Episode 1
I finally returned home with my Nysc certificate and with the joy that accompanied it. Yea my life from day one in the university to the moment i stepped foot at home with the precious certificate really was quiet an eventful one. Nevertheless there was still a lot to accomplish and my restless mind equally was as usual filled with so many thoughts.
“Where to start, how to live, how to shape the rest of my life and so on” bugged me. I was now home not as a boy but as a man. It was time to achieve my dreams in a hard country like Nigeria.
My homecoming was celebrated as if i achieved one giant feat. Mum welcomed me with tears in her eyes while my sisters hugged me with strong emotions.
“i just wish your dad is alive to celebrate with us” mum added with great joy.
Actually my immediate younger sister was the first to complete her Nysc in the family but then just like always, it looked as if mine was done in Syria. I was welcomed like a hero, with so much joy and happiness. All the stress and pain i caused the family over the years, especially during the same one year National service forgotten.
Of course as the only son, i was always treated differently in everything. I must confess it made me quite lazy and dull in some things but yea it equally was one of the things that made me love home. However as i settled in my room later in the evening, i had enough time to reflect in my life and on some terrible things and mistakes i made over the past few months.
I was now a man, i was now a matured adult. I had my family to protect. It was now time to play my role as a father to my sisters and a husband to my mother. My planned marriage with Adaora equally was one big responsibility and goal i had to complete for the sake of my family. The family name equally was now mine to build, push up and preserve. Lastly i needed a good job or great plan to turn the little inheritance dad left me into something huge.
Yea i had a lot to accomplish, and deep down i wasn’t yet prepared for it all. But being a man comes with great responsibility and being the only son comes with a greater responsibility. Suddenly i had the urge to leave the country and spend the rest of my life abroad with Adaora, away from my past and away from family influence.
I was still thinking when mum walked into my room with a calm smile on her face. She sat beside me and held my left hand.
“we are so glad you are home. It’s finally time for you to settle down with us, run the family, get married to Adaora and raise your kids here. We will be one large family” she said with excitement. I turned and looked into her eyes, saying nothing.
“don’t tell me you plan going away again?, nothing will delight me more than you living here with me and starting your family here as well. That was the reason i have always been against you leaving the country. This house is yours and your dad won’t want nothing more than you being here with me and starting your family under my care. Adaora really understood all of it before she left the country and i believe you won’t have any problem with it?” she asked. I simply nodded without saying a word. Of course she meant the very best for me but i just didn’t fancy the idea of starting a family under her care. What makes me a man then??
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