We Are Able

Episode 45

It was not quite long when school resumed for those who
went to school. Bode’s parent began to find it very difficult
sending him to school. Biodun and la!de had no problem at all.

The taxi was back to pick them up every day.
I sat down thinking deep. Will this year pass by gradually
without seeing my mother? I thought. How could life be so
cruel like this? I made up my mind to see my father once more.

I don’t think he would listen to me. He was already in deeper
thought than thinking of a way to get my mother out. He
would need money to bribe the Chief Warders and all the police
involved in extending my mother’s jail term.
I would do anything to see my mother again, but who could
help? My mind went straight to Moses, that young man who
helped me cross the express road on my graduation day two
years back. I remembered I had crammed his home address,
maybe I should just visit him and tell him everything, I
thought.

I had saved some amount of money, so I would not have
problem getting transport down there, though it was far from
Ejigbo where I resided. I wrote something on paper and
decided to pay him a visit.

Toyosi had taken some of her husband’s property to a market
to sell them off. She made the decision as a punitive measure
for her husband’s refusal to respond to her letter, in which she
told him to send her some money. Toyosi would tell her
husband that she was forced to do that when hunger came
knocking hard at the door of her stomach. Her husband would
be around the next month and she would return to him.

I wrote the address in my head down, the home address of
Moses who helped me cross the road that day:
Immaculate Moses; Plot 5, Estate Road, Lekki.
I also wrote all information down regarding how to get to the
exact place. I would be showing the paper to anyone I come
across so that I wouldn’t miss my way.
John had started working as a labourer for a factory. He would
help them offload some things from large trucks, just to make
sure that he kept body and soul together. At first, he said he
wasn’t going to do that, but when the hands of hunger began
to beckon on us, he had to do it.

That morning, I took off. I didn’t want to leave late, so that I
could return home early enough before any of Toyosi or John
would come. Bode had also gone to school too, though he was
still owing the school fee for the term.
I didn’t find it very difficult locating the place where Moses lived.

I met someone and showed him the letter. When he saw it, he
waved his head at me and spoke. I made signs to him to say
that I couldn’t speak. The man understood me quite well, so he
wrote it for me:
Immaculate Moses the son of that headmaster is no more living
in this place. They have relocated to their new house since last
six months
Where is their new house? I wrote back.
It is in Festac, but I don’t know the address
I bowed down to thank the man as I began to depart. It was
still 12pm then, so I had plenty of time, I thought. Lekki was a
very beautiful place I didn’t want to leave. I roamed the streets
and most of the time got tapped by people to tell me that I
should leave the road. Many car owners had peeped out of
their windows to ail insults at me, but I was not bothered since
I didn’t hear a thing.

At last, around 4pm I began to make back for my home. I
knew where to get the right buses, so I did, but I was the only
person in the bus. For some times, I remained the only one as
the bus conductor kept shouting to call in passengers.

Soon, the bus was half-filled. I began to doze off as the air blew
its cool on me.

When I realized myself again, I was kneeling beside a traditional
man dressed like a cultist. I was carrying a big calabash. Five
other people were kneeling down too, with calabashes on their
head. I had had about money ritual before, so I guessed that
was what we were there for.

I couldn’t think at all. I was just looking at them like a zombie.

The man took turn to ask each victim some questions one after
the other, which I perceived they were answering. They fell
down dead as soon as they had answered those questions.

I was still on my knees when they brought a young boy in.

They made him kneel down too. His face seemed familiar. Yes!

He was one of the bullies who sneaked to my school to torture
us. He was attending a school for normal people in Ejigbo. It
was just a fence that was demarcating us. His name was
Austin.

Austin had even succeeded in raping some of our girls. When
he attempted To Molest me back then, I caught him aback,
grabbing him by the neck. I pushed him away and ran. Austin
had been expelled from his school the day he raped a blind girl
called Amina. Amina was the most gentle girl back then. Austin
crept to our school through the hole they had drilled into the
wall. Amina, who was walking towards the toilet with her
walking stick, was gripped by Austin. She was raped to
unconsciousness.

Austin was caught by some of the deaf people in my school,
then he was expelled.