To Lidia, their pleas were empty and senseless. Why did it have to take them so long to realize the truth? Or, what was after their life that they now wanted forgiveness? Who on earth could believe such empty pleas?
“We were misled by fellow villagers that you killed my brother, that’s why we behaved awkw
ardly during the funeral ceremony. We’re really very sorry, please accept our apologies, mama!!” Cried the sister in-law, while kneeling on the floor.
“After some fifteen years you have realised that we were not responsible for your brother’s death, who told you that we did not murder him?” Lidia confronted them.
“Please mama, forgive us, to err is human. You know how people in town are different from us villagers. Any death, whether an accident or coming from natural diseases is regarded as foul play in our superstitious life. Francis was bigger than our whole village and his death could not easily be accepted by the villagers, including the village headman himself- please forgive us!!” she continued.
Lidia closed her eyes and her memory raced back fifteen years ago. Indeed death separates people from each other, it brings pain, sorrow, endless tears and sometimes hatred, but at times death brings love, unity and hardworking amongst people. She was reminded of her late husband Francis.
Francis Paulo was a very rich man who was living in Chinsewu community. He was kind, humble and loved to help others achieve their dreams and goals. A married man with four daughters. He faced a lot of problems with his wife Lidia just because they had no son.
Their daughters were all successful in school. The first born was working whilst the three others were still in school. Francis and Lidia tried all their best to give the very best to their daughters and that made many people to envy them.
There was a day when Francis fell ill. It was just a slight fever that started in the morning and Francis swallowed some painkillers to ease the pain but that did not help. In the evening the pain got worse, and he was rushed to one of the special hospitals where he was to receive treatment but unfortunately Francis died at the hospital’s entrance door.
Lidia was left mouth agape. Why would Francis die at such a time when the family especially the daughters needed him most. It seemed she was left in an empty dark room that had no windows. The death of her beloved husband and best friend indeed brought her into the pit of misery and pain.
Francis’ body was taken to the mortuary, whilst there his relatives said they wanted his body to be buried where his late parents were buried but Lidia’s relatives did not support the idea, they said Francis was a big man and for that he needed to be given a respectable burial right in the community where he built his house. But Francis’ relatives insisted that the body be buried at his home village. The next day’s evening a convoy drove back from the town mortuary to Chinsewu community. Many gave their last respects to his remains before they started off for his home village.
When they arrived at the village the casket was respectfully carried into the house of Francis’ sister. It was a very painful moment and hurts were in the hearts of many. From nowhere, Francis’ sister began to fight everybody who was in the funeral house. She started screaming, shouting that Lidia and her hopeless daughters were the ones responsible for her brother’s death.
She went on to chant that since they had succeeded in killing her only surviving brother they were not welcome to attend the funeral ceremony, the villagers started throwing stones to those who were at Lidia’s side. Dogs were unleashed and panga knives flew past their heads as the irate villagers chased them away from the compound. By God’s grace a truck that was carrying the church members from Chinsewu saved them from the angry villagers who almost killed Lidia and her daughters.
The boys in the truck fought hard with the villagers until they all ran back to the funeral compound. It was a shame that all the fighting was taking place while Francis’ body was in the funeral house.
The death of Francis brought misery to the family. With all the quarrels, Lidia and her daughters could not be given anything from Franci’s estate. To survive, Lidia started a small business of ordering and selling tomatoes, sometimes Irish potatoes and would come back at night. She had to do this for the family to survive and her daughters to go to school.
Eight years of such hard labour enabled all the daughters to complete their studies. Two daughters got their degrees and the other two got professional diplomas. By God’s grace, they all got employed. Because they knew where they were coming from, they all worked hard in their respective jobs. They rose in their ranks and built their mother a mansion and bought her two trucks and two grinding mills to support her livelihood. With such assets, Lidia became a successful business woman. She opened two shops and her workers who from time to time travelled to various countries to buy items for the shops to sale. All the daughters got married with men of high ranks in society and lived so well.
One day, Francis’ sister and her sons came to town to seek Lidia’s forgiveness.
She had realized her mistakes and wanted to make amends with her late brother’s family. The only thing she hoped for was to have peace once again like how it was before her brother passed on. She tried had to apologize and be accepted back into the warm hands of love and unity of Lidia but it still seemed hard to get it all back to the tune it used to be.
“The villagers only wanted to see me suffer, they never wished me well in any way. That was why it happened that way” Francis’ sister said with tears on her face.
Blood is thicker than water, the old adage goes. The following weekend, Lidia and her four daughters set off to Chinsewu village in their huge executive cars to unveil the towels of their husbands, mother and father in-laws. At least to give a decent resting place to a man who had made their family what it was. A man who they all loved but had departed without a farewell.
“We all loved you but you departed too soon.”
Reading the white words on a black tombstone that was placed on Francis’ grave. When they departed, Francis’ sister was given a grinding mill and one seven-ton lorry filled with bags of maize to start a business.
“May your soul rest in peace, Francis” were Lidia’s last words as the convoy turned back heading to town.
THE END
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