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ELUSIVE SON Elusive Son BY MATTHEW UZUKWU Feli Publishing, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, USA ii ELUSIVE SON Dedication For Eunice. iii ELUSIVE SON Copyright © 2022 by Matthew Uzukwu. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form, without written permission from the publisher, except for a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Inquiries should be addressed to: felipublishing@yahoo.com or to uzukwu99@gmail.com Whatsapp Contact: (+12027467297) Matthew Uzukwu is on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. For other love novels and novellas by Matthew Uzukwu, please visit: www.lovstories.com You can listen to the audio book versions on Youtube. Type in Matnice Productions in Youtube to access the channel. Names, characters, places, and incidents are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. ISBN: 978-0-9637326-4-4 iv ELUSIVE SON Janet pushed and pushed until the baby came out. A nurse picked up the baby and said aloud to all in the room “It’s a girl!” Morris beamed with joy. He glanced at Janet, who appeared exhausted from the birthing. The baby was cleaned up and brought back a short while later and placed in the arms of Janet. Morris stood next to the bed and stroked her hair. Janet was unhappy and Morris sensed that. He tried to cheer her up. The medical personnel in the room gushed about the baby and how beautiful she looked, believing her mother was taking in the compliments graciously. Unbeknownst to them, however, Janet was distressed about her birth of another girl. She masked her torment with a forced smile, but only Morris knew that the smile belied the huge disappointment she felt. 4 ELUSIVE SON CHAPTER 1 It had been two weeks since Janet, caramel skin colored, tall and curvaceous, had given birth to her third child, a beautiful baby girl she named Happiness. Janet had two other children and they were also girls, a fact which bothered her because in her male dominant African ethnic group, a male child was considered exceedingly important to have. Morris, her husband of five years was an only son, and his traditionalist mother, a brown skinned and slim woman named Clara, wanted him to sire a male heir to the family’s vast land and crop bearing trees in their home village, deep in the African forest. Janet’s first and second children were girls, and now her third try had turned out another girl. 5 ELUSIVE SON Janet was anguished and depressed. When her tall and handsome husband had introduced her to Clara as the woman he wanted to marry, Clara, a feisty and extroverted woman, had been unabashedly direct in her introductory exchange with Janet. She told her that the most important thing she expected of her as a prospective daughter–in-law was to bear a male child. Her son’s unique situation in being an only son invariably required of his wife to bear him a male heir, and Janet had better be up to it. “Did Morris tell you he is an only son?” she had asked Janet. “No, he hasn’t told me anything like that,” “Well, I am telling you that right now. The most important thing expected of you is to bear him a son. Are you able to do that?” Janet was aghast at the question. She was not a clairvoyant to predict what the gender of her future children would be. Most of all, she wasn’t God that determined such matters. Her instinct was to give a hostile answer, but she 6 ELUSIVE SON was meeting her fiancé’s mother for the first time, so she decided to be polite with her answer. “Mama,” she called Clara by the culturally accepted honorific for an older woman, “I am not God that knows what the sex of my children will be, but I will pray that He blesses me with a male child.” “I will pray for you, too. Morris has vultures for uncles, and because he is an only son, they are waiting, like the cadaver eating birds perched on a tree, for Morris to pass on so they can descend on his inheritance from his male forebears. You are my family’s hope to stop them.” “I have heard you, mama. By God’s grace, I will bear not only one but several male children for Morris.” Janet lay on her bed next to Happiness, sad as she recalled the conversation with Clara immediately before she had married Morris and moved in with him. It had been five years since 7 ELUSIVE SON that encounter with Clara. She stroked Happiness’s face, happy to have her, but also depressed that a male child had eluded her again. Morris operated a business enterprise which imported consumer electronics for sale in the domestic market. He had left for work earlier in the day and so was not around to comfort Janet. Thoroughly drained from mental exhaustion, she reached for her cell phone on the center table to call Morris. The phone rang a number of times before Morris had picked up. “Hello,” Morris had greeted. Janet was quiet for about a minute because she had spontaneously begun to sob. “Hello,” Morris repeated the greeting, but Janet continued to sob. “Janet, what’s going on? Are you okay?” Janet stopped sobbing and finally spoke up. “Do you think of me as an inadequate woman?” “No, Janet, why would you think like that!” he admonished her. 8 ELUSIVE SON “This is my third child now, and it is another girl. I can’t seem to give you this male child” she said and broke out in sobs again. “Common Janet! Stop crying. There will be another opportunity, okay. We will try again, so stop crying.” Morris conveyed a sense of acceptance of the situation, even though he had begun to feel concerned of late, primarily because of Clara’s pressure on him to consider marrying a second wife. Clara had visited with him the previous week to see Janet and the baby, and had stayed for three days. Before she left to return home, she had engaged Morris in a contentious discussion about her suggestion to him to marry a second wife. “…Son, this wife cannot give you a male child. It’s time to look for a second wife,” she had told him. “Mama, a second wife is not necessary. Janet and I are still young. There are many years ahead of us. I believe this male child will 9 ELUSIVE SON come. Please, be patient.” “Son, you will be thirty five years old this year, and you have been married to her for five years. Your father died at 40 years old. I want you to live a very long life, but anything can happen, and should the unthinkable happen to you, our family will lose everything to your avaricious uncles.” “Mama, I know the angle you are coming from, but I still insist that Janet and I be given more time to have this male child.” “I will be leaving for the village tomorrow, and I will be thinking about this void in our family,” said Clara, upset at Morris’s intransigence. When Morris’s father, Louis, had died, Morris inherited land which Louis had himself inherited from his own father. Louis had two younger brothers and they also received portions of the vast land. These men, who were Morris’s uncles, were Clara’s sworn enemies. Morris was just nine years old when his father had died. His uncles 10 ELUSIVE SON plotted to banish Clara from the village so they could take over what Morris had inherited from his father, figuring the young Morris would never come back to his ancestral community when he became a fully grown adult. But Clara’s strong will and resistance had been instrumental in foiling the plot and preserving the inheritance rights of her son. Morris’s inability to grasp this history and marry a second wife to increase his chances of a male child annoyed Clara. Her ability to fend off her husband’s brothers was undergirded by the fact that her son was a continuation of her late husband’s blood line, and therefore possessing of the right to his property, regardless of how old he was when his father had died. Clara worried about another battle over the property, were Morris to die prematurely like his father had, but Morris would not budge from his decision to stick with Janet, whom he loved. It was true that Janet had failed on her third try for that boy, but he was optimistic that it would happen someday. 11 ELUSIVE SON *** Janet bathed and fed her baby then prepared to host her own mother, who was coming to visit later in the evening. Sophia, Janet’s mother, was a cheerful and friendly woman who was the opposite of Clara. She was the mother of six boys and Janet who was her only daughter. She had a special bond with Janet because of this, and she was Janet’s confidante. When Janet had her first child and had been disappointed because the child wasn’t a boy, Sophia had admonished and told her to be patient. It was her first child, and she had more child bearing years ahead of her. There was thus no need to be disillusioned. Then the second child came and it was a girl. When Happiness was born, Janet had called Sophia from the hospital with the news and reiterated her disenchantment anew. “It’s a girl. I did not want another girl!” She 12 ELUSIVE SON had complained, sobbing. Sophia comforted and rebuked her at the same time. “Stop crying, Janet. I told you not to worry so much about this matter. At God’s own time, you will bear a male child.” Sophia arrived as scheduled for her visit. Janet and Morris lived in a three bedroom apartment in a middle class part of town. Happiness’s crib was next to a long couch in the well furnished living room. She lay in the crib and was neatly wrapped up in a light cotton material. She punched the air with her soft little hands and her eyes were fixated at the ceiling. Sophia approached the crib and picked her up. “My granddaughter,” she said to her, playfully. “You are so beautiful.” Janet sat on the long couch and watched as Sophia played with Happiness, tickling her and eliciting smiles on her face. Janet still moped, outwardly demonstrating signs of her displeasure. Her phone rang and she picked it 13 ELUSIVE SON up. It was her friend Anna who was calling. “Hello,” Janet greeted. “Hello Janet, this is Anna. How are you?” “I am feeling very bad.” “Janet, don’t be so hard and down on yourself. You must get back your self confidence” Anna was among a few of Janet’s friends who knew about her problem. Anna had herself experienced difficulty in conceiving a male child until her seventh birth. She empathized with Janet and told her she could help in finding a solution to her problem. Her call to Janet was to discuss the solution. “Janet, I know of a witch doctor that lives in a thick forest several hours away by road that can solve this problem for you.” “You must take me to him,” said Janet. “I will do so at the appropriate time, after your daughter is at least one year old,” said Anna. “I know I must allow reasonable spacing 14 ELUSIVE SON before my next pregnancy, but I want to be prepared before then, in case the witch doctor would need me to so prepare.” “Okay then, I will let you know later in the week when I can take you to him.” “Thanks,” said Janet in appreciation. “You’re welcome!” Sophia had listened in on the conversation and she became curious. “What was that about?” she asked Janet. “My friend Anna has offered to help me solve this problem. There is a witch doctor she will take me to.” Sophia was alarmed. “A witch doctor!!” she exclaimed, incredulously. “Please do not let a witch doctor come near you over this issue,” she warned. Sophia was a member of a Christian Pentecostal Church. She was deeply religious and her faith was heavily influenced by the pastor of her church who was a firebrand preacher. Pastor Edwin always exhorted his 15 ELUSIVE SON congregation to abhor anything that had to do with pagan worship. Pagans were all headed for hell, he often preached, and even Christians who had the slightest connection with pagan rituals and ceremonies were destined for hell as well. Pastor Edwin’s warnings were uppermost in Sophia’s mind when Janet had made mention of the witch doctor. “Janet, you can’t involve a witch doctor in this matter,” she warned. “You will be condemned to eternal damnation if you do so, and you will never get to conceive a male child by the pagan powers of this witch doctor.” “Mama, at this point I don’t care about whatever means puts a boy in me. Do you have a better alternative for me?” “The solution will come through prayers,” said Sophia. Sophia had suggested the prayers option after Janet’s first girl, and she had engaged Pastor Edwin who led weekly prayer sessions for Janet. But Janet’s expectations never 16 ELUSIVE SON materialized in her next birth. The prayer sessions had continued through her third birth, and the continuing disappointing outcome had challenged her faith. Pastor Edwin counseled her to accept the Christian dictum that ‘God’s time is the best.’ She was better off to continue in prayer, as God did not necessarily answer one’s prayers immediately. With continual faith and prayer, God does ultimately answer prayers, the pastor had told her. Sophia reminded Janet of Pastor Edwin’s counseling, and urged her to keep her faith and be patient for God’s miraculous work to occur. Janet was up against an impatient mother- in-law who had an urgent agenda to fill up an heir ship void. Clara had of late been haranguing Morris and pressuring him to marry a second wife, and Janet’s only effective means of blocking that from happening was to bear a son. She knew Morris was resisting the idea, but there was a risk of him breaking under Clara’s relentless cajoling. Sophia’s caution about 17 ELUSIVE SON engaging a witch doctor was strictly based on her Christian faith’s abhorrence of the satanic rituals of witch doctors, but Janet saw nothing wrong in simultaneously pursuing Christian prayers and the black magic of a witch doctor. The goal was the same, she thought. The color of the cat that got the mouse did not matter, as long as the mouse was caught. “Mama, I hear your concerns about witch doctors, but we have tried prayers. I do believe in prayers, but I must try this witch doctor. His magic might work.” “Janet, your faith is weak. Pastor Edwin said a weak faith cannot resolve issues. You must therefore strengthen your faith…” The women were about an hour into their conversation when Morris had walked in from work. He was happy to see his mother-in-law. They exchanged pleasantries after which Morris put his briefcase down on a table and walked into the bedroom. Janet followed him into the bedroom. Morris looked exhausted. He sat on a 18 ELUSIVE SON sofa and was joined by Janet who rubbed his broad back. She took off his shirt and hung it in the closet. She next took his shoes off and placed them on a shoe rack in a corner of the room. “You look exhausted,” she told him. “What would you like to eat? I made rice, chicken stew, and fried plantains.” “Make me a plate with all three items,” said Morris. Janet’s rise from her chair coincided with a ring of Morris’s phone, and it was Clara calling him. Janet’s heart skipped a beat out of concern about what she suspected the conversation would be about. She had become apprehensive of late about Clara’s calls to Morris. Janet listened in on the phone conversation. “Hello, mama,” Morris had greeted. “Hello Morris, I hope you are well?” “I am, mama. I just got back from work.” “I hope that bad wife of yours made your food before you got home.” “Mama, Janet is not a bad wife; don’t talk 19 ELUSIVE SON about her like that, please!” “Son, it is my opinion that she is a bad wife. You need a new wife.” “Mama, I will call you back,” said Morris, who moved to end the conversation. Janet, who sat beside Morris and had heard the conversation, was hurt. Her eyes misted up from the emotional pain caused by Clara’s words. Clara had sensed that her son had no interest in marrying a second wife, and she now pursued a new strategy, which was to break up the marriage. Janet rested her head on Morris’s right shoulder and sobbed softly. Morris tried to comfort her. He urged her to disregard his mother’s attack. “Janet,” he called out her name while looking directly in her eyes, “nothing will break the love I have for you, not my mother, not anybody else. I know why she is doing this, but my love for you is total. I am not leaving you for anybody else.” Morris kissed her then got up from the sofa. 20 ELUSIVE SON “I am ready for my dinner.” They came out of the bedroom to rejoin Sophia and Happiness in the living room. Sophia held Happiness in her arms and fed her a bottle. Janet got busy walking back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, setting the plates, cutlery and food on the dining table. Soon, they sat down to dinner with Sophia, who l held Happiness in her left arm and managed to hold a fork in her right hand. Janet was tempted to bring up Clara’s insult as a topic for discussion as they ate, but decided not to do so because of the reaction it could engender in Sophia. After all, Morris had reaffirmed his love for her. There was thus no point in rehashing the matter. Like Morris, she knew why Clara was hostile to her. She was certain that her antagonism would end when she bore Morris that son, but Clara’s disparaging words had wounded her soul. Sophia made small talk with Morris, but Janet ate her food quietly, thinking all the time about Clara, her problem, and the witch doctor’s route she 21 ELUSIVE SON had decided to take to solve the problem. 22 ELUSIVE SON CHAPTER 2 Anna and Janet had set off on a rainy morning for the six hour trip to the abode of a witch doctor inside of a thick forest. It had rained from the previous night and the roads were muddy. They had joined a public bus for the first leg of the journey which would take them to the edge of the forest. From that point, they would trek a distance of 2 miles into the forest, led by agents of the witch doctor who knew the specific location of the witch doctor’s large hut in the forest. The bus traversed potholed city roads through heavy traffic and on narrow rural roads to reach the edge of the forest. The women, alone in the rear of the bus, engaged in a conversation as the bus navigated around large 23 ELUSIVE SON potholes and untrimmed vegetation which encroached upon the roads. “How did you find out about this witch doctor, and are you sure his ritual works?” Janet asked. “Whatever he did worked for me. I had six girls before somebody introduced him to me. I came here with this person to receive the witch doctor’s charms, along with rituals he performed for me. I went home, got pregnant, and gave birth to my boy.” “That’s amazing,” said Janet. “From that moment, I became a complete woman,” said Anna. “Before then, I went through this same stress you are going through of not being able to bear a male child, and my husband was my chief stressor because of his constant foul mood over the issue.” “In my own case, my husband isn’t the problem. He loves me, in spite of this issue,” said Janet. “My mother-in-law is my problem.” “That was why the first time you had told 24 ELUSIVE SON me about the issue, I advised you not to be bothered. As long as your husband isn’t worried about it, there is no point in stressing yourself.” “Anna, my husband is an only son from a family of greedy uncles. Even though, a male or female child makes no difference to him, I kind of feel for my future in the family if he should die without a male heir in this patriarchal society of ours. His aggressive mother is trying to break our marriage over this issue.” “This witch doctor will take care of this matter for you,” Anna assured her friend. “We should soon arrive at the edge of the forest. I think we’ve been traveling for over 5 hours.” The forest of the gods, a landscape of tall trees of various species—Iroko, palm, bamboo, baobab and several more—and dense undergrowth vegetation, spread over several miles. It was reputedly a virgin forest around since the beginning of time. Human settlements had sprung up around the edges of the forest over time, but actual residence inside was 25 ELUSIVE SON extremely rare because of the sheer fright of the place and the wild animals that lived there. But one man defied the dread and foreboding terrain and had made his home right in the middle of it, and that man was Oko, the black magician. Oko practiced witchcraft and black magic. He was slim, short and hunchbacked. He had a large head and a thin neck. His menacing gaze from heavily beaded eyes which were congenitally bloodshot accentuated his awe. Oko conjured and divined stuff. He also made concoctions, and charms and they all constituted his black magic repertoire. He fortified the guides who accompanied his clients to his location so they would be protected from wild animals. No one would otherwise venture into the foreboding bush. Two guides stood next to an entrance into the bowels of the bush when the bus had pulled up. They were young men in their twenties. Anna, Janet, and a few other women who had alighted from the bus, approached the guides 26 ELUSIVE SON and asked to be escorted to Oko. After a red substance was smeared on the foreheads of the women, the party took off into the bush. The red substance, Janet was told when she had asked what it was for, was to ward off wild animals. Janet was mightily frightened by the eeriness of the forest and the occasional rustling in the bushes by furtive animals she could not see. But she had come this far to solve her problem, and she was not going back. They had trekked for about thirty minutes when Oko’s red mud hut came into view. The rectangular shaped hut had a thatched roof. It was built on a mound of earth which gave it a slight elevation. The hut, along with a smaller one, sat in a clearing. Oko was taking a nap on a raffia mat spread on the ground outside of the bigger hut when his guests had arrived. Their approaching footsteps had alerted him and he had turned his head to look. Rising from the mat, he nodded then went inside the hut. Oko worked with an assistant who emerged from the 27 ELUSIVE SON hut several minutes later to formally welcome the clients. “Good afternoon to all of you and welcome. My name is Mba. Oko will soon be with you. He has asked for your patience while he prepares.” The women nodded in acceptance. Mba went back in the hut and returned shortly with wooden stools for the women to sit on. Mba, in his forties and of a height just short of being a dwarf, was often assigned the task of harvesting plants from the forest Oko used in making his concoctions. He also received and recorded commodities bartered by Oko’s clients for his treatments and divinations. These commodities included goats, sheep, fowls and farm produce. Oko did accept currency, but he often added these commodities in his charge. As such, the women had come with goats and roosters. Janet came with a couple of roosters. The women waited for about an hour before Oko was ready to receive his first client, and that client was Janet. 28 ELUSIVE SON Mba called on Janet and she followed him inside the hut to a backdoor which opened into a backyard where the smaller hut stood a short distance away. This was Oko’s shrine where he attended to his clients. Trailing Mba as he walked towards the shrine was not only Janet, but also Anna. Mba knocked on the wooden hut door and went in with the women. Inside the shrine, Oko sat on a high-backed chair draped with a leopard’s skin. He wore a simple tunic. There were red beaded bracelets on his wrists and his face was painted black, white and red. He burned incense and the haze hung in the stifling air. There were two stools facing Oko and a small wooden table separated the stools from his position on the high-backed chair. Mba sat on a third stool next to Oko. Janet was awestruck and intimidated by the atmosphere in the hut. The consultation started in earnest. Anna spoke first. As Oko was an elderly man in his seventies, Anna called him by the honorific 29 ELUSIVE SON name of Papa. “Papa, I am glad to be here again. The last time I was here was about two years ago. I had come to seek your assistance so I could bear a male child. I thank you for the success in my quest. Today, I am here with my friend who has the same problem I had. A male child has eluded her through three births.” “My sympathies go to your friend. I am prepared to help her.” Oko shifted to face Janet. “Young woman, it’s a pity that you are going through this problem. I can help you as long as you are ready to go along with what it entails. Did your friend tell you what’s involved?” “Not in full details yet,” said Janet. Oko glanced at Anna for a comment but Anna did not make any. She moped at Oko instead. “What is involved?” Janet asked, suddenly curious and worried at what was required of her, hoping it was nothing outlandish. “First, I have to consult with the gods about what your predestined gifts in children are. If 30 ELUSIVE SON there is a male in the mix, then you will just go home and be patient until he is conceived and born. But if my investigation with the spirits show that you are not destined to bear a male child then we will have to poach from somebody else’s destiny to give you her male child.” Janet wanted a clarification of the last sentence in Oko’s statement. “What does poach from somebody else’s destiny mean?” she asked. “It means I will use my special powers to take away another woman’s destined male child and give him to you. They will not conceive that male child any longer, you will conceive him.” Janet was immediately distressed by the digression the consultation had taken. She was a Christian woman who did not believe in magic or the use of magical powers to seek anything, much more the harming of a fellow human being by way of occult powers so she could benefit from it. She was willing to go along with a “little” black magic, perhaps animal sacrifice and abstract conjuring, but harming or depriving 31 ELUSIVE SON somebody else in this drastic manner for her benefit was going too far. She wanted a male child alright, but when Anna had convinced her to see Oko, she did not anticipate this kind of remedy to her situation. She was therefore reluctant to go along with it, but she had to convey this position politely to Oko. “Papa, I want to go home and think about it,” she told him. “I will get back to you if I decide to proceed with it.” Anna who had been listening to the conversation opined to encourage her friend to go along. “Janet, what are you going home to think about?” she asked, with a tone of derision in her voice. “You have a problem which is about to be solved and you want to first think about it! Haven’t you thought about it enough already? What is wrong with you?” “Anna, if my having a male child will involve taking from someone to give to me, then I don’t want it.” 32 ELUSIVE SON “What is your business with who it is being taken from? Anna retorted. “You don’t and will never know this person, so why are you bothered?” Oko chimed in. “Anna is correct. I am the only one who will identify the woman we will be taking from. You will not know who she is.” Janet still felt uncomfortable, in spite of the assurances. “Papa, I will still like to think about it.” “Okay, I am always here. Come back whenever you decide to go forward with solving your problem.” Mba escorted the women out of the room. They said nothing to each other, as they followed Mba outside into the backyard through the main hut to the frontage. Mba bade them bye and called on the next client to come forth. Janet and Anna were led back onto the footpath several minutes later by guides en route to the main road where they would board a bus to take them home. They talked as they made their way 33 ELUSIVE SON along the footpath. “…You had to go through what Oko described to get your son?” Janet asked. “I did, and I see nothing wrong with that,” “What about the woman whose destiny was taken from so you could have her male child,” Janet followed up on her question, appalled that her friend had done that. She did not know her friend was that extremely fetishist inclined. She had at a minimum thought that Oko would make her some concoction she would drink which would create natural conditions in her body to increase her chances of conceiving a male child. The excursion into fetishist and extreme black magic territory was totally unexpected and a great shock to her. “I know I consented to going to see Oko out of my desperation, but the Bible teaches us that belief in and practice of black magic is a sin. You can’t be a good Christian and believe in black magic.” “Did I tell you I believe in it?” Anna shot 34 ELUSIVE SON back. “Well, your son came through that route.” “I don’t have to believe in it. Oko believes in it, and if his belief got me what I wanted, he is the one who committed the sin, not me,” said Anna in vigorous defense of her action. Janet thought Anna’s twisting of the circumstances to absolve herself of the sin of black magic was a clever way of exculpating herself, and she wasn’t having it. “The practitioner and the beneficiary are all sinners because they jointly participated in the act.” “Well, I had my son and that was all that mattered to me. I tried to help you out. I guess you have to find alternative means now and I wish you luck.” *** Back in the city, Morris had been busy in his business establishment at the same time as 35 ELUSIVE SON Janet’s foray into the bush. He had left home before Janet’s departure. She did not tell him about her trip for fear he would stop her from going. Morris had a new friend named Eddie, who had just taken over a motor vehicle spare parts business down the street. Eddie had stopped by to shoot the breeze with Morris. Morris had confided in him about Janet’s distress in her inability to conceive a male child. Although Morris was happy with the girls his wife had given him and he loved them, but there was still a smidgen of desire in him for a male child. This was however unconnected with Clara’s obsession with land and asset inheritance issues. He just felt a boy would provide a nice mix of both genders among his children. He was aware of the cultural barriers women faced in matters of inheritance among his people, but he was a modern man who intended to establish a number of facts to ensure that his girls were set up for life, were he to die. The girls would be the beneficiaries of bank deposit 36 ELUSIVE SON accounts for their education, and investment accounts they would draw from when they were grown. The banks operated under federal law, unlike land matters, particularly in the rural villages, which were subject to customary laws. His daughters’ accounts would therefore be safe from the greedy hands of his extended male relatives. They could take his lands in the community, but their rapacious hands could never touch the bank accounts. Morris interacted with a customer while Eddie waited in his office. Eddie drank beer served him earlier by Morris. Eddie had two boys with his wife and he was convinced their conception had resulted from his usage of a specific technique in his choice words of “baby making.” Morris had rejoined him after the customer had left. “So what is the technique you are using to make your children?” Eddie asked. Morris laughed at the question, thinking it was silly. “What do you mean?” he asked Eddie, sarcastically. “The technique is the same 37 ELUSIVE SON technique everyone has used since human existence in this world, either through evolution or creation, depending on your belief.” Morris laughed again at Eddie’s question. “You don’t understand, Morris my friend,” said Eddie. “I mean the specific technique you use in bed.” Morris doubled up in laughter at Eddie’s follow up question, but Eddie continued undeterred. “I think you are not using the correct technique to impregnate your wife…To get that male seed to be implanted properly, you must use the proper technique.” Morris didn’t take him seriously, but he asked to be edified about what this proper technique was. Eddie then ventured into x-rated territory in his narration of his special technique, which had Eddie in stitches the whole time. “Try it the next time you are both intimate and if that male boy doesn’t result from it, I will give you half of my business,” said Eddie both in 38 ELUSIVE SON jest and in seriousness about the accuracy of his technique. “Okay, I will try it and report back to you,” said Morris who felt thoroughly entertained by it all, though he was also intrigued. 39 ELUSIVE SON CHAPTER 3 Janet retuned from her trip to Oko, disappointed in the outcome. She had arrived home just before Morris’s return from work. She cooked dinner and was setting the food on the dining table, as Morris watched the news on television. He carried Happiness in his arms and tickled her. Their other girls—Patricia and Hope—four and two years of age respectively played with Morris. They pulled on the bottom of his trousers, tickled his feet then exploded in laughter when he made a playful howling sound and moved his feet around. From the kitchen where Janet dished out rice, beans, chicken and fried yams into plates, she glanced occasionally at her happy husband and their children enjoying each other’s company. Morris was thoroughly 40