Afolashade on the other hand raised a lament. She sobbed and wailed, she cursed and railed, she spoke out in judgment against her enemies in the village and the marketplace whose juju had finally caught up with her family after all these years. She called out to God; pleading for His intervention, then she commanded every evil spirit out of her child.
“Ki lo wi? What did you say?” She asked, tears streaming down her eyes.
Bio stared at her mother but stayed silent. “La enu re ko ba mi s’oro ni sin! Open your mouth and answer me, now!” Afolashade screamed. Bio remained quiet, surprised at her adamant behaviour towards her mother. “What have I done to deserve this? Enh? Bio, are there no men out there with who you can continue your life? Why must you bring this shame upon me? How will I walk the streets if people hear this? What do I tell the people when the time to buy aso-ebi comes? How do I go with you and my sisters to the bridal shop and buy two wedding gowns and tell them that you, my daughter, are in love with another woman? Why Bio?” Afolashade continued with her tirade. Bio remained silent, hoping and praying that Pereyi would clutch his left breast any time soon.
“What did you just say?” Pereyi growled. Bio saw her father’s lips turn white, the edges seemed cracked all of a sudden.
“Father,” she said with contempt, “I am in love with Jennifer and Jennifer is in love with me. I do not want any man be—”
“Shut your dirty mouth,” Pereyi bellowed, “Taboo!” He spat. “Taboo. You dare to look me dead in the eye and tell me you love a woman like yourself?” He was sweating profusely now, his face was darker than she had ever seen it in all her life. “That is not love, that is madness.” His hands were trembling out of control, any time now; Bio thought. “Since you two are women, who takes care of whom? Who covers whom? Who submits to whom? Who loves whom?” As Pereyi spoke, he drew close to Bio. Bio stood at the ready, her defiance at an all time high. “I am the man in this house, the husband, your father, the one who loves and cares for your mother and yo—”
“Yeah, a great job you’re doing taking care of mommy. What do you know about love, daddy?” Bio cut him short.
As quick as a sting, his hand moved. He dealt her left cheek two heavy slaps in quick succession, “I am your father,” he bellowed, “how dare you talk to me in that manner? How dare you? I gave you life, I put a roof over your head, it is my food that’s digesting in your worthless gut as we speak—”
The last words barely left his lips when a reaction occurred in her head. Bio’s hand moved faster than her father’s. All the anger and hurt she felt from when she was fifteen which was when the animousity with her father began up until the last two slaps he just gave her were channeled into her right hand. She dealt him two slaps in return, one landed on his cheek, the other masked his entire face. Pereyi reeled backwards, tripped over a side stool, and lay still on the floor. Bio didn’t wait to see what had happened to him. As quickly as her legs could take her, she headed out of the house, slamming the door to the living room with all of her might. There was no way she could take any more of this, not any more.
“Bio,” She heard Afolashade’s terrified yell, “Bio!” She did not stop, did not reply, she continued as quickly as possible. She would not be deterred by anyone, especially the one person who could do so effortlessly.
“Okada!” She flagged down a commercial motorcyclist. “Main market.” She yelled the moment she mounted the bike. “Quick, quick.” The bike rider sped off. A few minutes later, she was startled by the vibration in her pocket. She reached for her phone and saw her father’s number. She hissed and returned it in her pocket, “To hell with you.”
Before the cyclist reached the market, she stopped him and alighted the motorcycle, she paid him and started walking in the direction of the ‘modern’ market which was about two or so miles to the east of the main market’s entrance. The ‘modern’ market was commissioned barely a year before by the government, it was the pride and joy of the government that had promised commercial growth to the state when it sought election about two years before. The regular cacophony of noise characteristic of markets in Nigeria was absent here, many thanks to the structural layout and the fact that the price for a stall there was not for the faint of heart. Hence, most, if not all the traders in that market were high end merchants who had flashing neon lights for signs. There was some portion of the market still undergoing construction work. This portion continued northwards to some untouched hectares of woodland and on to the lonely hilly route that was the northern bye pass, it was to this patch of woodland that Bio was headed to clear her head. It was the only place she could think of that was devoid of human madness.
She had just entered the ‘modern’ market en route the woodland when she sighted him from a distance. The slight limp in his gait and the accompanying sway was unmistakable. What was he doing there? She quickened her step to meet up with him, there were too many questions that needed answers. She kept her gaze fixed on him. He wore a properly fitted grey suit and seemed to be coming in for a very important meeting. He held a briefcase in his right hand; a rather unusual ensemble for a hot afternoon in a marketplace she thought. As she hurried along, the anticipation built in her. Six weeks, six whole weeks and nothing.
Soon, she caught up with him and spun him around by his shoulder. The young man spun around with a surprised look, evidently caught off guard. He sweated profusely. Like a flash, Bio’s palm made contact with his face. Someone exclaimed from the entrance of a shop.
“Where have you been?” She screamed, “I called you severally, but you didn’t answer. Six weeks, six whole weeks. The only time I hear from you, you send me a text sounding like you’re playing a game of Simon says. What did I do wrong? Why have you treated me like this?” She railed and held him in a tight embrace, listening to his heart beating in his chest. It raced, it actually raced, almost three times more than the regular heart rate.
He spoke, it sounded as though he was choking back tears. “What are you doing here?”
“You haven’t answered me, where did you go? What did I do wrong?” She asked.
“Bio.” He tried to pry her arms off him, aware of the several pair of eyes on them, but she held him close.
“I tried my best with my father, I know it’s been your greatest wish for me to do so. I tried to make up with him but we can never be at peace with each other. He still thinks I’ve made the biggest mistake in my life for not being the doctor he wants me to be. He hurt me badly today, called me a whore…” She broke down in tears, “And I hurt him right back. I told him I was sleeping with a woman knowing that it would kill him. He poked his nose in my business and I chopped it right off his face. I half expected him to have a seizure.” She sighed heavily and continued. “Oh, what have I turned into? It killed me to see my mother undergo such pain, to see him undergo such pain. I came this way not knowing who to turn to for comfort, I’m so shaken up right now. Hold me, J, hol—”
“Bio!” He finally pried one of her arms off and looked straight into her eyes, a cold dark determined yet pitiful and fearful stare. “Get out of here, now!”
“What? What are you talking about?” Bio asked and wrenched her arm free of his grip, circling her arms around him again. “I’m not letting you go, not any more.” She said.
He pried her arm off again, this time he hurt her for he wasn’t as gentle as the first time. “Get out of this place, now!” He said forcefully under his breath.
Suddenly, a youth bumped into them with such force that they all stumbled. Another youth appeared as if from thin air at the same time and dealt J a savage blow on his nose with a fist. A third youth who also appeared as if from nowhere deftly yanked the suitcase from his hand and before Jeremiah and Bio could get their footing, the three youths had fled.
“NO!” Jeremiah bellowed and set off after them. The youths suddenly spread out and went in three different directions.
“Thief. THIEF!.” A cry went up from somewhere.
“J!” Bio screamed at the top of her lungs. “Jeremiah!” She followed in hot pursuit. It was six weeks ago since she saw him last, six weeks since she held her love in her arms, she wasn’t letting him disappear any time soon.
A gunshot rang through the marketplace, then another, and another. Merchants who had started coming out to join the chase scampered for safety. Jeremiah continued after the youth with the briefcase and Bio continued after Jeremiah. Soon they were past the construction area and in the woodland. The youth was fast, but Jeremiah was resilient.
“J!” Bio screamed. “J, wait.” There was the sound of pandemonium floating from the market coupled with that of sporadic gunshots.
“Ged away brom here, Bio.” He yelled over his shoulder, but she kept on.
They had gone deep into the woodland when the youth got to a ditch and leaped over it. In doing so, he landed awkwardly on the other side and lost his footing, the briefcase slipped out of his hands and tumbled on the ground, landing a few feet in front of him as he also fell to the ground.
From where she was about a hundred yards away, Bio saw Jeremiah run straight into the ditch and duck as he yelled at her, “BIO, GET DOW—”
She didn’t hear the rest of what he said.
First there was a bright ball of fire and smoke together with a deafening blast and dust. She was lifted off the ground and flung backward by the sheer force of the explosion. She collided back first with a tree and landed flat on her back, bruising her side against the jutting roots of the tree. Her ears rang so loud it caused her head to ache. After a few minutes, she regained her balance and struggled to her feet. From where she was, she could see several stumps where trees were only a few minutes before. There were corpses of rodents all about. She saw strips of the youth’s clothing scattered here and there, then she saw Jeremiah climbing out of the ditch. He was a mess from head to foot. There was a copious amount of coagulated blood on his nose and lips and some on the front of his shirt, there was red dirt all over his grey suit.
A large chunk of flesh fell off his head when he first poked his head out of the ditch, it had a bit of the youth’s clothing on it. She stood still and watched him approach her, she was too stunned to say anything, the bells in her ears were too loud for her to hear anything. Jeremiah shook her over and again. She saw his lips move, but she couldn’t make out what he was saying. She pushed him, turned away from him and started walking, trying to get as far away from him as possible. In her state of shock, she trudged on, unaware of where she was headed.
“Bio.” She heard Jeremiah’s voice faintly through the ringing, she broke into a wobbly run, not looking back for once.
Soon, she saw the northern bye pass through the trees. She looked over her shoulder, no Jeremiah. She broke her run and walked through the uneven ground to the road. That road led to Hill Nadir hospital. With her most recent encounter, she felt guilty for the numerous fights with Pereyi, she wanted to see her father, that was the only place she could feel truly safe.
Finally she was on the fringes of the woodland, she could see the bye pass clearly now, her ears still rang, her balance was still wobbly, her head still hurt. As she took the last step from the woodland to get to the tarred road, her leg caught in a matting of underbrush and she stumbled forward onto the asphalt. She didn’t have time to regain her balance. For the second time that day, a force she could not control lifted her off her feet, only this time the force was not an explosion but a car. It backed up on her, its rear tires rolled ever so slowly on her chest, she felt her ribs crack, she could not scream, the weight was excessive. The rear tires went over her, she stared helplessly as the front tires came closer to have their turn on her body. Suddenly the car stopped. Bio lay there helpless, the only thing looking up were her eyes staring up at the base of the vehicle she was underneath and the fact that the ringing in her ears were not so loud any more.
Sputter, sputter, cough, cough. Silence.
She heard a loud scream, “Enyinnayaaa!”
The sound of ignition came on again;
Sputter, sputter, cough, cough, cough, sputter.
Silence.
“Enyinnaya!!!” She heard the scream again, coupled with a loud slapping sound.
“Move this vehicle, are you not good for anything? Aaaah.”
She heard a grunt. Then she heard the sound of a pedal being pushed severally, then the ignition sounded again. Like a note gradually hitting crescendo, the engine came to life. She opened her mouth to scream but couldn’t as the rear tires climbed over her again. She felt her ribs snap, as if that was not enough, she felt a pop in her right knee and excruciating pain from there too as the car veered a bit to one side before continuing onwards. She passed out.
“Bio.” The voice was distant. “Bio.” It trailed off again. Jeremiah. “Hello…” She trailed off yet again. “… Nadir Hosp—” She trailed off again, “…ambulance now!” She heard Jeremiah bellow. A shot of pain ran through her body. She could feel his hands on her hips, in her pocket. A few seconds later she heard his voice again. “Good evening, sir… is Jerry, sir. Please I don’t know who you… the owner of this phone is to you, …person I could call because your number… call list.
“…whoever she is to you, was run over by a vehicle, sir. I’ve… number and… hospital about twenty minutes from… that they have dispatched an ambulance… northern bye pass, the lonely hilly route… Hill Nadir Hospital.” Bio floated in and out of consciousness.
She felt his hands on her body, she winced, the pain, the darkness.
“I love you.” She heard him say, and then there was silence.
Sirens, shouts, voices, that voice… Pereyi.
“Daddy.” She muttered.
“On three, lift.” The chief paramedic ordered. “Oga Pereyi, get out of the way.”
“Bose, she’s my baby, that’s my baby. Please save her.”
“One, two…”
Silence.
“Doctor, come quick, it’s an emergency.” She heard in her state of limbo.
Silence.
Beeps, lights, computers. Whispers.
“…the pressure on her axial skeleton killed it.”
“What? What pressure killed what?”
“We need to evacuate the baby immediately.” More whispers.
“What? What baby?” Bio screamed in her mind.
Bio’s world was set on pause.
I AM ONE MEN
Read up on PAUSE III if you missed out on it.
Story written by Daniel Okosun
Follow his intriquing line of thought on 1mensays' Blog
0 comments:
Post a Comment