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 Copyright © 2018 by Abiola Okunsanya

All copyright reserved. No portion of this book may be

produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in
any form or by any means without prior permission from
the publisher.

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 DISCLAIMER
The names in and events of this book are
fictional. Any likeness in names and characters
linked to anybody or any reader is totally
unintended.

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 DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to every human walking on
the surface of the earth. We all have aspirations, we
all have dreams. I pray that this book help you find
the courage never to stop pursuing that dream. And
to you who have given it up, it is not too late, I hope
this book gives you the strength to dream again.

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Of course, first and foremost, I return all the glory to God because He
is the owner of the ideas in this book. He gave ink to my pen and
flooded my mind with His ideas. It won’t be too much to say that this
book is just another product of His love to us all. I am only a graced
vessel.

To my family, you have been my support and backbone every time I

needed it. I can remember at some point when I was midway into this
book and the file strangely corrupted in my system and I was about
losing my mind, how you all rallied into my room to console me with
your sweet words of love and encouragement until the document was
fortunately restored.
Dad, you are a provider. I don’t think I can ask for a better father.
Mum, for your prayers and blessings, I say thank you!
And to my sisters! Ololade Okunsanya, thank you for your support
and encouragement! Omolola Okunsanya, my biggest fan and ally,
you give me inspiration! And Temidayo Okunsanya, it is a privilege
to have you as a baby sister and an English teacher who would always
sit with me to correct my grammatical errors. You deserve
unquantifiable accolades! I love you!

Victor Romiluyi and Abiodun Ibidunni, saying thank you is the

littlest way I can show how appreciative I am of your support and
belief towards this project. You both made me see the light in this. God
bless you!

Adebisi Adewolu, thank you for the great job you did proofreading
this work. This wouldn’t have been possible without you.

Omowunmi Olawehinmi, thank you for taking time out to write the
foreword of this book and for all your numerous inputs and ideas in
the publicity of Dare to Dream. It means so much to me.

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Boluwatife Adeleke and Adedapo Osho, I can’t thank you enough for
all the troubles you went through designing this book. You are going
places!

I say thank you to Esther Akintola, Jordan Jola, Samuel Ikeobi,

Oluwatumilara Kayode and Funmilayo Ogunseye for coming
through with the reviews! I truly appreciate you all.

I will not leave out the people who took the pain to participate in
the massive publicity. This book would not have gotten anywhere
without you all, those who bought the publicity materials and also
those who made sure the social media world know about the book. I
wish I could mention the names of everybody, but if I get to that, the
reader won’t even get to read the book. I love and recognize you all.
You are important partners of this book!

Thank you all for believing in this dream and thank you for the
courage to board this ship with me! I love and always will love you all!
Yours,
Abiola Okunsanya,
Handzinspired.

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 REVIEWS
“Funny, enlightening and mind engaging! You don’t have to be born
with a silver spoon to dream big. In case you have had some, you can
still add more to them. If you haven’t, I challenge you today, why don’t
you dare to dream?”

Esther Damilola AKINTOLA,

Writer.

“Once again, Handzinspired renders me speechless. If life has treated

you unfairly, if you have doubted your dreams, if situations and people
has made you stop dreaming; this book is that tiny voice reminding
you why you need to dream again! Highly recommended! I dare you
to dream again!”
Jordan Campbell JOLA,
Writer and CEO, ShopFromJordan.

“What Handzinspired has done with Dare to Dream is a feat deserving

of countless literary accolades. It is not every day you read a novel
having quite a number of major characters and yet retaining a rich
transition in the many conversations embedded in it.
“Dare to Dream is a story which we have all thought of writing. Many
have written, but only a few have been able to utilize the littlest of
details to conquer the mightiest of plot holes and misrepresentations,
and Abiola Okunsanya belongs to this enviable and selected few.
“Anything I add from here will be a spoiler, so sit back, sip your best
cup of coffee and enjoy this literal beauty.”
Samuel IKEOBI,
Co-author of What The Kitchen Taught Me.

“Ezekiel, though went through a lot of challenges, obstacles, pain,

hardship and frustration, yet he achieved his dreams. This story tells
that challenges are not an excuse not to achieving our dreams. It also

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educates on our character, personality, relationships and emotional
intelligence. It is an exciting, educative and a challenging piece that
would stir up our dreams and passion because it did it to me already.
This book is written for you. Read on.”
Oluwatumilara KAYODE,
Writer and Spoken Words Artiste.

“The book follows the life of Ezekiel who unfortunately has to go

through the Nigerian narrative of the death of a mother, irresponsible
father and wicked stepmother. Ezekiel has to go through the process
of starting life all over again in this cold, wicked world. Ezekiel goes
through the worst in life but still held on to his dream even in the face
of adversity.
“If you are at the point of giving up on a set goal, if you like Nigerian
fiction, hopeful book; this book is for you!”
Funmilayo OGUNSEYE,
Writer and Blogger.

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 FOREWORD
Thank you, Abiola Okunsanya, for counting me worthy to write the
foreword of this book. I am honoured.

What caught my attention was the word 'Dare' in the title. Having
being familiar with many of Abiola Okunsanya’s writings, I was
intrigued and could not to wait to enjoy the fullness this book holds.

As I read the lines of this book, one thing that kept me in awe was the
fierceness of a dying Lion. I know Lions to be brave but not to the
point where the world goes under for them, not to the point where
everything seems to be going the other way or to the point where life
with all its might tries to pull down every strength left within.

My love for the main character, Ezekiel, is out of this world. I mean,
who still stands when his support system is no more? Who still glows
amidst the darkness of life? Whose words are still seasoned with salt
when there are a thousand and one reasons to be bitter? Trust me, if I
meet this Ezekiel in reality, he is getting an intense hug on the spot. I
think I could get contracted with such personality by touching him,
right?

This book made me see life in a whole new perspective. There is

indeed light at the end of the tunnel. It is not a cliché for me any
longer. Just keep going through the tunnel. You cannot see the light if
you do not get to the end of the tunnel. Trust the process!

Was it the emotions that raced my heart when Sophie who owned a
silver spoon from birth was forced by life to use a bronze spoon? Was
it the way my favorite character was bashed publicly by a wealthy girl
he met months back? Was it the tears that dripped down my cheeks
when I heard the tales of another? Was it the happy ever after of the
couple? Or was it how pained and challenged I was when I saw a life
that has passed through many hurdles live life with so much gay and I,
who is with little hurdles was already about giving up?

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Dare to Dream is a must-read for every breathing soul. It is not just a
book but a catalyst for your birthing process because after reading
this book, a better you will be birthed.

Cheers to the Holy Ghost for this awesome inspiration!

Cheers to Abiola Okunsanya for this Big Blessing!
Cheers to the better you about to be birthed!
Cheers to a new life!

Omowunmi Victoria Olawehinmi.

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 TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEDICATION - 4

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS - 5

REVIEWS - 7

FOREWARD - 9

CHAPTER ONE - 14

CHAPTER TWO - 25

CHAPTER THREE - 35

CHAPTER FOUR - 47

CHAPTER FIVE - 58

CHAPTER SIX - 71

CHAPTER SEVEN - 82

CHAPTER EIGHT - 93

CHAPTER NINE - 104

CHAPTER TEN - 115

CHAPTER ELEVEN - 126

CHAPTER TWELVE - 138

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - 148

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - 158

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - 170

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - 181

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN - 192

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN - 204

CHAPTER NINTEEN - 215

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CHAPTER TWENTY - 227

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE - 239

THE INTERVIEW - 250

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“Never be afraid to dream big. No matter the
hardship, the trials and the realities before
you, as long as you are not dead yet, never let
go of your dreams.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER ONE
“You know, nothing can stop you as long as you are determined to become
what you want to become in life. Whether you want to follow an already
created path, or you want to create a new path in life in order to get to
where you need to get to, Ezekiel, nothing can stop you.”
“Mum, I’ve learnt from all you have been telling me, that I can do all things.
Remember the question you asked me last year? I think I found the
answer.”
“Have you now?” Admiration could be seen in the eyes of Ezekiel’s mother
when she smiled eagerly. “So, tell me, what do you want to become in life?”
“A real estate mogul, mum! I want to own estates, I want to build castles, I
want my name to be in every business in this continent when I grow up.
Just like Aliko Dangote and Donald J. Trump.”
“I love this. I am glad that you think wide. You can achieve it.”
“Mummy, I am surprised that you didn’t tell me I dream too much. That’s
what my class teacher told me when I told the whole class what I want to
become. She told me to be realistic and stop dreaming.”
“Ezekiel, never listen to anyone who tells you not to dream. Dreaming and
imagining are essential parts of human life. Never be afraid to dream big.
No matter the hardship, the trials and the realities before you, as long as
you are not dead yet, never let go of your dreams.”

Ezekiel watched in pain as they lowered the coffin of his mother into the six
feet grave. He had cried until he could cry no more. He thought about all the
moments he had with his mother and how he always thought his mother –
who always pushed him to keep working hard and never stop dreaming –
would be with him when he actually achieve those dreams. He sniffled
again.
“You need to be strong for your father, okay? You are no longer a small
boy.”
“Ezekiel, everything will be alright. God gives and takes. No one can blame
Him. We can only live according to what He has written. It is well.”

And it went on and on like that from people who cared and people who just
came to scorn. He watched his father from afar, walking with a certain
woman he felt he had seen before. His head was ducked beside the woman
who had one hand on his shoulder. He wondered what they talked about as
he wiped his nose with his palm again.
Can he continue? His mother had always been there for him, loved and
cherished him in the times his dad was unaccounted for. His mother had

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treated him like the prince he was not, even in the nights his father hit her
whenever he was drunk. Can life ever remain the same? Can he continue?

“Ezekiel, it’s alright if you are not okay.”

He turned around to see Chiamaka. He was surprised and glad to see her
there. And as if his tears came from where it was hidden all along, he burst
into fresh tears.
“It’s okay.”
He watched in tears as she sat down beside him and drew his head to her
chest. “You can cry all you want, Ezekiel. It is better than bottling it up.”
Thoughts ran through Ezekiel’s mind. He nibbled at the thought of
committing suicide. He knew he was all alone from that point of his life. He
hoped his dad would change, his dad would become the responsible dad he
always wished he was, but he knew that all he hoped for will only stop at
hopes.
He sat up, releasing himself from Chiamaka’s comfort. “I didn’t know you’d
show up.”
“My mum had to sneak me out of the house. We came together.”
Ezekiel smiled mildly as he looked from her to his mother’s grave. He
remembered his little chat with his mother about Chiamaka a year ago.

“So, you are telling me that you like Chiamaka, huh?” He could remember
she had smiled.
“I think so. You remember what you said about how to know when you are
crushing on someone badly? I think I feel that way with her.”
His mum had laughed. “Are you sure? You’ve only known her for six
months. Didn’t they just move into the neighbourhood?”
“Yes mom, but that’s how I feel.” He watched as his mother had laughed at
him and taunted him.
“Mr Lesley, you are only fifteen. Why don’t you relax a little bit? Remember
what I told you about the kind of lady you should get? Someone who would
believe in your dreams, no matter how big; someone who is ready to go all
the way with you in achieving those dreams and will not doubt you, no
matter what happens. Do not be swayed only by what you feel or see,
okay?”
“Okay mum.”
“But, she is respectful and beautiful too.” His mum had added. “When you
think she has the qualities I mentioned, you are good to go.”

Ezekiel looked at her. “I don’t know where to go from here,” he sniffled. “I

feel like my whole world has been buried over there and I just can’t do
anything about it.” He waited for her to say something, but she didn’t. She

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just listened, and then he decided to continue. “I…,” he swallowed, “I don’t
know what to do. I really don’t.”
He stood up and moved closer to the covered up grave. He thought
Chiamaka would follow him. He was right.
“Ezekiel, I don’t know what to say, really. I wish I, like your mom, would
have the right words to console you, but I don’t. I just came to be with you,
in case you are in need of someone to talk to. It’s going to be alright, okay?
There are people out there who have suffered worse tragedies but still
made it in life. Orphans survive too, and you are not even an orphan.”
“I am as good as one, Chiamaka.”
“Easy, Ezekiel, you still have a Father. What I am saying is that if there is
anyone in this world who could survive out there in the scorch alone, then
it would be you.”
Ezekiel had no idea that Chiamaka thought that way of him, or maybe it
was just her way of consoling him.
“And no, I am not just consoling you. I am speaking the truth.”
“Did you just read my mind?”
“No, I didn’t. I just feel that out of all the people I have met in this world,
you are the one with the most fighting spirit. You imagine nearly
impossible things and it amazes me how sometimes you are rugged enough
to make those dreams come to pass. The way you dream makes me want to
be like you sometimes.”

Ezekiel wanted to laugh, but he remembered he had no reason to do so. His

reason to smile is now in the grave.
“Thanks, but I think you got me all wrong. I am nothing without my mother.
She pushed me to dream. She created the fighting spirit you said I have. The
things I imagine, she pushed me to imagine them. Only if you know how
close I am with my mother. I am as good as dead without her. My dreams
are..,” He sniffled.
“No,” Chiamaka shook her head. “You are still you without your mom.
Ezekiel, your mother might have pushed you to dream, but the owner of the
dream still remains you. Your mother might have been a pillar of support to
you, but I think you are that building that has its pillars already inbuilt.
Your mother might have stretched your imaginations, but you are the
owner of those imaginations, those dreams. It is your choice to dream
again. You can throw all those dreams away just because the person who
always pushed you is no more, but do you think that is what she wants?”
“The dead wants nothing.”
“What about you? What do you want?” Chiamaka stood in front of him,
preventing him from going further towards the grave. “It is time to think
about tomorrow, Ezekiel.”

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His father walked up to them. Chiamaka greeted him and he answered
warmly.
“I think your mother is waiting for you.” Mr Lesley told Chiamaka.
“Thanks sir.” She looked at Ezekiel and squeezed his arm tenderly. “Take
care.” She hurriedly left in search of her mom.
Mr Lesley sighed before speaking to his son. “It is time to go. I don’t want
you to be late for church tomorrow.”
Ezekiel looked back as he walked away with his dad. He didn’t know how
much, but he knew that his life would not remain the same again. He could
only pray for things to turn out for good. He didn’t know when he and his
dad got to the car.
“Aren’t you getting in?” Mr Lesley, who was already in the car voiced out.
Ezekiel opened the passenger’s door of his father’s car, before he got in, he
looked up and thought, Heavens, I hope you are on my side.

“I tell you, even the Lord, who does all things, for whom are all things and in
whom all things exists has said in His word that He has given unto us, all
things that pertains unto life and godliness. This means that no matter the
circumstance, no matter how poor you think you are, no matter what you
think the enemy has done to you, probably you think somebody is following
you from your village because you didn’t get that job, because you didn’t
get that promotion, or because your loved one left you, by nature or by
choice, God is telling somebody here today that you have all it takes to live
a successful life. Hallelujah!”
“Praise the Lord!” The whole congregation chorused.

At the end of the service, Ezekiel waited in church because the Revered
Father had told him to wait behind earlier on. Ezekiel helped carry the
instruments into the storehouse of the church together with some young
boys. He noticed how awkward things were with his friends because they
didn’t know how to act or what to say to him because he just lost his
mother, so instead of forcing conversations, Ezekiel decided to keep to
himself. He didn’t prolong any conversation beyond exchanging
pleasantries. He helped the boys in silence as he ruminated over what the
Reverend had said earlier during the service.
“Ezekiel, come over here and sit with me.” Reverend Owolabi called out to
him.
Ezekiel rushed to the Reverend Father, prostrated respectfully as soon as
he got close to the old man.
“Sit down boy.”

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“Thank you Sir.” Ezekiel stood up and sat down on the bench beside the
bald Reverend.
“I see that your father didn’t come again today, right?”
“No, Father, he didn’t.”
Reverend Owolabi sighed. “The woman who always forced him to church at
intervals is now no more,” then he looked up, “Lord, bless her soul.” He
sighed again and looked at Ezekiel, “How are you doing?”
“Fine thank you, Sir.” Ezekiel bowed.
“Come on, I know you are not fine. I know how it is like to lose one’s
mother. I lost my mother when I was 18.”
Ezekiel looked at the Reverend and thought. At least you were 18. I am just
16.
“You might think that life is being unfair to you, my boy, but listen, I know
so many children who never met their mothers, some who were even
abandoned totally. There are some who lost their parents as early as 12, 13,
but these people still found their place in the world.” He paused to see if
Ezekiel was following. He noticed that the boy just stared into space; at
least he seemed to be following, so he continued.
“You shouldn’t let this tragedy make you give up on life, okay? Moreover,
God has a purpose for everything. He has predestined it from the very start,
and it will work together for good. I want you to hold on tight, okay?”

Ezekiel looked at the Reverend, and then he looked away. “I prayed to God
to heal my mother. I prayed earnestly because I know I am nothing without
her, it is like I am stripped naked just because my mother isn’t here
anymore. She was like my clothing. I am sure He knows that, so why did He
take her away from me? Why?” He tried not to cry.
Reverend Owolabi shook his head and sighed. “Listen; there are some
things in life that needs to happen for some things to come to pass. And
some things can’t really be stopped just by you praying. The fact that you
prayed and it seemed as if God didn’t answer doesn’t mean that He isn’t
there. Some are caused by mistakes made by humans; some just has to do
with nature, so..,”
“But is God Himself not the controller of nature?” Ezekiel looked at the
Reverend father, as if he was looking for explanations.
“God has the best in mind for us. He said in His word that all things work
together for good to those who love God, who are the called according to
His purpose. Also, He knows the thoughts He has towards us, thoughts of
good and not of evil, to bring us to a purposeful end. So just trust Him. No
matter the trial or circumstance, never lose your trust in God. He will take
care of you. All these happened for your good, so just trust Him, okay?”

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Ezekiel wiped his tearstained face. He will hold on and trust in God. Who
knows? The Reverend father might be right. He sighed. “Thank you Father.
God bless you.”
“God be with you son. You can go now. Send my regards to your father.”
Ezekiel left the church filled with thoughts on how to pick up the pieces of
his life. He promised himself to make his mother proud. He will not give up
on his ridiculously big dreams. He will look out for people who will believe
in his dreams too, he will move, he will survive and he will triumph.

He got home to meet an empty house after the long walk. He sighed and
threw himself onto the living room couch. He wondered where his father
had gone to. He didn’t see his car outside, so he assumed that he went far
away. He knelt down and gave thanks for a few minutes, then stood up and
went into his room. It was a three bedroom flat. His father occupied one;
his mother had occupied another when she was alive because both his
parents never seemed to be able to maintain a good relationship for a long
while. They always had skirmish from time to time and this made his
mother decide to occupy the room that was meant for visitors permanently.
Ezekiel maintained the last room at the far end of the house.

He went into his room to change to a much more casual cloth and decided
to read a bit on his reading table before going to cook for the afternoon. He
glanced at the wall clock; it was past 2 o’clock already, so he got up and
went into the kitchen. He wasn’t getting into any trouble today.
He was still deliberating on what to cook when his phone rang – it was his
dad.
“Hello sir?....Really? Where are you?.....Okay Sir.” He sighed as soon as he
hung up. He looked around the big house; he will be the only one sleeping
in this house again tonight. His dad had called that he wouldn’t be coming
home as usual. Even when his mother was alive, he spent nights out; of
course it would increase now that his mother is gone. He clenched his fist
to the phone, “I won’t let this put me off.” He said.
Just as he decided to go into his room to continue with his books, the
doorbell rang. He wondered who it was as he walked towards the door. He
opened it and to his greatest delight, it was Chiamaka.

“Are you just going to stand there with your mouth opened or are you going
to let me in?” Chiamaka laughed.
“Come in please.” He stepped aside for her to come in. “You were the last
person I was expecting to come here today, Chiamaka.” He wondered what
was in the bag she carried as he closed the door.

20
“Well, here I am.” Chiamaka smiled and gently placed the bag on the centre
table. She knew he’d be astonished if she showed up.
“Wait, it is barely three o’clock, I guess you didn’t go to church, right?”
“What do you mean by that?” She frowned, sitting down on the single-sitter
couch.
“You know that your church has a reputation for closing very late every
Sunday.” He chuckled as he walked closer to the centre table.
“Hmm, what if I say that our pastor was transferred, that was why we
closed early?”
Ezekiel shrugged. “What’s in the bag?” He tried to peep into it but Chiamaka
stood up immediately to close the bag.
“How is it your business?” She shoved him aside in a friendly manner and
opened the bag. She brought out some books and placed them on the table.
“Actually, I didn’t go to church today. Have you eaten?”
“I said it! No. I haven’t. I just came back from church not too long ago. I
wanted to cook, but my dad called that he wouldn’t be coming home today,
so I just decided to skip afternoon’s meal and cook later in the evening.”
Ezekiel was already seated. He picked up one of the notebooks Chiamaka
had brought out of the mystery bag.

“I thought as much. So only you will be in this house? Damn! You are
enjoying oh!” She exclaimed mildly as she looked around. “Anyway, drop
the book, we’ll treat that later.” She brought out a cooler from the bag and
placed it on the table, right in front of Ezekiel. “I brought something for
you,” she paused as soon as she saw the quizzical look on his face, “courtesy
of my mom.” She added.
“Wait, your mum sent this?”
“Actually, my mom and I made it.” She said sharply. “Enough of the
questions and eat. Or do you think I brought you poison? Can’t I bring food
for you?” She smirked, and then she opened the cooler in front of him and
went into the kitchen, like it was her home. She picked a spoon and came
back into the sitting room.
“You don’t even have respect for my kitchen.” He shook his head and
collected the spoon from her and dipped it into the food she brought.
“Funny. See who has forgotten that your mom and I used to cook together.
Rubbish!”

“I really appreciate. Thank you so much. Chiamaka, I owe your family a lot.”
At this point, he knew he had made a friend for life. He was surprised at
how much her family had done for him and his mother. He remembered
how close he made Chiamaka become with his mother, so much that he saw
Chiamaka and her mother in the hospital with his mother sometimes

21
whenever he visited. He looked at Chiamaka again as he took in another
spoon, he smiled and blessed God.
“I am glad you are okay now, really. At least you can smile now, I am glad.
Your mother will be really happy to see you like this.”
“Well, I am coping. I spoke with the Reverend Father today, so I feel much
better.”
“Great. Finish your food and let us study this thing. There was this question
on geometry that I wasn’t able to wrap my hands around, and I really want
to prepare well for this mock exam.”
“I heard it isn’t a big deal. The mock exam is just preparation for our
WASSCE (West African Senior Secondary Certificate Examination), the
main one.”
“Sure it won’t be a big deal for you na, you are all brains. We just need to
prepare. Whatever we get in our mock exam is most likely what we will get
in the real one.” Chiamaka looked at Ezekiel. She missed the glow he used
to have. The one that made everyone think he had it all figured out. She
knew he was trying as much as he can to put the pieces all together, but it
just showed.

Ezekiel looked at her and wondered why she was staring at him like that.
“Why are you staring at me like that? Is there something on my face?”
“Oh, sorry!” She cleared her throat and took a quick look around the house.
“Are you sure you are okay? Staying here alone for the night and all?”
“Why? You want me to come and sleep with you guys?” He joked.
“Ehn? You want my dad to kill me? You must be joking.”
Ezekiel covered the cooler and took it to the kitchen as soon as he took in
the last spoonful. “Thanks for the food.”
“It’s okay. What about tonight? What are you going to eat tonight?”
“How about you just adopt me already?”
They both laughed at his statement.
“You worry too much Chiamaka. I’ll be fine, okay?”
“It’s just that…, your mum…,” She sighed.
“Asked you guys to look after me, right? Come on, I will be fine. I still have a
dad, remember?”
“Where is he now?”
Ezekiel paused. She is right. Do I even have a dad at all? He sighed. “Let’s
check out the geometric question. Let me bring my books from my room.”
He went into his room and came back in no time with books on his hands.
He sat down beside Chiamaka who had already moved to the three-sitter
couch.
“By the way, my dad will be leaving for work too early tomorrow morning,
so since I won’t be going with him, we can go to school together.”

22
“Hmm, sounds like a good idea, but won’t Paul be jealous?”
“What’s his business? Don’t start, Ezekiel!” She shot him a glare that made
him bury his head in the textbook.
“So, where do we start from?”

Ezekiel was walking home from school together with Chiamaka. They were
both discussing and laughing hard at the events of the day at school.
“Did you notice the look on his face?” Chiamaka said, recovering from one
round of laughter. “He looked like tiger that was about to jump on its prey.”
“Really? He struck me as a child who had his lollipop dragged away from
him.” Ezekiel kicked a stone from his path as they walked. He felt much
better after the school’s activities. He hated the piteous faces his friends
had whenever they were around him so much that he wished for the close
of the day so he could be with someone who didn’t treat him with a heart of
grief and condolence. Chiamaka was an art student, and Ezekiel, a
commercial student; therefore, they were in different classes and only saw
after school and during breaks.
He looked at Chiamaka who was still laughing heartily and wondered when
he would return to being sincere with his happiness. He knew he had done
a good job faking his laughter and smiles whenever it was needed.
“Hello oh?? I am talking to you!”
He jerked as soon as he heard Chiamaka shout. “What? What did you say?”
“I was talking and you were not even hearing what I was saying.”
“I’m sorry. I was just thinking about something.”
“Cheer up, okay? You did well today, and in no time, you’d forget about the
tragedy and return to your normal self. I’ve missed the old Ezekiel, and I
know he is still in there somewhere.”

He let out a snort.

“Look at you! You seemed like you travelled to Onitsha market some
minutes ago.” Chiamaka grunted. “Yes! Talking about markets, I’d be going
to Umuahia market this evening; do you need to get something for the
house?”
“No. Not really.”
“Okay then.” Chiamaka reached her house and stopped at the entrance. “I’ll
see you around then.”
“Arrgh! I so wish my house was the first on the street; I wouldn’t have to
walk all the way down again.”
“That’s your headache, not mine. Take care.”

23
With that, Ezekiel watched as she walked into her gate and shut it from
behind. He wondered what her father was hiding that he never allowed any
of his daughter’s friends into the house. He shook his head and walked
down the street. He hummed and made a mental note to sun-dry the
several pieces of fish his father had brought home early that morning.

As soon as he got home, he noticed that his father’s car was parked inside
the compound. It was unusual as his father was always at work at that time
of the day, so what could he be doing at home? He thought as he moved
forward into the compound.
He saw several of his mother’s belongings outside the house juxtaposed in
one corner of the veranda. He stood still. He couldn’t help but worry and
fear. Ezekiel had no idea what could be happening. He slowly and carefully
walked into the living room. He frowned when he saw a teenage girl,
probably somebody of the same age as him, sitting on the couch carelessly
with the remote in her hand.
He swallowed. “Hello? Who are you and how can I help you?” Ezekiel asked
with a frown. He waited patiently for her respond to him, but he couldn’t
help but get disgusted at the way she chewed gum and ignored him. “Hello?
Am I not talking to you? Who are..,” he paused as soon as he saw his father
step out of the room that used to belong to his mother with a vaguely
familiar woman.
Who is she? He wondered as he looked at her with suspicion. Oh! She is also
the same woman I saw at mother’s funeral. She must be mother’s friend.
“Oh! Ezekiel! Thank God you are here. I was just waiting for you to arrive
from school.” Mr Lesley spoke with his deep baritone voice.
“Good afternoon sir,” he said as soon as he jolted back from his thoughts,
“good afternoon ma.” He greeted. His father responded, but the woman
gave a sound from her nose. He wondered what that meant.

“Ezekiel, I was waiting for you to meet them. This is Mrs Lesley Abisola and
that is Lesley Damilola.” Mr Lesley paused.
Ezekiel frowned, looking at the woman, and then turned to look at the girl
who didn’t seem to give a damn about the conversation. He didn’t know his
dad had any sister at all, and besides, her name doesn’t sound Igbo. He
looked at his dad again for some sort of explanation.
“They are your new family.” Mr Lesley saw the confusion in his son’s eyes.
“She is your mother, and Damilola is your little sister.”

24
“…don’t give up on your dreams, on your academics
and trust God to see you through. As long as you are
still alive, you can fight, and as long as God is alive,
you have the strength to face tomorrow.”
- Handzinspired

25
 CHAPTER TWO

Ezekiel couldn’t stop his heart from aching as he walked along the stalls of
Umuahia market. He looked around but he couldn’t see. The lingering tears
had blocked his eyesight.
“Watch where you are going!” a passer-by spat at Ezekiel, and he
immediately regained consciousness of his environment. He walked past
several more stalls before he could see what he was sent to buy.
“Nne, please I need stock-fish, nine hundred naira.” He told the woman in
charge of the stall and watched as she selected his goods for him.
Ezekiel had feared that his father would eventually marry somebody else
since he couldn’t do without women, even when his mother was alive, but
what he didn’t know was that it would be this soon. He thought at least, his
dad would respect the memory of his mother and would let the year run
out before he marries again. He couldn’t fathom how his father could end
up with a woman who already had one teenage kid, because from the
stories he had heard from his mother and father’s relatives, his father is
more than capable of charming any young blood wherever he goes. Ezekiel
remembered how he overhead his father’s brothers teasing his father
about how much he loved young women; little wonder why he fancied his
mother less, so he could not understand why this same father would settle
for a woman who already had a grown up kid. He sighed and silently
prayed to God that he doesn’t hate his father the more.

“Ezekiel, what are you doing here?”

Ezekiel jerked to life as soon as he heard someone call his name. It was
Chiamaka.
“What are you doing here?” Chiamaka seemed like she had seen a ghost.
She collected the stock-fish the old woman had been stretching out to
Ezekiel for a long while.
“My child, is he your friend?” The woman spoke to Chiamaka as she
retrieved the bag. Chiamaka nodded in agreement. “Make sure he gets
home safely oh! I am not sure he is okay. I have been shouting and calling
him to take the fish, but he didn’t seem to hear me.” She then looked at
Ezekiel who was already very much conscious, “can I have my money
now?” She said flatly.
“Nne, I am very sorry. I was thinking about something.” Ezekiel handed her
the payment for the fish and walked along with Chiamaka. He didn’t know
he would see her in the market.

26
“What are you doing here? I thought you said you didn’t need anything
from the market? And what are you going to do with this amount of fish?”
She questioned as they struggled to get past the crowd.
As soon as they were out of the market, Ezekiel explained the situation he
met in the house when he got home earlier that day.
“Wow!” Chiamaka hung her head in disbelief. “So, you now have a step
mother who has a daughter, and they are not even Igbo!” She exclaimed.
“What are you going to do now?” She asked.
Ezekiel was mute. He felt like the way he felt when his mother was lowered
into the ground several days ago – like his world was crumbling in front of
him and he could not do anything about it.
He swallowed. “Well, I don’t know. I think I’ll just have to adjust to having a
step mother.” He sighed.
“Huh? Nobody adjusts to that. You know when Nne Obiorra died and his
father remarried that witch? We all know the outcome of the story.”
Chiamaka sighed. “I am so scared for you, Ezekiel. How can your dad do this
to you?”
Ezekiel frowned as paused to look at Chiamaka. “Are you trying to scare
me?” He then continued walking as soon as he saw the sincere concern on
her face. “Chi, nobody can break my resolve, no matter what.”
“Resolve? What resolve?”
“I will never stop dreaming, and whatever it takes, I will achieve this big
dream of mine,” he held her hand, “and I hope you’d be there with me.”
Chiamaka flushed. What does he mean? “Just make sure you are careful, and
try to gain your step-mother’s love.” She stopped by her gate. “That means I
will not be able to come to your house later on as planned for the revision,
right?”
“Sure, you can. I will call you if there are any changes in plans.” He tried to
smile.
Chiamaka sighed. “You don’t have to force that smile. Bye Ezekiel.” She said
and entered the gate.

Ezekiel met an angry stepmother in the house as soon as he arrived. He

entered the living room and found that his new ‘mother’ was sitting on the
one-sitter couch, fuming and shaking her legs vigorously. He wondered
what was wrong with her because she didn’t seem to mind him as he
entered.
“Good evening ma, I am back.” He greeted the moment he got closer to her,
but to his surprise, she did not answer. It was as if she did not see or hear
him at all. She just continued fuming and shaking her legs.

27
Ezekiel decided to move ahead to the kitchen to drop the stock fish, not
minding whether she replied or not. He did not see what was coming. The
minute he entered the kitchen and was about to put the nylon on the
kitchen cabinet, he heard footsteps behind him, and before he could turn
back, he felt a sharp pain around the nape of his neck. His stepmother,
Abisola, had struck his neck with the palm of her hand.
Ezekiel staggered back, alarmed. He writhed in pain, holding his neck.
“What kept you in the market this late?” Abisola questioned with fury in
her eyes.
“I…, I didn’t..,” Ezekiel couldn’t fathom how he was late. He looked at the
clock on the wall. “I left home an hour ago, mm...uum.” He still had his hand
around his neck, rubbing it as if he was trying to rub off the pain.
“Who is your mother? I am not your mother, okay? I am not a slut!” Abisola
shouted.
“My mother was..,”
“Shut up!!! If I say that your mother is a slut, then she is a slut!”
Just then, Damilola, his so-called sister entered the house with two polished
sticks. “Mummy, I bought the canes.” Damilola grinned as she saw what was
already happening.
“Good. Just in time.” Abisola glared at Ezekiel, “Kneel down there.” She said,
collecting one of the canes from her daughter.

Ezekiel wondered what was happening. He looked from the evil glare of his
step mother to the malicious grin of his step sister. What exactly has he
done to deserve such treatment at the early stage of their relationship? He
wondered. He had heard how evil step mothers are, but he felt nobody can
be evil without a reason. He thought he was dreaming until he felt another
sharp pain on the palm of the hand he had stretched. He squirmed with
pain again, rubbing his palms together.
“But..mum…my..”
“Ehn? Mummy?? Do I look like a dead person? Do I look like a slut? If you
ever call me that again, I will make sure you never see the light of the day
again.”
Tears rolled down Ezekiel’s eyes. At that point, he felt he really would not
be able to cope. “What have I ever done to you ma?” He said amidst tears.
“Oh no! It is not you. It is your mother. Since you do not know, I will tell you
a story today.” Abisola fumed as she looked down with hatred. “Your
mother took everything from me. Your mother deprived my daughter of
her father. Your slut of a mother took my husband away many years ago.
Did she think that this day would never come? I was supposed to marry
your father. I was pregnant with Damilola,” she dropped the cane and sank
into the ground as if what she remembered left her broken, “I trusted your

28
mother with everything I had. We were best friends from our days in the
university. I confided in her, I told her everything even before I did it, but
she betrayed me. She kept on seeing my boyfriend behind my back and he
got her pregnant.” She wiped her tearless face and sniffled. “I was gullible
enough to believe that it was somebody else that got her pregnant and I
still helped her in every way during her pregnancy till she gave birth. I
didn’t know I was caring for a backstabbing friend until I also got pregnant
for the love of my life.” Abisola stared into the ground. “Not until they ran
out of the city did I realize that I had been betrayed by your mother.” She
looked back at a remorseful Ezekiel, pleased at how much her story had
affected him; she picked up the cane again and stood up.
“Now, here we are. You see that the heavens are on my side? She is no more
and she has left her house with me. She left the fruit of her betrayal with
me.” Abisola laughed heartily. “I just can’t help but say thank you Lord.
Indeed, He is a God that justifies.” She let out a long, satisfying sigh.

Ezekiel looked but could not see anything. He never envisioned his mother
to be such a person. He was confused. He was not going to believe the trash
that this stranger just said about his mother. He blinked but said nothing.
“Ezekiel, now look at me and look at me very carefully, don’t you ever think
I’ll be a mother to you, and don’t you ever address me as your mother. I just
wish I can wipe you off the surface of the earth. Just know that whatever
way you are treated, it isn’t your fault. Blame it all on your mother for
giving birth to you.” She dropped the cane and left the kitchen. Damilola
who had been watching from behind picked up the cane from the floor and
followed her mother.

Ezekiel let out a puff. Mummy, is it true? Am I the fruit of your betrayal?
Please, answer me. He cried. Not because of the hell he knew he was now in,
but because he feared that he didn’t know his mother at all. He cried
because he now doubted his small god. He cried because his mother was
not present to defend herself. He beat his chest rapidly. He tried standing
up but he couldn’t. He felt as if his leg was stuck; gummed to the ground.
He remembered that Chiamaka was meant to come in the evening, and it
was already evening. He glanced up at the walk clock and noticed that it
was already past the time she was supposed to come. He needed to stand
up. He needed to call her not to come.
With all the strength he could muster, he stood up slowly and went into his
room to pick up his phone. As he dialled her number, he heard voices at the
gate. He looked outside his window and saw that it was Damilola attending
to Chiamaka. He rushed out immediately to meet her.

29
“I thought you said he is not around?” Chiamaka frowned at the stranger at
the gate. She already suspected that it was the stepsister Ezekiel talked
about.
Damilola rolled her eyes at Chiamaka and hissed at Ezekiel, and then
walked back into the house.
“Your sister is very nasty.” Chiamaka wanted to make sure Damilola heard
before she entered into the house. “You are very nauseating!!” So she said it
louder this time, referring to Damilola. “Can you imagine?!” Chiamaka
sounded very offended.
“Let’s just go.” Ezekiel knew he was in another problem.
“Are we no more studying?” Chiamaka asked as she looked at Ezekiel for
the first time, taking her eyes away from the fading figure of Damilola.
“Wait a minute, have you been crying?” Chiamaka sounded surprised.
“Let us leave here first; I’ll explain everything to you.” Ezekiel held her hand
and softly dragged her out of the compound with him, closing the gate
behind them.

“I cannot believe it. What is wrong with them? What is wrong with your
stepmother? Does she have a grudge towards you from a past life? Where
did your father bring that kind of woman from?” Chiamaka couldn’t help
but flare up at what Ezekiel had told her.
Ezekiel couldn’t tell her everything he had heard. He couldn’t tell her that
he was a product of his mother’s betrayal. He didn’t want her to change her
view about his mother. How would she see his dead mother if he told her
that she had betrayed her friend? All he told her was how much his step
mother hated him.
“So she told you not to call her mother? What will you now call her?”
“I have no idea, Chi.” He sighed. “I don’t think it will be wise to show up in
my house for now.”
“Yes, I understand. I am just worried about you.” She sighed. “How will you
cope in this kind of situation? How will you read? This won’t help your
mind.”
“It is just for a while longer, Chi. Just how many months longer? Not up to
six. We will soon write our final exams and I’ll head to the freedom called
the university. I just hope I can endure it till then.”
“Yes! Good idea, Ezey. Just endure, huh? I am with you all the way. Maybe
you’d acknowledge me as your mother soon.”
They both laughed.
“No matter what you go through in the hands of that woman, it will end
very soon. Very soon, okay? So, don’t give up on your dreams, on your

30
academics and trust God to see you through. As long as you are still alive,
you can fight, and as long as God is alive, you have the strength to face
tomorrow.” Chiamaka smiled, holding Ezekiel’s arm.
He let out a smirk. “I don’t think my mother would have said differently.
Thanks, Chiamaka.”
“More like, thanks mum.” She laughed.
“No no, it would take a lot more than that to call you mum. I think I need to
go now.” They had been standing at the front of Chiamaka’s house.
She nodded and patted his shoulder. “Take care.”

Ezekiel hurried down the side of the road to his house. He knew he was
going to be in another hot pot of soup since he didn’t say he was going
anywhere in the first place. To his surprise, when he got home, the gate was
locked from behind. He wondered why the people in the house – he could
not call them his family – would lock the door when they knew he wasn’t
around. He sighed and started pushing the doorbell. When there was no
reply, he started knocking vigorously. He panicked, hoping that nothing had
happened inside.
After what seemed like an hour, he sat on the floor in front of the gate. How
can a mother be so devilish? How can someone who has given birth treat
another person’s child like this? He looked up into the already dark sky. Oh
Lord, how can I cope in this kind of situation? How can I hold on to my
resolve? He sniffled as he continued to speak in his mind. I haven’t been able
to read at all today, and I have exams to write. Lord, is it your will for me not
to read? If I don’t read, how will I pass?
He sighed and buried his face in between his legs. It was when he heard a
rumbling in his stomach that he realized that he had not eaten. He looked
up and wondered if his mother was anywhere in the sky, among the stars, if
she was seeing all what she caused. Before long, he slept off in front of the
gate. It was already dark, so people who were passing by hardly noticed
that anyone was there.

It was already very dark when he woke up to the horn of a car. It was his
father’s car.
“What are you doing out here?” Mr Lesley frowned, looking at his son from
his head to his toes.
“Mu..,” he remembered that Abisola had warned him not to call her by that
name, “Mummy Damilola locked the door from behind.” He rubbed his
heavy eyes. He was glad that his father had witnessed what his wife was
putting him through. Maybe he would at least scold her a bit on his behalf.

31
The gate was swung open by Damilola who knelt down immediately to
greet her father as he zoomed into the compound. She looked at Ezekiel
and gawked irritably at him.
Ezekiel decided not to mind her, and then he closed the gate by himself. He
watched as his father got down from his car, greeted Damilola and swung
his arm cheerfully around her and both walked into the house, totally
ignoring him. At some point, he was at a fix. He wasn’t sure whether or not
to go into the house. He realized at that point, he wasn’t wanted. He wasn’t
considered family anymore.
He waited for some time before slowly walking into the living room. He
bumped into Damilola who was on her way out, but for some reason,
turned and walked back into the house.
“Ezekiel, carry the table to that corner.” Mr Lesley barked as soon as he
spotted his son.
Ezekiel knew that he was in big trouble. Whenever his dad asked him to
carry the table, he knew he was about to be flogged, but this time, unlike
every other time, he didn’t know what he had done wrong. This time, unlike
every other time, he didn’t have anyone on his side.
As soon as he carried the table as instructed, he spotted the belt on his
father’s right hand, and then he knelt down in the middle of the living room,
where he had taken the table from.
“I heard you went out without permission and came back very late. Is that
true?” His father rolled the belt tightly onto his fist.
“Daddy, I…,” Ezekiel shook in fright. He felt cornered. He had no idea what
he was supposed to say. “I…,” He snuffled.
“Ezekiel, did you or did you not go out without permission?”
“I did sir, but I..,”
“I didn’t ask for any other reply. Lie down.”
Just then, his step mother walked into the living room from the kitchen,
looking remorseful.
“I felt so sad. I tried so hard to connect with him as a son this afternoon, but
he was very saucy. He didn’t respect me because he didn’t see me as a
mother figure to him.” She said solemnly.
This infuriated his father much more.
Ezekiel expected to be treated harshly, but he didn’t realize he was going to
be lied upon. “But that’s not true, Mummy Damilola.”
“Do you mean I am lying? See what I am saying, Oko mi, he is even calling
me Mummy Damilola. Doesn’t that mean he is not seeing me as his own
mother?” She was austere.

Ezekiel had no idea what to say, or even how to say what it was that he
might want to say. He was still deliberating on what to say when the first

32
stroke of belt hit his back, the second, then the third, until he couldn’t hold
the pain any longer and let out cries of pain, pleading and crying.
Mr Lesley turned deaf ears to the cries of his son. He would not condone
any indiscipline in his home. He was not letting his son disrespect his wife.

Ezekiel got up at midnight. He tried to go through his books. He wasn’t able

to read throughout the previous day because of the situation. He felt pain
all over his body as a result of the beating he had received from his father.
He groaned out of the bed and sat on the chair at his reading table. He
groaned again as he took his books from his bag. After several minutes of
reading to no avail, he closed his book and rested his aching head on the
table. His stomach screamed for help. He hadn’t eaten anything since the
morning of the previous day. He also could not sleep. He wondered how he
was going to survive the year before going to the university. He looked at
the clock on the wall; it was three o’clock in the morning. He sighed. He
decided to walk into the kitchen to see if he could find anything to eat.
When he got there, to his amazement, he found out that the kitchen cabinet
was already locked with a key. He was baffled because never in the history
of kitchen cabinets do they get locked. He didn’t know when fresh tears fell
from his eyes. How could he dream when he could not even sleep? How
could he sleep when he had nothing to eat? Isn’t it the soul that sleeps that
dreams? Isn’t it the soul that has something to eat that has the luxury of
sleeping?

“Mother, are you even watching over me? God, I have trusted you, but I am
not seeing my trust getting anywhere.” He said to himself as he walked
back into his room. He was angry, and it was pretty funny because the
anger was not directed at the person inflicting this cruelty upon him – his
stepmother. He was angry at the unfairness of the world he was in. He was
angry that he had no choice but to trust in God, like the Father Owolabi had
sad.
Most of all, he was angry that he was beginning to forget his dreams. His
dreams were slipping away, little by little. “Give me the strength not to give
up. Give me the strength to hold on.” He prayed.

It was when he heard a hard tap on his back that he realized he had fallen
asleep on the reading table.
“It is day break.” Abisola said, tapping him harder this time around.
Ezekiel struggled up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the wall clock; it
was just five o’clock am. It couldn’t be day break yet. “Good morning Ma.”
He greeted.

33
“Hm.” Abisola rolled her eyes. “I want you to clear that sleep off your eyes
and get to work. You will clean the whole compound starting from your
room, to the kitchen, then everywhere. I don’t want to see any dirt in any
corner of this house. And when you are done,” She gave Ezekiel a small key,
“this is the key to the kitchen locker. I want you to cook eight cups of rice. It
must be exactly eight cups. I know how it is. If I suspect any foul play, you
are not eating this morning.”
“But ma, I haven’t been able to get enough sleep. It is just five o’clock. Can’t
I do all of these later? I’ll still have to prepare for school.” Ezekiel
complained respectfully.
“So you have the mouth to complain, ehn? Okay,” Abisola stretched her
hand, “give me the key. I will do the chores myself. And do not expect any
food from me this morning.”
“No, no, I will do it ma. I am sorry for complaining. I didn’t mean it like
that.”
“Better. Never you complain whenever I send you on any errand, is that
clear? One complaint is equal to one day of fasting for you. Rubbish!”

Ezekiel watched as Abisola walked slowly back into her room. He sighed
and went to pick up the broom from the bathroom. As he cleaned, he made
several decisions. He decided not to complain about anything anymore. He
decided not to complain to anybody anymore. Not to his father, who clearly
is on their side, not to himself, for he had no solution to propose, and not
even to God, because He didn’t seem to be in the business of answering
complaints.
Ezekiel decided to take things as they were from thenceforth. To accept
whatever life brought to him. Maybe dreaming was the wrong thing to do.
What if dreaming wasn’t supposed to be done in the first place? At least he
had heard over and again that life was predestined? If that was true,
whatever the wife of his father does will not stop life from making him into
what he should be.
As he dusted the table, he proposed in his heart, not to dream big dreams
anymore, at least for now. Right now, all he wanted to do finish his exams,
gain admission into the university and maybe he could begin to dream
again. It was hard to dream in a compound where his stepmother lived in.
His heart raced at the thought of leaving the house for the university, and
then his stomach rumbled.
“It is time to cook.”

34
“…you do not have to find a reason to be happy.
Don’t base your happiness on reasons, because
who knows? That reason might end up
disappearing one day. Just be happy. Be happy
with yourself. Look at the grasses and smile. Be
happy because it shames the devil.”
- Handzinspired

35
 CHAPTER THREE

Ezekiel sighed as he dumped the last refuse into the waste bin outside the
compound. He looked at his hands as soon as he closed the bin and
wondered how he had gotten his hands that dirty.
“Ezekiel! What are you still doing outside?”
As soon as he heard his step mother’s call, he rushed back inside the
compound.
“The waste bin wasn’t seated well, I was adjusting it.” He went to the water
tank by the corner of the house and washed his hands. He came back. “Can I
go now Ma?” He asked, trying his best to be gleeful before she finds any
fault again.
“You didn’t clean this place properly. I want you to mop this area again,”
she said, pointing to the balcony.
Ezekiel ogled. He knew this would happen. She was trying her best to make
him late. “Ma, can I not come back from school and do it again?”
“Wait a minute, I asked you to clean up this area and you are telling me you
won’t do it?” Abisola frowned; standing up from the plastic chair she was
sitting on and moved closer to Ezekiel. She suddenly pulled his ear
painfully, making him scream. “You are very disrespectful. I have been
teaching you for the past five months. If I tell you to do something, do not
complain! No matter whenever I ask or wherever I ask!” With that, she
pushed him roughly and he fell to the ground.
Ezekiel sobbed. “But it is my last exam. I am already late ma.” He said
amidst sobs. He staggered up. “Damilola and I have the same exams, you
have allowed her go to school since morning, but you let me do all the
chores again and again. Please, let me just go and do this exam. Please, I
don’t want to fail.” He cried.

Abisola scoffed. “How is that my business? Huh? I already told you from day
one. This house is your hell, one that your mother made sure of its
intensity! So stop that whining and clean this place up again.”
Ezekiel watched as she walked into the house. He sniffled, cleaned his eyes
with both his palms. It was then that he caught a glimpse of his wristwatch.
He became alarmed because he was sure that the WAEC (West African
Examination Council) officials would be about to begin the examination. He
rushed to the balcony and started cleaning all over again.

It had been the longest five months of Ezekiel’s life. He had to put up with a
noose around his neck, one that had been constantly pulled by his step
mother. She had been successful in reducing the quality of his life. He read
less because he always had to do all the chores in the house every time he

36
came back from school. There were times that he had to go to bed hungry.
He survived on one meal a day more times than he ate two. To complete
three square meals a day was a miracle that never happened. He was sent
to the market to get unnecessary things. He had already settled on the
thought that his stepmother was determined to ruin his life. His academic
performance had drastically deteriorated since he couldn’t read like he
used to. He wasn’t able to go out of the house on his own free will. Every
time he was out of the house, it was either because he was going to the
market, or he wanted to go and pay for electricity. His stepmother also
stopped Chiamaka from coming to the house at all, so he only saw her at
school, and the only time they had to talk was whenever they were coming
back home from school. How tough it had been on him!

Ezekiel ran as fast as his legs could carry him to school. His uniform was
now rumpled, despite the fact that he pulled it off when he wanted to work,
his step mother had sat on it; deliberately or not, he had no idea. He just
needed to get to school.
When he got to school couple of minutes later, he saw that his mates had
started the exam. He stopped for some seconds to catch his breath – he had
been running.
“You! Where are you coming from? And what are you doing there?” An
unknown man barked at him as soon as he was spotted at the entrance of
the classroom.
Ezekiel knew it must be the WAEC invigilator. He entered the class and
walked towards him. “Good morning sir, I actually came to write the exam.”
He was still panting, making it obvious to everyone that he had been
running. “That’s my seat over there sir.” He pointed at the spot he always
sat.
The WAEC official frowned in bewilderment. “You must be out of your
mind. If you know you wanted to write an exam, why then did you come
late? You are one hour late for a two and half hour paper!” The invigilator
scrutinized him for a moment. “I cannot let you write this paper. Please
leave the class.”
Ezekiel, at that point, thought that the world was indeed unfair. He always
thought that if he couldn’t get the favour of his stepmother, the least God
could do was make outsiders and people who didn’t know him, favour him.
Streams of tears rolled down his eyes. He knelt down. “Sir, please forgive
me. It isn’t my fault for coming late. Left for me, I’d be the first to arrive at
school. Please sir, just let me write this, I will submit when others are
submitting. Please sir.” He snuffled as he begged on.

37
The WAEC official felt that it was fair enough. He is going to collect Ezekiel’s
script when others are also submitting. He sighed. “Alright then, take one
question paper and one answer booklet and go to your seat.”
“Thank you sir! God bless you sir!!” Ezekiel wiped his face, took the
booklets as fast as he could and ran to his seat. At least the world isn’t that
unfair. He thought.

It wasn’t long before the invigilator asked them to submit. Ezekiel wasn’t
able to cover everything. He blamed it all on his step mother. He loathed
her much more because the questions required in the question booklet
were simple for him to answer, all he needed was time, but unfortunately,
she robbed him of his time.
He sat on the doorway of his classroom instead of going home. He took
several gravel stones and threw them lightly. He wondered how life would
be like if his mother hadn’t died, or perhaps, if his mother didn’t betray her
friend. He sighed for the umpteenth time. He looked around and saw the
exultant faces of his classmates. Yes, they were all happy. Who wouldn’t be?
This was a day every secondary student looked forward to – the day of
their last final exams. But here he was, he couldn’t even maintain a smile.
He had nothing to smile about. If his mother had been alive, maybe, just
maybe he would be among the students signing off their names on their
school uniforms, laughing and jumping around. In his case, he wasn’t even
eager to go to where he used to call his home, where was now nothing he
could call a home. Indeed, he had nothing to be happy or thankful about. He
sighed.

“At least you should smile that you are alive.”

Ezekiel looked up at Chiamaka. “You have a way of sneaking up on people,
you know that, right?”
“But I didn’t sneak up on you!” Chiamaka exclaimed before she sat beside
him. “Shouldn’t you be glad that we are finally done with secondary school?
Yay! You should be happy and joyous!” She held his hand and rose it up.
“Come on! Raise your hands in victory!” She sighed when she saw that he
wasn’t listening to her. She dropped his hand, “What is it, Ezekiel?”
“Well, nothing much really, I am happy.”
“Oh no, you are not.” She frowned.
“I am just…,”
“Ezekiel, come on! How many times have I told you that irrespective of
what is going on in your life, in your home, learn to stay happy. You should
create your own happiness.”
“You say this every time because you have no idea what I am going through
in there.”

38
“I know you refuse to tell me, but I have the faintest idea. All I am telling
you is that if you choose to be happy, you will be, no matter what happens.”
“I have tried, but no matter how hard I look, there is no reason for me to be
happy.”

“Ezey, you do not have to find a reason to be happy. Don’t base your
happiness on reasons, because who knows? That reason might end up
disappearing one day. Just be happy. Be happy with yourself. Look at the
grasses and smile. Be happy because it shames the devil. If you are looking
for a reason; how about the single reason that you are alive? Huh?”
“Is this what you call a life?” He said solemnly again.
“If this is not life, then what is it? How about those people who live under
bridges? They are thankful for the tiny thread of life that they are living.”
She paused and looked at his weak eyes, “In fact, you have a lot to thank
God for, a lot to be happy about. What of the fact that you eat at least once a
day? What of the fact that you have a room to yourself? What about the fact
that you will be entering the higher institution soon?”
“I am just..,” he swallowed. “I don’t deserve this, Chi. I really don’t.”
“I know. But there are people living worse lives, going through worse
things, but they are still hanging on. They don’t deserve it too, you know.”
“There are also people living better lives. Living with their family, happy
and all. Why can’t I be like one of those people?”
“You can! Ezey, I believe that you can. All you need is time. You need to
survive this first. You’d definitely live past this and ultimately have a good
life. If there is anybody who can do it, I believe it is you.”
Ezekiel sighed.
“I still haven’t seen you smiling. Don’t look for a reason to be happy. Just
find happiness within yourself. Even your wicked stepmother will be
threatened by your happiness. Just be happy! Out of the blue! Smile
because you have your dreams coming true! Look away from the odds! Feel
the success you will achieve. Don’t think about how you will achieve them
judging from your situation right now. Just smile!” Chiamaka looked at him
and saw that his face was beginning to lighten up. She tickled him. “Yes!
That’s it. Smile. Smile!” She tickled him again and again until he began to
laugh. “Cool! That’s the Ezekiel I know!” She hugged him. “I just wish this
laughter will never go away, no matter what. That’s the only way for me to
be happy. I miss this side of you, so much.” She tightened the hug as if he
was going to run away any moment.
“Ouch! You are strangling me already!” He coughed. “That’s enough jorr.”
He struggled beneath her arm and got free. “Where do you get words like
this? I don’t know, but I feel you are the only person left in this world who
knows just the kinds of words that I need.”

39
“Well, your mummy taught me.”
They both laughed at what she said.
“You know, now that I think about it, I have no reason not to be happy. For
one, it is going to threaten that woman and her daughter, and I like the
sound of that.”
“Hmm.”
“I can imagine laughing whenever she is beating me, or my dad is beating
me. I wonder the kind of faces they’ll make.” He smiled.
“Ehn! You better be careful. You’ll just find yourself in a psychiatric home in
Lagos. What a way to see the Lagos of your dreams!”
They laughed again.
“Let us get going. I am sure I’ll receive some words of insult again for
coming later than usual. Do you believe I came one hour after the exam had
begun?” Ezekiel rose up and drew her to her feet.
“Why?”
“Why else?”

The real wait began a week after the end of the exams. Ezekiel wasn’t
finding it easy as usual. There was almost no time for him to settle down
and think about the next step. There wasn’t even time for him to be anxious
about the results. He was always occupied with work, unnecessary work.
An errand that was supposed to take just once, his step mother would make
sure he went more than once. He was getting used to it, and this time
around, he was taking it better. He knew how much his step mother would
have been wondering about his new disposition.
He was happy now. He decided to look away from the circumstances
around him and just be happy, like Chiamaka said.

Ezekiel was sitting on the veranda of the house, picking beans in a tray. He
took pleasure in picking the beans as it allowed him engage his mind. He
thought about various things, anything that didn’t involve him staying in
that house. He thought about campus, he thought about what the future
held for him. He employed the method of painting his future in his mind,
like he heard one TV presenter say several weeks back.
Suddenly, he heard a loud and painful thud on his back. He writhed in pain
and threw out the tray on reflex, causing beans to scatter around the
compound.
“Are you deaf?” Abisola, his step mother shouted. She had hit him on the
back.
“Ma?” Ezekiel was still rubbing his back with his hand. He looked
disoriented, not because the pain was unbearable, but because he had

40
started to wonder how he would pick all the beans that had scattered on
the ground.
“Damilola came out some minutes ago and told you I was calling you, but
you chose not to answer, abi? You have suddenly grown wings, huh?”
“I didn’t hear that she called me, ma.”
“Really? So you have suddenly gone deaf.” She sighed.
“No ma. I am sorry.”
“No? So you are saying that I am the one that is deaf?”
“I never said so, ma.” A confused looking Ezekiel wondered what was
happening.
“No, I said you are deaf, and you are saying you are not deaf,”
“But, I’m not deaf ma.” Ezekiel sighed. He knew he was in another trouble.
He bent down to start picking the beans, but unluckily for him, he didn’t
notice the cane that Abisola had hidden in her cloth.
She took out the cane in a split second and started flogging Ezekiel who
tried unsuccessfully to run. She held him firm and hit him with the cane
repeatedly. “You now have the guts to answer back whenever I scold you,
abi? You have begun to show your true colours. Your father must hear of
this.” She held his cloth firm, so that whenever he tried to run, she drew
him back to herself and flogged him all over again. She didn’t stop until part
of the cane broke. Then she was satisfied. She saw all the marks on his body
and she heaved a satisfying sigh. The kind of sigh you let out when you see
your child hit the finishing line first before the other contenders. “Next
time, you will never ever talk to me like that. Let your daddy come back
from work. Rubbish.”

Ezekiel lay on the floor in pains. He tried not to cry. He only sat on the floor
and rubbed his body.
“Come on get up from there and start picking those beans one after the
other or else you will not eat tonight. Forget about eating this afternoon.
Stupid boy!” With that, she walked into the living room.
At that point, Ezekiel knew that something had changed about him. As he
watched his step mother walk into the house, he knew that he had changed,
for good this time, and this transformation started after he talked to
Chiamaka. Unlike before, he didn’t feel anger running through his body.
This time around, what he felt was plain pity; not for himself, but for the
woman that walked into the living room.
He managed a smile as he started picking the beans from the floor into the
tray. He realized that he was still happy deep inside from the thoughts he
was thinking earlier on. He realized that he really had the keys to his
happiness. Nobody controlled his happiness. No matter the amount of
strokes he was beaten, his mind will not be shaped by those strokes.

41
At that point, he realized nothing had changed. He still was capable of
dreaming.

Later that night, his father hit him again after Abisola reported him. The
beatings didn’t matter much to Ezekiel anymore. He was sure that the
needed to pass through those tortures to get to where he needed to get to.
Jesus needed to die on the cross of cavalry before salvation could come to
his people. The children of Israel needed to go through four hundred years
of slavery before they could move to their promised land.
Ezekiel recalled other harsh stories he had heard along the years.
As his father’s hard belt grazed into his body, his mind strayed. I am not
going to give up. I will not be robbed of my dreams. My father and his wife are
sculptors. Their canes are the chisels. They might have no idea what they are
doing, but I am going to amaze them when I soar high. I will remind them,
that they sculpted an eagle.

After three months, the results were out. Ezekiel had anticipated the results
ever since he submitted his last paper.
He was fetching water from the tank in the compound to the kitchen. Not as
if there wasn’t a running tap in the kitchen, he was actually serving a
punishment.
His phone rang as he dropped the bucket under the tap. He took his phone
from his back pocket. It was Chiamaka.
“Amaka, what’s up?”
“I’m good. Where are you?”
“I’m at home. Where else would I be?”
“I thought you’d have run off to the café.”
“Café? What for?”
“You haven’t heard? The results are out na!” Chiamaka announced at the
other end of the line.
“Are you serious? Woah!! Have you checked yours? How about you wait so
that we can go together tomorrow morning?”
“I wish I could. It’s my dad that just told me, and he wants us to go together
to the café.”
“Oh! Alright then. Make sure you give me feedback, okay?”
Ezekiel switched on the tap as soon as he dipped his phone back into his
back pocket. Undoubtedly, his heart had already begun to beat twice as fast
as soon as he heard the news. He decided to call his dad as soon as he was
done fetching the water.
Just then, Damilola came out of the living room. Ezekiel turned to look at
her, and then turned back to the water bucket to mind his business.

42
“Looks like it is going to take you the whole day to fetch what you are
fetching. Rubbish.” She hissed and paused for effect.
Ezekiel smelled trouble. He wanted to keep his calm, but he wouldn’t have
this little brat talk to him that way. “You know you shouldn’t be talking to
me like that, Dami?”
“And how should I talk to you?” She placed her hands akimbo, as if she was
ready for a fight.
“No matter how your mom treats me, you should stay out of it, okay? I am
not your mate.” Ezekiel responded and immediately switched off the tap.
“Look at you. As far as I am concerned, I will talk to you whichever way I
want, and as long as you are under my mother’s roof, you will not do
anything about it.” She hissed again.
Ezekiel decided not to respond any longer as he gently placed the bucket on
his head and headed inside.

When Damilola saw that she wasn’t getting anywhere with the trouble she
was looking for, she decided to quit.
Ezekiel placed the bucket of water gently on the drum. Then he took his
phone out to call his father.
“Good evening Sir.”
“Yes, Ezekiel, I was about to call you. Did your sister not tell you anything?”
“No Sir, she did not. I called to tell you that our WAEC results are out and…,”
“Your mother called me several hours ago. I told her to ask you to call me so
that you can give me your WAEC registration number.”
“Oh…,”
“I already bought two scratch cards. Just text me your registration number,
I am on my way to the business café.” With that, his dad hung up.
Ezekiel immediately sent him the numbers he required, praying silently to
God. He didn’t know what to expect. Even the most intelligent student
would have his heart in his mouth when it came to checking WAEC results.
Nobody knew what to expect.

That wait was the longest of Ezekiel’s life. The three hours wait for his dad
to come back home felt as long as an interval of three centuries. He looked
out the window of his room countless times. He wondered why he didn’t
hear the horn of his father’s car. He looked at the time and marvelled at
how slow the night was.
He sighed as he paced the floor of his room again for the umpteenth time. It
was 8:39pm. His dad should have been home since 8:30pm. He wondered
what was keeping him.
Several minutes later, he heard the long awaited horn of his father’s car. He
rushed to the gate like his life depended on it. When he got to the gate, he

43
panted heavily like he had run a marathon, from his room to the gate. It
was when his dad horned again that he got a grip of himself and opened the
gate gently. He already had the opinion that his dad’s countenance would
tell him whether he failed or passed the exam.
He closed the gate as his dad was parking properly.
“Good evening sir.” He greeted, collecting the bag his father held.
“Hm.” Mr Lesley barely responded and walked into the living room, leaving
him behind.
According to Ezekiel’s hypothesis, he knew the result wasn’t going to be
friendly.
“Call your sister for me.” Mr Lesley said as he settled on the three-sitter
couch. “And get me a glass of water from the kitchen.” He added.
Ezekiel knew that whatever was up wasn’t going to be funny. He prayed
silently as he called Damilola out. She and her mother walked out of the
bedroom, and then he walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
“Here it is sir.” He walked into a tensed up living room. Abisola and
Damilola were already seated side by side one another, facing his father.

Ezekiel dared not sit down. He remained standing as he watched his father
gulp down the glass of water at a go.
Mr Lesley banged the glass on the centre table. The bang was loud enough
to scare any living thing in the room.
Mr Lesley took his bag which Ezekiel had earlier dropped on the couch
beside him, opened it, brought out an envelope, and then he brought out
two smooth papers from the envelope and dropped it on the table with
malice. “You both are a disappointment to me. Stupid.” He finally spoke out
without looking at anyone in particular.
None of the children dared to pick up the papers on the table. Both Ezekiel
and Damilola trembled at their positions.

Mr Lesley stood up after closing his bag, and then walked into his room.
Ezekiel still could not move until his step mother had moved.
Abisola picked up both papers and looked at them. After a while, she sighed
and shook her head. Then she looked up at Ezekiel. “I thought you were
intelligent? What is this rubbish? Is this how you will be wasting my
husband’s money? Ehn?” She threw the paper at Ezekiel who hurriedly took
it from the floor. Then she turned to Damilola and spoke in Yoruba
language. “Iwo ntie, abo wa ba loro e. (I’ll deal with you later.)” She then
stood up and walked into her room. Damilola immediately followed her.

Ezekiel got up from bed, sat on the reading table and for the umpteenth
time, he looked at his result. He couldn’t help but smile. He felt he had no

44
reason not to smile. Left for the previous Ezekiel, he would have been
boiling with hatred for his step mother right now, because as he looked at
the paper, all he remembered was the day of his last exam, how she wasted
his time and he ended up not finishing the exam. He could have blamed his
failure on his step mother because that was the only mandatory subject he
failed. He smiled again. He knew he passed this exam, even though the
paper said otherwise.
“Thank you Lord Jesus.” He muttered after a lot of struggle.
He knew it was God’s plan for him to wait till the following year before he
could gain admission into the university. “I’ll have to start reading all over
again. Arrgh!!” He sighed. “Lord, just take control. I really need to get out of
this house, ASAP (As Soon As Possible).”

“Ezekiel, I want to speak to you.” Mr Lesley came out of his room, all
dressed up for work. “Come here.” He told Ezekiel who was just coming out
of the bathroom.
“I was cleaning the bathroom sir.” Ezekiel knew he was in for another
scolding because of the result. He could guess what his dad had called him
for. He probably needs to look for a lesson centre.
“That’s good. Sit down.” Mr Lesley, who was already on the couch,
instructed Ezekiel who obeyed in a split second.
Just then, Abisola entered the living room and sat down beside Mr Lesley.
Ezekiel felt that something was not right; however, he decided to settle
down.
“Well, Ezekiel, your mother and I decided last night that it’d be in the best
interest of us all if you do not take the exam again, at least not next year or
so.” He paused for effect. When he saw that Ezekiel wasn’t reacting, he
continued. “You know the huge amount of money it takes to register jamb
and WASSCE, and then the disappointment one gets when ones child fail. I
don’t want to waste my money for the second time.”
Ezekiel thought he heard wrongly. “Sir?”
“What I am saying is that you will not be taking the exam next year. You
know that Damilola also failed? So your mother and I decided to allow
Damilola write the exam and succeed in gaining admission first, after that
we can consider you taking the exam again.” He ended.
Ezekiel swallowed. He looked around and prayed earnestly that he was
dreaming. He forgot how to move, he forgot how to speak. “W…why?” He
swallowed again. He wasn’t sure about what he had just said.
“Because I don’t want to keep wasting money, and Damilola is a girl; girls
grow old quickly, so as your mother suggested, it is only wise that she is
given the chance first.” He stopped as he noticed tears flowing down his

45
son’s cheeks. He sighed. “Ezekiel, you of all people know that I do not hate
you? I am only doing this for the benefit of us all. If you are truly the son of
Lesley Uchenna, you will understand.” He stood up and tucked his shirt
properly. A smiling Abisola handed him his bag. “So, I called Chief Emeka
early this morning that you’d come and start learning how to repair
generator at his place next week.” He said with a passing glance as he
hugged Abisola and walked out of the house. “Come and open the gate for
me please.” He said before finally exiting.
“Ezekiel, go and open the gate for him. Or you are not going to answer
him?” Abisola glared at him before walking back into her room.
Ezekiel got up. As he walked on, he prayed that he wakes up from this
unpleasant dream. He pinched himself hard. He needed to wake up, but he
knew that this was no dream.
This was real.

46
“God knows exactly what He is doing. He
knows exactly where He is taking you to.”
- Handzinspired

47
 CHAPTER FOUR

Ezekiel walked out of the shop with a bag of tools as he met with Obi who
was already waiting for him. Obi happened to be his senior in the
workplace.
“Did you see the other tool we were searching for yesterday?” Obi asked as
soon as he saw Ezekiel come out of the inner shop where all the tools and
several scrap engines were kept. He was sitting on the bench trying to wash
his hands off the soup he had just finished eating.
“I didn’t see it, but I saw the other ring. It is the same size. It should be
useful.” Ezekiel said as he dropped the sack on a dirty table, one that they
use whenever they are repairing a generator.
“Okay. I am coming. I decided to eat first before we go because we don’t
know when we will be coming back.” Obi asserted as he stood up from the
stool, cleaned his hands with a dirty towel and dropped it on the large table
they had in the shop, one that was crowded with all sorts of tools, small
engines, paper tape, different plastics half filled with engine oil and several
other useful materials. The table itself was old and greased with both petrol
and engine oil.

The place didn’t need a description before you know that it is an engineer’s
shop. It was originally Chief Emeka’s house before he built another one just
beside it. Hence, he turned the compound into the shop and the two rooms
housed by the compound now became the inner shop or engine store, as
some of the workers would call it sometimes.
Chief Emeka had four apprentices before Ezekiel joined. He was the most
renowned engine repairer in the neighbourhood. The first two workers had
been there for two years and they would be graduating late the following
year. As expected, both of them were the most skilled apprentices in the
shop.
Obi was one of the two, while Uzo was the second person. The other two,
Ikenna and Ikechukwu were twins. They were age mates with Ezekiel. They
started learning that same year immediately they finished their secondary
school since they already knew that their parents had no money to sponsor
their higher education. Chief Emeka was seldom seen in shop. He would
always say that he already had skilled apprentices who could take on any
engine any day.

It is the first week of December. It had been three months since Ezekiel
started learning how to repair engines. It was hard for him at first, seeing

48
his mates go about trying to either study for another WASSCE or study for a
higher institution’s post UTME (United Tertiary Matriculation
Examination). He felt he was about to become a laughing stock by his mates
at school. He had tried to beg his dad to give him just one more chance, but
all thanks to the poison of Abisola working perfectly in the mind of his
father, his pleas fell on deaf ears.
“Your mother is right. I cannot be wasting money over uncertainty.” His
father had said the last time he begged him. Ezekiel later found out that
Damilola had failed almost all the papers, and that was even the second
time she was taking WASSCE. She had taken the exam before they moved
in, all expenses paid by his father, and now, she was about to write it the
third time, but him? He was only given one chance. He realized that Abisola
made it turn out that way on purpose because she knew that he had a
better chance of getting into the higher institution than her daughter had,
that was why she blocked his chance of becoming an undergraduate.
Ezekiel had been tempted to lay all the blames on his mother again, but
thank God for Chiamaka.

“Honestly, I have never met somebody so wicked in my entire life.” That

was the first statement Chiamaka had said when He told her everything. “I
mean, how could she tell your dad not to register you?” She felt so enraged.
Ezekiel was unable to speak. He just sighed, like he was about to lose all
hopes and just jump off the nearest bridge. He had no idea what to do or
say. His mind was blank. “Is this really how my life will end? As a
mechanic?” He scoffed.
“Ezekiel, don’t say something like that, of course this is not how your life
will end.” Chiamaka sighed.
Ezekiel smirked again. “I appreciate what you are doing, Chiamaka. But you
really do not have to give me false hopes where there are none.”
“I am not..,”
“Even after her daughter gains admission, which of course cannot be next
year or the next one or the next one after that; do you think that that
woman will allow my daddy pay for my WASSCE fees? And don’t you think
I’d have been old enough to get married?”
“Ezekiel, you are just sixteen now. Stop talking like this.”
“It is easy for you to say that, Chi. I wish I were from your own family. You
see, you’d be walking into the four walls of a university very soon, and me?”
He scoffed. “I’ll be carrying engines from one street to another. I’ll be..,” He
tried not to cry.

Chiamaka sighed. She knew Ezekiel was broken. She knew she didn’t even
have the words to placate him. True, she was going to become an

49
undergraduate soon, and he, who had the potentials to even become a
university valedictorian, would become a mechanic, all because of his step
mother. She sighed. At that point, all the beliefs about happiness, purpose,
success, life and God that she held were being questioned. Then she found
light, and she recognized it.
“It is all my mo..,” Ezekiel was saying before she cut in.
“Come to think of it, Ezey, did anybody say that greatness, success,
achievement, purpose and wealth is tied to the four walls of a university?”
As she started, she knew it wasn’t her talking. She knew a greater force had
propelled her and given her those words. She continued. “Did anybody tell
you that you can only be great if you go to the university? I mean, we have
read about a lot of estate moguls, business moguls, people who have
shaken the very foundation of this earth, and most of them did not even go
to school.” She paused to see if it sank well into Ezekiel’s mind. Judging
from his looks, she continued.
“This Aliko Dangote of a person that you try to model after started out as
somebody who didn’t even see the four walls of a university. It was later
on, when he had already been wealthy, when he had started giving back to
the society that he decided to further his education. Come to think of it,
what is the guarantee that you will become successful if you go to the
university and even graduate as the best student? Answer me na! Haven’t
we seen several of those uncles and aunties who graduates and serves and
still come back to this neighbourhood to live with their parents? Aunty
Nneka is already learning hairdressing. I mean, is it not right in front of us
last two years that she always came back wearing NYSC (National Youth
Service Corps) uniform? Has she become great? Oh well, she will probably
become a great hairdresser someday!” She knew those words were sinking
into him. She put his palm in hers and looked at him.

“Ezekiel, you need to start thinking positively, no matter what life throws at
you. I mean, isn’t that the exact thing you told me when my brother died
back then? God knows exactly what He is doing. He knows exactly where
He is taking you to. If you are in Chief Emeka’s place today, then that is
exactly where He needs you to be. It is more like He is preparing you. He
knows exactly what He is doing. More like, you are passing through a
process. The least you can do is enjoy the process with a positive mind-set,
with happiness that springs from within. Do diligently whatever your
hands find to do and trust that you are going somewhere. Like they say,
when life gives you lemons, make lemonades.” She smiled.
“What about when it gives me bitter leaves?” He looked at her with a smile
for the first time since they have been sitting on the pavement.

50
“Well, you squeeze out the bitterness and make bitter leaf soup.” She
shrugged and looked at him. At last, he was laughing.
“You know, sometimes I wonder where you get these words from.” He let
out a sigh of relief.
“Me too, I don’t know oh.”
“I always wonder whether you are my mother’s reincarnation.”
Chiamaka laughed. “Seriously?”
“Anyway, whatever you are, I am glad I have you.”

Ezekiel made up his mind to become great, to become what he had

dreamed of, even if he doesn’t go to school. He chose to remain happy and
make a fortune with the stones his step mother throws at him. He was
going to start enjoying this opportunity he was getting to learn how to
repair engines. He decided to live a higher life. He knew he wasn’t seeing
any chance of getting into the university anymore, but who said he could
not become great without a higher education?

“Ezekiel!!” Obi shouted. “I have been calling you since! Where did your
mind stray to? Are you even watching what I am doing?” He frowned at
him.
“I am sorry.”
“Pass me the t-square.” Obi collected the tool from him and started using it
on the engine he was repairing. “Take 10 box and begin to loosen those
bolts.”
Ezekiel did as he was instructed. They were in a customer’s house, helping
him to repair his generator.
“So, what is wrong with you? Did that witch in your house give you trouble
again?” Obi asked as they both concentrated on the engine.
“No. I was just thinking about someone.” He sighed.
“Who? A girl?”
Ezekiel blushed.
“Hmm! So it is a girl!!” Obi laughed and looked at him. “Turn the capacitor
the other way around. It is going to heat up if you put it that way.” He
instructed Ezekiel who complied immediately. “So, who is this girl?”
“Well,” Ezekiel chuckled as if he was remembering some things.
“I know that look!” Obi grinned. “How long has it been since you started
liking her?”
“I think since the first time I met her.”
“What do you like about her?” He spoke after a while of silence.
“A lot of things. Especially that she reminds me of my mother.”
“Really? She looks like your mum?”
“No. I don’t know how to explain it..,”

51
“Pass me that small petrol container.”
Ezekiel handed it over to him. “She is warm, she always say the things I
need to hear. Whenever she speaks, I just can’t help but think about my
mom.” He smiled, as he watched Obi scratch out something from the
generator’s exhaust. “Why did you remove that one? I thought we always
leave that one there.” He asked.
“When you are dealing with this kind of generator, you don’t leave it there.
You know this is a very old generator; there are different methods we use
to repair different generators.”
“Oh.., ok.”
“So, this girl in question, does she feel the same way about you?”
“That’s a very hard question. She doesn’t even know I feel that way for her.”
“Wait, you mean you haven’t told her anything yet?”
“Not at all.” Ezekiel started cleaning the parts of the generator as Obi
started coupling them back together.
“Why haven’t you told her?”
“I don’t even know.” He sighed. “I am scared. She’s like my best friend, and I
don’t want to ruin our friendship just because of what I feel.”
“Hmm…, if you keep on keeping quiet about it, you will never come out of
the friend zone, hope you know?” He said as he stood up. “Oya clean the
generator and start it.” He sighed.
Ezekiel cleaned up the generator with a small rag from the sack of tools and
started it. The generator responded.
“Thank God! Let us carry it and put it inside the cage. It is getting late.”

After several minutes, they were on their way back to the shop. It was
already getting dark. It was in the early hours of the night. They walked by
the side of the road with Ezekiel carrying the sack of tools.
“So what you were saying is that you are in love with your best friend?”
Ezekiel shrugged. “You could say so.”
“And you are scared to tell her because you do not want to lose what you
both have, right?”
“Exactly! That’s the point.”
“I have been in that situation before. When I was in secondary school,
myself and this girl were very close. We always walked together, during
breaks and closing periods. We were best friends, but I was crazily in love
with her, I didn’t know that she was in love with me too. I was scared to tell
her how I felt, and she was waiting for me to do just that. This went on and
on like that, until she started seeing somebody else. That was when I
realized how much I liked her. So the more she grew closer to him, the
further apart we grew. It was when I started acting strange, when I couldn’t
take it anymore that I told her everything I felt. She told me she felt the

52
same way too, but she didn’t know what I felt, so she couldn’t say anything.
And then it was too late, because she was already in love.”
“Damn! I am sure it hurt you so much, right?”
“Trust me, that is an understatement. So, what I will advise you to do is tell
her before it is too late. I don’t want you making the same mistake I made.”
“Wow!” Ezekiel exclaimed.
Just then there was a loud crash right in front of them, on the road. A car hit
a young lady.

Apparently, the lady tried to cross the road without looking. She was still
engrossed in the chat she was engaged in with an elderly woman across the
road. Crowd gathered around the lifeless body lying on the ground. Several
people placed both hands on their head to indicate the pity.
“She’s dead!” One woman said.
“What a pity. She is so young!” Another said.
Cars stood still. The driver that drove the car that hit the lady had also hit
her head on the steering wheel and passed out immediately.

While everyone stood by and watched the lifeless body in the middle of the
road, the elderly woman rushed to the young lady on the floor, wailing.
“Somebody help!!” She kept on crying but nobody was brave enough to
move close to her. “Please! Help me!! She is my sister’s child!!” She said as
she sat on the floor right beside the lady, crying uncontrollably. She placed
the lady’s head on her laps. “Ifeoma! Ifeoma!!” She cried out. “Somebody
help! She has a weak heart!!”
Several people passed by, minding their own business, while some others
stood there doing nothing but gossip. Some people, amidst the woman’s
tears were still taking pictures of the scene.
“Let us go and help her, Obi.” Ezekiel spoke out for the first time in several
minutes. They were also standing by the side of the road with several other
people.
“Help who? You are the Good Samaritan, right? Besides, she is already dead.
Helping her now makes no difference.” He sighed. “We better get out of
here.” He ended as he tried to drag Ezekiel past the crowd.
Before they could press past the surmounting crowd, a young man ran to
the scene. Everybody wondered what he was up to.
The young man knelt down and bent towards the lady. He placed his ear on
her chest. Everybody, including Ezekiel and Obi, moved closer. They were
all curious at what the man was trying to do.
“She’s still alive!!” He shouted and immediately placed her head gently back
to the ground. He folded his hands together and started pressing them
against her chest.

53
“What is he doing?” A man asked
“How does he know that she is alive?” Another lady questioned.
Ezekiel just watched attentively.
“I am doing a CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) for her. I am a medical
doctor.” He explained because he feared they might mistake him for a
ritualist.
He continued to press his hands against her chest. He stopped, bent down
to check her breathe again and continued. “Please somebody should call an
ambulance!” He shouted.
Ezekiel remembered that he had seen something like that in a movie a very
long time ago, but seeing it done before him now was on a whole new level.
Just then, the young man stopped pressing her chest and suddenly bent
down to put his mouth on the lady’s mouth.
There was murmuring amongst the crowed all over again.
“Is he kissing her?” An elderly man asked another.
“I don’t think so. Let us watch what he is doing. The man said he is a
medical doctor.” The other man said.

The young man brought up his head and shouted again for somebody to
call an ambulance. Everybody just watched him, wondering, what
ambulance?
He bent down the second time, put his mouth in her mouth again, repeating
the previous exercise.
At that moment, everyone’s attention was drawn to a cough. The girl had
let out a cough. Then she opened her eyes.
The crowed grew wild. The dead had come back to life.
“Ifeoma, are you okay?” The woman who was sitting beside her, one who
had earlier claimed to be her mother’s sister asked her. “Can you recognize
me?” She asked again as the lady tried to sit up with the help of the man.
“Mama.” She said faintly.
“Thank God! Ekene dili chukwu!! Thank you Jesus!!!” She cried, holding the
hands of the miracle worker who brought her dead back to life. “Thank you
so much, sir.”
“It is nothing ma. It is my duty as a doctor.” He turned to the lady who was
still wondering what had happened. She was looking around, wondering
why the crowd gathered around them. “How are you feeling now?” He
asked.
It was at that moment that she remembered what happened. She had
gotten into an accident. She looked at the stranger asking her, and she
simply nodded.
“You still need to go to the hospital to get treated. You are injured.” He
sighed and stood up for the first time since he got to the scene. He looked

54
around. “Where’s the ambulance?” He asked nobody in particular, still
looking around.
“What ambulance? Didn’t you notice that everyone was just looking at you
when you asked for an ambulance? In this state? Where are you from,
miracle worker?” A man, probably in his late thirties responded.
Suddenly, the door of the car that had hit the lady earlier opened. The
driver had woken up. “Oh my God! I am so sorry!! Please I’ll take her to the
hospital.” She and the miracle worker lifted the lady to her feet, led her into
the car and drove off.
It was not until the car had driven off that the crowd began to disperse.
Several other people formed groups to gossip about the incident.

“I am sure we are not going to sleep here.” Obi said finally and they
hurriedly walked down the road leading to their shop.

Ezekiel knew it was going to be a tough night for him as he walked home,
but strangely, he felt fulfilled. It was past 9:00pm, way past the time he was
supposed to get home. He was going to be beaten and starved, but amidst
all of these, he was able to smile.
When he and Obi had gotten to shop earlier, the shop had closed, so they
went to Chief Emeka’s house to report to him about the place they had gone
to. He gave each of them a tip for the job well done and dismissed them.
Instead of going straight home, Ezekiel decided to go to the cyber café in his
street first. He wanted to know more about what he had seen. He didn’t
know why he felt the need to know more about it, but he strangely felt that
he might not feel fulfilment that day if he didn’t do what he wanted. He paid
for the computer time and Google searched everything on ‘CPR’. Before his
computer time finished, he had learned more about it than he hoped.

He knocked on the gate for the umpteenth time. He had been standing there
for close to thirty minutes. He shook from the cold. Rain had drizzled
earlier on. He wondered why the gate wasn’t opened yet. He was sure that
his dad would be asleep by now, and his step mother and her sister would
be watching their TV series.
He knocked again, very hard this time around. When he was about to
repeat the same exercise, the gate opened and Damilola came out of the
house and closed the gate behind her, blocking his way.
“My mummy said that you should go back to where you are coming from
this night.” She said sharply and then placed her hands akimbo.
Ezekiel had tried his best to ignore Damilola and her antics ever since they
came into the house. He felt she wasn’t worth his attention or anger at all,

55
and besides, what kind of elder brother will he be if he paid attention to her
insults? He sighed. “Please, I do not have time for this. It is late already. I’d
like to go in.” He waited, but she didn’t bulge.
“It is better you go back to Chief Emeka’s place to sleep. There is nobody to
side with you tonight.” Then she opened the gate for him to see. “As you can
see, daddy is not around. He travelled. So if you know what is good for you,
go back to where you are coming from.” With that, she went back into the
house and locked the gate from behind.
Ezekiel snorted repeatedly as he heard her departing footsteps. He smiled.
He had long been waiting for this night. After all the serious threats he had
received from his step mother, he anticipated it. He just didn’t know that it
was going to happen this soon. He sighed as he rested his back on the gate
and slid onto the ground. It was very late and dark. He heard the sound of
several night crawling animals. He sighed again, placing his head in
between his fold up knees. He was supposed to start regretting that he
went to the cyber café, but strangely, he didn’t. He felt a sense of joy and
fulfilment as he remembered all the things he learnt while surfing the
internet. He knew this will not help him in anyway, as what he planned to
study if he ever gets the opportunity to be admitted into the higher
institution was nowhere near medicine.
Just as he was dozing off, his phone rang. It was Chiamaka.
“Ezekiel, where are you?”
“I am at home, why?”
“Somebody told me she passed by your place some minutes ago and saw
you sleeping outside your gate.”
“Who told you that?”
“The woman didn’t allow you into the house, right? What will you do now?
Are you going to sleep outside? You can come over here. I’ll talk to my
mom, and my dad has travelled, so you don’t have any problem.”
“I am fine, Chi! You worry too much!! It is true that I was sitting outside
some minutes ago, but I am already in my room.” He lied. “I was already
sleeping when you called.”
“Really?” Chiamaka heaved a sigh of relief. “Okay then. Thanks to God. Sleep
well then.”
“Alright. Thanks a lot, Chi.” He said and she hung up.

His conscience pricked him about the lie he told, but he didn’t want to have
her worry too much about him, neither did he want to cause her family any
inconvenience.
He thought about all she had done for him since his mother died and
wondered how he was ever going to pay her back. He was going to be in her
debt for life. He sighed as he placed his head on his knees again.

56
He was cold and partly scared, but sleep soon overtook his fear as he lay
down to sleep on the cold, bare floor.

57
 “Maybe you had your life well planned out before, but
suddenly, something happens that shatters all your
hopes and all your dreams, I tell you, you have no issue!
God has not brought you this far to leave you! And the
single fact that you are still alive means that He is not
done with you! You have a manifestation to make! You
have a world to conquer!”
- Handzinspired

58
 CHAPTER FIVE

It was a day to Christmas. The streets had been decorated with Christmas
lights, ribbons and balloons. Each houses had their own Christmas tree. The
atmosphere was one for celebration and happiness for everybody. The
markets were filled up with children and their parents. Children pointed to
what they wanted, the shoes, the clothes and bags, while the parents are
compelled to get these new items for their kids. Knockouts had become the
order of the day. Children and adults alike played with knockouts.
Everybody was on the high side of life. Even those who didn’t share the
same faith felt the need to also celebrate something, so they joined the
believers to celebrate Christmas.

People filled every corner of the streets, the bars were all filled up,
restaurants needed more space; it was as if the atmosphere was infected
with a gas of celebration.
It was no different in Ezekiel’s house. Chief Emeka had closed the shop for
the year earlier that week. Ezekiel and his step mother had gone to the
market the previous day to buy clothes and food stuffs for Christmas
immediately his father gave them some money for Christmas. She had
bought several expensive shoes, clothes and bag for herself and her
daughter but got a very cheap T-shirt for Ezekiel. Nevertheless, he was
grateful. He had thought she would not buy anything for him. Even though
he would have enjoyed more than that if his mother was alive, he thanked
her regardless. He had learnt how to be content, no matter what was given
to him.

It was a Sunday and Ezekiel had decided to attend Chiamaka’s church. He

wanted an excuse to be with her, since they hardly saw one another in
recent times. He thought they were going to sit together in church but had
been disappointed when she turned down the idea.
“I think it’ll be a distraction. I’ll go and sit at the other end. We’ll talk after
service. Make sure you listen well.” She had told him before she went to sit
down at the other end of the church.
Ezekiel tried to look around for her during the service but didn’t see her. He
was sure that she deliberately made herself unaccounted for. It was when
he began to listen to the words of the pastor that he was partly glad that
she had gone to sit somewhere else. She was right; he wouldn’t have paid
attention if she sat beside him.
59
“Just when you are about to surrender, God shows up!” The pastor
preached. “It doesn’t matter what you are going through right now. What
you are struggling with is totally insignificant to where God is taking you
to! So instead of losing heart, when you are down to nothing, always
remember that God is up to something! You may be suffering in the hands
of an abusive husband, or you may have a wayward wife, or maybe your
children are a lost case, I am telling you today, God is not finished with you!
God is not finished with your family.”
The whole church responded, “Hallelujah!!”
The pastor continued. “The thorns that we are stepping on right now, the
weeds that are entangled to our crops right now are insignificant compared
to the fruits ahead of us! They are insignificant, compared to the harvest
that is about to come upon us! I tell somebody here, your story is about to
change!”
“Amen!!!” The congregation responded again.
“Don’t you dare let your mind trick you by telling you that you can never
amount to anything! I don’t care if you feel your dreams have been
shattered,” The pastor paused to move around.
At this point, Ezekiel knew that the message had to be for him. Ezekiel felt
that God had strategically placed him in this church today to listen to these
words.
“Maybe you had your life well planned out before, but suddenly, something
happens that shatters all your hopes and all your dreams, I tell you, you
have no issue! God has not brought you this far to leave you! And the single
fact that you are still alive means that He is not done with you! You have a
manifestation to make! You have a world to conquer!”
By the time the pastor had finished preaching, Ezekiel had started to see
life in a refreshed dimension.

“So,” Chiamaka started as they left the church. “How was it?”
“Really, it was awesome. I am glad I came.”
“What made you come to my church today? I was really surprised and at
the same time curious.” She asked as she greeted a church member that
passed by.
“Err,” Ezekiel couldn’t tell her that it was because he wanted to be with her,
“nothing really. I just decided to come today. You know that I told you the
other day that I’d come to your church one of these days.”
“Hmm, that’s cool. Hope your step mom will not throw tantrums because
you came to my church?” She asked as they got to the side of the road and
waited for passing vehicles before they could cross the road.
“What is her business? We don’t attend the same church, and besides, I am
sure she didn’t go to church today. Her and her daughter just stays indoors

60
most of the Sundays.” Ezekiel spoke before they finally crossed after the
nearest car had passed by.
“Hmm. Hope you are praying for her?” Chiamaka smiled. She knew her
question was absurd, but what was more absurd was the reply Ezekiel
gave.
“Yes, I am.” He said in a serious tone.
“Huh?” Chiamaka paused after hearing what he had said. “What?”
“Yes, I pray for her; not just her, but her daughter too.”
“Wait, you pray for them? Even after all the suffering and maltreatments?
Who does that? I mean, Jesus asked us to love our enemies, but come on, let
us be realistic, the people who would let you sleep outside on a cold floor?
Except, of course, if you actually pray against them, that, I can understand.”
Ezekiel smiled mildly. “I actually pray for them. You see, the thing is, I do
not consider them my enemies anymore.” He paused as an old lady
approached him.
“My son, please help me with this.” The lady said as she bent down.
Ezekiel also bent down and they both lifted a tray onto the woman’s head.
She was hawking.
“Thank you.” She said as she hurried off.
“As I was saying, Chi, I do not consider these people as my enemies
anymore. You know, I have so much meditated on the things you tell me, so
much that I have carved out several other deep meanings. Since the day you
told me that I wouldn’t be in Chief Emeka’s house if God doesn’t want me to
be there, I started to think, that means that my step mother would not be
maltreating me if God doesn’t want her to. I’d not be in this situation if God
isn’t trying to bring something out of it.”
“Hmm. I just think that this is purely her wickedness. I am not sure it has
anything to do with God’s will.”
“It is all the same thing. God is using her wickedness to bring me
somewhere.”
Chiamaka smiled. She understood what he meant perfectly. She looked at
him with adoration. “I am glad, really.”
“I owe most of them to you. I can’t begin to list out all you and your mom
have done for me since my mom passed away. Especially you. We both
know you have been to me a mother, and I can’t repay you.”
She flushed. By now, they had already gotten to the front of her house.
“If I ever eventually make it big, if I eventually achieve my dreams, I will
make sure I have you right beside me.” Ezekiel hadn’t realized how corny
the statement sounded when he thought of it. He hoped the topic would
end there, but it didn’t.
“Hmm. Beside you, as what?” She asked slowly.

61
“Errm,” Ezekiel was at a fix, “as someone who has inspired me and partly
made me who I’ve become.” He swallowed.
“Is that all?” She looked at his face for the first time in several minutes. She
was already standing in front of him, her back to the gate.
Ezekiel had no idea just what to say. He didn’t want to say anything that’d
make her think he did not like her; neither did he know if it was the right
time to let her know how he felt about her.
“Errr,” He swallowed. “I am..,”
“Oh my God! My mom is already coming. I have to go now.” She exclaimed
immediately she saw her mom about to cross the road.
“Alright then. Take care of yourself.”
“See you later. Merry Christmas in advance!” with that, she turned towards
the gate, opened it and entered her compound. She waved at Ezekiel before
finally shutting the gate.

Two months had gone into the New Year, and the days went normal again.
Ezekiel had continued his work at Chief Emeka’s shop, his step sister,
Damilola had begun lessons for WASSCE, his step mother, Abisola
continued being a fish bone in the throat for him and his dad kept on
travelling as he had taken up a new position in his office.
Ezekiel had decided to forget all about his big dreams for the time being in
order to focus on his work. He was going to learn how to repair engines and
raise money from it in order to sponsor himself to the higher institution. He
had seen less of Chiamaka in the past two months as she had been
preparing for her post utme examination.

Ezekiel sat on a dirty stool in the shop, arranging the tools into the toolbox.
Obi and Uzo had gone out earlier to different places to attend to different
customers. Ikenna and his brother, Ikechukwu were busy cleaning the
shop. They were all discussing.
“The day I told her how I felt about her, I almost cried.” Ikenna said as he
and his brother carried a big generator to the left corner of the shop.
“Why? She didn’t slap you, did she?” Ezekiel asked.
“No oh, but I wish she did.”
“She said it was me that she liked.” Ikechukwu answered this time around.
“Funny enough, I still don’t know what Ikenna saw in her. I am not saying
that she is not fine oh, but if you ask me to pick the ugliest girl in the class at
that time, I’d pick her.”
“Easy for you to say.” Ikenna hissed as they both bent to carry another
generator.

62
“So, after all the myriad of girls that liked you guys and all the ones that you
liked in school, none of you dated anybody?” Ezekiel stood up, supporting
his back with his hands. He had been sitting down for a long time.
“There was one time I dated Lucy though, but it was more of a secret affair.”
Ikenna asserted.
“Now I can see why they tagged your school the most corrupt school in this
town.” They all laughed.
“It is your school that is innocent, right?”
“I don’t know about that, all I know is that I am innocent.” Ezekiel decided
to help them with the generators.
“So, you mean you never liked any girl in your school? You mean with all
the fine girls there?” Ikechukwu asked.
“Well, there is this girl that I like..,” He stopped when a small boy of about
11 years old dragged a small generator into the shop.
He dropped the generator and started gasping for breath. “My daddy said
that you people should check what is wrong with it. We tried to switch it on
last night, but it didn’t start.”
Ezekiel attended to him. He easily carried the generator, placed it on the
repair table and tried pulling it. After several trials, the generator gave out
a loud noise and went back off. “Tell your daddy that we are going to
service it. Come back in two hours’ time.” He told the boy who quickly
nodded and left the shop.
Immediately, Ezekiel started to unknot the bolts of the generator. Ikenna
and Ikechukwu joined him later after they finished arranging the
generators.
“Who is the girl you said you liked in school?” Ikenna questioned after a
while of silence.
“Her name is Chiamaka. We live on the same street.” Ezekiel decided to
keep it simple.
“Talk now!”
“I actually knew her from school, and then realized she just moved to our
street. How I started liking her, or how I realized I already liked her, I have
no idea, what I know is that I have a great deal of affection for her. She
became a mother to me when my mum passed away. If there is anybody
who has done me good the most in this life, then I am telling you, she is the
one.”
“Hmmm. Judging from the way you speak about her, you really like this girl,
isn’t it? Does she know how you feel about her?” Ikenna collected the
generator’s coil from Ezekiel and gently placed it on a separate table.
“I don’t think so.”
“Why have you not told her? You are not confident that she feels the same
way, right?” Ikechukwu asked.

63
“I don’t know. I don’t want to lose what we have as friends. What if I tell her
and I scare her away from me?”
“Do you think she likes you?”
“I have no idea.”
“You see? That is the problem with girls.” Ikenna poured out a little petrol
into a small bowl from a five litres keg that was by the corner. He dropped
the keg and placed his hands on both his waists. “They will be so nice to
you, so loving and fool you that they are wife materials. You’d think beyond
doubt that they like you, but when you tell them how you feel, they’ll feign
innocence and say ‘I see you as a brother o, you are a very good friend to me,
but I don’t feel anything other than that,’ nonsense people.” He cursed and
began to wash each parts of the generator with the petrol and a brush.
“Don’t mind him, Ezekiel. He is bitter because of what Ngozi did to him.”
Ikechukwu said, hitting his brother’s head with his palm.
“What was that for?” Ikenna frowned.
Ezekiel just laughed at their antics. He pulled the generator this time
around and it responded immediately. “I guess it is okay now.”
“Let us plug it with electricity first to know how well it works.” Ikenna said.
Ezekiel did as he was told and the bulb was switched on. The generator
responded very well.

“We should start coupling it back then!” Ikechukwu said with glee.
Ezekiel switched it off and sat down for some minutes.
“I don’t know if you will heed to my advice, but I think you should tell her.
Tell her before it is too late. And if you tell her and things doesn’t work out
as planned, forget that you told her.”
“How?”
“Pretend like you didn’t tell her anything.” Ikechukwu maintained.
“Do you think it is that easy?” Ikenna sat down too as soon as he finished
cleaning all the parts of the generator and poured out what is left of the
petrol he used.
“At least telling her is better than sitting down in front of your house five
years later wishing you had told her how you felt.” Ikechukwu said again,
resting on the repair table.
“When do you think I can tell her?”
“Can’t you tell her today?”
“You better don’t listen to Ikechukwu!”
“I can’t tell her today. She should be travelling back from Ibadan by now.
She went for post utme examination.” He said as he ignored Ikenna.
“Oh, really?”

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“You see? This girl is not even in your class again. I am sure she does
whatever it is she does for you because she thinks of you as a poor boy who
has a wicked step mother.”
Again, Ikenna was ignored.
“I’ll tell her after work tomorrow.” Ezekiel felt that his decision made his
heart shift from left to right.

The next day, Ezekiel was far from being himself. He was about to confess
how he felt to his first love, little wonder why he performed lesser than
usual in shop.
He had called Chiamaka the previous day when he got home from work and
had told her that he had something very important to talk to her about. He
was sure enough to put her on suspense. She had begged him to no avail to
tell her that same night. She was still inside the late night bus back to Abia.
“Don’t worry, I’ll tell you tomorrow evening.” He had said.

“What is wrong with you today, Ezekiel?! I told you to bring the small stool
for me, you are bringing toolbox.” Uzo shouted at Ezekiel who was still
coming to meet him with the toolbox.
Ikenna and Ikechukwu laughed, knowing fully well what was wrong with
him.
“That was how I asked him to bring a blade for me and he returned with a
saw. I was tempted to saw off his neck, rubbish!” Obi added.
“I am sorry.” Ezekiel scratched his head. What is wrong with me? He
thought. “I am so sorry.” He said again.
Few hours later, Chief Emeka entered the shop and looked around for a
while, then called Ezekiel aside.
“Your mother called me earlier and told me to let you off early. I think she
wants you to run an errand. Run along now, and make sure you greet her
for me.” Chief Emeka said to Ezekiel.

Ezekiel went to the inner shop to change out of his work clothes. He
wondered what errand his step mother had to send him. Didn’t she always
forcefully send him on errands even when it was dead into the night? What
changed? Ezekiel shrugged off the odd feeling as he stepped out of the
inner shop. “I’ll get going now sir.” He said.
“Alright. Make sure you greet her for me, okay?” Chief Emeka repeated.
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel left the shop and started walking the path to his house.
He couldn’t wave of the anxiety he was feeling about what he was going to
tell Chiamaka that night, neither could he explain the odd feeling he was
getting. Throughout the month, he had noticed the change in the attitude of

65
his step mother and her daughter. Abisola had stopped maltreating him
and had started treating him like an egg, especially in the presence of his
dad. It was the third week of February, and he mysteriously had not missed
any day’s three square meal. He felt his prayers to God had played a great
part in this, little did he know what was to come.
He felt his heart in his mouth as he began to practice how to tell Chiamaka
how much he liked her. He prayed that even if she didn’t feel the same way,
it wouldn’t ruin their relationship.

As he approached his house, he felt a very strange nudge in his spirit. This
was the same kind of nudging he gets whenever his spirit doesn’t want to
go to a place, and he always listened, but how can he stay away from his
home? Especially when his step mother called for him? He didn’t want to
fall out of the special grace he has been enjoying for a while.

When he got to the house, his hands felt heavy as he pushed the gate. The
gate refused to bulge, not because it wasn’t opened, but because he couldn’t
push it well. His heart began to strangely beat twice as fast as he
successfully pushed the gate open. He heaved a sigh just to ward off the
bizarre feeling as he walked into the living room.
When he got into the living room, he saw Damilola sitting on the couch
watching TV. He had already guessed that she would be back from lesson
already.
“Where is mum?” He asked, dropping the small bag he carried.
“She is in the room. She said you should meet her there.” Damilola didn’t
bother to look at him.
Ezekiel frowned. “Which room?”
“Her room.” Damilola still maintained to keep her eyes on the TV screen.
Ezekiel wondered what was going on. Ever since Abisola and her daughter
moved into the house, he has never stepped his feet into the room which
used to be his mother’s. His father had strictly warned him never to enter
the room under any circumstance, so why should he start now?
“Can you call her for me? I will be seated here.” He said as he sat down for
the first time since he entered.
“You know how my mum is. It won’t be nice to disrespect her after she has
tried to be good to you all month. Just obey and go in. She is waiting for
you.” Damilola’s voice shook, but Ezekiel didn’t notice.
Ezekiel now felt what was more than a hunch. He knew that something was
terribly wrong somewhere. He sighed.

Sadly, Damilola was right. He wasn’t about to go back to his dark days, but
what he didn’t know was that darker days were yet to come. He stood up

66
and made for the room. He stood up and made for the door that ushered
him into the darker days of his life.
The door creaked as he pushed it slowly. At first he popped his head into
the room. When he saw nobody, he decided to enter fully. The room was
big enough and had several corners, twice as big as his.
“Mum?” He called out as he walked closer to the middle of the room. He still
didn’t hear or see any sign of life, not until the door opened and closed
behind him. He developed goose bumps all over his skin. He felt his ear
grow bigger. He didn’t know why he felt that way; he didn’t know why he
felt choked of words to say. He was scared to look back, like he’s been
caught trying to steal a gold sack.
With all the strength he could muster, be turned back to look at who or
what had entered the room behind him, he was ready for a fight with an
intruder.

“Relax, it’s just me.” Damilola said after locking the door behind her.
Ezekiel wiped off the sweat beads that were already forming on his
forehead and heaved a heavy sigh. “What are you doing sneaking up on
me?” He frowned as he regained his composure.
“I wasn’t sneaking up on anybody, besides, this is my room.” She said as she
moved closer to him.
“She is not in the room.” Ezekiel still wondered the
“I know.” She moved closer again.
“Then why did you lead me here?” Ezekiel was visibly angry.
“Well,” the distance between them now was just a hair’s breath. “I..,” she
pushed him unto the bed and climbed on him. “I felt like.”
“Get off me!” Ezekiel pushed her roughly onto the bed. “What the hell do
you think you are doing?!!” It wasn’t Ezekiel that was speaking this time
around, it was anger.

Damilola stood up again and tried to push him with all her strength, but he
held both her hands and flung her unto the bed. “What is wrong with you?”
He knew he had made the mistake of his life by entering into that room. It
wasn’t until he made for the door that he realized that it had been locked.
Damilola tried to move closer to him again.
“If you dare take one step closer, I am going to slap you.” Ezekiel said
sharply, making her pause. “Now come and open this door.” He was
breathing thrice as fast as he would normally. He was scared.
“I can’t do that, I am sorry.” Damilola replied and moved closer to him.
Ezekiel made true his words. He slapped her, but he was surprised how she
didn’t budge. She looked like a tigress on a mission that would cost her life

67
if she failed it. She pulled him to herself harshly and they both fell on the
bed.
In the bid to struggle off her, Ezekiel tore the light top she wore, exposing
her blue bra. This was when she started shouting and screaming to the
bewilderment of Ezekiel.
“Help! Somebody help me!!” She started screaming and crying. “He wants to
rape me. Help me!!!” She cried on as Ezekiel pushed himself off her, making
her head scratch the wall, causing her to bruise her face.
It was then that Ezekiel figured out what he had entered.
Darkness.

At that moment, the knocks on the door grew louder. A neighbour had
heard Damilola screaming and had called two others.
“Somebody should open this door now!!” A man’s voice shouted from
outside the door. The knocks became louder.
Ezekiel knew at that point that his life was over. Rumours will spread all
over Abia that he tried to rape his step sister. He then thought about
Chiamaka. What is she going to think of him?
“This is what you wanted to happen, isn’t it?” Ezekiel gave a mild snort as
he sat down on the bed, surrendering. “What did I ever do to you?” He
muttered again at the wailing girl who was severely hitting the door and
crying for help even though she had the key with her.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Abisola rushed inside with three other
adults, the woman who had heard the shouts and two men. Abisola rushed
to her daughter who had already gone to sit down in one corner of the
room, trying to cover herself with both her hands and her legs.
“He…,he tried to rape me.” She was sobbing and visibly shaking.
One of the men hit Ezekiel on the face with his fist before dragging him
outside the room onto the open compound. By now, several other people
had entered the compound as the gate was left open.

Ezekiel sat on the floor. He didn’t bother to speak a word because he knew
that nobody would believe him. He was already hearing chants from
several people.
“Raper!!” A girl cursed.
“It is rapist, not raper.” The boy standing beside her corrected.
“It is the same thing. How can he try to rape is step sister?”
He heard lots of people cursing at him, but he just sat there, as hard as it
seemed. He couldn’t even cry, no matter how much he tried.
“You will see jail today. Idiot!” The man who had hit him earlier on growled
at him as he took his phone and started pressing its buttons.

68
Just then, Abisola came out of the house and started pleading with the man
on her knees. “Please, don’t call the police. Don’t let us drag this matter any
further.”
“But madam, he tried to rape your daughter!”
“He is also my son, even if I didn’t give birth to him. Please don’t call the
police.” She pleaded, and when she saw that the man had put away his
phone, she turned to Ezekiel and sat on the floor. “Why did you do this?
Where did I go wrong? What did your sister do to you that you decided to
punish her this way? What have we done to deserve this, Ezekiel?” She
sobbed.
Everybody who was present felt sympathy for the good woman who
wouldn’t allow her step son go to jail for trying to rape her own daughter.
“Come with me, let us go inside.” Abisola said as she pulled him up.
Ezekiel didn’t struggle with her. He had lost his life anyway. He stood up
with her.
“Please, my people, let us not aggravate this issue any further than it
already is. I appreciate your help, please be on your way now. I will
discipline my son the way I know how.” She said as she watched each one
of them leave the compound, then she closed the gate.

It was already getting dark.

She then turned to Ezekiel who was still standing and looking at nothing in
particular.
“If you know what is good for you, you better go and start packing your
things and leave this town before your father gets back from work late this
night.” She laughed sharply like the wicked witches shown in Nigerian
movies.

Ezekiel couldn’t think, he couldn’t move, he forgot to breathe. The tears

that refused to show up earlier began to roll down unhindered. “Wha..,why
did you do this to me? What did I do to you? If I have wronged you..,” He
swallowed.
“You don’t get the point yet, do you? This fight is not about you. It is about
security for my daughter and I. It is about your mother. I am very sure now
that when she comes to life next time, she will never betray anybody again.”
She walked past him and stopped just right before she got to the living
room entrance. “You shouldn’t have entered my room. But well, you are a
dumb idiot, just like your mother.” She hissed and walked into the living
room.

69
That night, Ezekiel packed his bag and made for an unknown journey. He
had not the slightest idea where he was going or how he was going to get
there. The tears that lingered in his eyes allowed him to barely see the road.
He had dropped everything at home; his life, his phone, everything. He only
took some of his clothes and had been given ten thousand naira by Abisola.
He knew she was probably going to lie to his father that he had stolen the
money, but what did it matter now? He probably was never going to see
them again.
He remembered that he was supposed to tell Chiamaka everything he felt
for her that night, but it never was going to happen again. He cried as he
walked past her compound onto the main road. He was never going to see
her again.
As he boarded the night bus to Lagos, he knew he was about to venture into
the world, where he knew nobody, where he had no relatives and where he
had no home.
He was not only homeless, he was nameless.

70
“…as long as you have not died, nothing
else can kill you at this point. It might
look like the mountains are impassable
right now, but…God got plans for you.”
- Handzinspired

71
 CHAPTER SIX

Ezekiel roamed around the roads and streets of the big and boisterous
Lagos for many days. He had a dream to see Lagos. He had once told his
mother that he was going to go to Lagos as a big businessman in his own
rights and would live in one of the famous and rich islands. He didn’t know
that dream of coming to Lagos will come true, but not just the way he
planned it.
He had taken the night bus to Lagos nineteen days ago without any sense of
direction, but he had a drive to succeed. He had heard about and saw a lot
of people from his hometown that ventured into Lagos with nothing and
come back with pockets full. Maybe he was going to be one of them. He was
not going to dwell on the past. He decided to change his name, to change is
life.

Within the past few days, he had suffered what he hadn’t suffered in his
entire life. He had experienced what he didn’t even think was real. He was
harassed by the police and was almost arrested on the road some days ago
for loitering. His money was also running out. He had no place to stay, no
matter how smuch he tried. He slept under several bridges every night as
he wondered where to go from there. Whenever he walked by the side of
the third mainland bridge, he contemplated just ending this misery he
called life, but every other time he nibbled with the idea of committing
suicide, he thought about his mother, then he thought about Chiamaka and
all her efforts to make him see the brighter part of life. He remembered her
words, “If there is anybody who can survive with absolutely nothing in this
harsh and crazy world, Ezekiel, it is you.” These words kept him going each
day. He had begun to run out of money, and this was his greatest worry.

Two days ago, he had instinctively boarded a bus to Aja. He had no idea
where he was going, but he went anyway. He alighted at an unknown area.
It was an estate, he concluded. He marvelled at the beauty and
magnificence that he beheld. The estate was guarded with gigantic French
gates and there was an elderly man at the security post. He was questioned
when he was about to enter, but he had no idea what to say. He couldn’t
even say his name. After wandering for four hours in that same area, he
was called by the old man at the security post.

“Ehn ehn? Ki lon wa kiri?” The security man frowned at him.

72
Ezekiel had no idea what the man was saying. He knew he spoke in Yoruba,
but Ezekiel had difficulty making sense of what the man meant, so he kept
quiet.
When the security guard noticed that Ezekiel might not understand his
language, he decided to speak in English. “What have you been looking
for?” He asked again.
Ezekiel instinctively bowed his head to greet properly.
“No oh! Ma ki mi. Don’t greet me. Answer my question, or are you part of
those informants that roams about to inform thieves about the area?”
“No Sir, I..,” Ezekiel scratched his head and adjusted the bag on his back.
“See, Mr man, don’t think I am just a feeble old man oh! Look,” he opened
the door to his small crib, “I have a gun.” He said, pointing to a long rod
resting on the wall.
Ezekiel couldn’t discern whether it was a gun or something else.
“And look,” the security man pointed up to red and black pieces of clothes
that was tied together and hanged on the wall, “mo loogun! I have charm.”
Ezekiel wondered what the man was saying, however, fear struck him
when he saw the charm on the wall, then he immediately knelt down. “Sir, I
am not a thief or an informant. I am just a homeless teenager.” He
swallowed at the realization. “I have been looking for a place to stay sir.”

“Homeless? What about your parents?” The security guard relaxed a bit.
“I don’t have parents. My step mother sent me out of the house.” He said
faintly.
“Since when?” The old man asked.
“For almost three weeks now. I have been sleeping around, now the money
I have with me is almost finished. I don’t know what to do with my life. Help
me sir, please.” He sobbed. Up till now, Ezekiel couldn’t muster the courage
to ask any stranger for help, but strangely, he felt at ease talking to the
short, grey-haired man.
“Hmm.” The man looked at him suspiciously. He left him and ran to a car
which just entered the estate through the gate. He exchanged few
pleasantries with the driver and then the car drove off. He came back to
where Ezekiel was standing. He took a long look at him again and sighed.
“Sit down.” He pointed to the long bench in front of his crib.

“Hmm. What a wicked world! Aye le!!” He exclaimed and gave a long,
piteous sigh as Ezekiel finished narrating his ordeal to him. “So you have
been sleeping anywhere your legs stop since all these days? I wonder why
you have not been robbed or kidnapped.”
Ezekiel bowed his head in silence.

73
“Who will even want to rob you with the way you smell?” Baba Ayo, as he
had introduced himself to Ezekiel made a gesture with his hands in the air
as if to wave off a foul smell. “When last did you even have your bathe?”
“I can’t remember, Baba.”
“Hmm!!!” Baba shook his head. “First, go inside, drop your bag and come
outside let me show you to the bathroom.”
“Thank you so much sir! God bless you!! May God reward you.” Ezekiel said
with glee as he rushed into the small crib and rushed outside back outside.
“You didn’t even tell me your name!” Baba exclaimed as he and Ezekiel
walked to the bathroom that was located at the back of the crib.
“My name is Ezekiel.” Ezekiel didn’t think he had a surname anymore. He
wanted a fresh start. He wanted to forget the life he had in Abia, and he felt
forgetting his surname is the first easy step to take.
“Ezekiel. Okay. I hope I don’t regret this.”

Now Ezekiel sat on the bench in front of the old man’s crib. He had stayed
with Baba for two days. Ezekiel wasn’t pleased because he knew that he
was making the old man inconvenient in some way. He thought about how
he could earn his keep and also pay Baba some money for his
accommodation.
“Who are those people, Baba?” Ezekiel asked as Baba approached him right
after confronting a truck full of several agile teenage boys and few women.
Several of them held instruments for building. Baba had been talking to
them for several minutes.
“Don’t mind them. I have told them not to shout anytime they are entering
the estate. Several occupants have approached me about their lousiness all
over the estate.” Baba sighed as he sat down beside Ezekiel. He was
chewing stick.
“Who are they?” Ezekiel questioned again.
“They work for TLS building company. You know how it is. Building
agencies hire youths who are willing and able to work whenever they are
constructing. They are called labourers. They are paid a specific amount
per day.” Baba waved his hands at a driver that drove by.
“Really? That means that no youth in Lagos is supposed to be jobless, since
there are so many buildings in this estate being constructed.” Ezekiel was
amused at the opportunity.

“True, but how many of this youths are willing to work? Most of them run
away after one or two days. Sometimes when I stroll around, I see several
agents complain about the inability to get enough labourers. Money is not
the problem, the problem is the willingness. Who is willing to work?” Baba

74
removed the stick he was chewing from his mouth, spat out some particle
and once again dipped the stick back into his mouth.
“I am willing to work, Baba.” Ezekiel looked quite desperate.
“Ehnehn? You would have said so since na!” Baba grinned. “Just pray you
get lucky today.” He stood up, “stand up and look at me.”
Ezekiel stood up as instructed.
“Walk straight down and take the turn on your left. There are many
buildings being constructed in that arm of the estate. See if any agent needs
an extra labour.” Baba pointed down the road.
“Thank you for your help sir. I will be right back.” Ezekiel hurried off down
the estate, praying and hoping he gets work.

Ezekiel continued to walk down the estate. He had turned to the left part of
the estate as Baba had advised earlier. He was tired. He had been walking
for more than thirty minutes. Baba had been right about the many
constructions going on in that part of the estate, but had been wrong about
them needing any extra hand. From what he observed from the three
agents he had met with, none of them was ready to employ an extra hand.
They were all trying to minimize the costs of labour, even at the expense of
the stress that the workload had brought upon the labourers working.
In the space of thirty minutes, three agents had turned him down. He now
decided not to approach any other agent. He had gone past three other
buildings under construction without approaching any one of them.

As he passed by a huge construction, he stood to admire the magnificence

of the building. He wondered if it was a house or a five star hotel, one which
he had never seen before. He waited for several minutes. He saw labourers
working there, but he had no intention to approach the person in charge.
“Hello? Can I help you?”
Ezekiel turned around. It was a short, dark man probably in his early
thirties. He looked deviously at Ezekiel, with his arms folded across his
chest.
“Errm, no sir.” Ezekiel scratched his head as he stammered. “I was just
passing by.., sir.” He swallowed convulsively as fear gripped him. The man
was looking at him as if he was a threat that was about to be leached on.
“Are you sure? You have been standing there for a long time now. Did you
lose your away? Should I call the police?” He brought out his phone as if to
dial a number, still looking at him derisively.
“No sir. Please don’t.” Ezekiel knelt halfway. “I don’t want any trouble sir. I
was just going around looking for where I can work.”

75
“Really?” The man dipped his phone back into his pocket. “Why didn’t you
say so before?” He eased the frown on his face.
“I have tried three different places and I was turned down, so I just decided
to walk around before going back home.”
“Hmm. Where do you stay?” He folded his arms again.
“I stay at the gate with Baba Ayo.” Ezekiel responded immediately. He
wouldn’t be surprised if the man was some kind of police investigator.
“How come I haven’t seen you there before?”
“I came two days ago sir.”
“Who are you to Baba?” The man frowned again.
“I’m his relative sir.” Ezekiel told him what Baba has been telling several
other people.
“I am not a fool. You don’t look like a Yoruba boy.” He sighed and looked
around. “I will call Baba now, and if I find out that you lied to me, I will
assume that you have come to spy on the governor’s property, and I will get
you arrested.” He let out a soft cuss under his breath as he picked his phone
from his pocket and dialled Baba’s number.
After the phone call, his voice softened a bit. “So, you say you are looking
for a job?”
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel relaxed now. At least, his identity had been proven.
“Come with me.”
The strange man led him through the zinc gates of the gigantic building.
Ezekiel was still looking around when a young man walked up to them.
“Good morning Mr Dele.” The man greeted.
“Yes, you said you needed an extra hand when you called earlier, right?”
“Yes I did sir.” The young man, who Ezekiel had assumed was the agent
noted.
“You can use this boy. He seems to be willing to work, and he stays with
Baba at the gate.”

Ezekiel bowed his head as the agent looked at him with bright eyes. “Have
you done something like this before?” He asked.
Ezekiel shook his head. “No sir, I haven’t.”
“Alright. Just come with me.” The agent said as they both left the man
standing and looking up to the top floor of the building. “Be careful, Bolaji!”
The agent shouted at a bricklayer who was on the third floor handling the
windows.
Ezekiel had filled his eyes with lovely corners of the building before the
agent attended to him. He had been walking with the agent all the while.
“This place is really nice.” Ezekiel commented.
The agent looked at him and nodded. “It is. Just concentrate on the work.
You already know how much you’ll get, right?”

76
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel had been informed by Baba that they pay N1,500 every
day.
“Alright. Go and meet with Moshood. Tell him to show you what to do.” The
agent pointed to a teenager who was mixing concrete with the shovel in his
hands.

Several hours later, Ezekiel walked back to the crib exhausted. The sun had
already set, and it was gradually getting dark. He sweated as he walked on.
He now understood why nobody was willing to work. Who would sign up
for such a stressful work at such a ridiculous amount unless that person
had no choice for survival? Just like him. He carried bricks and planks until
his head felt as if it was going to fall off. Throughout that day, they were
only given one break of twenty minutes to eat. Ezekiel had nothing to eat or
drink. He didn’t bring any money since he didn’t predict how it would go.
Since he had nothing to eat, he continued working.

Now, as he walked back to the crib, listless, stressed and almost hopeless,
he knew he had to continue working if he needed to survive. He couldn’t
live off Baba when the old man also had children he had to remit money to
every now and then – neither could he live with Baba for the rest of his life.
He decided he was going to continue to work until he was able to gather
enough money to get a very cheap apartment. He decided he was going to
continue working until he had a better choice of work.
“Ezekiel,” he started as he struggled along, “this is just part of the process.
You are still young, you are still alive. You will survive whatever comes
your way. God has not brought you this far to leave you.” He let out a sigh.
“Ezekiel, you will make it. You will save up money and gain admission into
the university.” He paused. He had no idea why he was saying all he was
saying, he knew how ridiculous it sounded, he knew he could not possibly
save up money to sponsor himself into and through the university, but he
continued talking anyway. He had learnt the power that lies within the
tongue. “Ezekiel, you will study hard and become the king of the economic
world as you have always wished. Ezekiel, as long as you have not died,
nothing else can kill you at this point. It might look like the mountains are
impassable right now, but I know that God got plans for you.” He didn’t
know when tears rolled down his right cheek. “Ezekiel, you will succeed.”

Ezekiel continued working for several months. He had gotten used to

construction work. He helped carry woods, bricks, cement and several
other materials from one part of the construction site to where they are
needed. Under the space of three months, he had worked with TLS building

77
company and several other random building companies and had worked on
eight constructions. He was happy whenever the buildings were completed.
The feeling that he was part of a success that big always made him proud of
his work, no matter how small his contribution was.
He still lived with Baba in the small crib, but now, he was able to fend for
himself, and sometimes, Baba. He didn’t feel like a bother to Baba anymore
since all he did was leave home in the morning, come back at night and
sleep. He now had some money saved up and he felt if things continued this
way, he might actually save enough money to get himself into the
university – if it continued that way after 10 years.

Now he was walking to the construction site where he worked yesterday.

He thought about the boys who he met and what they had talked about the
previous day. Until yesterday, he didn’t know that there were people who
fared worse than him. He didn’t know that there were teenagers who were
going through a worse off fate than his own and are still surviving. He
remembered how his own problem felt minute compared to theirs.
“I am telling you, by this time last year, I was so sure I would be dead by
now. That I am still alive is something strange to me.” Bode had said during
the discussion.
At first, Ezekiel wondered what he had gone through that was as grave as
his own trials. It was not until he began his story that Ezekiel realized that
he was just a little boy in the world of pain.
“My mother had me when she was a teenager, at age fourteen to be exact.
She left me inside a waste bin to die, unfortunately, I was found by a Good
Samaritan who took me to an orphanage. I grew up there, though it is now
a faint memory, but I can remember I had a good life in the orphanage. I
was adopted when I was six years old by rich people and I thought my life
just began. These people didn’t have a child and they had been married for
almost four years. They treated me with so much love and kindness, so
much that I let myself believe they were my true parents. It was not until
they gave birth to a baby boy the following year that my life took the left
turn. These people began to treat me like trash. They even treated their
trash better than they did me. I wondered what was happening and why
they both turned on me. This wonder went on for good four years. I don’t
think there is any kind of maltreatment that can be used on a human being
that they didn’t use on me. I was hung to the fan several times while I was
being beaten. I was stripped naked and made to run around the street.” He
pulled off his clothes for others to see. “See all these scars? This one was
when the woman I called my mother threw a very hot iron at me. This one
on my stomach happened when my so called father used the metal part of
his belt to hit me several times.” He wore his clothes. “I had no idea where I

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had gone wrong, but I always blamed myself whenever I was punished.” He
paused, bent down and began to mix the concrete with the shovel in his
hands.
Ezekiel wondered how he got here. He was just ten when all these things
were happening. “So did you run away from the house?” Curiosity gripped
Ezekiel as he dropped the block he had carried from the other end of the
room.
“One day when I was eleven, they had a visitor, and I was told to go and
meet a friend of theirs, few blocks away from our house. They said she
wanted to send me on an errand. As God would have it, the woman I was
asked to go and meet wasn’t around, and all my instincts pointed me back
to the house.”
“Pass me the shovel, Bode.” William said as he collected the shovel from the
story teller.

“When I got to the house, I saw that the cats had already strayed from their
shed. They were scattered around the compound.”
“Your adoptive parents reared cats?” William asked, pouring concrete into
a head pan.
“Yes, three black cats. So instead of walking into the living room, I went
round the back, looking for the cats.” He stood straight for the first time
since he started the story. He was sweating profusely. The sun was
scorching and they had to work. He stretched out his arms and yawned, and
then continued his story.
“When I got to the back of the house, something smelt very foul and I
became curious so I traced the smell. It was coming from my so called
parents’ room, so I decided to peep through the window and eavesdrop.
That was how I started hearing what the visitor was saying. They were
making some kinds of incantations that I didn’t understand. The cats were
obediently lying in the middle.”
“Fetish people!”
“You can say that again. I still did know what they were saying until I
started hearing the man ask my parents whether they have prepared me
for the ritual, heard some other things too, then it dawned on me that I was
never a child to them. I was never adopted to be a child to them. I was just a
means to give birth to a child and I must be killed if that child is to survive
on earth.” He broke the news.
The air was tight. Everybody including Ezekiel paused. They could not
believe what they heard from Bode.
“Now I agree with Baba. He always says that this world is a wicked world.”
Ezekiel pitifully asserted. “How did you now survive the ritual?”

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“Survive what? Who will wait to be the guinea pig of a perverted
procession?” He snorted.
“So you ran away?” Uche asked.
“Would you have waited?”
“At eleven?”
“I figured that if you were not too young to be used as a ritual, then you are
not too young to run away from home.”
“How then have you survived all these years?” Uche continued.
“Did you go back to the orphanage?” Ezekiel asked this time around.
“I couldn’t go back to the orphanage because that’d be their first point of
search, and besides, I had no means to go back to the orphanage. How could
I go all the way to Imo from Lagos state?”
“How did you survive?” Uche asked again.
“Honestly? I don’t know. All I know is that all through the years, I moved
from one refuse dump to another, at least, that was where I originated
from, so I felt safe with them. I felt I was with family. I slept at several
garages, several bridges, several gutters and several streets. I would go
without eating for two days if I do not see any leftover in any refuse dump. I
never looked forward to the next day because I know my life could end at
any time. Sometimes, I would steal bread and other things from different
shops. I had no choice. Nobody wanted to employ a kid; nobody wanted
anything to do with a homeless seed. I hated stealing, but I had no choice. I
lived without a roof over my head; I lived without as much as one meal in
my belly, sometimes, I prayed to God to just take me, but I guess he really
does not exist, because if he does, he would have heard my cries and taken
me.”

By this time, there was no movement in the room. Everyone paid rapt
attention to his story.
Bode had started crying as he recalled all he had been through. “Up until
now, I have no idea how I have been surviving. I just do not look forward to
the next day. I’d have said that God made me survive, but I stopped
believing a long time ago. I mean, what kind of God will be in heaven and
watch children suffer? That guy up there is sleeping.” He wiped his face
with his dirty hands. “I still sleep under bridges until now, because what I
make is barely enough to last me for a day. If you guys know the amount of
times I’ve contemplated suicide? Anyway, that’s that.” He said with a
concluding tone.

Ezekiel heard several other stories and concluded that his struggles were
nowhere near the pain of these people. The more he had to thank God for,
the more he wondered where God was amidst the troubles of this world.

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He made more resolutions that he was going to survive this, make it in life
and ease the pains of children and adults alike. He stopped thinking about
just being a business mogul but using his wealth and entire being to make
lives easier.
He stopped thinking about what he could do for himself, but about what he
could do for others through himself. “Lord, you have to make me a success.
Here is your chance to prove yourself.”

81
 “What distinguished him from them all was the
fact that he still believed in God, he believed that
God still had good plans and a good destination
for him.”
- Handzinspired

82
 CHAPTER SEVEN

“Did you cook anything?” Bode walked into the room and dropped his bag.
He shook hands with Ezekiel as he sat on the chair.
“No. The only food left in this house is garri.” Ezekiel sat up from the bed
and shook Bode’s hands. “How was it?”
“Well, it was very stressful, but the owner of the building came around to
give us tips.” Bode yawned. “I am very tired. I really need to sleep.” He
moved to the bed and lay down. “So you have not eaten anything this
morning?” He asked Ezekiel.
“I am about to take garri. I couldn’t buy anything to cook soup because I
just gave Kasali the rent for two months.” Ezekiel said as he vacated the
small-sized bed for him.
“Do you have work this morning?”
“Yes.”
“TLS?”
“No. Junior just told me about this new building that needs workers, so I
want to try it out.” Ezekiel said as he glanced up at the wall clock.
“Alright.” Bode followed his gaze to the wall clock. “You know what? Let us
go and get something to eat outside. I can still spare some money for food
later this evening.” He stood up and heaved a sigh.
“That’s cool. I’ll go to work from there.” Ezekiel took a t-shirt hung on the
wall and followed him outside the small room.

It had been one year since Ezekiel settled with his life in the wilderness. He
had forgotten everything about his life in Abia. About his stepmother, about
his step sister, about his father, and about Chiamaka. The only thing that
kept him going for one whole year was the thought of surviving and making
the world a better place if he ever succeeded. What fuelled his drive and
passion was the stories he heard over the months from lots of teenagers
and adults he had met with. He figured out that this world was bigger than
what his step mother did to him. Bigger than his father’s compound, bigger
than Abia, bigger than Nigeria. He decided long ago not to hold grudges
anymore. He was here right now because he needed to be here.
Over the course of the year, he had seen people with unbelievable sores,
heard incredulous stories and saw a lot of vices and deaths happen because
of money, because of hunger. His view and orientation had changed;
however, his dreams did not.
He still held on to the dreams of becoming a successful person, a wealthy
businessman and a wild achiever. He now had enough reasons to pursue
this unlikely dream. He had seen enough inner wars, enough struggle for
life and freedom. He had heard enough curses people laid on God, on

83
themselves. Even he had held God to ransom on His words. What
distinguished him from them all was the fact that he still believed in God, he
believed that God still had good plans and a good destination for him.

Ezekiel moved out of Baba’s crib nine months ago after he heard about a
rundown building on the mainland that let rooms out at a very cheap rate
to homeless people. He was able to convince Bode, a fellow labourer, to be
his roommate. They were able to settle down after several days of roaming
about the streets of the mainland in search of the building. Ezekiel went
back to the Island quite a number of times to see and thank Baba for the
help he received from him.
At first, after settling down with Bode, Ezekiel felt that he had crossed a
mountain in the journey of his life, however, nine months into their lease
agreement, they could hardly go through a day. Everything they made was
either spent on the house rent or on transportation to where they worked.
Then whatever was left hardly sufficed them until the next job arrived.
Hunger had come to live with them. They slept on empty stomachs
whenever they had no money and no work to do.

Bode had a negative view about life. What he did everyday was look
forward to his death, to the end of this misery, but Ezekiel on the other
hand knew, or at least felt optimistic that things will eventually be fine. He
tried changing Bode’s perspective to no avail over the past months. He had
given up, because each time he tried to talk to Bode about God, about the
process and about opportunities that God will bring across them soon, he
always got edgy and defensive. Ezekiel could not blame him; he knew Bode
has gone through life with a black cloud hovering around his head and to
change that embedded state was going to be one hell of a job. Ezekiel only
had enough faith to keep himself going, so he gave up on Bode and held God
to a ransom.
“Do something mighty so that Bode and all of them might believe that you
exist and that you are not sleeping.” He had said.

Ezekiel got to the place Junior, his neighbour, had told him about after a
very long walk. It was on the outskirts of Lekki Phase 1. It was there he saw
what surprised him. In all the months he had been working, he had never
seen a teenage girl do any labour work. All the people who he was used to
seeing on construction sites are young boys and women, probably the ones
who had to feed their children alone, or the ones whose hubbies were
jobless. What Ezekiel saw when he got to the site amazed him – a lady
doing things several boys shied away from because of its stress! He
watched her from afar off as she carried the bricks and head pan filled with

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concrete with such erratic agility and dexterity. He wondered where she
fell off from and why she was doing such a job. After several minutes, he
decided to mind his own business and focus on what he came to do.
It was way past noon, and a break had been declared for the workers.
Ezekiel sat on a bench with the other labourers. Some were eating while
others were enthusiastically chatting and ranting about how the economy
was and about how what they earn could not feed them.
Amidst all of these, Ezekiel was in a world of his own. He continued to stare
at the mysterious lady who hasn’t taken a second of break since he set his
eyes on her in the morning. He looked again and wondered what on God’s
green earth she was doing in a construction site. He sighed.

“Who is that girl?” He finally asked one of the blabbing boys, and at that
moment, it was like everyone was waiting for one person to bring up the
topic.
“That girl?” The most loquacious of the group of guys started with a snort.
“We have also been wondering who she is and what she is doing here.”
“What surprises me the most is what the agent was thinking when he
accepted her to work here.” Another said.
“She came here yesterday, begging the agent for work. Yes, we were short
on workers, but he still did not agree. I could see her kneeling down from
where I was working. She was scratching her knees on the floor, begging
and crying that she could do the work. After all the appeals and tears, our
agent decided to give her money, but she wouldn’t accept it. She said she
wanted to work and get paid.” The loudest guy continued to narrate.
“We didn’t think he would allow her work at all.” Another cut in. “We were
all surprised when she started carrying those blocks as if she has been
doing it all her life. At the end of yesterday, the agent had no choice but to
pay her. We were surprised when she came again today.”
“Why is she not taking a break?” Ezekiel looked from the talking guy to the
working lady and then back to the talking guy.
“I guess she is trying to prove herself to the agent.” The one who has been
quiet since the topic began finally spoke out.
“Did she not prove herself enough yesterday? I feel what she is aimed at
doing is to make us feel intimidated.”
“Did she tell you to take a break? If you are feeling intimidated, you can as
well go back there to work and stab your break. Nonsense!” The loud guy
turned to Ezekiel again. “The funniest thing is that she has been ignoring us
since she came yesterday. I even tried talking to her but she snubbed me
totally.”
“You were trying to bully her.”
“I thought I just shushed you!”

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“Let us get back to work!!” Ezekiel shouted when he realized what was
about to happen. “Our break is over.” As soon as he said that, they
dispersed to their respective places.

The more Ezekiel worked, the more he wondered what was wrong with the
lady. He knew it was strange to see a girl work as a labourer, but what was
stranger was why he couldn’t get his mind off her. He looked at her again as
she tried to lift up a block. She had been doing that perfectly all by herself
all morning, until now. As she tried to lift up the weakly block, it broke and
fell right on top of her legs.
She winced in pain as Ezekiel rushed over to her. “Are you okay?” He bent
to examine her leg.
“Do I look like I’m okay?” She glared as she sat on one of the blocks, trying
to hold in the pain that shot through her.
“You are bleeding.” Ezekiel stood up straight and looked around.
“I know that!”
“I think you need to go to the hospital.” Before Ezekiel could say any other
thing, the mysterious lady already carried another block and started
limping towards the bricklayer that needed it.
Ezekiel rushed to meet her, collected the block from her and carried it to
the bricklayer. She just stood where she was, dumbfounded.
When Ezekiel came back to her and tried to drag her right hand. She flung it
away from him instantaneously. “What is wrong with you?!”
“I am trying to help. There is a clinic at the end of the street.”
“Can’t you just mind your own business?”
Ezekiel knew she was hurting, and not just her leg, but her soul. What he
saw when he looked into the hazel eyes of the mysterious lady was more
than beauty. He saw pain, he saw held back tears.
“You can’t..,” Ezekiel started to say when she started limping off. He sighed
as he watched her get by. After she reached some distance, she fell down.
She couldn’t move anymore. Then he rushed to her. “No one will cut your
wage if you take a ten minute break!”

“I need to work! I have to keep working, even if I die! I need to..,” She tried
to hold in her tears as much as she could. She stopped talking, seeing that
the young man in front of her was defiant and no matter what she said, he
was not going to let her work anymore without getting treated, even if she
could.
“It is bad enough that you are working here. You need to get treated. Stay
here and I will be right back.” Ezekiel said as he walked to where the other
labourers worked. He knew what he was about to do was beyond reason.
He knew he had no money, but since he suggested a clinic to her, he needed

86
to be responsible for the payment. As he walked closer to the staring men,
he prayed to God that one of them will be able to help.
“I can see she is now talking to you?” Kofi, the loudest, asked with a glint of
sarcasm in his voice.
Ezekiel decided to ignore him and he turned to Peter who he felt was more
mature than the rest of them. “Please, can you spare about five hundred
naira? She is hurt and she needs to go to the clinic. I will pay you back once
I get my wage.”
“Is she worth spending your wage on?” He frowned.
“Are you giving me or not?”
Peter shrugged and went to where his coat is. He came back with a five
hundred naira note and handed it to Ezekiel. “I just hope you know what
you are doing.”
Ezekiel rushed back to the injured lady. “We need to go now, before it gets
infected.” He placed one of her hands around his shoulder, held her waist
and lifted her up as they walked down the street.

It was a silent walk to the clinic. A tiring one for Ezekiel because he had to
help this strange lady to walk.
“Alright, I am done. She should be able to walk all by herself now.” The
nurse said as she finished dressing the injury on her leg.
“Thanks.” Ezekiel spoke out as he paid the nurse. He had used up the five
hundred naira on the plaster, bandage and drugs.
“Make sure you use the pain relief medicine I gave you.”
“I will. Thank you.”
As they both walked back to the construction site, Ezekiel wondered when
he became so kind-hearted – or so stupid. He looked at the lady who he
already identified as Sophie, thanks to the clinic slip. He continued to stare
at her as she walked right in front of him, then he knew he wasn’t all that
kind-hearted as he would like to think. He knew he was attracted to this
lady who had not even as much as breathed a word to him even when
others in her shoes would have considered him a saviour. He felt that it was
natural for him to feel stupid that he just wasted part of his wage on her,
but he did not. He was glad he did, no matter how ungrateful….,
“Thanks.”
Ezekiel was cut off from his train of thoughts by the sudden display of
appreciation. Somehow, he felt something was wrong – well, if a teenage
lady is working as a labourer, something definitely has to be wrong!
“I will refund the money as soon as the agent pays our wage.”
“I didn’t ask you to.” Ezekiel’s eyes flickered
“You didn’t have to. I saw that you collected it from one of those guys.” She
stopped walking and turned to face him.

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Ezekiel stopped short.
“Why did you do that? Do you do that for every wounded stranger?” She
asked as she stared at him piercingly.
At that point, Ezekiel saw her beauty and knew beyond doubt that she was
more beautiful than anything he had ever seen before. She was beautiful,
even in her ashes.
“We both will agree that you aren’t exactly a common stranger.” He was
able to answer steadily.
“Really? Then what am I?” She turned and started moving again.
Ezekiel was now right beside her. “It is not every day that we see a
beautiful lady working alongside haggard looking young boys.” And
immediately, Ezekiel regretted saying what he just said; especially the
beautiful part of the sentence.
“Hm. As if beautiful is the word I’d choose.”
Ezekiel decided not to push the topic any further. “So, what is your story,
Sophie?”
“I have none.”
“We both know that is not true.”
“Don’t call me a liar. If I say I have none, then I have none.” She stared
daggers at him.
Ezekiel shrugged. He could spot their construction site now.
Sophie looked at him and wondered. She wanted him to press further,
strangely, he didn’t. She admired his confidence, and his speech gave him
away. She concluded that he was not uncultured, like the others, so she
decided that confiding in him might just be what she needed. “I am so tired
of everything.”
“Huh?”
“My life is a total mess right now.” She sighed as she started. “I wonder how
it’d sound when people hear that Badmus Sophie is going about, doing odd
jobs!”

Ezekiel still had no idea what she meant as they walked into the building.
“We’ll talk about this after work, okay? It won’t be fair on us both if our
wages are cut down.” He said.
“Alright then.”
“Work less. Don’t stress yourself working, okay?”
“Thanks.”

Ezekiel opened the door and slumped himself on the bed. He was told by
the next door neighbour that Bode had gone to work for the night. His mind
wandered back to the events of the day. He couldn’t get his mind off Sophie.

88
He remembered the tears that rolled down her face as she started her story
on their way from the construction site.
“I don’t know where to begin telling you,” She had folded her arms across
her chest as they walked. “My dad is the only family I have in this world. He
had been the manager of Stark Oil Nigeria Plc for fifteen years, and all of a
sudden, he wasn’t anymore.” Tears had begun to roll down her cheeks.
“Right now, I have no idea whatsoever where he is.”
“I don’t understand you.” Ezekiel told her.
“He was accused of fraud and then he just took off. He left me here with no
words. All my accounts have been frozen, I have nothing to eat and I do not
know any other way to..,” she sniffled and wiped her nose, “to make money.
I have to eat, I have to pay my school fees before the end of next month or
else I’d have to forfeit my admission. Right now, I am staying with a friend
from our estate. The bank officials came last week to seize everything
owned by my father. The only things left of me are these clothes that I am
putting on.” She looked at herself and shook her head in disbelief.

“Who would have known that my life will turn upside down this way?” She
snorted. “My friend’s parents must not even know that I am staying in their
house, so I always wait outside until 12 A.M before I can sneak into the
house, and sometimes when my friend sleeps off, I have no option but to
sleep outside.” She laughed. “You know, it is a funny thing how friends turn
their backs on you when you have a problem. People who I have known
with my father almost all my life denied me any kind of help. I’ve been
avoided in the course of two weeks like I am a pariah that needs to be
avoided. Isn’t this world something?”
Ezekiel remembered the hurt and pain that her smile revealed as she told
her story. He stood up to check the pot whether Bode had cooked
something before leaving. He was glad when he saw concoction rice as he
opened the pot, but the smile died immediately he remembered that a
strong lady was out there without food to eat.

“I am not even doing this work because I am hungry or I need something to

eat. I am doing this because I cannot afford to forfeit my hard earned
admission to the university after three years of trying. I don’t care where
my father is, wherever he is, I just hope he is safe and he shouldn’t come
back until this issue is cleared. I just need to raise some money for my
schooling.” By the time she finished, tears had already welled up on
Ezekiel’s face too.
Ezekiel knew how it felt like to be very rich and to have everything at your
disposal one night, and then you go to sleep and wake up with everything,
everything including your shelter stripped off of you.

89
He prayed to God as he helped himself with the food he had already dished
out in a plate. “Lord, grant Sophie her heart desires. Help her with a source
of money so that she does not have to forfeit her admission.”
At that point, Ezekiel decided to do everything he could to ease her work,
and ease her stay at the construction site. He already introduced her to TLS
construction agency when they finished work at the end of the day. He told
her where they’ll be working the next day, and she nodded affirmatively to
be there, so he hoped to see her at the construction site the following day.
Strangely, he felt like he had found a new friend, one who is not only bright
and beautiful, but who has the same suffering as he does.

Ezekiel was all ready for work when Bode walked in. They shook hands and
he fell on the bed, heaving sighs.
“Don’t you think you need to stop this night work that you do, Bode?”
“Why? It is a good pay.”
“Why do you think they work only at nights? And have you not stopped to
think why they pay twice as much as they pay regular labourers?”
“I guess it is because of the sleep they deprive us of.” Bode yawned
nonchalantly.
“You know what I think?” He paused when Bode yawned again, and then he
continued. “I think that the building you are working on is illegal. It has not
gotten the usual recognition from the government. I asked the building
agent yesterday about OL Building and Construction Company, and guess
what? He told me that he has not heard of a company like that. Don’t you
think there is nothing to be worried about?” He took a comb from the only
table in their small room and combed his hair in front of the mirror, all on
impulse.
“Wait, what are you doing?” Bode sat up sharply. His eyes beheld surprise.
“Huh?”
“Why are you combing your hair to work? You even looked into the mirror.
Are you okay?” Bode hung his head in disbelief.
“Well,” Ezekiel shrugged, “nothing really.” After several moments, he
changed his mind. “There actually is something. I’ll tell you when I get back
from work.” He dropped the comb and wondered when and how he took it
in the first place. “Anyway, let us not change the subject; I don’t think you
should go to that place again.”
“But what is my own business with whether or not the building is illegal? I
am just a labourer that has gotten a good offer. Offers like this don’t come
easy.” He looked at the unconvinced face of Ezekiel and sighed. “Don’t
worry, after tonight, I will not go there again, satisfied?” He knew Ezekiel
worried about him a lot.

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Ezekiel shrugged. “I just want us to be careful.” He moved to open the door.
“Alright, I’ll see you.” He walked out of the room.

As Ezekiel walked to the construction site, his pace grew faster as he began
to think of seeing Sophie again. He smiled at intervals whenever her face
appeared in his mind. He loved her height. Yes, she was not all that tall, and
he loved it. He loved the way her dimples showed when she tried not to cry.
He remembered how her dark, soft skin reminded him of Chiamaka. The
way she talked, her impeccable English, coupled with her cloying voice
made him wonder how she could be so different from all the girls he had
met in his life. Then there were those eyes, her ever shinning hazel eyes,
ones that caught him like a fly in a spider’s web.

He smiled again as he saw the site from afar. His heart skipped two beats at
the thought of seeing her again.
For the first time in his life, he hoped for something other than his dreams.
He did not know when his fast steps grew into silent jogs until he got to the
site. Work was about to begin and other labourers had started moving to
their work spots. He thought he would see her as soon as he got to the site;
however, all hopes fell through when he asked Jesse about her.
“Where is the girl that came here this morning?” He swallowed, hoping he’d
say that she quickly went out.
“Girl? What girl?” Jesse stood upright. He was about to carry a head pan
filled with sand when Ezekiel approached him.
“The girl that came here to work.” Ezekiel maintained.
“Girl? Came here?? To work???” Jesse couldn’t help but burst into laughter
after digesting what Ezekiel had just said. “Are you sure you are okay? Have
you ever seen a girl come here before? Not to talk of working.” He laughed
again, shook his head, bent down and hurried off with the pan on his head.
Ezekiel rubbed his head and tried to cool off. Maybe she is not here yet. She
will come. She told me she has nowhere else to go. Maybe she is running late.
As soon as he assured himself, he took a deep breath in and started to
work.

Several hours later, she still hadn’t shown up. Ezekiel had begun to worry
after two hours of expecting her. As he climbed up the stairs with blocks on
both his hands, he sighed continuously.
Meanwhile, the CEO of TLS Construction Company was visiting the site
because the building that was being worked on was that of his friend. The
potbellied, stout, dark man, Alhaji Akinleye walked around the building
beside the building agent, who was his employee.

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“I heard that man is the owner of the company.” Kabir, the bricklayer
Ezekiel had come up the stairs to drop the brick for, asserted as he looked
down the decking he was sitting on.
“What did you say?” Ezekiel asked absentmindedly. He hadn’t been paying
attention, so he had no idea what Kabir had said.
“I said that the man walking about with our agent is the owner of the
company.” Kabir said again as he lifted one of the blocks Ezekiel had
dropped and positioned it on the part of the building he was working on.
“Are you serious?” Ezekiel moved closer to the edge of the decking to take a
closer look. “He is the owner of all those buildings we work on and then
they sell off? Wow!” Ezekiel exclaimed as he watched how the potbellied
man wigwagged beside the agent, and the agent, bowing at his every word.
Nobody saw the brick coming from the top. Nobody saw it until it hit the
cynosure of all eyes.
Everybody froze. What just happened?
A brick just fell directly on the head of Alhaji Akinleye.
Nobody was sure of what to do as they all began to gather round the man’s
unconscious body. They just watched as the agent was frantically shouting
and running around with a phone on his ear. He was trying to reach the
driver that brought the Alhaji to the site. Alhaji had earlier told the driver to
go and pick up his kid from school, then come back to pick him when he
was done.
“Alhaji, please get up! Alhaji, get up!!” The agent came back for the
umpteenth time and started shaking the lifeless body as if to jerk life back
into him. “You cannot die like this! Your driver will soon come to pick you
up! Don’t die on me, please!!” The agent placed both his hands on his head
and wailed.
Every one of the labourers stood above them. They had no idea what to do.
They thought whether to run away, or to cry with him who cries. They knew
that running away was not an option because they wanted to get paid, and
most of them could not cry because they’d seen worse situations. They’d
lost a lot of precious people and have cried on a lot of lost loved ones, so
why should they waste their tears on a total stranger? And some were just
indifferent. “What a pity! He is dead, just like that!” Someone exclaimed in
terror.
“No! I don’t think he is dead.” Ezekiel walked right into the circle that had
already been formed by the gathered labourers. He then bent down before
the agent and Alhaji.
He took a deep breathe. “Lord, I hope this works. Don’t let him die on me,
please.” He whispered as he folded his hands together and started a CPR on
the lifeless body.

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“The shiniest gold is tried in the hottest fire.”
- Handzinspired

93
 CHAPTER EIGHT

Ezekiel prayed as he continuously pushed against the heart of Alhaji. He

prayed, not because he was scared – they had already condemned the man
dead; he was scared for the life of the man. He was scared for the worker
who had not been careful enough and had let the brick fall off.
The labourers that gathered around wondered what he was up to. They
were not educated enough to know what Ezekiel was doing. The agent just
sat there in awe as he watched what the shabby labourer was doing.
Ezekiel perspired heavily as he pumped the man’s heart for the umpteenth
time. There was no response and he was beginning to get worried. He
suddenly remembered what he wasn’t doing and he immediately opened
the mouth of the body lying on the floor, bent down, and dipped his mouth
into his mouth and then blew air into it. He waited for some seconds and
then he did it again. When he was about to do it again, Alhaji coughed out
and weakly opened his eyes.
It was almost immediately that Alhaji’s driver drove into the site. He rushed
to Alhaji who was already made to sit up.

“He needs to get to the hospital immediately.” Ezekiel told his driver after
heaving a sigh of relief. The agent and Alhaji’s driver lifted him, one hand
on each of their shoulders, and took him to the car.
Alhaji still looked around as if he could not fathom what was going on.
Ezekiel watched as the car drove off and he wondered how life could play
out at any given time.
What if he had not learnt how to perform a CPR? What if he had not seen
the accident that happened the previous year or had paid no attention to
the details of the incident? What if he had been nonchalant about the
knowledge of CPR? At the point when he was getting punished because he
had gone to the cyber café and had returned home late, he simply thought it
was his stupidity, curiosity that had made the punishment befall him. He
never for once thought he was going to save a life with it later. He learnt
something. He learnt from then on to always acquire knowledge, no matter
how irrelevant it is to his own field. He will not shy away from any kind of
skill, and any opportunity to learn will be taken seriously. God had used his
knowledge of CPR to save a life today, who knows what God will use to save
another life tomorrow?
“Thank you Lord. Thank you for showing up and saving his life.” He said
under his breath. He didn’t know that it was his future that God had saved.
His dreams.

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He saw as the other labourers loitering around the site and doing nothing
because there was no one there to supervise them, and then, as if on
impulse, he decided to take things into his own hands.
“Why are you all not working?” He had no idea why he confronted them.
Most of them were bigger than he was, and scarier too, but for some reason,
he was bold. “We are not done with the work for God’s sake, and we cannot
just stop working because the agent is not here.”
“So what do you want us to do? We are not sure we will get our money at
the end of the day.” Elijah asked as they others kept quiet to listen. They all
wanted to hear from him. He had earned their admiration and respect.
“Shouldn’t we work like we own the company instead of thinking whether
we’ll get paid or not?” He sighed and relaxed. He had a strange feeling of
control. “This company has been good to us. They have never ceased to pay
us no matter the progress of the job, and they even give us tips sometimes,
so this is the least we can do, I know money is essential, I mean, it is the
reason we are all here in the first place. If we do not get paid today, we’ll
get paid some other day. They are not running away, are they?”
There was a second of murmuring amongst the labourers as not all of them
agreed to what Ezekiel had proposed.
“You heard the doctor! Let us get to work.” Elijah, the biggest and eldest of
them spoke with his ground-shaking voice. They responded favourably, not
because they all feared Elijah, but because they now saw Ezekiel as a
leader. They saw him as a life saver. They saw him as respectable. Since he
had said that the lifeless Alhaji was not dead, and at the end, he was truly
not dead; then when he says they are going to be paid, then they are going
to be paid. Whatever Ezekiel says, they all believed he said from a deeper
level of understanding that they could not comprehend. They all decided
never to question him from that day onwards. They decided instead, not to
do anything he did not agree with.
This was how Ezekiel became the unofficial leader of the TLS Construction
Company’s group of labourers.

“How did you do what you did to that man?” Jesse asked Ezekiel when all
the labourers had dispersed and had begun to work. They both were on
their way back to where they collected concrete in their head pans.
“It’s something I learnt some time ago.” Ezekiel dropped his head pan.
“You don’t just learn how to save a life as casually as you are saying it.”
“I didn’t save his life. God did.”
Jesse snorted. “God? Is it the one that could not stop you from working in
this dangerous and dreadful place that can save a life? Oh please!” Jesse was
also part of the numerous labourers Ezekiel had met who had given up on
God early in life.

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“Well,” Ezekiel prayed for the right words to say. “Have you stopped to
think whether God actually put me here to save that man’s life?” He bent
and helped Jesse carry the head pan onto his head.
“Good riddance! What kind of God does that?” He waited for a labourer to
help Ezekiel with the head pan onto his own head. “If I were to be God, and
I see that you believe in me this much, would I have allowed you to go
through all these sufferings?”
“That is why man is not God. God does not think or see as men think or see.
And one thing I know, Jesse,” Ezekiel finally got his head pan onto his own
head with the help of another labourer. “One thing I know is that whatever
happens now happens for a reason, and it’ll turn out for my good.” Ezekiel
continued talking for long with Jesse, giving him examples of Joseph and his
travails, told him about the childless Abraham, David, and many others. As
he narrated everything to the unbelieving mind, he couldn’t help but think
about Chiamaka. Chiamaka had told him most of these stories on their way
back from school. She told him how every single one of them became great
and got what God promised them. She told him that great men go through
great travails. She told him that he was experiencing these difficulties
because he was being prepared for greatness.

“The shiniest gold is tried in the hottest fire.” He told Jesse the exact words
he heard from Chiamaka. “You are going to pass through this tough rain
and at some point, you might have to run through a hot fire. I really cannot
promise you that you will not be drenched, or that you will not get burned
at all, what I do know, however is that God will not give you what you
cannot handle. He has provided, alongside the problem, the solution. So,
don’t concentrate too much on the problem that you forget to look for the
solution that is just lying around.”

At the end of the day, Ezekiel had forgotten totally about the thought that
filled his mind in the morning when he was going to work. All he could do
now is reminisce about the memories he had created with Chiamaka.
Everything he told Jesse, he had learnt from Chiamaka. He wondered how
she was faring. He wondered what she now thought of him. He wondered
why things could not be different. He wondered whether he would ever see
her again. He smiled at intervals as he remembered several playful
moments they had, several emotional moments they shared. He wondered
if anybody could mean as much as she ever meant to him. He hoped against
hopes that she still thought about him, whatever it is she thought, whether
good or bad, he just hoped she hadn’t forgotten him.

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Ezekiel got home several minutes past nine, and as expected, he didn’t meet
Bode at home. He had gone for his nocturnal work.
It was when Ezekiel rested on the bed that he remembered Sophie. He
wondered why she did not come. He said a silent prayer to God for her
because he felt he might not see her again.
His mind strayed back to the event of the day. He wondered what would
have happened if he didn’t perform a CPR on the man. It was at that point
that the implications of Alhaji being dead dawned on him. The labourers
would lose their constant jobs, some of them could have been arrested, TLS
might have to close down…, as he thought about all these things, he heard a
knock on the door.
“Who is that?” Ezekiel stood up from the bed to get the door.
“Tom!” A shaky and hasty voice resounded.
Ezekiel wondered what could have gone wrong. It was Tom and Bode that
usually went for the labour work at nights. “Did you not go to work?” He
said as he opened the door and was surprised at the urgency with which
Tom rushed into the room and closed the door behind him. He was
breathing fast and was sweating.
“What is wrong?” Ezekiel frowned.
“Police.” Tom managed to mumble amidst heaving.
“What are you saying?” Ezekiel could not decipher what he was saying.
“Relax and talk to me.” He held Tom’s shoulders.
“We were working on the site and..and..,” He was still panting heavily. “I
need water.” He then sat down on the small chair.
Ezekiel poured out drinking water from the keg at the right corner of the
room into a small cup he took from the table. Then he handed it to Tom.
Tom drank its content all in one gulp. “We had no idea that the police were
hiding in the environment to catch the labourers working in the building.
About twenty minutes after we started, about six of them with guns
invaded into the site. They blocked the entrance with the two cars they
brought and…,”
Ezekiel ran out of patience. “What are you saying, Tom? Go straight to the
point! If all these happened at your site, where then is Bode?” He dreaded
what he was about to hear.
“The police took him, alongside three others. The rest of us narrowly
escaped.” He ended.
Ezekiel stared at him as if he couldn’t fathom what he was saying. “What
did you say?”
“Bode was arrested.”
Ezekiel collapsed slowly onto the bed. Reality dawned on him. His
roommate had been arrested. “I warned him.” He rubbed both hands on his
head.

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“What are we going to do?”
Ezekiel knew that there was no way they could bail him out of the prison
cell. They had no money, they had no power and they were in the wrong, so
how could they cry for justice? “What about the company involved? They’ll
bail their workers, won’t they?”
Tom scratched his head, now more relaxed. “They told us when we started
working that they were not responsible for anything that happens to us on
the site. I didn’t know what that mean until now.”
“Oh Lord! How could you both have been so daft?” Ezekiel bellyached. He
worried for his friend. “Shouldn’t you have seen the handwriting on the
wall from the very beginning?” He seemed frustrated. “What do you think
we can do now? Can we bail him out? Do you have money? Even if you do,
can you sacrifice it for his wellbeing?” Ezekiel saw as he narrowed his eyes.
“You see? You can’t! Now he is at the mercies of the police. If they are taken
to court, do you think Bode will come back? Why on earth did you people
keep me in the dark?!” He rubbed his head again.
“You know what? Just leave.” He stood up to open the door for Tom.
“Please, can’t I sleep here tonight?” He swallowed. Fright could be seen on
his face. “The police can still be..,”
“No, you can’t!” Ezekiel raised his voice. He opened the door. He was visibly
upset. “Tom, leave!!”
Ezekiel paced the floor of the room as soon as Tom left. He had no idea
where to go from there. He knew that Bode could only have been taken to
the only police station in the area. He decided to go there first thing in the
morning to see him. He said a short prayer and lay on the bed, hoping he’d
be able to sleep.

Ezekiel woke up at exactly 11:30am. He hadn’t been able to find sleep until
2:00am that morning. He sat up on his bed and the thoughts he had the
previous night rushed back into his psyche. He stood up immediately and
paced the floor of his room. He thought about how he could free Bode from
the prison cell. He paused as he heard an itinerant evangelist preaching
from the street.
“Until you know for sure that you cannot do anything about that situation,
and you accept the fact that God alone can do all things, then will there be
settlement. You might be accused, and pointed at because of the debts you
owe; you might be in a situation that you do not know what to do about, I
tell you, take it to God.”
Ezekiel realized that this word was probably for him. He decided that he
had no power to work things out for his roommate, but he was sure, at least

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to some extent, that God, as his mother and Chiamaka believed, was able to
do all things, and with him is nothing impossible. He knelt down.
“Lord, we both know I believe in you. Even if I find myself doubting, I do not
doubt the fact that you are there. Lord, if truly you are everything they say
that you are, come and prove yourself. Grant the provision for the release of
Bode, or at least, if the provision is too hard to be granted, allow him to be
favoured for release, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
Ezekiel immediately stood up to have his bath, knowing that lying around
after praying will not solve anything. He needed to risk everything and get
to the police station.

Several hours later, Ezekiel was almost at the police station. He kept on
praying in his heart as he walked closer to the dreadful place. As he was
about to cross to the other side of the road, he saw somebody that looked
like Sophie beside a car, resting on the right passenger’s door. His heart
beat twice as fast, like they did the first time he saw her at the construction
site.
He moved closer to be sure. It was Sophie. Her eyes shone like the stars in
heaven. Her lips moved like a spoken words artiste as she talked to the
young man in front of her. It was a beautiful sight to behold. “Sophie!”
Ezekiel called as soon as he confirmed the voice. It unmistakeably was
Sophie. Then he was double sure when she turned around to answer her
name.
“I never thought I’d see you again.” He smiled. Excitement overrode the
worried that pervaded his entire being. He saw her in a wholly different
light. She was putting on an expensive brand of gown, had on an expensive
bag; her face was adorned with light make up and her ears with big
earrings. She put on high heeled shoes, making her slightly taller than
Ezekiel.
Not even a god could deny her beauty, Ezekiel thought.
He was still smiling uncontrollably as he was now in front of Sophie and the
young man. He had no idea what to say. “It has been a while!” He breathed
in awe.

“Have we met before?” Sophie asked with a slight frown.

The smile that had been on Ezekiel’s face died out gradually. He had made a
mistake. Not a mistake of approaching the wrong person, but a mistake of
approaching at all. He was sure that she was Sophie. Why she acted like
that, he understood not. “It is Ezekiel. We met at the construction site some
days ago.” Be blinked anxiously.
“What is he talking about?” The man who Sophie was talking with reacted
this time.

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“I have no idea.” Sophie looked from Ezekiel to him, and back to Ezekiel.
“Construction site? What are you talking about?” Her voice shook as she
addressed Ezekiel.
“It is me. From the construction site we both worked at two days ago. I
even,” He paused to take a look at her leg. He saw that the cut the block had
caused was still there. “I even..,”
The young man began to get worked up. “Oh Lord! Sophie, where on earth
did you meet this riffraff? And what is the jargon he is talking about?” He
raised his voice.
At that point, Ezekiel realized he did not dress well before leaving home
that morning. He was putting on bathroom slippers, he did not take time to
comb his hair, he wore a very faded t-shirt with small but obvious holes on
it and faded shorts. He couldn’t have predicted meeting Sophie!
“Let me deal with this, Raphael.” She said and looked at Ezekiel sternly.
“Young man,” she started, “to begin with, you barged in on two people
discussing something obviously important without even showing some
form of respect.”
“I am sorry, I was just so..,”
“Shh!!” She raised one finger to his face. Her heels gave her an advantage
over him. She looked down on him. “I do not know what gave somebody
like you the idea to casually approach me. Do I look like somebody who
would know someone from your class?” Her voice shook, but it would take
a person who held a doctorate in psychology to know that she had
something to hide. She had something to protect. “If you wanted to beg for
money or something, you could have just gone straight to the point instead
of claiming to know me. You did not only even claim to know me, you
claimed we worked together? At a construction site? The effrontery!” She
snorted.

Ezekiel prayed for the ground to open up and swallow him as he looked
from the glaring eyes of her companion to her own murderous eyes. It was
Sophie, he knew it. He was hurt. “I am sorry.” He decided not to say
anything else. “I made a mistake.” He immediately started walking away
from them towards the police station. He heard her voice once more.
“Sorry for yourself! What rubbish?! Raphael, can you imagine?” He heard
her hiss.
He quickly crossed the road, ignoring the temptation to look back. He felt
like trash. He remembered all he did for her two days ago and how they
were supposed to meet the next day. He felt his heart crying as he
remembered how much he admired her. He was sure to meet her in the
future. He had to. Now he had one more reason to succeed.

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Lord, you see the humiliation? Do something. I want to have made something
for myself the next time I meet with her. He prayed in his mind as he walked
into the police station.

“Yes? What can I do for you?” The firm old man at the counter addressed
him sternly.
“Sir, I am here to see a good friend of mine. I was told he was arrested
yesterday at a construction site.” Ezekiel was solemn. He had traces of tears
in his eyes as he was still trying to recover from the erstwhile humiliation.
“Ehnehn?! So you are part of those who ran away last night, right?” The man
looked suspiciously at him.
“No, I am not. I am his roommate, and I did not work at that construction
site.” Ezekiel stood there unshaken. He had no idea why. Maybe he was still
too humiliated to be afraid. And for some reason, he saw that the man
believed him.
“What is his name?” The police officer still ogled at him.
“Bode. His name is Bode.”
The police officer sent for Bode, and after few minutes of waiting, Ezekiel
was able to talk with him.
“You see your life? Did I not advise you to stop this work?” Ezekiel started
the moment Bode was at close range.
Bode could not say anything. He muffled the words he seemed to say.
“What are we going to do now?”
“Do? If we say you should bring bail, can you even do that?” Another police
man interfered. “You better go and move on with your life because he will
definitely go to jail.” The policeman gave a loud hiss.
“Ezekiel, I don’t want to go to jail. Please help me.” Bode mummed his
words to Ezekiel.
“Sir,” Ezekiel turned to the policeman, “isn’t there a way to bail him?
Please?”
“You can bail him if you have someone in a high authority to vouch for him.
They are going to court because they cannot provide the person who gave
them that job.” He replied.
Ezekiel couldn’t see a way. He looked at Bode, then to the floor. He sighed
heavily and remembered that he prayed several minutes ago. He decided to
exercise his faith on Bode. He became curious if God will be able to prove
Himself to someone that didn’t believe in Him. “Bode, you will get out of
here very soon.” He put God to the test.
Maybe this will conclude on whether You truly exist, or whether my mum
lived on false hope. He thought as he started to the floor.
“How are you going to bail me out?” Bode’s voice quivered.
“Don’t worry. There’ll be a way.” He said and stood up. “I have to go.”

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Ezekiel left the police station, putting the life of Bode on the hands of God
whom he so trusted. He wanted to see whether God was worthy of the trust
the world placed on Him.

He got home to Nkem and TLS building agent. It was already past 7:00pm.
He was bedazzled, and he wondered what the agent was doing in the slum
at that time.
Nkem was the only one who had a phone amongst the labourers that lived
in the neighbourhood, so he was the one who always informed them about
work whenever the TLS agent called.
“Good evening.” He greeted them both with a slight frown.
“Ezekiel! Where have you been? We have been waiting here for four good
hours.” Nkem rose up beside the agent.
Ezekiel wondered why they’d be waiting for him for that long. Had he done
something wrong? Had they come to arrest him too?
“Alhaji is waiting for you. Can we go?” The less agitated agent said as he
stood up and walked past the boys.
Ezekiel marvelled. The CEO of TLS wants to see him? Was it because of
what he did the previous day? Was he going to be arrested for performing
an unlicensed medical procedure on an important person?
All these thoughts rushed to his mind but were cut short when Nkem
tapped him.
“Are you not going?” He asked.
Which animal will willingly follow a butcher to the slaughter knowing he was
going to get killed? A disoriented Ezekiel looked from Nkem to the
departing agent.
“Go and meet him!”
Ezekiel still could not move until the agent stopped, looked back at him and
smiled. Suddenly, relief swept him off his feet. He knew he had no cause to
worry about anything at all, and then he followed the agent.

As they made their way into the heart of Lekki, Ezekiel couldn’t help but
mum inaudible wows. He doubted if he ever had seen such a beautiful
place. He wondered where else could be as beautiful as Lekki. He noted
how peaceful the environment was; he saw the gigantic buildings and
marvelled at the way the colours kissed the walls of each building.
His bewilderment skyrocketed as they entered Alhaji’s house that night.
The lights that were lit up around the compound made the building look no
less than a presidential villa, even though he had no idea what a
presidential villa looked like. He pondered on how a compound could be so

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big. His dad’s compound was big, but he felt that if he subtracted six of his
father’s compound from this place, there still would be several acres left.
He could not stop marvelling as he was ushered into the sitting room of
Alhaji. He couldn’t look around like he had been doing because the whole
family was seated; however, he knew that the sitting room could not be less
than what Dangote had.
“I have brought him, Sir.” The agent announced as they fully entered the
living room.
“Thank you, Dayo.”
It was when the hoarse voice spoke from the one-seater couch that Ezekiel
dared to look up for the first time. His eyes met with the face of the man
who was lying on the floor two days ago.
Alhaji Akinleye.
He swallowed as his stomach rumbled. His heart started beating
abnormally as a result of anxiety.
“I heard from my doctor that you saved my life.”

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“…God will never allow his children suffer. Whatever it
is that you have gone through is what was necessary
for your gold to be refined and show forth its
brightness. It is just like a process,…”
- Handzinspired

104
 CHAPTER NINE

Ezekiel had no idea what to say. At that point, he was neither scared nor
anxious. He just wondered how he saved the life of this man. The only thing
he did was what he had been privileged to learn.
“Are you too nervous to talk?”
Alhaji’s voice cut him off his thoughts. He looked from the potbellied man to
his family members. He guessed that the young man, probably older than
he is, that sat next to Alhaji on the sofa’s arm was probably his son, while
the younger lady sitting with an older lady which he suspected to be
Alhaji’s wife, was his daughter. He wasn’t too comfortable as they all stared
at him, but he needed to brace himself up and reply Alhaji’s supposed
question.
“I don’t understand, sir?” He swallowed as he wondered whether that was
the right thing to say.
“You performed that CPR on my father, right?” The stern looking young
man asked.
Ezekiel tried to be undaunted, but he couldn’t help but shake when he
looked at the cold eyes of the young man. “I..,” he swallowed, “I..,”
“Come on! It is okay to talk. Don’t be anxious. We won’t bite. We just want
to know if truly you performed the CPR.”
Even when the soothing voice of Alhaja saturated the atmosphere, he still
could not shake off the unsmiling face of the young man that just addressed
him. He tried to open his mouth, but he found out that he couldn’t speak. No
saliva, no air, nothing. He couldn’t utter a word.
“Alright, you know what? Let us go to the other sitting room.” Alhaji noticed
the anxiety in the face of the teenage boy, so he decided to spend some time
alone with him. “Follow me, my boy.” He told Ezekiel as he stood up and
walked past him.
Ezekiel looked at the agent that brought him to the house and he received a
nod implying that it was okay for him to go ahead, then he followed the
Alhaji. He wondered as he strode up the stairs slowly behind the man. Is
there any other wealth apart from this kind? Is there any other house as
magnificent as this place? The floors felt like gold. The walls smelt like
expensive honey. So there was another sitting room apart from the one he
had been invited in at first?
He saw several corners that led to several other places in the house as he
walked behind Alhaji Akinleye and he concluded that if he were to take a
two-week tour around the house, he still wouldn’t touch some aspects of
the house.

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“Have your seat, my boy.” Alhaji broke the long silence as he sat down on an
expensive one-sitter couch at one end of the room.
Ezekiel looked at the couch he was asked to sit on, and he was worried
about staining the pure white wool couch with his ragged clothes.
Just as if Alhaji read his mind, he spoke. “Come on, Sit down already. I am
eager to hear from you.” He smiled mildly.
Ezekiel sat down gently and looked straight at Alhaji for the first time that
evening.
“So, you performed the CPR, right?”
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel eased a bit. Alhaji’s smile had at some point disarmed him.
“Where on earth did you learn that skill? It saved my life, my boy.” Alhaji
looked at him in scrutiny, wondering why he was so shaky and quiet. “What
is your name?”
“Ezekiel, Sir.” He answered simply.
“Now, first and foremost, I am very sure you are literate. I wonder what
pushed you into jobs like this in the first place. When I asked for your name,
I meant your full name. What is your name, Ezekiel?” He asked again.
“Ezekiel, Sir. Just Ezekiel.” He repeated, swallowing. Leaving home, Ezekiel
had promised himself never to be associated with the Lesleys anymore. He
wasn’t about to start now.
“You don’t have a family?” Alhaji wondered as he peered at the strange boy
in front of him. He saw how shielded he tried to be. Alhaji had been in this
ministry for a very long time; the ministry of breaking the walls of the
broken. He sat upright and bent closer to Ezekiel. “Talk to me. It is in
praying that we are guaranteed help from God, and it is in talking to
somebody that we receive the help God already has sent to us.”

Ezekiel looked at Alhaji Akinleye and was surprised at the words that he
heard coming from his mouth. He wondered how a Muslim could speak
these words. He had encountered several Muslims from a distance over the
past years and had concluded that he did not like their methodologies and
conservatism, and will likely stay clear of them, but as he sat down and
heard the things Alhaji spoke, he realized that the ideas he had formulated
in his mind about Muslims in general were very wrong.
Sometimes, we need to get close to people and hear them speak before we
conclude or give up on them. He realized how dangerous assumptions are,
especially assumptions you formulate out of baseless thoughts. As he
listened to Alhaji, he beat himself severally in his mind for judging without
really knowing, for assuming he knows when he doesn’t know anything at
all.

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“You probably must have hurt, or must be going through a lot of things, and
honestly, you saved my life, the least I can do is help you. And apart from
that, I just would not want to see somebody of your talent rot away in the
dark.” Alhaji wondered how long he is going to keep talking before he can
get Ezekiel to say a word. “Are you a runaway, child?” He asked what he felt
was most obvious.
Ezekiel shook his head. He scratched his arms and rubbed his palms on
both his laps. “I was unjustly sent away from home.” He started.
Alhaji was amazed to hear him speak. He was fluent in English language,
and it was obvious that he was a systematic thinker. Alhaji listened with
rapt interest. He couldn’t help but pity Ezekiel as he heard to all the ordeals
he had to pass through because of his wicked step mother, or rather,
because of the betrayal of his mother.
Ezekiel didn’t know why, but for the first time since he left home, he
narrated everything without leaving a single detail out. He felt a sense of
security. He felt burdens lift off his chest as he talked. He felt peace within.
Had he found his safe haven?
He told the Alhaji about the sickness of his mother, her death, about his
step mother, up until the time he left home. He explained all the things he
had faced after he left home and how he still desired to one day attend the
university and at last, fulfil his big dreams, not for himself, but for others
who has suffered the same fate as him.

Alhaji sighed heavily as Ezekiel concluded his life tale. He still peered at
him, as if he was hoping Ezekiel would continue his story. “So you are
telling me that this is how you have lived since your mother died?”
“There are days I’d forget about food, not because I didn’t feel like eating,
but because I had nothing to eat. No food, no water. How I am still alive, I
am baffled.”
“Wow!” Alhaji sighed again. He blinked out the tear that had accumulated in
his eyes. He knew the pain. He had been there.
Ezekiel looked up at for the first time since he started his story and was
bewildered when he saw the wet face of Alhaji. “Did I say something wrong,
Sir?” He had no idea Alhaji had been crying. He wondered why too.
“No, no.” He stood up. “Give me a minute.” He moved to the left end of the
room where the mini bar was, sat on the bar’s swivel chair and poured
himself a drink. He took the face towel from a space in the bar and cleaned
his face. Then he took a sip from the wine he had poured.

“I grew up in a very humble village in Osun.” He started as he settled the

tumbler on the table. “My father was a local fisherman, and my mother
smoked and sold the fishes that my father caught. There were times the

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fishes would seem to run away from the river, and my father would come
back home with empty nets. Those times, we would sleep hungry since we
had no other means of livelihood.” He paused and sipped more from his
glass cup. “I thought things could not get any worse. I didn’t know that
there were times I’d suffer more. My father died and the house that we
lived in was taken over by my father’s family. They sent my mother and I
out of the house, saying that my mother was the one who bewitched and
killed my father. They saw me as an abomination too, so they threw us out
of the village. For several weeks, my mother and I roamed the streets of the
neighbouring villages in Osun state looking for people who were of good
heart to help us.” Alhaji took his cup and came back to sit in his previous
position. He placed the cup on the stool beside his couch. He sighed, rubbed
his palms together and continued. “On some days, we’d be lucky enough to
receive garri and kuli-kuli from good hearted people, while on most days,
we go hungry and just sleep on empty stomachs inside uncompleted
buildings and refuse grounds. I was 13 years old at that time, but believe
me; I was wise enough to know we couldn’t survive the torture. My mother
was hurting, though she couldn’t say anything because she didn’t want to
make me weary. She said she was going to her relatives, relatives I never
saw at our house while my father was still alive. She died after several
weeks. She couldn’t cope anymore, so she gave up.” He rubbed his right
palm on his almost bald head as he recalled his story.

“I can remember the day she died. I woke up one morning in one of those
uncompleted buildings, and I found out my mother wasn’t waking up. I
didn’t have to shout or scream. I knew she was dead. I knew I was left alone
in this world. I remember how I dragged her to a corner of the building and
covered her up with palm fronds I got from outside. As I covered her up, all
I wanted was to die. I stopped eating, I stopped doing anything. I knew I
was going to die, and I was happy about it, because I’d see my mother
functioning again.” He looked at Ezekiel and saw that he had his attention.
“I stayed with her body for three days, and then she started decomposing.
Flies started perching on her skin. I tried to no avail to get them off. I stayed
with her for one week and started watching her skin deteriorate. The smell
was so unbearable that people in the environment started inquiring about
the smell. They later found us and I was taken to the police station and my
mother was buried. I sat down behind the counter for more than three days
before the police superintendent at that time heard my story and that was
when I started living with him. To cut the long story short, everything I am
and I have today is because God sent me an angel, and I believe he
purposely sent you to me for this same reason.”

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Ezekiel was astounded at the account of the rich man he had before him. He
could barely breathe as he thought about the things this great man had
gone through before he became great. Will he ever become like the Alhaji?
“You know what? You are a very intelligent person, and you should be in
school. I know beyond reasonable doubt that God has made us cross paths
so that I can help you, and I am going to start by getting your roommate out
of the prison cell, then you have to move out of the slum and move in with
us because you need to study for school. I am willing to help you achieve
the heights you have always dreamed of. If this is the last thing I will do, I
will see it done.”

Ezekiel could not speak. What was happening, boy could he not tell! He
wanted deep down to wake up from the dream, except that this was no
dream. His body was on hold. His breathe was static. He had no idea what
to say.
“I have no idea what to say.” He knew if he said thank you, he’d be an
ungrateful person. What could you possibly say to someone who wants to
change your life on single thought? What could you possibly to somebody
who was mysteriously opening his arms wide to welcome a total stranger
into his home? “Why did you decide do this for me?”
“Because I was blessed, and it is only reasonable to bless in the same
measure or more, and besides, I see potentials in you, potentials that I
cannot let go. I see a successful person when I look at you, and I want to be
part of that success. Will you allow me?”
Ezekiel knelt down. “I owe you my life, Sir.”
“Stand up boy. You do not owe anybody your life. My helping you is not
entirely selfless, just like the superintendent told me many years ago. I
know you will amount to plenty, and you will in return, bless the lives of
many.” He emptied the content of his glass cup into his mouth and stood up
to the bar. “Get up, you are now family. My children and wife will be more
than glad to have you here.” He said as he poured another drink into his
cup. “Care for some?” He asked.
“I am sorry, sir, I do not drink alcohol.”
“Very good then!” He held the filled glass cup and headed downstairs.
“Come with me and I will show you to the rest of the family.”
Ezekiel still tried to pinch himself to be sure he wasn’t dreaming as he was
introduced to the family that welcomed him with smiles and open arms. He
then realized that the young man that he was scared of earlier on just didn’t
smile much. He warmly introduced himself as Kenny, while the girl
introduced herself as Samiat but asked Ezekiel to call her what her friends
called her, Sammy.

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“I can’t thank you enough for saving my old man. Welcome to the family,
Ezekiel.” Kenny spoke with a straight face again.
“I’d like to learn how to save a life too!” Sammy chipped in.
By now, Ezekiel was already getting very comfortable with his new family.
The agent that brought him had left already, and it was too late for him to
go back home.
“So, you’ll be staying here tonight, and then by tomorrow, you’ll go and bid
your goodbye to your old neighbourhood.” Alhaja who had been smiling all
night spoke for the first time.
It was when she spoke that Ezekiel suspected that it had already been
decided before that they would take him in. He was overwhelmed at the
hospitality and open arms they had.
“Kenny, show him to his room.” Alhaja said, standing up. “I am going to my
room. Ezekiel,” she turned to Ezekiel who already stood beside Kenny, “it
was nice seeing you, and we can’t wait to have you around permanently.
Sleep well, okay?”
“I will, ma. Thank you so much!”

Ezekiel laid on the king-sized bed in the room Kenny ushered him into few
minutes ago. He stared into the ceiling and wondered how God could be so
strange and yet so good. He was bewildered at the fact that God could at
times be so quiet at times and just suddenly show up the moment you need
Him the most. So this is what you had in mind all along? How come it took
you so long? Why did you keep quiet all these while? I almost stopped
believing. He talked to God. He was convinced beyond reasonable doubt
that God actually existed.
He started thinking about his journey. It had all been blessings in disguise.
The pain, hunger, depression, cries, dangers he had gone through had all
been blessings. He started thinking back. If his mother hadn’t died, he
wouldn’t have realized that he owned his dreams and he wouldn’t have
come to be convicted about it. If his mother had not died, his step mother
wouldn’t have come into the picture. If his step mother didn’t come into the
picture, he wouldn’t have been tortured and maltreated. If he had passed
the exams at a go, he wouldn’t have started working at Chief Emeka’s
generator shop. If he didn’t work there, he would not have seen the
accident take place, and the hunger to learn CPR would not have been
instilled in him. If he hadn’t learnt CPR, which at that point didn’t even
seem meaningful to him, he wouldn’t have been able to save Alhaji. If he
hadn’t been able to save Alhaji, he wouldn’t be able to rescue Bode from the
shackles of the Nigerian Police, neither would he have been able to enjoy
the luxury of the king-sized bed.

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“Lord, I am too overwhelmed to even say thank you. I am sorry for ever
doubting that you exist. I am sorry for almost giving up on you. But then
again, you really cannot blame me. I didn’t see as far as you saw. From now
on, I’ll trust you too much to ever give up. I will love you too much to bail
on you. Irrespective of whatever happens, I’ll be with you, because I know
you have my best interest at heart.” He took a long breath and closed his
eyes.
He imagined his mother talking to him.

“Ezekiel, I have never once believed otherwise about you being a success.
Everything that has happened until now was just preparation to bring you
to the beginning.”
“What? Mummy, I do not understand. Isn’t this the end of all my sorrows?”
“End?” His mother snorted. “My son, this is not the end. Your journey has
not even started. You just passed the first phase of it all.”
He saw his mother smile at him; he read the pain in between her smile. It
was a smile of pain, a painful smile. She sat beside the bed and stroked his
ears like she loved to when she was still alive.
“You mean that I will still go through more suffering? Even after I’ve fallen
onto the water bed of the rich?” He frowned. He begged not to agree with
his mother. His sufferings had ended.
“Suffering? Why do you think you have been suffering all along?”
“What else could it be, mum? It definitely wasn’t honey and strawberries.
What I have been through has been hell for me. Hot fire!!”
“Fire, maybe, but I still do not think you should call it suffering. I mean, I
always told you, God will never allow his children suffer. Whatever it is that
you have gone through is what was necessary for your gold to be refined
and show forth its brightness. It is just like a process, and whether you like
it or not, son, the process is not over. What you went through is just like the
phase one of it all.” Ezekiel’s mom smiled at the terror she saw in her son’s
face. “Don’t worry, Ezekiel. You are not alone on this journey. When God
sets you on a path, He goes all the way with you. When it is all stormy and it
seems like you are alone, He probably is resting, folding arms and waiting
for you to call out to Him. When you do, He will always answer, and be rest
assured that when He does, the storm will seize.”
Ezekiel heaved a sigh of peace. He knew that it was ridiculous to think that
he talked to his dead mother, but against all odds, he felt peace within. And
that was all he needed to continue on this journey; the journey to his
unreasonably big dreams. And with that, he sank into oblivion.

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“I don’t understand what is going on. Ezekiel, what exactly did you do?”
Bode looked in awe as the police officer freed his hands off the handcuffs.
He looked from his hands, to the cuff that was now on the counter, then to
Ezekiel. “How on earth am I free?”
“Na God save you oh!” The frowning officer remarked as he opened the door
beside the counter for Bode and the other boys to pass.
Bode hugged Ezekiel immediately he was within close range. “You said I’d
get out of here, and I did.” His croaky voice could not express his relief and
gratitude towards Ezekiel.
As the other boys passed by them, some mumbled words of thanks to him,
while some others were indifferent.
“Let us get out of here before the officers change their minds.” Bode
dragged Ezekiel as they both headed towards the exit.
“What sort of trick did you play on them that made them release us all?”
Bode asked as they started heading slowly towards their home.
“I didn’t play any trick. I think it was all just God. God did everything!”
Ezekiel exclaimed in happiness.
Bode grew unenthusiastic at the mention of God. “What God? Say
something reasonable, Ezey.”
Ezekiel puckered his brow. “I am serious. Yesterday when I told you I’d get
you out of there, I had no idea how or when. I handed it all to God. I
challenged Him. I was on the verge of giving up my belief in Him. I told Him
to do something and..,”
“He came down to tell the DPO (Deputy Police Officer) to release us all?” An
angry Bode hissed as they crossed to the other side of the road. “Is there
something you don’t want me to know about the real reason behind our
release?”
“No, rather, there is something I want you to know. This God really exist.
Don’t you think it is time to start believing again?” They both laughed as
they saw a boy craftily dodging his mother’s cane by the side of the road.
“For me, I think it is time you start believing in Him once again.”
“In who exactly? The God that turned me into this?”
“It is part of the process. It is..,”
“Who should I believe?” He cut in on Ezekiel. “The God who made my
teenage mother abandon me? The God who makes us live a life of pain and
hurt? The God who creates people but does not know how to manage
them? Ezekiel, look, you can believe that God, but leave me. Thanks, but no,
thanks!” They greeted a woman who was spreading freshly washed clothes
on the wire in front of the house as they got there.

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Ezekiel didn’t know how to break down the firm walls Bode had erected
against God; neither did he know how to break the news to him. “I am
moving out, Bode.” He broke the news immediately they entered the house.
Bode looked at him. “Because I refuse to believe in God? How does my not
believing affect your own believing?” He was surprised at the card Ezekiel
was about to play. He knew Ezekiel as one who would never impose his
belief or values on any other person. So what changed exactly?
“It is not that, Bode.” Ezekiel sighed and sat down on the chair. He
explained all that happened from the time he saved Alhaji’s life until the
time he was asked to move in with them. He told Bode how he strongly
believed that the hand of God was in all that had happened, all that is
happening and all that will happen. He told him how Alhaji had arranged
for their release from the prison cell.
“Wow!!! I was so tempted to believe that it is all God.” Bode faced down and
smiled. “Wow!! This is all your effort. It is all man’s work. Was it God that
taught you how to save a life or how to perform the PTR thing, or what did
you call it, that you performed? These are all just actions and reactions
coming into play, nothing more.” Bode was smiling. He was happy for his
roommate. He just was sad that he was mistaken. “Ezekiel, I just hope you
stop being deluded. There is no God anywhere. Let’s just live and let live.”
Ezekiel looked at him and prayed that God touches his heart. I have tried
Lord. I have sown the seed. It is your turn now. He prayed.

“I am glad you found a way out of this misery. I just hope you do not forget
us here.” Bode couldn’t hide the happiness that enveloped his face.
Ezekiel sighed and smiled as well. “You know I won’t. I can’t. We have been
through a lot together. I will always remember where I come from, and that
is here.” He sighed again, stood up and looked around. It was already
getting to the end of the afternoon. “We’ll still be splitting the house rent.
I’ll get a phone soon, meanwhile I’ll keep in touch with you through Nkem.”
Bode stood up and hugged Ezekiel again for the second time that day.

Ezekiel kept looking around as he packed the few things he had. He

remembered all it took to get them, to get the room. He remembered all the
places he had slept in before he finally settled down. He looked around
again at the small room that once meant the whole world to him. He could
not help but feel emotional as he took the last pair of trousers he had and
put it into the polythene bag.
He sighed, looked around for the last time and stepped out of the house.
Alhaji’s driver had been waiting for him for a little while.
“Don’t forget us, Ezekiel.” Bode said and shook his hands.
“I won’t.” He pulled Bode and hugged him once more.

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As Ezekiel left with Alhaji’s driver, he knew he was walking into the next
phase of his life. He had a feeling that the fire will be hotter in this phase.
But he knew one thing now. He was not alone.

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 “Everything has been arranged for your pleasure, for
your ease and your satisfaction. Things might happen,
and at some point, you might get hurt, probably crash
in academics at some other point, but do remember
that everything that will happen…has been
strategically designed to happen for your good.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER TEN

Everything got rosy for Ezekiel for the next few months and he began to
wonder whether his mother was wrong. Whether, perhaps, he had entered
into his enjoyment and all the thorough fire experiences were really over.
He rested his arms on the railings of the shopping complex. He was on the
sixth floor, where Alhaja’s office was. The Akinleye family owned the
complex that happened to have plenty occupied, exotic shops. He had spent
over half of the past eight months in the complex, helping Alhaja with the
paperwork in her own part of the complex. He sometimes went out with
Alhaji on several occasions since Kenny, her son, had been flown abroad for
his Master’s degree programme. He had also within those months sat for
his WASSCE and UTME (United Tertiary Matriculation Examination)
alongside Sammy. He never had any cause to worry. His new family had
done more than anyone ever did for him just within the space of eight
months. What more could he ask for? He now ate three square meals a day.
He couldn’t remember any day that he skipped a meal since he started
living with the Akinleye family. His mother–or his thoughts–had to be
wrong!

He heaved a sigh as he looked out to the busy road. He was able to see far
and wide the environment because of the height of his floor.
“Ezekiel,” Alhaja stepped out of the spacious office, struggling with the
contents of her big bag. A bunch of keys dangled from the bag, and after few
seconds, she was able to remove the keys from the bag. “I’ll be leaving for
the airport now. She asked me to reschedule the meeting at the airport
restaurant.” She placed the bag properly on her shoulder now.
“Why the sudden change of mind?” Ezekiel frowned.
“I have no idea. I’ll find out when I get there.”
“Don’t you think there’s something fishy? We’ve not done business with her
company before, and she’s changing venues and calling the shots. Doesn’t it
portray us desperate?”
“That is true. I thought about that also, but you see,” she moved closer and
placed her arms on the railings, “it’ll be wise for us to do everything their
way for now until we get the contract. It is huge and I wouldn’t want us to
lose it. She said PGA publishing also requested for the contract, so I am
trying to beat them to it. What do you think?”
“Hmm,” Ezekiel folded his arms against his chest. “I still do not feel very
good about you going to the airport. Whether or not you go there, it will not
change where the contract is going to. I have figured out that her company
already decided from the very beginning where the contract will go to, and
logically, it definitely will come to our company. We have the best to offer

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at the best price they can think of, so, they have nowhere else to go. They
are just making you heed to their every demand by making PGA a
competition for you, and honestly, they aren’t.”

Alhaja thought for a moment. She always sought for and heeded to Ezekiel’s
ideas. He was too smart for a young boy, no doubt. She sighed. “You are
right. I won’t cancel the reservation at Renaissance Hotel then. I’ll call her
to inform her. I better get going. Take care of this place.”
“Alright ma.”
“Lest I forget, I left some work for you on the table. Try to sort them out. I’ll
call you if I won’t be coming here again, alright?”
“No problem. Enjoy the meeting ma.” Ezekiel smiled. He was happy. Every
time Alhaja heeded to whatever he advised, he always felt special. He
prayed that nothing would ever take that feeling away from him as he
watched her walk into the elevator.
He walked into the office and sat down on the desk, flipping his fingers
through the documents on the table. His mind wandered again.
He was on his way to becoming a UNILAG student. He felt joy in his heart.
He was on his way to achieving all his dreams. He never thought about
attending UNILAG. He always saw the school as one that was higher than
his standard. When he was still in Abia, he always dreamt of visiting Lagos,
it just never crossed his mind that he would not only live in Lagos, but also
attend UNILAG. What more could he ask for from God?
He reminisced all God has been doing for the past months. He had gotten
very close to everyone in the Akinleye family. He was given an allowance
every month alongside Kenny and Sammy, and not only was he given the
liberty to access anywhere in the house; he was treated like family and
loved by every member of the family. They even registered his name under
their family tree. He was just getting used to being called Ezekiel Akinleye.
He liked the sound of that. Finally, he never was going to be associated with
the Lesleys any longer. He had been reborn into a God sent family.

“I wonder what it is that has drained you of your essence.” Sammy snapped
her fingers twice in Ezekiel’s face. “What are you thinking about?”
“Sammy, when did you get here?” Ezekiel broke out of his thoughts as he
heard Sammy’s voice.
“A while ago. About an hour ago.”
“Eww! You are such a terrible liar.” Ezekiel stood up from the desk and sat
on the swivel.
Sammy sat on the three-sitter couch at the right hand side of the office,
panting. She had been jogging.

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“What made you come here looking like this?” Ezekiel opened the drawer,
took out a small, blue towel and threw it to her.
“I heard that the results are out already, so since I was jogging around the
area, I decided to head here to tell you.” Sammy wiped off the sweat on her
face with the towel.
“Really?” Ezekiel’s eyes lit. He knew that nothing could stop him from
passing the exams in flying colours. He knew the outcome of the exams
already. He wasn’t anxious. He stared at the young lady on the couch – so
was she.

She was too bright to be anxious about the results. She had never failed in
her life. She knew she wasn’t starting now.
“Where is mummy?” She was still panting as she threw the towel back to
Ezekiel. She stood up and went to the fridge, took out a bottle of water and
gulped down its content.
“If you were really here an hour ago, you’d have met her.” Ezekiel set to
work on the computer. He carried the documents and placed it on the stool
beside him. “She is attending a meeting at Renaissance.” He said,
concentrating on the computer as he moved the cursor with his right hand
on the mouse.
“Alright.” She dropped the now half-filled bottled water on the desk beside
the computer. “When you come home in the evening, we’ll go and check it
together.”
“Alright.” Ezekiel looked at her properly for the first time. “Come, see the
way you are sweating?!” He exclaimed.
“Isn’t that the whole essence of jogging? To sweat out?” She frowned,
placing her hands akimbo.
“What exactly are you even sweating out?”
“Fat.”
“Which fat? The ones you forgot in heaven when you were coming down to
earth or which one exactly?” Ezekiel still fixed his eyes on her.
“Whatever. I need to keep fit.”
“You already have the model physique, Sammy!”
“What part of I need to keep fit do you not understand?”
“Or you are just stressing yourself because you and your friends think
jogging is the new cool, isn’t it?”
Sammy sighed.
“Look, I am not saying you should stop jogging, I’m only asking you to
reduce the stress a little bit. You haven’t stopped panting since you got
here.”

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“I’ve heard you.” Sammy snorted. “I guess I’ll be going now. I might not be
home when you come in the evening, so just call me when you are set,
okay?”
“Alright. Congratulations, by the way.” He looked to the computer screen.
“For?” She stopped at the door. “Oh! The results? Sure! Congratulations
too!” She said as a passing comment and zoomed off.

Ezekiel got home at exactly 6:20pm. He slumped onto the couch and placed
his arm on his forehead. There was nobody at home. Sammy had told him
earlier on that she wasn’t going to be around, and Alhaja wasn’t back from
the meeting. Alhaji had travelled to Benue that morning to attend a funeral.
Ezekiel took the remote from the centre table and switched the television
set on. After tuning stations for several minutes and nothing puked his
interest, he decided to call Sammy.
“Hello, Sammy where are you?....Yes, I’m home… I don’t know her
house…yes…alright. I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and went up the stairs
into his room to freshen up. Sammy had asked him to come to the junction
so they would go together to buy the scratch cards to check their results.
Ezekiel thanked God for the success of his exam because he knew he was
going to succeed.
What if you disappoint them? What if you fail? The thought crept into his
mind. He was overly confident that he was going to succeed, but what if?
What if he actually failed the second time?
He sat down on his bed as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom. “I know
all things work together for good for me. I expect the best from the exam,
but if my expectations are cut short, I know that God has something better
for me. I will not be anxious, neither will I fear. Whatever the outcome is, I
know it’ll end for my good.” He took a deep breath and wore his clothes.

He stepped out to Alhaja walking in through the door. She looked stressed
out. “Good evening Ma. Did the meeting go as planned?” He watched as she
moved closer to him and surprisingly, she hugged him.
Ezekiel stood dumbstruck. He wasn’t sure what was going on.
“You are truly God-sent to my family.” Alhaja released him after several
seconds, and then she sat down on the couch, placing her black bag beside
her.
“Is everything fine?” He frowned a bit and sat beside her. She looked
gloomy, and in the eight months Ezekiel had been with them, he hardly
ever saw Alhaja look gloomy. She always had a disarming smile on, carrying
about an air of optimism. What was wrong today?

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“Didn’t you listen to the news?” She finally said solemnly, heaving a heavy
sigh.
“What happened?” He asked again.
“There was a ghastly accident along the Muritala Muhammed Airport road,”
“Jesus!”
“Funny enough, if you had not convinced me otherwise about going to the
airport, I’d surely have been in that accident. I’d have been dead by now
and you all would be crying for me.” She rose her hands towards the
heavens, “Allahu akbar! (God is great)”
“God is gracious!”
“Truly. He used you to convince me about the airport. And funny enough,
you were right. The meeting went as planned. We got the contract.”
“Thanks to God ma!”
“I think I’ll start listening to your every word now.” She laughed.
“I am not always right ma, you know that.” He glanced at his wristwatch
and saw that it was closing up to 7:00pm. “Results came out today, I want
to go and meet Sammy at the junction so we’ll go and get the scratch card
together.” He stood up.
“Alright. Don’t stay out late.” She advised. “Kindly pass me the remote
before you go.”

Ezekiel did not realize why he felt the way he felt in the morning when
Alhaja told him she was going to the airport. He just didn’t feel right, and
that was why he convinced her against it.
As he walked to the junction, he felt a sense of security. He felt, of a truth,
God is guiding him. He felt ease sweep him over like concentrated wind.
“I’ve been waiting for almost two years now!” Sammy spat as Ezekiel got
closer.
“Sorry for making you wait.” Ezekiel patted her shoulder. “Mummy was
talking with me.”
“She’s back?” Sammy scratched her head. “What did she say?”
“What were you doing in Tade’s house?”
“How does that concern you?” She smirked. “I hope you didn’t tell mummy
where I went?”
“I wish I had.”
Sammy chuckled. “You can be naughty at times.”
They both left the road as a truck passed.
“I have checked that shop,” she pointed across the road, “for the scratch
card, but they said it’s sold out.”
“Wow!” Ezekiel sighed as he felt the anxiety mount up. “Is there anywhere
else we can buy it?”
“I think so. We’ll have to walk all the way down the road.”

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Ezekiel glanced at his wristwatch, it was getting pretty late. “I think we
should hurry. Mummy asked us not to stay out late.” He put his arm across
her shoulder and they started walking by the side of the road.
“You are buying mine also, hope you know?”
“Why?”
“You made me wait on the road for more than twenty minutes, remember?
What if I was kidnapped?”
“Who would want to kidnap you?”
“Who wouldn’t want to get some ransom?”
“I guess that’s the only reason why somebody would want to kidnap you,
because if they decided to kidnap you for money rituals, they’ll barely get
cowries, and if they kidnap you for health rituals, a malaria infected person
will eventually die of Ebola.”
Sammy clenched her teeth and hit her fist on Ezekiel’s stomach.
“Arrgh!!”
“Say that again and I’ll use a knife instead.”
By now, they had gotten to the end of the road and had spotted the shop. It
was already dark and the security lights were switched on.
“I’ll wait outside.” Sammy sat down on the bench in front of the shop.
Ezekiel walked into the shop and saw what almost drove life out of him.

“Hi! Good evening, how may I help you?” The young lady smiled mildly.
Ezekiel froze.
Right in front of him was somebody who looked exactly like Chiamaka.
He swallowed. How is this possible?
“Hello?”
There it was again! Her voice sounded exactly like that of whom he had
always known to be his soul mate.
“Is everything okay?” The lady smiled disarmingly again.
“Errm,” Ezekiel coughed. “I am so sorry. I’d like two WAEC scratch cards.”
“Alright….,”
Ezekiel couldn’t get his eyes off the lady as she went to the shelf to pick up
the scratch cards.
“What’s the name, please?” He asked without realizing.
She came back and dropped two scratch cards on the counter. She looked at
him, still smiling. “Why?”
“Nothing, you just look like somebody I’ve met before.” Ezekiel still looked
amazed. One thing was sure, this wasn’t Chiamaka, but the resemblance
was unquestionable.
“I have heard that line several times.” She said politely. “Three thousand
naira.” She referred to the price of the scratch cards.

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Ezekiel dipped his hand into his back pocket, took out his wallet and
handed her the money. All the while, he didn’t take his eyes off her. “All I
need is a name, ma’am.”
“Thanks for patronizing us. Be sure to come back.” She took the money
from him and threw it into a drawer.
Ezekiel waited for another minute, and after he saw that she wasn’t
minding him anymore, he decided to walk.
“Nneka.”
Ezekiel heard as he was about to step out of the shop. He looked back.
“Thank you.”
Nneka. He thought with a smile as he spotted Sammy playing with her
phone.
“What took you so long?” She stood up to meet him.
“Did I take long?” He asked, and they started walking back to the junction of
their house.
“You got it, right?”
“Yes.” Ezekiel was still absentminded. So it is true that God create people in
twos! He decided to push the thought off his mind. He looked at Sammy,
“What were you doing in Tade’s house?” He asked again.
She shrugged. “I don’t have to report to you, do I? I am eighteen!”
“You don’t have to. I am just, curious.”
“Well, I like him.”
“Say something that isn’t obvious.” Ezekiel grinned. They were almost
home.
“Come off it! That’s why I don’t tell you stuffs. You are so corny!”
“What? I only said it is obvious!” He looked at her. “You don’t know how to
hide your feelings, and honestly, that’s a bad quality for a lady.”
“What do you know about ladies? Ezey!!!” Sammy exclaimed.
Ezekiel shrugged while he grinned. “What makes you like this guy?”
“He’s smart.”
“Huh?” Ezekiel frowned. By now they had gotten to the gate. He opened the
gate and let her in before him. “Only that?” He asked after struggling
successfully with the gate.

She shrugged. “What else is necessary? He is smart, that means he will be

successful, and he will make me happy. Isn’t that all that counts in life?
Happiness?”
Ezekiel sighed. ”Hmm, so all you want from life is a man who will make you
happy?”
“Enlighten me.” She rested her back on one of the cars parked at the
entrance of the general living room.

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“Well..,” Ezekiel stood in front of her and folded his arms across his chest. “I
don’t know much about relationships and all, but I know a few things about
life.”
“Stab me with your knowledge then!” She pushed herself onto the trunk of
the car and relaxed her hands beside her.
“My mother used to tell me that your happiness can never come from any
other person. My dad always hit her, tortured her emotionally and
physically, but strangely, I never saw happiness depart from her. Now, do
you think her happiness was as a result of the actions of my father?”
“It’d be stupid to think that.”
“Good. So, saying you like him and you’d get married to him because you
think he’d make you happy is just not the way to go.”
“So I shouldn’t marry somebody who will make me happy?”
“If you cannot make yourself happy, do you think anybody can make you
happy?”
“Hmm...”
“So, the first thing you should do, before you find a man, is to find
happiness in yourself. Don’t rely your happiness on anybody. Don’t let
anyone be the source of your happiness, lest, you’ll get nowhere.”
“But don’t you need people around you in order to be happy?”
“If you have people around you, you’ll be happy, just like if you have money,
you’ll be happy, but do you know that that kind of happiness is only
temporal? The only happiness that’ll never leave you is the one you create
yourself. The one you find deep inside of you. The one you manufacture.”
“I think you are right, Ezey. Even when you have people around you, at
some point, you’ll get tired.”
“That’s it!”
“So, how do I create this happiness?”
“Well, it really boils down to just one thing.”
“And that is?”
“Purpose.”
“Huh?” She frowned.
“Why are you looking like you have never heard it before?”
“It is surprising.”
“Why?”
“Maybe because I don’t know exactly what you mean.”
“I meant the whole essence of all this.” Ezekiel turned his head, looking at
her. “The reason why you are you, why you are in this family, why you are
on this earth. What you are meant to do that others will think as ridiculous.
Or don’t you think that you are on this earth for something? Don’t you think
we happen to be having this conversation for a reason?”

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At that point, Sammy felt Ezekiel was about to answer all the questions of
her life. Although she never really paid attention to it, she had always
wondered why she was born as a lady instead of a man. Why she was born
with a silver spoon instead of having a family that lives in a slum. She once
asked her brother, but he nonchalantly discarded the question. We are rich,
and no matter what happens, we’ll be successful. ‘That’s all that matters. Stop
disturbing your head unnecessarily’, he had said as he rubbed her head as if
to turn off the fire.
She stared at Ezekiel now, and knew she was about to hear what will
change her life.
“Until that purpose is found, just maybe we’ll keep living for this temporary
feeling of happiness.” He sighed.
She battled with her mind whether or not to ask the next question. He felt
her chest pound. How do I find purpose? She had no idea how to bring
herself to ask the question.
She heaved a sigh. “Let’s go and check our results in the computer.” She
jumped down and walked into the house.

Ezekiel lay on the bed. His eyes wide open, staring into the ceiling. He was
going into the university at last. It was strange that he wasn’t shouting and
jumping up. He felt weight in his heart. He was supposed to be happy, but
he had no idea why he wasn’t.
Lord, what is with this weight? Why is my heart heavy? Am I not supposed to
be joyous that I succeeded? Am I not supposed to be filled with energy that I
got what I’ve always dreamt of? In fact, this is more than I dreamed of. So
what’s wrong? Am I not doing something right? Ezekiel’s sigh was enough to
cause an earthquake.
Maybe it was because he was about to enter another phase of his life.
Maybe it was because he knew the university will not be an easy place.
He sighed again, then he remembered what his mother had told him the
day he was about to get into the senior secondary school.
“Why are you worried? Why are you panicking? Should you be?” His mum
had pulled him by his arm onto the couch. She rubbed his head with her
palm. “Calm down. Everything has been arranged for your pleasure, for
your ease and your satisfaction. Things might happen, and at some point,
you might get hurt, probably crash in academics at some other point, but do
remember that everything that will happen as you walk into Ss1 has been
strategically designed to happen for your good.”
“But mummy, what if I fail? What if..,” He had continued in his fear.

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“Shh! Enough of the negative what ifs. Let’s look at it this way; what if you
succeed? What if you become the brightest student? What if you become
the pride of all teachers?”
“Mummy,”
“Listen, think on what you will become as you go. Think of what you will
achieve. Forget about what you cannot do. Nobody will know you cannot do
it because it’ll be shielded by the one who holds the universe. He has
specifically and strategically positioned people, places, events, things that
will help your success. So, breathe in and out, and go to school!”

Ezekiel smiled as he adjusted himself on his bed. He wondered how campus

life would be. He fantasized about the friends he’d have and the course he’d
study. He pondered on how he’d start achieving his dreams right from the
university. No, don’t let me ask how.
One thing was sure now, he was an undergraduate, and he had the most
powerful force in the universe breathing towards him.
One thing was sure now; whatever laid ahead, whatever stress, whatever
trouble that is likely to make him worry, everything that seemed like
mountains to him right now, are just shadows he does not need to fear. And
if they are really there, why should he fear them when he could climb? He
had the compass just inside of him, and His name is Jesus.
One thing was sure now; he was on the right path.
A path to success.

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“Whatever is not legal is not a purpose, neither is it
a dream. Nobody dreams to be a criminal.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER ELEVEN

The bubbling and boisterous environment excited Ezekiel and Sammy as

they combed through several faculties and departments on campus. They
were already getting familiar with the routes in school as they had been
going about their registration since the beginning of the week.
Ezekiel had met people from his Economics department and had gotten
acquainted with several of them. Sammy was in the linguistics department,
so she sometimes had to leave Ezekiel to her own department for
registration purpose.
For Ezekiel, it had been a whole new experience. Stressful and exciting.
More stressful than exciting. Above all, he was glad he was in school now.
He had a family, he had no problems with money, he had a close
relationship with God, and he had a sense of purpose and direction. He was
happy. His life couldn’t be more perfect.
“That’s the guy I told you about yesterday!” Sammy whispered as they
walked out of the senate building.
“Where?”
“On your three o’clock.”
Ezekiel was about to look to his right before Sammy pinched him.
“Don’t look like a moron! Look like an expert.”
“The guy you saw at the bank, right?” He asked after noticing a tall, light-
skinned guy resting on the railing, talking with an overdressed lady. They
were talking and giggling.

“Yes. Isn’t he cute?”

“Doesn’t he look like a flirt?”
“He does.”
“You didn’t give him your number when he asked, did you?”
“I’m not that cheap!”
“Good!”
“By the way, mummy called me when the woman was checking my files.
She said she called you earlier on, but you didn’t pick.”
“That’s true. I was at the counselling room when she called. I totally forgot.”
“She and dad will be coming on Saturday to drop our foodstuffs.”
They pushed against the passing crowd as they walked along a thin path.
Sammy looked frustrated as Ezekiel tried not to lose her in the crowd by
holding unto her hand.
“Oh Lord!!” Sammy exclaimed immediately they got out in the open air. “Do
you have to hold on to me every time?!!” She was still sighing. She bent with
both her hands on her knees. “I have told you countless of times that I am
no longer a kid! I am eighteen!!” She paused for few minutes, expecting him

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to say something. When he didn’t, she stood upright. “At least, being a little
bit..,” she stopped talking immediately she saw Ezekiel and a lady staring at
one another. She assessed the lady from her head down to her toes, and
then she looked at Ezekiel, who was obviously still dumbstruck by her
sight. “Who is she?” She didn’t hide curiosity as she looked from Ezekiel to
the stranger.
Ezekiel swallowed as he stared at Sophie.
“Ezey, who is she?” Sammy asked again, tapping Ezekiel’s shoulder.
Ezekiel jerked himself back to life. He looked away from the lady and
looked into space. “Nobody, she is nobody.” With that, Ezekiel walked past
the lady without saying a word.
Sammy ran after him.

Sophie stood still. She had never dreamt that she would ever see Ezekiel
again, talk less of see him all prim and handsome with an exquisitely
dressed young lady. Right in that moment, she knew she made a terrible
mistake and had wronged Ezekiel. How on earth was she going to get him
on her good side now? Best still, he seemed like he had money.

“How come you stood and stared at a ‘nobody’ for two minutes? It was as if
you were throwing darts at her with your eyes.”
“She’s just somebody I met in the past and..,”
“I want the full story.”
As Ezekiel told her how he met Sophie, he wondered how he had
successfully forgotten everything about her. How she humiliated him and
made him feel less of a human about a year ago. After he moved in with the
Akinleyes, he totally forgot he ever met Sophie. Why did God have to bring
her across his path again?
She still looked as enigmatic as she looked the first time he saw her. She
looked more beautiful too. She appeared to be living quite well. He
wondered how she pulled through the hurdle. He wondered whether her
dad had levelled all the allegations against him. If that was the case, Ezekiel
was sincerely happy for her.

“Wow!” Sammy was breathless when she heard everything Ezekiel said.
“This is too much to take in. So you mean that lady publicly denied knowing
you?” She grunted as she got to the entrance of Moremi hall. She turned to
face Ezekiel with her arms across her chest. “You messed up, big time.”
“How?”
“By acknowledging her.”
“I did not acknowledge her.”

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“You did. You stood and looked like you’ve seen a ghost.” She hissed. “The
next time you see her, in case I am not there, do not wait or even pretend
like you know her.”
“But do you think there’s..,”
“Shh!” She gestured with an index across her closed lips. “Listen to your
little sister once in your life!”
“Yes ma!” Ezekiel giggled.
“That’s my boy!!”
“You are done with your registration, right?”
“Something like that. I’ll just submit the last file to my faculty’s dean on
Monday.” She yawned. “I’m so tired.”
“I’ll get going. Get inside and rest.” Ezekiel patted her shoulder, turned
around and headed to Sodeinde boys hostel.
He was in love with the environment and with the feel of school. Who ever
thought he’d make it to this place? As much as he was elated about
resuming lectures on Monday, the damp feeling couldn’t leave his chest.
When next was he going to see Sophie? Will he be able to pretend like she
didn’t exist?

The first day of lectures as an undergraduate was very stressful for Ezekiel.
It was as enlightening too. He had just finished with two classes and he was
stressed out.
He sat under a shady tree beside the lecture hall they’d have the next class
and started going through what he had written down in the last two
classes.
The Alhaja and Alhaji had come to school on Saturday with more than
enough foodstuffs for both Ezekiel and Sammy. The foodstuff that was
given to Ezekiel was enough to feed six people for a whole month. He was
also given enough money to spend for the whole month. Ezekiel had no
cause to worry. He had no reason to lack. He was grateful to God.
He glanced at his wristwatch again; it was still one hour before the next
class. He sighed as he tried to concentrate on his book again
“Good morning.”
The voice was unmistakeable. He didn’t know whether to look up at Sophie
and recognize her or pretend like he didn’t hear her greet, or just pretend
like he never met her before. He was indecisive. It was amidst his
indecisiveness that he heard her call again.
“Ezekiel, how are you?”
He tightened his lips as he looked up. “Good morning.” He frowned. He still
didn’t know which card to play.
“Can I sit with you?”

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How can a she be so calm and collected like nothing happened? He gritted
his teeth. “I do not own..,” as much as he wanted to, he wasn’t familiar with
being rude to anyone, no matter the wrong the person had done. He sighed.
“Sure.”
“Thanks.” Sophie sat down. She had rehearsed everything she was going to
tell him. She tried her best to look calm, even though she fought a war
underneath. “Errm, are you having a class here?” She scratched her head.
He heaved a sigh. He paused for a while before deciding he wasn’t putting
up with it anymore. “What do you want, Sophie?” He looked at her for the
first time. His face was as grim as possible.
“Ezekiel, I’m sorry.”
“About what exactly?” He frowned.
“Everything.” Her voice was solemn. “It wasn’t really my fault. I had to save
myself that day.”
He snorted. “So what are you doing here? Keep saving yourself!” He stood
up.
“You don’t understand. I promise to tell you everything. Just give me the
chance.”
“I don’t think it is necessary. Can we just from now on pretend to be
complete strangers?” Ezekiel knew he needed to be patient.
“Give me your audience, and after this, if you think it isn’t necessary we
meet again, I’ll completely understand, and I won’t bother you again.” Her
lips tightened. She needed him to listen to her.

Ezekiel heaved a sigh and sat down beside her. He prayed deep down that
there was really a valid reason why she did what she did. He prayed that he
would be able to understand her, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able
to forgive her.
“I told you my dad had to run away leaving me behind and that I was
staying with my friend without the notice of her parents.”
Ezekiel nodded.
“Her parents had gotten wind of it by the time I got to the house that night.
They were all waiting for me. I knew that was the end for me. I knew I was
going to be homeless from then on. But I was surprised at how they treated
me when I was let in. I ate, I drank, and then at the close of the day, they
told me they couldn’t help me, and I couldn’t keep on staying with their
daughter. They gave me some money and told me to leave their house very
early the next morning. I..,” she swallowed. “I had nowhere else to go. I had
nothing to do, nobody to call.” She blinked out the tear that lingered on her
eyes.
Ezekiel listened remorsefully. He could relate with her struggles.

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“I was coming to work the next day, the place you told me. I decided to add
the money my friend’s parents gave me to my savings for school. At that
point, I was desperate. I just gained admission into the school of my
dreams, and I wasn’t about to lose it. Payment of acceptance fee was to
elapse the following week. I was desperately in need and was willing to do
anything for money. I knew the labour work I was doing could not get me
the fee, I also knew that except a miracle happened, I would have to forfeit
my admission.” She faced the ground as she remembered her struggles. “On
my way to the site, a car pulled up beside me. It was a friend of mine from
way back.”
“The guy I saw you with that day?”
“Yes. That one. I had to make up lies about everything. I needed him to help
me. He had the money. I told him that my father died in a plane crash and
everything just wasn’t adding up for me. I told him I sold our house and I
had nowhere to stay. I hoped he was going to help me. For the first few
days, he actually did. It was the next day after I met him that you saw me.
He took me shopping that day, and you were about to displace all my lies. I
had to save myself. I didn’t want to lose my admission.”

Ezekiel looked at her and saw the remorse. He sighed. “So, was it worth it?”
He asked quietly.
“No. It was the biggest mistake I made in my life. You mean so much to me.
You have seen my struggles; you have experienced the same struggles too.
And what is more than the single fact that you helped me even when we
both were struggling?”
Ezekiel just sighed. His heart softened as he watched her face glisten with
tear.
“After three days, I saw he wasn’t helping me with my acceptance fee, no
matter how much I begged him. He wanted to sleep with me.”
Ezekiel’s eyes widened.
“I didn’t!” Her voice shook. “Though I was very desperate, so I considered it.
It was when I considered doing it that the time for payment elapsed. I
rebuffed him, and he threw me out of his house.” She paused and
swallowed. “I sneaked into the house of several friends to sleep for days
until I met my angel.” Her eyes twitched as she remembered how her angel
pulled her out of the shadows of life before her life became a shadow in
itself. He took care of her in all the ways he could, he gave her shelter,
furnished her financially, emotionally, physically, and sexually too. “He is
like a father to me. He gave me a house, made me very comfortable and
helped me get into school.”
“Really? He has no family?” Ezekiel asked, confused.
“Errm, he actually does.” She swallowed

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“Have you met them yet? Is it them you stay with?”
Sophie grew uncomfortable with the questions she was being asked. She
tried to avoid eye contacts with him. “Err, the thing is..,”
She hadn’t completed the statement before students started trooping out of
the lecture hall.
“I have to go now. We’ll talk later, okay?”

By now, Ezekiel’s heart had unstiffened completely. He planned to believe

her and start on a fresh page with her. He was going to explain everything
to his would-be very pained sister once he saw her.
“So, there’ll be a next time?” Sophie’s face lit up. She didn’t assume it would
be that simple. “How about you let me have your phone number then?”
“Sure.” Ezekiel brought out his phone, exchanged contacts with her and
bade her goodbye.
Sophie was happy. Her eyes flickered when she saw his exotic phone.
Sincerely, she had always thought about seeing Ezekiel again. She had
always wanted to apologize and make his miserable life a little bit easier
since he helped her in her own time of distress. However, things didn’t
quite go as planned for her. She was able to meet him again, but she did not
meet him on the same spot. He had grown too. He had levelled up. He was
no more the construction worker she knew him as. He was no more the
ragged teenager surviving by and by.
He was different.
It was nothing she expected. He was even using an exotic phone and had on
a very expensive wristwatch.
Now her game had automatically changed. She was going to stick with him
like a butterfly sticks with a flower overflowing with nectar.
She smiled.

“I still do not have a very good feeling about this lady, seriously.” Sammy
frowned as she listened to Ezekiel conclude his narration.
“But she’s someone who has gone through so many struggles, just like I did
before I met your family. She also met a benefactor too, that is why she’s
here.”
“Listen brother, I really am not disputing her story, or the fact that she was
a struggler too. I just do not feel comfortable with the thought of her.” She
picked a gum from her blue bag; she unwrap it and threw it into her mouth.
Ezekiel sighed. He had no idea why the thought of Sophie didn’t seem to
please Sammy.
“You like this lady, don’t you?”
Ezekiel wondered what made her think such.

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“She’s a rare beauty. It is your choice what to do with her. But come to think
of it, what if she had met you outside the walls of this institution, probably
still your old labourer self, do you think she’d have apologized like you said
she did yesterday?”
“Not possible. People move.”
“How do you mean?”
“It is impossible to stay in one place. God didn’t design anybody to be static.
It is either you are moving forward, or you going backward. If after many
years you think you have not moved from where you are, then you have
been moving backward without your knowledge.”
“I don’t get you.” Sammy wore a frown on her face, she was confused.
“You see, life itself is progressive. The earth isn’t static. It rotates every day
and revolves in three hundred and sixty-five days. There is progression in
even the tiniest elements of life. So if as a human, you think that you are not
moving forward, that you are stagnant, well, you are very wrong. You have
actually been regressing without knowing it. Life has left you in yesterday
long ago.”
“Like, I get that part. What I don’t get is what it has to do with this
particular subject matter.”
Ezekiel realized that indeed, he was out of points. He shrugged. “I just
thought..,” he paused. He had nothing to say, so he shrugged again.
Sammy shook her head in pity. “You need help.” She jumped down from the
balustrade she had been sitting on. Ezekiel had been standing all the while
“I have an early morning class tomorrow.”
“You are getting along with your friends and roommate, right?”
“Yes. And you get along anywhere you meet yourself, so I needn’t ask you,
need I?”
“You never can tell.” Ezekiel smiled. He knew she was right.
Sammy yawned. “I really need to..,” her eyes widened. She had remembered
something. “I already told you! You were the one that forgot!” She blurted
with threatening eyes.
“What did you forget to tell me again?” Ezekiel knew that whenever she
made that statement, it meant she had forgotten what she was supposed to
tell him.
“Brother Kenny called me this afternoon. He told me to inform you to call
him by 6:00pm.”
“And you are just telling me? It’s already few minutes to eight.”
“It’s your fault! You bombarded me with stories of the mysterious Sophie
the minute you came here.”
“Samiat!!”
“What?” She shrugged, feigning innocence. “I’m going to my room, Ezey.
Take care of yourself.”

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“Shine on. I’ll retaliate!!”
“Be going to your hostel jorr!” She said as she went out of sight.
Ezekiel shook his head and smiled mildly.
He was enjoying himself, he was enjoying school.

As he walked down to his hostel, he knew that now he had to find out a way
to pursue his purpose. A lecturer had told them earlier that a purpose and
dream they could not chase in school can never be gotten outside the walls
of the school, except it was an illegal dream, and he had not seen anybody
dream illegal dreams.
“There is nothing that cannot be chased in school.” The lecturer had said
when a student asked to confirm whether it is all dreams that can be
chased in school.
“So, does that mean people who do not have the opportunity of attending
the university cannot live in line with purpose?” The same student had
asked.
“That’s not what I meant.” The lecturer clarified. “There are many people
who made it big even without ever seeing the walls of a university. What I
want you to understand is that as long as you are in school, you need to
start something. Find something you love that can make you stand boldly
before kings and great men. If you are unable to visualize and start
something right now, if you are unable to pursue something now that you
are in school, it is very difficult to start chasing it after you graduate. A
vision that cannot be chased in school cannot be chased anywhere else.”
“What about the illegal ones?” Another student from the right end of the
class asked.
“Now, be careful. You are mixing things up. Whatever is not legal is not a
purpose, neither is it a dream. Nobody dreams to be a criminal.”
“Not being a criminal, so to speak. I mean..,”
“Whoever involves in something illegal is a criminal, no matter how you
children of nowadays sugar-coat it. Besides, nobody starts out to become
illegal. Nobody dreams to become a thief or menace to the society. There is
good in everyone, and that tiny shred of good wants us to be someone good,
someone who can be looked upon. Therefore, there is no such thing as
illegal dreams.”

Ezekiel’s thoughts about the afternoon’s class were interrupted by the soft,
silent sobs he heard coming from the alley he had turned to. He looked
around the dimly lit place, wondering where the sound was coming from.
He saw a figure, but he wasn’t sure the sound was coming from that person.
He decided to move forward. He was on his way to his hostel.

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He heard the sounds more clearly now. He looked by his side and saw a
lady sitting on the pavement.
He had no idea what prompted him, but not until he spoke did he realize
what he was doing.
“Ma’am, is everything alright? What are you doing here?”
“Nothing.” The sobbing lady sniffled.
“It can’t be nothing.” He moved closer, “What is wrong? You are far away
from your hostel and you are here, crying. Nothing can be right.”
“Thanks for your concern. It is no business of yours.”

Ezekiel noticed her shaky, broken voice and he knew she needed help. She
just couldn’t be left that way. Something told him that she was going to
open up. He sat beside her and she shifted.
“Who knows, I am the angel you have been waiting for.” He had no idea
why he said that.
She was stunned. She turned to him. He didn’t look anything like an angel.
Truly, she had been waiting and praying for an angel to set her free, but
what she had envisioned was a glowing man in white with gigantic wings.
She didn’t know it was going to be a man. She knew God had really sent this
one. She sniffled again and wiped her wet face.
“He said he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me anymore.” As if
she was hearing the news for the first time, she burst into tears again. “I
don’t know what to do with my life right now.”
Ezekiel blinked. He had no idea what to say. “What really happened?”
“I’ve depended on him for the past three years of my life. I have given him
everything; my love, my heart and my life. I am sure I’d die. I have nowhere
to turn to. I couldn’t even go to class today. I am shattered.”
Ezekiel stood aloof. Teach me, Lord. “Why is he so important to you?”
The sobbing lady stopped sobbing and thought.
“Whoever the person is, I have no idea what he has done, or what he has
fed you with, but maybe you should think about it, what makes him so
important to you?”
It dawned on her that she could not place any specific importance to him.
The sex was of no importance, neither was the money – her parents were
filthy rich. “I love him. I just don’t want to lose him.”
“Or maybe you have been with him too long that you don’t realize who you
are anymore.”
She was quiet.
“Is there any reason why you love him?”
She still wasn’t able to speak.
“I guess you love him for no reason then. Listen, life is very short to cry
over people who are of no importance. Life is too expensive to waste our

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love and happiness on people who do not seem to appreciate.” Ezekiel
knew he was getting to her. He saw how she faced the floor and wiped her
tears. “The only thing that should make you feel like dying is if you lose
your sense of purpose. Your dream.”
“What does that even mean? I just lost it. My dream had always been to
become Caleb’s wife. And now..,” She started to snivel again but went silent
as soon as Ezekiel placed his palm on her shoulder.
“Why would you want to waste resources just to be his wife? I am sorry to
say, you are wasteful. Do you think you are this beautiful, this soft at heart,
this loving and talented just to be somebody’s wife?”

She flushed. She had no idea she was talented.

“You are talented! And don’t bother to ask how I know. I’m an angel,
remember? You are too good to be groomed just to become somebody’s
wife. You have a lot more to do. And besides, the fact that he has thrown
you out the door simply means that he is too myopic to see the talent and
goodness in you, so why cry for his loss? Why give yourself heartache for
someone else’s stupidity?”
Ezekiel proceeded to tell her how important it is to know her worth and to
know that she is an important part of anybody’s life. If they decide to throw
her out, it simply is their loss.
“You should stop crying, get up, look smart and beautiful, and then continue
your beautiful life. Like I said, this life is too short to waste any moment
brooding over someone who isn’t worth it.”
“But I...,”
“You love him, right? Even God who has asked us to love does not want us
to be destroyed by it. This is the kind of love that destroys you. Get your
acts right and become the woman of substance you have been configured to
be, then you’d see that Caleb will come running back to you because you
have worth, and you have discovered it.”

By the time Ezekiel finished talking, she had forgotten all the pain and had
wiped off her tears. It was as if realization dawned on her that she had been
crying for what wasn’t worth it. She had a mind turnaround.
“Wow!” She heaved a heavy sigh. “How come all these never occurred to
me?”
“I guess your heart blocked the eyes of your mind.”
She chuckled and the tense air eased. “I am sure it was God that sent you,
because before you came, I called to God to send an angel to ease this pain
for me.”
“I am glad I answered and came to you. I kind of left my wings in heaven. I
didn’t want to come and scare you.” Ezekiel smiled.

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She laughed. “Thank you.”
Ezekiel could deduce from her now bright eyes that those words meant
more than money. She was really relieved and happy.
“I am glad you talked to me.” She said again and sighed. “It is very late now.
I think I should get going.” She stood up. Her face was bright now, as bright
as her mind.
“Alright.” Ezekiel also stood up. He dusted his behind with his palm. “Make
sure you sleep well.”
“Thank you so much!” She smiled and started off.
Ezekiel watched her leave, and at that point, with the ease and fulfilment he
felt in his heart, he knew the purpose he was to pursue in school.
He smiled. Just when he was thinking about it, he found it out. He realized
that without being deliberate about one’s purpose, finding it will be next to
impossible.
As he was about to continue to his hostel, he heard her voice call out from
the back.
“Hey!!”
He turned again and saw her walking fast towards him.
“I am Williams Toluwani Hannah. I didn’t catch your name!” She stopped as
soon as she got in front of him. She stretched her hand.
He smiled and shook her hand warmly. “Ezekiel. Ezekiel Akinleye.”

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“…you don’t have to wait around and do nothing until
you are sure it is the right step. If you do it and it isn’t
the right step, you have found out one way that
doesn’t work. You didn’t fail; you only exposed one
tactic that you won’t use again.”
- Handzinspired

138
 CHAPTER TWELVE

Ezekiel stepped out of the restaurant with Sophie. He was trying to pick the
meat stuck in between his teeth with his tongue.
“Stop that! It’s gross!!” Sophie hit his shoulder slightly.
Ezekiel laughed. “You are still having a class, are you not?”
“No. I just want to work on some proposals with one of my lecturers.” She
replied.
“Alright. I am having a class. We’ll meet later in the evening. I’ll call you.”
Ezekiel hugged her and walked quickly towards the hall he’d be having a
lecture.
It had been two years since he gained admission. Now it looked as if
everything happened so fast. He was now in 300 level and was among the
best students in his department. He thrived amongst students and
lecturers alike. He was free spirited and ever since the night he realized
what he was meant to do in school, students with problems naturally
gravitated towards him for advice and help.
Life in school had been smooth, too smooth for an average student. His life
with the Akinleye family was the best life he ever thought he could live.
Ezekiel had been careful enough not to make mistakes. The family’s love for
him grew by the day and outsiders would think that Ezekiel was bound by
blood with them.
Ezekiel and Sophie had started dating few months before the end of 200
level, even against the advices of Sammy.

“I don’t feel comfortable with this girl, Ezey. Does it have to be her?” Sammy
had panicked when Ezekiel broke the news several months ago. “I am cool
with stumbling into her few times because she is your friend, but being
your girlfriend no…,” she shook her head.
“I like her so much and I do not think I can date anybody else.”
“I am not saying you should not like her or be in love with her. I just don’t
feel comfortable with her, right from day one. I mean, what if she denies
knowing you again?”
“I am not sure that can happen. I feel at peace.” Ezekiel lied. Although he
wasn’t sure going into a relationship with Sophie was the right thing to do,
he allowed himself be pressurized by friends. He knew the peace wasn’t
entirely there, but he resolved to make the peace himself. He forgot that no
peace can be made outside of convictions, true convictions.
He had so many convictions, but his relationship with Sophie wasn’t one of
them.
“Do you know everything about her? I mean who the strange benefactor is
that she goes to see every weekend?”

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“Why should I be worried about that?” Ezekiel felt anxiety and curiosity
prick in him for the first time. He was truly worried about not knowing all
he should about her benefactor. “She told me he was like a father to her and
I don’t think there is anything to start probing. When I begin to probe, it
simply means I don’t trust her, and it is bad for a relationship that is just
starting out.”
“But has she exactly given you what is worth trusting her for? You better
use your head.”

Ezekiel got to class and spotted a seat in no time. He sighed as the words of
Sammy kept playing in his mind.
He knew beyond doubts that his emotions swayed for Sophie, right from
the first day he saw her. She was beautiful in rags, how much more when
she has so much to brag about? Her hazel eyes shaped like that of a cat
turned heads. The way she talked, you would know that she was born into
wealth. She was hardworking, intelligent and smart.
Yes, like Sammy said, she hasn’t given him enough to trust her for, but it
didn’t stop the feelings that ran through his heart every time she was
around him, every time she saw him.
“Ezekiel, are you free?” Jerry asked from behind.
“Sure.” Ezekiel adjusted and allowed him sit by his side.
The lecturer was not in the class.
“Thanks for the other day. I now understand the insurance question.”
“Oh! I am glad you do.”
“I have been confused about something for a long while now.”
They had to stand up for somebody who wanted to pass.
“Confused about what? Last time I checked, nobody was given a heart of
confusion.” Ezekiel stated after they settled down.
“It’s about Rhoda.”
“Rhoda?” Ezekiel frowned.
“The girl in Mass Communication department?” He tried to joggle Ezekiel’s
memory. “My girlfriend…?”
“Oh! The pretty girl I saw you with the other day?” Ezekiel grinned.
“Yes. She is my girlfriend.”
“Wow! Jerry, you hit a jackpot.”
“I felt that way when it first started, but right now, I don’t even know
anymore. I don’t know anything about her. Whenever I try to get her
talking about herself, she just shoves it all off. I am really finding it hard to
trust her because of this.”
“When did you both start dating?”
“Four months ago.”
“Have you tried talking to her about it?”

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“Yes, but she never wants to talk about it. Sometimes when we are together,
she leaves, saying it is very important, and she never talks about it. She
hides so many things from me and I am like an open book to her. Right now,
I am not just confused, I am scared. What if she’s a witch?”
“Hey!” Ezekiel chuckled. “Relax. Don’t let us get over our heads here.” He
sighed and paused for a while, he wasn’t sure whether to say what he was
about to say. “You see, I am not the love or relationship expert, but one
thing I know is that a relationship that has its trust wavering from the very
beginning is not going anywhere. If you are in a relationship and you find
yourself doubting on several instances about your partner, not sure of
where she is going, or of where she is or of what she is doing, and you are
worried about it, then you shouldn’t call that a relationship. Let’s make it a
confusion-ship.” In that instant, from what he said, he knew himself that he
wasn’t in a relationship; he too, was in a confusion-ship.
“So, what do you think I should do?” Jerry asked.
Ezekiel had no idea. He knew what Jerry was supposed to do, but he knew
that it’d be something he also would have to do, but he wasn’t ready to do
it. He now realized how easy it was to dish out advices compared to
carrying them out.
He sighed. “I think you should sit her down and brush out these issues. Talk
to her and stop assuming. Ask her everything you want to know about her
and tell her all you need to tell her about yourself. Some advantages of
talking about problems instead of assuming, is that it gives clarity, peace
and builds more trust.”
“What if she still..,”
Just then, a lady came to stand in front of them both. She dropped her note
on the desk directly in front of Ezekiel. “Sorry to disturb you guys,” she said
before turning to her note. “Ezekiel, please do you know how I can solve
this mystery?”
Ezekiel laughed. “Mystery? It is as simple as can be.” Ezekiel religiously
took his time to help her out.
She let out a sigh of relief. “I was already thinking I can never know it.”
“Don’t you make that mistake again, okay? Most times we make those kinds
of mistakes that our life eventually becomes a mistake in itself. When you
come across a course or a topic that you can’t seem to understand, don’t
resign and start thinking that you cannot know it. Just begin to look at it
like a mountain that has grown all it needs to grow and see yourself as
somebody who cannot stop growing, therefore, at some point, you’d always
overcome it. See those problems as temporary. Things you just need to
walk over. When you have this mind-set and persevere, you’d notice at
some point that those mountains and difficulties were just shadows of
reality. They were never really there.”

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“You see why I always consider talking to you as a very wise use of time? If
I were permitted, I could listen to you speak all day.”
Ezekiel smiled. “Thank you.” He knew because he had already made up his
mind long ago that time spent with him by people will be like time
cultivated that’ll definitely germinate. He knew that the most powerful
force in the universe is not only breathing in his direction but also living in
him, therefore he wasn’t permitted not to bear fruits.
As he watched the now gleeful girl leave, all he muttered was ‘thank you,
Lord.’

“You see why we are all begging you to start up something, maybe a
mentoring programme here in school or something of that sort.”
“And have the whole of UNILAG on my case? Thank you, but no, thanks.”
“Anyway, I was saying that what if after all the talks, I still am not satisfied
with everything?”
“Then it is as simple as it is obvious. Nobody wants to be in a confusion-
ship,” he paused, “oh well, I was speaking for myself. I don’t think I would
want to remain in a confusion-ship. And besides, you become what you
abide with. Either you get out of this confusion-ship on time or you become
confusion yourself.”
Jerry sighed. The solution was just right there. He looked at Ezekiel. “How
can you be so wise?”
“It’s not me. It is God doing all the work.”
“Oh!” It was until Ezekiel answered that he realized that he said it aloud.
“Thanks a lot Ezekiel. I’ll do something and give you feedback.”
“Sure.”

By then, students were already leaving the hall. The class time had almost
elapsed. It was obvious the lecturer wasn’t coming.
“I have to go.” Ezekiel stood up, shook hands with Jerry and headed out of
the hall.
He knew he had things to settle with Sophie.

Ezekiel saw Sophie from afar as she stepped out of a car he thought was
vaguely familiar. He had been standing in front of her hostel for thirty
minutes, wondering where she was.
He was slightly livid because she hadn’t told him she’d be going out of
school.
He assumed that was probably her benefactor. He decided to move forward
to greet the occupants of the car.

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Sophie saw him and smiled. She hurriedly walked away from the car
towards him and the car zoomed off.
“Hey Baby!” Sophie greeted as she got closer to him.
“Hi dear.” He smiled mildly as they hugged. “You didn’t tell me you were
going anywhere.”
Sophie was caught off-guard. “Errm, I am so sorry. My dad was around, so
he asked me to come out with him. I could have told you, but it was on a
short notice. I am sorry.” She sounded remorseful. “Can we go and sit down
somewhere?” She started walking slowly towards the hostel.
“You should have at least let me say hi to him before he drove off.” He tried
hard not to frown.
“He is a very busy person. He has places to go.” She said as she settled on a
bench right at the entrance of the hostel.
Ezekiel sat beside her. He kept on sighing because he knew he had
decisions to make.
“Are you still upset with me? I said I am sorry.”
“Honestly, I don’t know what we are doing.” Ezekiel finally asserted.
“How do you mean?”
“I don’t know things I should know about you and we claim to be in a
relationship. I don’t know where you live, I don’t know who your
benefactor is, sometimes you just disappear from school only to come back
to tell me your benefactor this, your dad that. I am trying to trust you, but
how can I if you are not helping me?”

Sophie didn’t know Ezekiel could think that way. “Wow! Are you
complaining right now?” She was surprised.
“I am not complaining. I just want to be sure we didn’t delve into the wrong
thing at the wrong time.”
“Are you jealous of my benefactor? He is a father to me!”
“I am not. Why should I be?” Ezekiel sighed. She wasn’t getting what he was
saying. “All I am saying is that I am not seeing plenty reasons to trust you.”
“Don’t you think that trust shouldn’t be based on any factor? You should
trust me, whatever I do or whatever I do not do. Isn’t that what
relationships is all about? Trust?”
Ezekiel sighed. He knew how intelligent she was. He just could not win an
argument against her. She knew how to manoeuvre her way out of every
argument.
“And you are talking as if I already know your whole family.”
“At least you know my sister, and I have told you everything there is to
know about my family. What else do you want to know?”
Sophie shrugged. She didn’t really like that they were having this
conversation in the first place, but she didn’t want to shut him up or put off

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the topic. She probably could use it to her advantage. “Maybe I want to visit
your house, have a feel of it.” She sighed and shrugged again. She already
had an idea of how rich the benefactors of Ezekiel were through his
wardrobe and Sammy’s affluence. She knew Alhaji, her own benefactor
provided for all her needs, but she needed insurance. She couldn’t marry
Alhaji even if he left his whole family for her. She also felt, hopefully, that
his days on earth were already numbered, judging from his incessant visits
to the hospital. Maybe it was time she tightened her grip on Ezekiel. She
wasn’t going to allow the anything destroy what she had with him. He
obviously had a great family and what is more? He had a bright future.
“Maybe I want to meet the whole family. You know, go to your house, and
meet your daddy, mummy, brother.”
“Yes. I know what that means.” There wasn’t any problem with that.
The only problem he worried about was Sammy. What if, like Sammy, they
all did not like her?
“So, what do you say?” She asked again after several moments of silence. “I
promise to tell you everything about my life, my real dad, my benefactor,
everything.” She knew she had lots of reservations to her ‘everything’.
“I don’t think there is any problem with that. They’ll be more than happy to
see you.” Ezekiel swallowed. “I’ll just have to find out their schedules and
get back to you.”
“Alright then!” Sophie blushed. How can I be this smart? “I guess it is settled.
You don’t have to worry about anything anymore, Ezekiel. What matters is
that you love me and I love you too!” Or maybe it is the wealth I can smell
around you that I love.

Ezekiel wasn’t sure about anything anymore. He wondered what was going
on behind that smart and sly smile. He had come to determine the fate of
their relationship, but here he was, agreeing to fix a date with his family.
“Say something at least.” She stood up.
“I’ll just call my parents in the evening and let them know about it.”
“Great!” She yawned. “I am so tired Ezekiel. I think I should get going now.”
Ezekiel rubbed his palms on his laps and stood up too. “Alright.” He hugged
her and watched her leave.

“What?” Sammy exclaimed. “That is so not happening! How can you

consent to such a sly move by her? How come you are not seeing the
drawing board? It is clear what she wants.”
“You are saying all these because you do not like her.”
“I don’t like it when you blame my thoughts about her based on the fact
that I don’t like her, Ezey.”

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“Why then do you think consenting to a date with the family is a bad
move?”
“I am not sure exactly,” she sighed, pacing the floor of her room. She was
clearly panicking at exactly what she couldn’t understand. “I just don’t feel
right. Ezekiel, I feel you are about to make a big mistake.”
“How?”
“I can’t exactly place it, Ezey. Why won’t you just listen to me?”
“Because you are not making any sense.”
“Whenever you are with her and I come around, I don’t feel anything good.
And do you know that the moment you introduce her to mum and dad, you
are stuck with her forever.” She finally sat down beside him. “You better
think properly. Is that what you want?”
“I don’t know why I should want something else, Sammy. I love her.”
“No doubt, but does she love you the same way?”

Ezekiel couldn’t answer that question with certainty, but since she said so,
he should believe her, shouldn’t he? “Yes.”
“You are so impossible!” She fell with her back on the bed, placing her arms
around her forehead.
Her phone rang on the reading table. Ezekiel, who was closer to the table,
picked up the phone. “It is Kenny.”
“I even missed his call this afternoon.” Sammy sat upright and took the
phone from Ezekiel.
“Kenny, good evening…..yes, I was in class….he is even with me……okay..,”
she put the phone on loudspeaker.
“Ezekiel, how are you doing?” Kenny’s voice was solemn.
“I am quite cool. Why is your voice like this?” Ezekiel asked.
“Nothing, just slightly tired.” Kenny yawned over the phone.
“How was school?” Sammy asked.
“It was good. I have something to tell you guys.”
“What is wrong?” Sammy frowned. She knew that whenever her brother
talked like that, it wasn’t anything good.
“I think dad is cheating on mom.”
“Huh?” Ezekiel couldn’t explain his surprise.
“What do you mean?” The news seemed unrealistic to Sammy.
“As much as I am hoping it isn’t true, I think it is.”
“How would you know if dad is cheating? You are in England.”
“Today made it the third time I’d call daddy and will hear a particular lady’s
voice. Whenever I ask whether there was somebody there, he’d deny it.
There are times he’d tell me he is in the office only for me to find out that he
lied.”
“But that doesn’t validate the fact that..,”

145
“He drives himself to places unknown nowadays.”
“Daddy never drives himself. ” Sammy began to reason.
“And he always has everything planned out on his schedule.” Ezekiel
frowned. “Whatever makes him go out without prior information should
definitely be looked upon.”
“I still can’t believe that this is happening.” Sammy stared into space. “What
will happen to us now?”
Kenny laughed over the phone. “It hasn’t gotten to that yet. I’ll finish what I
am doing over here by Wednesday. I’ve booked a ticket for Lagos. I should
arrive by Friday night.”
“Wow! Great then!! It is going to be a full house.”
“How?” Kenny asked his sister.
“Ezekiel might bring his girlfriend home.”
“Wow! That’s great. And I tell you, that’s a huge step. Hope you are ready
for this?” Kenny’s voice lightened up.
“I still don’t know, really. But then, you don’t have to wait around and do
nothing until you are sure it is the right step. If you do it and it isn’t the
right step, you have found out one way that doesn’t work. You didn’t fail;
you only exposed one tactic that you won’t use again.”
“You really haven’t stopped bringing out pep talks out of everything, have
you?”
They all laughed at the words of Kenny.
“You make the right choices. I am sure she’s a good one.”
“Strange that you are the only one that thinks that.”
“Really? Sammy doesn’t like her, right?” Kenny asked.
“I have no idea why.”
“Don’t mind her. She was like that when I first brought Halima home. She is
a naughty girl.”
“Why are you guys talking like I am not here?” Sammy voiced out. “Kenny,
you have overstayed your welcome. I’m hanging up. We’ll come home on
Saturday to meet you.”
“Take care.” Kenny hung up.
“I still do not have a good feeling about Sophie. Now, it is likely that dad is
cheating on Mum.”
“Nothing is for sure yet, Sammy.” Ezekiel tried to put Sammy’s fears to rest.
“I sincerely hope it is not the case. I will just die.”
“Really?”
“Of course.”
“You think death will just come whenever you call it? That guy is
principled.”
“What are you saying? I will just take a gun and shoot myself.”
“What if there are no bullets in the gun?”

146
“I will use knife.”
“Where will you stab yourself?” Ezekiel kept on taunting her.
“Ezekiel, oya come and be going to your hostel before you make my brain
explode. It is late already.” She yawned as she stood up. She dragged
Ezekiel up to his feet.
“I really hope what Kenny said is not true.”
“Don’t worry, Sammy.” Ezekiel hugged her. He saw the worry in her
delicate eyeballs. “No matter what happens, we’ll be fine. Alright?”
“Alright. Thank you. I feel much better.” Sammy sighed. She held the
doorknob.
“You do not have to see me off. Just sleep.” Ezekiel said.
“Who wants to see you off before? I wanted to open the door for you to get
out of my room.” Sammy ogled at him before opening the door and slightly
pushing him out. “Goodnight. My cold regards to your lady.” She yawned
again.
She didn’t wait for Ezekiel to reply before closing the door.

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He wondered if God was really quiet or if he was
the one that had not really been paying
attention.

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 CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Ezekiel woke up with a slight headache that Saturday. He went to the

bathroom to wash his face.
He was taking the big decision today. He wasn’t sure it was the right thing
to do, but he knew he wanted to take that step.
“Lord, why have you been so quiet?” He sighed. He wondered if God was
really quiet or if he was the one that had not really been paying attention.
He returned to the room after taking his bath. His phone rang as he was
putting on his clothes.
“Sammy, how are you?.....what? It is still..,” he turned to look at the clock on
the wall, “oh my God! It is late!” He was alarmed. He thought he had woken
up very early. He didn’t realize that it was one hour past the agreed time.
He put the phone on loud speaker, dropped it on his bed and continued
putting on his clothes.
“You know what? Maybe I should go on my own.”
“Why? I want us to go together.” Ezekiel was still struggling with his
trousers.
“We will now look like three little kids wandering on the roads of Lagos?
No, thank you.” Sammy paused over the phone. “Actually, I really do not
want to walk with that lady of yours.”
“Really?” Ezekiel frowned. He was now putting on his shirt.
“I guess. See you at home, Ezey.”
“Alright then. I am sure mum will be cooking when you get home, since you
are going early. Be good enough to help her.”
“Whatever.” Sammy hung up.
Ezekiel picked up his phone, dialled Sophie’s number. “I hope you are
ready?.....wow, so if I didn’t call to ask if you were ready, you won’t tell me
this, right?.....Alright. I can wait for an hour more……Wait, where did you
even go to?......Oh…him again! You didn’t tell him about me and about your
plans this Saturday? And you couldn’t tell him you would see him later?”
Ezekiel was visibly panicking. He was starting to wonder whether there
was anything more going on between her so-called Alhaji and her. He
listened as she stammered out her excuses and apologies.
He sighed. “Just be ready by 9:30am, else I’m leaving without you.” He
ended the call, tossed his phone on the bed, and then heaved a heavy sigh.
He sat on his bed and prayed silently.

Before long, his idle mind strayed to the past. He wondered if there could
be anybody like Chiamaka. He remembered he was several months older

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than her, so she would have clocked 21 the previous month. He wondered
whether she was already engaged, or perhaps, married. He remembered
her smile, her face, he recalled the sound of her laughter and how she
encouraged him whenever he needed it. He remembered how she would
always tell him that he could survive anything and become anyone he
wanted to become.
He loved her. Unfortunately, life spilt apart their worlds. She wasn’t meant
for him. He could only hope right now that she finds somebody who would
be able to complement her grace and virtue.
As he remembered all the advices she gave him, he began to remember
other people and other horrific things that happened in Abia.
He remembered the day his step mother made sure he became an outcast
in his own home.
His ringing phone cut him off from the bad memories that were beginning
to creep into his mind.
“Hello?” It was Sophie. “Alright. I’ll come and get you in your hostel.”
He hung up and got on his feet. He looked into the mirror again and
nodded.
He was handsome. His beauty couldn’t be denied by anybody. His well-built
body also complemented his looks. He never for once attended the gym. His
built body was as a result of the several odd jobs he did before the Akinleye
family adopted him.
He became anxious as he wore his jacket. “Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this!
Oh Lord!” He sighed, trying to ward off the evil foreboding.
Ezekiel left his hostel still feeling unsure of what he was doing. However, he
couldn’t cancel a date that the whole family was looking forward to.
He knew it was unlike him to venture into things he wasn’t sure of, but he
had to do this. He felt he had to go ahead without clarity. Clarity will meet
him on the way.
Maybe he made the right decision.
Maybe not.

Ezekiel and Sophie alighted from the cab they had taken from school.
“Welcome to our humble abode.” Ezekiel smiled at Sophie before going to
pay the taxi driver.
Sophie couldn’t believe her eyes. Humble?! This place is a five star building!
She wondered how the interior would look like if the exterior was this
magnificent. The flowers, the gates, the French lights. She had never seen a
place so beautiful.
She always thought Alhaji was very rich. Although she didn’t know where
he lived, but she could measure his wealth by the flat he got for her, the

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amount of money he gave to her, the amount of money he spent whenever
she was with him.
At first, she wasn’t too sure whether Ezekiel’s family would be as rich as
Alhaji, and that was part of the decisions she felt needed to make.
Now, looking at this building, she wondered whether there could be
another person as rich as the owner of this house.
“This is where you live?” Sophie couldn’t hide her astonishment.
Ezekiel smiled. He was worse than her when he first saw the house. “I am
afraid so.”
“And you call this humble?” She looked at him as he passed beside her to
open the gate. “You must be silly!”
Ezekiel laughed as he opened the gate. He was startled to see Sammy
standing right on the other side.
“What took you guys so long?!” Sammy was about to open the gate before
Ezekiel beat her to it. She looked at them both.
“I..,” Ezekiel didn’t want to blame their lateness on Sophie because it’d only
give Sammy more reasons to dislike her. “We didn’t get a cab willing to
drive us here on time.”
Sammy moved out of the way and Ezekiel ushered Sophie into the
compound.
“Anyway, we’ve been waiting.” Sammy looked at Sophie and smiled. “You
are welcome to our home.”
Sophie smiled back as soon as she recovered from the reverie of the
building’s beauty. “Thank you!” She could see more of the building and the
compound now. Before her father went bankrupt, she always thought that
her father’s house was the biggest place in the world. “You have a nice
home.”
“I am glad you feel that way. It is a very humble one, in fact.” Sammy
maintained her smile.
They all walked towards the glass door that led into the general living
room.
“Is everyone in?” Ezekiel asked.
“Everybody except Dad.” Sammy answered.
“Where did he go to?” He opened the door to let Sophie in.
“Nobody knows.” Sammy shrugged. She entered after them.

Sophie was in a world of her own. She looked around as if she had just
gotten lost. The gigantic Led TV that was carefully set on the wall, the sweet
fragrance that enveloped the entire living room. She tried to no avail to
figure out where the scent was coming from. She admired how the
beautiful paintings hugged the wall. She had no idea that a person could be
as rich as the president.

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“Sophie, have your seat.” Ezekiel smiled. He noticed that she was totally
taken away. He hadn’t informed her about the extent to the wealth of his
new family. He wanted her to see it herself.
Sophie, have your seat. Those words couldn’t seem to have comprehension
in the ears of Sophie. Sit where? She thought. On this pearl you call a couch?
Sophie was scared to sit on it. She didn’t want to make a mistake and stain
it.
“Don’t worry. Just have your seat.” Ezekiel couldn’t stop smiling. He could
read her mind. He had been there before.
Sammy had gone upstairs to call her mother and brother.
“Just relax, okay? Nobody will bite you.”
“What if I make a mistake?”
“Just be yourself. Don’t worry about making mistakes, okay?”
“What if I stain your couch?”
He giggled. “It can’t be stained. Just don’t worry.”
Just then, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
It was Alhaja that appeared first, followed by Kenny, and then Sammy.

“Good morning mum!” Ezekiel hugged her.

“How are you?” Alhaja was dressed as casual as possible. She was putting
on a nice red polo with blue trousers. She had a face cap on too.
“I am fine ma.” Ezekiel answered. He then greeted Kenny who responded
with a nod and a mild smile. “I’d like to introduce you guys to Sophie.
Badmus Erinola Sophie.” He pointed to Sophie and she stood up.
“Good morning Ma.” Sophie knelt down.
“Omo daada. Stand up dear.” Alhaja bent down to lift her up to her feet.
“How are you child?” She asked. She was pleased with her behaviour. She
kept on nodding with excitement. It is not every day in their class of the
society that she meets a young person who would not hesitate to kneel
down and greet an elder.
“Fine ma, thank you.” Sophie said and then turned to Kenny to greet him
too.
“Just Kenny, I am not ‘sir’ yet.” Kenny maintained his grim face and
stretched out his arm to shake her. He wondered why her voice was so
familiar. “Have we met before?”
Sophie couldn’t imagine where she might have come across somebody of
this class. “I doubt it sir.”
“I said you can call me Kenny. Don’t let my big stature intimidate you. I am
just a small boy.”
Everybody in the living room laughed.

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“Please have your seat.” Alhaja held her and they both sat side by side on
the couch. “Sammy, please tell Wosilat to bring glass cups and juice. I want
to have a chat with my future daughter-in-law.”

Sammy looked irritated. She frowned and looked at Ezekiel. “I told you,
right? Now you have entered it, married man!” She said it quietly only to
the hearing of Ezekiel and Kenny.
Kenny laughed. “What is your own problem, Sammy?”
“What? What did she say?” Alhaja asked.
“Nothing mum.” Sammy was swift to end the discussion. “I’ll tell Aunty
Wosilat to bring juice for you both.”
“How about you guys? Are you not sitting with us?” Alhaja frowned.
“Not now. We want you to have your mother-daughter time with Sophie.
We have lots of catching up to do with Kenny. We are going to Oyster. We’ll
be back in several minutes.” Sammy said and got the two boys to nod in
agreement.
They called the third living room, Oyster.
“Oh! Okay then.” It sounded like fun to Alhaja. She loved meeting her
children’s friends.
“Sophie, have fun, okay?” Sammy smiled sceptically as they all began to
walk up the stairs.
“Yes!” Alhaja remembered something. “Ezekiel,” She called out.
“Yes ma?” Ezekiel popped his face from the upper floor.
“Alhaji should join us soon. He had something urgent to take care of in the
office.”
“Alright ma, Sammy told me already.” Ezekiel replied and ran after his
adoptive siblings.

“So, dad went out again.” Kenny sighed as they got to the mini living room.
He paced on one spot.
“That doesn’t guarantee that he is cheating, Kenny.” Ezekiel was the last to
enter the living room. “You need to relax.”
Sammy was already seated. She sighed. “But he said he was going to the
office at the mainland?”
“Exactly.” Kenny sat down. “Now, listen.” He brought out his phone from his
back pocket and started dialling a number.
“Who are you calling?”
“Hold on.” He waited until the receiver spoke from the other end of the line,
then he placed the phone on loud speaker and dropped it on the table.
“Good morning, Mr Akinleye.” The receiver spoke.

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“Good morning. Can you tell me if my dad is at the office, or if perhaps, he
came to the office this morning?”
“Not at all sir. He isn’t in the schedule today. He cleared his schedule for
today two days ago on account of a family meeting.”
There was a quizzical look on both Ezekiel and Sammy’s eyes. It was at that
point they realized why Kenny got all the ideas about Alhaji cheating.
“Alright, thank you so much.” Kenny hanged up and turned to them. “You
see?”
“But..,” Sammy stared into space.
“I am not done yet.” He dialled another number and he didn’t have to wait a
while before the receiver responded. “Hello daddy.” He placed it on loud
speaker and dropped it on the table once again.
“Kenny, how are you? I will soon be at home. I left the office a while ago.”
Kenny nodded, looked towards both Ezekiel and Sammy and gave a ‘I told
you’ smile. “Alright sir, we are all waiting for you. Ezekiel and his friend are
already at home.”
“Alright, I should be home in twenty minutes.”
Kenny ended the call and stood up. He paced the silent room again.
Ezekiel had no idea what to say. It was clear now that Alhaji was hiding
something. You only lie when you have something to hide, and you lie again
when you have to keep the lie you told intact. Alhaji lied. “What are we
going to do?” He broke the silence in the atmosphere.
Ezekiel saw that Sammy was already panicking.
“But why would daddy want to start cheating at this point in time? I mean,
isn’t he old enough to leave things such as this? Are we and mummy not
enough for him?” Sammy was tearful. “What is he looking for?”
“What are we going to do? We need to move forward.” Ezekiel hated
standing still with a problem, complaining and bellyaching over it,
forgetting it is something that needs to be solved. “I mean, great, we already
know the problem, how do we solve this?”
“Dad shouldn’t be cheating on us..,” Sammy finally let the tear roll down her
cheek.

Kenny was silent.

Ezekiel put his arm around her shoulders and made her rest on him as a
way of comforting her. “I think we should find the source of the problem
first.”
“How?” Kenny’s voice was hoarse.
“I mean, we should either confront him about it, or figure it all out
ourselves?”
Kenny sighed heavily and sat down at last. “I don’t think it is a good idea to
confront him about it.”

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“What if we are wrong about all of these?” Sammy lifted her head off
Ezekiel’s shoulder. “What if dad isn’t cheating? I mean, he might be doing
something else that he doesn’t want us to know about.”
“Something like what? Dad lets us in on everything that he does. What is so
special about this?”
“I know daddy very well. He loves us. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt us.”
Sammy was sure of her words. She wanted so hard to believe in her father.
“What are you talking about?”
They had been so engrossed in their discussion that they didn’t realize that
Alhaja was already at the door.
“Mum!” Sammy jumped. The boys were startled as well.
“Is there something I need to know?” Her voice was stern.
“Oh! It is nothing ma.” Kenny smiled. He was very good in putting up acts.
“We are helping Sammy rehearse some lines she is supposed to act for a
project next week.” He quickly lied.
“Now? When there is a guest waiting for you?” She placed her hands
akimbo. “What sort of behaviour is that?”
“Ma, we were just catching up on things with Kenny.” Sammy was able to
catch up with Kenny’s lies.
“I wondered why you were all gone for that long.” She folded her arms
against her chest and moved inside the room. “What were you talking
about?” She was curious.
“Nothing ma. Ezekiel and Kenny were teasing me about my lines.”
Ezekiel decided not to speak. He only smiled.
“Whatever.” She sat down on the arm of the two-sitter couch that Ezekiel
and Sammy sat on. “I am so in love with your friend. She speaks smartly
and is beautiful in her conversations too. She has all of these ideas that’d be
good for business. She’s really one to be proud of.”
“Really?” Sammy ogled at Ezekiel who teased her with his tongue before
she looked at her mother. “You like her?”
“Oh yes! However, I think she is becoming bored with me.” Alhaja stood up.
“You all should quit whatever you are saying and go keep your visitor
company.” She started walking out of the room. “Alhaji should be back
soon. I want to take something in my..,” She paused when she thought she
heard a voice.
“Is somebody shouting?” Sammy stood up.
“I think your dad is back.” She frowned. She wasn’t sure until she heard
another shout.
Ezekiel also heard it and they all vacated the room, wondering what was
going on.

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“Are you deaf?” Alhaji repeated. “Sophia, abi ki lo n je? What are you doing
here??!”
Ezekiel was surprised at Alhaji’s behaviour. What could have gone wrong?
“Alhaji, what is wrong?” Alhaja was confused. Her hubby was always very
careful not to shout.
“Stay out of this woman!!” He glared at his wife before turning back to
Sophie. “You dare enter this house and,” he paused. “Wait a minute; is this
the lady Ezekiel brought home?”
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel spoke this time around. He looked from Alhaji to Sophie,
and then back to Alhaji. He swallowed.
Both Sammy and Kenny stood aloof.
Nobody had any idea what was going on.
Sophie still hadn’t recovered from the shock of seeing Alhaji. She tried to
stand up from the couch but couldn’t.
“Is everything alright dad?” Ezekiel didn’t know what else to ask or say at
this kind of situation.
“Does everything look alright? What were you..,” he coughed and continued
“thinking when you brought this slut into this house?” He pointed to
Sophie.

Sophie had managed to stagger up by now. She didn’t know whether to run
towards the door or just bite her tongue and die.
Never in her imagination did she think she was going to see Alhaji Akinleye
in Ezekiel’s house. It never even occurred to her that he was the daddy
Ezekiel always talked about.
She didn’t know when she placed her palm on her chest. She didn’t know
when her lips started moving. She was visibly shaking. “I…,” she swallowed.
“So you are still here?” Alhaji shouted again. This time around, he felt a
sharp pain in his heart. He clutched his chest with his right hand and tried
to regain his breathe.
“Alhaji, calm down.” Alhaja called out to Wosilat to bring water, and then
she rushed to Alhaji’s side. “You need to be careful. You know you shouldn’t
be shouting?”
Alhaji was past appeasing. He couldn’t stand the fact that a slut was in his
holy home. Even as he drank the water the maid brought for him, he still
looked at Sophie disgustedly through the glass cup.
Ezekiel was still bereft of ideas of what to do. He moved to Sophie’s side.
“What on earth is going on?” He asked her quietly.
“I..,” Sophie’s mind was buried in prayers to the ground to open up and
swallow her that she didn’t understand what Ezekiel was saying.
“Ezekiel, move away from her.” Alhaji’s voice was stern.
Ezekiel responded by going back to his previous position immediately.

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“You see, this girl standing here,” he started to gesticulate with his hands
towards her. “I have no idea where you go her from, but this lady is a
prostitute. A home destroyer and I want her to leave this house as soon as
possible.”
“What are you talking about, Alhaji?” Alhaja was beginning to get livid. “You
are embarrassing the poor girl.”
“Poor girl?” Alhaji laughed softly. “This poor girl is an embodiment of deceit
and lies.” He looked at her and shook his head.
Sophie knew that she was done for. She gave up and sat down.
“Who do you think is responsible for the..,” he looked at her and couldn’t
help but get angry. How could she try to sit down in a situation like this?
“How dare you sit down on my couch?” He shouted and went ahead to drag
her up. “Stand up and get out of this place.” He was dragging her towards
the entrance with his confused family rushing behind them when he had an
attack. He fell to the ground immediately.
“Alhaji!!!”
The whole family panicked. They rushed to where he was lying down on
the ground.
“Go and get the car keys!!” Kenny shouted at Sammy who was already
crying.
Ezekiel and Kenny lifted Alhaji from the ground, leaving the wailing Alhaja
to occupy the space Alhaji had occupied.
Alhaja rolled herself on the floor, crying as if she was already widowed.
Nobody paid attention to Sophie. She had no idea whether to run away or
to go with the initial plan of biting her tongue to death.
Sammy came back outside with the car keys.
Ezekiel collected the keys from her. “Stay at home Sammy.” He instructed.
“I need to go with him. Don’t treat me like a little kid!” She couldn’t stop
crying.
“Just stay at home with mum, Sammy. We will call you.” Kenny got into the
car after both he and Ezekiel had careful put the unconscious Alhaji into the
car.
“Ezekiel..,” Sophie called under her breathe.
Ezekiel stopped short in front of the driver’s door when he heard his name.
He looked at her. “You are not welcomed here anymore.”
He got into the car and zoomed off.

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“Time is only wasted if you decide to waste it. Nobody
wastes your time without your consent.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Ezekiel sat down on the floor outside Alhaji’s ward. He buried his face in his
hands. He couldn’t help but think that it was entirely his fault. He had been
the one to bring up the family date idea. He wanted to show off his wrong
decision, and it has led his whole family to the hospital.
“Oh Lord!” He muttered again. “Why didn’t I see this coming? Is this the end
for me? I have repaid the good this family has done me with evil. What will
happen now?” He spoke to himself.
The door opened and Ezekiel stood up.
“Are you blaming yourself for this?”
Ezekiel could not respond.
Kenny tapped his shoulder. “We all know that his heart is weak. It is not
your fault, Ezekiel. He is going to be fine, besides, it is his fault. We all
warned him when he was shouting. He was ranting as if he was in the best
of health.”
“It has been two hours, Kenny. I am really beginning to worry.” Ezekiel
sighed.
Kenny chuckled. “Are you Ezekiel?” He was surprised that Ezekiel could
voice out words of worry and fear. “I should be drawing strength from you
right now. You know how much I rely on your positivity. You have taught
me that everything eventually ends up fine, so why are you worrying?” He
sighed and rested his back on the wall.

Ezekiel felt Kenny wouldn’t understand the kind of war going on in his
heart, but he also felt he was right. He shouldn’t speak words of worry;
rather, he should voice faith. “I needed that, Kenny. Thank you. It is going to
be fine. I am sure that everything is working out well.” He sighed.
“I have just been wondering where daddy knew your girlfriend from and
why he was that rabid.” It was all still amusing to Kenny.
Ezekiel could only shrug.
“It just had to get to this, did it not?” The family doctor, Dr Ade rushed
towards them. She was not in the hospital when Alhaji was admitted. “What
happened?” She looked befuddled as she opened the door and walked into
the ward.
The two gentlemen walked in behind her.
“Something happened that made him furious. He was shouting when he
collapsed.”
“He was shouting?! Why would he be shouting when he knows how critical
his condition is?” She sounded disappointed.

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Kenny and Ezekiel looked at themselves. They didn’t understand exactly
what the doctor meant. “Critical? What do you mean by that?” Kenny
returned his gaze to the doctor.
“I think..,” she was cut short by the sudden flinging of the door.
They all looked back and it was Alhaja. She was accompanied by Sammy.
“Doctor, what is wrong with my husband?” She rushed to Alhaji’s bedside.
She had hoped that he would have been awake.
“Great. I think it is time I talk to you all.” Dr Ade announced. “Can we all see
in my office?” She led the way.
She stopped just at the doorpost and looked back at the entire family
following her. “Sammy, stay with your daddy, okay? Somebody needs to
watch him.”
“Alright.” Although, Sammy hated being treated like a baby she had no
choice but to obey this time around. She watched as they closed the door,
leaving her inside the ward with her father.
She sat by his side and looked down. She stroked his forehead, fighting the
tears that had flowed unhindered several hours ago. “Daddy, please wake
up.” She sniffled. “You hate it when I cry. I will stop crying, so just get up
already. Please don’t die.” She cleaned her runny nose with the back of her
palm only to burst into tears the next minute.

Ezekiel could feel his heart in his mouth as they sat at the doctor’s office. He
wondered why the doctor thinks Alhaji’s condition is critical. He only
reports to the hospital once every three months. Last time they all checked,
Alhaji was doing very fine. What did the doctor have to say? What did she
know that they didn’t?
Dr Ade heaved a heavy sigh before she started. “I know it’d shock you,” she
focused squarely on Alhaja, “especially you, Alhaja. But you need to be
strong at a time like this.”
“Doctor, is there anything that I do not know about Alhaji’s health? I am his
wife! We are his family. We need to know if there is anything wrong with
his health.”
“Actually, Alhaji didn’t want it disclosed initially, but judging from the way
things are now, I might have to go against that request.” She swallowed.
“The thing is, his health has been fast deteriorating. His heart condition is
now faring worse. He was even here this morning and I told him not to
stress himself. His condition has made him take periodic visits to the
hospital without your knowledge.”
Ezekiel and Kenny looked at themselves. They had initially thought that
Alhaji had gone to see his mistress. Hearing now that it was actually the
doctor their father came to see left them ashamed.

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It took a long while before Alhaja could speak. She had to take in everything
and process them one after the other. “Doctor, what are we going to do
now? Can an operation correct this?” She wasn’t ready to become a widow.
“I am afraid not.” Dr Ade muddled. She hated being the bearer of bad news.
She detested this part of her job, but if she didn’t tell it, who will? “All we
can do now is hope and pray that he outlives what I hope.”

Ezekiel was hurt. He was scared. Fear enveloped him the way it did when
his mother was about to die. He began to think whether death actually
followed him everywhere.
Kenny tried to be the grown up, the next head of the family. He tried not to
show any glint of pain. “Doctor, let us be realistic. How much time does he
have?”
“I don’t want to hear it.” Alhaja burst into tears again. She was going to
become a widow. She never bargained for this.
Ezekiel’s eyes had already accumulated tears. Both his tear sacs were full.
He held Alhaja’s shoulder. He prayed silently.
“Tell us.” Kenny demanded again.
“Errrm..,”
The door swung open before the doctor could say anything.
“Daddy is awake!” Sammy rushed in in excitement, excepting everyone to
think like her, jump up and rush to Alhaji’s ward, but unfortunately, she
was met with disappointment. Alhaja was still crying even after she broke
the supposedly good news. Kenny still didn’t bulge and Ezekiel just docked
his head. “I said dad is awake.”
Alhaja stood up this time around, tried to wipe off her tears. “Let us go.
Take me to him.” She told Sammy as she proceeded to the door.
Sammy was quite sure that all was not well; however, she did not question
them. She followed her mother, leaving just Ezekiel and Kenny in the room.

“Three to four months, give or take.”

The long held tear fell out of Ezekiel’s eyes. He rubbed his palms together.
Kenny was silent. He gritted his teeth. He channelled his emotions to anger.
He was angry about the fact that Alhaji hid it from them, from him. He
wasn’t a kid anymore; he was twenty-four, so why should his dad keep such
a thing from him? “Does he know this?”
Dr Ade paused. “He does.” She noticed the expression on his face. “I know
you have every right to be angry, Mr Akinleye. If I were in your shoes, I
would be too, but I don’t think it’ll be wise if you vent your anger on him,
judging from his state of heart. Besides, he was trying to protect his family
from long term pain and anguish.”
“He should have told me. I am not a kid!”

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“Don’t raise your voice. You need to calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down!”
“Kenny, relax.” Ezekiel talked for the first time and Kenny kept quiet. He
paced around the office.
“What can we do to help Ma?” He turned to the doctor.
“The best advice I can give to you now is to pray, and just build memories
while you are at it.”
Ezekiel stood up. “Thank you, doctor.” He beckoned on Kenny and they left
the doctor’s office.

“So he wasn’t even cheating. I feel so bad right now.” Kenny placed his right
palm on his forehead and rested on the wall just right outside the doctor’s
office.
“It is human to be wrong sometimes.”
“You know what really angers me? It is the fact that I don’t even have the
right to get angry at him.”
“How?”
“I developed the erroneous idea that he was cheating. I didn’t trust him
enough, so should I even get angry that he didn’t tell me he was dying?” He
was trying hard not to shed a tear. He had done a good job so far.
“Kenny,” he sighed. “It is human to assume, especially when situations and
circumstances all points to our subject of assumption, so I don’t think it is
healthy to beat yourself up for that assumption. Just let us just go and see
him. He would have been expecting us by now.” Ezekiel pulled him from the
wall and they walked on to Alhaji’s ward.
Ezekiel prayed silently for God’s intervention.
Lord, you know I have nowhere else to go. Please don’t let my benefactor die.
Lord, please, I need you to show up. I really do. Have mercy on this family.
They took me in when I was nothing. They fed me when I was hungry. They
sent me to school. They took me as their own. Lord, intervene.

They entered Alhaji’s ward when he was laughing.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” He was telling Sammy when they entered. “Here
are my boys!” He exclaimed like everything was fine. He had sat up already
like nothing happened.
“Why were you shouting like that, Alhaji?” Alhaja had calmed down now.
She was sitting by his pillow side.
“Oh! Now that I remember,” He turned to Ezekiel who was resting with his
back against the wall, the same posture that Kenny took, “where did you
even see that girl? And how did you get involved with somebody like that?”
“She attends our school.”

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Alhaji sighed. “You all know what happened to my very good friend, Alhaji
Raheem’s family, don’t you?”
“Is it the Alhaji that sent his wife packing because of another lady?” Sammy
asked.
“Exactly! The lady you brought home is the same one that Alhaji Raheem
sent his wife packing for.”
The astonishment on everybody’s face was priceless.
“What?!!” Alhaja finally exclaimed.
“Yes o! And that’s not even all. She also tried to seduce me on several
occasions whenever Alhaji Raheem brought her with him to the club.”
“Ehnehn! So that is what you people go to do at the club, abi?” Alhaja
remarked.
“Don’t you trust your husband? I even tried to advise him on several
occasions, but he didn’t listen to me, so I just left him.”
“Wow!” Sammy clapped her hands. “I knew it!”
“Do you know what made me develop hatred for that lady? After trying to
seduce me and I didn’t budge, she noticed that I was advising Raheem
against her and she severely warned me to stay away from her business.
Can you imagine? A small girl with such guts?!”

“I knew it! I never liked her from day one!!” Sammy turned to Ezekiel. “I
told you, didn’t I? There was something about her that I hated. I just
couldn’t place it. Now I know!”
Ezekiel was too dazed to say a word. “I..,” his mouth was dry. How come he
never saw this?
“Next time, you will listen to me.” Sammy poked again.
“Samiat! Stop that!!” Alhaja ogled at her before turning to Ezekiel. “I
understand how hard it must be right now, Ezekiel. I mean, somebody you
love, betraying you this way. What will you do now?” She was sad for him.
Alhaja had no idea what was going through Ezekiel’s mind. She didn’t have
an idea whatsoever, even though she thought she did.
Ezekiel stared into space. He was looking, but he wasn’t seeing. His
rearranged world was beginning to crumble all over again. Alhaji was
dying, and the person he had loved for almost three years now had become
a total stranger to him. He just realized he never knew her all along.
He was looking, but still wasn’t seeing.
Dark clouds were beginning to form in his world. “Kindly excuse me.” He
muttered and made for the door.

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Ezekiel wondered what he had done wrong as he sat on the bench outside
Alhaji’s ward. He wondered why he was being punished. In the face of his
girlfriend’s betrayal, he worried more about Alhaji’s health.
He couldn’t imagine what would happen if Alhaji eventually dies. His worry
for Alhaji’s health made him forget totally about Sophie.
For him, Sophie was a closed chapter in his life.
He now realized why he thought God had been silent all the while. He had
been the one not listening.
He remembered how he discarded the uneasiness and heaviness in his
heart when the issue of relationship first popped up between him and
Sophie. He remembered how he discarded all the ill feelings he felt in his
spirit just because he loved her. He had thought that he was just growing
cold feet for relationships at first.
Indeed, he had ignored the voice of his spirit totally. He didn’t even pray
about the relationship before he walked into it.
It spelt doom from the very beginning. He heard in his heart. The voice he
hadn’t heard in a long while. You will be fine. Just walk with me.
Ezekiel knew the one who he believed was there. He felt the presence of the
Holy Spirit envelope him. It had been long since he felt that way.
“Lord,” he covered his face with his palms, “How about my family? Please,
save Alhaji.”
I will never leave you nor forsake you. Just walk with me.
Ezekiel broke down in tears. He recognized that he hadn’t been in
fellowship with Jesus for a very long time. Little wonder why everything
had been in a mess. He had traded the place of fellowship with Sophie, but
God’s glorious love still never left him. His love readily embraced him the
moment he realized that he had been in the wrong all along.

“How can you love me this much?” He fell on his knees, not minding the few
passers-by. “What manner of man are you? Can you ever be understood?”
Amidst these questions and a thousand thoughts that rushed through his
mind, thoughts that couldn’t be constructed with words, he began to feel at
peace.
I loved you, even when you were dead in sins. Nothing can separate you from
my love.
That was what brought tranquillity to the broken heart of Ezekiel.
The peace he felt was beyond words. Even amidst all the current and
impending troubles, he felt at peace. He knew it had to be God.
He stood up, rubbed his face with his palms and heaved a sigh of relief.
As he walked back into Alhaji’s ward, he had no idea what was going to
happen in the next hour, or the next month, or the next year, but he knew
that he was in God’s plans, and so was everybody associated with him.

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“I am sure you both understand why I had to keep it from everyone.” Alhaji
sighed as he started talking.
It was very late in the night and the women in the house were already
asleep. Alhaji knew he had little time left. He needed to talk to his sons.
“I know you are both upset, and that is why you are not saying much.” He
sighed again.
“So it is true.” Kenny swallowed. “You are really dying?” He still hadn’t cried
since he heard the news earlier that day. He promised himself not to cry.
“So, if this didn’t happen, we’d have still been left in the dark about your
health, right?”
“No. I’d have told you still.”
“Maybe a day before you die, huh?” Kenny was sarcastic.
Ezekiel maintained his silence. He narrowed his eyes to look at Kenny,
trying to signal him not to talk anymore.
Alhaji sighed. “Kehinde, I didn’t tell you yet because I had to settle several
things before I even acknowledge to myself that I am really dying.” Alhaji
wished upon wishes that his son would understand.
“Things like what Dad? Things we can’t settle as a family?” He looked at
Ezekiel. “Why are you not saying anything? Stop being silent!” He barked.
He wanted a backup in his anger game.
Ezekiel had decided to hear Alhaji’s side of the story. He was sure Alhaji
had good reasons for hiding his impending death from his family. “Kenny,”
he gestured with his palm sliding down his chest, telling him to calm down.
“Let’s hear from Dad first.”
“I am dying.” He announced like it was news to them. “I want you both to be
prepared. I really do not know what tomorrow promises, because the
doctor already told me this evening that my health has deteriorated
drastically from the attack.”
The blabbing Kenny finally kept quiet. The room only echoed Alhaji’s voice.
“I am trying really hard to settle some issues I have before I die so as not to
make things hard for you all.”

Kenny was confused. They were well-to-do. He couldn’t envisage them

encountering any problems even if Alhaji dies. They had amassed
enormous amount of wealth that wouldn’t even make them cry when their
dad dies. Not like they wouldn’t want to cry, but every time they want to
cry, they’ll take a glance at the money in the bank and the tears will roll
back into their eyes, so he had no idea what his dad meant by things getting
hard for them. He bothered not to ask.

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However, Ezekiel did. “Make things hard? How?” He asked with a slight
frown.
“I don’t think it is wise to talk about them now. I will do so as soon as they
are settled. I just hope I live long enough to make that happen.”
“What if you don’t? Why don’t you just tell us now?” Ezekiel probed further.
He had no idea why uneasiness began to creep into his mind.
“Let us pray I do.”
Kenny rubbed his both palms together. “What do we do now?” Realization
began to dawn on him that he was about to lose his daddy.
Alhaji sighed again.
“Pray. We need to start praying.” Ezekiel finalized.

Ezekiel ate his food religiously while waiting for the next class.
It was the middle of the week. Both he and Sammy arrived at school earlier
that week just in time for their first classes. The family had resorted to
taking extra care of Alhaji and praying for him.
Ezekiel and Sammy had been instructed to visit every weekend so that
they’d all go out as much as they can.
Sammy knew that her father wasn’t feeling too well, but she didn’t know
exactly what was brewing. They all decided to keep it from her. They feared
what would happen to her if she realized that her dad was dying.
She was the closest to her father.
Ezekiel looked up and saw his departmental mate, Dele. He smiled
afterwards.
They exchanged pleasantries and Dele sat just right in front of him.
“Do you know if the lecturer will be coming to class? He didn’t come last
week. He just wasted our time.” Ezekiel spurred up a conversation.
“I don’t even know. Once I stay in class for an hour and he doesn’t come, I’ll
just leave. Who has three hours to waste doing nothing?”
“It depends, actually.” He drank out of the pep coke in front of him.
“On what?”
“On what you decide to do.”
“I don’t understand you.”
“If you decide not to waste your time, then you won’t.” Ezekiel shrugged.
“You and this your philosophical jargon ehn!”
“It is only logical. Time is only wasted if you decide to waste it. Nobody
wastes your time without your consent.”
Dele sighed. He looked out for the waiter and called him. “I need my food.
The usual way I buy it, and then add Fanta to it. Thank you.” He smiled and
watched as the waiter left to take his order. Then he turned to Ezekiel. He
had always heard of how intelligent he was at answering questions and

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giving solutions to problems, but he had never really talked with him
extensively. He just felt the ladies flocked around him because he is
handsome and well built, and the guys seemed to surround him sometimes
because he is intelligent.
However, he, Dele, did not need to be like them because he was neither a
girl seeking for a pretty guy’s attention, nor was he a dullard in need of a
tutor. But now that he sat close to Ezekiel, he knew that there was
something truly different about him. “What if you have your day all planned
out for lectures, and then one lecturer like Dr Taofeek fixes a class and after
waiting for two, three hours..,”
“Then do something productive while waiting in class, so at the end of the
three hours, if the lecturer did not come, you wouldn’t feel like you have
wasted your time.”
“Hmm…,” Dele looked at him narrowly and sat properly, folding his arms
against his chest.
“That is why I said that you don’t waste time unless you want it wasted.”
Ezekiel drank from his Fanta again.
“You are smart!” Dele painfully admitted. He leaned closer as if he wasn’t
seeing Ezekiel clearly. He rubbed his chin as he thought of how to defeat
the proud guy in front of him. He loved intellectual challenges. “Okay! They
say that all work and no play will make jack a dull boy, right? What if I use
that time to have fun? Isn’t it not wasted?”
“I don’t think you should consider the time you use for fun as a waste. Fun
is necessary too. As long as you have fulfilled all righteousness with your
work, you can use some time for fun. In that context, it is not a waste.”
Ezekiel knew what Dele was trying to do. He knew Dele to be an intelligent
and hardworking colleague. He always tried to prove his intelligence at
every chance he gets. Ezekiel was trying his best to be subtle and
discerning with the answers he gave.

Dele’s food finally arrived. “What took you so long?!” He exclaimed

excitedly and began to devour the meal in no time.
Betwixt the sweet savour of the meal and the piercing eyes of Ezekiel, Dele
warred in his heart whether or not to seek advice from him. He knew he
had met a greater being. He agreed he was no match for Ezekiel. He had
thoughts he was battling with and he thought he could talk to him about it.
“Ezekiel,” he started after he dropped the spoon in his almost empty plate.
“I was thinking about venturing into this business.”
“Huh?!” Ezekiel’s face lit up. He had been wondering what Dele was racking
his mind over for minutes. “Talk to me about it.”
“The thing is, it has been on my mind since last semester, but I just have no
idea how to go about it.”

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“Okay..?” He pushed his right arm up so he could make his chin rest on his
fist.
“I want to start getting designer caps and bags on consignment from a man
my Uncle introduced me to and start selling them to students here on
campus.”
“Wow! That’s huge!!” Ezekiel exclaimed. “So, has he agreed for you to be his
consignee?”
“Yes, but the terms he gave me were quite ambiguous, and the agreement
doesn’t just doesn’t go down well with me, but I don’t want to lose this
opportunity.”
“Do you have it with you?”
He brought out his phone. “I think I have the PDF with me.” He scrolled
through the phone for several seconds before handing it to Ezekiel. “There
it is.”
Ezekiel read for several minutes while Dele ate his food.
Dele patiently waited for Ezekiel after finishing his meal. He watched with
building admiration as Ezekiel scrolled through his phone.
“I don’t think you should sign this.” Ezekiel finally affirmed after a couple of
minutes.
“I thought as much. It didn’t go down well with me.”
“I’m not saying it isn’t a good contract, but don’t you think the commission
is too low?” He returned the phone to Dele. “You are in a school environ, the
sales will definitely be on the high side, but apart from the sales, how about
the stress? If you don’t structure your schedule well, there would be times
you’d have to miss a class because you want to meet up with a customer,
you know, right?”
“Yes, I have considered most of these things and I’ve prepared a reasonable
schedule for myself.”
“Good then. I believe you are intelligent. Just wisely renegotiate the
commission. I think I can help with..,” he looked up and saw Sophie come in
with a guy. He sighed and shook his head. He had been seeing Sophie with
several other guys for days. Though he felt he had no reason to be
uncomfortable, he still was.
“That’s your babe, isn’t it?” Confused Dele looked from the lady chattering
with her companion to the dumbstruck Ezekiel. He snapped his fingers at
his face.
“Let us leave here.” Ezekiel stood up and carried his bag. “We’ll talk on our
way to class.” He said and left the restaurant.
“Wait! Let me pay for my food.” Dele rushed to the counter.

Sophie had called to meet up with Ezekiel on Monday immediately he got

back from home. She thought she could get into his head.

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“What do you want?” Ezekiel had asked when she sat down beside him
under the tree.
“I don’t know what that fat man has told you, but I can explain.” She had
tried to feign remorse. She tried to play the victim.
“I don’t think there is anything I want to hear from you. I don’t think we can
continue from here.”
“I didn’t have a choice but to start sleeping with Alhaji Raheem. I didn’t
want to. It..,” She was cut short.
“I don’t trust you anymore. I don’t believe any word that comes out of your
mouth. I think you are a deceitful person, and it hurts, thinking I really
loved you.” Ezekiel maintained.
Sophie became frustrated and switched her countenance. She knew her
plan wasn’t going to work anymore. “Ezekiel, you are a very nice person,
and I tried liking you. You just are too gullible to be loved by anybody at
all.”
Ezekiel didn’t know what was coming until she finished. She called him
gullible.
He had looked at his Sophie, the one he always thought was innocent and
had a wonderful heart.
How fast can an angel turn into a devil! How fast can light turn into
darkness.
Perhaps, there was never an angel. Perhaps, it was darkness all along.
“You think you are smart, but honestly, you are not. I am sorry, but that’s
just how I feel. It was nice knowing you.” She had concluded.
Ezekiel had swallowed. He sat there, but he wasn’t there in essence. He
couldn’t move his body. He was paralyzed from his head down to his toes.
He had witnessed an impossible miracle; light turned into darkness.
“Good bye, Ezekiel. I wish you a great life.”

Ezekiel was brought back to the present by Dele’s slight hit on his shoulder.
“Can we go now?”
Ezekiel looked around became aware of his environment. “Sure. Let’s get
going.”

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“He knew the end had been promised, but from where
he stood at that moment, he could not see a pathway
to the promised end.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER FIFTEEN

The family planned another Saturday trip as usual. They had decided to
visit the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library at Abeokuta that Saturday,
and then have fun at the beach on Sunday. They had it all planned and
figured out, nobody had any idea what was looming around.
Ezekiel was all dressed up, waiting for Sammy who was still sitting in front
of the mirror, doing her make up.
“I wonder how many decades it takes for you to finish your make up.” He
teased her, cutting through the silence existing in the room. “You have been
sitting there for over thirty minutes now.”
Sammy chuckled. “Do you have to exaggerate? I haven’t even taken ten
minutes.” She painted her lips, matched them together and nodded her
head, all the while not taking her eyes off the mirror. “I wanted to talk to
you about something.” She threw the lipstick into her make up kit.
“What about?” Ezekiel was nibbling with his phone.
“Remember the day I asked you how to live my life for a definite reason?”
“Yes, and I asked you to find a niche for yourself. What you can do all day
without getting paid and you won’t get tired of.”
“Exactly!” She turned her head sharply and laid her bright eyes on Ezekiel.
“I thought about it long enough for me to lose sleep.”
“You did? That’s more like it!” He was proud his sister really wanted to live
her life for a purpose. He wished beyond wishes that he could lead her to
Christ, but he understood the principle of reverence, and he had too much
reverence for Alhaji and Alhaja. He had tried once to talk to them about his
faith, but he had been clearly warned by Alhaji behind closed doors not to
try to lure any of them to his own faith. He had prayed about it too and was
sure God wanted him to be patient. “So, what did you find out?”

“I really hate it when some ladies do not know their worth. Sometimes,
when a lady say things like ‘men rule the world, so there is nothing we can do
than to follow the trend...’,” she was saying as she slid her right leg into her
shoe.
“But men actually rule the world!”
“That’s because of the mental attitude we ladies have to many things. We
make ourselves scarce when it comes to politics, governance, owning
companies, ruling industries and what have you. We were taught while
growing up that we were born to live as ‘a helper’, and the best place to
help is in the kitchen, so we have…,”
Ezekiel’s eyes were filled with admiration. He wasn’t hearing anything she
was saying anymore. Admiration blocked his ears. He admired the way she

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talked with passion and he realized that she was going to be a great
speaker, an advocate for women and the world at large. He smiled.
“Why are you smiling? Is what I am saying funny? I am telling you what is
paining me and you are laughing.” She stopped and frowned at Ezekiel.

“I am not..,” he paused as he noticed a caller on his phone. “It is Kenny. I

think we are late.” He picked the call.
“I am done.” She stood up. “Let me just…,” she was saying when she heard
Ezekiel’s shout.
“Jesus Christ!” Ezekiel couldn’t contain his shock. He looked at Sammy who
had sharply turned back too. The phone slid from his hand onto the bed.
“What is it?!” Panic was already building up in Sammy’s stomach.
Ezekiel was too shocked to say a word. Chills ran down his spine. He closed
his eyes.
“Ezekiel, I’m talking to you!” Sammy dreaded. She couldn’t place exactly
what could have happened, but judging from Ezekiel’s expression, it wasn’t
anything good.
Ezekiel swallowed as he looked from the floor to Sammy and back to the
floor. “It is dad.” He spilled just before he remembered that he wasn’t
supposed to tell her anything yet.
“What is wrong with him?” The alarm was about to go off in her head.
Ezekiel stood up. He looked around the room like he had lost something. He
dipped his phone into his pocket and still looked around, bent to check
under the bed. “Where is my phone?” He was trying to hide his teary eyes
from the panicking figure in front of him.
“I need you to listen to me!” Sammy brushed through her hair with her
fingers.
“Errm…,” Ezekiel couldn’t afford telling her anything. He knew she was
going to break down and the whole school will eventually know what’s up
even before it gets into the news. “Dad was rushed to the hospital.” It was
then that he felt his pockets and realized his phone was in his pocket all
along. “We need to get home as soon as possible.” Ezekiel said as he made
for the door. He was careful enough not to let the tear that had already
rolled down from his left eye visible to Sammy.
Sammy was already crying. She hurriedly took her purse from the table.
“Home? Shouldn’t we be going to the hospital?” Her voice was shaky when
she asked. She didn’t get a response from Ezekiel who had already stepped
out from her room.

Throughout the journey home, the cab was silent.

A thousand and one things ran through Ezekiel’s mind. He couldn’t disperse
the tight feeling in his stomach. Logically, apart from the death of Alhaji,

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there was nothing else he should think about. Whether Alhaji is dead or
not, his life was pretty much set. The rich family consider him as one with
them, he had been legally adopted as a child of the Akinleye Family, he
could not be stranded, no matter what. Even in the face of all these facts, he
had no idea why he felt that his life was going back to square one.
Behold, I am with you, even to the ends of this earth.
He looked and saw how Sammy’s face was still wet. She hadn’t stopped
crying just because she heard Alhaji was in the hospital. He wondered what
would have happened if he had told her in school that he was dead.
Lord, I know you are there to show me the way from here. You are the way,
the truth and the life. All I ask now is that you grant my family solace.
He prayed in his heart.
He swallowed as the cab pulled up at their house. Three other cars were
parked outside.
“Who are those?” Sammy saw the strange cars in front. Shouldn’t her family
be in the hospital? She didn’t understand why she had goose bumps all over
her body.
Ezekiel chose to ignore her. He paid the cab man who instantaneously
drove off.
He held Sammy’s wrist and tightened his grip unknowingly, as if to tell her
to get ready for whatever happens. “It is going to be alright.” He said to
Sammy’s confusion as they walking into the compound.

Three days had passed since the death of Alhaji. It still left a tense air in the
nation as a whole. The nation had lost one of its top business icons.
So many friends trooped in to render their condolences to the bereaved
family. The governor of the state had come the day after Alhaji Akinleye’s
death was announced on television.
For Ezekiel, the past few days had been hell for him. He couldn’t stand pain
in the eyes of his adoptive family. They had never lost anything or anyone
until the death of Alhaji.
Alhaja had refused to come out of her room since after Alhaji’s burial,
Kenny had refused to cry, but his eyes and the way he talked, spoke
volumes of the emotional anguish he was going through inside of him.
Sammy hadn’t stopped crying since the minute they walked into the house
on Saturday. She cried the most when she watched Alhaji’s coffin go into
the ground.
“Please tell them my daddy is not dead yet..,” she couldn’t stop tugging onto
Ezekiel who held her firmly by the arm.

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It was already three days, and the pain didn’t seem to be anywhere near
floating away. It was as if the pain renewed as each day unveiled.
Kenny and Ezekiel did most of the entertaining of guests, friends and well-
wishers who came in groups to pay condolences, with the help of the maid.
Both Alhaja and Sammy were nowhere in the sight of the visitors at any
point in time.
Ezekiel and Kenny settled on the couch after they saw off the early morning
guests.
“I just wish these guests will stop coming.” Kenny said after heaving a sigh.
“We can’t help it. Alhaji touched the lives of so many people, so we should
expect more guests than the ones we have had.” Ezekiel was also obviously
tired. He hadn’t gotten enough sleep in the last seventy two hours.
“Or should we just run away?” Kenny pretended like he was serious.
“We can actually run away, I’ve thought about it.” Ezekiel played along with
his joke.
Just then, they heard the sounds of cars driving into the compound. The
gate had been left open since the time Alhaji died.
“Another set of visitors! Where should we run to?” Kenny feigned a panicky
expression.
“Maybe we should run to greet the visitors.” Ezekiel let out a mild smile; the
first in three days. He stood up to look out of the window. He frowned at
what he saw.
Kenny saw his facial expression. “Who are those?” He stood up to meet
Ezekiel.
“It is the lawyer and one other man.” Ezekiel responded as Kenny reached
him.
“Oh,” Kenny’s face lit up, “let’s go welcome them.” Kenny had been
expecting the lawyer since the day his dad died. He had been quietly
anxious about the moment where all the rights of the company would be
transferred to him. However, he had expected the lawyer to come alone. He
was coming to read the will of his father, why bring an outsider without
their permission?

Ezekiel had little idea about the lawyer’s mission in the house, he, however
did not pay attention because he didn’t expect any share of the Alhaji’s
properties, even though he knew he was made for life.
They met the lawyer and the unknown man, who were both clad in black
suits at the entrance of the living room. They both held a black briefcase.

“Good morning, Barrister Daramola.” Kenny and Ezekiel chorused as Kenny

walked forward to shake hands with the lawyer.

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“Good morning to you both, Mr Akinleye Kehinde and Mr Akinleye Ezekiel.”
He took turns to shake hands with them both.
Kenny wondered why the man looked hostile. He noticed how his
handshake was reluctant.
“Please, be seated.” Kenny spoke when they got to the centre of the living
room.
“Thank you.” Barrister Daramola sat down, so did the unsmiling man.
“What about the Alhaja and your sister?” He asked after some seconds.
“I’ll go and get them.” Ezekiel volunteered and went up the stairs in a split
second.

Ezekiel wondered as he walked to Sammy’s room. He didn’t know why the

air was that tense. He felt that there shouldn’t be any problem since the
Akinleyes had no extended family. From the stories he had heard and
movies he had watched in his childhood days, it was always only when the
bereaved family had close relatives that problems arose where it came to
the issue of the late family member’s will.
He said a short prayer that dispelled his anxiety as he knocked on Alhaja’s
door. He let himself in several seconds after Alhaja answered.
“The lawyer is here, mum.”
“I thought so too.” She said with a faint voice. She was fully dressed as if she
was ready to step out before Ezekiel walked in. “I’ll be downstairs in few
minutes. You can go and get Samiat.”
Ezekiel met Sammy’s door opened. He walked in and met her asleep on the
floor. Thank God she slept at last. He thought as he went further in. The only
thing that Sammy had been doing for the last three days was cry. Ezekiel
feared for her health at some point.

He bent down beside her and tapped her lightly. It was when she shifted
that he noticed she had slept off crying.
“Ezekiel!” She sprung up as if she had seen something strange. It was when
she recognized her environment that she relaxed and sat on her bed.
Ezekiel spoke softly. “Dress yourself. The lawyer is here. We will wait for
you downstairs.” He stood up straight.
Sammy sniffled, still looking around. “Alright, I’ll be downstairs in minutes.”
“Alright.” Ezekiel only guessed what she said. Her voice had gone with her
tears. He barely heard her voice.

About thirty minutes later, the whole family and expected visitors were
seated in the living room.

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“I thought you were supposed to come alone, make this confidential or
something?” Alhaja was the first to speak after the pleasantries, or what
seemed like it.
“I actually have my reasons for bringing this gentleman along. I am sure the
Alhaji would understand, just as you soon will too.”
The barrister dropped his briefcase on the table before him and opened it.
“Well,” he began, “I understand that it will sound shocking to your ears, but
it is sad that as much as Alhaji tried, he wasn’t able to leave anything for his
family.”
Kenny frowned. “What are you talking about?”

The barrister sighed, dropped the document he was holding and rubbed his
palms together. “Alhaji Akinleye Lawal in his lifetime had lots of debts.” He
passed the documents to Kenny who was the closest to him. “You can go
through that and pass it around while I continue.” He said.
“Alhaji made sure his debts were as discreet as possible, known to only
him, me and his creditors. Late last year, his debts surpassed his equity
when the estate project embarked on in Timbuktu failed. When his
business associates and partners were about to catch wind of it, the
organization Mr Henry here,” pointing to the strange man who quickly
unlocked his briefcase and brought out a document too, “works for, The
Keys Credit Facility, West Hamburg, Pennsylvania, contacted Alhaji
Akinleye about their credit scheme, one which would actually sit well with
any logical person. This loan, however, required that he used all of the
properties in Alhaji’s name as collateral until he pays up.”
Kenny let out a snort. “And you expect me to believe that daddy accepted
the contract?” He folded his palms together.
“You would have entered the contract too, if you were in your father’s
shoes. He was quite desperate and there was no other way he could have
gotten out of that debt.”

The silence in the air was thick. Nobody knew exactly what to think or say.
Ezekiel didn’t see this coming. Nobody did. They had been living in debt
and they didn’t even realize it.
“If Alhaji lived a little bit longer, he could have paid these debts.” The
barrister decided to add after the long, awkward silence.
“Isn’t there a way to pay up these debts without having to give up our
properties?” Kenny finally came into terms with what he had earlier seen in
the document.
The barrister sighed. He took off his glasses and cleaned a corner of his
eyes with his handkerchief, then wore his glasses back. “I am afraid you can

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only do that if Mr Henry’s company decides to enter into another contract
with you.” He nodded to Mr Henry who shifted slightly.
All gazes turned to Mr Henry. “Actually, I am afraid to inform you that that
won’t be possible as it has already been..,”
Kenny snorted. “What kind of credit company gives some kind of strange
loan and refuse to review the contract?”
“Sir, it is the nature of the contract we had with your..,”
“Don’t give me that crap!” Kenny flung out his arms and stood up instantly.
“Kenny, calm down.” Ezekiel found his voice at last.
Alhaja didn’t say a word. She was past speaking and crying. So was Sammy.
They just sat aloof on the couch and watched as the men did the talking.
“Ezekiel, stay out of this.” The fury was evident in Kenny’s eyes.
Ezekiel stood up and held Kenny’s shoulder firmly. “You need to calm
down.”
Kenny jerked his hands off and paced the living room.
“What can we do about this situation?” Ezekiel tried to reason with Mr
Henry.
“To be candid, Mr Akinleye, the only thing you can do is to sign the approval
of the takeover. It has to be signed by at least one person in the family. The
Keys Credit Facility will not engage in any further negotiations with this
family.” Mr Henry tried to muster courage. He had chickened the moment
Kenny lost his temper and had relaxed when Ezekiel came into the picture.
“So this was the plan of the company all along, huh?” Ezekiel didn’t know he
spoke out loud until Kenny replied from a distance, just beside the window
where he had gone to cool off.
“Exactly my point! This company is fraud, and I will not allow them trample
on this family and take everything my father worked for all his life.”
“Be careful with the words you use sir.”
“Remember you are in my house,” Kenny moved closer, “you do not teach
me how to use my words in my house!!”
“Kenny, calm down!” Ezekiel sighed. He prayed to God for wisdom to
handle the situation.
“How will calming down solve this?” The exasperated Kenny voiced.
“Okay,” he sat down and started shaking his legs rapidly, “I am calm.” He
folded his arms across his chest.

“Mr Henry,” Ezekiel picked up the document from the table “All we have to
do is sign the takeover document?”
Mr Henry grinned. “Absolutely, just sign and everything will be taken care
of.” He was happy that, at least, someone in the family was reasonable.
“What if we decide not to sign?”
Kenny’s eyes brightened immediately he heard Ezekiel talk.

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“I mean,” Ezekiel faced Kenny “we can decide not to acknowledge the
document. As long as we do not sign this document, the company has no
right to take over our properties.”
“That’s right!” Kenny jumped before turning to the lawyer and the
company’s agent. “Mr Henry, we will not sign this document.”
Alhaja’s face was expressionless. She had been sitting quietly, listening to
the men argue. She had lost the will to do anything generally. She knew the
outcome of it all.
Sammy had begun to sob. Though she watched her brothers fight for their
properties, her mind had strayed from the sitting room to the future. She
wondered what will become of them without the houses, the companies
and every other thing they grew up believing was theirs. She couldn’t even
fathom life from the angle of the poor. She’d rather die.
The men were still arguing with Mr Henry when Alhaja pushed the
documents forward.
She already signed them.
“You can go now, Mr Henry and Barrister Dara. Thank you.” Alhaja stood
up.
“Mummy, wha..,” Kenny froze. So did Ezekiel. “What did you just do?” He
saw his mother’s signature on the documents Mr Henry hurriedly packed
from the table.
“Please, I am tired. Let them go and we’ll talk later.” She began to walk
towards the stairs.
“Mummy! Why did you sign that document?!” Kenny raised his voice
unbelievably.
Alhaja chose to ignore him. She turned to Mr Henry and Barrister Daramola
who had stood up immediately she did. “So?”
“Thank you for your cooperation, Madam. The company will give you till
the end of this year to hand over any document related to all your
properties and settle any other issue before then.”
“Wow!” Kenny snorted and shook his head. He still couldn’t believe what
was happening.
Ezekiel swallowed. He tried his best to compose himself. He looked from
the big grin on the face of Mr Henry to the tired eyes of Alhaja. He couldn’t
understand what was going on.
“Yes!” Mr Henry exclaimed as if he remembered something. “About this
house, the company has asked you to vacate it within the space of two
months.”
“Is that all?” Alhaja’s shaky voice was heard.
“Of course, Madam. I thank you once again for your wisdom and
cooperation.”
Alhaja sighed, bending her head slightly in a nod. “Samiat, come with me.”

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Sammy stood up and followed her mother.

Barrister Daramola coughed in order to draw the attention of Kenny who

was still looking at his departing mother in awe. “We will like to take our
leave now, Mr Akinleye.” He didn’t bother to wait for a response before he
nodded to Mr Henry and they started walking towards the exit.
“How much did they pay you for this, Barrister?” Kenny spoke solemnly,
loud enough for the Barrister’s ears.
“I beg your pardon?” The long expressionless face of Barrister Daramola
grew into a frown as he promptly turned back to face Kenny.
Ezekiel who had been silent since Alhaja signed the documents stood up. “I
think you should leave now, Barrister Daramola.” His voice was firm and
his face, grim.
The Barrister, who was thinking of spewing legal jargon to infuse fear into
the ill-mannered Kehinde, had a rethink. He had never seen Ezekiel in that
manner before. Though he didn’t raise his voice, the firmness with which
he spoke was enough to inspire gentleness into a lion.
He swallowed and exited the living room with Mr Henry.

“Fighting and refusing to sign the document would have led to fruitlessness
on our part.” Alhaja spoke after what seemed like a century of silence.
“You knew about the loan?” Kenny who was sitting on a small swivel in the
room asked with a gruff voice.
Alhaja shook her head. “No.” She sighed. “But I knew something wasn’t
right.”
“Why then didn’t you tell us anything, mum?” Sammy was sitting on the
floor with her head on Alhaja’s laps.
“I couldn’t have guessed.” She sighed again. “I started suspecting that all
was not well when Alhaji woke me up in the midnight, three days before his
death.”
“He woke you up?” Kenny frowned.
Ezekiel wondered from the second swivel he was sitting on beside Kenny.
He folded his arms, readying himself to listen.
“Yes.” She bent to open the drawer beside the bed. She picked something
out. “He gave me this credit card. He said he opened the account with a
nickname so we shouldn’t have trouble spending the money in it. At that
point, I thought it was one of those monies he was planning to invest. Then
he told me not to cause any trouble, whatever happens. ‘Instead of causing
troubles, just move out of the country quietly’. Those were his words.” She
began to sob. “I didn’t know that this was what he meant.”

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Kenny moved closer to hug his mother. He had been taught not to cry. He
had been taught not to let his emotions sway him. As much as he wanted to,
he held it in. He held onto his mother tightly. “It’s okay mum.”
Ezekiel didn’t know when tears flowed from his eyes. He didn’t see such
hardship coming.
Dear Lord, what will happen from here on?
He knew the end had been promised, but from where he stood at that
moment, he could not see a pathway to the promised end. He had just
watched his only path get destroyed. He saw the hopelessness in Sammy’s
eyes; he could sense the aura of tiredness emitting from Alhaja and her son
as they hugged.
He swallowed. He was sure God had not brought him that far to leave him,
but he couldn’t help the doubt that was beginning to creep into his
consciousness. He sensed he was back to where he started. Is this how I will
continue running in circles? How about this family? Lord, how will they start
from here?
He felt doubt overwhelm him. He thought God had assured him it was all
going to be fine? It wasn’t looking like it.
He wiped the tears from his face and sniffled.
I am the way, the truth and the life. I am the Way, Ezekiel. I am the one who
created a way right in the middle of the red sea. I am the Way, Ezekiel.

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“Maybe the gander should try what the goose
is trying before it dies of starvation.”

- Handzinspired

181
 CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Ezekiel woke up at the sound of the ringing bell right outside his hostel. He
heaved a long sigh as he sat up from his bed. He noticed that the ringing
bell was coming from the campaigning students’ union candidates. He took
the wristwatch by his bedside to check the time. It was almost eight o’clock.
He untangled himself from the blanket he had buried himself with the
previous night. He got up and walked into the bathroom. He washed his
face and stared into the mirror.

It was almost seven months now since the last time Ezekiel heard from his
family. The Akinleyes had gone ahead of him to the United States, leaving
him with the little amount of money they could for his upkeep, and also to
continue his studies in Nigeria. He was unable to go with them because his
travelling papers were yet to be processed as at the time. The family had
agreed to go ahead to prepare all the papers for his travel, however, he had
not heard from them ever since.

He waited day and night for a mail, for a call, for anything that signified that
they were alive and well, but he got none. He prayed all night and fasted on
many days, and on one side, worrying about their wellbeing, even though
his wasn’t faring well enough.
He knew in his heart that they were fine and were probably still processing
his papers.
After three months that he didn’t hear from them, he assumed they lost his
contact. He was past panicking. He knew he had to move on with whatever
was left. The best he could do was pray for them and that was what he did,
every time he had the opportunity to.

His phone vibrated from the room. He went ahead to pick it and it was a
message. His bank had just sent him the balance in his account for the end
of the month. He heaved a sigh as he read the figures over again. He had
tried his best to ignore the situation before, but seeing it now, he couldn’t
shy away from the reality.
He had run out of money, and not only that, he had no idea where to get
money from once the money left by the Akinleyes finally runs out.
He was in the early weeks of his final year, he had not paid his school fees,
his rent was almost due and he had no idea how to survive once the
foodstuffs in his kitchen run out.

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He sighed, dropping his phone on his bed. He placed his hands akimbo and
shook his head. “Lord, I need you to intervene like you always do. I know
you’d never leave me stranded. Send help, Lord. Send help.”
His phone rang again. He looked at the screen and realized that his caller
was a departmental mate.
“Good morning Tolu…..I am fine, I just woke up……no, Dr Gbemiro told us
he won’t be available for his class..,” He paused when he heard somebody
speak from the background. “Who is that?....I mean the person
speaking….oh! I thought I heard something about the school portal
closing……are you serious? Wow!” He rubbed his right hand on his head as
he heard the news. “Alright, thank you.” He hung up immediately the phone
left his ear. The school portal for payment of school fees would close in five
days.

He stared into space as he watched his world about to be crumbled over

again. However, he refused to utter doubtful statements. He had developed
thick skin and he knew that it was all going to be well. He knelt down and
rested his elbow on his bed. “Lord, I know that you are in control. I just
want to thank you for being in control. I am sure you know all I am going
through right now because there is nothing on earth that is hidden from
your sight. Lord, I don’t want to drop out of school. I know what I am about
to ask of you is beyond logic, but logic doesn’t come to play where you are
concerned. I ask that you provide my school fees, my rent, and all my other
needs before time elapses. It doesn’t matter what happens, I’ll believe that
all is well and I will trust you. I refuse to doubt you any single day of my life
again. I want to be in your will and not in your way, so, if it goes as I have
prayed, I will say all is well and thank you. If it does not go as I have hoped
and prayed, I will still hold your majesty on high and say thank you because
I know that it is well with my soul. I love you Lord, and I thank you for
loving me, for providing for me and for dipping me into plenty. I pray, in
Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Ezekiel decided to forfeit the academic year since he had no way to pay his
school fees that year. It was a very tough and humiliating decision. Several
friends sympathised with him, several others gossiped about it and stared
at him with pity whenever he passed by.
Sophie also made mockery of him vis-à-vis. “So I heard your almighty
family has finally abandoned you, huh?” She had chuckled when she met
Ezekiel sitting with a friend in a restaurant outside school.
Ezekiel decided to ignore her, even though he realized she was talking to
him.

183
“If you would kiss my toes, I can as well give you some money to pay your
school fees, or something.” She taunted further.
“Which money do you plan on giving him?” Tolu asked when he couldn’t
contain his anger. “The one you earn by selling your body to virtually all the
lecturers and rich kids on campus?” He hissed. “Get a life!”
Sophie simply laughed and left the duo to the right corner of the restaurant.
Ezekiel had to hide his face from his departmental mates, his friends and
everyone who knew how well he was doing. The news spread like wild fire
about how the guy who always had money to give out - who always had the
right things to say to people who needed some kind of light - was now the
one in need of light. Indeed, at some point in life, even light would need
extra light.

He was down to his last five thousand naira and he had two months until he
was officially homeless. He was on his bed, wondering how to survive,
when a thought popped into his head. He was going to visit his old
neighbourhood.
He promptly stood up from his bed as he processed the thought. Although
he had not been there since he left four years ago, he still managed to keep
contacts and helped Bode, his ex-roommate financially as much as he could
until he suddenly didn’t hear from him again.
“Thank you Lord!” He unconsciously exclaimed as he wore a pair of
trousers as he came in terms with the thought.
He was going to visit his old neighbourhood.

Ezekiel moved along the roadside. He couldn’t tell which road was which.
He couldn’t tell which street was which. Not because he forgot where he
lived, but because he was seeing a wholly different place. The roads had
been expanded and tarred; the shops by the side of the road had
disappeared, everything was different.
Ezekiel couldn’t help but be in awe at how things could change in just few
years. He stood by the side of the road and he could swear that where he
stood at that moment was where the old, rundown house they lived in was
situated four years ago. He looked all around and didn’t even know
whether to move left or right.
He seemed frustrated as he couldn’t even find anything he could relate
with. Nothing looked familiar to him. He placed his hands akimbo as he
watched cars drive to and fro, not even stopping like him to wonder – with
him – about the change that took place over night. He was tempted at some
point to shout, “Are you all blind?! Did nobody notice the overnight change?”

184
but he restricted himself. He was careful so he wouldn’t be called a
psychiatric patient.
He decided to start walking to anywhere, maybe, just maybe he’d find
something familiar.

After about thirty minutes of walking, he decided to stop to buy a drink. He

sat down on a stool, under the extension of the shop as he drank from the
bottle. He watched how three men struggled with a broken down
generator. Apparently, they had tried their best to repair the generator and
from the faces Ezekiel saw, they were tired as they must have been trying
for a long time.
He dropped the drink that was halfway and crowned it back.
“Can I help?” He spoke as he reached them.
The elderly man among them winced as he got up. He supported his back
with both his hands. “It just stopped working about an hour ago.” He
stepped back for Ezekiel to check it. The two young men, probably of the
same age with Ezekiel, also stood up but didn’t move any distance.
“When last did you grease the engine?” Ezekiel bent down to open the oil
gauge, and then he nodded in confirmation.
“We still added oil about four days ago.” One of the young men spoke.
“Yes, I can see the oil is enough.” Ezekiel affirmed. He pulled the generator
three times before it gave out weird sounds and went back off.

In no time, Ezekiel loosened some screws, brought out the plug. He tried
some other things he knew about, and after about ten minutes, he pulled
the generator again and it sounded perfect.
“Wow! See what we have been struggling with for almost an hour now?!”
The euphoric elderly man exclaimed as he hugged Ezekiel slightly. “Wow!
Thank you so much!”
The two young men – who had been whispering to themselves all along –
just stood behind, smiling sheepishly.
“It is nothing sir.” Ezekiel’s hands were dirty, so he could not respond
properly to the hug. “Allow me to finish coupling the remaining parts.” He
bent down again and started undoing the loosening process.
“I am really grateful oh! What is your name? I haven’t seen you in this
neighbourhood before, and you seem like a student.”
Ezekiel paused at first. He smiled at the man’s excitement. He wasn’t sure
which question to answer first. “I am actually a student sir.” He said as he
finished coupling the generator. He cleaned the body with a rag beside him,
dropped it back on the floor and finally rose up.
“How come you now know how to repair generator? Or are you studying
engineering in school?”

185
Ezekiel chuckled. “Not at all sir, I used to live in this neighbourhood. I just
decided to visit today and I couldn’t find the house I was living in before.”
“Ah! This place has changed! When last did you come here?”
“About four years ago. I used to live in the barrack over there..,” he was
about to point down the road when his eyes fell upon one of the guys. He
thought he was familiar.
“Ezekiel?”
“Yes…,” Ezekiel still wondered.
“Yes! I told you!!” The guy that had called Ezekiel told his friend. “He is the
same Ezekiel that we all know!”
“I am not sure I can recognize you.” Ezekiel’s face brightened. At last,
someone knew him!
“You are not serious o! You don chop rich man money now, you no recognize
me again.” The guy grinned. He placed one hand on Ezekiel’s shoulder,
staring at him in amazement.
Ezekiel laughed at the joke. He still tried his best to place the guy’s face but
couldn’t.
“It is Nkem!”
“Jesus Christ!!” Ezekiel shouted on reflex. “Nkem!” He pulled him closer for
a hug.
“Don’t stain my shirt with your dirty hands jor!” Nkem laughed as Ezekiel
released him. “Where have you been? You never even looked back.”
“It’s a very long story. I kept in touch with Bode until he stopped contacting
and I couldn’t get through to him anymore.”
“Ah! Bode passed away.” Nkem sighed.
“What?!” Ezekiel didn’t realize he had shouted until people started staring
at him.
“I think we should leave here before they start wondering what is going
on.” Nkem asserted before he turned to the elderly man. “Baba, we don dey
go oh!”
“Alright, thanks for all the help, Nkem and Manuel,” he then turned to
Ezekiel. “Make sure you come around before you leave, okay? I should give
you something.”
“Wow! Alright sir, I appreciate.” Ezekiel bowed a bit, he then took the rag
on the floor to clean his hands.
“Oh! Do u need water?”
“No, sir, I am okay.” He dropped the rag. “Thank you.”
“Are you not drinking your coke anymore?” Nkem asked.
“I am okay jare!” Ezekiel had lost appetite for the drink.
Nkem took the drink and drank it all in one gulp. He placed the bottle
carefully in one of the crates outside the shop and gestured to Ezekiel to
follow him as he walked into the compound.

186
“So, that was what happened.” Nkem sighed as he recounted the incident
that led to the death of Bode.
Ezekiel felt paralyzed. He wondered if he too would have been dead if
Alhaji Akinleye had not taken him out of the neighbourhood. He had learnt
that when the government brought the idea of restructuring the mainland,
everybody in the neighbourhood opposed the idea because their lives, their
jobs, their houses would be wiped off without trace if it was carried out.
They all protested with rigor. The government had heard enough of their
complaints and decided to apply threats and force by involving the Anti-
Robbery Unit. Even in the face of these people – that seemed like beasts to
the habitants of the neighbourhood – they did not bulge. The threats took
turn for the worse when real riots began. This led to the frustrated
government squad firing stray bullets that hit several people. Few died and
left many injured. Of these few, unfortunately, was Bode.

“Funny thing is, I begged Bode not to involve himself. I told him that if the
government wants something, they get it.” Nkem sighed. “He didn’t listen to
me. He said he was ready to die, and boy, did he!”
Ezekiel sighed. He still could not believe that his roommate was dead.
“Wow!”
“So, tell me, it is so unlike you to come around. You haven’t been here for
years. Why did you decide to show up?” Nkem changed the topic. He had
been curious all along.
“My brother, it is a very long story.” Ezekiel watched how a small girl who
apparently just started walking staggered towards them. She hugged Nkem.
“A neighbour’s child?”
Nkem laughed. “She’s my daughter oh!”
“Huh?” Ezekiel’s eyes bulged with surprise.
“I decided to take Chiroma as my wife.”
“Wow!” He exclaimed. “I have missed so much! What happened to the
Nkem that would never get married until he gets a stable job?”
“Well, Nkem never got married until he got a stable job.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean I now have a stable job.”
“Wow!”
“Yes, I know. Judging from our lifestyles years ago, it didn’t seem possible,
did it?” His face darkened. “However, I am about to lose my job.”
“Why? What’s the job all about?”
“Actually, we ship goods and stuffs across the sea; we go to retrieve our
goods from the port whenever they arrive, and then we move it to the point
of package.”

187
“So why do you think you are about to lose your job? Did something
happen?”
“Well, I have no idea what’s been going on across the sea, or perhaps, on
the sea, but we have been unable to retrieve our goods on the last three
freights. The ships that happen to be fully loaded before the trip returns to
us empty.”
“Why? What is really happening?”
“I have no idea. Pirates, I think. The captain and labourers are always
unaccounted for, and the ship is always found empty on board in the
morning of the supposed arrival.”
“So how is that any concern of yours? How does that affect your job?”
“Is there a job where there are no goods to retrieve?”
“True.” Ezekiel thought.
“The chairman has threatened to relieve us of our jobs since everyone is
scared to get on board. Nobody has an idea what is going on across the sea,
nobody wants to die. My job is as good as lost. I don’t even know how to
start afresh. My savings aren’t enough to last my family for two months if I
eventually lose this job.”
“What is the bone of contention now?”
“Nobody wants to sail. Nobody is ready to take the goods to and fro. The
chairman said we’ll all be sacked if, by next month, we don’t get anybody to
be in charge of the cargos.”

Ezekiel felt a rush of enthusiasm. He wanted to embark on this journey. He

knew one thing for sure, he wasn’t dying yet. This might be the break he
has been waiting for all his life. “Is it possible to link me up with your
boss?”
“Why? Do you have someone that’ll go?”
“Maybe. You see, all it takes to get something done is the willingness of one
person.”
“I don’t seem to understand you.”
“The willingness of one person drives the will in others.”
“All these your grammar ehn!” Nkem chuckled as he spoke in pidgin.
“What I am saying is that if one person comes out to say he will go, before
long, you’ll see many others wanting to go.”
“Well said. But who is the one person that’ll come out?”
Ezekiel shrugged. “I am willing.”
“You? I thought you were in school or something? And will your rich family
allow you to embark on such a risky trip?”
“Long story, Nkem.”
“You keep saying long story whenever I refer to your peeps. What’s
wrong?”

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“I will tell you everything when the time comes. Just take me to your
chairman.” Ezekiel knew he needed to do something. Failures are not those
that try and fail. They are those that never take risks, those that never try
anything at all. Eventually, they wouldn’t amount to anything in life.

Ezekiel had zeroed his mind to becoming the dream he had dreamt when
he was a kid. Nothing, not after all the things he had scaled through, will
stop him from becoming that which he so desired.

“What made you decide to embark on this journey, Mr Akinleye?” The

chairman looked at him suspiciously.
“Well,” Ezekiel adjusted. “I thought, from what I heard, you are in dire need
of someone who’d take on this journey in the face of its risks.”
“You said you are a student of UNILAG?”
“Yes I am.”
“Do you plan on forfeiting school then?”
“I already did for the year, because of personal reasons.”
“I don’t plan on prying.” The chairman sighed.
“So how is it going to be?”
“The fact that you are willing to take on this job does not mean this job is
done. You can’t go alone, and the people we have in this company are far
from willing.”
“All I need is a word with them. I’ll need somebody who can sail a ship
because I know not the first thing about sailing a ship.”
“What makes you think you can convince them?”
“I won’t do the convincing. You will.”
“What do you mean?”
“I have done my survey and I understand that you are almost out of stock,
and if you do not restock as soon as possible, you’d run out of business. So
as much as these people do not want to lose their jobs, you do not want to
run out of business. In fact, if I am right, you need this deal more than every
one of your workers, so how about you triple their pay?”

The chairman relaxed on the swivel as he watched Ezekiel speak. He

rubbed his beardless chin with his fingers.
“Triple their pay and you’ll get your business running.”
“What makes you so sure about delivering these goods to me? You don’t
even have an idea what is going on across the sea. You don’t know the kind
of danger lurking on those waters.”
“True. In fact, you are painfully correct. I have no idea what awaits us on
the sea, but I am sure of the One who protects me.”

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“You are one of those religious types, are you not?”
“What does it matter to you as long as I get your goods delivered?”
“What if you don’t?”
Ezekiel shrugged. “It won’t be a new thing, would it?”
“I’ll be losing lots of money!”
“You’ll be losing a whole business if you do not try at all!”
“You are smart!”
“You need a smart person.” Ezekiel was glad he made a great impression.
Nkem had earlier informed him that Mr Olutayo, the CEO of TY and
Company, loved people who were diplomatic enough to outsmart him.
Ezekiel was sure he had done a great job.

“I give you four days to convince as many people as you can on the trip.”
“I won’t need that much of a time. I will get back to you tomorrow, sir.”
Mr Olutayo wondered where the very courageous young man fell off from.
He watched as Ezekiel made for the door and smiled, he hoped his son
would someday grow into the stature of this young man.

Ezekiel heaved a sigh of relief as he stepped out of Mr Olutayo’s office.

“Thank you, Lord! Now, all we have to do is convince these people for the
trip!” He prayed as he walked towards Nkem.
“How was it? Tell me he accepted.” Nkem asked nervously as they met
halfway.
“He did.”
Nkem heaved. “Great! We just passed the simplest of all the hurdles. How
are we going to talk these people into going?”
Ezekiel glanced at the watch on his wrist, it was already five o’clock. He
placed his hands on his waists and looked around. He had achieved a lot
that day, it wouldn’t hurt to achieve one more.
“How can we get to them?”
“I’d have said we should visit them one by one, but it’ll be late before we
even scratch the surface.”
“Is it possible to make them converge here at the company?”
“I am not sure if they’ll agree to that.”
“Do they have another source of livelihood?”
“I doubt it.”
“Great. So make the call and let us know where we are going.”
“What am I going to tell them?”
“Their future in the company depends on the decision they make.”

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Nkem smiled and nodded in admiration. Ezekiel never changed. He was still
the old lad who seemed to have it all in control – only better. “Ezekiel!” He
didn’t know when he exclaimed.
Doubts and fears of how tough the journey would be was starting to
permeate his psyche when he heard Nkem call his name. “What is it?”
“Nothing, I was just wondering how you grew up within the past years.
How come bearing the name of the rich, dining and wining with them didn’t
change you?”
Ezekiel chuckled at the remark. “Well, where I come from, we do not
behave like the Romans when we are in Rome. We are disciplined, we do
not change and there is no slight shadow of varying in us.”
Nkem nodded thoughtfully. “That’s nice! Where did you say you were from
again?”
He smiled and looked up. “From above, I am a man from above.”
“You and this religious jargon. This was what you bored us with years ago,
you are still at it.” Nkem laughed as he dialled numbers on his phone.
“At least it has brought me where I am today.”
“Well, what works for the goose may not as well work for the gander.”
“Maybe the gander should try what the goose is trying before it dies of
starvation.”
Ezekiel was tired of the conversation. He knew talking to Nkem about
Christ at that point would hit a rock. He walked along as Nkem started the
conference call.
“Lord, thanks for taking charge.” He knew he was about to click open the
next chapter of his life. He had God, and that was all he needed for a
successful journey – he felt.

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“Everyone is worried about tomorrow’s problem, problem
that hasn’t even come yet, problem that is not a surety. We
wait for the problem so much that we forget to enjoy the
peaceful day, thereby making life difficult. Every day of our
lives will be difficult if we spend today worrying about the
trouble of tomorrow.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“Yes. Thank you.” Mr Olutayo shook the hands of the strange tech man as
Ezekiel walked into his office.
“Good morning, sir.” Ezekiel greeted. He was dressed in striped blue shirt
and a pair of black pants. He had a blue tie around his neck. He frowned,
wondering who the man with Mr Olutayo was.
“Mr Akinleye, good morning. I see you are ready for the trip.” Mr Olutayo
smiled at Ezekiel as the man walked towards the door.
Ezekiel walked further into the room, discarding the short young man with
a face cap and a blue bag that inscribed ‘Living Tech’ on it.
“Josiah,” Mr Olutayo called out to the young man whose hand was already
on the door knob. He turned back to answer. “You are very sure it’ll work
perfectly for those days, right?”
“Surely, sir.” He looked at Ezekiel and smirked before heading out of the
office.
“Mr Akinleye, sit down please.” Mr Olutayo pointed to the swivel in front of
his desk. He sat down on his as well.
Ezekiel wondered why the atmosphere was awkward between the CEO,
himself and the guy that just exited the office. He sat down and crossed his
legs. “I haven’t seen him here before?”
“Oh! He’s one of our tech guys. His company is the one in charge of all our
computers.”
Ezekiel shrugged. “Alright, I just came to tell you that we are about heading
to the airport. We are ready for the journey.”
“Alright, you have all the details you need, do you not?” Mr Olutayo folded
his palms together and placed them on his desk.
“Yes I do, Sir.” He looked at his wristwatch. “I should get going now if I don’t
want to miss the flight.” Ezekiel stood up.
“Okay.” Mr Olutayo stood up after him. “I hope you do not get sea sick.”
“Definitely not, my adoptive family and I travelled on sea to Benin Republic
some years ago, so I’ve had one or two sea experiences myself.”
“Wow! You’ve not mentioned this before. Anyway, I wish you best of luck.”
Mr Olutayo extended his arm to shake Ezekiel.

He accepted the handshake. “Best wishes. I do not believe in luck. Thanks

for the good thoughts.” He released his palm from the handshake. “So we
see in a month’s time?”
“All things being equal.” Mr Olutayo nodded at the eerie young man who
nodded back and headed for the door. He was fascinated by Ezekiel. He
wondered what happened to him in life that made him develop such
backbone. He wished he had gone through that as well. He was bold and

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had achieved much, but the young man that just headed out the door would
be heard by the world, he was sure.

Ezekiel headed out of the building in the company’s space bus with six
others including Nkem, Jerry, Peter, Nathaniel, Collins and Jude. They were
en route the airport.
A week ago, he had a very hard time convincing every one of them after
Nkem had gathered them.
Twenty three of the labourers showed up to the meeting and Ezekiel
allured them into going with him to the trip. Many of them had rebuffed
and left immediately. They were not about to lose their lives because of
money. Most of the men who left excused themselves on the account of
their family. They had families who loved them and families who they were
responsible for.
“I just saw my first daughter gain scholarship, and my son is about to
graduate from the university. I want to eat the fruits of my suffering. I am
done here!” PA Sunny argued and left.
“My wife is pregnant. I can’t leave her for months when I am not sure
whether I will be coming back. I cannot embark on this trip.” Another had
dissuaded three others and they left.
Several others left after reasonable excuses.
Most of the people who, at the end of the day agreed to come with Ezekiel
were those who had no family and were street-borne.

It took three nights of pleading before Chiroma, Nkem’s wife agreed to

allow Nkem come with Ezekiel.
Jerry was in desperate need of money and was on the run from the loan-
shark he lent money from. He thought he was going to die anyways, so why
didn’t he die while trying to live?
Peter, Nathaniel and Collins were part of those people who had survived
the streets. They were Ezekiel’s long time acquaintances. They had decided
to come with Ezekiel because they knew he was capable of leading them
and bringing them back home successfully.
Jude was the only blueblood amidst the group. He was from a very wealthy
family and had left home because he never wanted to depend on his
father’s money. He promised his father he was going to find the perfect line
of job, struggle to survive and become rich to show that indeed, he was his
father’s son. Despite all pleas, he made up his mind and he found himself
heading to Kenya to get rich, or die trying.

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Ezekiel was determined to make this trip a success. He knew nobody was
dying. He knew, although it was not going to be easy, although it was going
to be life threatening, they would all come back unscathed.
As he looked out the aeroplane’s window, he smiled. He was rest assured.
God was with him.

Ezekiel was ushered into the office of the Chief of Cargoes office as soon as
they finished loading their return ship.
He looked around the large office and it reminded him of Alhaja’s office in
the complex. It was spacious and had one very large French desk right at
the centre of the office. There were several swivel chairs scattered at
different sides of the office. A huge pile of documents were placed on the
desk and another was arranged on two of the swivels.
Ezekiel spotted the officer immediately he appeared from under his desk.
“Oh! You are here!” The potbellied man exclaimed as he rose upright.
“Good morning, sir.” Ezekiel walked towards him, nodding to the person
who had ushered him in.
“Sit down, Mr Akinleye.” Mr Fadhili stretched his hands to offer Ezekiel the
seat in front of him.
“Thank you, sir.” Ezekiel still looked around the office in amusement.
“Is there something in particular that interests you about my office?”
“Ah!” Ezekiel chuckled softly. “It actually reminds me of my mother’s office
back in Nigeria.”
“Really? Is your mother as disorganized as I am?”
Laughter filled the air at Mr Fadhili’s humour.
“Of course not. I was actually talking about the desk, and the space, and
nothing else.” Ezekiel smiled. He couldn’t remember a time where Alhaja’s
office was in such disarray.

“Well,” Mr Fadhili coughed. “I was quite surprised to see such a very young
person as you lead TY and Company’s ship of goods.”
“Well, desperate times call for desperate measures. That is what they say,
isn’t it?” Ezekiel adjusted.
“True, that is what they say. But I wonder what kind of desperate measure
it is to put a young man in charge of such a herculean task.”
“Young or not, as long as that man is willing and capable.”
“Have you done this before?”
“If you mean whether I have been on a ship before, then absolutely.”
Ezekiel understood that Mr Fadhili needed to be sure the ship was in safe
hands.

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Mr Fadhili wasn’t worried about the potential loss of ship, but about the
rumours that had already begun to spread about the port and the route. He
knew if the company’s ship keeps getting hijacked, fewer ships will sail on
that route and that will lead to a very drastic downfall for him.
He sighed. “I really wonder what is going on with your company’s goods on
the sea.”
“I guess that is what we are about to find out too.”
“You know,” Mr Fadhili adjusted, leaning closer to Ezekiel. “I think it is the
competition.”
“The competition?”
“Yes. You know your company and Adimu Worldwide has been at
loggerheads for a reasonable part of the year now, and I’ve been privileged
to involve myself with the inner circle of the rich. You know what I found
out? Those rich CEOs don’t really care about their goods and about making
profit any longer.”
“Hmmm, interesting.” Ezekiel nodded thoughtfully.
He started whispering. “When it comes to money, they and their families
are already made for life. What they now care about is proving points to
fellow competitions and being on top of the industry and all. Nobody cares
about their staffs or even about the people they are providing those goods
to. I know the CEO of Adimu Worldwide, and I am sure he will do
everything to prove his point to your company.” He stopped whispering. “I
didn’t tell you anything.”
“I didn’t hear anything either!” Ezekiel stood up as Mr Fadhili handed him
the clearing documents.
“You are ready to sail.” Mr Fadhili stretched his arm to shake Ezekiel.
Ezekiel rolled the paper, dipped it into the small bag he had dropped on the
desk and gladly accepted Mr Fadhili’s handshake.
“You know what? I like you, and I hope I see you again.”
“Well.” Ezekiel tilted his head slightly in a bow. He had nothing to say to
that.
Ezekiel stepped out of the office and walked further to where the ship was.
He saw Peter and Collins talking.
“Are you guys ready? Where are the rest of the boys?” Ezekiel stretched his
hand and Collins drew him up onto the ship.
“Nathaniel and Jude are inside. The rest went to eat at the place we ate last
night when we settled in.” Peter spoke, tying a piece of rag on his palm.
“Alright. We still have about thirty minutes before we head home.”
“How come you are not even worried at all, Ezekiel?”
“About what?” Ezekiel joined them and rested on the wooden log.
“The journey. I have heard a lot of stories from these port guys.”
“About what?”

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“About what happens out there on the sea! Don’t you think you need to ask
them too?”
“About what?”
“About what we are likely to face!” Peter faced him. He grew frantic. “You
keep asking about what, about what. Why are you not even scared at all?”
“I don’t know what I should be scared of.” Ezekiel shrugged. He knew the
boys were tense. “Whatever you don’t know shouldn’t scare you, should it?”
“My mind is unstable about this journey.” Peter sighed.
“Well, there’s no turning back now. Besides, we are going to get home
safely.” Ezekiel placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “We’ll be fine!”
“The guys are already coming.” Collins announced.
Ezekiel looked across the port and saw Nkem and Jerry strolling towards
the ship. He stood up. “Hope we are not forgetting anything?” He checked
his wristwatch. “We’ll be leaving in few minutes.” He announced and
walked further into the ship.
Jude was the first person he saw who lay on a bench and was reading. He
moved into the captain’s booth where Nathaniel was busy arranging some
tools and testing some buttons.
“Are you ready?”
“Whenever you are, Ezekiel.” He sighed nervously.
“Are you anxious?”
“I’ve been doing this for two years.”
“I am not talking about sailing. I am talking about this trip. Are you anxious
about the trip?”

“Honestly, saying I am anxious is an understatement. However, I have

known you for a while, and I trust that if anybody will make this a success,
it is you.”
Ezekiel let out a heavy breath. He saw this as a mighty responsibility. He
knew God was definitely not going to let down the trust of these ones.
“We’ll arrive home safely. I know the God I serve.”
It was silent for a while. When Ezekiel saw that Nathaniel grew quiet, he
decided to speak up. “How fast are you going to go?”
“Err…, we’ll go through Cape of Good Hope. If I go at ten knots, we’ll arrive
at Apapa seaport in twenty-three days and about three hours, depending
on the hope that there’s no delay whatsoever.”
“Hmm. I’ll pretend I understand everything you said.” He chuckled.
He heard the thud of mounting footsteps and he assumed it was Nkem and
Jerry. “I guess it is time to go. I’ll tell the others.”
Ezekiel stepped out to an attentive crew. “We are about to set sail. Prepare
mentally.”
The tensed men nodded.

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One could use a knife to cut through the air in the atmosphere as the ship
began to move.
Ezekiel swallowed. He wanted to ask if they could pray. “Can we…errr…,”
he paused as he saw the pensive faces of the young men. “Don’t worry
about it. I’ll do it by myself.”

“That was why I chose to go on this journey.” Jerry ended.

“So you preferred dying at sea to dying in the hands of your loan sharks.”
Jude remarked.
“I prefer any other kind of death. I just do not want to die in the hands of
Don.”
They laughed.
“Your turn to play, Ezekiel.” Collins gave the dice to Ezekiel.
Ezekiel rolled the dice at once and counted on the floor. They were seated
round a big circle, playing the game Peter taught them.

It was already the ninth day on the sea and the sail had been smooth,
smoother than they fathomed.
The first few days had been quiet. It was as if everyone on the ship was
expecting some kind of impending doom. As days rolled by and they started
getting more relaxed.
Ezekiel had spent some days reading the bible and refreshing his brain with
some textbooks. He admired Jude who also spent many days reading. The
rest of the crew loitered around the ship, going outside and coming in at
intervals, checking if the big shark responsible for the disappearance of
people and goods was around already.
At some point, Peter complained that there was something wrong because
there was nothing wrong.
“What were you expecting? A frenzy of sharks invading us in their own
ship?” Ezekiel blurted.
“I don’t know, I just don’t feel at ease.”
“You can’t feel at ease. You are on sea!” He sighed. “I really am tired with
the way you and Collins are all edgy. When trouble comes, we’ll deal with it,
but can you stop worrying about the day of trouble in the day of peace? Can
you just enjoy the peaceful day before the day of evil comes?”
“And that’s the problem of the world today.” Jude spoke slowly from where
he was lying.
“God bless you, Jude! That’s the bane of human existence. Everyone is
worried about tomorrow’s problem, problem that haven’t even come yet,
problem that is not a surety. We wait for the problem so much that we

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forget to enjoy the peaceful day, thereby making life difficult. Every day of
our lives will be difficult if we spend today worrying about the trouble of
tomorrow. Our lives will be clouded with fear, worry and anxiety every
day!” Ezekiel didn’t know he was shouting already until he stopped and
realized everyone was attentively listening to him.

The day after his speech, everybody relaxed and started enjoying the peace.
Apparently, Ezekiel’s pep talk landed on a fertile soil. They forgot they were
on sea and started enjoying the peace that surrounded them.
Peter taught them a game they could easily play and soon enough, everyone
forgot their worries.

“At this rate, I am going to win this game.” Nkem threw the dice and he
exclaimed. “Yes!”
“Why are you shouting? You haven’t won yet.” Jerry smirked as he picked
up the dice.
“So, Jude, what’s your own story?” Collins picked his teeth. He had already
been kicked out of the game. He was sitting on a stool, watching them.
“Well, there’s not so much to tell.”
“That’s true, Jude. You hardly ever talk the few times we’ve laboured
together at the port.” Nkem added. “We all think that you are surely from a
rich background, probably a fallen rich background.”
Jude snorted. “What makes you think that?”
Nkem shrugged. “Why else would a rich man’s son labour with people like
us who has no background?”
“Talking about a rich man’s son,” Nathaniel came out of the room. He had
been busy in the captain’s booth. “Ezekiel, what really happened? I thought
you were adopted by that very rich man?”
All eyes turned to Ezekiel, and it made him feel very uncomfortable.
He coughed. “Err,”
“Come on! Talk to us!” Nkem supported the motion. “I have been asking
him all these days, he has been cleverly dodging the question.” He turned to
Ezekiel. “Seriously, what happened? I mean, I was there the day they came
to take you in that expensive jeep.”
Ezekiel sighed. “Well,” he shrugged. He didn’t realize how hard it could be
to talk about it. “Alhaji died.” He breathed heavily.
“Alhaji? Who is Alhaji?” Jerry dropped the dice and paid attention like
everybody else.
“The man that adopted me.”
“Were you not adopted legally?” Jude asked.
“I was..,”
“Then the man’s death doesn’t explain your being here.”

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“When Alhaji died, it came to our notice that he had given up all his
properties as collateral for a loan he didn’t pay before his death, so he
practically left us with plenty of nothing.”
“Wow!” Nkem, Nathaniel and Peter exclaimed in unison.
“What rich man would die and leave his family with nothing?” Jerry shook
his head in disbelief.
“A fool, says the holy book.” Jude remarked.
“It wasn’t entirely Alhaji’s fault. Desperate times call for desperate
measures.” Ezekiel smiled as he remembered his discussion with Mr
Fadhili.
“So what happened to the rest of the family?” Nathaniel asked.
“They moved to the States. They were supposed to process my papers over
there and send for me, but I haven’t heard from them ever since.” Ezekiel
sighed.
“You mean they abandoned you?” Nkem’s eyes shone.
“Not exactly, I really don’t know how to..,” He paused as he noticed
Nathaniel looking at the beeping remote in his hand. “What is it?” He asked.
“I am not sure. I think something is up front.” He left them and made for the
captain’s booth.
Ezekiel stood up and everybody did the same. “Is everything alright in
there?”
Nathaniel came back outside. “There are two ships on our path. They are
waving a flag for us to stop.”
“What?!” Collins started to sweat. “Pirates!!”
“I don’t think so. They don’t look armed to me.” Nathaniel responded.
Ezekiel tried to calm his nerves. “Let’s see what they want from us. Stop the
ship.”

Ezekiel and the rest of the team stood at attention as the stout, white
bearded, exquisitely dressed old man stepped on their ship.
The man walked slowly to where they had formerly formed a circle and sat
on the stool, crossing his legs. He was with three other young men. They
stood like bodyguards behind him when he sat.
Ezekiel turned to the eerie man. His mind was beginning to grow jitters but
he maintained his mild smile. “It’s a beautiful weather out here today, isn’t
it?” He said and sat on a stool not too far from the seated man.
The man was taken aback at Ezekiel’s behaviour. The other people he had
dealt with before would have started shaking and sweating. He was
surprised at the calm voice Ezekiel spoke to him with. What surprised him
more was how young he looked. However, he decided to seem undaunted
by the young man’s behaviour.

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“It sure is!” He laughed out loud.
“I certainly wasn’t expecting to encounter pleasant visitors out here in the
cold, but here you are!” Ezekiel smiled. He turned and looked at Nkem
whose face was beclouded with uncertainty. “Do we still have wine
remaining?”
“That won’t be necessary.” The old man stopped laughing. He knew what
was happening. “I am guessing you already know who I am.” He frowned.
Ezekiel maintained his mild smile. “I wish I did. You did not introduce
yourself when you stepped on my ship.”
The old man frowned. “How come you are merry?”
“Is there a reason I should not be?” Ezekiel knew he was gambling, and his
life and that of his crew was probably hanging on the line. He could feel the
amount of tension that emanated from the bodies of his crew members that
stood behind him.
“Let’s cut the chase. I am Saliu Adimu.” The old man waited for the name to
sink in.

Ezekiel was expecting to hear a further introduction after the name, but he
didn’t get any, then he looked at the man’s face and saw he was expectant.
“Oh! Were you expecting the name to strike a chord? I am sorry, it didn’t.”
“I am the CEO of Adimu Worldwide.”
Ezekiel remembered the chatter of Mr Fadhili.
So he was right. Ezekiel never considered the man’s gibberish. “I am still
wondering why you blocked our path. You are a very wealthy and
responsible person. You definitely didn’t come as a pirate, did you?” Ezekiel
laughed together with Mr Adimu.
“I like your humour, young man.” Mr Adimu stood up. He had had enough of
Ezekiel’s play. “Name your price for the goods.”
“I don’t think I quite understand you.”
“Alright, I’ll go straight to the point. I’ll give you each ten thousand US
dollars(10,000USD), that’s equivalent to over one million Kenyan
Shilling(1,000,000KES) for the goods, a very comfortable home for two
years in Kenya in order to hide yourselves for the meantime, all expenses
paid. Afterwards, you can decide whatever you want to do with yourselves
and with the money. All you need to do is give up the goods.”
Everybody looked around in utter disbelief. That was the best offer they
could ever get in their lifetime.

Ezekiel bowed his head to the ground. He sighed. “You can buy three times
more goods with the money you are offering us. I wonder why you can’t do
that instead. Or do you have a bad accountant?”

201
“I will increase it to fifteen thousand US dollars (15,000USD)” Mr Adimu
saw the ecstasy in the eyes of the other team mates. They were going to
accept his offer. Everybody does.
“I still am very curious as to why you would..,”
“However I spend my money is my business. I would however, advise you
to take the offer like everyone has been taking it.” He looked at how Jerry
and Nathaniel were tugging unto Ezekiel’s clothes. “I will leave you guys to
go inside and decide what you want to do. It really isn’t a hard choice, is it?”
Jerry bent and whispered to Ezekiel. “Let’s talk.”
“No. There is nothing to talk about, guys!” Ezekiel shouted at them. “Who in
his right mind will refuse this offer? It is one in a lifetime! I would be a fool
not to accept the offer. We can take the money and make our lives better. I
sure can use fifteen thousand US dollars to better the rest of my life.”

Mr Adimu grinned. It was easier than he thought it would be. He had

mistakenly thought Ezekiel would stand on integrity and try to refuse the
offer.
“Mr Saliu Adimu, I stand as the leader of this ship and I speak for my team.
There is nothing to go inside and discuss. It’ll take a fool to refuse your
offer.”
Mr Adimu nodded in agreement. “I thought so too.”
“However, I refuse to accept your offer.”
“What?” Mr Adimu couldn’t believe his ears.
“Ezekiel, what are you doing?” Jerry shouted.
“This money would change our lives forever!” Nathaniel panicked.
“No. It’ll change our lives for just few years, and we’ll have to live without
peace every day of our lives. The sting of guilt will always have its grip on
our conscience. Think about it guys! We have been on the streets for many
years, survived the scorch and the cold, why?” He looked at them in the
eyes. He held Jerry’s shoulders and vigorously shook him. “Why?!” He left
him alone and looked at Nathaniel. “We didn’t survive all of these years just
to get rich in a filthy manner. We all survived the streets hoping that one
day, we’ll be free. Free to eat, free to live, free to care for our children, not
to get some illegal money and go into hiding for the rest of our lives! Don’t
you realize that the moment we collect that money from him, we sell our
freedom and lives to him? How much do you think you are worth?
15,000USD? Well, I think I am worth more than that! I know I am worth
more than that, and I am going to own more than that in due time. If you
think you are not as valuable as 15,000USD, then you can take it, but maybe
you should kill me first.”

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By now, everyone in the ship was quiet. The people who were excited about
the offer became resolute.
“I think you need to leave, sir.” Jerry was the one who spoke.
“Don’t turn me down. You will regret this. This is the deal of your lives. You
will never come across this ever again.”
“This is a deal for our lives! And we are not for sale.”

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 “Not all opportunities should be jumped at.
Opportunities are like mats and not all mats should be
slept on, who knows, a pit might just be hiding itself
under one of those mats.”

- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The rest of the trip was peaceful. They didn’t spend any more day than they
expected to spend.
At first, the crew was thrown in turmoil as a result of the decision Ezekiel
had talked them into making.
“How did you convince all of us to agree against that money?” Peter
suddenly said few hours after the encounter. It was as if the jinx Ezekiel
used just cleared off from his eyes.
“I thought I was the only one thinking the same thing. Not in my right mind
will I have ever refused that kind of offer. We will never come across that
kind of money again, Ezekiel.” Collins sighed.

“You are one mighty persuader, you know that, right?” Jerry snorted,
nodded, and his snort gradually turned into a smile. “It was the right
decision. We don’t want to spend our whole lives running. That’s not what
we have been fighting for.”
Ezekiel kept quiet and listened to the men as they argued. He knew he
made the best decision, however, he acknowledged that they couldn’t see it
at that time. He had foresight; they didn’t.
He noticed how quiet Jude has been since the encounter. “What do you
think, Jude?”
Jude looked up from the book he was holding. He looked around and the
rest kept quiet. They wanted to hear what he had to say. “I have been in
many places you can’t even begin to imagine.” He sat up. “I have been to the
parts of the world you don’t even know exist, and I noticed one trend,
something that you will never see if you do not pay attention.”

Peter frowned. “Tell us what it is and stop bragging about your travels.”
“If you are acquainted with Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, you will
see that money is not really the ultimate need of humans.”
“Please who else understands what this guy is saying? We are talking about
accepting a great deal and you are telling me about Abraham and
marshmallow. What has that got to do with this discourse?” Peter hissed.
“Peter, can you please, let him drive home his point?” Nkem cautioned and
then turned to Jude. “Continue, please, but don’t make it boring.”
Jude smiled and nodded. “I am sorry for being ambiguous. What I was
trying to say was that why sell your destiny, freedom for such a meagre
amount of money? I agree with Ezekiel. If we had collected the money, then
that’d really have been the highest money we’d ever see in our lives. It’ll cut
off our chances of seeing more.”

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Collins shook his head. “So you think that you will encounter such an
amount of money again in your life?”
“At least, there is a fifty-fifty chance that I will. I don’t know what the future
holds for me yet, but if I had collected that money, it means my future has
been decided by that man. At least we saw our next two years expressly
decided by someone else right in front of us, didn’t we?”
Now he was making sense to all of them.
“The primary need of human is life, then freedom. If I list them all, you’d see
that money might even come last. If we had agreed to that deal, we freely
give out our promising future. I mean, why sell our gold just to get a cheap
iron rod painted in gold??”
“Hmm..,” Nathaniel nodded, stood up and headed back into the captain’s
booth.
“My dad survived the scorch and became the very successful person he is
now. He taught me a lot of things and said he suffered all those things in his
time just to see his family have a comfortable life. Funny thing is, that is
exactly the same thing I want to do. I won’t sit down and enjoy what my
father achieved. What will be left for my children if I do that?”
“Smart, I guess.” Jerry folded his arms across his chest as he listened.
“He told me about so many opportunities that he had to sensibly let go of
just to arrive where he is now. You see, you need to understand that there
are some calamities that disguise themselves as opportunities.”
“True.” Nkem reasoned.
“Not all opportunities should be jumped at. Opportunities are like mats and
not all mats should be slept on, who knows, a pit might just be hiding itself
under one of those mats.”
At the time Jude finished talking, it became pretty clear to all of them that
they made the right choice. Amidst the lurking doubts, they were thankful
to Ezekiel.

“I guess it was just a question of faithfulness.” Ezekiel answered Mr Olutayo

for the umpteenth time. “The rest were not faithful enough to you, so they
took the deal they thought was the deal of their lives.”
“Why did you not take the deal he threw at you, Mr Akinleye?” Mr Olutayo
didn’t stop staring at him in bewilderment. He had had second and third
thoughts about sending Ezekiel on that journey, but the board members
had decided that they had nothing to lose, and that it was better to do
something than sit down and fold their arms.
The main reason they had allowed the ship to sail wasn’t to bring back
goods; in fact, they had already given up on getting goods from Kenya. All

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they had in mind for the trip was to figure out the enemy battling their
goods on the sea.

They had called in their tech guy, Josiah who planted cameras on the ship at
strategic places without the notice of the employees and Ezekiel himself.
This allowed them see everything going on inside, outside and all around
the ship. They saw the way Adimu’s ship blocked theirs, they watched the
way Ezekiel intelligently turned down the proposition thrown at him by
Adimu and they agreed at that instant that after the incorporation of the
company, sending Ezekiel on that trip was the best decision the company
had ever made since its incorporation.

“I guess I was selfish. The money he was offering wasn’t just enough to buy
my dreams. Why should I have limited myself to such a meagre amount of
money?” Ezekiel shrugged and then yawned. He hadn’t had enough sleep in
days. They had gotten offshore in the evening of the previous day, and he
had not been able to have enough rest because he had been thinking about
things to do for the many months he’d be staying at home without
schooling.
He had thanked the Lord because he was sure that he would retain his
accommodation and stability for some months once the huge amount he
was to be paid by TY and Company becomes credited into his account, but
what happens next? He had asked himself all through the night and had
settled on the word of God that told him that his tomorrow had been taken
care of.
He was happy with the look on Mr Olutayo’s face. He was glad he had been
able to add value once again.

Mr Olutayo was content. He visibly admired the guts of the young man
sitting before him. Then he sighed satisfyingly. “I know it might sound
really strange, but,” he opened his drawer and took out an envelope, “the
board of directors of TY and Company, of which I am the CEO has decided
to give you an interim employment.” He stretched out the white envelope
to Ezekiel.
“Huh?” Ezekiel’s eyes widened. He wasn’t sure he was seeing or hearing
right. He looked from the envelope to Mr Olutayo and then back to the
envelope. He didn’t even attempt to receive it.
“Come on, take it.” Mr Olutayo nudged him to accept the letter. “When
Nkem came in earlier this morning, told me a little about you. You dropped
out from..,”
“I didn’t drop out.” Ezekiel was blunt enough. “I just deferred an academic
session due to some issues I had.”

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“Exactly what he said. I apologize for the choice of words. I didn’t know all
of that until Nkem told me. When we saw the way you handled Adimu and
his cohorts, we decided that you were the manager this company is in dire
need of.”
Ezekiel still thought it was all a joke.
He finally took the letter from the CEO. He still kept his eyes on his.
“Open it.”
Ezekiel did as instructed. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he did. He
looked, initially wanting to say something but forgot what it was that came
to his mind. He looked back into the paper.

Mr Olutayo wasn’t sure whether Ezekiel was okay with the offer, so he
added. “It would interest you to know that you’d also be treated with a
reasonable amount of the company’s share package. It’d really be a delight
for us if you would accept the offer.”
Lord, is this what you meant when you said my tomorrow was taken care of?
Ezekiel thought. He wasn’t able to take his eyes off the job offer. His face
was purposely expressionless, making it tough for Mr Olutayo to figure out
how he felt about the offer.
“So what do you think?” The impatient man asked. He couldn’t afford to
lose such an intelligent young mind.
Ezekiel read it for the last time. TY and Company was one of the most
sought after company by the business part of the labour population. Their
shares were worth more than several other companies combined. The
employee remuneration scheme was very appealing. It took a lot of
connection and gut to get an employment in such a company as this.
Lord, what have I done to deserve such a gift?
He sighed and finally looked up.
“You don’t have to accept it now. If you need time to think it over, it is fine
by me.” Mr Olutayo said again after a long, awkward silence. He had no idea
what was going on in Ezekiel’s mind. He knew any graduate would bounce
at the first opportunity they get to work in his company, but he also knew
that Ezekiel – who was crazy enough to reject the offer Adimu proposed to
him – was capable of anything, and that was the main reason he wanted
Ezekiel for his company.

“I don’t think there is any reason to delay accepting this offer. It’d be a great
delight to work with you.”
Mr Olutayo heaved a sigh of relief on reflex. “Great then!” He stretched out
his hand to shake his new employee. “Honestly, the pleasure is the
company’s.”

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“But you know I’ll have to go back to school next session, right?” Ezekiel
accepted the handshake.
“It is your choice. I have no problem with that at all.”
Ezekiel smiled for the first time.
“And here was I, thinking you were too disciplined to smile.” Mr Olutayo
joked and they both laughed.
Ezekiel stood up. “Thank you so much for this opportunity. I surely won’t
let you down.”
“I doubt you will. It’s nice having you on board. So, you’ll resume on
Monday?”
“On Monday.” Ezekiel affirmed.

Five months passed and Ezekiel’s life had transformed vividly. The
company had gotten him a flat on the island and also a car to make
transportation easier for him. He also got a car for himself, one that he used
whenever he was not on an official business.
He was young, and he was comfortable. Who ever thought he would see
this day?
He had travelled severally in the company’s name to ship goods back.
Although, being a manager, he could delegate the job, but he always grew
cold feet whenever trips like that were to be embarked on, so in order to
avoid mistakes and losses, he always chose to go himself, discounting the
risks he faced on the sea.

He stirred the tea with a spoon, scooped sugar from a container that was
right on the cabinet before him, poured it into the cup of tea and stirred it
again.
Just then, he heard a knock on the door. He had been expecting Jude as
there was a business meeting they were to attend for the company early
that morning. He walked towards the front door with a cup of tea in his
right hand. He was fully dressed except for the suit which he had carefully
placed on the sofa.
The knock came again as he reached the door.
“One second.” He said as he placed the cup right on the stool beside the
home theatre.
He opened the door to as strange face and he stopped short.
“Good morning!” The jumpy young lady greeted in excitement.
“Good morning.” Ezekiel managed to smile back. He had been taken aback
because he was least expecting a lady at his doorstep. He wondered when
last he stood so close to a lady.
“I am sorry to intrude.”

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Ezekiel continued to look on. He expected an introduction, not an apology.
“I’m Uloma. My elder sister and I just moved to the second flat.”
“Oh!” Ezekiel exclaimed. He had noticed the car and several belongings
outside the other flat when he came in the previous night but he didn’t pay
much attention. “Come in!” He was delighted.
“No no! I can see you are preparing for work. I just thought I’d knock and
say hi to my neighbour.” Uloma was thrilled about almost everything.
“Please, I insist. Come in.” Ezekiel insisted, opening the door wider and
stepping aside, gesturing with his hand for her to walk in. He liked the life
in her smile and strangely, he thought it was familiar.
“Alright.” Uloma slowly walked in. She looked around the living room and
was impressed. She was a curious person, and that was one of the reasons
she decided to visit her new neighbour. She wanted to know the kind of
person she and her sister would be sharing a compound with.

She was surprised when the door opened to a very fine young man. She had
half expected a woman or a child. She was sure that if he was older than she
was, he definitely would be within the same age bracket with her sister. She
was already sensing a good friendship.
“Have your seat, Uloma.” Ezekiel said. “Allow me to get you some tea.”
“Thanks.” Uloma sat down, still looking around for a sign of any other life.
She didn’t see any. She saw his suit on the sofa opposite where she sat and
concluded it was pretty expensive.
Ezekiel couldn’t place why he was anxious. At first, he thought it was
because he hadn’t had a lady up close like this in months, all the top level
managers and the labourers in TY and Company were men and those were
mostly the people he had rapport with. That could be the only reason why
he was anxious, he concluded because he didn’t see any other reason to be.

He placed the cup of tea on the table before her and sat down on the sofa
where his suit was carefully spread. “I am sorry I’d have offered you
something better if I wasn’t going out.” He smiled.
“This is fine, sir.”
“Oh! I am sorry, I haven’t introduced myself. I’m Ezekiel, Ezekiel Akinleye.”
“Akinleye?”
“Yes, Uloma.”
“You don’t look or sound like a Yoruba person.”
“Well,”
“And besides, you pronounced my name correctly. That’s rare for a Yoruba
demon.” Uloma sipped from the cup after stirring it.
Ezekiel laughed for several seconds. “Who said anything about being a
Yoruba, talk less of a demon?” He laughed again.

210
“Your surname speaks volume of your tribe.”
“Well.” Ezekiel shrugged. He watched the funny and lovable lady as she
sipped tea from the cup. “So where were you staying before you moved
here?”
“We stayed at Ajah with mum and dad, actually. My elder sister opined that
we get our own space, especially now that I am a graduate and our cousin,
who also just graduated, will be coming to stay with us so we can scout for
jobs together. My sister works with a finance company though.”
“Wow! So I’ll be sharing a compound with three ladies!” Ezekiel’s eyes
widened intentionally.
“Don’t tell me you have a problem with that?”
“Are you kidding me? You know the saying that one woman equals one
problem. I have three problems!”
They both laughed for several seconds before Uloma talked.
“What about you? Where’s your family?”
“I don’t..,” He was saying when he heard a knock. “Excuse me, please.”
Ezekiel went to open the door. It was Jude.

“Come in, I have been waiting for you.” He said immediately.

“I am sorry I am late, Ezekiel.” Jude walked in with a briefcase.
“Meet Uloma, she’s my new neighbour. Her and her sisters will be using the
next flat.” He then turned to Uloma. “Meet Jude, he is my business partner.”
Uloma stood up to receive Jude’s stretched out arm. “It’s nice meeting you.”
She smiled.
“The pleasure is mine, and don’t mind him, I am his assistant, not partner.”
Uloma just smiled sheepishly while nodding. “I guess I should go now, so I
don’t delay you guys.”
“We’ll see when I get back. I should come and pay my greetings.” Ezekiel
took his suit and walked to the kitchen where he had dropped his briefcase.
“Alright!” Uloma’s delighted voice sprung up. “I’ll prepare!” She said as she
walked towards the door.

The meeting lasted for an hour and half. Ezekiel had floored the
presentation of the business proposals with his extraordinary negotiating
skills and had wowed the businessmen seated.
Those who knew that he was only on an interim appointment had
approached him with job proposals which he politely kept on his radar.
On their way to the office, Ezekiel thought about all the opportunities he
had been exposed to by that single trip he decided to take. Indeed, although
your life may be running on clusters of similar occurrences, it takes just one
moment, one decision, and one step, to change your life forever.

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He wondered about his social life, how he had been all about business for
several months without even thinking about his social life. It was then he
remembered the lady that he encountered that morning and the visit he
had committed himself to later that evening.
“Oh, right!” He didn’t know he said out loud.
“What?” Jude asked him.
“Huh?” He looked from the road to Jude, and then back to the road. He was
driving. “Nothing, I was just thinking about some things.”
“Alright, Ezekiel, I have been thinking of talking about something with you
all these while.”
“Why hasn’t it then transformed from thoughts to speech?”
“I don’t know how it’ll sound to you.”
“You’ll never know until you say it, will you? Isn’t taking chances part of
what life is about?”
“You are right. Do you plan on continuing your appointment with TY and
Company when you finish schooling?”
“Wow! That’s a big question.” He exhaled as he negotiated a bend. “I really
haven’t thought about it. I might just go with whichever company has the
most enticing offer.” He shrugged and looked at him, noticing the frown on
his face. “Although I really haven’t decided on anything, we are talking
about almost three years from now, is that not?”
“Less than, if your school calendar functions properly.”
“So why did you ask? You’ve got plans for me?”
“I have thought about resigning immediately you resume to school.”
“Huh? You are the next potential manager, why would you want to throw
that opportunity away?” Ezekiel knew Jude was a very smart lad, so
whatever he was planning was definitely something big.
“By August, it’ll be two years since I left home. I have travelled and seen
things. Now I can boast of being a millionaire, thanks to you for making me
your assistant.”
“You deserved it, Jude. Thank your skills and the decision to embark on that
trip.”
“It really changed our lives, didn’t it?”
“It sure did.” Ezekiel negotiated a left turn.
“I was thinking, with the amount of money we have gathered, the amount of
shares we have bought; my father will be more than excited to support the
idea of setting up our own company.”
“Wow!” Ezekiel drove into the company’s parking lot. “You mean you also
have plans of establishing a company?”
“Yes, and there’s no better person that I can think of who’d do that with me
than you.”

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“What about your father’s conglomerate? I mean, I have always thought
that you were simply grooming yourself for the future.” Ezekiel couldn’t
believe his ears.
“I have never planned to take over that business. I am not very proud to
say, but the truth is that my sister is better in handling things like that than
I am.”
“You have a sister?” This was a day of surprises for Ezekiel.
“Yes, I have an elder sister. She even graduated from your school several
years back.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Williams Hannah.”
“That’s great. The company idea is perfect. I have always nibbled with the
idea of starting a company too; I didn’t just think it would be this soon. God
works wonders.”
“He sure does.”
“I am all in for this idea, but we have to go inside now. How about you come
over during the weekend and we discuss it at length?” Ezekiel opened the
door and exited from the car.
Jude did the same. “Alright.”
“I’ll meet you in the office.” Ezekiel rushed off to the CEO’s building
opposite the administrative building.

As he punched the button to the top floor in the elevator, he couldn’t get his
mind off the idea. He remembered the amount of times he told his mother
that he wanted to own a company and become a better than Aliko Dangote.
He had ruminated over it few weeks earlier and had concluded that God
was taking him to that point. What he did not envisage was that it would be
that soon.
“I don’t know where I’d be if not for your goodness, Lord.” He spoke and
sighed. He was the only one in the elevator. “None of these would have
been possible without you. Thank you Lord. Thank you.”

After struggling with the keys for minutes, the door finally opened to
Ezekiel. He flipped the switch by the door and lit up his living room.
He had come home later than usual.
He carelessly dropped his suit on the table and heaved a tired sigh as he
plunged himself onto the couch.
He had exhausted himself for hours with the thought of finding the
Akinleyes, after the official end of the day. He had embarked on the mission
a month after he began his appointment with the company by getting in
touch with several travel agents that he worked with.

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As much as he tried, the search had been fruitless. It was after the news he
got earlier that day that he decided to pray and hope for the best.

He yawned again, sat up and looked around for the TV remote. He found it
on the small stool beside the sofa and switched on the TV set. He went back
to sit down and started pulling his shoes.
When he finished pulling his shoes, he looked up just in time to see a
picture displayed on the screen; however, the picture was taken away
immediately and taken back to the newscaster.
Ezekiel listened as the newscaster read; “…Sam Hakins recounted how she
did not bargain for such reward from the United States government when
she stood up for that kid, and she hopes that other people would learn from
this and treat people, no matter the class they are from, with respect and
love. This is LTV news at eight, we’ll bring you more news at ten, I am
Adeleke Benson…,”
Ezekiel jumped as he heard the time. He remembered he was meant to visit
the new neighbours that night. He stood up and proceeded to the door, and
then, as if he remembered something, he paused. “I should freshen up first.”
With that, he turned and went into his room.
Although he knew that it was just a casual visit, he still felt a knot in his
throat.
Was there something more? He had no idea.

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“…everything that had happened, every person that
he had met all the while, God had planned it.”

- Handzinspired

215
 CHAPTER NINTEEN

Ezekiel stood right outside the door of their flat. He took a deep breath and
knocked. After few seconds, he was already contemplating on turning back
and dashing off to his flat when the door opened.
Uloma was delighted to see the fine young man at their doorstep.
“Good evening!” The elation was evident in her voice. She was putting on a
white stripped, blue camisole and a pair of fitting shorts.
Ezekiel coughed. His throat was dry. “Good evening.” He managed to say
roughly. He had opted for a casual white top and a denim trouser.
“I was thinking you weren’t going to come anymore.” She stepped back.
“Please come in.”
“Thank you.” Ezekiel stepped into the house. “I came back from work later
than I expected.” He got to the centre of the living room. He was impressed.
They had arranged the living room in a very peculiar way. The atmosphere
smelt nice also. He was still looking around fascinated by the excellence in
the air that he didn’t hear Uloma. “You have a very nice place.”
“Thank you!” She smiled. Her and her sister always had a knack for
decorations and arrangements. “If you need a touch of variety in your flat
too, we are just one knock away.” She giggled. “Please sit down.” She
pointed to the couch.
“Thank you!” Ezekiel almost sank into the sofa. He wasn’t expecting it to be
so soft. It had looked like leather. He coughed.
“What would you like to take?” She stood right in front of him.
“Water is fine.”
“I’ll treat that as an appetizer for you then.” Unlike Ezekiel’s flat, the kitchen
was just right beside the living room. There was no wall, just plywood
demarcations.

“Appetizer?” Ezekiel frowned, turning his head to watch her.

“Oh, did you think you’d just come here, have water and then go?” She
rinsed the glass up and moved to the dispenser to get water.
“I only came to say hi to my new neighbours, you didn’t invite me for
dinner.” Ezekiel shrugged. He took the glass cup from the tray she
presented. “Thank you.”
“You are welcome. My sister should be here soon.” Uloma sat down on the
couch beside him.
“She’s around?”
“Yes she is. She also came back earlier on. We’ve been expecting you.”
Uloma crossed her legs.
“Alright.”
“So, what do you do?”

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“I work with TY and Company. We deal in freights and..,”
“TY and Company? Wow!”
“You know TY and Company?”
“Are you kidding me? You are a top notch staff in TY and Company?”
“Top notch? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Ezekiel scratched his
head.
“Does every staff in TY and Company walk around with an assistant?” She
ogled.
“Not exactly.”
“I thought as much.” She smirked. “So what do you do there?”

Just then, her sister walked into the living room.

“Good evening!”
Ezekiel stood up and turned back as soon as he heard the voice. “Good
evening.” He accepted the stretched forth hand as he started at the lady
that was right before him. He could swear that he had seen her somewhere
before.
“I am Nneka…,” she dragged. “I’ve heard bits about you, Ezekiel.” She tried
to place where she had met him before.
“Have we met before?” Ezekiel asked.
“I am not sure I can place the face.”
Her voice was arousing something from inside of him. Something he had
long forgotten.
“Nneka, he works with TY and Company.”
“Really? Please sit down.” Nneka went to sit beside her sister. “Has he taken
something?”
“Not yet, just water.”
Ezekiel was still trying to juggle his memory. He was sure that wasn’t the
first time he was hearing that voice or seeing that face.
“Cook something for him, Uloma.” She yawned.
“Alright, give me a minute or two. Let me make spaghetti.” Uloma stood up
and walked to the kitchen.
“You really don’t have to do bother yourself, Uloma.” Ezekiel tried to say.

Nneka was tired from the day’s work. She felt a sense of familiarity with the
fine young man seated but she wasn’t sure she wanted to push it since her
sister was very much smitten by him.
“So what do you do in TY and Company?”
“I manage.” Ezekiel replied absentmindedly.
“You manage?” Nneka wasn’t sure what he meant.
“I am actually the managing director of the company, although I’m on an
interim appointment.”

217
“Wow! How is that possible?”
“It’s a really long story.”
“We have all night, if you want to tell it.” She shrugged. She liked how
smooth his diction was.
“I’m still a student.”
Uloma couldn’t believe her ears. She was listening from the kitchen. “You
must be a joker.”
Ezekiel smiled. “I am not joking. I got into a situation that made me defer a
session, and through God’s grace, I was able to solve a problem for the
company and they thought I was fit for the position.”
“Wow! A problem solver.” Nneka said thoughtfully.
“Wait!” Ezekiel jerked. Something clicked in his mind. “Did you ever work
in a stationery store?”
“My mom owns a stationery store somewhere in Lekki. I used to stay there
whenever I am free.”
“That’s it! That’s where I met you.”
“Hm..,” she shrugged. “Maybe. I met a lot of people.”
“I asked of your name that day.”

Nneka could remember vividly now, but she decided not to acknowledge.
She had been smitten by him the moment she saw him walk into the store
that afternoon. She had seen him with a lady whom she assumed was his
girlfriend, and that was why she wasn’t so friendly to him when he asked of
her name.
“I can’t really place it.” She lied.
Ezekiel couldn’t shake off the thought that she had looked exactly like
Chiamaka when he first saw her, but now, he wasn’t sure anymore. He
couldn’t clearly remember exactly what Chiamaka looked like.

It dawned on him that he had fast forgotten his roots. He was a thousand
miles away from the life he lived in Abia. He relaxed on the sofa and began
to wonder how his dad was, how his step mother was, how Chiamaka was
faring. His bones jittered at the thought of what Chiamaka now thought of
him. As much as he wanted to see her again, he prayed he doesn’t.
Ezekiel’s mind strayed further. He couldn’t believe how far God had
brought him. He could vividly remember how he exited Umuahia that night
and promised never to turn back. He remembered how he slept in odd
places. He remembered Baba and the weeks he spent in the old man’s crib.
He remembered his late roommate and how he met Alhaji and his lovely
family. He sighed.
Nneka wondered why the visitor in front of her was lost in thoughts.

218
Did he know that I lied? She wondered, and then she coughed. “So when are
you going back to school?”
Ezekiel came back to essence when he heard Nneka’s voice. “Just as soon as
the next session starts, of course.”
“Will your job be retained?”
“It will, but that won’t matter so much. I don’t plan on going back there.”
“I smell big plans.” Nneka hummed.
“Well! What about you?”
“I work with FLO Financial house.”
“That’s not so far from where I work.”
“It is just about ten minutes’ drive away.” Nneka could tell why Uloma was
so hung up on him just after one meeting. He had the poise, the aura, the
diction and the smile. She could tell he was at peace.

Uloma came out of the kitchen carrying a tray that contained a plate of
spaghetti, a glass cup and a bottled-water.
Nneka stood up as soon as she saw her sister. She quickly carried the small
stool at the corner of the room and set it in front of Ezekiel.
Uloma dropped the tray on the stool.
“Wow! This is huge.” Ezekiel was quite surprised at the courtesy of the
sisters. “You have quickly prepared egg and spaghetti, tell me, is this a ploy
to change my mind about you all being problems?” He joked.
“You are entitled to your own opinion, and nobody is arguing with you. You
are probably right, so get ready to be disturbed all day long.” Uloma
laughed as she took her former position beside her sister.
“Thank you so much. I’ll treat you better the next time you come to my
place,” he turned to Nneka, “and you too, Nneka. It’ll be my treat.” Ezekiel
took the spoon.
“That’s a date then.” Nneka shrugged.
“Nneka, when is this babe coming na?” Uloma asked her sister.
“I called her today; she told me she was having a little issue with the NYSC
Clearance Centre over there that she wanted to solve before finally
traveling.”
“So she’s not coming any time soon?”
“Why not? She should come tomorrow.” Nneka shrugged.
“Really?!” Uloma shouted in elation. She stood up and danced around. “My
twinnie is coming tomorrow!!”
“Whose twinnie? Yours or mine?” Nneka rolled her eyes at her sister.
“Whatever.”
Ezekiel couldn’t help but enjoy the life amidst the siblings.

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“So we’ll visit Ezekiel if twinnie comes early enough tomorrow, so he’ll be
acquainted with the third problem.” Uloma said casually and they laughed
at the joke.
Ezekiel dropped the fork he was using to eat. He had finished his food.
“Thanks once again, for the food.” Ezekiel carried the plates.
“I’ll do that, you are still a visitor.” Uloma stood up and took the plates for
him.
“Enjoy that while it lasts. The next time you’d come here, you won’t be a
visitor anymore.” Nneka remarked.

Ezekiel chuckled. The more Nneka talked and gesticulated, the more he saw
Chiamaka, at least, the fragments he could still remember of her.
“I think I have to go now. It is quite late.” He stood up.
“You haven’t spent up to an hour here.” Uloma stepped out of the kitchen.
“I have some things to do at home before I hibernate.”
“But it’s Saturday tomorrow?” Uloma frowned.
“We understand.” Nneka stood up behind Uloma and slightly hit her on the
shoulder. “He needs to go. We’ll see you off then.”
“You don’t have to. You guys should be sleeping now.” Ezekiel opened the
door and stepped out.
“Sleeping keh?” Uloma snorted. “Nneka never sleeps before twelve o’clock.”
“It was nice meeting you, Ezekiel.” Nneka stretched forth her hand to the
departing lad.
“I couldn’t say less.” He bowed slightly and took Nneka’s hand.
“Be prepared to meet the third problem tomorrow.” Uloma called out to her
already moving crush.
Ezekiel turned back and met the delightful eyes of the siblings. He smiled. “I
can’t wait. You guys don’t seem like problems after all.”
“You have changed your mind so soon?” Nneka admired the strangely
handsome, well-built, intelligent neighbour as he shrugged and walked out
of sight.
“He’s so handsome.” Uloma sighed and placed her head on her sister’s
shoulder.
“Uloma, you better get your head on straight.” Nneka walked in, leaving her
sister at the door.

Ezekiel knelt down that morning and prayed. It had been a long time since
he felt that way; confused.
After leaving the ladies place the previous night, he wasn’t able to get
enough sleep as he thought about what Jude had told him.

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It all seemed clear enough to him at first, but now he wasn’t sure whether
it’d be wise to go back to school.
He had more than young men his age had. He wondered why he should go
back to school when he already on the way to having everything that a sane
person goes to school for. He had a job, he had a comfortable apartment
and he had money to start up a company.
“Lord, don’t you think it’s a waste going back to school now? I can just start
up a company with Jude and forget about school. What do I need the
certificate for again? Those higher-ups already know the kind of asset I am;
the kind of asset you have made me,” he sighed.
“I am just thinking that it is right to continue on this business path and
grow through you.” As he prayed, he still wasn’t comfortable. “Help me
make the right decision, Lord,” he sighed again. “Help me find my family. I
am sure you have been protecting them all these while, I just want you to
help me reconnect with the ones I have lost, in Jesus’ name, amen.”

He stood up and walked to the bathroom. When he was done, he decided to

fry plantains.
He was expecting Jude that morning to discuss what they couldn’t finish the
previous day, and he looked forward to entertaining the neighbours and
their cousin in the evening.
His phone rang from the sitting room. He switched off the gas cooker,
cleaned his hand with the kitchen towel and walked to pick up the phone.
“Hello Jude,” he greeted. He walked back to the kitchen with the phone on
his left ear. “I have been expecting you.” He placed the receiver on loud
speaker and dropped the phone on the kitchen cabinet.
“Do you know my dad’s house at Ajah?” The caller asked.
“No. Why?” Ezekiel was peeling the plantain.
“If I send you the address, do you think you can get it?”
“If you send me the address, I should get the place using Google map, why?”
“I told my father about you last night, and he wants us to have breakfast
today.”
“Now?” Ezekiel dropped the plantain he was peeling and placed his hand on
the cabinet.
“In about two hours’ time. Can you make it?”
“Arrgh…, I’ll make it.”
“Great. Dress as casual as you can, it’s Saturday. See you then.”
Ezekiel hung up, cleared the plantain he was peeling, left the kitchen and
headed for his room. He was going to meet the head of one of the leading
conglomerates in Nigeria. He needed to do more than prepare.

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Several minutes later, he came out, dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of
casual denim trousers, and he was driving out of the estate few minutes
after that.
As he drove into Ajah axis, the first thing he saw was the crib he had stayed
in with Baba when he first came to Lagos. As he drove past the crib,
unhappiness beclouded him. Baba had died a year after he left and took
shelter with his roommate on the mainland. Ezekiel had been unable to
reach any member of Baba’s family ever since.
Ezekiel saw Jude waiting in front of the address he had earlier sent. He
signalled to his friend who nodded back.

“Hope you didn’t have any trouble locating this place?” Jude shook hands
with Ezekiel.
“Of course not, I know this place like the back of my palm.” Ezekiel smiled
and pointed to the building opposite the house. “We built this house.”
“We?” Jude didn’t understand.
“I was part of the labourers. You know the struggle back in the days.”
Ezekiel looked at the estate again and was amazed at how the place had
transformed in just few years.
“Let’s go in now; both my father and sister are waiting for you.”
“Your sister is around?” Ezekiel quizzed.
“Yes of course. It’s Saturday.”

“I have heard a lot about you.” The tall, slender man shook hands with
Ezekiel. “Have your seat please.”
“Thank you, sir.” Ezekiel sat down on the soft couch. He looked around.
Although the house was magnificently structured, it couldn’t be compared
to the house they took from his family. “You have a very nice place.”
“Thank you. What used to be your father’s company built the house; I
understand that you are Akinleye’s second son, right?” Mr Williams’ gruff
voice filled the air again.
Ezekiel wasn’t very surprised that Mr Williams knew his father, what
surprised him was how he got to know about him. “That’s true sir.”
“Adopted son, I heard?”
“Yes sir.” Ezekiel tried to feel very comfortable. No business person ever
cared about his personal life or family. “You have done your homework
very well sir.”
“That is correct. You must be able to do your homework very well if you
want to run a conglomerate.” Mr Williams coughed. “I won’t exactly say that
your father was my friend, but we were brief acquaintances before he died,
and I tell you, he was such a good man.”

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“He was.” Ezekiel nodded.
“So, would you like to eat first or talk business first? My daughter is still
preparing the food.”
Ezekiel looked at Jude who had been sitting on the other couch quietly.
“Anything is fine with me.”
“Let’s eat then.” He stood up. “Jude, lead your friend to the dining room. I
will join you shortly.” He left the sitting room.
“I thought you said your sister will join us for the meeting?”
“The meeting hasn’t started yet boss. Let’s go to the dining.”
Ezekiel followed him quietly.

When they got to the dining room, the table was already set with Tea and
bread and several other extras.
Mr Williams came through the kitchen door to join them. “Where’s your
sister?” He asked Jude.
“I thought she set the table with Madam Joy.”
“I saw Joy in the kitchen just now. Tell her to get Toluwani for me.”
Jude was about to stand up to his dad’s errand when Toluwani walked in.
“I’m here dad. I had to make a call. Mr Choi Young called about the meeting.
I might have to…,” she stopped when she was Ezekiel. “I didn’t know we
had a visitor.”
“I told you this morning, Tolu. Where did you keep your mind?” Mr
Williams frowned.
“The Korean project, I know how much you want that deal.” She touched
her father’s cheek and turned to Ezekiel. “Hi, I’m Toluwani Williams.” She
stretched her arm.
“Ezekiel Akinleye,” Ezekiel stood up to receive her handshake.
“Ezekiel Akinleye?” Her eyes widened. “You attended UNILAG?”
“Yes I..,” Ezekiel wasn’t sure whether to say ‘do’ or ‘did’. “I did.” He
concluded.
“Wow! I am sure you can’t remember, but you saved my life.” Toluwani
couldn’t believe that the same guy that saved her life that night was right in
front of her at the moment.
“I can’t…,” Ezekiel couldn’t comprehend what the lady was saying.
“Please, sit down!” Toluwani was grinning as she sat down beside her
father. “Father, you remember the Caleb phase of my life?” She put her
arms round her father.
“The boy that made you lose your senses back in your university days?”
“Yes! This angel here,” she smiled at the confused Ezekiel, “was the one that
brought me out of it.”

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Mr Williams looked at him in new light. He had hoped to know the boy that
talked sense into her daughter and made her change for good someday, but
he didn’t believe the day would come since Toluwani herself said she
wasn’t sure she’d remember him. “Are you sure? You said you weren’t
particularly sure about the face…,”
“But I won’t miss the name for anything in the world.”
“Errrm.., can you make me understand please?” Ezekiel couldn’t
comprehend.
“Do you by any chance remember a night in UNILAG that you met one
miserable lady in an alley? She was sitting on the pavement and crying
about her boyfriend…,” Toluwani saw the light in Ezekiel’s face as he
remembered. “Oh yes! That’s me!! Turns out you weren’t really an angel
after all!” She laughed. Her eyes still fixed on him.
“Oh my God! Look at you!!” Ezekiel was surprised he was sitting face to face
with the lady that made him find his purpose in school. “Look at what you
have done with yourself!”
“And the praise goes to God and to you!”
“Wow!” Ezekiel was fazed.
“I thought the next time I’d be seeing you, you’d be with your gigantic
wings.”
Ezekiel laughed. It now all made sense to him. “But I thought you were a
freshman.”
“Oh no! I was in my final year.”
“This world is a really small place.” Mr Williams sighed. “You helped my
daughter come to her senses and realized the administrative talent she had,
you helped my son in immeasurable ways. The world is really a small
place.”
“I was just doing my duty, sir.” He bowed.
“Duty?”
“Yes sir, as a human being.”
“I wonder where I’d have been if not for you. You told me I had talents that
day, and since then, I became hell bent on finding what those talents were,
and..,” she gestured with her hands. “Thank you!”
“This breakfast was all about me determining whether you will start doing
business with my family, but it seems as if your relationship with my family
has yielded great results, so whatever business you and my son decide to
go into, I am supportive, fully supportive financially and in any other way
possible.”
Ezekiel knew that this could only be God. He freshly realized that
everything that had happened, every person that he had met all the while,
God had planned it.

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He was amazed at the goodness of God. Indeed, God was strategic, He made
him meet Toluwani that night to prepare him for an acceptance that
morning. He wondered what would have happened if he didn’t listen to his
spirit and approached the crying lady that night. “Wow! Sir, I don’t know
what to say!”
“Don’t say anything. Let’s just eat!”

“So, you are currently the MD of TY and Company.” Toluwani noted

immediately they finished eating and moved to the sitting room. Jude had
excused himself and had gone upstairs with his father.
“Well, and you are the successful heir to a conglomerate. I heard how good
you are in leading people.” Ezekiel smiled as their eyes met again.
“Well,” she shrugged, giggling as she took her eyes off his. “I’ve read a
couple of books on leadership, and I just find it very easy to do,
administrating people, things, you know.”
“That’s beautiful.” Ezekiel unconsciously kept his eyes on her. She was
beautiful. Her oval face and curvy figure reminded him of Sophie, except
that Sophie was dark.

Toluwani also looked at him. As she appreciated how cute he was, she
wondered how old he was. It mattered a lot to her. “I just did a rough
calculation and I realized you should still be in school, right? You were a
freshman when we first met.”
“How did you know that?”
“Come on, you were oozing freshness. Fresh students have this atmosphere
around them,” she smiled.
“Really?”
She laughed. “Don’t mind me. You were with that file.”
“Oh!” Ezekiel nodded.
“So what’s the story behind it?” She crossed her legs.
“I just deferred a session. My family was going through a tough phase,” then
he remembered his fruitless search of his adoptive family.
“Oh.., I’m sorry.”
“That’s fine. So who is the unCaleb in your life right now?” He changed the
subject.
She laughed. “There is no such person. I am just very focused on my
business, now that I know what I want.”
“Now that’s a purposeful lady talking!”
“How about you? A fiancée yet?” She sized him up for the umpteenth time.
“Oh, not at all.” He smiled. He loved that she loved to laugh.

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Jude strode down the stairs into the living room. “Ezekiel, are you set?”
“Sure,” he stood up. “It was nice seeing you again.” He stretched his hand to
shake her.
“Come on! Let me have your digits so we can grab lunch or dinner one of
these days.” She took her phone from the table.
“Great! Totally cool by me!” He punched his number into the phone. “Call
me.”
Jude grinned at the chemistry he was sensing. He coughed.
“I will! Bye!!”
Ezekiel looked back at her and smiled again. His life was about to be more
than just work. Help me handle it, Lord.

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“…there isn’t much God can do in a life that gives up
on its dreams.”
- Handzinspired

227
 CHAPTER TWENTY

Ezekiel didn’t stop thinking about Toluwani till he drove into his compound
late that afternoon.
She had called him while he was still driving and had set a lunch date for
the following day after church.
As he pulled into his compound, his phone rang. It was the traveling agent
he dropped his digits with.
“Hello Mr Rasaq.” He opened his driver’s door.
“Good afternoon sir.”
“I hope work is fine with you?” Ezekiel asked, even though he badly wanted
to ask if there was any progress. He knew the principle of asking about the
person before asking about the activity.
“We bless God.”
“And your family? What is your little girl’s name again?” He climbed down
his car, closed the door and rested on it.
“Zainab. She is fine. My wife is fine too. I am surprised you still remember
my child.”
“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t? She is precious to me.”
“Thank you sir. I have some information for you.”
Ezekiel’s eyes lit up.
“Somebody by the name Sam Hakins, spelt S.A.M H.A.K.I.N.S arrived today.
She is a lady that somehow fits the person in one of the pictures you
dropped the other day with the name Akinleye Samiat. I don’t know if this
information can be of help.”
“Hmm, is there any way I can reach this person?”
“I am sending you the digits right away.”
“Thank you very much, Mr Rasaq.” Ezekiel hung up. He wasn’t so positive
about the information, but he was willing to give it a try.

He received a message that contained the digits Mr Rasaq promised him

and he dialled it immediately.
As expected, the number didn’t go through. He tried it three times before he
gave up. “Sammy wouldn’t even change her name to Hakins. She loves the
surname.” He discarded it and walked into his apartment. He had a dinner
to prepare for.
Thoughts about all the ladies that had decided to invade his life at this time
filled his head. There was Uloma, there was Nneka that he was strangely
attracted to because she looked a lot like Chiamaka, now there was
Toluwani that he couldn’t help but admire. Toluwani was a lady with
purpose and virtue, and to think that he had a hand in it was very
welcoming.

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He prayed to God to make the right decision. He didn’t want to make a
mistake again, not after Sophie.

Ezekiel tried the number Mr Rasaq sent to him for the umpteenth time but
to no avail. He dropped the phone on the couch and took the remote
control.
He didn’t feel anything would come out of the number, but he couldn’t
explain why he kept trying it for hours.
It was way past five o’clock. He knew that the girls’ cousin was already
around because he heard when Nneka drove in and also heard excitement
in Uloma’s voice. He had chosen to keep his cool and just wait till the
evening when they come for dinner.
He spent his afternoon reconstructing strategies for the marketing
department and reviewing reports that the finance department sent to him.
And when he wasn’t doing that, he was calling the number Mr Rasaq sent to
him.

He also did more researches and settled that he didn’t want to be a

competition to TY and Company when he eventually began his own
company with Jude. He decided to fully delve into Real Estate. He stepped
out briefly and bought some books on Real Estate, and while he was at it, be
bought the ingredients he was going to use to prepare for the dinner.
His phone rang while he was still tuning stations. He quickly answered it,
hoping it was the number he had been calling.
“Hello?”
“Good evening,” it was a man’s voice. Ezekiel looked at the number again. It
was the number he had been trying all day.
“Who be this?” The gruff voice asked.
“I am Ezekiel Akinleye.”
“Yes, what can I do for you?”
“I’d like to speak with Sammy, please?”
“Ah, Sammy? This is a wrong number oh, sorry.”
“Oh…,” Ezekiel sighed. “Thank you.”
“No problem.” The caller hung up.
Ezekiel sighed. Lord, when will you connect me to the ones I’ve lost? He
prayed.
He rubbed his palms against his face and stood up. He walked to the
kitchen to check the rice he left on the cooker.

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Just then, the doorbell rang. He looked at the clock on the wall – it was
already 6:30pm. The girls must be around already. He thought as he made
for the entrance.
He opened it to Uloma and Nneka.
“Good evening ladies!” His eyes shone when he saw them.
“Good evening!” The gleeful Uloma responded. Nneka only smiled with a
nod.
“I thought I’d be expecting three problems today?” He teased.
“Oh yes! Chi is already around. She was with us now…,”
“Please come in,” he moved away from the doorpost.
“Thank you,” both Uloma and Nneka came in, and Uloma continued
explaining. “She rushed back inside to get her phone. She should be here
any minute.”
“Alright, please come and have your seat.”
“Hmmm,” Nneka inhaled, “something smells nice!”
Uloma giggled. “Someone has been busy in the kitchen, right?”
Ezekiel smiled. “Does it smell that good?”
“It sure does,” Uloma affirmed as she sat down with her sister.
“Who knows, it might taste pretty terrible.” He shrugged.
“You’ll be forgiven. After all, you are just a guy. You have tried with the
aroma of the food.” Nneka said and they all burst into laughter.
“Excuse me for a second; please feel at home, I’ll get you a packet of juice
and chips to munch on while the food gets done.”
“Thank you!” Uloma took the remote and placed her legs on the couch.
Nneka looked at her warningly.
“What?” Uloma shrugged, “He asked us to feel at home jor”.
“Just put your legs down for Christ’s sake! You are a girl, in another guy’s
house.” Nneka rolled her eyes at her sister before looking towards the door.
“Where is this girl sef? Shouldn’t she be here already?”
“Should I go and check her out?” Uloma asked, dropping the remote control
after successfully finding Trace Urban.
“No need, she’ll come by herself.”

Ezekiel walked back into the living room with a tray that contained a
packet of Chivita and three glass cups. He set it on the centre table.
“Thank you!” The sisters chorused.
“How come you don’t have any picture displayed on your wall except that
picture of you by the TV? How about your family? Mum, dad, siblings?”
Ezekiel sat down and sighed. “Errr, quite a long story, though.”
“It is time you tell it!” Uloma folded her legs on the couch again and ignored
her sister’s look.
“Alright, originally, I am from Abia.” Ezekiel coughed.

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“Ehn??” The sisters both exclaimed and looked at themselves.
“Abia?” Nneka frowned. “Where in Abia?”
“Umuhaia, precisely.” Ezekiel’s eyebrow rose.
“Wow! That is where we are also from, even though we just go on holidays.”
“The world is a small place,” he shrugged again.
“It sure is! How did you now end up like this?”
Ezekiel frowned. “Like how?” He tilted his left eyebrow up.
“You know, like this..,” Nneka raised her hands up. “How did you get your
surname if you are indeed you are from the east? And how are you so
prim?”
Ezekiel was surprised that the usually calm and more reserved Nneka
became a talkative as soon as she found out they were from the same place.
He also found it strangely amusing that he had his long forgotten
hometown sisters sitting in his abode.
“Now don’t get me wrong oh, I am not saying that we from the east, or the
guys from the east are not prim oh, in fact, did you even live there at all?”
“Yes. I lived there until I was forced out when I was about seventeen years
old.”
“Forced out?” Uloma who had all the while been excited frowned.
He sighed as he remembered the ugly incident. “Yes oh, forced out. But
really, from then till this moment, I can only thank God for all that
happened. Sometimes, it is good to keep thanking God even in the midst of
your woes because even though you can’t see it, you can tell that for every
woe, you get one step closer to your fantasy. Right now, I can’t say I am in
my fantasy, but I know I am getting there.”
“Hmm, is this a ploy you are using to bury the statement about being forced
out of Umuhaia?” Nneka looked at him suspiciously.
“Oh no,” he chuckled. “Not at all, I’ll tell you. Actually…,”
Uloma sniffed. “Hold that thought. Is something burning?”
“Oh my!” Ezekiel stood up and rushed to the kitchen. He was followed by
the sisters. “Oh thank God!”

“Thank God my sister has a dog sense of smell.” Nneka sighed.

They had realized that the food was just beginning to burn.
“What do you mean na?” Uloma rolled her eyes.
“It’s a compliment!”
“Go jor!” Uloma walked out of the kitchen in feigned annoyance.
Ezekiel laughed. “Should I dish it now or…,”
“We haven’t even touched the drink you gave us. We are still waiting for
Chi.” As Nneka walked out of the kitchen back to the living room, she swore
that she could never have guessed that he was an Igbo boy. He didn’t look
it, he didn’t sound it, he didn’t even act it. He just sounded like a guy that

231
fell off from Jupiter. And he looked Jupiter too! She was floored, but she
congratulated herself for how well she held it together without getting
noticed.

Ezekiel coughed as they all settled in their previous positions. “So where
was I?”
“What happened? You were forced out of Umuahia.”
“Well, I was never Ezekiel Akinleye. My father’s name is Lesley. I used to go
by Lesley Ezekiel.”
“Why does the name sound familiar?” Uloma wondered.
“Probably because it is a cute name.” He grinned.

There was a knock on the door.

“It must be Chi.” Uloma stood up. “Let me get the door.”
“It’s fine, I am closer to the door.” Ezekiel was already at the door. He
opened it.
“Good evening!”
Ezekiel looked at the big bright eyed lady smiling at him. He smiled back.
Chiamaka thought the face was familiar. “I’m asking of…,”
“Come in please, you are in the right place,” Ezekiel loved her smell. He
thought she was a carbon copy of Nneka, except that she was a bit taller.
Does that mean she looks like Chiamaka too? Ezekiel thought. He cursed
himself because he couldn’t even remember how Chiamaka looked, and he
was sure she wouldn’t even look the same again. It was almost eight years.
He closed the door after she walked in.

“What have you been doing in the house?” Uloma asked.

“Long story,” Chiamaka sat with the girls.
“So this is the cousin we have been talking about. Her name is Chiamaka.”
Uloma introduced the bright eyed girl.
“Oh, really?” Ezekiel was amused as he kept his eyes on her.
“Chi, this is Ezekiel Akinleye. Don’t mind the name, he is an Igbo boy.”
“It’s nice meeting you,” Chiamaka swallowed. She always cringed at the
mention of the name. It made her wonder about her long lost Ezekiel. Is he
dead? Why did he never come back home? She found herself thinking again
as she looked at the familiar stranger.

She had also tried everything she could to look for Ezekiel. However, there
wasn’t much she could do with her resources. She only prayed every day
that he returned home. She still prayed that morning before leaving
Umuahia that if at all Ezekiel was still alive, God should take her to him.

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“It’s my pleasure, problem,” Ezekiel grinned because he knew she’d be
wondering. He stretched forth his hand and she took it. Ezekiel swallowed.
As she took his hand, he remembered how he would always tease
Chiamaka about how soft her hands were. Was this hand softer, or was he
the one feeling things? Lord, I am not ready to deal with this. He prayed.
“You guys should take your juice, so we can eat. I don’t want to have to
microwave the food again.” He helped them pour it in their glass cups.
“So continue your story, I am very much interested.” Nneka took a filled
glass cup.
“Okay. When my mother died, my dad married somebody else who he
already had a child with. I guess that’s where all the woes began. Although I
had a good person beside me all those times that kept me going. She was
actually the first girl I ever liked,” Ezekiel paused as he remembered the
little Chiamaka. He smiled.
“It is obvious that you still like her.” Uloma said.
“Well, it has been too long. Everything is just hazy now. I don’t think I can
even recognize her when or if I ever see her again.” He sighed. “She was
with me every step of the way. My step mother and her daughter became
my nightmare. I failed my exams because of them, she delayed my
admission into the university,” Ezekiel swallowed.

Chiamaka shifted where she sat. The story sounded all too familiar. This is
Ezekiel Akinleye, not Lesley Ezekiel, besides he looks too big to be the Ezekiel
I’m looking for. She chided herself and continued to listen.

“Apparently, my step mother and my mother were friends at some point

before my mother allegedly betrayed her. Whether the story is true or not, I
will never know. That was the reason she hated me and framed me for
wanting to rape my own step sister,” he snorted and smiled as he
remembered the scene. “Funny thing is, I had gotten ready that same day to
confess what I felt to Chiamaka, but I got home and I was launched into
another phase of my life. I was disgraced and that same night, I left
Umuahia.” Ezekiel sighed.
“Long story cut short, I found myself in Lagos, started doing a lot of odd
jobs, but one thing made me different from the rest of those boys. I didn’t
give up on my dreams. I knew that there was no way in hell I could pursue
my dreams from where I was, but I just held on to those dreams I dreamt
alongside my mother before she passed away.”

Chiamaka swallowed. Every bone in her body creaked. This was Ezekiel.
She was sure. Tears began to form in her eyes as she watched him speak.
He had changed. He had indeed grown so big. She didn’t even recognize

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him at first glance. Before now, she could have sworn that she would
recognize her teenage love no matter how long it took. Even though he
hadn’t expressly said it, she knew it was Lesley Ezekiel.
As a tear rolled down her eyes, she wasn’t conscious of where she was
anymore. She couldn’t move. She just watched him speak. She admired him.
Lord, how can I thank you? You answered my prayer. You have brought
Ezekiel to me. Lord, I worship you. She sniffled.
“Are you okay?” Uloma asked.
“Huh?” Chiamaka was brought back to essence. “Sure, I am.” She thanked
her stars that nobody noticed the tears on her cheek. She stylishly wiped
her cheek.
“Ezekiel, you still haven’t told us how you made it this big from the odd jobs
you did back then,” Nneka was eager to hear the rest of the story.
“I am still getting to that. Long story short, I was adopted by my current
family.”
“How?” Uloma asked.
“Why?” Nneka complemented the question.
“I helped save the life of a rich man, and he took to liking me, and his family
was welcoming. At first I was living with them, and then they agreed to
legally adopt me.”
“Wow! So that was how you moved from being a Lesley to being an
Akinleye, and that’s what has brought you to where you are today, your
rich family!” Uloma exclaimed with a note of finality.
“Yee……no,” he shook his head. “You got it totally wrong! I am so sorry.” He
made funny sounds alongside.
They all laughed at his sense of humour. “Silly! You made me think I was
correct.” Uloma smirked.

Chiamaka was quiet. A lot of thoughts rushed through her mind. She
wanted to rush towards him and hug the living daylight out of him. She also
wanted to just go over to where he was sitting and hit the hell out of him.
She wanted to cuss at him for not recognizing her, at least she didn’t even
change one bit. She only grew. She sighed, resigning to the fact that all she
could do was seat down there and watch the beauty in front of her keep
talking.

“So tell us how it went.” Nneka said sharply.

“Long story cut short, I gained admission into the prestigious school,
UNILAG. Everything was going alright until Alhaji died…,”
As Ezekiel continued, Uloma noticed the teary eyes of her cousin. She didn’t
want to tune the attention of others to it because she thought it was strange

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that Chiamaka would cry because of Ezekiel’s story. Is she also smitten by
him? She feared.
Nneka continued to admire the young man that had gone through so much
and still looked perfect. Does a hard life make somebody look and sound like
a god? She thought. At that point, it pained her that she had to hide the fact
that she liked him so much.
She watched his eyes twitch and his lips dance in amazing ways. She sighed
inwardly as she noted to herself that she was beginning to become a
helpless romantic.
“So, here I am, still in search of my family.” Ezekiel ended.

“Wow! So sad! If someone didn’t hear from you, they’d think that with the
way you look, from the way you talk and with all you have, your life have
been a bed of roses.” Uloma sighed. She was the simplest and the most
open-minded amongst the three girls.
“It’d be an error to think that people’s lives are filled with roses just
because of what they have or how they look. This world is contained with
successful lives and unsuccessful ones. Every successful and unsuccessful
person pass through the fire; the refining process. It is how well one fares,
it is how long one endures, it is how tough one hold on to his dreams, it is
how rugged one dares to dream that makes all the difference between a
successful life and an unsuccessful one.
“I think I am part of the successful few, not because I was strong on my
own, but because I held on to God who was strong on my behalf. Although I
played my part by working and not giving up on my dreams because, there
isn’t much God can do in a life that gives up on its dreams.”

Ezekiel sighed as he stood up. “I think it is time to serve the food. It must be
getting cold.” He was about to move to the kitchen when he heard the
cousin speak.
“You seem to be very comfortable now, why have you not thought about
going back to your state to look for your real family, or at least the girl you
claim to love?” Chiamaka didn’t bother to mince her words.
Ezekiel turned back. “I have thought about it a lot of times, and I decided
that I just cannot go back to that town, a place where I have been rejected.
As much as I dream daily to meet the girl my heart chose as a teenager
again, I pray I don’t, because God knows how she thinks of me right now,
probably a beast that tried to rape his own sister.”

“The girl your heart chose as a teenager? So that is what she has been
reduced to, huh? And if you were as close to her as you claimed to be, why
did you not for one second stop to think that she probably loved you too

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and would have never thought that it was true that you tried to rape your
sister?” Chiamaka’s voice shook a bit.
Ezekiel sighed. He thought it was very ridiculous that this lady took it
personal.
“Chi…,” Nneka was also surprised. She wondered what prompted her
Chiamaka’s behaviour.
Chiamaka couldn’t stop anymore. “Why did you not seek her out before
even leaving Umuahia? Oh, you didn’t think she’d be hurt or have
questions?”
“It was better to leave that way than paint her with embarrassment or
making people think she was an accomplice and thereby making them
reject her.”
“I see that as an excuse, Lesley Ezekiel. If truly you loved her, you’d have
gone back to Abia to search for her. You never really did love her even as a
friend.”
“I…,” Ezekiel swallowed as he watched fire burn in the eyes of the lady.
“Oh, you already said that she was the girl your heart chose as a teenager.
You are not a teenager anymore, so there is no point searching for her
anymore,” she stood up and made to leave. “What about your family? If
Chiamaka wasn’t reason enough to go back to Umuahia, how about your
father? Do you even know how he is faring right now? What if he is dead?
Or thinking you had died?”
“I…,”
Chiamaka sighed. “Enough of the excuses!” She said belligerently and made
for the door.

Ezekiel couldn’t move. His mind was all over the place. She wasn’t here
when I announced myself as Lesley. How come she….
His eyes widened as it occurred to him. Her name is Chiamaka, she just
came from Umuahia, she is Nneka’s cousin, she looks exactly like Nneka,
and he had thought when he first encountered Nneka that she looks exactly
like his Chiamaka. She is Chiamaka. He swallowed as he came to that
realization.
He looked at her again as she clutched the doorknob. In a split second, he
rushed to hold her arm, preventing her from opening the door.

“Let me off!” Chiamaka tried to wring her wrist off his grip to no avail.
“How come I didn’t recognize you on time?” He swallowed. He wanted to
see her face again but couldn’t. She had refused to turn back.
“How can you? You turned your back on us already. Ezekiel, let me go,” she
said solemnly.

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Nneka and Uloma simple sat there and looked quietly. They didn’t know
how to react or what to say, they just watched as things played out. They
decided not to get involved in a painful reunion.
Ezekiel pulled her and hugged her. “Chiamaka…,”
She didn’t resist and she didn’t hug back either.
“God knows I never forgot you. You know I never forgot you.” Ezekiel
wasn’t sure whether he was about to cry. But he knew his voice shook. Who
knew he could see Chiamaka again?
“You never looked back, Ezekiel. Did you ever for once think how hurt I’d
be?” Chiamaka was already in tears but her voice was firm. Ezekiel had no
idea she was already crying. “And you claim to love me? No, forget love,
how could you do that to a friend?”

Chiamaka remembered how she had heard the horrible news. Adanna had
rushed into her compound that night to tell her what happened.
“Ezekiel almost raped his stepsister, Chi!” Adanna had said immediately she
set her eyes on Chiamaka.
Chiamaka’s mind never even went to her own Ezekiel. “Which Ezekiel?” she
had frowned at her panting classmate.
“How many Ezekiels do you know?” Adanna had hissed. “It happened this
evening. Everybody gathered around him and rained curses on him. He
already tore the girl’s blouse open and was about to do his evil deed. Thank
God for neighbours.”

It had amused Chiamaka because she found it outrageous. “Ezekiel? Rape

Damilola?” She had snorted. “See, Ada, if you don’t have anything better to
do, come and help me with these ugwu leaves,” she continued cutting the
leaves. She didn’t mind Adanna until she left.
The whole charade became real to her when she waited for Ezekiel to no
avail. She had decided to go and look for him in his house when she started
hearing murmurings on the street as she got out of her house.
“The bastard has run away.”
“Wonders shall never seize. I thought the boy was a good boy?”

It still didn’t get real to Chiamaka until after two months of searching for
Ezekiel.
She would never forget the way she and her mother scouted the whole of
Abia for almost two months before her mother decided to give up. Her
mother couldn’t forgive herself for what happened to Ezekiel. Neither she
nor her mother believed that Ezekiel did what they accused him of.

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Now the person she had looked for all her life was right here hugging her.
How long was she going to put up the wall?
She hugged him back suddenly as tight as she could. She feared she was
dreaming. If she were to count the amount of times she dreamt about him
over the years, she wouldn’t be surprised if this was a dream.
“If this is another dream, I would just kill myself if I wake up.” She held on
to him. “I missed you, Ezekiel. My world missed you.” She broke down in
fresh tears.

Ezekiel felt the exact same way. He was crying but his face did not reflect
the tears. It was all contained in his heart, and his heart ached.
He held on to her also for a long time, not minding the sisters on the couch.

Then the doorbell rang.

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“…sometimes, it won’t just be our skills and talents that
will bring us before kings and great men. Sometimes, it
is the good we do, the little things we stand up for that
will take us to those places.”
- Handzinspired

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 CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Ezekiel didn’t bother to attend to the door. He was not ready to let go of
Chiamaka. What if she disappears? He thought.
Chiamaka also didn’t leave him. She prayed he wouldn’t either. All she
thought about while locked in his embrace was the fact that God answers
prayers. God was willing to answer the prayer of every single person. She
knew that she wouldn’t have met Ezekiel again if not for the prayers she
prayed all day; every day.

Uloma had mixed feelings. She loved her cousin and she was terribly happy
about the fact that she had reunited with her teenage lover. Damn! Just
when I thought I had a boyfriend already. This thought made her cringe
silently as she watched the duo hug. Now I’ve lost another potential boo. She
sighed.
Nneka was pleased that her never-loving cousin found her first love again.
Growing up, there was no holiday they spent with Chiamaka that she never
mentioned her lost lover. So he was the one after all. She had no choice but
to be genuinely happy for Chiamaka.

The bell was rung again and Chiamaka had to let go this time. Ezekiel
wasn’t ready to do the same.
“Will you get the door?” She patted his back and then went to sit down with
her cousins when Ezekiel released her. Nneka and Uloma rushed to sit with
her, making her fall in the middle. They hugged her to indicate how happy
they were about what happened.

Ezekiel wondered who it was as he got the door. He wasn’t expecting any
delivery; neither did mailmen distribute mails at night. When he opened
the door, he saw a lady figure already heading away.
“Hello ma’am!” He called out.
When the lady looked back, the shock on Ezekiel’s face was enough to give
a young man a heart attack. “Oh my…,” he swallowed as sweat broke out on
his forehead.
In a split second, the lady rushed towards him and jumped on him.
Ezekiel caught her swiftly in the air. He expected it.
“I missed you. I am so sorry,” Sammy’s voice shook. All the while she had
been looking everywhere for Ezekiel, she wasn’t sure what to expect if she
eventually found him. He had every right to be angry since they did not
contact him anymore according to what they planned. She released him,
balancing her feet on the ground.

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Ezekiel was too nonplussed to say a word. He blessed God. He looked at
her again and sighed; a sigh of relief. “You have grown taller, Sammy.”
“All thanks to a hard life,” she threw her hands out.
“What happened? I searched the whole earth for you guys. Did Mum and
Kenny come with you?” Ezekiel looked over her shoulders. He thought,
perhaps they were in a car outside the compound.
Sammy sighed. “It’s a very long story,” she removed her fairly weighty hand
bag from her shoulder to her right hand.
Ezekiel was so excited that he had forgotten every one of the gentleman’s
ethics. “Oh! Let me help you with that,” he took the bag from her. “You now
look like a very grown up girl. You were a little girl like, yesterday?”
“I am no more that little girl, Ezekiel!” She smirked. “Since it looks like you
have forgotten to usher me in, I can as well walk in myself.” Sammy was
tired of standing. She walked past him into the living room only to meet
three ladies seated.

The ladies in the room barely saw what was going on outside as the door
was agape, but they clearly saw when the strange lady jumped on him.
“Oh!” Sammy grinned as she noticed the pretty visitors. Then she looked
back at Ezekiel who was closing the door behind. “Hmm, no wonder you
forgot to ask me to come in,” she teased and then turned back to the
wondering ladies.
“Good evening,” the excitement was evident in her voice. She was happy to
see her brother and her friend again. She had at some point, doubted the
possibility of seeing him again.
Uloma was the only one who replied with the same measure of excitement.
“Good evening!” She stood up to receive the handshake Sammy offered to
her.
Nneka and Chiamaka only smiled back while receiving Sammy’s handshake.
Ezekiel settled on the couch after dropping Sammy’s bag on the centre
table and watched. He was in a world of his own. The people he needed to
form his own world of happiness are beginning to come into his life – or
rather, return to his life.

Sammy was very mature enough to sense the atmosphere. “Okay now, this
is getting real weird.” She chuckled as she looked at the three lost girls. “I
am Sammy, his sister. I am sure he must have told you ladies about me
except if he has been really mad at the family,” she still maintained her
smile while she looked back at Ezekiel and then back to her first focus.
“Huh?” Nneka arched her brow. “Like, the Sammy you have been seeking
for years now?” She looked at Ezekiel who simply nodded.

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“I am so definite that that’s me!” She concluded and sat down beside
Ezekiel, facing the ladies. “I guess you are his new friends, right?” She
asked, looking from them to Ezekiel and then back to them.

It was when Ezekiel caught her eyes that he came back to his senses. “This
is Uloma,” Ezekiel started from the left side. “She is the one I first met when
I moved in,”
Uloma smiled eagerly now. She is his sister after all. She is not here to come
and steal Ezekiel from my cousin.
“This is Nneka, her sister, and guess what?” Ezekiel stood up and went over
to where Chiamaka was sitting and then pulled her up.
“What?” Sammy was ready to hear some good news. Her brother is
perhaps engaged?
“Remember the girl I told you about? The one I told you I fell in love with
and didn’t have the chance to tell it to her?”
“Wait, the lady from your hometown? The one you wanted to confess to
before that arbitrary incident happened?” Sammy’s eyes shone now.
“Yes! Your brain is still intact. That’s the one. I am glad to present her to
you.” Ezekiel couldn’t pray for a night better than this. God deliberately
always had the best in store. “Chiamaka, this is Sammy, my sister, and my
best friend!”
Sammy stood up simultaneously and hugged Chiamaka. The two locked in
tight embrace like they knew one another before.

“It is quite unbelievable seeing you like this. He never even thought he’d see
you again.” Sammy released her and looked at Ezekiel. “How come? How
did you guys meet?”
Chiamaka loved Sammy right away. She loved the way she spoke; she
admired her charisma and her beauty.
“I just met her few minutes ago.” Ezekiel shrugged. “Please Sammy, you
have a story to tell me. Sit down.” Ezekiel and the girls resumed their
former positions.
Sammy got up on second thought, crossed the room and went to sit down
with Chiamaka.
“How is mummy and Kenny?” Ezekiel asked for the second time that
evening.
Sammy sighed and sat up to talk. “First I want you to know that whatever I
say, whatever story I tell, I do not in whatever way use them as excuses for
why we vanished for more than two years,” she paused and took one of the
half-filled glass cups on the table and sipped from it. “Mummy died as soon
as we got to the States.” She said solemnly.

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“What?! Mum is dead???” Ezekiel couldn’t believe his ears. He held his face
and bowed down. She died just when he was beginning to feel excited
about seeing the beautiful woman. He had planned out how he would try to
tease her into getting married again.

“The doctors said it was the stress, coupled with High blood pressure. She
was also at an early stage of ovarian cancer.” She laughed. “Don’t you think
it is funny how we didn’t even know about it, Ezekiel?” She snorted and
shook her head as she remembered. “Ah! Ezekiel we suffered after she died.
We saw the hard side of life you came from. It was then that Kenny and I
understood what it meant to be you. If we went through that overseas
where everything is very cool and the economy is friendly, and we still
thought that life was terrific, how much more if we suffered it in Nigeria
like you did?” She shook her head and sipped again from the glass she
didn’t drop earlier.

“Where is Kenny now?” Ezekiel asked.

“Kenny got into trouble one time. He got out of jail three months ago.”
“Jail? Kenny? Wow!”
“They had this riot where he was working and they were thrown into jail
for almost a year. And that was exactly two months after we buried mom.”
“Wow!” Ezekiel couldn’t believe that his family had been suffering all along
while he was about to start thinking that they had forgotten about him.
“What were you doing all those times?” Ezekiel asked.
“I was making money. I needed money to bail Kenny out of that trouble. All
the monies we gathered the two months after mom died that we wanted to
use to bring you over there went with the issue Kenny was involved in.”
“I can’t imagine how tough it must have been for you, the butter girl that
mummy and daddy would always give everything she wanted.” Ezekiel
tried to smile. The news of Alhaja’s death still had him shaken.
“I am telling you. Right now, I am even very much grateful for all I passed
through. It taught me resourcefulness. Not just that, it also brought me into
the real world where I figured out that every man had to be responsible for
his own life. I was stripped out of the entitlement mentality, I was stripped
out of the bitterness and hurt that I lurked in my heart towards my dad for
what he did to make us lose all our properties. I learnt!”

“That is true. You won’t even have the time to be bitter at anybody or
anything when you are working with your two hands.” Chiamaka chipped
in.
“Honestly. It is jobless people that have the time to be bitter for long. You
would see that at some point, being busy at something productive doesn’t

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only make you productive but also nourishes and strips you off
unnecessary attitudes.” Nneka spoke also after a long time of silence.
“Very true! Hard life stripped me of anger and its cohorts. I worked my ass
off every night and day at a supermarket. I worked extra hours on Sundays
at another coffee shop. Then at some point, they slashed the pay by half and
I had to take other embarrassing jobs like serving at birthday parties. There
was a time I also cleaned birthday pools. Ezekiel, I suffered, and I was all
alone!”
Ezekiel listened closely to his little sister speak. He recognized the
intelligence that emanated from her. He had always attributed his wisdom
and creativity to God, but he had to admit that in some way, when life
throws tough experiences at us, it doesn’t just delete unnecessary and
negative attitudes, it also has a way of stretching the horizon of our
thinking and capacity of our brains. Indeed, his sister had grown up.

“There was a day that something happened at one of those parties. Some
children came to beg for food and they were being treated inhumane by the
leader of our group. She used vulgar languages on those little homeless kids
and I couldn’t take it anymore because the more I saw those children and
the way they were being treated, the more I remembered those stories you
told me and how you survived on the streets. I didn’t think any longer
about getting relieved of my work, I just stood up for those kids and then it
became a serious issue in that same party which happened to be the
beginning of my own success story!!”
“Are you serious?!” Uloma wasn’t able to connect the dots.
“Don’t worry, that’ll be a story for another night.”
“We have all night jor. Tell us now.” Nneka adjusted.
“Alright, a senator in the party was impressed by my ‘passion for the
upcoming generation’–as he put it –and he wanted to make my
acquaintance. Three other people also did the same thing. I thought it was
normal, since I did something good in the eyes of everybody, they might
want to use me as a political advantage. I didn’t give much thought to it, I
just left the party gracefully after making sure the children were very well
fed. Little did I know that a CCTV camera already captured the event! It was
the number two most watched video on Youtube the next day and that was
it! Before I knew it, I was on TV, receiving a humanitarian award from the
government, and then in a twinkle of an eye, I started earning money for
being beautiful, hardworking, smart and loving. Then a rich alderman set
up a TV station for me when he realized what my passion was.”

“Wow!” Ezekiel exclaimed.

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“Remember you told me that one time? You said I was going to become a
speaker, an activist and a human right fighter, can you remember?”
“I sure can.”
“Turned out you were right! I am however, not an activist, but a televist.”
“A televist?” Chiamaka asked.
“Yes. What I do basically on the show is invite people, paint scenarios,
common scenarios, bring in recent unbelievable life events and treat those
everyday issues the right way, changing the mentality of people towards so
many things.”
“That is wonderful!”
“By the time I started the programme, Kenny was still in detention. I
couldn’t tell anybody about that situation even though I had a lot of people I
could ask favours from. I wanted to pay those damages myself and bail my
brother out. God answered those prayers.”
“Hallelujah!” Ezekiel didn’t know when he proclaimed.
“The show only covered the state and then people also watch online, but
now the show has been called up to the nationals.”
“You mean…,”
“Everyone will be able to view me across the nation and also across the
world for those who have satellite.” Sammy replied Uloma.

“So you are now an international face, sweetheart!” Ezekiel kept on

thanking God in his heart. This is all You, Lord! This is all You!
“I wonder where I’d be now if I didn’t stand up for those helpless kids that
day.”
“You see, sometimes, it won’t just be our skills and talents that will bring us
before kings and great men. Sometimes, it is the good we do, the little
things we stand up for that will take us to those places.”
Chiamaka smiled at what Ezekiel said. He was excitingly correct. “And of
course, and if you didn’t try to work your ass off, you wouldn’t have even
been where you were that night, in that position to help those children.
That is why discipline and diligence is necessary in order for one to be in
the right place and at the right time. A person who is in the right place at
the right time has his ace card right on his fingertips.” She chipped in.
“Christ!” Amazement caused Sammy to take an inadvertent look at
Chiamaka. “Don’t tell me you are also like him?”
“Huh?”
“You give pep talks after every small statement too? God has really made
you for one another.” She said and everybody burst into laughter.

“But now that I think about it, I mightn’t have stood up to defend those
children if you didn’t bring to my attention that you saw an activist in me.

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Ever since then, I became conscious of that, and it really helped me focus
more on making sure that people are not treated unfairly. I owe you what I
cannot pay.”
“That’s the beauty of recognition too! I understand that principle and that is
why I never fail to comment on the positive things in a person’s life. The
more people comment or commend you on a particular attribute; you will
focus more on it, and when you focus more on it, you magnify it.” Chiamaka
spoke again while the whole room turned to look at her.
Sammy shook her head and then laughed. “Unbelievable. Now I found the
female version of my brother.”
“No! What do you mean? She talks more than I do, and besides, she taught
me all these pep talks when we were still teenagers.”
“Interesting!”

“What about Kenny now?” Ezekiel changed the uncomfortable topic.

“Kenny is still trying to settle down and know where his life will head. I
wanted him to come along with me to Nigeria, but he said there was
nothing left for us here.”
“Hmmm…,”
“He just told me to come to Nigeria, look for you and bring you with me so
we can be together, one big, happy family, even without our parents.”
“There is nothing more that I wish for.” Ezekiel sighed.
“You have done very well for yourself, haven’t you? I can smell it.” Sammy
grinned.
“Well, you can say so. That’ll be a story for just you because they have
heard it time and again.” Ezekiel checked his wristwatch. “Wow! It is so
late!” It was already 11pm.
The ladies also looked up at the wall clock and looked at one another.
“I think it is time for us to head to our flat.” Uloma stood up almost
immediately.
“That was how you ladies didn’t take the food I cooked. Do you doubt my
culinary skills?”
Nneka laughed. “Come on, not that! You know there wasn’t time, besides, all
the talks made up for the food we didn’t eat. I am sure we can get around
that sometime soon.” She gave a heavy sigh, stood up and stretched.
Chiamaka didn’t want to leave. She didn’t make an attempt to stand up. She
was scared of walking out of that door and never seeing Ezekiel again.
“Chiamaka, shey you nor go stand up make we dey go?” Uloma’s pidgin
English cracked everyone up.

Chiamaka then had to stand up. She looked at Ezekiel and realized he had
been staring at her all the while.

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Ezekiel moved closer to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I am not
going anywhere, Chi.” He said, as if he read her mind. “God helped us find
each other. He definitely isn’t going to let us lose one another again.” With
that, he hugged her.
Chiamaka held the tears that were threatening to fall off from her eyes as
she felt his body against hers once more. This is not a dream. She then, was
sure.
“So cute! Isn’t the hug already enough?” Sammy shrugged with both her
hands held in the hair, “before you people start feeling something else. We
have enough unwanted babies in the orphanages in Nigeria already!” She
said sternly as if she was serious.
Everybody burst into laughter at the humour.

“Damilola came back home from school pregnant,” was the first thing
Chiamaka said when Ezekiel asked about his step family that evening when
he got back from his date with Toluwani.
“What?!” Ezekiel was mortified to hear the grievous news.
“Ah, that’s not all! Your dad realized that Damilola isn’t even his daughter
because the real father of Damilola came for her and her baby boy. It wasn’t
a joke, Ezekiel. This issue was messy.”
“Wow! I can’t imagine how dad would have felt all those while.”
“It was tough on the poor man. I even thought he would start to look for
you, but he didn’t. How can a father be so egocentric? The funny thing is, he
knew how badly my mum and I were looking for you, but he never once
showed a sign of concern.”

Ezekiel was quiet.

“My mum met with him one day, and she was totally shunned. That was the
main reason why my mum had to give up. She thought that if your dad
wasn’t even concerned one bit, she wasn’t in any place to be concerned.”
Ezekiel sighed. “Where is he now?”
“I don’t know. He moved two years after the whole saga. I heard he got into
some kind of debt, sold the house and is now running a small business here
in Lagos.” Chiamaka observed his silence. “Do you want to search for him?”
Ezekiel had shrugged. “I don’t feel the urge to. God will bring him to me. He

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is still my father after all.” Ezekiel’s phone rang and he picked up after
excusing himself.

“Hello, Toluwani?” He smiled. “I am home……, but it is Sunday……, that’s

nice. Just don’t work yourself out, workaholic……,” he laughed this time at
what she said.
Chiamaka wasn’t very comfortable, she wondered why. She knew he was
talking to a lady, she just didn’t know who it was, and it scared her. She had
been out of Ezekiel’s life for a very long time, she had a lot of wonders and a
lot of fears too.
“Alright, we will see on Wednesday then. It will be my treat this time.”
Ezekiel laughed again before he ended the call.
“Seems like someone you are very close to?” She asked stylishly.
Ezekiel knew she was jealous, but he decided not to probe. “I guess…,”
Ezekiel didn’t really think he was close to Toluwani. “I am not really sure.
She is a sister to my business associate.” He looked at her and saw that she
wasn’t very satisfied with the response.

“She was actually the one I had lunch with. We have met long even before I
knew her brother. In fact, she made a joke that she was already unbearably
attracted to me before she knew that she was older than I am, and that is
important to her. According to her, she can’t get involved with a younger
person, and well,” he shrugged, “that’s her loss.”

Few months passed and Ezekiel had reconnected with Kenny through
Sammy. He came back to stay in Nigeria while Sammy flew back to the
States to continue the job she was passionate about.
Ezekiel and Jude started up the real estate business and Ezekiel invested
everything he had in that business and decided to go back to school to
complete his bachelor’s degree programme on advice of Sammy.
“I am doing my shows, but I just registered for part time lectures at the
University of New York, and I attend.” She had said when Ezekiel told her
about his indecision.

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In less than a year, Ezekiel graduated with honours and by the time he
finished his National Youth Service, unimaginable income had generated
from the hectares of land that the company he created with Jude and they
started developing estates and became agents for several other big
businesses.
Kenny worked with them. He was well versed in dealing with the
management because he had learnt from Alhaji.

Soon, Ezekiel and Jude’s company, BUILD, started employing staffs, and
within three years, the business had grown from a start-up company to
being one of the leading Real Estate Agency in Nigeria.
Ezekiel was 29, and he was a multimillionaire.

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 “It is strange, but whatever you see, whatever you
dream about, whatever makes you get up on your
feet or sleep late at night will make you a success in
your own rights.”
- Handzinspired

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 THE INTERVIEW

“It is still surprising how you passed through all of these things you
recounted for us and you did not break. How is it possible to still be
standing and smiling back at the life that once knocked you down?” The
reporter asked.
“Well,” Ezekiel sighed. “The bible says that if you fail in the face of
adversity, then your strength is small. That means if you do not fail, your
strength is great, and the only great strength comes from the Lord. I
remember the times when I made mistakes, the times when my small
strength failed me, the times when I just couldn’t have it done on my own. I
would always call on this great strength, and He never failed. He always
showed up!”
“I have noticed that you talk a lot about your faith.” She noted.
“A man without something he believes in, something he is convicted about
is really no different from a totally dead stalk. And listen, when you are
convicted about something or an entity, you always, always want to talk
about it on any given platform. That is how my faith is to me. I believe in
Jesus, and I believe He has brought me this far.”

“Hmm, alright. So at the end of it all, you married Chiamaka, did you not?”
“Oh, I couldn’t wait any second more. I saw it as the most reasonable thing
to do as soon as I was really settled. When you have a God who gives you all
you want, and then a wife who supports what you love and wants what you
want, I don’t think there’s nothing else you would crave for. Our marriage is
three years old now, and we have a beautiful little girl. She is the best thing
that happened to my life.” He grinned.

“How about Sophie?”

“I have no idea. I haven’t heard from her since I deferred that session. I
heard she was flown overseas to avoid being a dent on the image of a
politician here in Nigeria. You will hear and see results from people who
are doing worthwhile things with their lives. I just hope she is doing very
well with her life.”

“You didn’t say much about your dad, did you later find him?”

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“He found me. When I was all over the news for the OCIEM Project, he
sought me out. I didn’t even recognize him anymore. It pained me that he
was already a beat up, old man. While he was seated in my office, all I could
see was a life that was lived on alcohol and adultery. I saw the end product
of such a life and concluded I never wanted to be like him. He refused my
help because he felt he didn’t have a right to earn from me. He died six
months after that of diabetes.”
The reporter nodded thoughtfully. “Wow! He lived a pitiful life! I hope his
soul rests in peace.” She sighed.
“Amen!” Ezekiel bowed.

“One last question, how did you manage to secure the multimillion dollars
contract from OCIEM Worldwide?”
“Simple! The gifts and attitudes of man will always make a way for him. I
worked with integrity, and I did an excellent job. There isn’t much God will
do in a mundane life; a life that never makes growth intentional.”

“Awesome! Those are my questions for you, Mr Akinleye. Is there a word

you’d like to…, ”
“Of course.” He glanced at his wrist watch. “You don’t have to be born with
a silver spoon in your mouth to dream. Your present condition might want
to make you change your confession about what you have dreamt about,
but don’t let it. It is a trick! Forget the situation of the country or family you
are in or have being born into, you can and will be successful if you dream
and believe in that dream. Somebody will tell you that you shouldn’t dream,
that you should instead get up and work, but I’ll tell you, don’t work
without a dream. Dream and work it to reality.

“Also hold on squarely to your faith! Perhaps I wouldn’t have gotten to

where I am now if I did not hold on to my faith and did not dare to dream
from a very tender age of my life. It is strange, but whatever you see,
whatever you dream about, whatever makes you get up on your feet or
sleep late at night will make you a success in your own rights.

“But you must remember that this very process begins with dreaming.
Dare to dream.”

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The end.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abiola Okunsanya is an undergraduate of Accounting at the Federal
University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.
He published his first book titled HAUNTED last year and has more
than a hundred unpublished works. He has several of his poems, stories
and articles featured on blogs, magazines and his social media pages. He is
a dedicated writer and has given his life to human growth and
development. His heart yearns to reform the almost deranged society of
ours.

ABOUT THE BOOK

We grew up in an environment that discouraged us to dream. In this

inspiring novel, we see how the life of Ezekiel; a boy with ridiculously big
dreams play out into adulthood.
Ezekiel came across times when he wanted to give up, times when he felt
life deliberately wanted to snuff itself out of him, but he already had a
dream, and he was not about to let anything stop him. Will Ezekiel succeed
at the end? Let the book answer!

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For more information about the author, visit;

Instagram: @handzinspired
Facebook: Okunsanya Abiola Shalom
Email: okunsanyaabiola@gmail.com
Whatsaap: 08177471346

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