Chapter 3

• The next morning, I woke up early and prepared breakfast. We ate quietly. Mum did not eat much. Anita was in a jovial mood. It could be because of her age that she didn’t understand all that was happening. Greg was curious as always. I could see him alternate his look between me and mum. He wanted us to tell him more and more, but we didn’t have answers to whatever he wanted us to answer. Mum told us to get ready and visit dad at the hospital. On reaching the hospital, the receptionist could not allow Greg and Anita go see dad. Mum begged and begged until they were allowed in. She was told to only let them be there for ten minutes.
• Dad had been badly injured. The nurse who was attending to him tried explaining to us the injuries he had suffered. We were too young to understand all that she was saying. Maybe it was the medical terms she was using. I couldn’t tell. We stood by his side and watched him struggle to talk to us. He was in so much pain. Finally, we were asked to take the kids out. I volunteered to take them, but dad called me back. Mum went outside with Greg and Anita after kissing dad. I held him hand and I could feel his body tremble. He struggled to open him eyes. Finally, he told me to always be good and help mum take care of the young ones. I promised him that I would. He closed his eyes and his muscles relaxed. I sat there talking to him but he could not respond. He did not move. I didn’t know that he had left us. Mum did not come back also. Maybe it was a way of God not letting her see her dying husband. He had died and left me talking to him and holding his hand. I did not know what death was all about.
• The nurse in charge came in and examined him. She looked at me with pity and finally gave me a tight hug. She told me sorry for the loss. What had I lost? I looked at her confused. She covered my dad with a white sheet and told me to leave the room as she made arrangements for his transfer. I went out and found mum there. I told her that the nurse said that
• they wanted to transfer dad. She screamed and started crying. She understood that dad was no more. She would bear the burden of raising three kids on her own. Greg came in quickly and found mum crying. He was a sharp boy and understood what had happened. He took my hand and told me that all would be well.
• We contacted dad’s relatives and started funeral arrangements. We had hospital bill to clear. Dad had listed his brother as the next of kin for all his property. He came and said he would chair the meetings for dad’s burial preparations. People came in friends, relatives and neighbors. I could see my aunts and uncles meet when other people were not around. They talked in low tones. No one knew what they were talking about. Mum was not allowed to take part in the meetings. When she asked what had been planned, she was told to sit back and wait for things to unfold.
• We held a fundraising at our home in aid of the hospital bill and funeral expenses. We did not know how much was contributed. Rumors had it that it was enough to clear the bill. However, our uncles told us that they had to sell a portion of our land to cater for the expenses. Mum was at her lowest moments. She couldn’t think well. She agreed to everything that she was told. Little did she know that she was giving away her kids’ inheritance.
• We buried dad on a Friday. This is a day I will never forget. We entered the house to find our belongings packed. We were called for an urgent meeting. One of my uncles said that they would not continue staying with someone whom they didn’t know her background. We were therefore required to take everything that belonged to us. Actually, it was everything that they found fit for us to carry. We carried our luggage without knowing where we were to go. We walked and walked, until the night fell. We were too tired to walk. We found shelter under a tree and slept there. Anita was shivering in cold. She opened her bag to get one of her jackets. We found that they had not packed any for us. They had packed the old clothes only. Even my red dress, the one dad had bought me for my birthday wasn’t there. Mum told us that dad had deposited some amount in her account. It would be enough us to get a room in town and maybe pay school fees for the next term. Her words were consoling. She seemed very strong. She might have been struggling hard not to mourn her husband at this time. She was the remaining parent we now had. Even the relatives we could count on had driven us away from the place we called home. The next day we continued walking until we came to a nearby ATM machine. Mum withdrew some money and got us something to eat. We reached town and she booked us to a hotel. She did not rest. She left to go find a place to rent.
• In the evening, she came back with a cab and told us that she had gotten a single room that would be our home from then. We were driven to the place. It was very small, but better than spending the night out as we had done the previous night. She bought a mattress. It would be our bed from then on. The four of us were to share the mattress. Time was not on her side. She had to provide food and education for her children anyway. She told us that she would go job hunting. It was very difficult for her. Every place she went to asked for her education certificates. She only had the primary school certificate. Every place she went, she was turned down.
• The next month, we were to open school. We were shocked to find out that our relatives had not packed our school uniform. Mum told us that she would try to get us the uniforms, at least one set each. She paid the school fees for the whole year for us. She said that she didn’t want her children to be the laughing stock for the school for lack of school fees. She advised us to work hard in school and not let the situation we were in bring us down.
• Mum decided to be washing clothes for people in the current neighborhood. She would wash for around five homes in a day. She also got a job as a bar tender in the nearby town, not very far from home. I would wake up very early in the morning, prepare my siblings for school and come to make supper in the evening. Mum would be in her first home for cleaning by 6.00 a.m. This routine made her sick. She developed chest complications due to exposure to cold. Even at this time, she wouldn’t rest. I took up the role of a mother to my siblings while she took up the role of a father. I would help my siblings with their homework before doing mine. This made me very exhausted.