He joins the crowd at the gate, made up mostly of other men like him and boys. They sit there patiently until the hour comes for the Rich Man to feed them.
This is what the kind Rich Man does every day.
May his pockets never run dry and may his enemies never find him. May he never lack and may God bless him so he can keep feeding them. If he ever needs their help, they’ll be there to offer it.
The Poor Man says, “My fourth wife has trouble birthing her eighth child.”
In his magnanimity, the Rich Man gives him money for the hospital fees. He pays for Poor Man’s friend to marry his third wife.
The Rich Man is smart. He tells the Poor Man there’s no need for his children to go to school. He shuts down the schools that someone else built for the Poor Man's children.
The Poor Man agrees. This is how things have always been, from the time of their grandfathers.
When the children of the Rich Man go about town dressed in fine clothes and driving in flashy cars, the children of the Poor Man pay homage.
The Rich Man says to the Poor Man, “This is forbidden.”
But the Rich Man’s children travel in private jets, fly first class to other countries and do these forbidden things. The rules do not apply to them.
He says to the Rich Man, “I know that you’re a kind man and you do many good things for the Poor Man and his children. But you have far too many poor people in your land.
Or do you want them to remain in poverty?”
“You do not understand. Things have always been like this and will remain this way. We lead, they follow. We prefer things to remain this way.”
"How dare he? Poverty and child marriages are our culture, damn it!"
They say to the Other Rich Man and his children, “You think we’re poor? No, dears. You and your father are the poor ones. We’re the richest people ever and will be richer than you till the day we die.”
Meanwhile, in the Rich Man's town, one of the Poor Man's young sons goes to his father.
The father takes a bite out of the lobe of kola nut in his hand, chews for a few seconds, clears his throat and says,
“We’re loyal, my son. We will always be loyal.”