It was a rainy day in
Lagos when I was on my way to Idumota from Mushin. The rain was so heavy that I
could not risk moving to my destination; hence I had to take refuge in a nearby
building. I ran to the corridor of a commercial bank along Martins Street to
take shelter. I was worried that the man, who had given me appointment for 10
am, might be out of the office before I got there. Don’t wonder how. Ha has two
official cars and three personal ones, he could use any.
This opportunity I had
of seeing him before he left for another “operation see the world” was being
hampered by this wicked rain. I almost changed my mind about the existence of
God, but I promptly cautioned myself. But, why should God, allow rain to fall
when He knew I had this one chance in the world of getting a job, I wondered.
I started when someone
tapped me at the shoulder, bringing me out of my reverie. I turned swiftly to
see Jerry smiling at me. “What is on your mind? I’ve been watching you since
you ran here for shelter, and you’ve been looking into space. What is the
matter?” he asked.
I served Youth Service
with Jerry in the same secondary school in Cross River State. He was
intelligent and handsome. But he had two weaknesses –women and excessive
spending. He had first class in Microbiology in University of Nigeria, Nsukka,
in the South Eastern part of the country. He loved beautiful, slim,
fair-complexioned girls. And whenever any was around him, he parted with his
money like a drunken sailor. He could afford to, anyway. He received additional
monthly allowance from his rich parents apart from the stipend paid by the
government.
I didn’t blame him for
not understanding my problem. He had a rich father, so he didn’t understand
what it meant to be unemployed for eight months when I thought I’d made it
academically. Moreover, I had heard that he had gone back to the university for
his postgraduate degree.
I managed to smile back.
I told him I had an appointment with a company director but the heavy downpour
was putting behind schedule. “Man relax! Is that why you’re worried? You can
see him another day, except you want to swim to his office; all the streets are
flooded.”
I swore beneath my
breath. I wondered why some people with business acumen and capital hadn’t
thought of building canoes for hiring in Lagos during the raining season. I could
have hired one and paddled to my destination.
“Chuks, I’ve got a hot
gist for you,” Jerry said.
Didn’t I tell you that
this boy didn’t realize the type of fix I was in. the sky was still weeping
seriously, so I said, “What is the gist all about?”
“I hope you still
remember, Eno?” he asked.
“Yes,” I replied nonchalantly.
I remembered Eno all right. She was Jerry’s girlfriend during the Youth
Service. She was tall, slim, fair-complexioned, and beautifully built with a
come-to-bed set of eyes. She was a material for the front page of fashion
magazine.
“She gave me a shock of
my life.”
“What happened?” I inquired.
“She wrote me once that
she was pregnant. But I didn’t take her serious. Three weeks ago, she wrote to
inform me that she had delivered a baby for me.”
“Is that what you call
a shock?” I hissed. “It seems you’ve not bothered to check the dictionary
meaning of shock. You’ve a child and you call that a shock? What did you expect
when you were sleeping with her ever time as if she was your legal wife?”
“Take it easy, pal. I was
just beginning the story.”
“Yes! Let me have the
rest,” I said enthusiastically.
“I was in the campus,
so I went home to tell my parents. They made no fuss to my uttermost surprise. Instead,
my father fixed last week for us to go and see her and our child. A day to the
visit, he ordered John, his driver, to wash and polish his Prado jeep for the
journey, which he did. The next morning, we were on our way. We drove straight
to her house in Calabar. We were told she traveled home. I directed John and we
headed to Odukpani, her village. My father had bought drinks, clothes for Eno,
baby formula, baby wears, nappies –all a newly delivered mother needed. When we
arrived in their house, we met her parents but she was out. Her father sent for
her, when we asked for her.
“When she arrived, my
father explained the reason for our visit. Eno’s parents were dumbfounded. If Eno
had a child, she never told them, they claimed, the ball was passed to Eno. She
wept for a while before she told us that she delivered no child. ‘What?’ my
father shouted. A chill crawled up my spine and my body was cold as if a block
of ice was placed at the base of my neck. Her father asked her why she wrote
such a letter, if she did not deliver any child? She accused me of jilting her
and she wanted to get revenge. I had stopped communicating with her a month a
left Cross River State. I didn’t know how she got my current address.
“My father was seething
with fury and my mother was dazed. My father ordered that we drive back to
Lagos that night. When we got home, he talked to me like he never did before. Ha
has stopped my allowance till further notice. I’ve come to collect when this
bloody rain started. Boy! You never know with women. I shall return to the
campus tomorrow.”
“That was some
experience,” I told him. How do you explain to a lion that it’s not nice to eat
other animals? “Why did God endow me with sharp teeth and swift movement,” it’ll
reply. It is the same case with Jerry.
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