“Young man. I want to believe that you would go by the rules?”
“I will give the appropriate answer to you if I get the rules.”
“Good. Before we commence, I would administer an oath of secrecy that you would not divulge any facts that you would find out from our transactions.”
“I see, Dr. Parker. If I may ask, do you do the same to all your suppliers,” Denise asked, and played the ostrich.
“Certainly. This is a serious business, and it requires commitment.”
“I got it, Dr. Parker. I would have love to visit your country for that, but I am scared of the war.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Only let me know when you would like to come.”
“I will revert, Dr. Parker.”
“I will wait.”
Nevertheless, Dr. Parker contacted Mr. Abel at once, and informed him that there was a need to obtain more arms because the rebels were out to attack. To give credence to his claim, there was a bomb blast in the city that same day, and many lives, and properties were lost. Nevertheless, Mr. Abel was panicky, and he reasoned that Denise should hasten his intervention, and he contacted him at once.
A Week Later – At the Barracks
The members of the Bailey’s family were happily trouping to the barracks for the get-together. The Chief Host, the Patriarch, was in a high spirit. His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren were around with their spouses. Olivia was able to appreciate the size of the Bailey’s family, and she met many relations. Meanwhile, no one recognized her as the brain behind Daniel De Pianist and the Young Superstar, and she loved it that way.
‘It did not subtract a dime from my bank account,’ she reasoned, and watched other family members crowd around her husband and Tim.
Howbeit, Louis had accepted that he had forgotten about Olivia, and was waiting for his unborn baby. He was careful with the matter to avoid causing more stress to her, so he avoided the get-together.
“I can’t wait to see where the returnee kinsman would sit,” Humphrey whispered to Albert when they were walking to their tents.
“You are right. Let us watch and see whether he would sit in the same tent with Brown or Arthur.”
Be it as it may, the atmosphere was pleasant. The arrangement of the tents was done according to families. Incidentally, Arthur was the youngest and his tent was scanty. The older family heads, especially the polygamous ones, had many people in the tents. Now, Arthur had arrived with his small but mighty family, and they took their seats joyously.
“Tim, go and say ‘hello’ to your family head,” Arthur whispered, oblivious of the enemies’ watchful eyes.
“All right, father,” Tim admitted, and got up from his seat. He walked up to Brown’s tent, and gave him a tight hug. After Brown released him, he gave his wife, and as many cousins as possible hugs, before he returned to Arthur’s tent. Meanwhile, Arthur gave him a pleasant look before he took his seat.
Soon the event began. Apart from eating, wining, and relating with one another, the only ceremony for that day was to honor Arthur. The publication showed that someone would be honored, and the returnee kinsman would be welcomed, but they were not aware of the person. Then, the patriarch, who was a widower, and was seated with his children, and grandchildren, stood up for his welcome speech.
“My fellow family heads, our wives, children, grand and great-grandchildren. I…”
“Excuse me, our father,” Humphrey interrupted loudly by raising his hand. At that point, one would think that he was stung by thousands of wasps, and all eyes were on him.
“Yes. What is the challenge, Humphrey?” the astonished Patriarch queried. Then, Humphrey began to spew up the hatred he had stomached since Brown’s and Arthur’s friendship deepened.
“I have my observation about the sitting arrangement. If I understood the arrangement, every family has a tent?”
“You are right,” the Patriarch responded, and looked around for any abnormalities. Then, Humphrey continued, “I can see that our returnee kinsman is not familiar with his family, and I would like him to be directed to his rightful family. Thank you.”
Before he took his seat, he could feel the invisible daggers that stared at him.
“How does that stop the occasion?” A voice from the audience asked.
“Are you his family head?”
“Were you blind when he gave his family head a hug?”
Humphrey had never been humiliated like that in his life before like that day, especially in the presence of his wife and children, especially when the questions came from the youths. Apart from the embarrassment, he was disillusioned with Albert’s silence, and cast a malicious look at him. Meanwhile, Arthur was unfazed, and busied himself with his phone. On the other hand, Brown maintained an unreadable expression, and focused on the Patriarch. Likewise, Freya crossed her had on Tim’s shoulder, and adjusted herself. Her husband, who was sitting with Henry and his wife at the food stand, giggled.
After the berating subsided, the Patriarch believed that if he threw stones at every dog that barked at him, he would never get to his destination. So, he ignored him, and continued, “I welcome you to today’s event, …. I enjoin everyone to feel free and move around. Interact with one another because we are all one. Thank you for listening.”
After his speech, there was cheering and clapping. Meanwhile, they never missed the opportunity of praying for him, “You will live long, our Patriarch.”
“You will see many years ahead.”
Now there was music in the background, and everyone began to move around. Freya held Tim tightly by the hand, and walked through Humphrey’s tent, a walked up to Zoey and her husband. Zoey, who loved the troublesome nature of Arthur’s children, laughed loudly and responded to her greeting, “It is good to see you, Freya.”
“Thank you, auntie and uncle,” she responded, and Tim did the same. Nevertheless, Olivia, sat quietly with her mother-in-law after Denise and his father got up to walk around too. Now, Albert’s wife, Erica, walked up to Nichole, and expressed, "Nichole, I am unhappy with you. We will talk after the program.”
Now, Nichole was stunned because she could not remember ever hurting her.
“It is all right, Erica,” Nichole responded.