Of tales, ardency and consequently, getting the knack to weather life's storms

”I will forfeit everything for you my brothers. I opt to hustle so you can thrive. I know you will definitely fortify me then”

Richard, Ronald and Rick were raised by their father, who following the demise of his wife, tussled to confer an average life to his three sons. Sadly, he too met his end a few years later. Needless to say, kith and kin of the deceased vowed at the funeral to not desert the orphans; “we shall all take care of you, our brother’s sons...” they promised. Consequently, their bereavement was less agonizing owing to their conviction that they were blessed with very compassionate paternal kinsmen. However, these were obviously sailors’ promises. This marked the genesis of adversity for the boys. They endured suffering of all sorts ranging from going without food sometimes and being banished from school attributed to lack of fees.

Rick, the youngest, had always been the studious one from a really tender age and notwithstanding the fact that he adored all three of his sons, their father was always well-pleased with him. Well, the little man devised ways to guarantee that they were able to access the basic necessities of life. The most brilliant one was encouraging his brothers to catch fish from the ponds in their vicinity which they sold in the village market. This enabled them get by somehow. 

Fast forward a few months, he engaged his brothers in a heart to heart one quiet night and proposed that he kept selling fish as his elders resumed school since they were almost done with their respective courses. Luckily, they were receptive and unanimously approved the idea zealously.

Rick was such an enterprising boy and being at the prime of his life, acquired other hands-on skills such as woodwork. He was able to establish his own furniture workshop and by virtue of his tenacity, humility, forbearance and honesty, thrived. 

He saw his brothers through school and aided the set up of a little business when they were finally done with their studies. Given that jobs were hard to come by, they ventured into salon business; this was barely gainful. Conceivably, they would despair sometimes, arguing that the Most High had forsaken them. However, they soldiered on, prayed and hoped against hope that He would “fanute” their situation in due course. 

One night, whilst Richard (the oldest) had gone to the fuel station to get diesel for their salon generator; he chanced upon an old friend from High School. This guy possessed an aura of an affluent person; judging by the ride he had and the garb he donned. Opportunely, he didn’t disregard the ragged Richard; he was actually overjoyed to see him again. Well, imaginably, they arranged to get together and catch up.  This was “the silver lining on Richard’s rainbow”. His friend intimated on how he made headway and offered to help him out as well. This entailed going overseas as that was where he was based. He only had to raise enough to get the documents required so he could join him in the United Kingdom. Richard cashed in on this once in a lifetime prospect. Rick saved the day, naturally, by raising the money his elder brother needed to realize this dream.  

Heaven must have been smiling down on him in view of the fact that within just a year; Richard was able to obtain oodles of money, so much so that he sent enough back home to enhance his siblings’ lives.

He returned home with his wife; a girl he met overseas; fell in love with and married. Ronald too introduced his spouse and they all lived in one mansion as had always been their plan since they were little i.e. to not ever be separated. Rick’s marital status was still a mystery though.

Back home, they established a number of businesses using the capital Richard had accumulated during his stay in the Diaspora. Since Ronald had always worked at the small salon, it was developed into the best of its kind in the region. Rick being the go-getter he had always been opted to expand his furniture business and hooked the juiciest deals in the region due to the attributes he possessed as I already mentioned earlier. Richard ventured into car importation trade. They lived harmoniously as one big family and enjoyed a lavish lifestyle thenceforth.

Nevertheless, issues sprouted when Rick finally invited his girlfriend to live with them. Rita was a true definition of a “village girl”. Evidently, Rick being the self-effacing person he had always been, stuck with his kind. This girl was all fingers and thumbs; a thing that irked the elder boys. She, akin to her boyfriend Rick had not had the chance to finish school and hence fell short of so much in respect to etiquette et al.

This sourced scuffles in the family as they were always picking on their little brother’s girlfriend. They disapproved of his choice for a woman and demanded that he ditched her for someone deserving of their now famed family name. Rick disregarded them; they had been childhood sweethearts and she had stuck by him through it all. She was his soul mate!

One fateful day, something was amiss with the family furniture business somehow and apparently it was Rick’s doing. A horrible squabble ensued and the elder brothers hurt him in both physical and emotional ways he never imagined they ever would. Ronald pushed the envelope by saying Rick’s illiteracy would be their undoing. What’s more, he referred to him as the black sheep of the family and that their father would have been awfully upset with him had he still been around. This was to be the dawning of animosity amongst the brothers!

Rick was dumbfounded; he had endured so much for his brothers, in spite of the fact that he was their junior. He was intensely distressed that he packed his stuff and stormed out of the family house. Unfortunately, Rita oblivious of this incident went looking for him at the mansion. She was thrown out and warned never to set foot in that compound ever again.

She was able to find Rick at work. Nevertheless, amidst all the dreadful feelings he harboured at that point, he was very spiteful and asked her to stay away from him as she was the root of the wrangles in his family. She tried to engage him in a heart to heart to attempt and fathom the series of events leading to his overly iniquitous resolution. Nevertheless, he was aloof by virtue of all the hurt and emotions overwhelming him. 

Rita was an orphan as well and had moved to the city at his request; asking her to go was disheartening since she had nowhere else to go. She belonged with Rick. When night fell, she went sneaking into the mansion and fortunately bumped into Richard’s wife who was a good hearted woman. She explained the situation and they agreed to have her live stealthily in the guest bedroom until they both found an enduring solution. 

In the wee hours of the night, a scream as loud as a police siren engulfed the house and piled one and all out of their sleep. It was Rita; the happenings of that day had caused a really bad dream; 

In her quest for vengeance against this family for hurting her so much, she poisoned their meal and whoever partook of the food died; save for Richard’s wife who was asleep. She found Rita laughing out loud at her successful revenge while hurling insults at the lifeless bodies and without much as a second thought, she stabbed her with the knife she had been using to peel her apple.

Rita awoke in a sweat!

It was utter disarray in the house as all and sundry sought to ascertain the origin of the racket, what it was and who/what had caused it. Rita was shaken by the nightmare and as such was breathing so heavily that Ronald picked up on the sound. He pushed the door open and found her bundled up in the washroom like a frightened little cat. They were in astonishment and angered by the fact that she had crept into the mansion and managed to slumber in the guest room. They pounced on her, hurled insults and pushed the envelope by ousting her in the dead of night.

She beseeched for mercy in vain; braved the streets and opted to take shelter by the overhang of a half-completed dilapidated building with hope of proceeding to wherever at the crack of dawn. Here; she napped, oblivious of the fact that it was a spot for vagabonds. Alas! They found her; unaccompanied and hence powerless; took turns at sexually assaulting her and left her for dead after the disgraceful act. When she came to at dawn, the poor girl was in a hospital bed. Reminiscing on what had befallen her the previous night shredded her entire being. 

Rick got wind of this; was deeply wounded by his brothers’ deed and naturally, set out to reproach them. He was besieged with anger. The animal in him came out this time and on getting to the mansion, bashed all his brothers’ cars. They engaged in a very nasty brawl amidst screams by their wives. However, Rick was overpowered by his elders who clobbered him to pulp imposing hospitalization.  

While recuperating, he took time to soul search, made a few mental notes and decisions. Consequently, he opted to leave and seek a clean slate in a far-flung city. Tony, the same benevolent person who helped Richard, took him in and helped him bounce back. 

It wasn’t long before Rick was thriving again. It was bound to happen owing to his willpower and assiduous temperament. Subsequently, he married his childhood beloved Rita and jointly, they started a novel beautiful family. 

Back at home (in respect to his brothers), the state of affairs was distressing. The furniture business had collapsed; only Rick had the prowess at that stuff; Ronald’s wife was an irresponsible woman who squandered the husband’s wealth and to top it off, Richard started to lose lucrative deals in his car import business. 

Richard and Ronald were due for their rude awakening! It is amazing how humbling such moments are! They discerned their faults and attributed their failures to how badly they had treated their little brother. They vowed to stick it out and make things right by him no matter what it took. The first step was to find him and with their tail between their legs atone for their past slip-ups. 

Nonetheless, he was still too scarred; recollections of all they had put him through flooded his mind and immobilized him from keenly taking them back. On the flipside, the leap of faith had been taken; they had sought him out! This significantly warmed his heart. The trio buried the hatchet; they comprehended and appreciated the reality that at any rate, family matters the most! 

*Deep sigh* 

I suck at tale narration! Nevertheless, I had to give it a shot this one time; inspired by a whatsapp chat I had with a rocky buddy a few days ago. She was distraught owing to the fact that a supposedly bosom friend she bailed out a number of times had disregarded her in the worst of ways when she needed some help. I was like “My dear, if ever you feel obliged to do something for anyone, anything at all, never expect reciprocation. Do it by virtue of your big heart and immense desire to have the world smiling. Yes, a good turn deserves another, however, that is just as far as the adage goes; it is simply that; a saying”

Many a time, if we’re ardent enough, we get the knack of significant life issues and are profoundly enthused by the most plain of things. It could be a movie, mate’s experience, songs, novels et al.

Well, here below are my lessons drawn from the story;

• Benevolence shouldn’t be in anticipation of rewards and/or reciprocation.
• Yes, trust; however, there will be treachery. It is archetypal of humans
•  Forbearance will come in handy; whatever you do
• Desist from making promises you don’t intend to honour. Makes you lose credibility 
• Blood is thicker than water, hahaha...so the old adage goes. Take note 
•  Commit to memory people that aided your success. You just never know!

Wishing you a fruitful February, 2015!