I came from a family where everyone was in one line of business except for one person, my uncle Obinna. As an inquisitive kid, I always wanted to know why he chose something different.
I remember asking my dad one day and watching him lean back on his favourite rocking chair, his gaze to the evening stars, while I sat on the floor just at his feet. Tiny cricket sounds were all we could hear in the background that might.
Then he cleared his throat and said
"As a young man, your uncle Obinna didn't have it all rosy in life." I could feel the weight of old memories in his voice. "He did various kinds of jobs, from owning a provision store to driving a truck and some other kinds of stuff I don't want you to know." He smiled. "I even remembered my junior one, your Uncle Ikenna, making a mockery of him one day that maybe he was cursed. We all persuaded that he should come to join us in our importation of Okrika business (second-hand clothing)"
"So why didn't he join?"
"Nwayọ (calm down). I'm getting there", Dad replied, looking at me.
I nodded already hungry to know the whole story
Then he continued, "Well, he did join me, and I trained him on the rudiments of the business, everything he needed to know; a few years later, he was doing fine for himself, but something happened one day."
"What happened?" I asked as if he wasn't going to tell me.
"We got a call that his imports, the container with his goods had fallen into the sea. I remember how we stood at the container yard in Lagos when it was somehow removed from the sea, but by then, all the clothes inside were nothing but rags. That was his first huge loss, which resulted in him owing a lot of people because he had to borrow money for the importation, hoping that he would make it and pay it back when his goods arrived. I could still hear his friend Ugo ask him at the yard that day
'Obinna what will you do now?'
And without flinching or moving a muscle your uncle replied 'I don't know'"
"That's so sad" I replied, feeling pity for my uncle. I watched as Dad's fingers were drumming inaudibly on the arm of his chair. It felt like he was trying to remember the past.
"Yeah so bad. For weeks your uncle wandered this city aimlessly. At some point, I thought he was going to run mad. Then one day, he came back home hopeful again. He told of how he was wandering around the city thinking about this life when he stumbled upon this lush green vegetable farm. According to him, it was like something out of a painting."
By then I was already picturing the garden in my mind.
He talked about how big it was and how the number of cars parked to purchase goods was too much. Somehow, he got in touch with the owner of the place who you know now as Aunty Nkechi, his wife. And like magic, she welcomed him in, and they got talking like they had been friends for a long time. The woman told him how her business was very lucrative, but people didn't know because they never valued farmers back then. Also, she was willing to help train your uncle in the business when your uncle explained to her what happened to him and how he was searching for the next thing to venture into"
I raised my eyebrows "Wait, Daddy, from importation, he chose farming?"
Dad chuckled. "Nwam (My son), we all thought he was mad too. We urged him to do away with the fairies in his head but he already made up his mind. In his words 'I've found my calling'. And with that, we didn't push further; besides, he was already an adult and can make decisions for himself."
I shook my head, now realising how Uncle Obinna got to be a successful farmer.
"He bought a small piece of land in the city with the little money he had. And with the help of Aunty Nkechi, he started his little farmland. Working day and night, planting crops in season, harvesting, and applying pesticides. He always came back home with dirt on his fingers and sweat-drenched clothes. Your uncle was fair before, but with the constant working on the farm in the sun, he had a dark complexion. And still, we didn't think he would make it. But Obinna was determined to prove to us that he was called to be a farmer"
By now, Dad had a smile on his face. I could tell he was admiring his brother's 'never give up attitude'.
I, too, was beginning to admire Uncle Obinna's zeal and hard work.
"Somehow he got people and friends who believed in him and invested in his business. He expanded them more and got more hands to help him. Along the line, he married Aunty Nkechi, and they joined forces to grow their business to what you know today."
By now, my buttocks were hurting from sitting on the floor. So I decided to lie down.
"You know what all this taught me, son?" Dad asked me.
"Hmmm," I mumbled. Already feeling dizzy.
"It taught me that sometimes, being ‘away with the fairies’ can be the only way to find your true path", he added.
Well, I woke up the next morning on the bed. How I went from falling asleep on the floor outside to waking up on the bed inside was a mystery.