When Musani and Bukirwa left, Jacob remained with his stepsister Nabbu and began talking, "Mama, can I start preparing our meal now that you cannot?"
"Not just yet. Let your little sister do it. But come here and apply more herbs on my wound."
Jacob obeyed. He began to rub the herbs gently on her leg. Angela groaned in pain as her son massaged her. He went on doing it until she asked him to stop.
Angela knew she may not live long. She had many regrets, but her only regret was that she had not realised her lifelong dream of becoming a nun and living a pious and holy life.
It was said the cobra could kill its victim in a matter of nine or fifteen minutes. Apparently, though, the herbs Musani gave seemed to help her that night as she slept in great pain.
Her condition, however, worsened in the morning. Her whole body became swollen, and Jacob watched her drooping eyelids as she struggled to breathe.
Then suddenly the sharp pains increased and Angela knew the time had finally come.
Nabbu had left to go and buy some goods in the market. Angela knew the right moment to speak to her son, who sat by her bedside was ripe.
"My son, I don't have long to live. You must leave immediately after I am buried because Musani and his people have never liked you in this home. You must go and find your grandfather in Kenya. My father will welcome you and even give you a piece of land on which you can settle," she said.
There was a brief silence, and then she continued, "My mother, who passed on after the death of our youngest brother, had only three daughters."
"But how will I trace him, Mama? I don't know anyone in Kenya. He may not believe that I am his grandson, but even think I am an impostor. How do I convince him?" Jacob asked when he saw the gigantic task ahead of him.
"It won't be difficult, my son. You must travel to Musanda. After passing a small township known as Mumias, you should go to Musanda village, which is about nineteen kilometres away. At the village market or shopping centre, ask for an old man known as Kasamani. You will be led to his home."
There was a brief pause. Then she resumed talking, "Kasamani is my father, and I am his eldest daughter. This entitles you to a sizeable piece of land since our only brother died, and only his daughters remain."
Jacob said nothing but only listened as she continued, "When you meet him, just say you are coming from Uganda where you laid me to rest. He will then accept you as his grandson. If he doubts you, tell him you are the son of Alfredo Karahani. He'll understand and welcome you into his home."
Angela was now showing signs of struggling to speak.
"Suppose he still refuses to believe? It's difficult to believe a stranger you've never seen before. He may even embarrass me and kick me out of his compound," Jacob said.
"In that case, show him this," she reached out for her small wooden box; her hand searching the contents in the box.
Then she felt it. Something cold came into contact with her hand, and she knew she had found it. Her hand came out of the box, and Jacob stared unbelievingly at what he saw.
His mother held a Marian silver medal hooked through a golden necklace and began to talk, "Here, take this and show him if he doubts you. He gave me this on the day you were born as a gift to the family. He should be able to recognise it because he was very happy and proud to have grandsons. You must have it on you because that will make him know that you are real, and I have sent you to him for help."
Even as she was talking, the necklace glittered in the dimly lit room. Jacob was amazed by its beauty and said nothing as he picked it from his weakened mother.
"It's a valuable possession, Jacob, so you must take very good care of it and always be on your guard. Jealous people and thieves will want to steal it from you if they see it or get the slightest chance."
Jacob listened in silence as his mother went on, "I have had to hide it from Musani's jealous eyes ever since that day when I realised he may want to sell it in order to raise school fees for his dull children. I knew he could sell it at half its price, yet it cost my father a lot of money. So watch out for thieves and robbers."
Angela paused for a few seconds before resuming her talk, "And now remember this: as long as you wear it, no harm can befall you, for it was blessed by a priest of God."
"Ah, mama, please don't die!" Jacob began to plead when he saw she was having difficulty breathing.
Angela closed her eyes for a few seconds as if she was in prayer and then reopened them again. She knew her final hour had come and she was dying. She had to hasten and tell her son whatever she thought was necessary for him to hear.
"Jacob, I'm now...I never told you...t..h..e the truth; that day." She was muttering inaudible words, and Jacob moved closer to sit near her deathbed to listen.
Angela gasped for breath as she tried to say her final words, "Your father never..."
Then, she opened her eyes widely as her throat and tongue seemed to be nearing paralysis. She was now struggling to say the most important words when the convulsions began.
"A..nd Esau is sti...ll," but she never finished her words.
Angela was no more.
For about five minutes, Jacob stared unbelievingly at his dead mother. Then it finally dawned on him that death had beckoned his mother to join her ancestors in the underworld.
Slowly, he rose to his feet as he approached her and touched her lifeless eyes that were staring into space. He pressed hard to close them.
Then, he walked out of the house and informed the rest of the family members about her death. Outside, he met Nabbu, who had just arrived.
"Our mother is dead!" Jacob told her as he began sobbing.
Nabbu threw down the basket she was carrying and began wailing as she went into the house.
As Jacob headed to Agwa's compound, where at that moment, Musani sat comfortably chatting with his wife, he began to visualize the challenges that lay ahead of him.
He had to fulfil his dead mother's last wish by travelling back to Kenya to try and trace his grandfather at a village called Musanda.
What he never knew was that his dying mother had tried to tell a hidden but crucial truth about himself. But at that moment, he neither knew his real father was still alive nor he had a twin brother; Esau.