BECAUSE OF A WOMAN

Two years after his departure from Kenya, Musani inherited a few acres of land from his old father, who passed away. He was by ordinary standards living peacefully with his wife Agwa and his mistress, Angela, whom he had brought with him from Nairobi. He had now settled as a farmer.

The two women lived on separate compounds. Musani's father had advised him upon his arrival from Kenya never to have two women living on the same compound. It would be a recipe for endless quarrels, the old man observed.

Musani had followed his old father's advice and built a small semi-permanent house for his mistress in a compound opposite where he and Agwa lived.

Agwa was a tall, plump, and attractive woman. She was about twenty-eight years and had given birth to three boys and a girl. All her children had been born at Mubende.

Mukama, the eldest boy, had large protruding eyes with bushy eyebrows. At nine years, he was dark skinned. He was his father's favourite son because he was very obedient. Mukama loved telling his father whatever took place at their home, especially during his absence.

He was said to be his father's ear; his intelligence officer, as it would be said in official settings. It was probably this habit of reporting others that made him his father's favourite son.

His younger brother, Nsubuga, was aged seven years. He was a short and a dark-skinned boy who was quite troublesome. He had ringworms on his head, and his hair was brown and short. He liked quarrelling with children from the neighbourhood and so became one of the most hated boys in their village at the outskirts of Mubende.

His small eyes, which looked like those of Chinese, always made the village boys make fun of him when they touched the sides of their own eyes as they tried to pull and make them look small.

Bukirwa was the youngest boy aged five years. Small and light complexioned, he was quite a humble boy who always played peacefully with his brothers and even children in the neighbourhood.

It was for this reason that Agwa loved him. He was almost Jacob's size; he, too, was short and averagely built with sharp brown eyes. His black hair was short but always oiled.

Mire, their only sister, was aged three years. She was a little girl who was always crying for her mother's attention and never let Agwa take a rest. While her brothers were busy looking after cattle in the grazing fields next to their home, Mire could be seen playing outside near their mother's grass thatched kitchen.

A year after their arrival, Angela had given birth to a girl and named her Nabbu. It was her mother's name, and she felt duty bound to honour her mother. Although she was happy she had given birth to a girl, she knew Musani was expecting a boy.

She was also pleased Jacob now had a sister in place of his twin brother, who was hundreds of miles away from them.

When they arrived at Mubende and she observed the lifestyle in Musani's home, Angela realised she had to struggle hard to feed her own children. Musani could not even afford to buy his children good shoes, and they all had to settle for thongs.

At times, the children had to walk barefooted. Like Agwa, she also lived in a small semi-permanent house but on the opposite side of the compound where she kept her dog and pigeons. She was very far away from her relatives in Kenya, and there was no one she could confide in except God.

She believed the Lord had the solution to all her problems. She had dealt with her divorce from Alfredo. Now, she must deal with the problem of living with limited financial resources, a selfish husband, and a jealous rival; Agwa.

As a young girl, she used to go to church quite often, but over the years, the pressures of life had made her mind waver away from piety and religious life. When she recalled the days her parents would go to church with the entire family, Angela felt remorseful that she had deviated from the path her parents wanted her to follow.

Her good voice had made her a member of the church choir in her youth. But over the past few years, she had not gone to church, and this began to haunt her.

She still loved singing. It was then Angela decided to attend church every Sunday at the nearby St. Joseph Catholic Church and even joined the church choir. Going for mass every Sunday opened her eyes and made her experience a spiritual reawakening.

The gospel of repentance and forgiveness was always preached, and this touched her deeply. It hit her like a thunderbolt as she realised she had never led a good life. She would give Jacob, she decided, a good background in faith; the Catholic faith and teachings.

If she had failed the Lord, she imagined her son would not, and she was determined to make him lead a pious life. Little Jacob was now almost five years old.

Short and active with a fair complexion, Jacob was a boy who was very playful. He had found a friend in his stepbrother, Bukirwa. As time went on, Jacob and Bukirwa grew to like each other.

However, he knew the other step brothers neither liked him nor his friendship with Bukirwa. But this never bothered him much as he was always pleased with Bukirwa, whom he loved like a real brother.

Little as he was, Jacob was quite intelligent. He began wondering why the other two step brothers disliked him. His immediate guess was that there was something very wrong.

He always thought Musani was his real father but was quite surprised by the attitude of his brothers towards him, especially how they treated him.

Then, one day, Little Jacob began walking on the road, which would lead to his discovery of the truth about himself. It was Mukama and Nsubuga who led him to such discovery.

They had been playing when Nsubuga suddenly lept forward and struck Jacob on his face with his fist. Jacob was instantly shaken by his assailant's attack and attitude and asked, "Why have you hit me?"

"You're a bastard! You are always spoiling our game by playing badly."

But Jacob instantly knew his stepbrother was envious of his skills in various games as he had always beaten them. They hated him because of that, but as he stood facing his assailant, Jacob regarded Nsubuga's worn-out and dirty clothes coldly.

Jacob was now furious as he gazed at Nsubuga's brown eyes, and he retorted, "You're as jealous as your mother. Well, try it again, and you will see fire!"

Those words hurt Nsubuga, who swung himself at Jacob. But Jacob had seen him coming and was ready. As Nsubuga came forward with his clenched fist, Jacob closed in on him.

The two boys struck at each other several times before Jacob unleashed a hard fist, which whistled in the air and smashed against Nsubuga's jaw. He collapsed like an elephant and lay in a puddle of blood, and began to cry.

Mukama, who had been watching the fight with a lot of interest, suddenly joined in and went for Jacob when he saw his younger brother crying. Jacob knew he would be no match for Mukama, who was much older than him and was reputed to be the bravest and most aggressive among the brothers.

He decided to make a break for it. Mukama saw him running and decided to pursue his stepbrother. But Bukirwa, who had witnessed the injustice of his elder brothers against Jacob, also decided to join in the fight and act.

When he saw Mukama try to run after Jacob, he stretched out his leg, and Mukama became entangled and fell down on his face, sustaining injuries.

Mukama instantly knew Bukirwa had deliberately done that to stop him pursuing Jacob. Slowly, he rose to his feet swearing under his breath.

But Bukirwa quickly rose to his feet and broke into a run, following his friend Jacob. Mukama just stood there helplessly as he watched them run away and immediately realised Bukirwa had joined forces with Jacob against them.

"You're a son of a bitch!" He shouted at the top of his voice. "Don't think you'll get away with this. You'd better start thinking of going back to your father and leaving us alone. You're a bastard! Even your own mother doesn't know where your real father is."

"You greedy fool," Jacob hit back almost immediately. "You always come to my mother's house for more food even when you have already eaten at your mother's house."

But even as he hit back at his stepbrother, Jacob was really hurt. At that moment, it crossed his mind that Musani was not his real or biological father. Why, for instance, had the step brothers been hostile to him and showed open hatred? Jacob began wondering. And it was only Bukirwa and his own mother, Angela, who had shown him love and affection.

That same evening, he decided to report the matter to his mother. "Mama, Mukama, and Nsubuga really hate me. I know you hate gossip, but the truth is that they tried to beat me up this afternoon. But I overcame Nsubuga, and Mukama joined in. So I ran away."

"What happened? Tell me everything!" Angela demanded as she showed great concern at her son's complaints since she wanted to get to the root cause of the fight.

Jacob explained everything. He even recounted past incidents when his two step brothers were always hostile to him. "Were it not for Bukirwa, Mukama would also have hit me. They seem to be holding grudges against me."

Angela sighed. She knew her son as quite persevering and suddenly realised he must have been pushed against the wall. Then she spoke slowly, determinely but also wisely, "I'm not surprised they hate you. They're only your stepbrothers after all and are as jealous as their mother. Agwa has never liked my presence here ever since we arrived. But I am here to stay! Don't worry, my son, one day you will be great. Just trust in God."

"They said something else I didn't like, mama. Both Nsubuga and Mukama called me a bastard. Mukama even shouted that I didn't have a father around here. He even said you don't know where my real father is. Is that so, Mama? Is Musani not my dad?"

She was shocked by the little boy's report and the abuse. For a moment, Angela did not know what to tell her son, who was visibly hurt by his stepbrothers' hostility. Moreover, he now wanted to know his proper identity and background.

Suppose she told him? She began to reflect seriously. It would mean Jacob learning the truth about himself and then becoming disillusioned for the rest of his life. Still, he would one day have to be told, and the earlier it was done, the better.

Angela resumed talking, but this time, rather seriously; "Jacob, my little boy. It's true Musani isn't your real father. But you're not a bastard either. You had a father, too."

"Where is he?" The little boy's eyes suddenly lit, and he sounded very anxious to learn the truth. "Is he alive?"

But Angela decided against telling him the truth. The time was not yet right. It would only hurt him, she thought, and even disillusion him further or retard his growth into a fine young man. She decided she would only tell him the truth later and let him choose his own destiny.

"No. My son, your father died."

That did it. Jacob started crying when he saw he could never boast of having a father like his stepbrothers. Angela looked sadly at her crying little boy, not knowing what to do. Then she tried to comfort him.

"Don't worry, my son. One day, I will tell you everything and also the truth," she said, knowing she had erected a wall between the little boy and his own father; Alfredo Karahani.

* * *