Crossroads

As he got home, he packed the car in front of the house, opened the boot and brought out his mum’s bags. He knocked, on getting to the front door.

  “Dad, we are home,” he called but no response. “Dad we are…” Mike continued. His Dad opened up with a smile “dear, how was the journey?”

  “Fine,” Mike replied, looking with surprise as Aderonke ran into Richard’s arms.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you I just thought …”Aderonke said.

  “I understand but we’ve been married for so long. You should know you mean a lot to me. I’m sorry for making you have such feeling,” Richard whispered holding her hands. As they entered, Mike carried the bags inside closing the door behind him.

  Michael ran upstairs to his room, sat down on the bed and dialled Nike’s phone number. He enquired if Lara had called and was given a negative answer. He informed her that his mum was back and said good night. He thought about how the day was, the series of calls he had to make, confused moments, how he watched Lara’s car zoom off. He fell asleep as he laid his head on the pillow, one leg resting on the floor, the other on the bed. It was a stressful day.

  In Chicago, it was a sunny day. The airplane touched down at the airport around 1:30pm and everyone on board alighted. The Williams hurried as they got outside the airport. There were cabs waiting. David and his family packed their bags into the boot of one of the cabs, and off they went.

  The taxi driver was quite fast. They got to their new house within thirty minutes.

  “Wow! It’s beautiful! “Lara said to herself with surprise. The car stopped in front of a white house with sky blue strips on it.

  “This is our house,” Helen pointed with pride. They took their things in to the already furnished building and went into their various rooms to tidy up.

  In the evening, Lara sneaked to the phone beside her bed. She didn’t want her mum to know that she was planning to make one of her long calls. She knew quite alright that Helen was going to complain that they were no more in Nigeria where she used things freely. Lara called Nike’s number.

  “Hey, I’m in Chicago. Can you hear me?” Lara Whispered.

  “Speak louder, I can’t hear,” Nike screamed back.

  “Alright then Nike what’s up over there? It’s fun here if you ask.” Lara, speaking louder this time.

  “Nothing much, Mike’s mum is back. He has been in a sad mood because he didn’t see you at least to say good bye but I guess everything else is fine.” Nike replied.

  Lara chatted with Nike on how Chicago is and called out her new number, promising to keep in touch. They asked about the university they would both like to go. Lara said her dad was still working on it. With the scholarship she could school in any one of her choice. Nike was still trying to pick between Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun State or University of Lagos both in Nigeria.

  As Lara ended her call, she realized it was night already.

  “Woops… Lara” Alex said opening the door and putting on the light. Lara was shocked at first. She thought it was mum, her muscle relaxed. She realised that Alex had been at the door for a long time knocking, though, it wasn’t locked but it was the right thing to do. When Alex got no response he decided to open the door. Lara’s mind was out of this world probably in planet Venus or the world of form. She had been engrossed in her conversation with Nike and didn’t even notice that someone was at the door.

  “Where have you kept your ears big sister? I have been knocking since. What’s wrong? Mum said you should come downstairs for dinner” he gave her a worried look, then turned and left the room.

  “Ok.” She stood up from her bed and prepared for the long chat she will have during dinner with dad and mum about her new school.

  After dinner, she came back up the stairs to dial Mike’s number. It kept ringing but no one picked. So she dropped the call and slept.

  The phone rang. Michael was on his bed. He was tired of business calls and thought it was one of them, so he didn’t pick.

  “Hey Michael,” Aderonke came into his room.

  “Mama.”

  “You’ve been in your room since we got back from the airport. Are you ok?” Aderonke asked.

  “I’m just tired. I’m ok” Mike shook his head like a lizard.

  “You didn’t come down for lunch and dinner. Don’t tell me you have lost your appetite. You have to take something.”

  “Alright Mum. You win. I‘ll do anything to make my super mum happy. Thank God I have you.” Mike smiled at her.

  “I’ll be back in a minute don’t sleep off,” his mum replied.

  Within some minutes, Aderonke brought a tray containing a plate of rice, stew and chicken, a big jug and a cup.

  “Thanks a lot Mum, I missed that.”

  “Just eat. No talking.” She dropped the tray and left. Mike emptied the jug and ate all the food. His mum actually woke up the worms in him. He laid down staring at the ceiling and gradually dozed off.

  Months passed with three friends having different occurrences in their lives.

  Mike stared at the alabaster vase on the balcony as he thought about the next phase of his life. It was his birthday. He invited just few old friends and had a small party. Nike Bright helped in decorating the home with his mum and baking the cake.

  In Lara’s new environment, it didn’t take long for her to make new friends. Of course, Nike and Mike still had their Vacuum in her life, but she had to move on. She read harder just as she had always done. She met up with a lot of sleepless nights.

  She became an all-nighter, wrote great essays, and never stopped participating in competitions. The first examination in school was a tough one.

  In Ikoyi, Nike and Mike stayed close like siblings. At Nike’s home, she had to do the washing of the clothes and the cooking for her younger ones. She also took care of her grandparents who came to spend some times with them. She had a good family where they never believed in idleness. You have to spend every minute of the day doing something. They had a tennis court where they played lawn tennis before siesta time and after, they read.

  Although, her parents spent limited time at home, they restricted the children from watching late night movies. There were laid down rules for them all. Each night as soon as their room lights were switched off, the children pretended as if they were asleep. Only to later sneak into the sitting room to watch Telly when they’ve confirmed that mum and dad had slept. Tony always shuffled and was often beaten by Tunde the twin brother.

  Nike often prayed for her parents to stay back at work and not come home. Her parents emphasized on her dictions.

  “You pronounce “Okay” as “o-o-ki”, “so” as “Sao” almost biting off her tongue, so ‘unIkoyish or unNigerialistic’.” Her mother complained of how she shortened words in her school note books “d” should be “the”, “2” should be “to”. Too many complains for one to bear. You just begin to wonder if you’re in the court room.

  Nike’s mum often threatened to send the stubborn twins to snake island if they misbehaved. Nike won’t mind doing the same to the twins. She had to do a lot of scolding;

  ‘You guys have to stop putting paper boats in the water drums.’

  ‘Hmm... hmm... promise you won’t tell mum please.’ The twins chorused.

  ‘Your punishment will be empting and refilling the drums, that’s as easy as making boats float and sink in them.’

  Nike spoke well in class and this made her mates respect her. She was a friend to everyone that needed a friend. Her dad wanted her to be a writer just like Michael and a celebrity like Lara, her best friend. Nike wanted to be herself not somebody else. She was wise but loved adventure just like her younger ones. She made new friends daily and made them feel loved. She had been Lara’s best friend since she gained admission into Ben Louise College.

  The first friend she ever had was a guy but realized he was a liar, a pretender and a deceiver. He had gone out with so many girls in the class because he was handsome. He
was called T.J.

  Sometimes it got boring when Nike and her younger ones had to repeat the same thing every day. They had enough freedom but were not spoilt kids. The younger ones hankered for more time to watch telly. Nike had dark brown eyes and wore her hair pushed back behind her ears with high cheek bones and a pointed chin.

  When she gained admission into Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State, Nigeria, she continued playing the Guitar and piano and attending concerts. She joined a band. The guys played the drums, flutes and sax. They performed in six Universities in her first year. She led her band even as a lady with determination, not failing in her studies. The bats in the school were ones she could not miss. They hung upside down from dry trees in their millions, competing with the population of humans in the school.

  One morning, she met a small boy shivering under a wooden shed. He was just eight years old.

  ‘Where is your mum?’ Nicky asked.

  ‘Mama went to sell her wrappers and shoes so we can have food.’ The boy said.

  ‘Where is your papa?’

  ‘Papa pushed Ma...ma out of the house yesterday night. It was raining but he dint care.’

  ‘What did Mum do?’ Nike demanded.

  ‘Dada came back drunk, mama finished cooking late. He said he never wanted to see her again.’ The boy answered

  ‘So he sent you out too?’

  ‘Yes and promised to bring in another sissy.’ He explained and pointed at the shed,

  ‘This is where we stay now. We pay a hundred naira per night to sleep.’

  ‘You must be very hungry. Come, let’s go?’ Nike held his hand.

  ‘I am but I can’t go with you. Mama said I must not leave here or talk to strangers.’ He replied.

  ‘We‘re friends now, take this money and get yourself something to eat.’ Nike hid three hundred naira in his pocket. She wrote her name and number on a piece of paper and gave it to him then said goodbye.

  Nike got some money from dad and gave it to the mother. She got the father’s address. Her parents who were both lawyers took up the case. They made sure the man paid a fine, a huge amount which was enough to get the mother and son a nice place of abode and for her to start a small scale business. They were grateful. The small boy promised to come often to Nike’s school during her rehearsals since their new home was close to the school. It was on this occasion that Nike got a new focus, and a new vision.

  Chapter 9