncle. What about the pay? How much do I offer them?” Frank inquired, ignoring her aunt's question.“Find out what they would love to be paid from them.”“All right, unc
76 The Funeral 20“Welcome back, aunty,” the youngsters greeted happily, one after the other.“Thank you. How are you?” “We are fine. And you?”“Fine, thank you.”At that point, the children embraced one another and walked back to Callum's apartment, while Uju joined her sisters at Evans' apartment. While they were chatting freely, Fredrick supervised his Personal Assistant, Barry, and the drivers as they moved their luggage to his apartment. When he was certain that they had arranged the house to an acceptable extent, he walked to the bathroom and showered. Nevertheless, when Austin and David felt that they had spent longer time with Joe and the rest, they excused themselves.“We will be on our way. Mom and dad may be waiting for us,” Austin explained.The youngsters interpreted the explanation differently and walked them to their father's car.“Where are dad and mom?” David asked when they got to the car and met it locked.“They may be in the house,” Joe explained, and walked toward