SILENCE

TWENTY YEARS LATER

She looked on as the coffin was laid six feet into the ground, memories of a painful past hitting her like a rushing wind and yet she felt numb to everything that was going on.

The stares from the familiar faces making her irritated, she was the only child of her parents and as such they expected her to be wailing like her mother but then she just couldn’t cry.

Her favorite cousin was looking at her from the back of the crowd, she knew what she was feeling and somehow she wished that she could feel something. Hurt or anger or pain or anything but Larna just looked on without a word.

When the funeral procession was over and now they were on the vehicle leading them to the funeral home, she looked back at that one night that had changed her life forever with a sigh.

The cars had come to a stop at the funeral house in Chelstone, her father had bought this house as a present to her mother after retiring. Larna breathed in when she walked out of the vehicle, she had wanted to drive herself but her husband Elisha had insisted that she used the family vehicle that had been provided by the ministry of health.

She walked into the house and headed to her old bedroom, the cries were no more but people still had gloomy faces and that alone wanted to make her puke.

Being bembas, there is a common practice or tradition called insambo lymfya; this is done just after the burial of the deceased. Here clothes of the deceased are shared amongst the bereaving family and speeches are made.

One of her uncles stood up.

‘I know this is a very sad moment for all of us but this has to be done.’ He said after clearing his throat

Her mother just looked down without a word, she was aging and often times Larna wondered what would now become of her life.

‘Bana Larna, as we are aware that your husband, my brother didn’t leave any sons behind; we are going to take all of his clothes and share amongst ourselves unless his daughter wants some for her husband.’

Attention shifted to Larna who was absent minded.

‘Bana Mpundu.’ Someone said bringing Larna back to life

‘Oh no thank you.’ She said without looking at her uncle who had been speaking all along

Her husband was watching from a distance as all this was happening, no doubt he loved his wife; more than anything that life could have given him but often times he wondered what had made her like this.

‘Okay since our daughter here wants nothing, we have to go to the properties. We have no right to take anything from our sister in law here because she is alive and breathing and it is up to her to pick an administrator.’ He said

Larna’s mother sighed her chinky eyes getting even smaller.

‘I don’t have much to live for now that my husband is gone but I know my daughter here has a life ahead of her, I say we make her administrator.’ She said

Larna rolled her eyes, she had expected all this to happen and that was part of the reason she had not want to come for the funeral.

‘My child you have heard what your mother has said.’ Her uncle said

‘Yes my elders I have, but I want us to look at it from a different angle. I am married and my husband and I are able to provide for everything that I and the kids need whilst dad had a young sister who is barely surviving; why not make her the administrator?’

To the world Larna was a good person who had thought of her aunt but her mother knew better, from a certain age she had refused everything her father wanted to give her. She didn’t want anything to do with him and that had left a lot of questions but no one had answered her.

‘That is very thoughtful my child, so we are going to make your aunty here; your father’s youngest sister as administrator.’

‘Since that has been settled, I wanted to find out from my in-law here if she will be able to live on her own or maybe she might want us to assign someone to come and live with her?’ another of her late husband’s brother asked her

Larna’s mother shook her head, she was getting old but not disabled and if there was a person she would have loved to live with; it was probably her child but she knew that it was a farfetched dream.

‘I lived with my husband in peace and we never asked for anything from anyone, I can take care of myself.’ She responded

‘Mulamu it is not about being taken care of here.’ He paused

‘Uncle the woman has said that she will be fine, give her a break.’ Larna cut in

Her husband gave her a deadly stare and her mother just stared down

‘Larna is right.’ Her mother finally said

Her uncles looked at her without saying much they had never understood this family; in normal circumstances she was supposed to be the child that took care of her parents in old age but the distance amongst them kept growing.

The rest of the meeting was spent talking about how the family was supposed to be stronger now that Larna’s mother was a widow. Her uncle talked about how funerals shouldn’t be the only time they gathered as a family but she knew better because she wasn’t willing to let down her guide.

By evening that day, much to her mother’s disapproval; Larna and her husband were on the road driving back to their home in makeni Bonaventure. They got home at exactly 10 in the evening and both Larna and Elisha retired to bed because it had been a long a tiresome day.

The next morning, as usual Larna was the first to get up because she had to be in the gym before preparing the kids for school. She stood just by the big mirror in their gym and thoughts of the previous day hit her, if it were up to her she wouldn’t have done the body viewing but because of the number of people that were there; she decided it was best to do so.

..

Kwenje’s Girl

Winnie

🙇🏾‍♀️