'Good afternoon,' the male officer said as he stepped in.
Eniiyi looked up at the female officer expectantly. She had come in the morning but with a different partner. Had they found her parents already?
'I'm Detective Oji Omenka, I'm assigned to your case along with Detective Egwu.' He pointed to the woman police.
'My case? Why do I have a case? Some people already came in the morning to ask me—' Eniiyi started to say.
'Your cousin here told us about what happened on your way here and the pictures you took. We are trying to—'
'Good God, Menk, try to be nice. She's just a child and you sound like you're grilling her.' The woman chided her partner then turned to the girl.
Eniiyi tried to remember what she had called her name earlier in the day. Was it Ebibo? Melimo? She couldn't even remember, but she remembered that it sounded strange to her ears.
'Yes, we came earlier in the day to get your statement on what happened to you and L
'I . . .''Eniiyi, now! Please, say yes! You'll totally love it. I've been to her house before and it's really big and nice.' He stressed heavily on the 'really' as though to underline his point.'Please, please, okay? You're not going to like that hospital place; it's boring and smells like a hospital a little.''Okay, okay. I'd love to, ma. Thank you,' Eniiyi agreed.'Yes!' hollered Lastborn.'You're screaming,' the girl snapped.'That's good. Now all I have to do is apply for your custody, I hope it goes alright.''What if it doesn't?' Eniiyi asked. 'I don't wanna stay in a hospital house, too.''It should, I hope, since it's temporary custody.''Why does it sound so hard?' Eniiyi asked. 'How does it work, anyways?''After I fill the form, I have to give good reasons why I think you should stay with me and then they'll do research on me to find out how responsible I am and my capability to take care of you. Th
11:46 am, September 20,Tokyo, Japan.'I wish I could speak more than three languages,' Mide suddenly said.'Shh, what did you say?' Eartha whispered, not taking her eyes away from the screen.'I wish I could speak more languages,' Mide reiterated, rolling his eyes. 'I wasn't being loud now.''You were,' Eartha argued, still not taking her eyes away from the big screen. Then she leaned against her husband's arm and continued to watch the subtitled movie.That they had been able to take time off work to come to the movies was a miracle in its self and she wished to savour every moment, like fine wine, to the last drop. She couldn't even remember the last time they'd gone out together like this. Maybe during their courtship.If they hadn't been moved they probably wouldn't have had time to come here. Their host company had had their residence moved to a new location today and they had had the day off.Okamoto, a bus
08:51am, September 24Nsukka, Enugu State.It was a bright Tuesday morning when Mrs Okenwa took Eniiyi back to the hospital for check up. Lastborn, afraid he'd get bored if he went, had opted to play over at a neighbour's.Now they were in the doctor's (specialist, said the nurse) waiting room, doing what people did in waiting rooms; waiting.Eniiyi wiped her palms on her jeans and tried to sit straighter. It was strange that she was nervous about what she wasn't even sure of. They had said the doctor specialized in cases like hers so he could look into her alacrimia. But what if she was really more diseased than was obvious? She knew that alacrimia was accompanied by two other syndromes but she didn't have any, which she had thought weird. What if the doctor discovered she now had them all? What was going to happen to her now?'Eniiyi, are you alright? You're fidgeting.' China placed a
'Hey.' China but a hand soothingly on her back. 'It's gonna be alright.'The doctor observed them for a few seconds in silence. 'And I heard of your parent's case. Do not despair, Eni iyi, they will be back soon.'Eniiyi mentally palmed her face. Why had she even bothered to correct him?'Thank you, sir.''I wasn't aware that they now have Biology in Primary School curriculum now,' the man said in thought. 'How the world is changing.''So where was I? Oh, yes. The third feature is Achalasia; a disorder that affects the ability to move food through the weasand; the oesophagus. What makes your own case rare is that most people with TAS, most times, have all the three, some two, but never one. And it is only one you've exhibited so far.I'm still going to carry out some tests on you, but it's quite obvious that you're not suffering from Addison's or Achalasia. O
04:29pm, September 29The day went as normal for Eniiyi. Since she'd been discharged from the hospital all she did was enjoy herself, Mrs Okenwa seemed to have made that her second priority, Baby Kanayo being the first.If she removed the fact that her parents were still uncontacted, every other thing was fun. They got to go to numerous parks and gardens and just yesterday, after her appointment with the doctor, they'd gone on another shopping spree in which the children had shopped till they got tired. Baby Kanayo was also all theirs to play with, and did she love babies! Plus they also got to meet many new people and make a few friends.Mrs China had gotten them enrolled in a school with the help of the law and school was resuming next week and Eniiyi was super excited to start secondary school for the first time.Not long ago they had just come back from Mrs China's farm. Okenwa Farm it was
'However they helped us to put a call through to them but it didn't go through, which was expected, considering they're not even in Nigeria. Then they sent them an email but we were informed few days ago that it has remained unread and they haven't gotten any reply back.''What about Uncle Felix? You have to find him, he has my parent's new numbers!''We have not been able to find him either. Lagos is a very big place and there are many people called—' he brought out a sheet of paper from his file and read '—Femi Makanjuola.'Eniiyi sighed.'And you do not know what he does?' China spoke up.'He builds houses, he's a civil engineer,' Lastborn said.'No, he's not. He's an architect, he designs buildings.' Eniiyi glared at him. They had argued about the first time they were asked too.'Em . . . maybe he's a civil engineer. They
08:39am, October 1Nsukka, Enugu State.The first of October was a joyous day for every Nigerian. To the adults and wizened, it signified another year since the country had gained her independence, to the children, it signified the day when they all went out and had festivals and fun.Which was why everybody at the Nsukka First Funfair had a smile on their faces as they walked about in different costumes and attires and prizes. All, except a certain half-Somali half-Nigerian girl. The girl had all her frown concentrated on the candy floss in her hand, as if it was being sly and staring at it long enough would reveal whatever it had been hiding.She was leaning forward on a railing that bothered a train ride and people passed by her every now and then, obstructing her view, which could have been more reason why she refused to misplace her frown.A excited group of kids garbed in green and white
The rest of the day was spent having more fun. When they left the funfair Mrs Okenwa took them out for lunch and then they went to the cinema. So, it was very dark by the time they arrived home. Mrs Okenwa quickly fixed them a meal and they all dug into it with gusto. Then they packed their dishes to the kitchen and Lastborn washed them, while Eniiyi went to turn on the TV. China changed the baby's diapers and went to the laundry room to wash some clothes. 'About what I said in the morning, that Baby Kanayo will say my name soon? I want to start working on it tomorrow,' Eniiyi said when Lastborn came to join her at the TV several minutes later. 'Sha be deceiving yourself there.' He rolled his eyes. 'You think it's that easy? He hasn't known us for that long to memorize our names—' 'Be talking like you know babies more than me.' It was Eniiyi's turn to roll her eyes. 'What? I do. You forget where I come from. You, is it that stuck up pl