I felt a gentle tap on my back. "Boda Mike! Boda Mike!" Was what I kept hearing from afar, the sleep didn't want to let go of me or was it I who didn't want to let go of the sleep.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon and I was already fagged out from cleaning the whole house and doings some menial work on my grand dad's little farm behind the house. You know that kind of cleaning that you bring out all the chairs, all the plates almost like you are just moving into the apartment? Yes that was what we did.
After doing that we still had to harvest soybeans from my grand dad's farm. You can imagine just how tired I must have been.
I'll never forget the anger that simmered through my being when my younger sister screamed "kukurukuuuu" in my ear, since I had refused to heed her gentle taps but then the sweet words that slipped out of her lips just made me calm down
She blotted "Granny said I should tell you that food is ready and it's your favorite o" with a silly smile on her face, almost like she knew what she said was the antidote to my anger.
The speed at which I got up and headed to the kitchen ehn. In a typical Yoruba house, we don't eat until we are done with all the Saturday activities so I was super hungry and genuinely fagged out, all I could do was sleep away the hunger and tiredness or maybe dampen it's effects.
Fast forward a couple of years later when I was in Jss1 2nd term I think, I eventually left my Grand parent's and started living with my Mum and Dad. My mum was a nurse, so we barely saw her around except when she was on night off or off duty.
I really can't explain how I caught this horrible epidemic called measles "was it the kids I played with in the area? Was it one of my classmates? I remember David had it but everyone avoided him, myself included until he stopped coming to school na! How did I get it?" were the questions that were running through my young naive mind.
I'll never forget the fear I felt when my mum called me and I saw her pulling out a syringe from the bag she had taken with her to work a day before.
After so many stiffing of my bum and spanks from my mum and her saying "you better release your bum bum oo, you want the needle to break inside your yansh? Ehn Unku, you're a strong man oo" I was sha injected with chloroquine... Dear Lord, at some point I wished I could take off my skin and hang it on the wire outside or exchange with someone else.
Eventually my mum came up with an alternative that dampened the itch which was Calamine lotion, it made me look like a masquerade cos of the whitish colour it gave out when it was applied over my skin. In the end all that was left was the memory of the itch and how I stayed up some night not able to sleep, the measles gradually left.
A few months passed and It was time for us to write our Jss3 mock exams, until today I don't know the essence of that yeye exam. At some point I picked the notion that I had to man up and take responsibility for what ever was wrong with me, I felt really awkward in my body but I didn't want to be a bother to my mum or Dad. But it's funny how somethings just happen.
I'll never forget the look my mother's face when she was told that I had to be taken to the theater for operation as the typhoid I had had perforated my intestine. I could barely talk but I could tell that she and my dad were sad.
The song my mother sang as I was wheeled to the theater lives rent free in my mind till today, as she held my hands and was clearly holding back tears. She sang "oh oh with God everything is possible all is possible, I believe" and said Okomi you'd come back and meet me ko, I will take you to Mr Biggs you hear?
The surgery was a success and the testament was the huge bandage on display and ofcos the uneasy feeling I felt around my stomach. There was nothing to do around the hospital, so not long after it became boring and I started to complain and throw tantrums.
I'll never forget this mini DVD player that my aunt got for me to petrify me and keep me company, I believe my love for cartoons must have been cos of this singular act. She got me a truck load of cartoons. They were my company in the hospital and they helped me forget that I had just had a major surgery that will alter a lot in my life or how I decide to live it.
A couple of years passed, I was in 200 level now, studying a course I didn't even know existed in Nigeria, oh well, that's a story for another day. On a day just like every other one, I was at my friend's place just outside the main gate of the campus. Josephine is an amazing cook and she is always delighted to have me around cos she said I always kept her company and there's never a down time with me.
It is my culture to put my phone on silent when I am with a friend or just in the company of someone so I'd give my full attention to what ever was going on. I don't really know how I forgot this day. Lo and behold my uncle that I haven't seen or heard from in a while called that he was coming to pick me and my elder sister.
I kept wondering what was going on, I didn't want to give too much thought to it, I just assumed he wanted to take us out or something. To my surprise we headed to our house where I was welcomed by the numerous slippers in front of the entrance of our sitting room.
Haaan, shey they are celebrating something ni? I don't know my mum or dad to have this many friends na...
I'll never forget the look on my mother's face or the ambience of the sitting room and entire house when my mother said "Micheal, you have become fatherless"
I didn't utter a word, I just gently walked towards my bed room with my head hanging low... I could hear my aunts shouting "follow him oo, don't let him go and kill him self!" I remember just picking up Ruby ( my guitar then) and I started to sing and sing. Interestingly, I didn't cry. I felt really really sad and heart broken cos my dad was my best friend, we spoke and joked about everything.
I dare say he is one of the greatest reason for the man I am today.
Dear Dad, I graduated from Ahmadu Bello University and I am doing well now. Your dream came through.
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Is the way you shared these unforgettable moments that got me more, so well articulated. Nice approach to the prompt.
Such Kind words.
Thank you so much Merit, I sincerely appreciate you taking out time to read and give feed back.
You're a Star.
Thanks too and you're welcome 😊
☺️✌🏾
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I love what I just read
Some are really sad as they steer up some emotion in me that are hard to explain especially the surgery part but I laugh so hard at the injections
And the food part too
🤣
This is an interesting read
Yay. I'm glad you enjoyed reading.
Interestingly, I've had 3 major surgeries
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Thank you for taking out time to read bro, I really appreciate.
Whaoo
Glad you survived
I wouldn’t have met an amazing human like you
Hehehe.
Ehhhh... Me? amazing? See as I dey blush
Thanks for the kind words Big Fash