assertive. He was calm and thoughtful. They now had three children. He wasn’t getting any younger, but he was looking back on his Father’s words more than ever. It dawned on me that even Fathers need their Fathers. I felt sad for Michael because he was robbed of his Father. Guilt took away the one person he would have confided in at such a time. I listened to their hearts beat and looked around the room. I was indeed the ugliest chair in that room. The others were asleep. The only person who kept me company was the blue wall. She looked at me and nodded-as if to say she understood what I was feeling. I stared at her till dawn, because I knew if I closed my eyes, I would shed tears for the first time.
March 3rd 1979
Leon was nine years old. The twins were six. Nancy had another child. On March 3rd at 1:00pm, they welcomed the most beautiful baby girl and they named her Michelle. Michael was too happy to settle down. The boys looked at him and wondered what had overcome him. Nancy was elated too. She had finally found someone she could confide in. Michelle would be the perfect daughter. She would buy her everything and pamper her like the princess she was. The boys were sworn as her protectors. No one was to make fun of her or intimidate her. Michael celebrated his birthday on the same day she was born. If that was not a gift, then the fact that she had the same coffee brown eyes as him was. Shelley was half Leon, half the twins. She could make a fuss when she wanted to and be sweet too. Of all the children, she spent most time in the hospital because she had a weak heart. It was Nancy; I couldn’t stand to look at her back then. She blamed herself for Shelley being so weak. She kept saying her family had the poor genes. It was a constant battle with her. She did not eat much or sleep. She would stay up with her rosary in hand and say prayers for her little girl. Shelley stayed home for a month without any complications, then after a while as days went by she was fine. They never talked about how hard it was on them, but Leon saw through them. He had the understanding of his Father and there were times I knew Michael feared him. He did not know what his son would be in ten years. Leon never talked much. He never repeated himself. He would tell Jonah and David to follow him and they would never leave his side. When he was being punished he had this blank stare that bore right through his parents. One day Nancy asked Michael, why he had insisted that their first born son be named Leon. I reckon she never paid much attention to the things her husband uttered in his sleep. Truth is Leon was his best friend. It was Boko’s Christian name. He could never see himself naming his son Leonard, so he went for Leon. Michael did not answer immediately. He took his time framing his answer like he always did. Nancy on the other hand folded her hands across her chest as she waited. She was hot sauce while he was water. A little of the latter could calm the former. He looked at his hands then laughed. His response came in a hiss, a slow but certain cold hiss that only he could fathom. “Leon is Boko, my best friend.”
“Is he the journalist who died?”
“Murdered, he was murdered Nancy.”
“O…well, I am glad I know. Is Leon anything like him?”
“Truth is he is more like my Father.”
“Was your Father a fan of Leon too?”
“He raised both of us. He was the one who sent Leon to study English. He always said that we were like a coin; one was the head and the other the tail. He said we were so attached that none could live without the other. I guess he was wrong.”
“I am sorry Michael. Leon would have been proud of you.”
“He would have laughed at me Nancy.”
“Why? What’s so funny about your life?”
“I got married and now I have four children. He always said I was too moody to get married. He would come to our room and say, ‘I know Mike very well, he is a professor of life, but moody like ten thousand women combined, guys, if you cannot handle the mood swings of one woman-imagine ten thousand of those, I rest my case.’”
“He knew you back then Michael, but you have changed and I reckon I am seeing some grey hair starting to sprout.”
“Don’t worry Nancy, Leon will turn out well. He will be as moody as ten thousand women combined, but he will always be our son. Besides he seems to command the attention of everyone except Shelley.” Michael turned thirty six that year. He also learned something about his Father. Something I will have to keep with me because I have known him longer than I know you. Yes, there are certain secrets that only a chair can keep. I choose to keep to myself what Michael learned about his Father that year. I will however for the sake of Leon, tell you that Michael could only hold his son in his arms and say “Forgive me.” Leon in turn held his Father and rocked him to sleep. He cried when he saw his Father talk in his sleep, maybe because he understood that he was the only one who knew him. His Father would in turn be the only man who ever knew him to the depths of his soul.
June 4th 1980
I thought of Michael. He was thirty seven now and I was twice his age. At this point I will tell you what I had learned about the human race by then. You are selfish and cold. You can also be kind only if there is something to gain. You love thinking of the end result but never the way there. I sat in the same spot in all the houses we moved to. Michael always had me at the corner far from eyesight with the lamp stand beside me. At times he would sit on me and fall asleep. There were times when he would just look at me and head straight to bed. He was a man who kept his word. He did what he could in those years to keep his family together. He also did some things that could have destroyed his family, but he was lucky Nancy never knew about it. There was one case, now that I think of it; she was a skinny woman from work. I think her name was Phoebe. Phoebe, of all the names to grant a child, you go for one that is pronounced different from its spelling! Phoebe was the listening type. I know that they had something behind closed doors for a month. Michael never did much to give himself away, but I knew it because like all his ghosts this one came haunting him. She wanted to call it off. She told him that she was looking to start a family of her own and he was clearly taken. Michael was slow to let go. When he did, he talked to me that night. Leon was asleep and the twins had gone to visit their aunt. Nancy was with Shelley at the hospital. He simply said “My Father would condemn the man I have become. At times I think he would be proud of me, seeing as I took after him and all. It’s over. Phoebe is going to settle for someone else. I wish I was like you at times. I would just sit there and have no worries or memories.” I must have laughed at this because the blue wall lit up too. She knew as much about him as I did. I had once asked her if other people did talk to chairs. The lamp stand told me to be quiet and let the man confess his sins. She was a pretty lamp stand, but she was skinny too. I prefer some curves, if you get my drift. I knew that Nancy was not easy to live with; she would stick to her plans no matter what. I recall Michael asking her if they could have one more child and she said “No.” It was all she ever said and he never asked. He always thought he could have five children. He wanted them to have each other. She didn’t see the need of hatching a child for nine months while he worked. She did not like the weight gain too. I knew she could be persuaded but Michael did not think that through. He sought someone who could understand how he felt. He found that in Phoebe. He enjoyed it while it lasted and I reckon most men do. I did not understand why he was not content with Nancy. There were days I wished I could talk to him. The first thing I would do is ask, where he met Nancy. Chairs do not believe in chance. We have communed for so long with Mother Nature that we know everything follows some kind of sequence. It is all part of a grand plan. We hail from the earth so we still respect our ancestors. Michael is the extreme opposite of Nancy. What keeps them together is the strong desire that each one has to be the other. I know Nancy wishes she could be as calm and wise as her Husband. She has told most of her friends that. Some of them find it odd because they think of him as mute. There is power in silence, but even greater power in understanding. Michael learned that when he studied overseas. He did take up English, but when he went to France he started studying the lan
guage and the culture. He could speak English, Kiswahili, French and German by then. It was a miracle even to me, I will gladly admit that. His daughter, Shelley, was one year old now and she loved to walk around the house. Her eyes were pitch black and hair as wild and soft as her Father’s. He would sing to her as she walked around the house. Nancy would keep watch afraid that she might fall and hurt herself. I saw how engrossed she was with Shelley. The boys did not mind but even if they did, they never showed it. During this time Leon became more withdrawn. He would come back from school, change and settle down at the study table. Hr would do his homework then take his tea. He would slouch in the chair when he’d finished and smile. That boy had evil written all over his genes at times I feared the worst. My favorite of the boys had to be David. He was the youngest of the twins and the most cheerful. I have never seen a child take punishment that positively. He would be caned by his Mother and still afford a smile a few minutes later. I loved listening to him read. He was the second in the family to take up reading. Leon read to himself, but David read for the family. The little boy