THE STUBBORN LANDLORD

 Ananse at a meeting with his tenants: At the meeting with his tenants angrily shouting at them.

His children on the other hand had adopted a malicious delight in starting scornfully at their father. While Ananse sat and brooded painfully over his poverty, his children who felt betrayed by their father hung clandestinely is corners and fixed him with a stare full of hatred and contempt, once he was astonished to catch all his four children glaring fiercely at him from different angles. He was more shocked to realize that the children would not be haunted by the rebuking store. After a long exchange of challenging glaze between father and children, the eldest of the kids, Patrick summoned them and led them away. They walked unhurriedly defiantly and in an arm-in-arm solidarity. Ananse was appalled.

 Ananse and his children exchanging challenging gazes one evening when they were hungry. From that day his own house had became a figure of terror to him because his children always frightened him. Whenever the kids convened, he knew they undermined him; they discussed him, mocking his flaws and weakness as an irresponsible father. Hide cautiously and eavesdrop. They made him ill at ease and insecure.

The kids grew stubbornly hardened against him day by day. He dreaded his home, his wife and his children, he had lost his integrity at home, he had lost his peace and safety too, with fear he waited for the day his children and tenants would declare and open war and oust him from the house.

It was eleven in the night, Ananse wobbled awkwardly towards home. It was darker then normal on the shortcut path he used to speed on in the night due to the general power outage. He thought sadly of home and reckoned that his household would be asleep by now, snoring gustily in their fitful slumber.

He saw the children twitching and whispering in the grip of their grieving dreams, grunting and throwing their arms to one another in their single mat. He thought ruefully about the mat. The children had wanted to dispose of it long ago for a new one, but he had pleaded with them on the promise that they would get a new one on pay day. The promised month come and passed ends now fair gone, they still slept in the shreds of a mat.

Presently it looked like a fishing net. His wife on the other hand could not coup with his new style of  event and decided to leave him for good but when she thought about the consequences, she changed her mind to poison his lovely but stubborn husband one day. With this the back of her mind. She managed to put resources together and prepared a mouth watering dish for his husband which was supposed to be poisoned. Peace, Ananse’s wife stood beside the table in the ultra modern room ostensibly lost in thoughts not knowing what to do. She stared long at the month watering dish on the table. Talking her eyes of the food, she settled in the unopened bottle with poison inscribed on it. She approached the bottle and took it in her trembling hands she looked at her four children sleeping and thought about how she could bear the burden alone without Ananse. Even though he was not living up to her standards.

He has at least provided the needed support till this day when things took a different trend. This thought therefore compelled her to reverse her initial idea to kill her husband Ananse.

On his way home that night, Ananse saw a block in the path and raised his right foot a bit higher to step on it. Sadly, it was a hole. He stumbled and saw the dark earth approaching fast.

He flung his aims forward reflexively to break his fall. He panted lively as he lifted himself from the ground. For a long moment he stood, searching for the block he had seen earlier. He sighed deeply. His newly adopted modus operands had been effective only for a couple of days. He felt dead worn out these days. Having to sneak out of home at 4: am toil at work from 7am to 5pm and loiter aimlessly in town till 11.pm. He could then stagger exhaustedly to his house, open the creaking door with delicate care and tiptoe, like a thief to bed. If he had a despitefully. Little money he left it on the bed for his wife before he tiptoed out of the house again  at 4am the next morning. It was a vicious cycle. He wounded if he and could even stop running from his house, from his family, from his tenants from his room and from his own bed.

Ananse tiptoed into his room

He felt like a fugitive, it seemed ages since he saw daylight at home. His wife’s stoically calm face smote his conscience. His children scared him terribly. He could not remember the time saw their face. He searches for whom to blame. As he neared home, premonition sadly dawned on him, he felt that his family must have suspected the old trick he had recently being up to; staying out late in the night  and  running away at dawn, all to shirk having to see to their numerous needs and want. They might decide to stay up and confront him tonight.

This was the time his wife hatched the diabolic plan to poison him to death.

He therefore shivered at his thought.

 Ananse took cover behind the last mango tree and threw a glance at his house. He thought he saw a shadowy figure moved into the room.

 He holds on. Moments later, a burning light was carried out of the room and lowered at the steps. Then he saw his four children sitting at the doorway.

A conspiracy air lingered around their conversation.

Ananse’s heart sank in weary capitulation; He shrank into a nook of the mango tree and waited eternally. The mischievous kids were bent on confronting him tonight. He slept nightmarishly.

When he woke up it was 4.am, he went to work doubly tried, haggard and           disappointed. That day the salam’s came. After taking his paltry remuneration. Ananse was very jubilant. He knew he could sit at home with his family and takes care of his aggrieved tenants once again. He missed her so much, especially his wife. He therefore galloped home, especially his wife. He therefore galloped home triumphantly like a soldier from war. His face glowed with radiant countenance. He thought of the things he would do. He thought of the children’s mat, he thought about their favourites meal and also about how he would re-unit with his tenants. He grew suddenly hungry as he increased his pace vigorously towards home.

At home that day he reunited with his children and he made that day happiest in their lives. His tenant on the other hand grew increasingly anger as they were waiting for his appearance at home. Moments letter Brother  was served with a letter to appear in court as a result of his gross stubbornness towards his tenants.

In court Ananse was made to answer a series of question from his tenants but interestingly enough when the case was opened, Ananse excellently denied  at all charges levelled against him. On other courts of not signing any tenancy agreement with his tenants, he vividly knowing of any of the men who claimed that Ananse was their landlord.

 Ananse in Court

Surprisingly enough, the case was made a foolish case and when they returned home Ananse who failed to listen to his  tenants from day one became their favourite because he has changed completely and reversed all the negative attitude he once put up against them. Most of them who thought that things will never go well with their landlord were astonished as  Ananse who  was once stubborn became submissive and learnt a listening error anytime he was called upon.

The few tenants who remained in his house till this day never regretted living with Ananse because they learnt a lot from him and realized how men behaved when things were hard for them.

To his wife and children, they became the most happiest because from that day Ananse lived up to their standards.

But one thing his tenants could not erase off their minds was that Ananse was indeed a stubborn landlord.               THE END.

ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTION

1). How will you describe Brother in this story?

2). What is the name of Ananse wife?

3). What helped Ananse to build his house so early?

4). Why will you describe Ananse as stubborn?

5). What did Ananse  wife intended to do to him when he was running away from home?

6). Indentify three reasons why Ananse could not longer sleep at home?

7). What finally land, Ananse at the court?

8). How much did the tenants paid on behalf of the house and why did he grabbed me like a vice and pay?

9). What did Ananse do when he finally received living his pay?

10). For reason has the tenants not regret living in Ananse house?

11). What do you like about the story?

12). What thus “N’HOPO” Stand for?