The treasured letter

That morning, Odwil could not guess what was really happening. Hardly could he lift up his head. He felt like his head had been tied so tight to the bed. He was weak and helpless. The forlorn crying of the weaver birds in the nearby bamboo tree awakened him, but he could not leave the bed and rise to his feet. He probably thought something was terribly amiss.

He later gained strength and moved out of the house into the compound. Looking around, he saw a worker from his brother's company located in Kampala. He imagined that something might have gone wrong. The man was dressed in black trousers and a white T-shirt. The T-shirt was printed on "Teamal company ltd." In his hands, he held a very expensive envelope that gave Odwil a deep breath with great expectations. He warmly welcomed his visitor and gave him a seat.

"I kindly welcome you to my place. This is the same land from which my brother with whom you work now originated. Just feel at home," he said.

The worker smiled and said, "thank you. It is a very nice-looking place."

Odwil was amused by his friend's sentence, "I can see from your T-shirt, you are from Kampala," said Odwil.

The visitor was pleased and he felt very good. He then handed over the envelope to Odwil. The latter got the letter while introducing himself.

"I am Odwil James," he said.

"I am Embuzi Emmanuel," said the worker.

Odwil held the letter in his right hand, moving it up and down as if he was measuring its weight. The worker asked for immediate leave to catch up with a returning bus and he was let go.

"Safe journey," wished Odwil to Emmanuel. "Stay well," replied Emmanuel. He left immediately for the bus park.

Thereafter, Odwil opened the envelope only to see a handwritten letter. The letter was so neatly written as if the person with the best handwriting in the world was hired to write it. It was addressed to Odwil James of Maktic Village.

The body of the letter read, "My beloved brother, it is high time you relieved your family from poverty. To you, I send this letter calling upon your presence in my company. The kind of life you lead now is retrogressive to the development of your family. I Oluk, your elder brother, request you to join me in my company. I have spared the vacancy of company manager for you because there is no one else I can trust much with that position. In addition, I shall be responsible for your family's feeding and accommodation. The applications are ongoing and all applicants will be interviewed on the 8th of October 2022 which is almost three weeks from now. Your response before this date is highly paramount and will be highly appreciated."

After reading the letter, Odwil put it on the table. He underwent a deep breath, wondering how he can manage an electricity company without having a little knowledge of the field. He lifted up his eyes and stared at the roof of his grass-thatched house that he had just completed building a week ago. He saw no solution at the grass and poles, and he found himself in a most awkward predicament.

The disturbed man then thought and analyzed the call for about five minutes. He was still umbrageous for the loss of his land to a rich neighbor who just grabbed it a week ago. In the struggle to regain the land, he invited his elder brother, Oluk who did not help out. Odwil was outraged by his brother's negligence.

Odwil put the letter back into the envelope, moved his head sideways from left to right, and pulled it out again. He later put it back on the table. He then picked up the letter from the table, moved out quietly, and called out to his wife who was weeding next to the courtyard. "Jessica! Jessica! Come and see this." He was holding the letter in his hands.

"What is that?" asked Jessica

"A letter," he replied.

"My elder brother sends it to me requesting me and my family to join him in Kampala city and be part of his company. He thinks that we cannot continue with this kind of life full of hardships. The development of our family shall be deteriorating. He says he has already assigned a position of the company manager for me."

"Are you sure he has assigned you the position?" She asked.

"The letter explains it well, it was composed by the sender. Only he knows the truth, I cannot confirm it now," replied Odwil.

Odwil James and Oluk Peter were the only two biological sons of Olek John. John was born one in his father's family. He later produced only two sons, he had no daughter after which he lost her wife in a fatal accident.

John was a poor man who lived in the village of Maktic, Tekulu town council which is located over eight hundred kilometers from Kampala, the capital city. He was well-known in the whole area for his intelligence and hard work, but he was uneducated. His parents died when he was still very young, and there was no one to take charge of his education.

He used to grow on a small scale some cereals like millet and sorghum in addition to legumes like beans and soya beans from the village of Maktic, this was his cash cow. After harvesting his crops, he would dry them very well and transport the seeds to his small store in Tekulu town. He would then sell these seeds to raise income for providing basic needs for his family. John always ensured that his family was in a good state.

He struggled extremely hard in upbringing children who are morally upright. All his village members used to call him "The Top Dog". The advice he gave was considered the best. He would highly condemn jealousy among his children but recommend unity. He reiterated," Jealousy is tantamount to witchcraft, with it you do not develop." Despite this, his elder son, Oluk would not listen. His uncaring tendency was revealed in the garden when he and his younger brother Odwil were sent to dig. Oluk would only dig a small portion of land while complaining from time to time and even ceasing to work. He would ride herd on his younger brother so that land was cleared quickly. Odwil would not mind, he would respect him and dig all the remaining portion of land after which they walked home peacefully, cracking gags and laughing.

Unfortunately, John passed on when his younger son, Odwil was still an Ordinary Level student. By then, the elder brother had already graduated from college. He had a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, working with a company and earning a monthly income of two million Ugandan shillings.

Despite his high income, Oluk could not sympathize with his younger brother who consistently insisted on making him complete his secondary school education. He would only tell his younger brother, "next year, you are going to King's College Buddo." The next year became another next year continuously until he ceased to respond. Oluk uttered a lot of nonsense to his friends who tried to coax him to render financial assistance to his younger brother. Odwil had no option but to drop out of school and start applying the knowledge of farming his father taught them when he was still alive. He later got married to a lady he considered the most beautiful. Her name was Jessica.

Five years later, while Oluk was in Kampala, he started up a company that dealt with electricity connections. His income escalated and his area of operation expanded. He recruited many workers into the company and managing them lonely became problematic. In coincidence, a land wrangle arose in their homeland but Oluk had fenced his land a year ago. Odwil was upset at a time when he was most vulnerable. He was surrounded by very rich neighbors of whom one was a braggart and opportunist. This man seized Odwil's land and strongly warned him of kicking about. Odwil invited his elder brother, Oluk to step in, but he turned out to be shockingly inconsiderate. Odwil had no option but to relinquish his land to the rich.