Episode 7

The family decided to bury my parents at my father's hometown. It has been two weeks since their deaths and I still was grieving over them. When my uncle said we had to travel down to the village, I was very worried. I did not want to see my uncles after our last encounter.

There I was, at the cemetery, staring at my parents graves. Their coffins had been placed in two different graves. I stared at the coffins with tears in my eyes. The priest was saying a lot of things I was really not paying attention to. I was hurting all over again and the tears could not stop falling from my eyes.

Uncle George had his hand on my shoulder. He had a gloomy look on his face. The occasion did not even call for happiness so everyone present at the cemetery were either crying or were shaking their heads sadly.

After the priest spoke, about four men began to pour the heap of sand gathered at one part of the graves. Some of the women started wailing and rolling on the ground, while others just cried their eyes out with others trying to comfort them.

"I don't feel like staying here anymore. Can we leave, please?" I said, after their graves were completely covered.

Uncle George nodded and led the way. We got out of there and sat in the car. We then drove back to the family house. My uncles were already there waiting for us in the living room when we arrived.

"Can I speak with you, alone?" Uncle Stephen said to uncle George.

"Sure." He turned to me. "Daniel, can you please wait for me inside?"

I turned and headed towards the bedroom which I was sharing with Uncle George.

I sat in the room, watching TV when uncle George walked in with an unreadable expression on his face. He sat beside me on the bed, with his back facing me.

"Is everything okay, uncle?"

He did not reply to me. He was still facing away from me. I pushed my body towards him and gave him a soft pat on his shoulder.

"Uncle?"

He turned towards me a little, still avoiding my questioning gaze. "It's nothing dear. Don't worry about it."

I looked at him suspiciously. "Uncle, there is something bothering you and I can feel it. Please tell me what it is. Did uncle Stephen say anything to you?"

"As I said, it's nothing. I actually came to tell you that we will be going back to the city tomorrow." Uncle said, still not looking at me.

"Really? But I thought we will be leaving on Monday. What changed?"

"Because we are not needed here anymore. We don't have anything else to do here so I thought we should go home tomorrow. Both your uncles have gone back to the funeral grounds, taking care of the guests. We can use that opportunity to pack our bags. We will be leaving tomorrow morning." He stood up and quickly left the room.

"Uncle wait!" he was already gone.

What happened to him? What could Uncle Stephen have said to him?

I began to pack my clothes. I don't know why uncle George suddenly decided we should leave but I listened and did as he said. We left the following day at dawn.

The way we left, kept me wondering. We did not even say goodbye to anybody. My uncle still had this look on his face. I did not know if I should ask about it but it was really bothering my mind.

"Why are we leaving so suddenly, uncle George? Did something happen with my other uncles?"

He sighed silently. "I just thought it would be better to leave since we had already finished with the burial."

"Okay. But, why do I feel like you are hiding something from me? Like, there is something I should know."

He parked the car somewhere in the middle of the road and turned the key.

"Yes, there is something I am hiding from you. But I don't think you will like it." he turned to me and said.

I was worried all of a sudden. "What is it, uncle?"

"You have been asking if my expression had anything to do with what Stephen said to me. And it is. Stephen and the family had met behind my back. They had decided on something, and that is why he came around. He came to tell me that the family has decided that you should move out of the house. I mean, your father's house."

"What! They can't do that. That house belongs to my father. That place has been my home my whole life. Why do they want to take it away from me? Where do they want me to stay? I am still a child. They can't do this to me."

"I know. That is why I wanted us to leave the family house. I was not expecting this to happen. I never would have thought that my family would do this. It really hurt me when Stephen said that to me."

I was silent for a while. "So, what happens to me now? Are we going home to pack my things?"

"Of course not. You are not moving from that house. I will not let that happen. They will have to kill me first," he had a lot of determination in his eyes.

"Uncle, I don't want to have any more problems with the rest of the family. So, please, I don't think I can go back to the house anymore. Maybe we should listen to them and help me move out of the house." I said sadly.

"What, you can't be serious? You really want to leave the house your father willed to you? You won't go anywhere. You are going to stay there and continue your education. And that is final." my uncle started the car and drove off in a hurry.

I smiled at what my uncle said. I was already feeling defeated and ready to give up. Yet, my uncle still wanted to fight for me. What he said gave me new hope. A hope for the future.