Epic 2

I opened the message from my mother and saw the most disheartening message ever. I couldn't help but master each line. It read.

“Congratulations on your new job, it is obvious you will no longer be having parental care, which is why I am sending you this letter for the second time, to either accept my offer or watch your little sister suffer at an early stage. I am sure you wouldn't want that to happen or would you?”. 

I wish she was with me all alone, without her guards, I would have beaten the hell out of her.

What an insult to the parental hood! Coming from a woman whose husband just passed away. I couldn't sleep in the house alone with Dinma, we went to aunty Jane, our neighbor's house. 

I can not believe that my greatest compartment has become a haunted house to me.

I tried my best to stop Dinma who kept on disturbing me with tears. Aunty Jane went as far as getting her some snacks which she refused to eat. I kept assuring her how beautiful everything will be soonest.

”When, sister? Things that didn't fall in place when papa was alive. Is it now that he is dead, that it will fall in the path?“, She cried out.

I was speechless, a lot ran into my head, what am I going to do? Should I accept this deadly woman's proposal? 

“I will be back”, I said while trying to leave. 

“Where else do you want to go? Haven't you gone out enough? Are you not satisfied with the done deed already?”, Aunty Jane asked.

I was speechless. With this story Dinma had told me, what will the outside world think? Won't they say that I am the one that killed my papa? 

All because of a useless woman I lost my father, and with no remorse, she still has the energy to approach me again, with her rubbish proposal.

“Dear, Lord! I think I am in a good position to question you now” I soliloquized.

“why me Lord?”.

“Why my father?”

“Why my sister?”

I kept asking questions, even with the unanswered ones. 

This time around, I didn't reckon on Mrs. Jane's voice, I ran out of the compound. I wished for death on that very unimaginable day, but it was like pouring water on a stone.

I ran straight to a nearby church, where I began to pour out my pain.

I walked sluggishly back home after crying, I was very weak, Dinma can beat the living demon inside of me if she tries.

“Where have you been since morning? Do you want to die of starvation?'' Mrs. Jane questioned immediately after I got home. Without minding nor replying to her messages, I went and laid down on the already arranged mattress. Dinma kept looking at me with pity. I was no longer the strong girl she used to know.

“Don't worry sister, everything will be alright just like you had said,” Dinma said while rubbing my shoulders gently, that is the most romantic thing I have ever seen my sister do.

“Sure, it will all soon be over”. I said while letting out a weary smile.

I am not so sure if it is to accept my mum's proposal or to keep hustling in the streets.

Will the penny I am getting there be enough for my clothing?

“Dear Lord, direct my path”. I mumbled slowly before I went to bed.

«»«»«»

I woke so exhaustedly, Dinma had gone to play with her mate, while I went to make some little sales within the short period.

I got to the market, I was trying to be strong, I sold a little but couldn't hold back my tears, I ran home, not being able to handle the sympathy I was getting from people.

“What happened sister?”, Dinma asked as she ran to me.

“Dinma this lifestyle is really difficult, I don't think I can handle it”. I complained to her.

“It is fine, while not stop selling for the moment till you get over the situation at hand,” She said.

I looked at her surprised, where is she getting all this wisdom from? Look at small Dinma advising me.

“I will think about it, what about our feeding, how are we going to cope?” I asked her.

“We will manage the little aunty Jane is giving us,” She said while lying down on my lap. I kept touching her hair while meditating on what she had said before she finally slept off.

“You need to be strong, with or without a father, you are not among the known weaklings of the village, stand strong, Dinma's future is in your hands, remember what your father said, you are the one to make things right” I compensated myself with those words before finally taking Dinma inside the house to sleep. After that, I went to the barbing salon and gave myself a nice haircut. I started doubling my business, after my pure water sales, I would go and do some extra available work. I was proud of myself even though the sales weren't okay. But, it was better than when I sold only pure waters.

With time, aunty Jane started acting strange. She complained over every little thing. What could be the problem with her? She complained that Dinma eats too heavily lately. She complained about her foodstuff finishing very fast.

There was even a day, she accused me of stealing her money.

In her words,

“Angel, I notice you spend too much lately, hope is not my money you are taking, because I am looking for the two hundred naira I kept on the table and I am sure it is none of my children.” I felt bad about hearing this, but what can I do? 

She just wants Dinma and me to leave her house but she doesn't know how to tell us.

With time, we kept living as strangers in the house. I wasn't so comfortable again. But, before I could take action, unknown to me, aunty Jane already sold us out, to different parents. I wasn't pleased with her action but had to cope since I had nothing. 

Dinma was sold to a poor family, and the man of the house was also blind, mine Is nothing to talk about. We had to keep going, my communion with God became stronger as I kept trusting and having faith in him.

«»«»«»

By the time Dinma clocked sixteen, her body features became visible like that of a twenty-one-year-old, even at that, she was still loyal while still keeping up with her good work at the church, young Christian brothers approached her in many ways, she never gave up. She was in the need of achieving her dream, by going to college. 

“Can you believe what brother Steve told me today after the sermon?” she had asked me while we were coming back from fellowship.

“Is it about the choir practice?” I asked.

“How I wish it was about the choir practice, can you believe bro Steve wants me to be his girlfriend, after all the sermon that he preaches about waiting for the right time” Dinma exclaimed in disgust.

“Well, it is not a new thing, I have always known brother Steve to be that way, which was why I told you to be careful with him, but you kept defending his personality,” I said.

“wow! I never knew he was this way, when he called me to a corner, I thought he wanted to say something reasonable only for him to come up with such nonsense” Dinma said in pity.

“What did you tell him after that?” I asked.

“I shunned him never to make such a silly statement close to me again,” she said while still looking surprised over the incident.

“it is fine, you just have to be careful, not all white garments are pure” l advised.

“Sure, now I know”. Dinma replied.

“What about your education plans, have you been able to raise money?” I asked her trying to know more about her business life.

“Not enough money to go to college, still struggling with my night shift at the coffee shop”. She replied, I couldn't stand seeing my junior sister that way, I wish I could help.

While we were trekking back home Dinma got hit by a car. After much investigation, it was found out that the driver who happened to hit my sister was at a high speed due to excessive consumption of alcoholic drinks. A case couldn't be filed against him as he died on the spot.

It was truly a cold day, things couldn't get better, and there were no funds to help save her. I had to give up my savings to save her life, and my dreams of moving further in education were gradually getting killed. My foster father couldn't be of better help as he happened to be an addicted gambler, same with my foster mother who is just a seamstress who is struggling to put food on the table. One could say that I am the one that adopted them. Even in hardship, I never got tired of serving God, I made sure I supported my mum in every possible way with constant visits to the hospital to see my sister.  

Just on a cool evening, the weather gradually began to change. When I was coming back from work. With my headsets on, I bumped into some gangsters who were threatening my foster father over his debts at the gambling room. I couldn't help but give them all that I got.

“You need to stop gambling father” I had pleaded to him, he was already close to fainting. I managed to walk him down home.

“What is wrong with him, why is he bruised all over?”,  mum who left what she was sowing said while rushing to attend to her husband.

“He was beaten up by some gangs because he couldn't pay for his debt,” I said while going inside to boil some water for his body massage.

“Why can't you stop with this gambling? Can't you see we aren't happy with this attitude, Angel is trying her best to save money for college and all you could do is gamble, what kind of father would not want his children's happiness”?  Mum complained as she massaged Dad's body gently.

I couldn't stand the dialogue, so I left for a walk, where I met Leo, a neighboring friend.

“Hey! How have you been? It has been a while now, you are like a gem, very rare to find” Leo lamented on seeing me.

“Funny you, I am just a little occupied with some things” I replied while letting out a smile.

“wow! I see you are a working-class lady” Leo replied in one of his funny ways.

“Oh! Please, I am not even into college yet, talk more of being a walking class lady” I said defensively.

“Okay, I agree. So where are you headed? It's rare seeing you out late, talk more now that the weather isn't pleasant” Leo asked.

“Well, I don't have a destination, I just wanted to walk around the neighborhood a little,” I explained.

“Okay, that is nice, you know I am a physiotherapist, right? So, I recommend you to keep it up” Leo said before I blurted out laughing.

“Who made you a physiotherapist?” I said, almost choked up with my laughter.

“Well, I made myself one, you don't have to go to college to prove to the world what you can become, I do a lot of research about physiotherapy, and with enough knowledge, I have gathered, I think I am a physiotherapist”, Leo said confidently which left a gap of sensation on me.

“Wow! That is quite inspiring” I said while nodding my head gently.

“what about you, what are your plans, who do you intend to become in the future?” Leo asked, while we went to a corner and sat before it started raining heavily.

“Well, I had wanted to become a lawyer, I want to make sure all women are treated fine by their husbands, I want to propagate a rule, that all men should take full responsibilities for their family's financial needs while the women do the little they can in contributing to the success of the family but...,” I said while pausing.

“Wow! That is a great idea, you should go for it, I will be here to support you, what about the but, why did you pause?” Leo said.

“Thanks for your support, I wanted to go for the law but had a change of mind when my sister got into an accident” I paused as my eyes became cloudy.

“What happened the day your sister had an accident?” Leo asked, confused.

“I want to become a doctor so that the less privileged will have chances of survival,” I replied as some tears rolled down my chin.

“Well, that is cool, but I am still confused,” Leo replied.

“That very night she got hit by that reckless driver, I got help from passers-by who helped me take her to the hospital, instead of the doctors giving her proper and immediate medical attention, they were demanding funds before they can look into her case, it is so painful how the less privileged are being treated,” I said while crying out loud.

“It is fine,'' Leo said while confronting me.

“It is just not fair, she would have lost her life if we weren't able to provide funds for them. I can't imagine how many people must have lost their lives through that dreadful act. The question I still ask myself is this, what if it was a popular person? I am sure immediate attention would be given but, in...” I couldn't keep up with my words as I got stocked upon them.

“It is fine, okay! everything will be fine,” Leo said, consoling me.

“When Leo? when will everything be fine?” I replied while still crying.

“Remember the bible says, let our hearts not be troubled, God knows the best time, everything happening under the earth is working as planned”. Leo said.

“How Leo? Many times I see reasons to question him but I try to keep calm, but I can't bear it anymore. At times I wonder if he is the one planning the bad ones” I said while choking up.

“You should not sound this way, have you easily forgotten, he knows the thought he has for us, that of Good and not bad, you should be positive okay!” Leo replied.

“How? You mean he is behind my father's death or my stepfather's condition?” I asked while drying my eyes.

“God! This is not the Angel I know, remember God helps those who help themselves. Besides, have you forgotten what happened to my dad when he lost his job? He would have died in a plane crash if he had entered that flight, it was God's doing that he missed that flight. Everything is going to be fine, trust me” Leo said while panting me.

The night was peaceful and quiet, I kept meditating on what Leo had told me till I slept off on his lap.

“Hey! Wake up, it has stopped raining,” Leo said while tapping me on the shoulder.

“Ow! Thank you, it is late already, mum will be worried”. I complained and we started walking home.

“Will you accompany me tomorrow to see Dinma?” I asked Leo who was still struggling with sleep.

“Yeah, sure. Message me when you are ready”  he replied.

“Good night,” I said while waving at Leo.

“Sure, good night, try not to think too much, everything will be fine”. Leo said and headed home.

“Where have you been?” Mum asked worriedly as I got into the room.

“I am sorry, I was with Leo before it started raining” I apologized while going to lie down.

Mum couldn't help but watch poor me sleep off.

«»«»«»

The wind was blowing uncontrollably, the weather wasn't pleasant enough to go out. My manager was on my neck about coming to work.

“Where are you, you lazy ingrate? If you don't get to this office in the next thirty minutes, consider yourself fired!” Mrs. Perry,  my manager had said while shouting at me. It was a complete dilemma as the weather forecast already announced everyone to stay indoors. Meanwhile, Dinma on the other hand wanted a sweater, which I would have to provide since she can't be left alone by her foster mother or her blind foster father. It was a big decision, but I chose my sister's health over my job.

With the streets looking shallow, people were indoors, and birds, rushing for safety. The wind seemed so uncontrollable.

“Sorry!” I said while bumping into a stranger. 

“It is fine, I am Benjamin by name, where are you headed? We were asked to be indoor” he said.

“Yeah! My sister is sick and needs me, so I need to go visit her at the hospital” I said.

“Wow! That is so nice of you, you can call me with this calling card, I am in a rush at the moment” Benjamin said while leaving quickly.

Just immediately, it started drizzling. Before I could get to the hospital, heavy rain started pouring, and I got soaked.

“Oh my dear, I am so sorry for the rain. I was trying to call, but your line wasn't reachable. Hope you are fine?” Dinma asked in her weak voice.

“There is nothing to be worried about, I am fine, how are you doing today, we are going for an NGO work by next month and I want you to be there,” I said while smiling at Dinma who in turn smiled back.

“What about mum?” I requested while observing the absence of my sister's foster mum.

“She went to the restroom, she will be here soon”. Dinma said while resting her head back on the pillow.

“Okay!”. I said.

While we were still chatting, her foster mum walked in.

“Good morning ma'am,” I said on seeing her.

“Angel baby! How are you doing?” She asked.

“I am fine ma” I replied and my phone started ringing immediately.

“Excuse me,” I said while going out to answer the call.

I regretted ever picking up the call, Dinma noticed the change on my face.

“Who called?” she asked.

“Umm...!!!”.