All that glitters.....

Ogar had resided for a fortnight in the residence of his friend, Minka. A lot of time had passed and alot had been discovered.

He still couldn't believe that uncle Travis lied about his status and he wondered what his reason might be? He forbade uncle Travis from speaking with him and the mediator between them was Minka's mum aunt Sheila.

He was not sure if she knew what was going on because he knew she didn't like to nose about other people's lives but this was uncle Travis!

She had been really kind to him, especially when she realized that he didn't want to speak with his uncle and he wasn't ready to go back home either. Moreover the girls enjoyed his company.

He often caught their mother looking at him and smiling.

"What's the smile on your face for mum?" Minka asked the question that lingered in Ogar's mind for so long. Finally he would have a response to it. Aunty Sheila smiled at him alot and she had a lovely smile, which was the aspect of the feat he liked. Yet, he wondered why she smiled so often at him.

"Mummy why are you grinning from ear to ear?"

"Do I not have the right to smile anymore? I thought as free moral agent,I can express myself in terms of speech without being refrained. If I can't speak then I can smile."

"Mum that does not answer the question. You seem so happy to have Ogar over." Nkom added

"Ah! Both of you are on my case today, what wrong have I committed?" she complained. Ogar smiled as he watched the family of three tease one another.

He could feel the warmth they felt and the love they shared. Not only had he been treated fairly, he understood the importance of family.

"Okay, on a more serious note, there was a time, long ago. Before any of you, my girls were old enough to speak clearly I prayed for this moment."

"What moment?" Nkom interrogated looked from Ogar to Minka.

"A time when a male child will reside in my house even if it was for a night" she replied.

"Why?" Minka wondered. The campaign for the emancipation of the girl child education became so rampant. Every nook and cranny had someone speaking about it. It often made news.

" Well, your dad wanted a son of his own but I couldn't bear him one"

"So?" Minka inquired

" So I had to go for counseling, prayer sessions from one church to the other, then I read books as well"

"Wow, I remember Nkem, the fair fat girl in my class saying that her father's mother threatened to send her mother out of the house if her fifth baby was not a boy. I didn't know you suffered a similar fate mum" Nkom replied.

Minka was silent. She later told Ogar how she had witnessed her father call her mother names, shout at her and threaten her. There were days he pushes her, just to get her out of his way.

Minka said she was about five but she remembered screaming and hitting her dad, asking him to stop. She said her partenal grandmother was also hostile to her mother as well. She screamed at her, at the slightest provocation and called her names. Her paternal grandmother and her father will laugh while her mother will be weeping in the corner.

Way before Minka was born, as Minka's mother's younger sister, aunty Leila had told her,her mother had no babies for her father. 'My fellow kinsman good day' some people dared to address her as a man because she was childless.Minka admitted that her paternal grandmother ( aunt Sheila's mother-in-law) called aunt Sheila 'unripe pawpaw'. Once when she had a miscarriage Minka's paternal grandmother asked if aunt Sheila was the witch eating her own children.

Her mother didn't eat that night but vowed that she must conceive.

A few months following the incident she was confirmed pregnant and soon Minka was born. She also encountered challenges in getting a job. "Sheila or what is that your name again, who told you can speak when I am speaking, ehn? When you have not contributed to this home, financially or otherwise who told you?"

Her husband will say nothing. He will begin to whistle. Admidst tears, a distraught Sheila will branch her parents' home on the way to the market to seek solace. Her father would tell her "I know you are hurt but it is your home. You have to bear with her and your husband. Be prayerful as well.

You should not involve a third party in your home affairs"

"My mother-in-law is a third-party dad!" Sheila would protest.

Her father would be silent for a moment. He would heave heavily.

"I have no connections in the government. I only wish I could help you get a job" aunt Sheila's father would say.

"It is okay daddy. You have done enough already. Thank you for toiling to sponsor me at school. I am grateful. I strongly believe that things will change. I know one day, soon, I will get a job" she replied confidently.

Luckily for her, she secured a job which she had four years before his demise. That was her first job, since graduation. The job arrived at a the time it was most needed. When she had been called a 'relic ' countless of times by her husband.

Minka said that the best day of her life was the day her father died. She was glad because her paternal grandmother became powerless. She began to make efforts to foster a relationship between herself and

Minka's mother all to no avail.

Ogar who wished he had been as lucky to have both parents alive had previously struggled to understand why Minka preferred her dad dead.

She never spoke about him as 'there is not much to say' is the way she begins each time someone asks about him.

One thing was certain, she was terrified of her dad in life and even in death. All she knew is that her his name was Nnaemeka Okoli. He was a businessman. He is survived by three brothers with whom he shares a mother.

The girls did not go visiting since their father's relatives accused their mother of being responsible for his death. They say he worried alot because of her childlessness and should he have had a child earlier, he would have been alive.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Aunt Sheila promised to keep away as much as possible as some began threatening to use diabolical means to end her.

Whenever Minka saw tears well up in her mother's eyes she knows it is as a result of the turmoil she experienced. Minka deeply wished to be single throughout her lifetime. Why have a spouse who might treat her badly?

"I know dad's death is a relief to my mum. I feel the same way" she once told Ogar. Ogar felt sorry for the things Minka and her mother went through and hoped that her mother will heal.

In his opinion life was funny. He wished he had a father, or at least knew what he looked like.

Minka, on the contrary was glad hers had departed. He longed be away from home because of what uncle Travis did, but Minka was content staying at home. He wondered what his dad might have looked like.

Was he an introvert who would rather reads book or see a movie than hang out with friends and go partying ? What did his dad think when he found out his mum had been delivered of a male child? Was he glad, skeptical or indifferent?

When his mother died did he cry? Ogar kept wondering as though he had met his dad and would soon be in a conversation with him. How his heart ached painfully as he remembered the words uncle Travis had told him. How he might never meet his paternal family or know them.

He walked briskly as he took a last turn. At last, Aunt Sheila had convinced him that it was best to return home. He saw reason to return back, at least to hear what his uncle had to say about the matter.

He thought of Minka and heaved heavily. He could hear still hear her loud cackling,and her sister's giggles. He could see their mother smiling from ear to ear, what a happy family. He felt sorry for Minka's experience with her dad. She seemed to special to have that kind of experience.

He was careful not to talk ill about the dead because it was a sign of disrespect. The dead should be respect, despite their deeds they should not be spoken ill of' he had often heard uncle Travis say.

Thank you for taking out time to read this piece. I hope you enjoyed it? What do you think will happen next? Can you guess? Well, see you in the next chapter!