Three generations episode 47
TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 47
They left for Asaba later in the day while Nwakaego left for the village in preparation for the visitors coming the next day. Nwakaego gave her daughter a bag of goodies to give her in-laws when she gets back to Asaba. Chike could see how generous Nwakaego was and appreciated her even more.
Chike’s mother gladly received the gifts from Nwakaego. Chike told his family how the meeting went and let them know they would be visiting the village to see Nneka’s extended family the next day. He told them they had to postpone their trip back to Lagos by one day.
When everyone had gone to bed, Chike’s father called him aside and said to him, “I see a bright future with you and this girl. I like her; she is humble. The problem will be your mother; she would want to syphon money from her mother through her. Don’t agree. A girl from a privileged background who went to university accepted to marry you and shows you so much love and affection; you have to appreciate her and shield her from this family. Your immediate family comes first. We have made mistakes in the past, what is there to show for it? We spent money taking care of our younger ones, they became wiser. They didn’t agree to reciprocate the kindness we showed them except for Donatus who allowed you to work with him and then sent you away when he saw that clients preferred to deal with you. These are the people we helped with the hope they will help us train you and your siblings but that was not the case. Since Nwanneka is an only child with a daughter, she has little or no responsibilities. If you want to make me happy, all I want is for your brother to learn your trade and be successful. He hasn’t gotten a job and he is constituting a nuisance in the home fueled by your mother. I don’t want his life to be destroyed. I think he should move in with you in Lagos and learn the business you are into”
“Papa, I am getting married soon and you want Okey to live with me? Mbanu, no way. Okey is spoilt and he is not ready to hustle. If you are sending him to me to be hand-fed by me, it won’t work. He can’t join me in my business but I can put him as an apprentice to learn any trade he wants and he will live with his oga”
“Let him live with you and learn the trade from there”
“Papa, I am getting married very soon, Okey cannot live with me. I will rent a room for him to stay but he will not stay with me.”
“Can he join you back to Lagos as you are going back?”
“I haven’t gotten the place he will learn the trade or where he will live. He will have to wait until I achieve all that”
“That’s fair my son. We will wait patiently. Thank you”
After his father left, Chike thought about his father’s proposition. This was the handwork of his mother. He knew her goal was to plant Okey in his house to watch and report to her about Nneka. He had to protect Nneka by every means possible. He will send Okey to a very far part of town so he would think twice about visiting him. He already had the company he would send him to in mind. Yes, he knew what to do.
They arrived at Nneka’s village by 11am the next morning. Everyone was excited to see Nwanneka’s husband. Nwanneka introduced Chike to papa, mama, uncle Obi, auntie Chinyere and Chioma. Papa and mama were so happy. They were glad to be alive to see Anozie’s daughter get married. They prayed for them. Uncle Obi drilled Chike asking very important questions before accepting him. When Chike asked for a date, uncle Obi told him to hold on, he had to investigate the family first before giving a final go-ahead.
Nwanneka took Obi to her father’s house. Nwakaego had renovated the house over the years. She didn’t want it to stand out but it did in a more modern way. She moved her parents’ in-law into her house and also renovated papa’s house. Papa advised her not to waste money on the renovation as she wouldn’t be inheriting the house. He wanted only minor work to be done except his sons were contributing towards it. Nwakaego called the attention of Obi and Onyedika and the bill was shared in three ways with Obi bringing the majority of the funds as he stood to inherit the house later. Obi insisted he didn’t want the house but it will be kept for the grandchildren whenever they were around. The renovations were done.
You can imagine how impressed Chike was with the compound especially their section. Each house in the compound stood out. He watched how family members related to each other. Obi’s children related well with Nwanneka. There was so much excitement.
Nwanneka took Chike to meet her father at Anozie’s grave. Her mother had done up the grave and made sure at every anniversary of his death, the grave was looking neat and very tidy. She planted flowers around the grave. Chike had seen his portrait hanging in the sitting room of the house. He didn’t need to ask who it was. There was also a picture of him on the headstone of the grave.
“You look so much like your father,” Chike said to Nwanneka.
“I know. I took my mother’s tiny wa-ist and bosom. My h¡ps and ass are from my daddy’s people”
“I can see that. I like your extended family, you are one big happy family”
“We are more than this. My aunties’ children are not here. Some holidays when they are around, there is nowhere to sleep. It was not always like this. My mother was ill-treated by these same people when my father died. They wanted to take over everything he had but guess what, my mother complied with them. She confessed my grandfather was good to her but others were mean except uncle Onyedika. She saved money people gave her as a widow and started her business. She was successful. The family tried to take over my father’s properties but they couldn’t. My father left a will”
“Did he know he was going to die?”
“No. He prepared for eventualities. He never allowed my mother to work so he knew she had to be protected. The family was shocked at what my father left to my mother and me. They fought her but God fought back. My mother has such a good heart. When the family went into crisis, she stepped in and raised the family again. She and uncle Onyedika are very close because she supported him. He in return loved us and takes very good care of us.”
“Your mother is amazing”
“She is but she doesn’t mind her business. She wants to make everything right in this family but it doesn’t work that way”
“But you are like your mother. You are naturally a kind person. I can’t believe a woman that has the amount of wealth she has still cooks for everyone to eat. She is truly amazing”
“I am not her; I am not that nice and I don’t like cooking for more than five people unless everything is prepared for me to cook. She loves everyone, soon the house will be full of people that have one complaint or the other. When we go to her father’s family, it is worse. She is a philanthropist and loves giving. She says what’s the essence of living without sharing what you have been blessed with?”
“Does she have a will?”
“I don’t know and I really don’t care. I will make my own money just like she did and be an authority too”
“Independent woman! You won’t depend on me?”
“I won’t. I want to make my own money. Whatever you give me to run the home, I will use it to the best of my ability. Your home will be well run. I will have a maid though”
“You will have whatever you want to make it comfortable for you to attain your dreams”
“This is why I am marrying you; you are smart, you understand me and you have never stood in my way of progress”
“What’s your plan after NYSC? It is almost over”
“I want to be retained”
“I know a few people in NIMASA”
“Don’t worry, auntie Chinyere’s brother will make it happen. We have spoken about it. Once we have approval from my family, I will take you to see him in Abuja. He will be happy to meet you. He has been disturbing me about settling down”
After lunch, the family gathered at the obi drinking and chatting. While there, a bus drove into the compound. Three men dressed in Benue state traditional attire and a woman came down from the bus. The woman’s face wasn’t visible; she covered it with a shawl.
One of the men who was more dressed than the others spoke saying, “Good afternoon, my name is Chief Kpekere and these are my brothers. I spoke with a woman yesterday who asked us to be here today.”
“That woman would be me” Nwakaego pointed out. “How can we assist you?”
“Like I said yesterday, my three sons are at the point of death. I have already lost four. I beseech you, have mercy on us”
Papa offered them seats to join the family. The woman remained by the bus. Nwakaego had her suspicions but decided to play along with them.
Chief Kpekere repeated the story he shared a day before. He appealed for mercy so his sons will live.
Papa and Obi replied to him, they didn’t know who he offended. They didn’t understand what he was talking about. They wanted an explanation. They asked Nwakaego and she feigned ignorance. Nwanneka also became suspicious. She looked at her mother and tried to say something but the look her mother gave her silenced her.
Chief and his brothers were confused. Chief called out to his daughter, “Onyela come here. Explain to these people what happened”
Onyela was reluctant to come closer. She only made a move when one of the men stood up in anger. She stood by the Chief and said, “Mama Nwanneka knows about this”
“They are not interested in who knows what but rather they want to know what happened”
“Onyedika offended me and I punished him. He took my first blood and then dumped me for Uloma. I dealt with him. In his suffering, mama Nwanneka threatened me. She found out somehow that I was behind Onyedika sickness and asked me to stop or I suffer the repercussion. She told me my father’s lineage will end. I didn’t take what she said seriously until my brothers began to die. I told my father about it when these three were rushed to the hospital at the same time”
“You didn’t tell me anything, I found out you were the one who wanted to leave me without generations. You, Onyela, waged a war against someone you don’t know their strength and now you have cost me, four able-bodied sons. I will never forgive you. If any of these sons die, you are going with them. I said so” he then turned to papa and said, “She has confessed to what she did. She is stupid. Please forgive her and free my sons”
“We don’t have an idea what you are talking about. Our son Onyedika was sick for some time and fully recovered. His sickness did not last more than a few weeks. Why would that be constituted as punishment” papa asked.
At this stage, Charity removed the shawl to respond. “He was very sick for months. I am sure Uloma and mama Nwanneka were hiding it from you. He was almost gone before mama Nwanneka stepped in. I don’t know where she went or how she found out I was involved. She placed a curse and I thought she was joking but it happened”
“Charity, it is you! So you are the one behind uncle Onyedika’s predicament? I suspected but since my mother didn’t say anything I kept quiet. He nearly died if not for God’s direction. Sir, don’t waste your time here, go to Lagos and beg uncle Onyedika. If he accepts, I will take you to where your sons can be saved but you see, Charity must suffer for what she did”
“We can leave for Lagos right now. My sons are in critical conditions; I don’t want to wait for a minute extra”
“You will see him tomorrow at his office. Charity knows the office. I will be in Lagos tomorrow. Once he accepts then I will do the rest”
One of the men asked, “Can we talk to him on phone to appeal? Time is not on our side”
Chief responded, “Can you appeal to someone who doesn’t know you on the phone? Aboh said we have three days and we will ensure we achieve everything within three days. Today is day one. We leave for Lagos tonight, tomorrow we continue.” He then turned to papa and said, “Thank you for receiving us in your home even though one of us wanted to bring sorrow here. There will be tears but it won’t be caused by any member of my family.” He turned to Nwanneka and said, “the bold one, we will meet you in Lagos tomorrow.”
Tbc