Sometimes blood is not thicker than water and family will cross you quicker than strangers. I have come to realise that the most poisonous people come disguised as family. Rosaline, a 43-year-old teacher, had come to this conclusion after the demise of her younger brother.
Below is Rosaline’s story as told by her.
It is exactly one year since my younger brother Henry died but tears rush down my cheeks whenever I remember that his death could have been prevented. Henry sacrificed his all for the betterment of the family but was denied help in his time of dire need by my elder brother who was a huge beneficiary of his benevolence.
I had an enviable family while growing up. My parents had four children but lost one, my immediate elder brother, George. He was asthmatic and died during my early days in secondary school. My parents were left with three children- me, my elder brother, Jerry and my younger brother, Henry.
My parents were both teachers and did everything within their power to ensure that we were sound academically. My elder brother, Jerry, had the dream of becoming a medical doctor and his grades showed how much he wanted that to happen. I wanted to be a teacher just like my parents but my younger brother loved business.
Henry was generous to a fault and he never acted like the lastborn. He was the kind of person that would give his last to his family and he had done this many times. My parents were disappointed when he indicated the interest to be a businessman and they tried to persuade him to change his mind. They felt he would make a better doctor than Jerry because Henry not only said he cared but he always showed how much he cared.
After his primary school education, my father’s elder brother, Uncle Samuel of blessed memory pleaded with my parents to let Henry pursue his dream while he was still young. According to Uncle Samuel, building a successful business requires a lot of time. My father listened to his brother and acted accordingly because Henry’s grades in school were not looking good.
‘‘You are not doing this boy any good. He does not have the head for book and he needs enough time to learn a trade and more time to build his own too,’’ my uncle told my dad.
So, Jerry and I continued with our education while Henry went to learn a trade. He served his master for seven years and was given some capital to start his own business. The money handed to him was not as much as those who had to serve for ten years or more but Henry multiplied that amount several times in a space of one year. Unlike most of his peers who would prefer to spend their wealth on ladies, Henry chose family because as he always said, ‘‘family will always come first’’
The wall holding my happy family began to fall apart when my father fell very ill and had to live on pills. Henry had to assume the role of the breadwinner and this angered my elder brother so much. Jerry was power thirsty and he began to see Henry as an enemy that had eyes on his birth right. When Jerry saw how much my parents loved Henry, his hatred for him grew even more.
I was doing my NCE (National Certificate in Education) and Jerry was in his second year in the university. Despite his glaring dislike, Henry still ensured that Jerry’s tuition fees and other needs were met. He did same for me and told care of our parents very well. My father’s health deteriorated to the extent that everyone knew he was not going to make it but Henry kept on pouring in as much money as was needed. Our father lived for two more years and passed on shortly after I got married.
Henry took care of the funeral rites and ensured that our father got a befitting burial someone of his calibre deserved. Jerry was in medical school; he was still taking and could not contribute a dime for the burial. The entire load fell on Henry’s shoulders and he never complained or grumbled about having to do everything alone.
Henry kept our mother company until the following year when he decided to settle down. He relocated to another state because of his business and mother had to come live with me. When it gets rough for my husband and me, Henry always assisted.
Shortly after he welcomed his second child, Henry’s business began to wobble and in a space of six months, he was almost living from hand to mouth. While he tried to get back to his feet, his wife who was a nurse supported the family with her earnings.
Jerry was doing very well. He was married to a medical doctor just like himself and was living large in a better part of the country. He knew Henry’s business was down but that did not bother him. Henry never demanded that Jerry assist him since he was the one that saw him through the university. His huge responsibilities to both family and in-laws had eaten deep into his finances.
When those that knew how much Henry sacrificed to make Jerry who he is today tried to poison Henry’s mind, Henry always took sides with Jerry. He said one could never know the kind of battle the other person was fighting and the fact Jerry had not assisted his family does not mean he was not going to do so.
To add salt to injury, Henry’s health began to fail as well. The diagnosis from several hospitals showed that he had kidney diseases. We notified Jerry so he could assist but he made promises he never fulfilled while he flew in and out of the country with his family.
With little money from me and Henry’s wife which is like a drop of water inside a tiny ocean, we managed take care of Henry. When his health got pretty bad, we had to rely on family, friends and well-wishers because we could not afford to pay for his dialysis anymore.
For the years Henry battled with Kidney diseases, Jerry turned his back on us. Even when we called to find out how he was doing, he was cold. I don’t know why someone could be that callous especially when it involves the life of someone who did everything he could to give you a better life.
On the 7th of January 2015, I was in a deep sleep when my phone rang around 3am. With sleepy eyes, I pushed the phone away but it kept ringing. When I peeped and saw that the caller was Henry’s wife, I picked the call but I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying because she was crying. Just then and before she could bring herself to say it, I knew Henry was dead.
Three hours later, I and my husband were at Henry’s place. We conveyed the corpse to the mortuary and notified Jerry of Henry’s demise via text message when he did not pick our calls. We were shocked when Jerry visited two days later, which was a Saturday to shed what I would call crocodile tears. It was as if scales just dropped from his eyes and he acted as if he never knew what came over him then. I know Jerry disliked Henry at some point but I never imagined he could act this way not after Henry had treated him nicely and done nothing more other than love him.
Henry’s burial was the talk of the village. The money that was spent on his funeral rites would have been enough to keep him alive. Henry died wretched but he was buried like a king.
It is exactly one year since my younger brother Henry died but tears rush down my cheeks whenever I remember that his death could have been prevented. Henry sacrificed his all for the betterment of the family but was denied help in his time of dire need by my elder brother who was a huge beneficiary of his benevolence.
I had an enviable family while growing up. My parents had four children but lost one, my immediate elder brother, George. He was asthmatic and died during my early days in secondary school. My parents were left with three children- me, my elder brother, Jerry and my younger brother, Henry.
My parents were both teachers and did everything within their power to ensure that we were sound academically. My elder brother, Jerry, had the dream of becoming a medical doctor and his grades showed how much he wanted that to happen. I wanted to be a teacher just like my parents but my younger brother loved business.
Henry was generous to a fault and he never acted like the lastborn. He was the kind of person that would give his last to his family and he had done this many times. My parents were disappointed when he indicated the interest to be a businessman and they tried to persuade him to change his mind. They felt he would make a better doctor than Jerry because Henry not only said he cared but he always showed how much he cared.
After his primary school education, my father’s elder brother, Uncle Samuel of blessed memory pleaded with my parents to let Henry pursue his dream while he was still young. According to Uncle Samuel, building a successful business requires a lot of time. My father listened to his brother and acted accordingly because Henry’s grades in school were not looking good.
‘‘You are not doing this boy any good. He does not have the head for book and he needs enough time to learn a trade and more time to build his own too,’’ my uncle told my dad.
So, Jerry and I continued with our education while Henry went to learn a trade. He served his master for seven years and was given some capital to start his own business. The money handed to him was not as much as those who had to serve for ten years or more but Henry multiplied that amount several times in a space of one year. Unlike most of his peers who would prefer to spend their wealth on ladies, Henry chose family because as he always said, ‘‘family will always come first’’
The wall holding my happy family began to fall apart when my father fell very ill and had to live on pills. Henry had to assume the role of the breadwinner and this angered my elder brother so much. Jerry was power thirsty and he began to see Henry as an enemy that had eyes on his birth right. When Jerry saw how much my parents loved Henry, his hatred for him grew even more.
I was doing my NCE (National Certificate in Education) and Jerry was in his second year in the university. Despite his glaring dislike, Henry still ensured that Jerry’s tuition fees and other needs were met. He did same for me and told care of our parents very well. My father’s health deteriorated to the extent that everyone knew he was not going to make it but Henry kept on pouring in as much money as was needed. Our father lived for two more years and passed on shortly after I got married.
Henry took care of the funeral rites and ensured that our father got a befitting burial someone of his calibre deserved. Jerry was in medical school; he was still taking and could not contribute a dime for the burial. The entire load fell on Henry’s shoulders and he never complained or grumbled about having to do everything alone.
Henry kept our mother company until the following year when he decided to settle down. He relocated to another state because of his business and mother had to come live with me. When it gets rough for my husband and me, Henry always assisted.
Shortly after he welcomed his second child, Henry’s business began to wobble and in a space of six months, he was almost living from hand to mouth. While he tried to get back to his feet, his wife who was a nurse supported the family with her earnings.
Jerry was doing very well. He was married to a medical doctor just like himself and was living large in a better part of the country. He knew Henry’s business was down but that did not bother him. Henry never demanded that Jerry assist him since he was the one that saw him through the university. His huge responsibilities to both family and in-laws had eaten deep into his finances.
When those that knew how much Henry sacrificed to make Jerry who he is today tried to poison Henry’s mind, Henry always took sides with Jerry. He said one could never know the kind of battle the other person was fighting and the fact Jerry had not assisted his family does not mean he was not going to do so.
To add salt to injury, Henry’s health began to fail as well. The diagnosis from several hospitals showed that he had kidney diseases. We notified Jerry so he could assist but he made promises he never fulfilled while he flew in and out of the country with his family.
With little money from me and Henry’s wife which is like a drop of water inside a tiny ocean, we managed take care of Henry. When his health got pretty bad, we had to rely on family, friends and well-wishers because we could not afford to pay for his dialysis anymore.
For the years Henry battled with Kidney diseases, Jerry turned his back on us. Even when we called to find out how he was doing, he was cold. I don’t know why someone could be that callous especially when it involves the life of someone who did everything he could to give you a better life.
On the 7th of January 2015, I was in a deep sleep when my phone rang around 3am. With sleepy eyes, I pushed the phone away but it kept ringing. When I peeped and saw that the caller was Henry’s wife, I picked the call but I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying because she was crying. Just then and before she could bring herself to say it, I knew Henry was dead.
Three hours later, I and my husband were at Henry’s place. We conveyed the corpse to the mortuary and notified Jerry of Henry’s demise via text message when he did not pick our calls. We were shocked when Jerry visited two days later, which was a Saturday to shed what I would call crocodile tears. It was as if scales just dropped from his eyes and he acted as if he never knew what came over him then. I know Jerry disliked Henry at some point but I never imagined he could act this way not after Henry had treated him nicely and done nothing more other than love him.
Henry’s burial was the talk of the village. The money that was spent on his funeral rites would have been enough to keep him alive. Henry died wretched but he was buried like a king.
CHINWE AGBEZE
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