When Jake thought about it, it was amazing. Despite all the years spent in America, his uncle was still quite traditional. The dowry he demanded was astronomical. A seven year internship without payment or any other staff benefits made no sense for a young man just about to begin life.
“This way, I will be saving you the bride price.” Uncle L had stated, laughing.
It was ridiculous but so was his love. So, Jake took it upon himself to do everything to make their nuptial a reality. He put his nose to the grindstone, counting neither pain nor inconvenience. Her visualized smile was a constant companion that made the gruelling work a walk in the park. Jake developed new software and applications that took the firm from The Valley and put it on the world map. He was a bee, producing honey relentlessly, inexorably—as he toiled his, uncle’s holdings increased. Jake’s life had distilled to one purpose: breasting the tape and gathering his queen into his arms.
She filled his waking-moments, saturated his soul and flooded his consciousness. Her perfume, a fusion of strawberry and roses, teased his senses and invaded every chink in his already frayed armour. The thought of her set off sparks in his being and kept him awake some nights. Nothing had ever ignited his passion like this belle that floated in his dreams.
Seven years disappeared in no time like sun kissed mists. The night of their wedding was one he had pre-lived many times over. In actual fact, it was nothing like his fantasies—it was better. A more beautiful bride was never seen; resplendent in a flowing silk gown that concealed yet hinted at the things beneath. He wished they would take off the veil so he’d announce to the world that she was, finally, his bride. But he knew it would not happen; their tradition expressly forbade that a groom would see his wife in public on their wedding day. The wedding night, however, was a different matter…
Out of joy, at the actualization of a dream long pursued and the end of what was servitude renamed, Jake allowed himself to get drunk. He was conversing amid empty bottles with other individuals in varying degrees of intoxication when someone came to call him. His first conjugal assignment beckoned…
When he awoke in the morning, he discovered to his chagrin that it was not Rache that had shared his bed. It was her elder sister…
Jake stormed out of the consummation chamber, enraged at the monkey business. He went seeking his father-in-law. What was the meaning of this rubbish? The man pleaded with him. It was against their culture for the younger to marry before the elder. A fresh agreement was drawn up to include another seven years for Rache. However, Jake would not need to wait, once this compulsory week-long honeymoon was over, they would be wedded.
With the equability of a man without options, Jake faced the arduous task. After the fourteen years were past, Jake was promoted to partner. Profit would be shared in the ratio of eighty to twenty, between the owner and him.
Jake accepted this too, bellyaching was not his style. Every spare moment was spent developing new software. He saved much of the money generated and ploughed it back into starting up a firm. He knew his onions; people noticed. Before long his business bloomed. Jake was on the way to being made.
When his uncle and sons saw that Jake prospered in spite of their ploys, they began to openly confront him, accusing him of embezzlement.
Jake realized it was time to move. Twenty years of serfdom, within which the terms and conditions had changed ten times, was quite enough. He floated his company’s shares on the open market. It was oversubscribed. After that he gathered his family and left America for his homeland.
Watching the clear, azure-blue skies from the window of the Airbus as they waited for the all-clear signal, he recounted the events leading to his flight. He realized that he was no longer the person he used to be. His life had begun to change after the encounter in that church. He acknowledged he had not been fair to his twin; he would need to make amends. He pulled out his blackberry and began to compose a mail.
Postscript:
“Two nations are in your womb,
and two peoples from within you will be separated;
one people will be stronger than the other,
and the older will serve the younger.”
Genesis 25: 23
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