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| RUNAWAY LOVE ❤🏃 (A true story) |
I woke up that early morning and went straight to the public tap to fetch water. Except for my youngest sister, I was the only other sibling living with my mother. My father and the rest of my family members lived away from home; my father had gone to Nigeria to live there for a while.
I had completed high school but was still to get to the university. My youngest sister was still in the primary school while my two other sisters schooled in the neighbouring town. Every now and then, they came down to the village for weekends.
The one who came down mostly was my elder sister. Each time she came my mum would send me to go and be with my other sister. She hated for her to be alone.
So, when I came back from the public tap that Saturday morning, I met my elder sister at home and immediately knew what was going to happen. She had come for weekend, and that meant I was going to travel to go be with my other younger sister.
"Welcome, sister." I greeted my elder sister.
"Thank you, Phi. How are you?" She asked.
"I am good. Where's mum?"
"She went to the neighbour's. She says you should get your stuffs ready. You have to go be with Nene while I am here."
"Alright, where's my fare?"
"Here." She said and handed me a clean two thousand note."
Within an hour, I had gotten ready. I said goodbye and went to the side of the main road to get a cab, but not after receiving very strict instructions from my mum on how to conduct myself while I was away.
I got to the neighbouring town about an hour later and went straight home. My younger sister was as usual, happy to see me. However, she was with her friends, and since she was preparing for the GCE, she told me that they had somewhere they studied together at night. She said she would be spending the night there and would only come home in the morning.
I told her to feel free because I was not your regular strict elder brother. She knew that very well and always took full advantage of it. I called her friends and told them to take good care of my younger sister. They agreed and called me an overprotective brother before leaving.
I was alone now. I got a chair and sat at the garage section of our house and started reading a novel. By then, phones had not become common in the village. As I read, something caught my attention. I heard the voices of some females talking. I raised my head and saw three young ladies walking into the compound opposite ours. I knew two of them. They were our neighbour's daughters, but the third one; that third one, that chubby and fair-skinned one, I had never seen her before. Where did she spring from?
I would have loved to go to their apartment to find out who she was, but I couldn't. Their mother was my former teacher and I knew how wild she was. Their father too was not easy. So, I couldn't dare.
All that evening and late into the night, I kept wonder who she was. She didn't look like she was from that neighborhood. No, it was possible she had only recently come to that family. There was no way a beautiful and fresh girl like that would be in that neighborhood, and I, the CEO of all the nice babes in that quarter wouldn't know about.
I woke up the following morning, opened the door to the room I was using and went back to bed. I grabbed my novel and continued reading when I heard a knock on the door. I asked whoever it was to come in. But no one did. Wondering who could be knocking my door at such and early hour of the morning, I went to check.
It was a little boy of about three years. His name was Ngopi.
"What do you want, Ngopi?" I asked.
"Uncle, good morning."
"Good morning, Ngopi. How are you?"
"I am fine."
"You should be in school. Why didn't you go to school today?" I asked.
"Uncle, I am sick." He replied in his childish little voice.
"Well, you don't look sick to me. Anyway, how may I be of help to you?"
"Take. He said and handed me a carefully folded piece of paper.
I unfolded the paper and read it's contents. It read: "Good morning. Please, may I borrow your axe? I intend to return it as soon as I finish using it."
"Who sent it?" I asked little Ngopi.
"My auntie."
I held his little hand and took him into the house. I got a pen and a paper and wrote a reply. In the reply I asked him to go tell his aunt not to send a child next time to come and get something as dangerous as an axe. I asked her to come and get it herself. I folded the paper and handed it to the little man.
He went back to give his aunt my reply. Up until that time, I still hadnt imagined that the aunt the little messenger boy was talking about was the chubby fair lady that had caught my attention the previous day.
I was about to start brushing my teeth when I heard someone knock my door again. I opened the door and, you wouldn't believe who it was. It was the chubby lady. I was both shocked and happy that she had come to see me.
"Good morning." She said, frowning.
"Good morning. You came to get the axe?" I asked.
"Yes, I will bring it back when I am done."
"What do you need an axe for? Is your gas finished?"
"Not really. What I want to cook requires that I use a three stone fireside."
"Alright, I will go help you."
I carried the axe for her and went to their behind kitchen. I helped her split the wood, sweating profusely. The sweat made my muscular body glisten under the gathering morning sunlight. When I was done, I went back home to freshen up. She was very happy and grateful for the help. She told me that she would send for me when she was done cooking.
About two hours later, Little Ngopi came to tell me that her aunt had finished cooking and wanted me to come and eat. I followed the little guy and we went back to their house where a delicious bowl of food was waiting for me. After I had finished eating, we started talking.
"Why are you home?" I asked. "Everyone is in school but you are at home. Why is that?"
"I don't go to school." She replied. That came out a little sadly.
"Why?"
"I am a house help. A house girl." She revealed.
"You are what? But you don't look like one."
"Yes, I don't because I was not supposed to be one. Circumstances forced me to be here."
"Circumstances? What happened?" I was curious.
"My dad disowned me. So, I had no choice but to look for a means to fend for myself."
"Why?"
"My dad was not in good terms with my mum. They had a conflict but I sided with my mum. So, he got annoyed with me and sent me out of his house?"
"Just that?"
"Yes, I slept in front of our gate for three days but he hardened his heart and wouldn't let me in."
"Is he really your father?"
"Yes, my biological father. On the fourth day, a woman met me and told me that she knew of a family in the South West who needed a house help. She asked me if I could do that. I agreed and that was how I found myself here. You see all the things in do here? Splitting wood, washing clothes, etc., I had never done them before. I am just learning."
As I was about to speak, we heard the sound of a vehicle coming. We figured that it might be her boss. Quickly I tried to leave the house through the front door, but it was already too late. The boss had already reached the front of the house.
I ran back behind the house, climbed on the fence and jumped to the other side. I went back to our house, breathing heavily. That was a near miss. If I had been caught, it would have been trouble for both of us.
As I sat on my bed that afternoon, I thought of all the things she had told me and my heart moved. She and I had talked as if we had known each other for many years. She told me a whole lot of things about herself that made me shiver. She was still too young to have gone through all that.
Then and there, I decided that I would be the Knight in the shiny armour she had never had. I decided that come tomorrow, when her boss had gone to work, I would tell her how I feel about her. I just could be the one that could bring some light into her life.