He looked a shadow of himself-
Our father. He was struggling to say what he wanted to say. That was unusual of
my father. He was never like that. He looked as one who hasn’t caught enough
sleep lately. He looked confused and puzzled. He seemed to have lost all the
words he knew how to say to musing at us as though he pitied and feared for us.
He opened and closed his mouth, yet no sounds came out. He shivered all over
his body. Neither of us moved nor said a word, we only exchanged quizzical looks
that showed our wondering if our father was alright.
We were all calmly sitted waiting
for our father to talk or begin the meeting. It was the first time he ever
called to ask every one of us, his children to return home for a family
meeting. The urgency in his voice and the dire need with which he conveyed his
message over the phone set us alarmed. Three of my older siblings had called
simultaneously just after our father hung up after he had summoned me for the
family meeting. They felt I would have a clue being my father’s closest child.
But I had no answers. Our mother was more bothered than four of us put
together.
We all sat after dinner to listen
to what our father would say. He turned and opened the file next to him brought
out a typed written piece which he handed to the oldest of his children with
his hand shaking. My heart pounded at that instance, several thoughts of what
the paper could contain ran through my mind.
My older brother passed it to my
older sister, the first among the girls, who passed it to my immediate elder sister
who passed it to me. Yet neither of them said a word. A tear dropped from the
eyes of my immediate elder sister when she passed me the paper and went to where
my mother was and sank into the seat next to her, embracing her and whispering
gently to her. I wondered why no one said a word as I hastily looked through
the paper I had.
I noticed my father seemed a bit
comfortable now. He started recounting stories of the marriage, the courtship,
the hard times, the good times, stories we have all heard and could tell better
than him. He confessed that our mother had done nothing wrong. “But I have to
do this”, he said.
He went on to say that he has
been cheating almost all through the marriage. I noticed my elder brother’s mouth
opened and closed yet no words came out. The oldest of the girls stood and
walked from one end to another evidently trying to conceal her emotions. I
fought back the tears that gathered in my eyes.
He continued by adding that the
whole cheating became less three years ago after he met someone that he loves,
someone he can die for, someone he wished he had met earlier, someone he said
had stayed under our roof, someone whose name he mentioned. The divorce paper I
was still holding fell off my hand and those tears that I have fought fell off
my eyes. “Jesus Christ!” I shouted feeling guilty as I was the one who introduced
our father’s lover to my family.
My elder brother now spoke or
rather shouted. He shouted in such vexation that I have never seen him in. My
father was calm all the time my elder brother shouted at him. He said he would
disown my father if the divorce process wasn’t stopped, then he stormed out of
the sitting room angrily with our mother rushingly following him for reasons I
couldn’t make out.
The older of the girls queried
our father on what she would tell her children happened to their grandfather,
on what she would say brought about the divorce and why it had come when it
came. She tossed questions upon questions on our father until she probably ran
out of questions and sat.
My immediate elder sister threw
her wedding invitation card on the table asking our father who he intends would
sign her wedding documents on her wedding day in a month time. She asked him
what impression her husband’s people would have about our family.
I was so speechless. Dumb more to
say as all of us knew deep down us that nothing said or done would alter a
thing considering how stubborn and obstinate our father could be. It pained me
greatly that the 38 years marriage is ending this way, that my induction into
the medical profession wouldn’t have my family together, that our father, no my
father is leaving my mother for my boyfriend few weeks after gay marriage was legalized
in Nigeria.
Uche Ezeudu