Chapter 13

All my life, I had never experienced love the way I did with Elizabeth. Even when it was impossible for us to see in person, she would write letters to me and hand them to my friends to give me whenever they see me. The time I spent with my friends was not always as nice as the ones with her, the conversations were always endless. Through Elizabeth's help I went to Surulere to take full control of the video club. I couldn't remove the sales girl because she had been working hard on the business and it would have been inhumane of me to remove her just like that.so we staying at the shop together to do business. It was tough for me considering the fact that I had to pay for transportation to and fro as well as feed myself everyday. My expenses were seriously affecting the business, coupled with the fact I was sharing profit with the sales girl.

I started having sleepless nights knowing that my business was on the edge of collapse due to my daily expenses. With all of these going on, Aunty Mary had not stopped putting pressure on me to get myself an accommodation or return to my grandmother in the village. I started thinking of leaving the house, not knowing where I would go. I had not been away from my family in my whole life. I didn't know the address to my other relatives's houses and moving back to the village was not an option for me. I decided to approach my friend Usman to beg him to allow me squat at his place pending the time I could afford to rent a room for myself. I didn't know how long it would take me to be able to save as much as I needed to rent a room but I was hopeful that somehow it was going to happen.

Thinking of moving to Usman's house was not going to be easy because he didn't have a place of his own. He lived with his family, his mum was late, so he lived with his Dad and stepmother. They live in a three bedroom apartment, he and his elder brother was shared one of the rooms. Usman and I had been friends since junior secondary school. We attended Dolphin high school together, we were also neighbours because we lived on the same street. He had lost his mum while he was in Secondary school and after some years his dad decided to remarry.

I spoke with Usman about how Aunty Mary was pressuring me to leave her house for reasons unknown to me. He asked me where I planned to move to if I left the house ,he then insisted we go ,beg my Aunty to forgive me of whatever wrong I may have done to her and allow me stay because I didn't have anywhere to go. Usman was nineteen years and Aunty Mary was in her sixties, so I wondered where he was going to find the courage to confront her and also convince her to let me remain in her house.

Sunday morning,the 24th day of September 2003,dawned bright and early. I woke up feeling all kinds of pressure.I had tossed and turned all night,thinking about my accommodation problems. I had made up my mind to leave the house and start a life of my own. Laying on the couch where I slept all night, I concluded it needed to be done that morning. Although, I was scared of how to survive without being under my Aunty's roof and protection. I had made up my mind,I said I short prayer of guidance to God before I got up from the couch to brush my teeth and take my bath. Aunty Mary had dressed up for church and on her way out, I heard her instructing the new boy to meet her in church with the house keys and throw me out if I wasn't going to church on that day. I felt really bad hearing that, and hardened myself even as the water from my shower mixed with my tears as I washed myself.

I got dressed and went to the kitchen to get a polythene bag , picked two of my newest shirts and two pairs of jean trousers and put them in the nylon bag. Before I was done picking up my belongings, the new boy was already waiting at the door for me so that he could leave for church with the keys. I stepped out of the house with tears in my eyes. I couldn't go straight to my friends because I didn't know what to tell them. I needed a place to be alone and put myself together, so I found myself a solitary place to be alone for some hours. While I was there I thought of how I wanted to continue to live my life without people knowing that I was homeless.

I made up my mind to try as best as I could to ensure that I didn't get into trouble to the extent that I would need the help of my family. Leaving Aunty Mary's house wasn't an easy decision for me but I was left with no choice but to begin to take my destiny in my hands. I felt unloved by my Aunty and her children, and even more so by my parents. After some hours of being alone, I kept my clothes where no one would notice then went to the streets to play with Usman and my other friends. I didn't go to the video club on that day because I needed time to figure out how I wanted to continue to survive without a home and guardians.

Evening came and other children were going back to their various homes but I didn't have a place to go, then I told Usman that I could no longer return home as usual. Usman was my only friend who was compassionate enough to understood that living with my cousins had been tough on me. The moment I started to explain to him about how I left the house, he asked me not to talk about it and that everything is going to be alright. He said he could always sneak me into their room with his dad not noticing that I was spending the night at his place. He said I shouldn't worry about his elder brother because he would explain to him. Even though Usman was my age mate, he seemed to be more matured than I was because he always had answers to all my questions.

I spent the first night at his place with both eyes opened. I had never spent a night away from my family, so even though I appreciated the help, I was still skeptical about the future ahead of me. How I was going to continue the business and still be able to further my education. It looked like it was going to be an enormous burden on me. I then decided to live one day at a time,and solve problems one after the other. I also thought that it would not be necessary to inform Elizabeth about my situation but I thought that if I did, then I would lose my reputation because she would had seen me as an homeless boyfriend and decided to end the relationship. So I made up my mind to keep it a secret between myself, Usman and his brother Lateef.

Mr Mohammed, my friend's dad wasn't going to accept a kid from down the street to live in his house without the consent of his parents. He was a strict person,he would have been mad to find out that I was under his roof, but Usman and his brother, Lateef, took the risk to allow me pass the night at their place until I could figure out what to do next. We had planned that I would leave as early as 5:30am daily so that their dad won't find out I was in his house. I had different thoughts flying through my mind then I finally fell asleep.