A story inspired by one life, a song from the responsibility EP by azeez.
There was an old man living in the big mansion at the end of my street, people never wanted to do anything with the old man because they believed he didn’t make his money naturally, they all believe he did money ritual. He has a little boy staying with him, this boy is always helping him with errands around the house and outside, the old man never came out.
People always avoided the little boy because a rumour has been flying around that the boy always carries a Calabash on his head in the middle of the night on the last day of the month as the always hear him cry, they believed that the boy is the source of the old man’s wealth.
One bright Sunday morning, while I was on my way to church, I saw a car drive car drive into the mansion and inside the car were children and their parents. I began to ask myself what they were doing inside the old man’s house, are they not aware that the old man is a ritualist? I couldn’t pay attention in church that day, I was worried about the family that drove into the house. I hurried back home from church and I tried to peep through the big gate when I got to the mansion, but I didn’t see anyone in the compound, all I saw were cars parked around and a big dog roaming around in the compound. While I was engrossed in my investigation, I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my back, I turned to see what it was but I was met with another slap that landed right at the middle of my face. The first thing that came to my mind was that I’ve gotten into a big trouble, the old man has sent his spirits to attack me, I imagined myself crying while carrying a big Calabash on my head. But I was brought back to reality when I heard my mother’s voice. “How many times have I warned you not to come close to this building, do you want to kill me? And you know that I don’t have anyone else, you’re the only one I have, why do you always do the opposite of whatever I tell you” she broke into tears and I felt bad. I walked slowly and reluctantly to our house, turning back at regular intervals to look at the mansion, I knew I would come back but how long it will be, I don’t know. Because One thing is for sure, my mother would lock me indoors until she forgets what I just did
I lost my father when I was just two years old, my mother told me that we were coming back from a trip when the brake of father’s car failed and he crashed into a tree while he was trying to avoid other drivers, the windscreen of the car broke and a piece of glass pierced father In the neck, we were all rushed to the hospital, but father didn’t survive. Mother says she was also pregnant at that time but buy she lost the baby and the doctors told her that she wouldn’t be able to conceive again. Mother has always tried to give me the best of her cares ever since than .
But my curiosity has always put me in trouble as I always wanted to know why she told me not to do something .
There was a time she taught me how to use the blender . I was amazed at how the tittle blade in the machine wanted things smoothly, I asked her if the blender could blend things that were hard, she told me no and I should never try to use the blender unless she instruct me to do so. But my curiosity got the best of me when she was out, I really wanted to know the power of the blender . I went out to pick up stones and I put them into the blender ,I was so excited to try out something without the knowledge of my mom. I covered the blender and switch the buttons on, but the mighty blender refused to work .I was dissaponited and I kept asking myself why the blender refused to roll, Then I remember that mummy always put water in it whenever she wanted to blend things , so I rushed to get a cup of water, when I got back to the to the blender , I poured the water into it and returned the cup, I was a about to switch it on when I heard the sound of the door opening, I knew I was in trouble , because mummy wouldn’t spare me .My guess was right, I turned to face her and she asked “what are you doing? I shared my head like a dummy who couldn’t talk. Are you not the I’ve I’m taking to, I said what are you doing? Her voice was louder and meaner this time and I knew I already called for trouble. I moved away from the blender and showed her what I was trying to do with it, what she did to me afterwards will never be forgotten and that had always taught me to follow her instructions, but what do I do when nobody is providing an answer to the questions I have in my head, I had a lot of questions about the blind old man who lived in the mansion and nobody seem to be providing an answers to them.
It’s been two weeks since I peeped through the big gate mother has locked me in since then, but I’ve never stopped asking myself what happened to the family that drove into the big mansion. Luckily for me mother sent me to buy bags of sachet water (pure water) across the street and I was happy to be outside again, when I got to the big gate, I was tempted to have a quick peep again but I remember the sharp pain I felt two weeks ago and I just walked past the gate. I got to the shop where I wanted to buy the bags of water and I met a little boy of about my age. I greeted him and he responded with a warm smile on his face, we immediately became friends and he told me his name was Femi. He told me how people always avoided him, he said that I was the first person who ever talked to him on the street, I was surprised as to how people would avoid such a sweet boy. I bought my water and prepared to leave, but he told me to wait for him so that we could walk back home together. I waited and when he was through, he volunteered to help me carry one of my bags and I was happy to let him help. On our way back home , he talked about how he was the only one living with his grandmother and how his grandfather has always cared for him. When we got to the big gate, he stopped and told me that was where he lived. I suddenly realized why people avoided him, he was the boy who people believe is always carrying Calabash on his head. He noticed my reaction and he told me that it was okay if I don’t want to be his friend that I can also avoid, just like every other person on the street. I told him that he should not worry, he could always see me as his friend. I wished to tell my mother about him when I got home, but if I did, she would restrict me from talking to him. I couldn’t stop thinking about Femi and I looked forward to the day I would see him again.
I did see him again after few days and we spent a reasonable amount of time together, I noticed that he was a sweet little boy, one day I summoned the courage to ask him about his grandfather, he told me many things about the old man but he never mentioned that the old man made him carry Calabash on his head, I also asked him about the family who drove into the his compound and he said that was his parents and siblings, he said they always visit at the end of the month, he also talked about how his little sister loved to eat at midnight and she would always cry to get what she wants. He was so happy to talk about his family and it occured to me that what everybody on the street believed about Femi and the old man were nothing close to being truth. While we were playing together one day, he invited me to come into his house during the weekend, since it was the end of the month, his parents would be around with his siblings and he wanted to introduce me to them. As much as I wanted to meet his parents, I was also reluctant to honour his invite since it was something my mother wouldn’t be happy about. Spending time with him alone is enough trouble if my mother gets to know. I just told him that I would be thinking about it.
When my mother returned from work that day, she told me that she won’t be at home during the weekend, she said she wanted to visit her friend who just had a baby and she wouldn’t be returning back home until late night, she asked me if I would like to go with her, I declined and told her that I would rather spend the time doing my homework. I was so eager to meet Femi the next day, I couldn’t wait to tell him that I would be coming to his house. He was also happy when I told him and he promised to tell his parents to bring gifts for me.
That Saturday morning, my mother woke up earlier than usual, she told me she wanted to beat the traffic. I tried hard to hide my joy, I danced around the house when she finally waved goodbye. I had my bath in a rush, put on my best clothes as if it was my birthday, after all , I was going to meet the parents of my new friend. Our neighbors noticed my strange behavior that morning and they started looking at me suspiciously. When I finished my chores, I rushed to the mansion and knocked on the big gate, Femi came to open the gate and he welcomed me inside. He told me that his parents were on the way and they would be with us in no time, I must confess, I’ve never seen Femi so happy. He told me that his grandfather was waiting for me inside and I was suddenly reluctant to go inside the house I didn’t anticipate meeting his grandfather, I was still afraid of the old man. But I was already in his house, I would know today if all what people believed about the old man was true.
I entered the big house reluctantly unsure of what I was going to find inside. The house was the most magnificent thing I’ve ever seen, I’ve only seen similar arrangement of an house in the movies, while I was admiring the elegance of Femi’s house, I caught a glance of an old man sitting on one of the big chairs in the living room. Femi ran to the old man and gave him a tight hug. Grandpa, my friend is here , he said and signalled me to come closer. The old man reached out to touch me but I was reluctant to stretch my hands to him, I looked at Femi and he was smiling widely, he has always wanted a moment like this, I eventually summoned courage to touch the old man and to my surprise, the first thing he was “thank you” for what , o asked, for being friends with my grandson , he replied. You’re the first visitor we’ve ever received in this house. There was a kind of bitterness in the old man’s voice and I couldn’t help to think that he was aware of the rumours about him. He told me to enjoy my stay in the house.
Femi’s parents arrived and we all had fun together, they were happy to see everyone me, they also gave me lot of gifts. I couldn’t show the gifts to my mum because I knew she would be angry if she knew where I got them from, so I hid the gifts in my room and prayer she doesn’t find them.
I kept thinking of how I would go back to the mansion the next day, Femi’s Mom had requested that I should come to play with them a bit before they left.
I went to church the next day and looked forward to the end of service, my mother told me she would be waiting after church for some kind of meeting and I saw that as an opportunity to go to Femi’s house. I didn’t even bother to go home after church, I went straight to the mansion thinking my mom won’t return till evening. I was having a good time with Femi and his siblings when we heard a loud bang on the gate, I heard my mother’s voice and it dawned on me that the secrets of My friendship with Femi has been leaked to my mother, Femi ran to open the gate, my mother ran into the compound and started shouting. She accused the old man of trying to use me for money ritual, people heard her voice and started gathering in front of the gate, they all wanted to know what was happening. I tried to tell my mother to bring her voice down that the old man wasn’t what people believed him to be. She didn’t listen, she gave me a slap instead. She dragged me along with her and took me home, Femi’s parents came to beg my mother on my behalf but she wouldn’t listen to them. Then they decided to bring the blind old man with them.
people gathered round when they saw the old man in my house. After lot of talks the old man decided to share his story with every one of us.
His name was Chigozie, he said just like me, he was the only child of his mother, but his mother was poor, so he had to drop out of school in order to help her. He left his village when he was fourteen, he came to Lagos and started to sell things in the traffic, he did that for three years and and earned a lot of profit from it, he then decided to start a decent business, he rented a shop and started selling home appliances, in few years, his business boomed, he recorded a lot of profit from his business and he had branches in different parts of Lagos. He was able to take care of his mother. He said he built his first house when he was 25 and he got married at the age of 26, his wife gave birth to 3 children. He was living a good life, but he wanted More, he wanted to live an extravagant life, he wasn’t satisfied with the little he had, he wanted big houses and big cars. He said he wanted to live a luxurious life but his business couldn’t offer him that, so he met some of his friends who he has always envied, he asked them to show him the secret of their wealth . They took him to an herbalist, the herbalist prepared some concoction for him to eat, after different occultist activities has been performed the herbalist told him to make a sacrifice in order for his ritual to be successful, he was told to sacrifice his mother but he refused. He left the shrine and ran home, his friends persuaded him to make the sacrifice, else he was going to see the repercussions within seven days, he refused to make the sacrifice and he woke up blind on the seventh day. He regretted why he wasn’t satisfied with all he had.
Behind every lie. There is always an iota of truth, he said he was aware of all the things that people have been saying about him on the street but he couldn’t argue because he believed that God was punishing him for his offence. He begged my mother not to beat me and he told me that I was free to come to his house whenever I wanted, he told everyone that he was not a ritualist and from that day on, people stopped avoiding the old man, other children in the street also became friends with Femi.
I was happy because for the first time , my curiosity didn’t put me into trouble, but instead, it solved a mystery.
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Romeo writes 