Three Generations episode 8
THREE GENERATIONS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 8
She went to see the lawyer. There, she told him she wasn’t interested in inheriting anything from Anozie, she was fine the way she was.
“Madam, your husband did all this to protect you. Why would you sound ungrateful? Your husband overheard his brother bragging to his friends that at his demise, he will inherit all he has and also his beautiful wife. He told me his brother had married before him and he had a young wife. He was surprised his younger brother was nursing such intentions against him. He told a close boss about it and he advised him to write a will so that his young family will be protected and wouldn’t be forced to do his family’s bidding. He did this to ensure your future is safe”
“Why would Obi say something like that? Are we sure his death was even ordinary? Why did he insist on coming home that night he died? I keep asking myself questions”
“You wouldn’t get the answers. Only God knows. But you should appreciate all he has done for you and your daughter. We will go to the bank together to transfer to monies in his account into our own account”
Ï don’t have an account”
“We will open one for you first. Let the monies remain in the bank. From what I can see, the family will want to force you to bring the money to them or give them the title of the house. Tell them everything is with me and I have refused to release them because they will come for them against Anozie’s wish. I will never release anything to your husband’s family members even if you ask.”
True to his words, her father-in-law and Obi were in her house two days after her visit to the lawyer. They sat down with her father. They wanted to know how much was in Anozie’s accounts.
“Writing a will is alien to me. We abide by the customs and traditions of our land. We will not deny Nwakaego what is rightfully hers and that of her daughter but Anozie was my son and what he owned should remain in the family. Since Nwakaego decided to leave the family, apart from being a woman, she cannot be in charge of her husband’s possessions when he has a father and brother”
“Ï agree with you. I know nothing about the will. But my question is, why would Anozie who was the Opara of the family and of sane mind decide to write a will to favour his wife? Something must have happened. He knew at his demise his family will not be cared for; it was exactly what played out. My daughter will not challenge your decision to take back what Anozie left to her, she has been able to survive on her own without it. But she will not follow you to the lawyer. He has all the doc-mentation required to gain ownersh¡p of everything. If he requires her for anything, let her know”
“But how will he know she is in support of handing over everything to us?” Obi asked.
“Sort it out with him. In as much as she will not challenge you, she will also not purposefully go against her dead husband’s wishes. Go and settle it with the lawyer, the house and monies in the bank doesn’t interest her. It will be her daughter’s house when the time is right. I would appreciate it if you stop coming here to harass my daughter; she did nothing but love Anozie. Tell your wife to stop peddling rumours about her, it is ruining her business. She didn’t ask for any inheritance. If she continues, I might have to involve the Igwe and elders”
Both of them left for Port-Harcourt the next morning to see the lawyer. They informed him that Nwakaego had agreed to relinquish all the properties willed to her father-in-law. They wanted to know how much was in the bank so they could collect it and also the property doc-ments.
“I can see why Anozie decided to write a will. It is because of you, Obi, he wrote this will. How can you be lusting after a man’s possessions while he is still alive?”
“What are you talking about? How did I lust after his possessions?”
“You told your friends during his last Christmas visit that he is working for you and your family. At his demise, you were going to inherit everything he had especially his wife. Did you say this or not?”
Obi was silent. He couldn’t believe Anozie overheard him talking to his friend. Is that the reason he wrote a will so he will never inherit from him? Anozie was sharper than he had anticipated and now he was losing. He had plans to sell the house and make a good fortune for himself.
“From his reaction he obviously said it. What is the way forward now?” his father asked.
“You are not entitled to anything not given to you in the will. You have already shared the gratuity, what more do you want?
“We want to know how much was left in the current and savings accounts that we were entitled to.”
The lawyer could see the greed in their eyes. “The only way you can know is by refunding the gratuity money and then you can be preview to every information about the current account only. That’s the only way”
They agreed to that. They rushed home to see how they would gather the gratuity money and repay so they could have the money in the current account.
The following week, they returned to the lawyer with the full amount. They gave it to him. He asked them to follow him to the bank so they could have access to the account. When they got there, he gave the bank officials the doc-ments required for them to gain access to Anozie’s current account. They spent almost six hours in the bank waiting for them to process the doc-ment and issue the bank draft. At the end of the day, a bank draft of the amount was issued to them which they cashed across the counter. When the money was released to them, they were shocked beyond their imagination. The cash given to them was N150.
“What is this?” Anozie’s father asked.
“That is the amount in the current account” the lawyer replied.
“That can’t be, current account holds big money,” Anozie’s father asked.
“That was where his salary was paid, I thought you were aware”
“How can I be aware and return that amount of money back to you in exchange for this. Please, take this and give us back the gratuity money as earlier agreed”
“I can’t do that. You signed an agreement to return the gratuity in accordance with the will for what Anozie left for you which is the money in the current account. That is the amount in the account as you can see. The bank cannot give you what isn’t in the account and that is what Anozie intended for you to have”
“What are you saying? We borrowed money to be able to return the gratuity money. We have no money to return to those we borrowed from. Why did you do this to us?” Obi added looking very confused.
“What did I do to you? You came from your village to find out about what didn’t concern you. You wanted to know what Nwakaego got so you could bully her into releasing the money to you. I knew this and so I refused her gaining access to the monies yet. You came with greed thinking you could get more money but Anozie played a rude game on you. That is all you can have. Nwakaego doesn’t want anything, she has said the inheritance belongs to her daughter and has retained me to continue to manage her assets until the child is of age. You will get nothing”
Anozie’s father and Obi went to Chukwuka, Nwakaego’s father’s house to see him again.
“Please beg Nwakaego to talk to the lawyer to release the gratuity back to us”
“I will do no such thing. Please leave my house. You cannot have your way”
That night, Anozie’s father had a heart attack and almost died. The family had to use the money they collected from the bank for treatment. Their creditors began to visit them demanding for their money. It had become an embarrassment in the village. Obi ran away from the village and so did his other siblings. It was left with his sick father, his mother and Onyedika. Every day brought new drama.
Onyedika went very early in the morning to Nwakaego’s village. He went to her house to see her. She was surprised he was around and she entertained as he had not been rude to her at all. After eating, he went on his knees in front of Nwakaego and said to her,
“Mama Nwanneka, I know we have treated you very badly. Our ill-treatment towards you has come back to haunt us. When someone told father and Obi that a current account is bigger than the gratuity, I was shocked. When he left, I told them it wasn’t possible as it is a chequing account but they shoved what I said aside and decided to visit the lawyer to get the money in the current account. I warned them but they wouldn’t listen. The lawyer asked them to bring back the gratuity before they could have access to the current account. I knew he was trying to scam them but they still didn’t listen to me. They went a borrowing. I knew what would happen and so I refused to join in their stupidity. Do you know how much was in the current account? N150. What is that compared to the gratuity? Father has suffered a partial stroke and is undergoing treatment. The money from the current account is what was used. Now, we have debts we can’t pay. We are being embarrassed daily. Obi that started all this problem has run away and left us with the responsibility. I beg of you, please, help us get some of the money so we pay those that are embarrassing us. Father is even considering selling brother Anozie’s house in the village to pay off the debts. No matter how small, please help us pay off very urgent debts while we look for how to pay off the rest.”
Nwakaego was shocked at hearing all this. She had heard a rumour about some debts the family was owing but didn’t know it was related to Anozie’s gratuity. She was perplexed at his father’s involvement, she believed he was smarter than this. She could sense Obi’s hands in this. He must have convinced them to give up the gratuity for the money in the current account. She didn’t need to be convinced of his greed. Now he has abandoned the family with the responsibility of paying back.
The next morning, she went to see the lawyer. She expressed her disappointment at the trick he played on them knowing they both knew how much was in the current account. She had accepted it as the amount in the savings account over compensated for it. The branch manager had told them Anozie had been saving from his salary since he gained employment at the Railway Corporation. He started work there when he was fresh out of technical college at the age of twenty-three. He had saved enough money to cater for his family in any eventuality.
“Please, my father-in-law is very sick and I don’t want him to die because of debts. Give me the gratuity let me return the money to them”
“You signed an agreement with me asking me to act as the executor of your husband’s will. You wanted everything Anozie left to you to be kept for your daughter Nwanneka when she comes of age. That is what I have done. Your late husband’s family are greedy people and they exhibited it by waiting to change an agreement. They deserve to be in debt for what they put a widow through. I am sure it is Anozie that is punishing them. I will not release a dime to them. Let them go and beg Anozie’s spirit for forgiveness. That was what I told Obi the last time he came here to beg”
Tbc