Food was served at the table. A steaming hot ugali was on the table. It was pure white, which made me salivate. Three medium bowls with steaming thick beef stew and meat were also brought. The meat was shining brightly as if begging me to eat it. Slices of pineapple, watermelons and avocados were also brought. Juice was also available in plenty. I watched in amazement as my uncle raised a hand and a device came to him and poured water into his hands as he washed them. He advised me to do the same, which I did in amazement. For sure, I had not seen that despite having seen many things in that house. When I was done, he asked me to go to the switch on the wall and tell Jean to come.
"How will he hear?" I asked, amazed, "Is there a connection between here and the gate?"
"Just call him, he will hear." He explained. I called Jean and heard him reply. I then told him to come and he agreed. I then went back to my seat. Thirty seconds passed and Jean was in the room.
"Jean!" Uncle Jack called.
"Yes Sir!" Jean replied. I saw his gaze fixed straight towards Uncle Jack without looking aside. This was how Uncle Jack treated workers. Probably, it was better for them. He was preparing them for future and bigger responsibilities that demanded maximum attention.
"Sit." he ordered, pointing to an empty seat, "Take your place and eat your food. Today, we're eating together as one family." Jean was happy. He quickly walked to the seat and sat down. The food was pulled closer and after my uncle said a short prayer, everyone began eating. There was silence as everyone ate. I drank a lot of juice as I ate, which made me full quickly; something which I regretted later. I watched as the two men ate their fill, and later drank one glass of juice each. The fruits on the table were eaten as time went by. Jean was instructed to take the utensils to the kitchen where they were to be washed by the dishwasher.
I excused myself to the kitchen. I needed to see how the dishwasher did the job. As I watched in awe, I could not help but marvel at the advancement of technology in my uncle's house. When I was satisfied with what I saw, I returned to the living room to watch my favorite show, Shooting Stars, which was during that evening. Just then, I remembered the events of that day; the heavy downpour and the missing phone. I debated whether I should ask my uncle about why he did that. That raised another memory; the need for him to know whether I had gone into his secret room.
I decided to watch my favorite show " Shooting Stars" to erase the thoughts. So I went close to the television and looked for the remote control. Jean had just come back from the kitchen from operating the dishwasher and was thanking my uncle while moving out when he stopped him. My uncle asked him, looking very serious.
"Jean," he began, "I want to hear nothing but the truth. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Sir," Jean replied with a serious face as well.
"Have you ever gotten into a room whose door is difficult to open?" He asked, eying Jean sharply. I became alert. He was referring to his secret room again! What was in there? I looked at Jean's face as it shivered a little and dropped a sweat droplet which he wiped with his handkerchief. I listened keenly, never wanting to miss any statement that was to come from Jean's mouth.
"I need you to tell me the truth," he emphasized, because when both of you lie to me, then I'll go in and check. And it may not be good for me, especially if you tampered with anything there." That alarmed me. What was inside there that when tampered with might not be bad for him? Why was he so serious about that room? I couldn't get answers to the questions that came to my mind. I listened to Jean's answer. Maybe, the answers to all my questions would be answered.
"I'm… I," Jean began stammering.
"Just speak freely," Uncle Jack encouraged, "don't fear anything, this is almost your home and I'm like a big brother to you." Uncle Jack became more friendly. Was it because of the problem that was disturbing him? Maybe, a behavior from the lesson that some things required one to be friendly with others. They required one to be soft; no amount of force was needed for them to work out but the application of the human brain which is capable of doing complex things.
"I don't remember getting into that room," Jean answered and tried hard to maintain his confidence. Uncle Jack looked at him keenly, his eyes never left Jack's eyes. I wondered whether this was a method he used to know whether Jean was lying. Jean, however, maintained his confidence and maintained eye contact. When my uncle was satisfied with Jean, he advised him to go to the gate.
"Don't forget to lock the gate well." He advised, "It's night-time, remember."
"Yes, I will." He said leaving the house. I was still standing before the television. I had not switched it on yet. My gaze followed Jean as he moved out of the house. I resumed looking for the remote control just under the stand that held the television.
"What are you looking for?" Uncle Jack asked.
"I want the remote to switch on the television," I replied, eyeing him expectantly.
"I installed another television. The new television does not need a remote control." He explained.
"Wait!" I exclaimed, amazed, "How does one operate it without the remote control? And when did you buy it and install it?"
"Just today, when you disappeared mysteriously out of the homestead." He answered me. The remainder of the events that I had done almost made me cry. I felt guilty once more for having left the house without his consent. I still stood there, shy to look at him. I almost cried.
"Where do you think you were going?" He asked rhetorically. "Do you understand that I'll be accountable for your safety?" There was silence as we looked at each other. He was unhappy. I had never seen him change this way. I knew I had offended him. "If anything happened to you during the downpour, God forbid," he went further, "your parents would call me to ask about it. They would blame me for having left you alone to go home. Little do they know that you're so naughty."
"I… know," I fumbled.
"Before I forget, tell Jean not to forget to switch on the street lights outside the gate and the pathway." I was hesitant and confused about where to start. I was about to open the door and ran to the gate to inform him. "Come on," he stopped me, " have you forgotten already? Go to that switch over there and talk to him. This is a digital home." I felt ashamed for having forgotten such an important technological aspect of his house. When I was done, I went to my seat. There was silence. My uncle went to his phone for some time. Thinking that the conversation had ended, I was glad and pretended to have dozed off on the chair so that I could later excuse myself to bed. It was getting late in the night but I couldn't stop thinking about the events of the day. I pictured myself holding a phone also, browsing all that I had heard my schoolmates talking about in school. I also wished to search for some of the difficult concepts that I had learned at school and understand them better. I was also curious about knowing the most weird facts about the universe, which we had also learned at school.
"This could be me," I whispered secretly, "if and only if I could ask my uncle for forgiveness and ask for the phone." However, I feared him a lot. I also feared bringing the topic up again. I decided to doze off peacefully. I never wanted destruction. "This is a topic for tomorrow," I declared to myself.
"Go to your room and sleep." That was the news I was waiting for. I rose quickly, rubbed my face with one hand, and walked away upstairs.
"Have a good night," I said as I went away. He did not reply. Instead, he looked at me as I went away. When I was on the staircase, I looked behind and he was still looking at me.
"Mike!" he called, "Come here!" He called. I was rather annoyed. "Sit," he said when I stood before him. When I had sat down, he began. "So you know where the phone went?" I did not answer for quite some time.
"I don't know."
"The delivery guy delivered the parcel. So the loss of the phone is all your fault." I was amazed. Did that mean I was to pay him for the loss of the phone?
"That means, my parents are to pay you for…"
"I instructed a passer-by on the way to come and grab the phone and bring it to me." He interrupted. "You made his work easy when you closed your eyes. He took the phone away and left you a note that pointed to the left. Do you know what that meant?" I still didn't have an answer.
"No," I replied.
"The left direction was where I was. I could see everything that you did."
"Why did you do all that," I asked surprised.
"I wanted to show you the importance of communication. You must communicate with your loved ones about your whereabouts so that they can know what to do in the case of any emergencies." He paused as the message sank in my mind, "Just imagine, the person who took your phone was a thief or a dangerous person, God forbid!" I was quiet. His words were now making sense to me. I realized how wrong I was to have left the house without informing him.
"I'm… so…"
"Don't say you're sorry," he interrupted, "remember that you haven't told me the truth. Do you remember?" I was now on my knees asking for forgiveness. I felt like crying but remembered that I was a man. "Stand up and tell me whether you got inside my room or not. Then I will give you your phone. I hope you carried the charger." I gained courage, rose, and began explaining.
"I didn't get into your room. I swear, I did not." I repeated this a million times for him to believe. He now looked pleased. I noticed how his eyes never left me, and immediately confirmed that this was his way of knowing whether a person was lying. I struggled and maintained eye contact like a man. It was almost a man-to-man talk.
"Are you sure?" He asked again. "Please confirm to me so that I may be at peace when I go and check. It is extremely important to me." I never wanted to disappoint him. I wanted to have my phone back. So I swore to him with my infantile instincts. I put my index finger on the floor and licked it.
"Go and check, I did not get in. However, I tried getting in but the door was difficult to open."
"What did you say? Did you even try to peep to see inside?" He asked curiously.
"No," I replied, "I never did that. When the door could not be opened, I went to another room, took those two novels, and came down to read. You saw me today, didn't you?" I stressed further pointing out where the two books were.
"Well done. Now I'm at peace. Take your phone," he handed me the phone and added, "What was the big deal of telling me that then? It had cost you to escape my home! Do you still fear me?"
"No, I don't."
"You could have just told me the truth and everything would have been fine. But from now on, don't even dare come close to that room, do you hear me?" He was serious now. He repeated the orders even after swearing to him with my usual method.
"Yes, I will never," I assured him.
"Go to sleep, let me check it now and see whether everything is as expected. Take my words seriously, I once fired a security guard at the gate because of not following those simple instructions," he emphasized.
I went upstairs already taking pictures and recording myself as I went. Everything I did, I took a picture. When I read a significant number of pages on the novel, I indicated it in the Google Calendar section. That night was amazing for me. I forgot everything that had happened. Peace was all over. I was Mike again. I was no longer naughty. I now loved my uncle very much. I did not bother going to check whether he had checked the room or not. I did not bother about the research.
As I drifted to sleep on the warm, comfortable bed, I never bothered switching off the lights. Neither did I bother to lock my bedroom door or put the novels close to the wardrobe. I also forgot to fold the page that I had read for continuation the next day. I simply felt happy being stress-free. I felt amazing leaving things to take their course, without the worry of the next day, which was unknown to everyone. I had learned to let the future unfold as it wanted, knowing that I had worked and tried my best to better and bring peace to the present.
I now had my favorite companion: the phone.