My father came back from work to find a mess waiting for him, and as he opened the door, a very unpleasant but familiar smell met his nostrils. Right there and then, he knew what it was. But, dear Aunty Judith had to confirm it to him herself.

My father had last seen Aunty Judith last December at my mother’s funeral. He was still upset that Judith had been drunk at her own sister’s funeral, and to make things worse, she had been taken out of the hall because she had shouted at a speaker, saying they were lying and that people should not say things that were not true about the deceased just because they were DEAD.

“My sister was a very bad cook, and she was never on time,” Aunty Judith had said.

‘Great!’ my father said at the door with a very deep sigh.

“If it isn’t my favourite brother in-law in the whole wide world!” Aunty Judith responded, drunk as usual. “No need to frown brother, I know you missed me. Oh, I missed you too.”

“Hi, Judith,” my father said. “How are you?”

“I’m per wuu,” Aunty Judith responded, then she slipped. “Oh, I’m perfect, you know me.”

“Yeah … I do,” my father said. “What are you doing here?”

“What kind of question is that?” Aunty Judith responded, looking at my father as if the answer was obvious. “Uhm … I came to visit, is there a problem?”

“No Judith, I didn’t say that,” my father said. “Why now, why today?” he asked.

“I can come anytime I want,” Aunty Judith responded. “In fact, never mind that, I made dinner.”

My father still struggled with admitting that his drunkard sister in-law cooked better than his late wife did. But he knew it was true deep down inside his stomach, and he was glad that he was going have a warm delicious meal after a long day of hard work. Aunty Judith had made Chicken stew, Roti, and a chilli salad, which were all our family’s favourite. My father, on the other hand, was glad that he would not have to eat anything made by me, but he was not going to say it out loud.

“Go on brother, take a shower … dinner will be ready when you’re done,” Aunty Judith said.

“I’ll do just that ‘sister’,” my father responded. “Uh, where’s Grace?” he asked.

“She said she’s sleeping over at Linda’s,” Aunty Judith responded.

“What? And who gave her permission to sleep over there?” my father asked. “You?”

“Yes I did … her Aunty did … is there a problem, bro?” Aunty Judith asked.

“You know what … I’m not in the mood for this, whatever,” my father responded.

“Yeah, WHATEVER!” Aunty Judith retorted.

Later that evening, as they were having their dinner, my father asked Aunty Judith how long she would be staying, and she said she did not know and she was not sure. It was a Tuesday during Easter week, so my father knew that Aunty Judith would not leave without going around to people’s houses all weekend, asking for alcohol. He concluded that it was going be a long week!

***

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