At the same time, in a courtyard near Old Man Basse's house, a group of middle-aged women was gathered to discuss.
"Lady Lywa, don't you think we'll be overdoing it? I mean, this village still has rules, right? Why don't we just wait for the chief to handle everything? Besides, it's not even certain that there's actually a child in the old man's house." A younger woman within the group tried to dissuade them from whatever they were planning to do.
"Heeeeh, Mylo, stop that nonsense. Are you accusing Lady Lywa of lying? Lady Lydwa is someone of status in this village; she's even related to a high-ranking official. How can she stoop to lying against some unknown old fart?"
Before Old Man Basse's neighbour could even reply, another woman who was sitting close to her had already snapped at the younger lady. This was quite a ruthless move from her, because with that sentence she has cunningly pitched Lady Lywa against this young woman.
Of course Lady Lywa could see what she was trying to do, but she ignored her, and it seemed as if she valued this Miss Mylo a lot. She even tried to explain it to her carefully; hopefully she can draw her into her camp.
"Wait a minute, Mata, let me explain to her. You see, my friend Mylo, the reason we have this little group of ours is to help protect ourselves when necessary against oppressions and injustice. Not to talk of whether or not it is true, even if it is a lie. As a leader, it is the village chief's responsibility to make sure that nothing so distasteful should ever happen in this village."
"So even if it's a lie, what is the big deal about ordering his house searched? Even if it is wrong, he'll just apologise to the old man. What's wrong with making him uncomfortable to appease the rest of the village?"
Old Man Basse's neighbour tried to explain to the young woman. In actuality, she was just trying to make the others feel emotional and wronged by the village chief's attitude on the case. The young lady stood up and was ready to go; obviously, she was not buying into their goading. However, after a few steps, she turned and looked at her and the rest of the group of women.
"Lywa, I hope this is just about the old man and not about anything else." She sounded as if she were warning her but also advising her to stop out of goodwill.
Madam Mata gloated by the side; what she failed to achieve at first just landed on her lap. She hoped their relationship could immediately deteriorate completely, and of course she didn't forget to fan the flames: "I've had it with this pretentious bitch. Who do you think you are?" Mata crashed out. "Do you think you're some sort of saint while we're all villains?" "Just you wait; when that foolish chief is convicted for aiding and abetting, I dare you to come and defend them."
The woman continued to lash out. Lady Lywa frowned and glared at her The other ladies just looked around like they heard nothing. They all knew that this woman was just trying to bootlick Lady Lywa, but she had always been inferior to Miss Mylo, who was the teacher of the village children.
The young lady left, and the meeting continued.
While the meeting was going on... In Old Man Basse's compound, a sound of clapping was heard coming from the yard.
"Why is that little girl clapping?"
Old Man Basse, who's just returned from the Village Chief's house, muttered under his breath.
'Did that child do something?' he was referring to little Ewan. 'Come to think of it, this child is growing really fast. First, he doesn't cry; then he has teeth, and then he grows really fast. Almost able to walk by himself. What kind of child is he, exactly? Normally, other kids would take a year or two to develop all these things, but he just took a month.'
Old Man Basse was still lost in thought as he stepped into the house to meet a surprise that wasn't really a surprise. Yes, the child was walking and also talking.
"Hey, you, are you Grandpa?"
"Big sis, Shandha just told me about you."
"She said you saved me from a stream. Is it true?"
"What is a stream?"
"Can we go to the stream?"
Old Man Basse was instantly hit with a barrage of questions by a tiny voice. he was totally flabbergasted by this situation.
"Kid, can you leave me a way out, please? You don't cry; you have teeth, you walk, you talk, and you have green eyes, hair, and eyebrows. How am I supposed to make people believe you're not some monster, for crying out loud?" Old Man Basse held his temples with his palm.
"Grandpa, what is a monster?" The little guy didn't stop asking.
"Grandpa, why are you not happy? The little guy is now able to walk, which means he can now go out, and people will stop gossiping about us." Shandha looked at her grandpa, confused.
"Child, you don't understand. But it's ok." "Who cares about what they think? This baby is absolutely amazing."
"Grandpa, Big Sis Shandha has a name. "What is my name?"
...
A week later.
"Grandpa, when I was sleeping, I saw someone. How can I see people when I'm sleeping?"
Old Man Basse turned around to face a little boy wearing shorts and a piece of cloth that looked like a singlet with a stripped design who had just run out of the house. "That's called a dream, little guy. What did you see?" He asked him.
"I saw a man. "He's tall like you, but he looks like me. "Grandpa," he said. "My name is Good Ewan," the little guy replied.
"Good Ewan, as in good boy Ewan or what?" Old Man Basse looked at him strangely.
"Good Ewan, as in Surnamed 'Good', grandpa," little Ewan added. "Oh, so Ewan Good." Old Man Basse looked at him again.
"No, Grandpa, he said to mention the Surname first. So it is, Good Ewan," said Ewan.
"Good Ewan, it is, then," Old Man Basse agreed while shaking his head.
"What are you guys talking about?" Shandha walked out of the house too and greeted the Old Man before asking.
"Big Sis Shandha, I have a name now!" Little Ewan said excitedly to the young girl.
"Ohhhh, grandpa, you finally chose a name for him?" She looked at Old Man Basse, who shrugged a little and said,
"I didn't."
"Big Sis, I had a dream. In the dream, a man told me this..." The little guy reiterated to the young girl what he saw in his dream.
"Big Sis, what is your surname? I have a surname, but you don't," he continued. Shandha looked at Old Man Basse, who nodded a little at her before she turned to the little guy and said, "My surname is Nakka, but you must not say it out anywhere, ok?" She held Ewan's head as she said it to him.