It was now two months since the awaited return of Chikezie and his family. Ezekwe was sitting behind the house sharpening his machete on a whetstone kept specifically for that. It was the height of the planting season and he was naturally a hardworking farmer.
After a while, he felt the sharpness of the blade of the machete with his nails and nodded in satisfaction. He put down the machete, resting it on the wall, brought out his snuffbox ready for use. He tapped it with his thumb and was about to open it when he heard a commotion. He strained his hears and noticed that it was coming from the central playground near the place he had bumped into Dike some weeks back.

He thought someone else must have bumped into some other person again. He shrugged and made up his mind to talk to his kinsmen about this when next they held their meeting. Something should be done about that sharp bend to avoid people running into one another, he thought.

The commotion was now growing louder and Ezekwe could hear the voices of people screaming and wailing. He looked around him, the younger children had gone to the stream and Chidi was out of the house. His wife and his eldest daughter Uzoamaka were busy in the kitchen preparing supper. They too had heard the wailing and rushed out of the kitchen.

"What could be happening?" Ure asked.

"I have no idea" Ezekwe replied, still taking his snuff.

"It looks like someone has died." Uzoamaka said.

"Died? Who could that be?" Ure asked, wiping her hand on a rag. "Let me find out," she said heading towards the direction of the exit way.

Ezekwe was still sitting down and methodically taking his snuff while straining his ears. A short distance away, Ure was met by her son, Chidi, who was running frantically towards her.

"Papa," he shouted. "Where is papa?" he asked his mother. He was out of breath. He ran past her when he noticed his father hastening towards them.

"What is it?" Ezekwe asked, holding on to Chidi.

"Come and see! Papa come and see! Oh my God, Papa please come and see for yourself" Chidi cried, heading back to where he was running from and almost dragging his father with him.

"Can't you say what it is?" Uzoamaka shouted, running after them. The little group hurried out of the compound towards the direction of the noise.

There in the centre of the playground was a Pickup van with a large crowd surrounding it. Most of the people gathered were crying, screaming at the top of their voices, while some others were just standing by, and cursing the day that had brought this calamity on them. Ezekwe drew close and the onlookers made way for him. He got near enough and peeped in.

Inside the van sat Euna and her children huddled together weeping, and on the floor lay the decomposing body of Chikezie wrapped with an old raincoat. The driver of the Pickup van was unknown to the villagers but there were two other men in the van with him who were indigenes of Nneri but resident at Enugu.

Ezekwe stopped abruptly as he beheld the sight. He stood and stared while his wife, children and sympathisers were wailing at the top of their voices.

"Nneri land, what is happening?" Ezekwe screamed with his hands placed on his chest. When he recovered, he turned towards the men who brought the corpse home:

"My brothers, what happened?" he asked.
Some of the elders of the community were among the crowd that had gathered. They took the men who came from Enugu aside and demanded for an explanation. One of them Okonkwo, acted as the spokesman.

"My elders, I can only tell you what I heard from his wife. She came to me three days ago and reported to me that her husband was missing. I asked her what happened and she told me that few days before, Chikezie had a serious quarrel with his fellow steward which resulted to a fight. After the fight, their white master dismissed Chikezie from his service and asked him to vacate the premises within two days.

"She said that at the expiration of the two-day quit notice; they were thrown out of the house by security guards. They had nowhere else to stay so Chikezie took them to the railway station and told them to wait for him while he went into town to see if he could find someone from whom he could borrow some money for their fare home as they had no money. She said they waited the whole day without seeing him and they had to sleep at the railway station. On the following day, they waited and he also failed to return.

"So on the morning of the third day, she came to me and reported the matter. Since Chikezie was not a member of our family association, I could only do what I could as an individual. I contacted my friend, Nwaneri here, and we reported the matter to the police. The police searched for him and by the time he was found the next day, which was yesterday, lying dead on the outskirts of the town he was already decomposing. So, I had to try hard to arrange to bring his corpse home. Though it was not an easy task, I could not bear to see a kinsman buried like a dog away from Nneri land. This is all I can tell you, my brothers."

When Okonkwo finished speaking, exclamations of despair filled the air. However, the elders thanked the men profoundly for their efforts.

"My brothers," Ezekwe managed to say, "I am very grateful to you for all you have done. You have proved to us that you are really your brother's keeper even in death. It is at times like this that we really realise the meaning of the proverb which says that he who is blessed with good relatives and friends is better than he that is blessed with riches. As for Chikezie, I can only conclude that the fly that refuses to listen to advice, follows the corpse to the grave. I tried my best to save him from this kind of end, but it seemed he had a death wish which no one could dissuade him from. I am only thankful to God that at least his wife and children came home alive. Right now, the only help we can render to a dead person is to bury him," he concluded. Considering that the corpse had decomposed greatly, it was buried without delay.

Ezekwe was shaken by his brother's death in such a manner that he moved about absentmindedly. After the burial, he went into his obu and sat down heavily. He sat there for hours not really paying attention to all the people who had come to console him. He sat grieving about his dead brother and worrying about the family he had left behind. He thought about Euna, Chikezie's young wife and four equally young daughters. All were within the ages of nine and three years. He wondered why Chikezie decided to waste himself away, choosing to die like a homeless wanderer. He was in this position when the first cockcrow sounded in the neighbourhood. He did not realise he was crying until his wife roused him to consciousness.

"Papa Chidi, how long do you intend sitting here grieving? You did all you could to prevent what has now happened but he refused to listen to you. It is not your fault and you should not kill yourself with grief," Ure pleaded, trying to console her husband. Ezekwe just nodded his head in passive agreement but made no comment. His heart was too heavy for words. Even so he blamed himself for Chikezie's death because he felt he could have done more to prevent it.
He had promised his father he would take care of his younger brother but now it looked like he had failed.

Bad news they say spread like desert fire. The news of Chikezie's death got to Mama Vicky, Euna's mother, before the end of supper that same evening. She was shocked by the news and early the following morning, she quickly left her village, Nkwoma and headed for Nneri. She got there before breakfast was served. The two villages were several kilometres apart.

Ezekwe's compound was now filled with people who had gathered to condole with the family on their bereavement. Among these were male and female members of the kindred who had kept vigil with the family all night, singing and dancing one dirge after the other. Though the corpse had been buried the day before, Ezekwe tried within his means to make sure he fulfilled all the burial rites for his dead brother. He provided all that was requested of him by his kinsmen for the burial rites.

Ure and all the women who had trooped in and kept vigil with the family had tried to console Euna throughout the night, but she had remained inconsolable. For this reason, they were all relieved when their in-law, Mama Vicky, Euna's mother, arrived. Plans were still underway to go and inform Euna's people formally but Mama Vicky did not wait
for this and had come to condole and be with her daughter. Mama Vicky was a respectable woman who was well-known in both villages as a good and devout woman. She was noted for her kindness and strong faith in God. Looking at her, one noticed she was once a woman of great beauty.

"My in-law, how did the news get to you?" Ezekwe asked in surprise when he saw her coming into the compound in the company of two of her kinswomen. "I was arranging for someone to come and let your people know."

"My in-law, I heard it all the same," she replied in a shaky voice. "Where is she?"

"She is over there," Ure, who had come to welcome Mama Vicky answered and led her to where Euna sat on the bare floor, sobbing. "My in-law, I am glad you are here, at least you can help talk to her yourself. She has refused to quieten down since their arrival here yesterday. I know this is a great shock to us all but she has to consider her condition in order to avoid a double tragedy."

Immediately Euna saw her mother approaching, she started wailing at the top of her voice, rolling on the bare floor. Her mother moved over to her and held her in her arms. Euna wailed while uncontrollable tears rolled down her mother's face. They remained like that for a long time. This pathetic posture touched the hearts of all others who gathered around them and tears flowed freely. 💔

Thanks for reading! Check my blog daily for subsequent chapters.

LINKS:

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2