A Short story - A widow's woes

Should not the first meeting after Ejike’s demise, have been to arrange for the funeral, for a proper sendoff of a man who had been so benevolent to relatives and neighbors alike?

What was the hurry? Why the closed meeting? Had she no right to share whatever plans, if any, being made regarding her deceased husband?

“Ahem,” a voice intruded, jerking Amaka from her train of thoughts.

“Aha, Amaka,” the bald head, and clan chairperson, now called, beckoning Amaka to now come and take her seat.

For the previous 10 or so minutes, the group of relatives, of elderly brothers and sisters, and cousins, to the deceased had been in muffled chit-chat.

Amaka had been asked to wait from a distance as the elders shared out some ideas.

She didn’t belong to such discussions, but now she was called, the meeting was to start, and the clan council had arrived at a decision, apparently.

Amaka hurriedly returned,

“Sit down!” the baldhead, obviously impatient quickly took at her, “We need to get done quickly before we can get down to making funeral arrangements!”

Amaka’s ears easily missed everything the old man said, but her ears caught the last part….” before we can get down to making funeral arrangements!”

What could that be? She started to think, but was cut out again, this time, by a husky and heaving voice of Euosio, her late husband’s elder brother.

“Amaka, we have called this meeting to resolve the matter of Ejike’s properties!”

“Arg huh, which properties?” she started, only to elicit the wrath of the others,

“Quiet” they all said in sync.

“Who told you to talk?”

“This is not time to talk!”

“Wait for your own turn!"

“Stupid woman!”

Amaka was defeated.

Euosio continued, clearing his throat to make sure of attention.

“Amaka,” he addressed her, while pointing at the car in the yard, “Where are the keys and log book to that car? We need them here.

“Where is the land title to this house?” Euosio continued, pointing at the house, “and for the two houses in Lagos, and the one in Abuja?”

On and on, Euosio named every single property Ejike was known to have owned, finally, he summarized his ultimatums:

The car so and so would take….Amaka was a woman and had no important errands to run with the car;

the house so and so would take….she was a woman and such important assets could not be managed by her;

the clothes so and so would take….she was a woman and had no use for men’s’ clothing; the farm so and so would manage, she would just wait at home as a wife, for her share...”

On and on, ownership of every property was allocated, Amaka lost count. Even so, for all the anger that kept brewing inside her, she said nothing, responded to nothing.

Maybe it helped that she had been ordered to keep quiet.

But that was never going to take forever.

“The bald head now resumed from where Eusoio had cut him off from, “Now Amaka, quick!”, he said, “we need to get down to making funeral arrangement.

“It is all well” Amaka started, her calmness leaving everyone surprised, including the neighbors who stood watching the events not far away. Euosio, clearing his throat gave away his surprise.

The last widow, wife to Okabe, Ejike’s their youngest sibling who died a year early, had almost immediately resorted to violence, and quarreling at them for making similar claims. How come Amaka was so calm?

Either way, Euosio knew he would have his way, just like with the previous one. The elders whom he had ganged up were always the only advantage one required to shut off the women, as the village listened to and trusted in their word.

Today would be no different. Indeed, it was proving easier than he had anticipated. Amaka had surprisingly not resisted,
“You may go ahead, speak” he now encouraged Amaka.

“Everything you have asked for,” Amaka continued, “is there, and I am going to deliver them shortly”.

“Ahaaa”

“Hmmmmm!’

Murmurs of approval swept across every one, a smile even curved on Euosio’s heavy lips as he nodded his approval.

“But there is something else you have forgotten to name,” Amaka added, pausing as though to allow the words to sink in.

“Very good, Amaka! Go ahead,” the bald head encouraged,” Euosio had promised him one of the houses, if, again like the last time, he helped wrestle them off the widow, ‘What is that remaining?”

“Something Ejike liked the most!” Amaka responded, and stepping into the midst of the gathering, asked: “Who will take it?’

As the chorus of “me’ started, her next words cut them off “Here it is!” she shouted at the top of her voice, lifting her skirt.

By the time the full length of the skirt was up, the whole gathering was in disarray!

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