It has been a month since Reverend Julian died and I am still trying to come to terms with his death. I am still in shock to know that he died at the same time that I woke up from my dream. When my Grandmother talked about people ‘travelling’ and ‘visiting’ persons when they were dying I would always laugh at the notion of that and declare it to be utter nonsense. I told Maud about the dream and she was astounded. She believed, like me, that Reverend Julian came to get my forgiveness and to tell me good-bye. The human side of me said that I should not have forgiven him but the Christian side of me said that if I had not forgiven him he would probably still be in the hospital lingering on life support instead of going on to his Maker. Oh well, he certainly escaped a proper tongue-lashing from me! (There goes my human side again!) The bell of death saved him!
The day of his funeral, however, was something else! Reverend Julian was a Social Worker but it was apparent that he was also ‘working socially’ with his court-appointed cases! Seven children turned up at his funeral saying he was their father! None of the children knew each other and each thought that he/she was his only child! Oh my God! What a pandemonium this caused. The church was in chaos and tongues were wagging all around. People were practically climbing over each other just to get a glimpse of the children. Reverend Julian's wife fainted and I almost peed my pants! Maud kept swearing to me that she knew nothing about that aspect of Reverend Julian’s life and she was just as shocked as I was! There was a call for order and eventually the service got underway. I couldn’t help wondering if Reverend Julian had also ‘worked socially’ with Cassie, which was why he was hell-bent on trying to help her. I wondered if any or all of her children were his? Was little Conroy a jacket? Lord have mercy! Fanning myself with my little wooden fan and holding Conroy tightly in my lap I tried to pay attention to the sermon. The Officiant went on and on about the good works that Reverend Julian was known for doing and ended the sermon with the words, “Let he that is without sin cast the first stone.” When the casket was being lowered into the grave Maud whispered to me that instead of throwing dirt on it, as was the custom, we should throw some stones on it! I laughed. After all, the Reverend had lied to the both of us as well as to his wife. Poor thing, I felt so sorry for his wife because she now had to live with the shame and disgrace that was revealed to all and sundry at the funeral. Not being able to have children of her own (Reverend Julian had told me this in confidence), she must be doubly hurt. Before leaving the cemetery I told her I would be praying for her. She said she was fine. She also said that her husband had made his peace with God before he died and she was absolutely certain, a hundred percent certain, that he was going to heaven no matter what anyone had to say. About a week after the funeral I saw her on the Mall with the youngest of Reverend Julian’s children who had turned up at his funeral. She was all smiles as she told me that she was making arrangement for the child to come and live with her. Reverend Julian had made her Executor of his will, she said, and he had made provisions for all of his seven children. One of the requirements for her to keep their home was that the youngest child, who was still under eighteen years old, should live there until he was twenty-one years old. I expressed my surprise at this stipulation but she said she was okay with it. Apparently, the child had always spent his summer holidays with them and she had taken a liking to him. Reverend Julian had told her, she said, that the boy’s mother (who was one of his many cases) was in prison and he was just doing the court a favor. I shook my head in amazement. No wonder he had heart problems! Having to keep telling lies to cover lies! She asked me how was Conroy doing and I told her he was fine. I told her she was doing the right thing by allowing the boy to live with her, after all, what were a few years with a ‘mannersable’ young man knowing that she would be keeping that lovely mansion in Russell Heights that the Reverend had managed to acquire? I remembered asking him once how was he able to buy his house on the meager salaries that he received as a Reverend and a Social Worker? He laughed and asked me if I had not heard about the many investment schemes in Kingston. He had managed to get his returns long before the government clamped down on these so-called Ponzi schemes. He said that long before the ‘man-in-the-street’ heard about these schemes he had been cashing in on his interests. It was a real plus in his favor he said. All I can say is that Reverend Julian definitely put a lot of politicians to shame! Hahaha, I was so right when I referred to him as Brer Anancy! I wished her all the best and continued with my shopping. Yesterday I tried to burn all the fake diaries and ledgers about my Grandmother Charmaine that Reverend Julian had given me but Maud stopped me. I just could not live with the evidences of lies and deceit that were perpetrated by the Reverend. Maud said she would keep them and maybe when Conroy grew up he could develop the ‘stories’ into the Pantomime that the Reverend had wanted, winking at me when she said that. I laughed, it seems as if Maud also believed in the possibility of Conroy being one of the Reverend’s many children. I heard a knocking on my gate so I went outside to look. To my surprise it was Reverend Julian’s wife. A Police Officer and a woman, dressed in a business suit, accompanied her. I wondered what could be the nature of their visit? Rex and Brutus both began to bark and Maud came to the front of the yard to find out the reason for the dogs barking. I made a signal to Maud that she was not to open the gate. I went to the gate and the Policeman asked, “Ma’am, do you have a little boy on your premises by the name of Conroy?” I responded in the affirmative. The woman in the business suit introduced herself as Miss Beatrice Brown from the Child Development Agency. She said that they had reason to believe that Conroy was the son of Reverend Julian and the Reverend’s last Will and Testament gave his wife control over the care of all his children so I was to turn over Conroy to her. I opened my mouth wide and so did Maud. “What evidence do you have of such a possibility?” I asked. The Reverend’s wife, who had been quiet all this time, handed me an envelope, which she said she had found tucked away in a shoebox in their closet. I opened the envelope and inside was a birth certificate pertaining to a male child. The father of the child was listed as Reverend Julian Carmichael Stokes and the mother's name was listed as Cassandra Charmaine Wellington. I handed the certificate to Maud. “I am sorry Ma’am, but you’ll have to give us the child.” said the Police Officer. “But who says that this male child is Conroy? I am his aunt, we are his aunts!” I said to them. I turned to the Reverend's wife and asked her, “Why are you doing this? Why do you want to confuse this poor child who has been through so much?” The Police Officer responded with, “I am sorry Ma’am, we are just carrying out the laws of the court.” He handed me the warrant, which gave them the right to enter my premises and take Conroy. Miss Brown said emphatically, “The court gives us the right to remove the child from your premises and keep him until we obtain the results of a DNA test which may or may not prove that the Reverend is the child's father!" I turned to Maud and said, “Maud, please go inside and call my lawyer! Call Mr. Foreman and tell him I need him to come to my home now! Tell him it's an emergency!”
No comments:
Post a Comment