The cruel relatives
Auntie Aku, a wealthy middle-aged woman, was married for many years without a child. This led to the breakup of her marriage. However, she loved children so much that she decided to adopt a child.
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Naa was the toddler she adopted. Auntie Aku showered Naa with so much love and care that growing up, it was difficult for anyone to tell that Naa was not her biological child. In fact, it was only a few close friends and family members who were aware of this.
By the time Naa reached her teens, she had grown into a tall, chocolate-skinned beauty who had no worries because of the love and care she received from Auntie Aku. They often travelled on holidays and attended both social and family gatherings together. Auntie Aku’s family also received Naa with open arms.
Unfortunately, this good relationship between mother and daughter did not last forever. Auntie Aku fell seriously ill one day and was diagnosed with a terminal disease which had damaged her organs so much that she had less than three months to live.
During the period, she put everything in place so that after her death there would not be any problem for Naa. One of the things she did was to prepare her Will. She bequeathed more than half of her property to Naa, thereby making her the sole heir. Nobody was aware of the existence of this Will except the executor of the Will who was her lawyer and Auntie Aku’s best friend, Uncle Nii.
True to the doctor’s prediction, Auntie Aku died within the three months that had been stipulated. After the funeral rites, the family refused to recognise Naa as Auntie Aku’s child and, therefore, stopped providing her with food and clothing.
As for school, they were not prepared to pay her fees so eventually, she dropped out of school. By that time, both the executor of the Will and Uncle Nii were out of the country so they did not know what had happened.
Naa did not understand why her aunties and uncles treated her that way so she decided to approach them and beg for their forgiveness if she had offended them in any way. It was there that she learnt the truth — that she was not the biological child of Auntie Aku.
In fact, they said it so painfully that she wept throughout the meeting. Finally, she was asked to leave the house. After she left, they moved their belongings into the house and lived there.
With nowhere to go and nobody to turn to, Naa ended up on the street where she sold iced water during the day and slept in a makeshift kiosk in the evenings. She did this for quite some time until luck came her way one day.
While selling on the streets, Uncle Nii, who had by then returned from his trip, saw her. He had heard about all that had happened in his absence and had been looking for Naa to no avail.
He was, therefore, happy when he saw her. He took her home and told her late mother’s family that they had no right to do what they had done to her.
The following day, Uncle Nii, the lawyer and Naa went to see the family members of Auntie Aku and read out the Will that she had left behind. They were given some few days to vacate the house or risk being ejected.
The lawyer also chastised them for what they did and said even if Auntie Aku had not made any Will, they had no right to do what they did because legally, Naa was her child.
He said some extended family members usually took over the property of their deceased’s relatives and pointed out that that was wrong and must cease.
The family members felt so ashamed, especially when they had to pack out of Auntie Aku’s house. As a result of what happened, Uncle Nii offered to be the legal custodian of Naa and managed everything her late mother left for her.
By: Elsie Duho,Accra Girls’ SHS,
Accra.