Rest in Peace Ruby

I received a story about a man who sponsored his younger brother’s trip all the way from Nigeria to the United States of America. A few years after his younger brother arrived and started living with him and his family, the man became quite ill, and then he discovered that his younger brother was sleeping with his black American wife. It looked like the two lovers were actually poisoning his food. The poor man fled for his life. Thank God he made it out of the marriage alive. He didn’t press charges. The brother still lives with the black American ex wife of his older brother, while the man himself re-married and moved on happily. I decided to summarise this story because it is too negative for a Monday. I mean why would you want to kill your brother because a woman’s “punana”

Moving on, I got a really sad broadcast message today about a two year old toddler who drank bleach that was ignorantly stored in a table water bottle. Now the bleach did not kill the child, what did was the first aid that was administered. The child was given palm oil to drink which caused more damage. He aspirated the oil and other complications followed. May God comfort the family at this difficult period. 

I can’t think of any family who did not believe that the palm oil and the coconut water were antidotes to every kind of poison, or an overdose of prescription drugs. (Coconut water has worked for me though, once in a case of overdose).

This reminds me of my sister Kerus, she is an animal lover just like our mother and she has a poodle named Ruby. Ruby went for a dog sleep over and came back with ticks, Kerus immediately swung into action, she took Ruby to the Veterinary clinic and had the whole flat including Ruby’s space fumigated while Ruby stayed back at the clinic.

Ruby went back home after a few days; the next day, Kerus was taking an afternoon nap when her house maid Martha ran into her bedroom screaming that Ruby was dying. He looked very poorly and he cried weakly. Kerus quickly ran to Ruby’s cage, she saw that Ruby had just been fed, she took the plate and smelt it and immediately realised that the plate was not properly washed after the fumigation. What did my sister do? She ran to the kitchen almost knocking Martha over, got a gallon of oil and forced down Ruby’s throat, (Ruby is an immaculate white dog) Ruby cried even more and when she realised that Ruby was dying still, she drove him to the dog clinic.

The Veterinary doctor took Ruby from my sister and treated him immediately as it was an emergency, Ruby was half dead by the time they arrived and my sister had cried her eyes out. A short while later, the doctor came out to the reception area carrying a dog, it was when my sister went to him to find out about Ruby, that she realised that the orange coloured dog was actually Ruby. The palm oil poured all over Ruby when the oil was being forced on him and it stained Ruby’s hairs, Kerus didn’t even notice the stain in all of her panic. The doctor looked at my sister for a couple of minutes before he said something to her. By this time my sister had become uneasy.

“You say that you are a graduate?” were the first words the doctor said to her, Kerus wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement but she nodded. She looked down and noticed that she had two different slippers on her feet. (lol) The doctor carried on, “Is this the thinking of someone who saw the four walls of a University?” “Whoever told you that palm oil was a solution to poison?” “My mother” Kerus answered. (Please leave mum out of this.lol I never saw her use palm oil for such). The doctor told her that she acted like an illiterate and would have killed Ruby faster than the poison would have. Kerus said that the doctor insulted her so much that she was too ashamed to walk out of the hospital.

The doctor took Ruby back inside and when he brought him out a second time; she could only tell that it was Ruby because he was being carried by the same doctor that took him inside. Ruby had gone bald, the doctor had shaved every hair that was on Ruby’s body and warned my sister seriously that if something else happened to Ruby he would have her arrested. It was then that my sister found her voice and responded, “Story, in this Nigeria? Arrest ko, jail ni)

She took Ruby home after over four hours at the Veterinary clinic. The story doesn’t end here, she goes home and cleans Ruby’s place all over again by herself. The following day, it was a déjà vu of the previous day, her maid ran to her again screaming that Ruby was dying, my sister said she got up from her nap, remembered the doctor’s threat to have her arrested and she told Martha to bring Ruby closer to her. She did the sign of the cross on Ruby’s forehead and told him to rest in peace. “May God accept your soul Ruby, you were a good dog, you tried for me and I tried for you too, please rest in peace”. She rolled over, covered herself and continued with her nap.

Martha was sure that her madam had gone completely mad; she left her immediately and dialled my sister’s husband. Morgy left the office as soon as he got the distress call from Martha, he took Ruby back to the Veterinary doctor. It was poison again; there was still a part of Ruby’s space that had to be cleaned well. Ruby stayed at the clinic until it was safe to return home. Ruby also survived a spinal disease and still lives happily with its owners.

Warning: Please if you still live in the palm oil age, medical research and reports have shown that it does not work; please seek proper medical attention instead. Store all dangerous items and poisonous substances in safe places and keep them out of reach of children and pets. Enough said already.

A quck pose with Ruby....