He was standing alone behind his door, staring unseeingly out of the dusty window. He was a man who was at home in a dozen capitals of the world, but Victoria falls was one of his favourite towns, Victoria Falls is a town in western Zimbabwe and a gateway to the massive waterfall, he loved the view.
His waiting had the patience of a hunter, the quiet stillness of a man in control of his body and his emotions. He is dark and has the stormy good looks of his ancestors. He had dark hair and a strong face, he has quick intelligent eyes that were deep blue. He was over six feet tall, with the lean muscular body of a man who kept himself in good physical condition.
The parlour was filled with dirt, and almost everything was scattered on the floor.
"Why do they keep doing this, believe me when I say I desperately want to leave this town, seems we are always the dartboard" Mrs Patience said this with a groaning frown as she bent to pick her favourite video tape which was almost destroyed.
Beauty just waking up came out quickly to the parlour, the noise in the parlour carried her up"What!!" ``Beauty shouted. Something in her mind seemed to freeze, and it was as if there was a thin veil between her and reality. Her father's voice brought her back to reality
" Clean up, this is not the first time it has happened to us," Mr. Eze said while cleaning his radio.
The first time our house was robbed, it was our Neighbour Emmanuel who climbed in through the parlour window and stole our TV, and some of my dad's favourite videotapes. This was unexpected as the robbers broke in last night very quietly, without making a sound to send alarm to those sleeping inside.
It took about 2 hours to clean up the mess they did, they nevertheless continued their daily activities, Beauty was almost done with secondary school while her younger brother Victor just entered secondary school. The preparation for school was hurried since the clean up consumed most of the time.
Mrs. Patience, the wife of Mr. Eze, is a teacher of a small school down the street. Both are the beautiful couple that raised Beauty and Victor.
Everyone was set to go except Mr. Eze,he stays at home most of the time, doesn't have a job at the moment but he was searching for one to support his family.
The traffic was horrendous, but it was always horrendous at this time of the day, rush hour. God, she hated those words. Especially today. She clapped the palm of her hand on the horn and muttered under her breath "C'mon you jerk, move"
"Take it easy mum" Victor said behind the car with his eyes on the slow moving traffic.
Mrs. Patience leaned on the horn again even though it was an exercise in futility "Why would they do this to us again" she didn't realise she spoke out loud.
No one uttered a word until they reached their destination "I love you" Mum said to beauty and Victor as they followed their chase.
......….
It came by mail, regular postage, the old-fashioned way since Dad was almost seventy and distrusted modern devices. Forget email and even faxes, he didn't use an answering machine and had never been fond of the telephone. He pecked out his letter with both index fingers, one feeble key at a time. It came with another letter, he recognised it immediately since the envelope had been part of his life for as long as he could remember. It was from his father.
Mr. Eze studied the letter uncertain whether he should open it right there or wait a moment. Good news or bad, though the old man was dying and good news had been rare. It was thin and appeared to contain only one sheet of paper, nothing unusual about that. Mr. Eze's dad was frugal with words.
Mr. Eze quickly carried his okpu ozo which was close to him and went straight to his dad after reading the mail. It was an urgent message and he needed to be there.
It was just about one hour drive to his father's little clay house. Mr. Eze left a letter for his wife and kids telling them to come to their grandparents house immediately when they saw the message.
Mr. Eze's heart stood still.
He stared at his father, wishing he had conjured the sickness away. The world seemed to teeter and dip, then abruptly righted itself.
This was real, he is dead, standing before him in the flesh, Mr. Eze wrenched at his inside, he clutched the covers to his breast and gave a tiny shake of his head. "You will forever be loved IKE " he said, laying so much emphasis on IKE. He was already too old and tired, he needed to rest.
Mr. Eze straightened his shoulders, his demeanour regal.
He left his room with a sigh, he was the only son of his parents, raised by his dad since his mum had died a long time ago.
It wasn't long before his wife and kids came over with tears already raining from their eyes.
"I thought cancer has a treatment" Victor whispered to his mum.
"No baby, the person just has to follow the doctor's medication and help for the period of time he or she has left" mum replied. "he is already too tired to stress his legs here" Dad whispered to Victor.
Victor raised his shoulders and told his dad that he always hears his whisper even if he was in London.
Mrs. Patience consoled her husband, helped to get things done in the small room because Mr. IKE had to be carried to the mortuary.
Things became really tight for them because most of the money made was going for the burial.
They had to cut their three square meal to two square. Everything became expensive.
The burial came sooner than expected.
Only a handful of sobbing relatives huddle together, heads lowered in sorrow, as the cemetery workers hastily shovel dirt over the coffin.
Fifteen minutes later the family must leave the cemetery. To minimise coronavirus risks, none of the usual funeral rites are permitted, not even a brief eulogy.
Zimbabwe imposed new restrictions on funerals due to Covid-19 cases.
Families may not transport deceased relatives between cities -- one of several traditions believed to be increasing the spread of the disease -- unless they are contained in expensive, hermetically sealed coffins.
The dead must be buried where they pass away, regardless of their family's location, with barely any of the usual body-viewing ceremonies, sung prayers and speeches.
"It is so disturbing to see families breaking down from a distance... wanting so hard to be part of proceedings and perform the usual rituals," said Mrs. Patience as the group filed silently out of the Cemetery.
Traditionally in the southern African country, people are buried close to their kin, as it is believed that dead relatives watch over the family home.
Burying loved ones abroad or in a city far from their rural home is considered undignified.
- 'Insensitive government' -
"It is against our culture to be buried by strangers in the midst of strangers. We want to be buried among our ancestors," said Henry Emel, 49, who did not wish to give his full name.
"It is unheard of that an adult is buried by only a few people," he added.
"The government should just make sure that precautionary measures... are maintained during such gatherings (funerals)."
For mourners , being unable to bury a loved one in the countryside is yet another source of ire on top of grinding economic hardships that have been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe has suffered from decades of economic mismanagement that has drastically inflated prices and crippled the healthcare system.
"The respect for our dead relatives is all we had (left)," fumed a man in his thirties who did not wish to be named, walking back to his car after his father was buried in a matter of minutes.
"This insensitive government, devoid of all connection to our lived realities, has decided to take it away," he said.
"They failed to put measures to stop coronavirus coming back into the country and now they want to punish us for their failures."
- 'Unusual days' -
"bodies should be carried between cities as long as they are "hermetically sealed in triple coffins".
But most funeral parlours do not offer that option.
Hermetically sealed coffins are too expensive for most Zimbabwe city dwellers, many of whom work in the informal sector.
"This is normally done when transporting bodies from other countries," Henry added.
The funeral didn't go as planned but it was peaceful at least.
......
Things changed quickly for Mr. Eze's family.
Sunshine slanted through the shuttered window, gauzy and Radiant, proclaiming the arrival of a new Day.
Mrs. Patience awoke slowly, a decided lassitude on her limbs. She laid within the sheltering protection of her husband, her entire length molded against Eze's side. Her head was pillowed on the sleek skin of his shoulder. Her hand looked small and dainty nestled there amid the bristly curls on his chest ; it rested just above his heart, which beat steady and strong beneath her fingertips.
Eze stared at her, her smile was gone, her expression unreadable. He stared at her as if he would pluck her very thoughts from her mind.
"I am worried about the situation we are in now, we can't afford the school fees for our kid, they have to change their school, we can't afford to eat as much as we eat before because we are in dept" She could go on and on listing all their problems.
"Everything would be alright darling" Eze said to her. But that wasn't enough for her, she stared at him in disbelief, rolled her eyes and left the room.
It has always burdened her that he is not supporting the family financially as he was supposed to, she collected her three months salary at her workplace and sold her car together with help from other people for the success of the burial.
Beauty and Victor stayed in their room almost throughout the day.
They came out few times to cleanup and eat then go back in afterwards, they sensed the resentment from their parents.
The night came in quietly and quickly…..
An hour passed and darkness settled in. Victor sat at his small desk, a card table, a fake fountain pen set, his own nameplate carved in wood. Before him was an open Algebra textbook. He'd been staring at it for a long time, unable to read the words or turn the pages. His notebook was open too and the page was blank.
He could think of nothing but his grandfather.
"Hi" Mum said as she slowly opened their room door
"Good evening mum" they said almost together
"I have something to discuss with you guys" mum. Said as she lowered her knee to sit with them on the mat "Things have really been hard since grandpa died, and things have changed, some of the things that would change is your school" she kept quiet to see their reactions.
"It's OK mum, we are OK with that and we understand the situation, education is education regardless of where it comes from" Beauty said throwing that comforting smile.
Mrs. Patience used her hand to protect the tears gathering around her eyes. She couldn't anymore, she started crying "Am soo sorry, this is not the life I want for you guys, I want to be able to provide everything you need but…"
"But nothing mum" Victor said as he went close to her to dry her tears "Beautiful queens don't cry, remember that's what you always tell beauty"
"i was about to finish my assignment but guess it would just be an added knowledge, I don't have to submit it anymore".
Their new school was quite small but it wasn't an issue for Victor. Beauty was already done with secondary school, was about to prepare for her external exam but she stopped after the burial since it won't be possible anytime soon.