CHAPTER NINETEEN I pulled at the gate and got into my auntys compound. That verandah was waterlogged as usual. Since my auntys husbands death, she hadnt had enough money to put it right. I looked around, all the clothes on the line had been drained. All the undies had been blown off the line. I began to pick them up to hang them back one after the other. I had to stand on tiptoes to put them across the wire. I traipsed to the door. It was locked. Does that mean my aunty hadnt arrived yet? I pondered. I checked the time on my little digital wristwatch. It displayed 88:88. It was strange to me. What do you mean? I whispered to the watch. No response. If it had replied me, how would I have heard its voice. I checked the watch, water resistant. I sprawled beside the entrance door. The tiled floor was unusually cold. I shivered uncontrollably. My teeth shook like bomb blast. It was as if I would freeze up in the next minute. The memory of the event came up in my head-- why did I leave the venue that way? Anyway, I still didnt feel any guilt that I spoke against God. I would even do more if situation warranted it, I hissed. I remembered Moses. He was the boy who helped me to the Egbeda bus park while I was in Ejigbo-- first time a male would assist me; Bode and John werent so kind. He even paid for my transport fare without my knowledge. Were it not for the bus conductor who refused to collect my transport fare when I was alighting, I wouldnt have known that he had paid for me. I read out the name he wrote on a sheet of paper he handed to me before leaving me alone. It contained his name and home address: Immaculate Moses; Plot 5, Estate Road, Lekki. My attention was shifted to that moment I was in the Egbeda bus waiting for it to be filled up. A boy peeped into the bus from the window. He was dressed in an outfit lacking taste and glory. His hair was curled up like popcorns. He wore a long chain on his neck carrying a laminated write-up: I Am Deaf And Dumb, Pls Help Me The boy saw my face lit up, then he knew I had interest. He quickly gave me a piece of paper and then an envelope. I read what was in the paper: He is a Deaf and Dumb Student of the Ejigbo Deaf and Dumb School. He needs some money to pay his school fees. Please Help him with any amount. Deaf And Dumb Association of Nigeria I smiled. It would take a thief to catch a thief, so I got into action, pushing the sliding window aside and putting my hands out of it. What is your name? I asked him in sign language. No response. I had just used the British sign, perhaps he didnt understand that, so I made use of the American sign, still there wasnt any response. Dont you have a name? I kept saying. He was a novice, yet he had claimed to be in a deaf and dumb school. He knew I had already discovered his secret, so he moved on after protruding his lips as if he wanted to have a kiss with somebody, definitely not with me. I knew what he just did; he had just hissed at me. I am surely a bad market to him, I thought. I began to freeze in the cold. My spirit and soul had departed my body. I would have to continue the next episode in the land of the non-living. My eyes flashed open suddenly. I was on a bed, my bed. A candle was lit few inches away from me on a table. My arms could reach the candle. I gazed at the ceiling. It was my room. How did I get in? I set my eyes at the watch and it was a shock to me when I found it to be 2am. If I could talk I would have yelled What! I threw my hand away aimlessly and inadvertently, it brought down the candle upon the rug. The house was on fire but I wasnt aware. I didnt even know that the candle had fallen I turned at the wall and squeezed my eyes together. I needed to sleep. I would ask my aunt in the morning how it all went--the graduation ceremony. I turned around on the bed and I saw hell beneath my bed. Am I dead? Am I in hell right now? God why? Why did you bring me to hell just because I spoke against you once, yet I have spoken well of you a thousand times before and you didnt take me to heaven? I woke up from my dream. No, I wasnt dreaming-- it is real; the house is on fire! I couldnt quench it. I ran out with a scream and two souls came in a rush; my aunty and my classteacher. We fought the fire like the firefighters--water, sand, Omo and anything we could think about all to no avail. Few street dwellers even assisted. They called the fire service but the response they heard were snores from the other end of the line--they were drunk with sleep. I dont blame them, since it was midnight. When my aunts husbands house was completely brought down with the raging conflagration, I heard the devils voice: it was time for me to flee to the nearest lagoon. I ran like lightning, heading to nowhere in particular, but my teacher raised an alarm and I was caught. My aunty didnt speak a word all through as she watched her only hope go up in flames like Cains unacceptable sacrifice.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Sep 2014 17:26:23 +0000
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