The Obstinate Sons

By Samuel Braide

The Obstinate Sons is a gripping play that envisage the conflicts between
the young and the elderly, As a result of age gap amid the state of the mind .
Pa Ibroma is a self-made diligent old man , a retired soldier who has toiled in the field ascetically to make fame and wealth through the financial aid of a money lender.
Despite Pa Ibromas achievements, as a single parent of three sons
he tries to give his children the best in life most especially Francis and Sampson
who are the two eldest, Since tradition has nothing in store for the Jonathan who
is the third child.
Nevertheless his two sons are less concern about him thereby giving no attention to his health or welfare.
But the jink is broken here as Pa Ibromas ghost appears to Jonathan in a dream
and reveals the hidden treasure.
The Obstinate Sons is an enthralling story of the forceful craving for wealth, pretence, erroneous thinking - the youthful exuberance syndrome- in our todays society.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491893555

Samuel Braide

Samuel Braide is a British-born Nigerian, who is presently residing in London. He is a creative playwright-cum-poet; he is one of the most vibrant writers to emerge in this present-day generation of writers. He holds a degree in mass communication. The Successor is his first fiction in his numerous years of writing.

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© 2014 Samuel Braide. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 05/14/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9354-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-9355-5 (e)

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CONTENTS

ACT ONE

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

ACT TWO

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

ACT THREE

Scene 1

Scene 2

Scene 3

Scene 4

About the Author

About the Book

DEDICATION

To my late mother, Mrs Rachel Patrick Braide,

for her maternal tutelage, which gives me inspiration.

CHARACTERS

PA IBROMA, a rich old man

FRANCIS, first son of Pa Ibroma

SAMPSON, second son of Pa Ibroma

JONATHAN, third son of Pa Ibroma

SOIBI, Pa Ibroma’s servant

FINGITE, Sampson’s friend

PA BRICKS, Pa Ibroma’s friend

MR MATTHEW, a moneylender

NORMAN, Pa Ibroma’s neighbour

WHITNEY, Norman’s wife

BARMAN

IBROMA’S GHOST, MOURNERS, DRUMMER

ACT ONE

SCENE 1

Our scene takes place in the splendid Kalabari Kingdom, somewhere in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. Pa Ibroma’s house is a duplex quite a fashion house but properly arranged to suit the traditional setting. It comprises of several rooms; the right leads to the parlour, the left is various bedrooms while the other is the kitchen. In the parlour are metals—hooks, spears, matchetes—and a special executive sofa bed for Pa Ibroma, a long wooden chair, Calabash, frames, and boxes, with several fancy mats on the ground. Various amulets, beads, cowries, swords, bows and arrows are properly hung on the wall. This scene displays Pa Ibroma, who’s a tall, handsome old man with sparkling grey hair. It’s certain that in his youth, he must have been fine-looking. He’s in his late nineties, virtually one of the oldest men in the community, and he’s popularly known as Old Soldier, for he fought in the Second World War as well as in the Nigerian Biafran civil war. He’s gorgeously dressed, lying on his bed as he waits patiently for death to visit him. His sons Francis and Sampson enter.

FRANCIS: [Whispers to Sampson.] It seems Papa is dead.

SAMPSON: [Doubting.] Are you sure the rock of Lebanon is dead?

FRANCIS: Yes, as you can see, he’s no longer breathing, nor is he chewing his tongue as he always does.

SAMPSON: [Panicking.] What may have killed him?

FRANCIS: I’ve no idea.

SAMPSON: I hope he hasn’t drunk a poison.

FRANCIS: A poison? For what reason?

SAMPSON: May be he’s fed up with life.

FRANCIS: Is that why a retired soldier like Pa would force life out of himself? I don’t think that’s possible.

SAMPSON: Who knows? He ought to be fed up with life.

FRANCIS: In view of the fact that he claims we’re the most useless children on earth.

SAMPSON: [He takes a close look at his father.] He must be dead; I think it’s true.

FRANCIS: [Observing carefully.] It’s unlike Pa, that his eyes are no longer blinking within their sockets.

SAMPSON: I’m quite confused.

FRANCIS: Maybe he’s in a state of coma.

SAMPSON: [Firmly.] But how can Pa be . . . when he’s even stronger than you and me?

FRANCIS: Then what shall we do?

SAMPSON: We’d better fetch a doctor.

[Pa Ibroma has noticed them and is pretending to be dead.]

FRANCIS: That would be the greatest mistake of our lives.

SAMPSON: Then what’s the game plan?

FRANCIS: [Thinks.] We must start looking for Papa’s invaluable possessions.

SAMPSON: That would be a nice idea.

FRANCIS: We must start right away, before it gets too late.

SAMPSON: Oh yeah! The earlier the better . . .

FRANCIS: It’s action time.

[They both go into Pa Ibroma’s room and start ransacking.]

SAMPSON: I’ve not seen a man as wise as