Part 2 (1)

Five years later…

It was the beginning of summer in Mankayane and Churchill Junior played marbles alone in the yard under clement weather.

He showed great dexterity in shooting his dozen small balls of colored glass against each other.

He was about to strike again when a human shadow distracted him. He lifted his eyes and saw his father who had been out of home since the first rays of the sun.

The old man was coming back from the farm and carrying with him a basket filled with corn.

Excited, the toddler stopped his childish game and rushed into his genitor's arms while shouting powerfully "Daddy!".

The clear tone of the kid's voice prided the father, for the kid was neither deaf nor dumb. He was healthy and under divine protection. The holy water of the Ngwempisi river had fortunately annihilated the evil spirit's spell.

Though Paddy had lost all of his wealth and his handsomeness, there was nothing else in the world that made him as joyful as he was but the feeling of being a parent.

Paddy invited Churchill Junior inside their hut where his wife Pola was making lunch with the fire from charcoal.

On the menu was the favorite dish of the youngster: delicious boiled corn mixed up with fresh beans and tomato stew.

Churchill Junior couldn't wait for his mother to finish the cooking. He took the wooden spatula that was laid next to the pot and picked some food up.

The hungry child blew on it, for it was very hot, but he was too quick to swallow the nutrients and ultimately burned his little and delicate mouth.

"Ouch!" he cried out. His mother scolded him for his hurriedness and told him hopefully he would learn from his bad experience and henceforth cultivate patience.

Ten minutes later, the lunch was ready. Pola served her husband first in his big wooden bowl. The latter thanked her and kissed her tenderly on the cheek.

She was delighted by her husband's display of affection, so she gave the gentleman an orange.

The lady thereafter took a smaller bowl and poured a huge quantity of food for the five-year-old Churchill Junior.

The toddler's eyes became bigger and his throat enlarged, for he was happy with his mom's extreme attention.

He thanked her and uttered she was the best mother in the universe, which his father approved, and begged the heavens to bestow her a long life.

Pola took a plastic bowl and poured some of the meal into it. She thereupon sat in the middle of her spouse Paddy and their son Churchill and ate with them, though the latter were almost done with their portions.

Unexpectedly, someone knocked at the door outside.