Dr Fixit (371 - 380)

 371

as husband. But Moonit had no choice.

She'd given herself away when she did toss

cheaply herself at the boy (the elders believed)

but all that was being done was to see that relieved

of any bondage of guilt was Ma Moonit

as it was ingrained quite deep

in most folks' minds, especially the males,

that the mother had an inkling the gates

were being crashed by the daughter.

How would she not know these deeds would hurt her?

372

Pa Moonit wasn't around. Moonit lost

her father a few years back as he coughed

persistently till his demise. From things surfed

from the net, I now believe what killed him

was tuberculosis - scanty and dim

was the knowledge of this deadly disease

which left Moonit and her sisters deceased

quite early in life. Now, I'd answer 

that question that for long had lingered 

373

in your mind - how came Ma Moonit

was the co-wife of my grandma? They did,

that is the two women, marry the same man

who was the uncle to Pa Moonit. In our clan,

it was tradition that when a man died,

his wives - with kids or advanced - could decide 

to stay; or move on if still young.

In staying, our folks felt it was wrong 

for the women to be on their own.

If the children weren't old enough their home

374

and inheritance to protect, they'd be under 

automatically the shield of an elder,

male of course, eligible and willing 

(a kin of the deceased) to step into the ring

and start shouldering all the responsibilities.

That was what Pa Moonit did. But the inanities 

for grandma was that the young man

wasn't his mate, so she rebuffed his plan

to add her to his list of wives 

and by her late husband's design, she thrived

375

in the compound for he'd said it

before his death to the hearing of all (an edict

are the last words of a dying person 

across our clan) that grandma's eviction 

from his side that not even death would initiate

and who'd dare do it death would embrace.

That was how grandma stayed on in the compound.

Again, inheritance across the clans

in Antburg is solely through the males.

So what would happen if the tales

376

of my grandma and Ma Moonit drew 

ultimately to an end with the two

having only female children? My grandpa,

maternal that is, was a bit gaga

(like most men then) putting the blame

of having a girl instead of a boy child on the frame 

of grandma. They said he was filled with fury

and would've left on grandma life-threatening injury 

if not for the robust intervention 

of grandma's brothers and the initiation 

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of divorce followed immediately.

That was how grandma left her first hubby 

who was my maternal grandpa, an ignoramus,

who figured his own child as a minus 

because it turned out a girl. He named her

'Unhappyit' but grandma did counter

that evil name with a good one,

'Firstit'. Grandma got her first grandson

from her daughter and he turned a man

bestriding the universe with a grand plan

378

and inevitably would be crowned 

the duke under the entire plants.

Meanwhile, grandpa reaped his unhappiness 

his entire life. Grandma's loveliness 

shone bright in her second union 

with a lovely man who did function 

as a lay at the altar. Grandma bore

her second child but something sore 

happened as she passed on while still an infant.

And in a time not too distant,

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the husband followed. Grandma was still young

to remarry and had many men who longed 

to have her as wife but based on the utterance 

of her beloved husband, she took the stance 

to stay put and tend the legacy

that was handed over to her. The tendency ,

with no direct male child for the main actors,

was that legacy was in contention for a core factor 

for inheritance was by direct lineage.

This became a costly intrigue but the stage 

380

for now is too early for this - I know 

you're seeing the end of this film would slow

your appetite to watch the start.

In Elementary Three, I practiced hard 

to write legibly with pencil and draw.

In my free time, I was shown how to use the saw

and vice by the welders but I was never

comfortable with the electron light. It's glimmer

wasn't good for anyone's eyes. Bulging and reddish 

were those of the welders'. I did relish