TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 46
Engineer Collins was perplexed when he was told Allen wanted to buy land outside the family compound to build for his nuclear family. It hurt him that Allen would betray him like this. He was his first son and owed it to him to act appropriately.
Hope didn’t agree. She told her husband to his face that he was a selfish human being. If things didn’t go his way then he tries to shoot it down. “You intimidated Olivia into leaving him for Adaeze and you won. Olivia couldn’t take the heat and left. But, you haven’t made such an attempt on Precious, why? You knew Precious can’t be intimidated. She has no skeleton in her cu-pboard which Allen doesn’t know of now. And, she wouldn’t leave Allen if you say so. The girl is right for Allen. They have a beautiful relationship. It will be disgraceful to you if Allen builds this house where he wants to and abandons you for your relatives when you die. He has said he is cutting off completely from you; he is disowning you as his father. Call him now and appease him otherwise this house will lie in desolate with no one bearing your name willing to stay in it. It will start from when you are still alive until the time you die and beyond. You know what happens to those who don’t have sons and wise daughters. Elvis is not interested in anything that has to do with Nigeria. If he comes for our burial, we will be thankful. Think about it.”
Hope hit the nail on the head. His family members and other extended relatives have been asking questions. He was alone in the village. Hope comes to check on him every quarter for a week and goes back to her lover. There was no intimacy between them, just cordial friendship. Since Allen turned his back on his father, she felt sorry for him and showed her face as often as she could. The family expected her to relocate to the village with her husband but she stood her ground.
If Allen succeeds in building a structure outside the family, it will give credence to their speculation. He had to do something fast to stop him. If it meant lowering his pride and accepting PB, then he would do it. He didn’t have the strength anymore to fight. He had taken stock of his life and realized how much he had messed it up.
His fear was PB gloating at beating him to his own game. She had stolen his son’s heart, soul and body. He was aware Allen had side pieces when he was with Olivia, he set up some of them without his knowledge to use against her. He was supposed to be a chip off the old block but PB had tied him down. All the girls he had se-nt to se-duce him never worked. He wondered what she used to hold him. She had held him for years, but with what? What if she is diabolic? She didn’t look, act or even seem the type.
His daughter, PY, was un-der her spell too. Everything he did to separate them never worked. She supported PY against him until she took her last breath. She had been working against him. Simon fell un-der the same spell. He gave the children to PB instead of to them who just last a daughter. He would have split the children between both parents but he gave his two children to PB. “se-nseless fool,” he said un-der his breath. He always held it against Simon when he brou-ght the lady he wanted to get marry. He still wasn’t taking the children from PB. Why?
But now his hands were tied. His reputation is against his conviction. He had to swallow his pride and contact Allen to discuss this issue. He was scared he will do his wife’s bidding by not adhering to his request to see him. His wife thought otherwise but he wasn’t convinced. There was no harm in trying anyway.
Engineer Collins Okoli called his son on the phone. Allen was shocked when he saw the caller id and who it was. He didn’t expect his father to call him. He was in bed with PB when the phone rang and he showed her the caller id. She urged him to pick the call.
“Hello, good evening.”
“Good evening, Allen. This is your father. I want to discuss with you. Due to my condition, I can’t come to Lagos so I appeal to you to come to the village for the meeting.”
“Ok. When can we have this meeting?”
“Can you come tomorrow?”
“If I am coming, I will come with my wife.”
Engineer Collins was silent for a few seconds. He then responded, “Ok, if you want to.”
“And she will not be disrespected.”
“I know. I will expect you tomorrow.”
They ended the call.
Allen turned to PB and said, “We are going to the village.”
“Must I go? He wants to talk to you.” PB replied.
“Not without you. We are though with family members that don’t respect us. We don’t nee-d them. When they are ready, they will look for us. I have avoided my father but now I want to build outside the family stead, he realizes the implication and called me. Look, babe, if you are not by my side, I am not going. We fought for this day to come and it has come now. You didn’t want me to build outside the family compound so you will go with me to convince him to accept you and our children into the family. If you refuse to go, then I am not going. Book the flight.”
They went for the meeting the next morning. When they entered the compound, Allen and PB were amazed at the number of people that came to welcome them. What could have happened?
“Our wife, welcome. Allen, she is so beautiful, you chose well.”
“Allen, thank you for bringing our wife home. It has been a long time we saw you. God bless you.”
“Where are the children? Your father said you have two children with her. Nna, you are a sharpshooter. You would have brou-ght them too let us meet them. They nee-d to know where they are from. Daalu.”
And many more comments welcoming them. Allen didn’t un-derstand his father’s game plan but it seemed to be working. They were well received.
He met his father in his sitting room. Two of his brothers were with him alongside Dr Hope. She welcomed them and led them to Collins. PB knelt to greet him as she did to all those older than her as a mark of respect. Allen pulled her from the ground.
One of his uncles admonished him, “Leave her, that is how they greet where she is from. It shows she was very well trained. Welcome our wife, come and have a seat.”
Collins invited his son to the smaller sitting room so they could talk. He stood up and dragged PB with him. Hope joined them, she was scared things might get out of hand.
Collins welcomed them again and then spoke, “I was reliably informed that you wanted to dishonour me by building your obi outside our family. You should be mature enough to know where to draw a line to disrespecting your family especially I, your father, who is highly respected in this village. I do not know why you wanted to do it but in everything you do, you should consider how it will affect you too. You will lose your honour amongst your brethren and also tarnish whatever reputation you have left. I can un-derstand why you considered it but it was a wrong move to even consider making.”
“I love my culture and I wanted my family to have a first-hand feel of it without the barbaric and archaic traditions. You told me my wife wouldn’t be welcome here. You made me take my family to my maternal home where I was welcomed with open arms. Once my wife is not accepted here, then I am not. Having all these people around to try to convince me to come back wouldn’t work.”
Hope spoke up, “It wasn’t your father who asked them to come, I did. I didn’t want any outburst; we have to resolve this amicably. I have cleared the air, over to both of you.”
“This house belongs to you, Allen, as my first son. Your son will inherit it after you and so shall it be handed down. I know it will be modified and newer designs installed but at least the structure and its position will remain. This is my heart desi-re.”
“I don’t want the house. A house my wife was refused from entering cannot belong to me. If I inherit it, I will pull it down and build a house which she can own honourably. That is what I want.”
“You are being difficult. When you went ahead to marry this girl against my wish, I didn’t say anything when I was informed. I would have stopped my family members from honouring your invitation but I didn’t. I wanted you to see for yourself what you were getting into. Didn’t you see how her family members treated you like a nobody? It was what I was expecting. You disgraced yourself by going to live in the house of a woman. I know everything. You still married her even with the disrespect. I have nothing against Precious but I know her and her family; you will never be good enough.”
‘Just like she isn’t good enough for you? She isn’t bringing business ties therefore she isn’t worthy? You are no different from her siblings; no, they are by far better than you. Their motive, even though selfish, was well un-derstood. What is your motive for separating us? Because Precious is the only one that can challenge. She can look you in the face and stand up to your rants. She wouldn’t put up with your misbehaviour and insults. That’s why you don’t like her. O, it is because my late sister chose her over you. You have always been selfish but this time, you went way over your head, this girl won’t be dragged down by you. Keep your house, it is useless to me and my family. When you are gone, then I will demolish it and build where my family will live.”
“Hope, you can hear your son. Imagine what he is saying to his father.” Collins said to his wife.
Hope was offended, “You started it. Why didn’t you go straight to the point, why talk about his wife and her family in her prese-nce? How does it concern you? They have rise-n above it and they are doing very well. I have shown you the mansion he is living in now with his family. The house in Adeniyi Jones was inherited by Precious. She leased it to her brothers for ten years. They have made good money ff them. That is how to deal with erring poke nosing relatives. In your case, it is to bulldoze your house that is the plan. You don’t listen. You have to accept and respect Precious if you want your son back. No Precious, no Allen, it is as simple as that.”
Collins was shocked at her utterance, “So you are supporting them?”
“I am telling you the truth. This is not the time to pamper your ego; how many more years do we have left? You have lost relationships with your grandchildren, none of them is here disturbing you calling you grandpa. You are here alone a sick lonely old man. Instead of you making amends, you are fighting invisible enemies. Precious, please don’t be offended.”
Precious replied quickly, “I am not offended; I am used to the way he speaks to and about me. He is old and it is too late for him to change. That doesn’t mean I support Allen. I never supported him building outside the family covering, that is not how it is done. We shouldn’t build at all than to build outside expo-sing the lap-ses of the family. But I support him in demolishing this house to build beautiful memories in the new structure. Since we can’t build them until his father leaves the earth, then we will build them after he is gone. We can get to know the family members by building a guest house and staying in it when we are around. I can’t for-ce someone to like me but I expect some mutual respect when we are for-ced to be in the same space for whatever reason. With Allen’s father, it is impossible. I stand with whatever Allen decides.”
“Both of you have plans of demolishing my house. I will haunt you from the….”
Hope cut Collins short and said, “Stop br@gging and apologise to your son and his wife, they can see throu-ghyou. Let them forgive your errors in the past and make your remaining years joyous for you. They are the only ones that can do that; they hold the aces.”
Collins was defeated. He looked from an angry Allen to a very composed PB and then said, “Hope is right. I apologise for everything I have done and said. Allen has chose-n to be with Precious for the rest of his life, I don’t have a choice but to accept it too. I wouldn’t say more than this for now. I have made mistakes and so have you. I can see you truly love her so I give my support. I expected her to walk out from this meeting but she sat calmly beside you and when you were about to explode, I watched her hand squee-zeyours and you calmed down. I like that. The first wife to fully control her husband in our family. Welcome to the family Precious.”
“Thank you, sir,” PB replied. She wasn’t convinced at the swift change of mind and apology but then, that was all she could get. She knew pride was Collins problem. He hated to be challenged and also proved wrong. He must have weighed his options before agreeing to apologise. The apology must have been Hope’s idea. She wanted her son and husband to reconcile. It was a good idea and if they were all civil with each other, it could work.
When they joined the others in the larger sitting room, Collins introduced PB properly as his daughter-in-law. That was the right step in the right direction. He prayed for both of them and asked them to visit more often.
When they went out to leave for the airport, Hope told them, “Try and spend more time with him, he is lonely. Today, you can see how happy he was when people respected him for doing the right thing. If you visit again, he will regain his self-respect; he will never want to lose it again. How many years is even left for us to live?”
PB replied, “We will do what you have said. Allen will visit at least once a month while I visit quarterly and bring the children during the Christmas holiday. Is that ok?”
“My child, I trust you will help them heal properly. Thank you.”
Allen stared at his wife on the trip to the airport. She was different and in control all the time. She ha-rdly flays up; she argues with facts. She was different from the women who nag and banter. She has given him peace since they have been together. His love for her grew at that instant. He knew she would do what she said she would do.
When they entered their bedroom after arriving in Lagos, he pulled her close and said to her, “I swear to you today, I will never betray and I will always be by your side. Overlook my shortcomings please, just know you will always come first. I love you and it is for eternity.”
It made PB cry. She held unto him and cried. She felt they could conquer all together and he was proving it now. She loved him with her whole being and there was nothing he would do that would make her leave him. That was how de-ep her love was.
Tbc