At The Barracks
Brown arrived for the meeting at 7 AM. As the head of his family, he knew what to expect from the other Family Heads but he was prepared for them.
“Good morning to you, our Patriarch,” he greeted him
“Good morning, Brown. How are you?”
“As you can see, I am good. What about you?”
“I could not catch a sleep last night because of today’s meeting.”
“It is expected. We cannot run away from our responsibilities.”
“You are right. If those before us had run away from theirs, who knows where we would have been by now.”
“You are right.”
At that point, the scumbag, Stephen, walked in and greeted them, “Good morning, our Patriarch. Good morning, my Family Head.”
The two elders did not bother to respond to his greeting nor glimpse at him.
The Patriarch ordered without looking at his face, “Wait in the hall.”
“Thank you, our Patriarch,” the momentarily repentant Stephen said, walked to the hall and took his seat.
He watched the family heads trickling in gradually before the Patriarch and his Family Head joined them. Then, at 7:55 AM, the barrister drove in with his secretary.
When they got into the hall, he greeted and introduced himself, “Good morning, Elders. I am Barrister Guidance, the counsel to Arthur’s family.”
“Good morning, Barrister,” the family heads responded simultaneously to the twenty-seven-year-old lawyer, who had created a suitable position for himself in the law industry.
Then, the Patriarch ushered him to the funny-looking table, “You are welcome. Kindly take your seat.”
Nevertheless, the barrister and his secretary walked to the stage and took their seats quietly. He ran his eyes around the hall to be certain that the defendant was around. It was easy to spot him because he was the youngest.
Then, the barrister chuckled when he did not see Denise, ‘Just as Louis said, not even their cat was at the meeting,’ he thought.
Then the meeting began at 8 AM on the dot. Like the barrister, the Patriarch was not surprised when he did not see any member of Arthur’s family. He knew that that day’s meeting was just a facade. They would rather not be accused of dragging a fellow kinsman to court, which was against their constitution.
Then, the barrister began the meeting by asking, “Stephen, do you have any evidence to support your claim that Arthur was using his late brother’s widow as a nanny or any infringement to her right as a widow?”
The question took the murmuring elders unawares. They stopped their murmuring instantly and focused on the defendant. They were more interested in the question than the barrister because that would give them an insight into how Arthur had lived with his late brother’s widow after her husband’s demise.
At least with such evidence, Stephen would be justified and Arthur would be held accountable for ill-treating a widow.
However, to their astonishment, he was dumbstruck and Arthur’s haters were disappointed.
Then, the Barrister, who had waited for him to speak, continued, “Mr. Bailey, in the absence of any evidence from you, I want to believe that my client is justified in his claim and the demand for compensation.”
After all the formalities, the barrister made the compensation of the plaintiff known.
“Mr. Bailey, as you must have read from my client’s petition, he is demanding a compensation of one million pounds for defamation of character. You embarrassed his personality, especially before his children, which had cost him his respect as the head of the family and had jeopardized the unity of the family.”
Before the Patriarch could say a word in defense of Stephen, the house went berserk. The family heads who had contrary opinions jumped on their feet at once, but one person’s voice overshadowed all, and he asked, “Barrister, you did not allow our son to defend himself. Did he really say those things that Arthur accused him of?”
Now, the Patriarch clung to the last speaker’s boldness and requested, “Yes. It is necessary to hear from the accused. Stephen, let us hear from you.”
The half-repentant Stephen, who could not imagine pulling out one million pounds as compensation to Arthur, felt it was time to defend himself. He stood up with the meekness of a lamb while the barrister and the other family heads looked on.
“Thank you, our Patriarch, thank you, my elders. Arthur is just telling lies against me. I did not insult him before his children.”
Nevertheless, his claim sparked another uproar from the elders, and everyone wanted to talk at the same time.
Now, Brown, who was sitting on the stage with the Patriarch, spoke, “In that case, Stephen is free. I see no reason to compensate Arthur if Stephen is not guilty of what he accused him of.”
He took his seat and waited for the lawyer to speak. The lawyer’s expression was as calm as the time the meeting began.
He looked at the elders and said, “Kindly, listen to this conversation.”
Now, the hall was calm as the barrister played the conversation between Stephen and Denise.
The elders began to whisper among themselves, “Is that Arthur’s voice?”
“I don’t think so,” another person answered.
At the end of the conversation, the barrister asked him, “Mr. Bailey, did you recognize your voice in that conversation?”
“Yes. I recognized my voice,” he admitted.
“Thank you. What do you have to say?”
“What I am saying is that I did not insult him before his ….”
“Shut up and sit down. One million pounds compensation? Then Arthur is too lenient,” Brown, who became ashamed of himself after listening to the conversation, yelled.
Now, the Patriarch was speechless. The other family heads who were bent on taunting him laughed sarcastically and mocked, “Can anything good come out of the Brown family?”
“Stephen. Are you ready to pay the compensation or not? We are ready to hands off the matter, and allow the matter to be handled by the court?” the Patriarch asked him.
Now, the family heads turned their eyes on Stephen, switching them intermittently to the lawyer and the Patriarch.
After a few minutes of silence, Stephen, who had been standing defenselessly, spoke with a voice filled with emotions that they mistook for repentance, “Our Patriarch and my family heads…”
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