BLOOD OF THE FIRST MEN

2

He didn't study in school, but his English was still good and decent. And that is because his mom helped him study any abandoned test book he picks up on the road or in the dustbin. 

Taking Nathan to her backyard, she showed him what he was to do. And she told him she was paying him 20 dollars for it. 

"But Mrs. Smith, the...? 

"Ma'am". Mrs. Smith interrupted him. 

"Yes, ma'am, but the yard is way too big for 20 dollars. It should be 50 dollars, ma'am." Nathan tried to reason with her, even though he knew there was no chance of her changing her mind.

 

"Are you doing it or not, Nathan? I have better things to do. Than to stand here with you all day."

"Fine, I will do it, but can you add a bit of money to it? 

"Excuse me"

"Nothing, Mrs. Smith I mean, ma'am." Can I get the field machine so as to be fast?" Nathan asked.

"First of all, I don't have that; even if I do, why should I give it to you? I am paying you twenty dollars, which is too much for this little field. And yet you are demanding my field machine, so what? So you could lay your filthy hands on it. No, mmm, not even a chance. And you better be done by sun dawn if you wish to receive a complete money fool." Glaring hard at him.

Mrs. Smith threw a cutlass at him before walking into her house. None of her kids were up, and the ones who had woken up were playing a louder video game. The house was filled with maid, so none of the kids ever bothered doing anything. 

Picking up the cutlass, Nathan looked at the bush, waved his head, and prayed he was able to finish it before night fell, so he could go home and tend to his mother.

Taking off his T-shirt, he started working. He worked until noon with nothing to sustain him except the water he saw in the backyard. 

Mrs. Smith's first daughter arrived from the city of Zion along with her best friend. She has been schooling there since daycare, but she wasn't living with her father either there in the city. Nathan could hear them jubilate at her return;

it was just her mother, as the rest didn't care about her existence. Mara's best friend looked out through the window, saw Nathan, and called out to her friend, who was in her changing room. 

"Mara, come over here now, girl; you didn't tell me your mother has found a handsome gardener, huh?" Naomi smirked, admiring what she saw. 

"What! My mom wouldn't do that without letting me in the known girl; I'm her favorite." Mara said she was coming out of her bathroom with only a bathrobe. 

"OMG girl! This one has fine abs. Damn, look at that sweat streaming down the low Mmm." Mara licks her finger in admiration of Nathan's shirtless body. 

"Now that you see what I'm seeing, he sure would make a fine 24-hour-long baby. Even though he looks dirty and smells bad, he is the hottest guy I have ever met. Damn looks at those abs. Come on girl, let go say hi." Naomi suggested. 

"No, no, no, girl, don't even go there. Nathan over there has history, which I don't know, but for some reasons, I do not care to know. Everybody in the community hates him, including my mom, so if you still want to enjoy your stay here, Act like you didn't notice him." Mara stops her friend from going any further. Making sure her friend understood her, she left.

"Hey mom, that smells nice. I miss the home-made."

"Hated by everyone, yet he is still the cutest thing I ever met." Naomi whispered to herself. But that didn't stop her from saying hi.

"Hi Nathan, I'm Naomi. Nice to meet you." She screamed from the window. 

Nathan turned, looked at her, waved back, and went back to work. 

"Well, that was weird." With that, Naomi left to join the rest. It was already nightfall when Nathan finished up. Mrs. Smith threw twenty dollars at his feet and walked back inside her home. He wasn't happy about Mrs. Smith cheating, yet he was okay with the twenty dollars. He happily ran to the closest pharmacy, bought some medicine for the mother, and bought canned food for him and his mother.

He ran home as fast as his tired body could go. He had left his mother since morning and didn't know how she could be now. 

"Hey mom, you there. I managed to get you some drugs; you need to take them now." Helping his mother sit up, he gave her the drug and water to drink it down. Together, they ate the food he bought. Dropping the empty tins aside, his mother called him to join her in the tiny bed, which he did.

Resting his head on her chest, she told him about the little metal box she has been carrying around for years now. 

"You see, your father left that for you. I have been trying my best to keep it safe for you till you are ready to open it." Mrs. Rose said. 

"You mean the one under the bed? Can I open it now? You never told me anything about my father except that he is a good  man." Nathan said as he stood up, reaching out for the box. Everywhere was already dark, so he tried the faint touch light he had on him to find the box.

When he found it, he blew out the dust and turned to his mother, who smiled back at him. 

"Nathan, you are not just anyone. You are the last son of the long line of the first..." Mrs. Rose couldn't finish her words when she got choked, coughing uncomfortably without seizing.

Nathan tried giving her water to calm down, but it wasn't helping.

"Mum, stop talking, please stay with me, mom, please." Mrs. Rose had stopped talking, but her body temperature was running low.

"Mum! Mum! Mum! Nathan tried calling her. Please stay with me.