Episode 1
I had little choice. I just had to accept my
fate. I was going to spend my first few
weeks in Enugu with Mr. Darlington Agbo;
dad’s childhood friend. It was now my own
time within the school curriculum for the
compulsory Industrial Training popularly
known to students as IT. After extensive
search for a proper firm that will offer me
both the needed experience and financial
assistance, myself and dad settled for one
pretty decent firm in Enugu. They offer
technical services to telecom companies
and that defined my field every bit, but
what didn’t do quite that, was the location;
Enugu. We had nobody there and would
mean I would have to settle in faster than
usual; which can be utterly difficult.
The search was on, for any kind of friend who
knew a friend that knew a friend that stays
in Enugu but the result was always the
same; none. We almost then settled on
finding an apartment first hand when
suddenly dad bumped into Darlington at
the recently concluded trade fair after what
seemed close to ten years. They had lost
any form of contact. Darlington, who we
used to know as Uncle D as kids, had
moved to the east after getting married
and that literally severed ties with my dad.
Dad quickly got into conversation with him
which led to his asking about myself. “He is
a grown man now” dad must have said,
“looking to move to Enugu for his IT”.
This stirred Uncle D’s interest the more and
before the conversation was over, he fully
knew I was still in need of an apartment
and being currently based in Enugu,
offered to assist us in accommodating me
while the search lasted. The arrangements
were soon fixed and I was set to make the
trip. His apartment was not the nearest of
places to the firm in question but who
cares at this point? At least I could afford to
enjoy the use of some decent apartment or
so I thought, until I could find myself one
that will serve me for the remainder of the
six months I was scheduled to spend.
It was in September that I eventually took
off for Enugu. Of course, as the start of the
story suggests, I was not very keen about
this. Reason being that I had always
disliked seeming to be some kind of source
of discomfort to a family even though the
family had been the ones who sent the
invite in this case. There was also the case
with my girlfriend too. We had broken up
but I was still currently hoping on getting
back into the relationship. She had caused
me to wish I never dated her but
somewhere in my heart, I still missed her
and really wanted her back but I was never
going to make the first move. She had hurt
me and must show some kind of remorse
towards her act. This was looking ever
more difficult now, considering that I would
not even have the privilege of using my
presence to stir this into happening.
However, all of these were eventually
dropped back home as I journeyed to the
east. It was a Sunday and I arrived towards
evening. My journey had appeared less
stressful than I had envisaged. They were
all at home or so I thought, judging by how
full the house was; and they easily received
me. Their apartment was cozy and nicely
furnished. It was going to be hard to miss
home in such a comfortable environment.
A movie was playing and just after the early
expected enquiries about my trip, my
people and whether I had been to the state
before, of which I gave a firm no, I quickly
settled to see the movie with them while
eating the plate of Sunday rice they had
served me. It was also a good time to take a
more withdrawn but closer look at the
family. Uncle D of whom I had always felt
was a talkative was as expected, on top of
his voice, analyzing every single scene that
played before them. Despite being in his
mid-thirties, he still had this trait. I would
always think it is the only rather ill habit he
had as he was generally a decent man. Tall
and well built with a look most girls will still
die for. The others seemed to find him
comfortable despite his many analysis, and
his excessive talking only made the time
fun. Sitting next to him was girl of about
twenty. She was beautiful and I easily
passed her for his daughter but was not
sure how that was possible, given that she
was fair in complexion while D was dark.
She also spotted a nose that was unlikely
to come from D or his wife. I did not know
much about his family before now so could
not tell how right I was. Another girl who
also looked like the first sat close to her.
Beautiful too and I easily noticed how she
stole quick glances at me. I was not
flattered, I had experienced that all my life
being the natural looker I was.
This continued as long as I knew but I felt it was
too early to begin making any advances
towards any ladies now, given my mission
in Enugu. Uncle D’s wife was the only one
sitting directly opposite me. Looking
obviously beautiful and younger than D
you could tell she just got into her thirties.
She had what seemed a firm body and her
curves were perfectly at the right places.
Even though she was yet to stand since I
walked in, I could tell from her sitting
position that she was just few inches shy of
six feet. However, she had been quiet all
along apart from the period when I arrived
during which she asked me of my trip and
ordered one of the girls to get me
something to eat. Since then she had bore
a rather indifferent look. She sat quite
conservatively with both legs kept
together. Even though she had her eyes
fixed on the TV, I still did not think she was
overly interested in what was playing
before her. “Does she really like my coming
here?” I remembered asking myself coming
off what I interpreted to be a worried look
on her face. I was not going to give any
damn thought to that, after all, they
placed the invite. In a month or less, I
should be out of there anyway.
There was also a guy in their midst who I easily felt to be either the houseboy or the driver
judging from how he sat and where.
The day gradually rolled by and soon
enough, I was already making my bed for
the night. I had been shown one of the
bedrooms and was told it was for one of D’s
daughters who was in school. The girls I
saw earlier where actually their nieces who
visited. They had two daughters and both
were all in school. “Mind how you use the
bed” Mrs. D who I later learnt was Onyinye
by name, said to me as I stepped into the
bedroom “the supporting wood is failing”.
This might be the truth, but the manner
with which she said it, made me sense that
feeling of dislike once again. She did not
want me in their home. It was obviously
bare this time. My only question was, how
much of this would I bear until I found my
own apartment?
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