Three generations episode 7
THREE GENERATIONS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 7
The Christmas of that year, Chijioke and some other friends and peers of Anozie came to visit her in her father’s compound. They gave her gifts of foodstuff and an envelope of money. They also gave her daughter scholarsh¡p to any educational level she would want to attain. Nwakaego was grateful. Her eyes were filled with tears as she thanked them.
Later that night, when everyone was asleep, she counted the money in the envelope. She was speechless. This was a huge amount of money to be a gift. She knew keeping such amount with her without investing it would lead to wastage. She didn’t sleep that night thinking about the business she could do with all the money she had. She remembered telling Anozie about starting a business when he was alive. She had given him some suggestions and now she was at a crossroad on which to do. She cried herself to sleep that night. First, it was tears of gratitude and then they were tears of sorrow. “Anozie, I would have preferred to have you here instead of this money. Even with the money, I am still very confused. What do I do?”
She fell asleep not long after. She had a dream. In that dream, she saw herself trading. She was trading in palm oil but the location wasn’t her stall in the village market, it was a much bigger market. A woman in the dream spoke a dialect she was familiar with and she realized she was in Port Harcourt although she didn’t know the exact market. She woke up. She pondered about the dream for a while and then went back to sleep. This time, she was by the waterside. She negotiated with fishermen. When they concluded, she gave the fish and crayfish to some women to preserve for her. She realized she was trading in fish and crayfish. She woke up again. She sat down thinking about her dreams. She was confused and needed wise counsel about her dream.
She shared her dreams with her stepmother.
“It is very clear; you are to trade in palm oil, azu and crayfish.”
“But how do I go about it?”
“You need to gather money. Palm oil is cheap now so you can buy from the women and then move it to Port Harcourt to sell. With the money, buy fish and crayfish which you will sell in the town”
“You make this sound so easy. Which market will I sell the palm oil? I know where to buy the fish”
“My daughter, you have to travel to Port-Harcourt to get customers. You know how much we sell palm oil here, buy a few and test the market. This was revealed unto you, don’t play with it.
Nwakaego took some money and travelled to Port-Harcourt with two jerry cans of palm oil. She went to the market to show them her oil. The first woman she showed and told her price bought everything and asked her to come back with more. She was shocked. She made a good profit. She went to the waterside, bought fish, gave the women there to smoke for her as she had in her dream. She also bought some crayfish. By the time she got to the park with the fish and crayfish, some women bought them off her. She was perplexed. She made so much profit that she was scared there was more to it.
She decided to go back to the waterside for more fish before travelling. She was in luck as the fishermen had a bountiful harvest and sold the fish cheaper. She stayed with the women smoking the fish overnight. The next day, she packed her fish and left for the park. She sold more than half of the smoked fish at the park and went back with the rest. She was pondering on her encounters, what could they really mean? The manner and ease with which she sold off her goods were shocking to her.
She rushed home. She went to her stepmother and narrated what happened.
“Wasn’t it what you were expecting? It was revealed to you in a dream. Why are you surprised? I hope you made a profit”
“I made a very good profit. I am just amazed at how everything worked out. I decided to try and now people are interested in buying from me”
“Don’t waste your time talking to me. You have fish to sell and palm oil to buy. I expect you will travel the day after tomorrow”
“Yes, ma. I brought some fish for you. I appreciate all your support”
“You shouldn’t have. Nwa m, thank you. I will use this to cook for your father, let him taste his daughter’s handwork”
That was how Nwakaego’s business started. She rented a room close to the market so she could have a place to sleep whenever she came for her trade. She only went back to the village with leftovers which she sold off.
On one of her business trips, she heard someone calling out to her. She turned around and standing four stalls away from where she was transacting was one of her tenants.
“Mr Uche, good afternoon, I didn’t know you were the one calling me”
“Nwunye Anozie, how are you?”
“I am fine sir”
“Your husband’s family tried to sell your husband’s house recently, are you aware?”
“I am not”
“Well, we told him he couldn’t sell the house without your consent. The lawyer came to collect the rent from us. Apparently, Anozie had handed over the property to him. We informed him about Anozie’s death. He was heartbroken by the information. He promised to look for you. According to him, Anozie left a will. His brother has seen the lawyer but has refused to allow him to see you. The lawyer sealed the house, he refused to allow brother-in-law to stay there telling him he was an illegal occup-nt. Give me the address of your village so the lawyer can come and see you”
Everything Mr Uche said sounded strange to her. Anozie left a will? She knew trouble will brew. She also knew Obi had not informed his family; if he had, her father-In-law would have summoned her. She refused to give him her village address but rather she gave him Anozie’s.
“If he comes to meet me, it would look as though I connived with him to steal the property. Let him go to the head of the family. He can ask them to summon me if they want the property, they will agree”
“You want to be a good wife and give them this property; don’t do it. Anozie knew what he was doing when he left a will. He knew what his people are capable of. Don’t agree to anything until you have discussed with the lawyer and understood what Anozie wanted. He was protecting his young family”
Nwakaego couldn’t sleep all through that night. The information she had gotten weighed heavily on her heart. Did her dear husband actually try to protect her? Why didn’t he do the same when she was carrying his son? Having a son for him would have given her enormous joy. She wasn’t interested in the property; she would have rather had her husband alive and with her. She wept that night.
Two weeks after her encounter with Mr Uche, she was summoned by her late husband’s family for an important meeting. She arrived there with her daughter. There was a man in their midst. He had with him a large bag which was on his laps and he held unto the bag tightly. He was a small man not more than 5” in height and light-complexioned. He was the smallest man in the obi.
He was introduced to her as barrister Pepple. He was from Bonny in Rivers state. Her father-in-law introduced her as the wife of the deceased.
“As I said earlier, I was unaware that Anozie had passed on. I met Obi in the house when I came to receive rent from the tenants. He had put the house up for sale. I told him he couldn’t as I was well aware who the beneficiary of the house was. This is the last will and testament of Anozie in my hands. If granted the opportunity, I will read it to you all” He opened the bag he had with him and brought out some papers. He could speak Igbo quite fluently. He didn’t feel intimidated by the family members around him even with his stature; he was a very ass**tive man.
“As I said, this is the will. I will read what it says. THIS IS THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF MR ANOZIE OHAERI made this 24TH day of June 1975.
I REVOKE all former testamentary doc-ments made by me AND DECLARE this to be my last Will.
I APPOINT Barrister Pepple of Pepple and Hams Legal practitioners to be the executors and trustees of my Will. And I DECLARE THAT the expression “MY TRUSTEES” shall where the context so admits include my trustee for the time being of this my Will.
1. I GIVE my house which comprises of a bungalow with two bedrooms flat and another bungalow with six single rooms located at no. 13 Bonny street, railway quarters scheme 2 to my wife Nwakaego Ohaeri. It cannot be sold but passed down to my daughter Nwanneka and her sibling when born. When they are older, they can decide what they want to do with the property.
2. I GIVE my house in my hometown, Umuneke to my son, if Nwakaego bears a son for me. If not, the house should be given to my younger brothers, Obioma and Onyedikachi with a room reserved for my wife and children.
3. I GIVE all the money in my current account to my father to distribute to members of our family. My father and mother should have the lion share.
4. I GIVE my personal effects which Include clothes, shoes, jewellery, wristwatches, perfumes etc to my father. He should take what he wants and share the rest amongst my siblings.
5. I GIVE my gratuity, entitlements and amounts in my savings account to my wife NWAKAEGO OHAERI. She is to keep it for the educational training of our children.
6. I GIVE my wife the permission to start a business with proceeds from the rent from the commercial building which will be used to cater for our children. She is free to remarry any man of her choice and should not be forced to marry any member of our family unless she so desires.
I DECLARE that if any of my child/children named in this Will dies in my lifetime leaving issue/issues, such issue/issues shall be entitled to take by substitution the share of my property that may be said deceased child/children would have taken if he/they had survived me.
I DECLARE that my said executors/trustees shall be compensated with N60 for the trouble and time expended by them in carrying out my wishes in this Will………..”
“So, this is the will Anozie wrote? Anozie left everything to Nwakaego. I don’t believe it. There Is something fishy here. How can Anozie leave his house in the city to Nwakaego? What am I doing with the uncompleted building in the village?” Obi lamented bitterly.
“Lawyer, we have collected the gratuity and shared it. We kept some money to help Nwakaego to train her daughter. What should we do now?” Anozie’s father asked ignoring Obi’s lamentation.
“I understand. I want to know how much You received and how much you left for the deceased’s wife and children” the lawyer replied.
Anozie’s father went in,side to bring out the money while Anozie’s mother replied the lawyer. “You keep saying, children. Anozie had only one child, Nwakaego killed the son who would have survived him. Now, she is going to get inheritance for a female child?”
“That was what he wanted. He was more worried about his wife than his children; I can see the reason why”
Anozie’s father was worried too. His son had prepared for his demise and was more interested in protecting his wife. He knew Anozie loved Nwakaego very much; it was glaring to see but to give her almost all he had was quite strange, this was setting precedence which wouldn’t favour many families like his. Anozie was the most successful of all his children and he had responsibilities towards his siblings. But from this will, he has shown he had more responsibility towards his wife and children. Obviously, he didn’t trust his family to cater to his wife and children. He was right after all; his hands were tied.
“I expected far less than this. You are a good man. Since you collected the gratuity with your family, Nwakaego and her daughter will receive the monies in his current and savings accounts as Anozie wanted. I will proceed with the transfer of title doc-ments to Nwakaego. I will require his death certificate to ensure his will is carried out as instructed.”
Nwakaego knew this will didn’t sit well with her husband’s people. After the meeting, the lawyer gave her his complimentary card and asked her to visit him in his office the following Tuesday.
True to her thoughts, her in-laws were upset. Her mother-in-law insulted her openly,
“Why would my son leave everything to you? Where were you when we trained? Where were you when I carried him for nine months? You are a witch; you charmed my son. You will never have peace with whatever money you get. You caused my son’s death and now you get to inherit from him. Tufiakwa! Anozie has committed an abomination”
Nwakaego expected the outburst from her mother-in-law, but for her father-in-law to keep quiet and allow them reigning insults and curses on her was surprising. She didn’t know anything about what Anozie did, she would have stopped him. How everyone had changed towards her because of money was baffling.
Tbc