"Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do onto me."
- sanctus pater
It was raining heavily on Tuesday morning ,on the day I found God. It was an experience unique in its feeling and unforgettable in its memory.
It was 3:45pm in the evening by my carefully selected water resistant wrist-watch that I had haggled with the mallam for over thirty minutes before I could make purchase. It was getting late ,mama had sent me to market since morning and I had got caught up in the rain. I had struggled to emerge from the rowdy crowd prior to the rain shower but the unagreeable traders and their overly expensive wares wouldn't let me. How much do you sell a cup of garri I had asked one , #60 she replied. "Gini" I exclaimed and then haggling ensued. Is it no more #30 I would ask feigning to have known the cost of sale prior to our encounter and she would pretend not to hear until I called a price dangerously close to the one she gave me.
The clouds darkened filling the atmosphere with a fierce aura, like a gorilla whose bunch of banana had just been fearlessly taken and was now on the verge of imminent vengeance.
The rain came down hard in wet pellets drenching anyone who dared stand in its way. I sought shelter and soon found one in a burly woman's makeshift kiosk. She glanced around at I and a few others who were in her shop with an expression that betrayed contempt. I was still looking around and examining her wares when I saw him.
He was a forlorn figure against the transparent rain shower. He sat on the muddy drenched road and had a faraway look in his eyes. He had on him a pair of singlet and his face and his hand were in a sorry state, it looked an unusual shape and was fast turning into a mass of red. I could discern red blood stains on his clothes though the steady downpour was making conscious efforts to hide all evidence of his troubles. His countenance was like that of a newly delivered mother who after an excruciating experience at childbirth now sat unperturbed and too feeble to speak.
I looked around me everyone seemed to ignore him ,it was as if he was not there then I summoned the courage and walked up to him. He looked up at me and looked down without a word.
Some minutes later I stood before a small group of people....." mummy" I say to a woman "he could have been your son" she bows her head in shame and walks away. The drama of persuasion continued and after two long hours only four people were convinced. "Many are called but few are chosen " I said to myself and we proceeded towards the victim. When we had put him in a cab and were on our way to the hospital I summoned the courage and asked "please can you tell us what happened" then sensing my mistake I quickly added "forgive my manners please what is your name" . "JOSEPH" he said in his deep throaty voice. " Okay so what happened" I continued but before I could finish he started speaking again "WET ROBBERS" he said. "Wet robbers" I repeated. "yes wet robbers "he said ,reassuring me I heard correctly.
"they came with rain coats and jumped me from behind" he continued "they beat me up and took all I had "and then his words stuck in his throat. I reached across the seat and gave him a light squeeze on the shoulder. We spent the rest of the journey in silence and in a matter of minutes we soon arrived.
At the hospital after many hours he was assigned a ward and we came together to deliberate on the hospital bills. It was an awkward situation a utter opposite of the biblical exposition in the story of the good Samaritan. Whereas the biblical Samaritan had not only rescued the robbery victim but had also taken him to an Inn and paid all the costs , we were arguing amongst ourselves who would foot the bill. "How much is it" one of us had asked with his chest slightly puffed in assumed pride and when I replied # 40'000 he was not so eager anymore. Another had chipped in "we have carried out our obligations by bringing him here we owe him no more than that
And so on the excuses ,assertions and reassertion continued. At a time one of them had even asked me "Nne what of you , you instigated this whole process you can as well be given the honours to conclude it. I had said defensively that I was merely a teenager and was yet to get a means of livelihood and then I added to their amusement that I was daddy's little girl .
Adam a trader the third and most difficult to convince was the one who finally came to the rescue. He had walked silently away while we argued and returned sometime later with a small bundle of currency and without a word he placed it into my uncertain hands. I was still dumbstruck with mouth wide agape when the glass door slid shut cutting him off from the hospital's disinfectant stench.
It was 8pm when I returned home to an anxious and angry mama. Quick as a chimp in a cruel battle over a coconut meal I received two successive reminders before I could say a word. My face ached with the stinging aftermath ,with her fingerprints red and discernable on my cheek. I had watched her from the corner of my eyes with my both arms raised as if in supplication to Amadioha and tried to shield my face from more reminders. I had tried to speak again then I thought better of it. She watched me without a word for a very long time then she broke down in tears. She accused me of being a bad child who had learnt bad ways. She accused me of developing the habit of keeping late nights, though we both knew this was false. After two long hours of swallowing her accusations. Papa stepped into the room, with his black leather belt clenched in his right hand and I stifled a tear that was about to emerge from my eyes.
That night when finally behind the wooden door away from the night's trouble and unto the bed of solace I cried my self to sleep. I woke with a slight start the next morning as my mind tried to wrap around the result of yesterday's events. When I tried to move my back ached giving an answer to my thoughts. I felt something, under my sweat drenched pillow. I absent mindedly fished it out with my hands. It was a note. A neat handwriting that said "we don't always get gratitude for good deeds" . I had almost tosses it away but then decided to exam it further. On the bottom left part of the note it said GOD. My hand suddenly went cold as all the events of the day before flash across my head. It increases to a frenzy of flashing images and voices...arguing,laughing,crying and Yelling.
I wake with a start blinking repeatedly to dispel the sun's hold on my weary rested eyes. Someone opens the door and steps into the room. I sit up to get a better view." Nkechi" my mother calls as if testing my awakened state." Mummy good morning "I say assuring her that I was wide ." I need you to go to market today and help me get some foodstuff" she continued. "When you are ready come downstairs to collect the money you are to use. " she concluded. And just as she was about to live she turned back and said "I made breakfast ooo just in case you are hungry" I smiled thankfully at that.
I went to market as I was instructed with a long list of THINGS TO BUY. When I was almost done with making purchases it started raining, I checked my wristwatch the time was 3:45pm.
BY UCHE OSITA JAMES
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