MY DAD
It has been 16 years now, and I still remember it all like it was few moments ago. I might have forgotten the date, but I don’t want to ask my Mom because it hurts her.
I was in primary 4 then, in Alvan Ikoku college of Education Primary school (Now a Federal School). My father had been sick for some months and was hospitalized, and he was eventually diagnosed with Hepatitis B.
I didn’t know what it was, all I knew was that my father was sick.
I was just 9 years old, and I think I only visited him once when my mom took me there, because my mom was a nurse in Federal Medical Center Owerri, and My Dad too was one as well - in the same Hospital, before he took ill. My sister was just 3 years old, and my senior brother was in JSS 2 in Federal Government College Okposi in Ebonyi state. So we are just three siblings, with me as the middle man.
On that faithful day, I was in school and around 1pm I heard ambulance sirens wailing, because my school was the Hospital’s neighbor; and the only thing that crossed my mind when I heard the siren was, “my dad is well and they are driving him back home” - and I felt warm and tingly on the inside. I felt good. I was smart enough to go home alone at that age, although my aunty or my mom would come to pick me up sometimes, and that day my aunty came and picked me up from school.
We lived in a six flat storey building, down the stairs in the first flat to be precise. So as we entered the compound, I saw a lot of people in front of our flat. There was a distance between the main gate and the building, so I didn’t see their faces from afar, but as I saw the gathering I confirmed in my mind that my dad was home and I smiled.
As I came closer, I was seeing sad faces, but I didn’t think about it because I was already happy that my dad was home so I went inside through the backyard. I removed my school uniform and went straight to the sitting room and behold, I saw my mom and women surrounding her with very sad looks on their faces. She looked at me with eyes of pity and everyone surrounding her looked very sad, their faces shiny with dried up tears on their faces.
They looked at me with pity, and I couldn’t understand what was happening. Immediately she asked me to go and stay with our neighbors upstairs. They were from Edo State, but we were very close, like family. So I went up without asking anything because I think I got a little bit confused, and when I entered inside their house, their senior sister came and said to me “Chima, I'm sorry about your dad”.
I looked at her and nodded my head, but I didn’t really understand what was happening.
After that day, I was living my life normally. There was a time I was even playing football with my cousin, Emerald. Don’t blame me because I still didn’t fully understand what was going on. I was OK. Then one day, my brother come back home from school, which was strange because he was not supposed to be, since he was a boarder, and I didn't know that they hadn’t told him what happened.
So he just removed his shirt and started eating, then I went to him immediately and sat close to him and whispered to him “Do you know that Daddy has died?"
He reacted immediately, unlike me; he threw away his food and started crying, he ran straight to the sitting room to where my Uncle - De Demain, my mom and some other people were staying and asked with tears in his eyes “Is it true that daddy is dead?”. My mum immediately started crying and they asked him who told him and he said "It was Chima." Then they scolded me and asked me why I told him, and I started crying too so they had to start consoling both of us, but they had to console him more because he said he would not eat again. After that day it seemed like everything was normal again. I never cried for my father, but I didn't know if I had no conscience or if it was just me.
On the day of my dad’s burial, I found my weakness…No it was not my dad... It was my mom.
Even after seeing his dead body, I was the only person that didn’t cry. I saw my Uncle Francis and my brother weeping profusely, my uncle at the same time holding my brother trying to console him while crying too. It was all crazy till I turned and saw my Mom crying, her eyes red like blood, tears flowing down her face like a water fall. And then, I understood that my Dad was dead, and I went and sat close to my mum, and each time I looked at her, tears flowed from my eyes. I wanted to shout out like everyone was doing, but I couldn’t, I just sat there and cried silently and tried to console her, but couldn’t. It was really a sad day...
Rest In Peace Daddy…
I love you…
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