CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I had not spoken a word to Aisha since we left my compound. I drove on, looking for a nearby hotel to drive into. Aisha kept starring at me because she hadn't seen me in such a mood before. My phone rang.
"Hello brother, where are you.?" It was Adaobi.
"Adaobi does it really matter" I replied curtly." Don't be selfish, bro!" My sister quipped. "I want to see my sister-in-law." Her voice softened and I heaved an audible sigh.I thought about a hotel and a name flashed to my mind."We are heading towards the Blue sky Hotel.""Okay, my regards to Aisha. Please send my apologies to her on behalf of Mum, and take care.""Alright sis."The called ended. I could see the Blue Sky hotel a stone's throw away. I drove into their parking lot. We unloaded and headed to the reception. The sleek, fair receptionist greeted us cheerfully and weCHAPTER ONE A cold sweat broke out of my forehead as I gazed at the letter in my hands. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, though the prominent thought in my mind was my mother's reaction when I got home; of a truth, the letter bore bittersweet news for me, though I could be certain that for my mother, it would be too bitter a pill for her to swallow. My mother would never support the instruction which the letter bore; she would fight it with every fibre of her being, of that, I was so sure. I was rather despondent, and found that I became oblivious to the happenings around me. Earlier on, I had watched as fellow corpers around me either jubilated or wailed out in des
CHAPTER TWO Some of the few things I could remember about my father in those days as a little kid was how my elder brother, Chimezie, Adaobi, my younger sister and I used to rush out of the house to welcome him home each day when he returned from work.At the honk of his car, we would dash out of the house like starved dogs reaching out for a fatty bone. How we used to discern his car honk from that of others remains a mystery to me till now. All our neighbours had cars of different models and make, but we never mistook their car honks for our father's. We always rushed out with outstretched arms from the three storey building where we lived to the frontage, suspending whatever we were doing. Nothing mattered more than welcoming father: It was more important to us than our meals. Mummy would try to make us sit back and finish our meal but she was always un
.CHAPTER THREE My ordeal with Miss Ego was another childhood experience I would not easily forget. It was during my primary school days when Mum used to package chocolate biscuits for us in our lunch boxes even after the usual 'Jollof' rice with fried ripe plantain and fish. My class teacher, Miss Ego, would not let me enjoy my chocolate biscuits. She was the one that kept custody of our lunch boxes. Once Mum drove us to school, she would come and take us into the class and keep our lunch boxes till the time we would need them. She would eat up my chocolate biscuits and cleverly buy lesser quality biscuits from the street to replace it. This she did severally, but I did not complain until the day I was careless with my lunch box while eating, and my lunch box slipped out of my hands and my lunch poured o
CHAPTER FOUR My childhood experiences were mostly blissful. Dad and Mum were around to give us the best they could afford. My father treated us as every loving father would. Every Sunday after church service at the St. Pirans Anglican Church Enugu, We would stand beside our father and watch him greet and hug his friends. Most of them were Doctors and Professors in their various fields of endeavour. I admired the way each of them comported and carried themselves with prestige and grace. Their hearty laughter and confidence really made it look like the world was really a bed of roses; devoid of problems. St. Pirans Anglican Church was known throughout the city for the calibre of men and women who worshipped there. Most of the highly-placed inhabitants of the coal city worshipped there. The Academia, the Army Generals, the Busines
CHAPTER FIVE I had just entered my second year in Medical Laboratory Science when Chimezie graduated from Banking and Finance with a second class upper grade from the University of Nigeria, Enugu. They whole family celebrated it. My mother threw a mini party. Adaobi and I came home to celebrate his graduation with our friends. We popped up champagne; we ate, drank and danced. We were all happy for him. He later went for his National Service in Edo State. He worked in a local government in the accounts department where he gave in his best. He initiated the computerized system of accounting to the local government. This was made for easy computing and accounting. Little wonder he earned the award of the best corps member that served in the local government council that year. When he finished his service, he sent out his curr
CHAPTER SIX My father, Mr Agbanusi, passed on at the young age of Fifty-five after a long battle with prostrate cancer. Dad in his usual way, did not show his emotions. He hid the ailment from us for a very long time, even from my mother, and he acted as if everything was okay.Though he was secretly seeking medical attention, he didn't want us to be thrown into any panic as all his children were at school, pursuing one academic laurel or the other in order to make him proud and also to make something meaningful with our lives. According to our Mum, Dad had thought that it was something he could easily handle on his own but as each day passed, the health issue wasn't getting better. At a point, he wanted to fly o
CHAPTER SEVEN The news of the pandemonium in northern part of Nigerian had reachedeverywhere around the country and beyond. It spread faster than a wild harmattan fire. People were being massacred by the minute. Buildings were being destroyed and properties carted away by the perpetrators of the mayhem. Churches and Schools were going up in flames of fire, private houses, edifices and monumental buildings owned by private individuals were being razed down by some over zealous ignorant youths in the name of religious and ethnic crisis. People were running helter-shelter for their lives, especially those of other regions of the country that were not northerners but were residents of the northern region. Mo
CHAPTER EIGHT When I graduated from the prestigious Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka in the eastern Nigeria, I was in my parents house in Enugu, waiting for my call-up letter for the compulsory National Youth Service. Enugu is a major city in the eastern region of Nigeria, popularly known as the 'Coal City'. This was because of the presence of coal mines in the city and the heavy coal mining activities there. It is a really lovely city, quiet and serene. The city is surrounded by hills just like Jerusalem. It has so many beautiful sights which I guess made the colonial masters very reluctant to leave the city even after independence. I never had the opportunity to travel to the Northern part of the country, not even to visit my late elder brother when he was alive and was working there unlike my younger sister, Adaobi, who had stayed wit