MUSTARD III – Ch. 1 | KT OLLA

1925: THE birth of a young morrow, young dream, young future. Morrow was 56 when he had his promise child with Oki Maria. So he named him Joshua Bamiji Morrow.

Their first son had come down with rheumatism, and they were not giving up. Still a promise came for a second child from a God who maps the future.

Now Joshua arrived, 1925; and by ’29, he’d got sisters.

Then it was two boys and two girls, the house of Morrow and Maria...

And with trouble brewing.

[1925 – 1979]

Chapter 1

SEVERAL fingers pointed to the ceiling; and then a voice broke out and spilled the word... ‘Seh-phen-teen!’

Banji was the one with the answer. The boy had just been brought to join a class. Then just when he got down to sit, he heard the question:

‘Seven and ten... what is it?’

No, that quiz was for everyone. Yet the tall new boy didn’t catch why other pupils were putting up hands.

He watched the class point up to ceiling like something crawled past there. So he looked up, and nothing had passed.

Then he yelled, ‘Seh-phen-teen!’ And a big applause followed.

It was the class mistress who said to clap. But Banji sighted the lady pull back at first. Even his classmates eyed him badly.

Now he couldn’t see what he’d just done.

The questions went shooting and shooting. Faster in fact than all of the time they’d had those tests.

For every time the teacher dropped a quiz, all hands went up. Then Banji dropped the bombshell.

‘Nine and ten... what is it?’

‘Nine-teen!’

‘Four and ten?’

‘Four-teen!’

‘Five and ten?’

‘Uhm... faif-teen!’

At this point the mistress halted. The students weren’t encouraged to answer, and they were stopping to show interest.

Where’s this new boy from? (It seemed to be the teacher’s thought.) He looks even older than I! And bolder, too!

So, these pupils might start to think he’s better than Miss Anderson! But I’m still their teacher—not him!

Now this was 1942 and here was the second son of a man named Tomorrow.

Here was Joshua Bamiji Morrow. And he was tall, lanky, and quite grown-up his class called him ‘Husband-Man’.

Quite older than everyone, too, that the British teacher went two years younger.

So this was the 1940’s, with Joshua starting to go to school...

And he was 17 years old.

He’d waited well past the age of starting school then – about 10 or 12 when boys could show they had grown.

When they could touch their left hand to the right ear. Crossing the arm over the head without leaning aside.

And then they could say they were men.

But Joshua was 17 years old.