At Gun Point

~18~

The winding and rugged roads of the farmlands were tiresome to drive on. During the drive,I kept on looking at the back of the truck through the rear view mirror to see if Joshua and the goat were fine. The drive to Melinda's granny homestead took us at least fifteen minutes. The distance from the shopping mall to their home was approximately five kilometres. I was now feeling more exhausted due to the rough drive we had earlier.

Upon arrival,I went to the back of my vehicle to help Joshua untying the goat. I wanted it to be slaughtered so that we may leave Melinda's share of its meat. The women were now all out,chatting and laughing,Melinda and her granny were sincerely welcoming us to their humble home. There were three huts,one bigger than the others and a brick building with the roof of rusted corrugated iron. All the houses were surrounded with beds of different types of flowers. It looked so beautiful. There was a barbed wire surrounding the homestead as a protection fence. At the bottom of the fence was a hedge surrounding the whole yard that was cut at the middle of the six strand barbed wire. This made made it almost impossible for anyone outside to see what was happening inside. A number of roadrunners were running around the yard and some pigeons were flying around from house to house. This made me remember our rural home in Bickon,some two hundred miles away from Raspberg.

There were also two little girls and one middle aged boy who came to greet us with smiling faces. The girls looked more like twins though the other one was taller than the other. I asked Michael and Joshua to slaughter the goat whilst I join the women who had just disappeared into the big rounded hut with well placed long grass as its roof. They all agreed to do the task. I haven't yet told the women ,that the goat was about to face the knife.
I walked from where we had parked our cars,rounded one of the huts,passing through where a beautiful teenage girl was washing dishes. When she saw me,she left the dishes and came to greet me,bending her left leg in the process. I was amazed. The girl looked more like Melinda but her skin was a little bit dark. I was compelled to ask.

"Why didn't you come to greet me when the others came?"I teased her with a smile on my face.
"I was on my way,I just wanted to complete washing the dishes first then I would come and greet everybody."She answered reciprocating the smile. She did this with her eyes to the ground,she didn't want to meet my gaze.
"I heard dishes clatter,so I just wanted to see who was making the noise. To my surprise I came face to face with a beautiful face."I said. She laughed at my teasing.
"Are you Melinda's sister?"I asked with a serious look on my face.
"Yes!I am. My name is Melissa. We were born three sisters. The elder one is the mother of the twins,she lives in town. Then Melinda and finally me. Melinda is the lucky one,she has a good job and a rich boyfriend." She informed me whilst laughing. We both laughed."Aren't you lucky too?You are beautiful and I guess you are good at school."I teased her again.
"I am but not as like Melinda, she outclass me in many things. I'm jealousy of her."She replied with a grin on her face.
"Please don't be jealous you are unique. She is who she is and you are who you are. You outclass her in other things too."I informed her. She thanked me for that compliment.

I then told her I was going to join the others in the big rounded hut,she said she was following soon. As I walked I was thinking,'I'm getting information about Melinda in bits and pieces. Earlier it was the commander and now her sister. The approaching of Michael and Joshua with a dish of meet startled me. We both met at the threshold of the big hut.

"Aah!Don't tell me you have already completed the task? You are too fast boys. Your agility has immensely amazed me. I will give you $20 each for this."I told them. They both laughed,saying they were used to kill animals when they go for hunting in the mountains. Domesticated animals have soft skins compared to wild ones,so they were easy to slaughter and prepare. I took out my wallet and took out the $40 dollars, and handed each one his share. Melissa was rounding the big hut holding the dishes in a large basket made with reeds when I was handing her uncles the money.
" I need my share too!Why are you giving them and leaving me out."She protested.
"What did you do to deserve a share,Melly?"Michael asked her. I just handed her a ten dollar note to put off the fire. Her uncles started to scold her for getting a share without a substantial reason. We were all getting into the hut one after the other as they do this. I didn't join them. It was their verbal fight.