Chapter 83

• “This is not happening.”
• Elvis thought as he trotted on the village road, his bag hanging heavy on his shoulder as if a heavy load had been added to its original contents. Children followed him from a distance. They were not jeering or singing, they just followed him from a distance saying nothing. Why were they following him and looking at him as if he was walking with his head? No, they were not looking at him in wonder, no, they looked at him with pity, some with disgust. Others as if he will infect them. His daughter rejected him, so what? That did not make him a spectacle for the children to ogle. More came out to join others as they walked on.
• Parents had called their children to come and take a look at the man. In Waterside Elvis Jacobs was everything no child wants to become. If a child started playing truancy, the parents would say to the child, “Do you want to end up like Elvis Jacobs? A coward, a worm so lazy that he will wait for his wife to feed him?” The people of Waterside loved the old fashion way. To them, it was the husband’s sole duty to provide for his family. The wives were there just to support their men. But no man will let his wife carry the major load of the family. True, their women work hard too but no man who allowed his wife to carry the major load in his family would be allowed to raise hand in a meeting or make a suggestion. Most of them were farmers, and they do the major work in their farmlands.