Aunty Judy and Our Goats

If there is anyone I can't forget in a hurry for her one-time display, it would be my aunt, Judy. When it comes to relationships, she doesn't just have one luck for that thing.

It happened in December, just a few days to Christmas, when our very own "uncle-in-law," brother James, decided to take a final break in their long-time relationship.

She left the house that very day and came back looking all stressed out, and we didn't need anyone to tell us the usual. Their relationship had already been torn to shreds. It was either an argument, a disagreement, or something out of nothing. What would make a therapist say they are incompatible?

After the last one, where my uncle played the middleman and promised that brother James would be a good man to her—we never thought another one would happen just a few days before a big celebration.

That night, she stormed into the compound, pulled off her old sponged wig that completed the "village city girl" vibe, and started raining insults on him. My uncle, her brother, started consoling her, but we got surprised when she teared up and said, "Enough of his embarrassment and stupid character. I'm done."

We all understood her pain and felt it normal for her to direct her speech to anyone since she was hurt, but what seemed understandable turned opposite when my aunt started displaying some funny behaviors that made us think she was being nutty.

The next day, on our way back from the borehole, we met my aunt talking to our livestock.

"This has never happened before, Mama. Are you sure this thing is not affecting aunty mentally?" I asked, eager for answers.

"Leave your aunty, she's going through a lot. We just need to give her time. She will be fine again."

Source

Each day, her behavior towards the goats became worse in my eyes. She spent time with them whenever she took them out for feeding, talking to them like they understood what she was saying. Kids had noticed that and would always hide around corners whenever they saw her taking the goats out for food, everyone laughing at her conversations with the animals.

She was my aunt. I felt bad about how everyone saw her in the village. I just wanted everything to return to how it used to be. One day, I secretly followed her to where she used to take the goats for feeding. I sat with her in the big field.

"What's going on? For the past how many days, you have not been feeding like your mates. Is everything okay with you?" she asked one of the goats.

Out of curiosity and shock, I asked, "Aunty Judy, why do you talk to animals like humans when you know they can't hear you?"

She gave me a weird grin and said, "There are no friends greater than these ones. No arguments, just peace of mind."

"This is you being nutty, right?" I asked.

"Nutty as a fruitcake, right?" she laughed and looked at me. I couldn't fit in her shoes to understand what was really going on.

"You can call me anything you wish, my little cousin, but I must tell you the truth—if you were in my shoes, you would go for what gives you peace."

Days turned into weeks, and my aunt’s conversations with our livestock continued. Kids were already getting tired of the drama, and this time nobody paid her any attention. But I never failed to observe my aunt, to know if her condition was getting critical.

After the Christmas holiday, my aunt was healed. She packed up her bags and told my mum she would be traveling to the city to meet one of her friends to start a new life.

"What would happen to your new friends?" Mama teased.

"Mama, leave my friends alone. At least they are better than men. They have given me all the solace I needed."

The next day, we all escorted my aunt to the park where she bought transport to Lagos. I grew up to see my aunt’s conversation with the animals differently—not as eccentric behavior but her best healing method. Livestock has been part of our family dynamics, and even as an adult, I rear birds and I talk to them like my children whenever I'm feeding them or at home with them.
Sometimes, being nutty as a fruitcake isn't bad. It is just one's way of finding peace.

Posted Using INLEO