"Yes, Jeff, I was fortunate to be there when her lawyer came to read her father's will. You see, son, Shawney stopped school to take care of her brothers and sisters when her stepmother died. She is not a selfish person, and in their struggles, she told her father to sell a few acres of her land from her inheritance to educate her brothers and sisters."
Looking at all their faces, they were all attentive. Hearing Careen saying, "Please, Dad, I want to hear more."
"Well, from what I learned, her father sold ten acres of the land, using half of the money to send the four of them to school, and the other half he invested in Shawney. After Shawney got the four of them married, she left home for three years. The day I visited her village. I met her on the road. Seeing her walking, I stopped, hoping to gather any information on a place to rent. I realised then she is not a person you can influence or persuade very easily."
"Why do you say that, Dad?" Lasandra asks."
"Oh, child, it took a lot of convincing before she sat in my van, and when she did, she was just so quiet and was anxious to see her Dad. She had no idea her home was a guest house; she didn't care for the business. She cried for her stepmother's flower garden, then to hear that her father's funeral was the day before she reached home.
Jeff, someone else would be happy seeing the business, but she didn't care. When she cooks, they eat—not caring whether she has eaten. No one ever considered how she was feeling about the loss of her father. I felt hurt for her because none of her brothers or sisters welcomed her home."
"Dad, that must have been very worrisome for her and heart-wrenching?" Careen said.
Only to hear Torren hit the table with his hand, when they all looked at him, his face was wet.
When Train said, "The next morning, she leaves early and visits the lawyer, I still don't know how she managed that. I am still trying to figure it out."
"I don't quite get what you are saying, Dad?" Careen queries.
"I don't either, child. She was just in jogging clothes when she and the lawyer entered."
"Okay, I get that part, but could it be she went and visited his office, or Dad? She could have told him verbally. Did he take out the will and read it in front of them?"
"As a matter of fact, he just opened his briefcase and then said what the father had left for them. You are right, child, she must have waited for him and asked what her father had given and told him how to divide the shares; she trusted him, and he knows her very well."
"Now that that is settled, go on, Dad." Careen urges, wanting to know so much more about Shawney.
"Child, when the others heard what their dad had left, they were angry, hearing the portion of shares her dad left to them, but they never suspected their father left nothing for them. And Shawney had to change the father's will, giving the Uncle family twenty-five per cent of the shares.
Her brothers and sisters were twelve and a half per cent, and only took twenty-five for herself.
She had distributed two acres to her brothers and sisters and had given her uncle three acres for his family. She also made arrangements with the lawyer to cut a nine-acre plot into three-acre blocks and put up for sale, just in case she decided to sell. Also, she instructed her lawyer to fence the remaining portion of her property."
JEFF APOLIGISES TO HIS DAD AND TORREN
Dad!" Jeff asks, "From what you said, she didn't go to college, so whose idea was it for her to share her property?"
Hearing his dad laugh, "Son, you don't have to attain higher education to have common sense or street sense.
She was living on the street, and she had to encounter many families with similar problems. So the decision she made was easy. This might sound foolish to you all, but the business never meant much to her. Someone else would have put them out or charged them a fee, but she is different."
Seeing how confused they were, as they furrowed their brows, when Jeff said, "But Dad, who won't care for a business they inherit, especially if they were living on the street?"
Jeff saw the smug look on his father's face, "Ah, my Son, that's the difference between you and Shawney. You see, living on the street telling people about Jesus is worth more to her than all that business is worth tin he eyesr. While people are fighting materialistic things. She seeks spiritually.
When she decided to distribute the property, the lawyer hadn't had the faintest idea. She instructed the lawyer that if her family decides to accept the portion of land. After five years, they can move out and return the share. When Shawney made that proposal, a few were offended, but in the end, they finally agreed to accept her proposal."
Train smile before continuing, "That young lady is very special. When she gives her word, she keeps it. That Aunt must have caused her to change her mind and drive them all out. She was like the greedy dog and the bone, wanting a bigger bone, only she didn't only lose her bone, but all those that stood by her lost theirs also."
"Dad, if all that you are saying is true, Shawney won't put them out."