As a young boy, excitement had begun to build inside my mind. My grandfather was the right person we needed at that very moment. I dropped the task Mother assigned to me, quickly ran to him and embraced him. It was then that Mother saw him. Still holding him by the hand, grandfather and I walked the remaining part of our compound to meet Mother, who greeted him, looking at his troubled eyes and at the crying baby. Grandfather said nothing as he made for the closest seat
He sat silently, cracking the joints of his fingers. His face betrayed his sadness. Since the dead and eventual burial of his son, my father, it seemed as though all the anger that had hitherto been in the family was buried along with him, too. Each moment grandfather was at the house, memories of the past would flood his aging heart. Now, even as he sat, looking at one direction, he seem to be remembering many things. He looked up at Mother again.
“My daughter, how are you today?”
“I am fine, father. I’ve been busy with the children since morning; I should have come over with some food for you. How are you doing?” Mother asked.
That was one of her many fine gestures: thinking about the happiness and satisfaction of others.
“Don’t worry. I really understand that it has not been easy with you, taking care of these children and this large compound all alone. I have seen your efforts since the death of my son. That was why I chose you for him. You are a woman capable of living, with or without a man, one who can live with an only son despite discouragement from people. I am only disturbed by two things: One is that I would soon die and the burden of the family will increase when I am gone. The other is that you are too young to continue alone. I wouldn’t want you to risk opportunities that getting married to men of your heart would afford you, all in the effort to make my grandchildren happy. You are still young and very few men can resist you. It is a risk to keep you here all alone with the children”.
“What do I do? Nwandu is dead and you are too old to carry the burden of these children. I am afraid that no man would care for them the way he would to his own children. They are still too young to be left alone. I want to be here… I want to be here… I want to sit here to see the end of it all.” Mother was almost crying as she said this.
Grandfather was silent again. It was true. It would be unkind of Mother to abandon us now that we were still young. Grandfather had mentioned that name, my father’s name, which returns all memories to Mother. It was like an old wound to her now.
“No, my daughter,” he began, breaking the silence that seemed too stretched for some time, “you shall not see the end of anything. You are too young to continue here with us. I have no other son to remarry you and take care of you. You know how all my male children died in a fire outbreak with their Mother, and that only Nwandu was saved by his chi. Even at that young age, when he was still too young to know his brothers, Nwandu was the only thing I had.”
By now, Mother’s eyes were fully in tears. Discussing our future and my late father was the only thing that could make her cry. I was not happy with this, even grandfather too had regret showing on his face. He was the cause and he admitted he was. I moved closer to her and rested my head on her shoulder as was my habit whenever I saw her crying. Grandfather was right- Mother was too young to be a widow. I looked her over again. Mother was a tall charming woman, whose beauty could be wasted if she continued with us. Hers was a beauty that eclipsed other girls’ own in the village. It was so intimidating that she was called Mkpurumma by the villagers. My father, as I was told, had competed against many young men of his age in the village for her hand in marriage. When he succeeded in winning her love, he did not hesitate in paying the bride price that was said to be the most expensive ever in Umuoka. The day she was handed over to my father, people came to her with various gifts and blessings. Now, as I looked at her, I realized that the saying that “Good things never last” was true.