He Almost Ruined The Day
Every family has one or two individuals who always complicate issues, mine is not an exception, in fact, I think we have more of them than the normal ones. They can be so annoying, ruining almost every fun the family wants to have.
Sometimes it feels like we should just get rid of them and rest but you know what? Family meetings, reunions, and get-togethers are never complete if they are not around.
My uncle earned the name "Public" in the family due to his ability to ruin things, wherever his face shows up expect chaos. Usually, my extended family rarely come together except for two reasons, the end of the year meeting which we often refer to as a party because it is full of fun and the other one is when a family member wants to get married.
A few years back, after one of our morning devotions, my dad broke the good news, "Your cousin Theresa is going to get married in a few months," We exploded with joy, and everyone was happy. Theresa is in her mid-thirties and everyone was already worried that she might not get married due to her harsh and complicated nature. Now you see the reason for the joy right?
Time passed, and the long-awaited day came, early that morning my dad banged at my door, "Wake up we need to make it early to the village". "What for"? I asked, "For your cousin's traditional wedding of course" he responded.
"How come you forgot this so fast? I have told you severally to learn how to mingle with the extended family, if I am not around hope you know that it's going to be your responsibility to stand for this very family?" He queried, knowing fully that I was not having the intention to follow him down to the village. "Sorry sir," I replied and got myself prepared for the party.
You must be wondering why I don't like going to the village, my uncles are too problematic, they love ordering people around and feeling like small gods but when you ask them for help none of them will come in for you. In my life I hate selfishness.
We got to the village and just as I predicted, there was so much work to do, we had to slaughter the pig and the goat that the groom brought for the family to share. After doing all the work we were asked to do, we were told to prepare because the groom's family were already on their way coming.
We all got set and in no time, they were there, "Public" the family's headache wasnt available when we were working, everyone almost concluded that he was not going to make it and we were all happy, not until the groom's family arrived, we saw the tall, slim dark man also coming with his cigarette from a distance.
Everyone's mood changed instantly because we knew there was going to be a serious problem. Our big uncle sent someone to tell him to be on his best behavior because of the visitors around and he should at least put his cigarette away.
He managed to do that for a while and we were all surprise, everyone was whispering "Is this public? What happened to him today?" Soon after the agreement between both families, our big uncle asked if anyone had anything to say. The meeting was quiet for some minutes and we all thought that was it, it was time to dance and get merry but Public raised his hand at the eleventh hour.
"What is it you have to say? speak on", our uncle consented. "Thank you all for this great opportunity," he responded with a calm voice while standing up. "Em, I have seen everything available here, there is more than enough food, meat and the beans you brought are adequate but where is the alcohol? I can't come to this party and you expect me to drink sweet stuff, sweet drinks are for children. We will not.."
"Public, sit down," our uncle instantly objected, but the young man gave a dump ear and proceeded, we will not accept this dowry. As soon as he mentioned "dowry" it caught everyone's attention "Public, sit down and keep quiet please, What's wrong with you? If you dont find this gathering appealing, you can go back to wherever you are coming from" My Dad responded.
Actually, in my family, alcohol is forbidden as part of the drinks for traditional weddings. My uncle believes that since it's a new union it should be started on a pure and holy ground.
Public wouldn't listen to anyone he kept ranting and insisting they buy a crate of beer before he stayed calm. We tried all we could to no avail, the groom had to secretly buy him a bottle of beer before he kept mute. We all felt embarrassed over his actions, our big uncle had to apologize to our inlaws but they laughed saying "We have their type in every family."
Actually, people like that are in every family, one just needs to know how to handle them for peace to reign. after taking his beer, he was just busy cracking jokes and putting smiles on everyone's face.