NKEM 25

 

He walked listlessly like a body without a soul. He felt empty and void. A part of him is forcefully taken away by Gladys absence, and it is suddenly replaced by a desire for gin, embracing him and promising to numb his pain. 

His chosen spot was just coming to life. The matron of the Finger Link joint was bringing chairs from her shop and arranging them outside. A man and two women occupied a table, some others were waiting for completion and occupants. 

He sat down, waved the woman over. He would start with a bottle of schnapps and a plate steaming with pepper soup. The woman returned with his orders and went about attending to other customers. 

The sun's light dimmed in the horizon, giving way to mild darkness dotted by the moon and countless stars. A highlife music struck a chord from a speaker close to the shop's entrance. By now, all seats have been occupied and spilled gradually into the road. Funny enough, no one sat beside him. It was as though a flag stood above where he sat warning customers from sitting with him. There was a mark of loneliness printed on him. As he drank and ate, he belched and yawned. The pepper soup stung his tongue but its pain was not as deep as the void his broken heart experienced. Before the drink could take its toll on him, he had paid the woman and sat dejectedly to drown his sorrows in the bottles of schnapps.

When he was done, he rose to go, but the gin dragged him heavily back to his seat and it nearly tumbled him backwards. A man pushed his seat back to save his own leg from being amputated by a drunkard's chair. When he raised his eyes, the road had divided itself in two. Everything his eyes fell on became two. He wouldn't go in this state, if he could catch a sleep of ten minutes, the double vision would have cleared. He did sleep but not for ten minutes. He was dreaming that he was now a proud father of one and his wife, Gladys, was in the sitting room singing a lullaby for their son. He was in this state of bliss when a rude voice dragged him out of his sweet dreams.

"Nkem! Nkem! Wake up, I want to close shop!"

He was still tipsy but the double vision had expired. It took him a while to comprehend what the woman was saying. What was on his mind was the question he posed to the confused woman.

"Where is Gladys my wife?"

"I don't know what you are talking about".

"My wife…Gladys. She was singing to our son but…but".

When he saw by the light of the moon the bizarre stare the woman gave him as if he was a madman, he decided to shut his mouth and go to seek his Gladys elsewhere.

"You should go home. Perhaps, she is waiting for you at home."

He nodded his head but soon realized that he was alone in this life. The love of his life had bade him farewell and gone to Lagos. The thought of it brought fresh tears to his eyes. He wailed loudly like a child whose mother had just died of an unknown disease. He walked unsteadily, crying and wiping his eyes.

The moon and the stars were his companion. The wind in the atmosphere had changed. It had changed from its mild movement to the one that tosses things about. The smell of rain was heavy in the air. The wind tossed his unbuttoned shirt this way and that way. It made him stagger; almost falling down.

He was half drenched when he got home. His mother had gone for a burial in another village and she won't be back until another two or so days.

As usual, Adora was sleeping naked in the room. That had become her usual practice every night when Nkem chose to regard her as leprous and would not touch her. It worked on only two occasions whenever Gladys' absence nearly strangled him.

She turned herself to another side of the bed. There was so much discomfort. It was as if the baby was pinching her fiercely in her womb. The sleep she craved had eluded her a little past eleven. When the pain became mean, sharp and urgent, she rose from the bed, held her belly and winced so loudly but even at that, Nkem's snore coming from the sitting room went even louder. The rain did not help either. It was pounding heavily on the roof and drowning her cry for help. She managed to crawl on all fours to the sitting room and shook Nkem severally before he could manage to be alert. He went this way and that way. Confused as to the next line of action. He ran out of the house, came back, took a wrapper and wound it round Adora who was now kneeling on the floor grueling in pain. 

By the time he returned with one of her mother's friends, Adora was lying face up on the ground, screaming as if she would die. Between her legs was a bloodied small head forcing itself from her vagina. 

First of all, happy new month! May it bring to you all that you ever desired.

Thank you again for reading to the end. We will meet again in another episode. Until then, get your PVC and make your vote count. I am Yours Truly,

Julius Topohozin.