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‘Why build a house we are not going to live in for the next two decades
in rural Kalule where no one will rent it? The rent from the city house
will be saved to build the house in Kalule.’
It made sense.
They bought a piece of land at Nsangi. But Nnam’s father, who
purchased it for them, knew that most of the money came from his
daughter. He put the title deed in her name. When Kayita protested
that he was being sidelined, Nnam told her father to put everything in
Kayita’s name.
Because they could not afford the fare for the whole family to visit,
Kayita was the one who flew to Uganda regularly to check on the
house. However it was largely built by Nnam’s father, the only person
she could trust with their money and who was an engineer. When the
house was finished, Kayita found the tenants to rent it. That was in
1990, six years before his death. They had had the same tenants all that
time. Nnam had been to see the house and had met the tenants.
Nnam is cleaning the bedroom now. The windowsill is stained. Kayita
used to put his wallet, car keys, spectacles and G4S-pass on the
windowsill at night. Once he put a form near the window while it was
open. It rained and the paper got soaked. The ink melted and the
colour spread on the windowsill discolouring it. Nnam
sprays Muscle cleaner on the stains but the ink will not budge. She goes
for the bleach.
She clears out the old handbags and shoes from the wardrobe’s floor.
She had sent Kayita’s clothes to a charity shop soon after the burial, but
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