BECAUSE OF A WOMAN

That discovery about himself turned Jacob into an unhappy little boy. But his eyes were now opened. Worse still, he started keenly observing Musani's discriminative nature. He noticed this when his stepfather tried to inquire about his quarel with Mukama and Nsubuga.

Jacob explained everything to him, but Musani appeared dissatisfied and sided with his own sons. His prejudice was quite open.

"Leave Nsubuga alone. You're a naughty boy!" He snarled.

"But dad, he struck me first!"

"Shut up! And don't you ever call your father again. If you ever do it, I'll throw you out of my home. understand."?

"Yes," Jacob replied in a low voice.

But Musani's injustice shocked him, and he decided to keep quiet. Now, Jacob was convinced Musani was actually not his father. Had he not warned him against calling him him father?

As days passed, Jacob was to become even more disheartened by Musani's attitude. His stepbrothers did very little work in the maize and grazing fields and usually sat chatting the whole day. Jacob would watch Mukama's broad nose and unkempt hair and wonder why they were being unfair to him.

At times, their father would tell them to stop doing whatever they were doing and let Jacob finish the tasks, which included looking after cattle in the grazing fields, digging and planting as well as pruning the plants. The two brothers would sit chatting in their father's house while Jacob did the jobs on the farm. Or his stepbrothers would just go hunting for rabbits and guinea fowls in a nearby forest; a task they really enjoyed.

It was only little Bukirwa who was always by his side to help. But then Musani would occasionally intervene and warn his son, "Stop it! Why are you helping him? It's his job to do that. Jacob has to learn to live the hard way."

Then came the moment when Musani decided to take his children to school. Mukama, Nsubuga, and Bukirwa were all taken to a primary school in Mubende to begin their formal education despite their late entry.

Bukirwa, however, started crying when he learnt Jacob would not be accompanying him to school. From the distance of his mother's house, Jacob watched as Bukirwa and his brothers, who all wore blue khaki shorts,white shirts, white socks, and black shoes, were being led away.

Little Jacob decided to tell his mother that very evening when she returned from the market: "Mama, I also want to go to school! Bukirwa and his brothers have already gone."

Angela was shocked. Musani had not told her the day he planned the children would go to school. She listened keenly and decided to face him the following morning when he came to see her. But she knew she had to approach the subject quite tactfully.

"My dear," she began. "It's good you took the children to school yesterday."

"Is it?" He beamed happily and said, "Education has become quite important for children in today's world. I never had the opportunity, so let them have it. They'll get a place in life, or even good jobs when they complete school."

"What about Jacob? You never took him along with the others; yet you are his father. And I have been rising very early in the morning to do work on your farm with Jacob at my side," Angela challenged him.

Musani knew she was right. He had followed her daily schedule and saw her rise at five thirty in the morning, enter the fields with her son, work till ten in the morning, and then go to the market. But still, he did not want to give in easily to her demands and said, "He can't go! Who will take care of our cattle when Mukama and the others are at school? Jacob has to look after our the cattle."

Angela was immediately alarmed. Then it dawned on her that Musani had decided to enslave her son for the rest of his life. She had to free him. She tried to recall the occasions Jacob came complaining about Musani's bias, and this made her speak firmly, "He must go to school. He's a child like the rest. If you can't afford school fees for him, I'll have to do some kind of work or business to educate him."

That settled everything. Musani, who was poor but a proud man, never wanted his women to do jobs he thought were petty. He was also a sexist. Such working women, he thought recklessly, ended up becoming unfaithful.

He agreed to take little Jacob to school when he also remembered Bukirwa had been crying for his companion to accompany them. He was aware Angela usually kept herself busy in the village women groups, which elected her as the secretary, and it would be shameful to them not to have her children in school.

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