At Mr. Emma Aaron's Compound.
Callum was having his meal in the guest room when Emma returned. Meanwhile, he placed an order for palm wine for the fifty elders who he expected. Soon, Callum was through and joined him in the hut.
“Welcome back, my in-law,” he greeted. “Thank you, I hope you enjoyed your meal?” “As usual,” he teased. Thereafter, the elders came one after another. Incidentally, the first three elders arrived first. When they saw his car parked and saw him seated quietly in the hut with Emma, they have credence to their assertion.
“I greet you, Mr. Aaron,” they greeted one after the other.
“Welcome to my abode. I have seats,” Emma offered with an angry tone.
“Welcome my elders,” Callum greeted too, with a confusing expression. “Thank you, our in-law.”
At the exact time, seventy-five percent of the elders had arrived, and a quorum was formed. Then, Emma addressed the elders, “I thank you for honoring my invitation.”
“You are welcome.”
“It is said that, when one person sees a snake, the fear of it would magnify the snake in the eyes of the person, and make it look like a python,” Emma made his opening speech with a proverb.
“True talk,” the elders concurred. Then, he continued, “My in-law had brought disturbing news, and my ears alone could not contain it. Therefore, I have called you, to here for yourselves. I greet you all.”
Nevertheless, the three elders looked at each other and concluded that they were right. Now, everyone focused on Callum. Meanwhile, the latecomers just joined them with their wooden chairs and were trying to put their chairs down.
“Don't distract me, please. Latecomers,” one of the elders warned. “Mind your business,” one of the latecomers warned. Thereafter, they settled down quickly and watched everyone focused on Callum and Emma. “What is going on?” One of the latecomers asked. “Mind your business,” the aggrieved elder fired back.
“My elders. I greet you,” Callum, who was standing already, greeted.
“You are welcome, our in-law,” the expectant elders responded.
“It is with a heavy heart that I announced the death of my father-in-law.”
“Who is your father-in-law?” One of the elders asked hastily. He was aware that Beck was his father-in-law, but he could not imagine that he was the person he accorded so much respect.
“Mr. Beck Aaron,” the intimidated Callum announced timidly.
(Hiss. Hiss) for the first time, Emma almost laughed when he watched the body language of the elders.
“I thought they have an important thing to tell us.”
“Is that why you gathered us, Emma?”
“Has he been alive?”
“How can you address that lay about as your in-law?”
“Order,” the provost martial shouted.
At that moment, it was difficult for anyone to hear another person because everyone had one thing or the other to say against Beck.
“Order. If you say a word again without getting approval from me, then, get ready to be fined heavily.”
With the provost's warning and his intimidating aura, the noise ceased gradually, but one elder was angrier than others. He defiled the warning and stood up angrily.
“I don't mind the heavy fine, but I have to leave. Beck would not have been here if it was any of who died. He would have been roaming around town, looking for where to eat and drink without paying. I'm leaving, I have an important thing to do with my time,” the elder pointed out and dragged his chair to leave. Now, the provost was useless because many people were of the same opinion with the elder. They dragged their chairs too and concurred, “Jeremiah is right. Let's go.”
Meanwhile, the provost had no choice but to come down from his high horse and pleaded, “Jeremiah, kindly wait. We are not here because of Beck. If he sends for me, I won't honor his invitation. We are here because of our fellow elder, Emma. Besides, what will our in-law think of us? He will assume that we are all foolish like Beck.”
Nonetheless, what the provost martial could not achieve with his appearance, he got it with his eloquence. To avoid appearing foolish like Beck, they dropped their chairs and sat back. Then, Jeremiah spoke, “Our in-law, I greet you.” Now, Callum looked at him and assented to his greeting with a nod. “Do not be embarrassed with our conducts. We are not always like this. If I may ask, when did he die and in which gutter did he die?”
Before Callum would respond, another elder intercepted, “Is that necessary? Let's think of where to bury him. As you can see, he has no house again. Do we throw him in the forest or…”
“We have a tradition,” an elder interrupted. “Before we think of being part of his burial, all his outstanding bills must be cleared. Since he stopped associating with us, he had not contributed to any burial and developmental levies. Without the settlement, we will not continue this discussion. Did I say your minds, my fellow elders?"
“Certainly,” they chorused. Now, the officer in charge of money went through his records which were dated twenty years ago and discovered that his outstanding bill was mountainous, and he announced, “My fellow elders, it is an unfortunate story. I wondered how we will be able to recover this gigantic debt. Nobody had ever owed such a bill in the history of our land."
“How much?”
“Say it.”
“All right. From my records, he is indebted to us to the tune of eighty-three thousand Naira, forty-eight Kobo.”
“Hey! It is indeed high.”
'Oh my God,' Callum exclaimed within him and restrained himself from laughing at the meager amount that looked high in their eyes.
“The bill must be settled,” the elders chorused, looking at Emma and Callum. At that point, Emma, who had been observing the elders carefully, spoke in his usual skillful manner, “Thank you my fellow elders. I support all that you have said. That bill must be paid.” He pointed out as a member of the elder's forum and not as Beck's relation.
“Yes. The bill must be paid.” The elders assented, and he continued, “If I may ask, who will pay the bill? His corpse or who?”