• The Prouds 134

Chapter Eighteen

Three years after Jarvis’s birth, Leader Addison had a
daughter whom he called Raelene.
When Jarvis started to understand things, his father
started raising him the same way he had raised his two
brothers.
Days went by and Hammond lived happily, feeling
great joy because he was the leader’s eldest, which always
made him proud, and because he would become the leader
one day. He was very happy because members of the tribe
loved him, and so did his father and mother.
He got so close to Milton, who became his best
friend.
Milton was an orphan who lost his father when he
was one year old in one of the battles fought by the Prouds.
One year later, his mother died of illness. She had a chronic
heart disease and eventually died when her son was only
two. Leader Addison, out of goodness and because he was
the leader of the tribe, undertook to fend for orphaned
Milton. Although the leader provided for him, he did not
provide for him as much as he did for his own sons but
rather covered his basic needs, just like any other orphan in
the tribe.
Therefore, Milton lived a life of poverty. He used to
look at the way Addison and his sons lived and envy them.
He used to look at their wealth, the way Addison enjoyed