VILLAGE UNCLES 4
According to his uncles, the man keeps reincarnating two generations after he dies, and he (Tonia’s husband) was the fourth incarnate of the acclaimed immortal village lord. It sounded like fairy tales to Tonia’s husband until his own dad affirmed his uncles’ words. “You kept an information like this from me all these years???” he questioned his old father.
“You left us in the village in pursuit of a better life. It would have been no good reciting such lines to a grown city boy. I never imagined a day like this would come when you’d be here with us in the village. In my guess, you had gone for good, never to return. It still baffles me that you’re here now; not just you, but your entire family,” the old man replied and expressed his shock at his son’s return. It had been 20 years since he left for the city.
“Let’s cut the long story short,” one of his uncles interrupted. “Your role in this village is a great one. It is even better since you’ve been exposed to Western education. With that knowledge, you can administer to matters of this village with great wisdom. But there are a few things that must precede your formal coronation.
Firstly, you must get a new wife. You know we were never in support of you getting married to a foreigner. But since you were headstrong, we let you have your way, knowing a day like this would surely come when you would return to us. We are not saying you should put away your wife. But she will inevitably become like your second wife because the position you are to occupy in this village does not require a foreign woman by your side.
Tonia’s husband was beyond shocked by their words. The uncles didn’t afford him the chance to ask questions. Instead, they urged his father to get him acquainted with what he must do henceforth, one of which included undergoing some sort of cleansing by the chief priest. They then left the accursed family to themselves, promising to return in a few days.
It still seemed like a joke to Tonia’s husband until the harsh reality of the matter threw its weight on him. Without considering anything else, he made plans to leave the village and secure an accommodation in town, even if it was just a one-room apartment. As their village uncles would have it, his old father slept the night preceding the day he was to leave and never woke up. The man died in his sleep, and Tonia’s husband now had a burial to plan and execute.
His uncles were very helpful with the burial arrangements. They filled Tonia’s husband in on the traditional norms he was to undertake to see to a successful burial. This man is a Christian for crying out loud!!! Partaking in fetish activities wasn’t an option. But his village uncles wouldn’t have him do any less. They really wanted to have him implicated by getting him to yield to idol worship. That way, he would be 100% on their web.
The man refused to be cajoled into doing that. Wisdom fell on him and he embraced the act of buying his way out of traditional practices with the money he still had left which was supposed to tend his baby’s needs. When he was told that the young men who were to transport his father’s corpse on foot from the mortuary to the burial ground needed some fortification which must be endorsed with the blood of the chief mourner, he declined doing such.
Rather, he had hired security details who used their influence to get things done without him getting implicated. The man continued that way all through the burial planning and arrangements and his uncles observed the technique he was applying. They shrunk like defeated cowards and were not heard until the burial was done and over with.
Tonia’s husband used his leftover money to conquer his evil uncles. Indeed, money answers all things. It was now time for him to leave the village with Tonia and his son. He had just about enough money to take him and his family to the town where he would live in a former associate’s house and pay the rent at a later time. Thank God for such friends!!!
However, on the night preceding the day he was to leave, his old mother, just like his late father, slept and never woke up. What??? The man now had another burial to plan and execute. He was going to be faced with traditional norms which he must embrace to see to a successful burial. Unlike in his dad’s case, there was no more money for him to buy his way out again using security details. Goodness!!! What in the hell just happened???
To be continued…
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VILLAGE UNCLES 1
VILLAGE UNCLES 2
VILLAGE UNCLES 3
VILLAGE UNCLES 4
VILLAGE UNCLES 5
VILLAGE UNCLES 6
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