2 Kimberly Part Two.

"What wwhy?" she asked as much her ticks could allow.

"Because I am taking a risk by giving you water without receiving payment. If anything happens to you, I will be held responsible and you may even run away without paying. I am doing this because your aunt is my very good customer, where did she travel to? I heard she travelled to Libya, is that right?. I wish her best of luck" the manager at the factory had said.

Dawn had no choice, so she had purchased the bags of water at the price that left her very little profit in the end. The month ends and another month began but her uncle didn't talk about refunding the money he had borrowed yet Dawn knew that he had been paid. She summoned courage one night and asked but he shunned her and pretended to be sleeping.

It took Kim two more weeks to cover the loss caused by the bad debt, by then, she had learnt her lesson about debt and repayment. She took care not to count her money when her uncle was around and she tried as much as possible to hide it well in places that she thought he couldn't find it.

After three months of hard work, she had gathered enough money to start selling soft drinks on the highway, by then, it was few months away from her thirteenth birthday. She woke up very early as usual and began preparing for the day. The previous night, she had tucked the money away inside her wallet and hid the wallet inside her bag. Therefore, she did not bother to check that morning when she was leaving home. But when she got to the place where she wanted to buy the drinks, the money was gone!

She didn't want to believe that it was stolen so she opened the wallet, searched every nooks and crannies of it but the money was nowhere to be found. Somehow in the middle of the search, a part of her knew that the money had been stolen but she didn't want to believe it. That day, she just sat and watched beside the road as the other sellers ran past to sell their wares to the passing vehicles. She had to trek home in the evening because she had no money on her to take a bus.

By the time she got home by 10PM, her uncle was already on the bed, snoring loudly. She didn't eat that night and she went to bed, empty stomached and full of grief. Throughout all these troubles and trials, Kim thought about returning to the Smiths but she didn't want to look like an opportunist. She knew that they would take her back but she knew that her uncle's irresponsible behaviour was not enough reason for her to leave.

The following morning, she confronted him about the money but he denied ever taking her money. "May be you misplaced it before you got home yesterday" that was all he said. She knew that he was the one who took the money and he knew that she knew. She left home without saying goodbye to him and went to the pure water factory, this time; the manager did not receive her kindly.

"What exactly are you using money for?" he demanded when she begged him to give some bags to sell and that she would pay him back immediately she finished selling the water.

"My uncle…gbo…..stole my…..gbo….. money yesterday gbo, gbo gbo!"

She tried to explain again but she was nervous and her tics got in the way such that it took her a long time to express herself again.

The manager seemed to be lost in thought. Finally he said.

"Look here, I will help you. I will give you ten bags of water now at the usual price and I will give you money to buy ice blocks that you will use to ice them but in the evening when you come around, you will keep the money that you have made with me and I will help you to save it. If you need any amount of money from me, come to me and tell me what you want to use it for and I will give it to you. I think that will be better"

Kim had no choice than to agree with this plan. She took the water and began selling. Life returned to normal and she began saving her money again. Every night when she returns to the factory to deliver to the man, the man would show her how much she had saved with him.

"By the next couple of weeks, you should be ready to start selling soft drinks" the man told her encouragingly one evening. "I would have borrowed you the money but it is a bad business strategy to borrow money when you can raise the money yourself"

Kim said no problem that she would wait till she had raised enough money.

Her fifteenth birthday fell on the day Nigeria celebrates her independence. To celebrate the birthday for herself, she prepared a sumptuous breakfast and gave part of it to her uncle who devoured it and asked for more. Throughout that day, she was in high spirits and God made her sell that day more than any other day.

"How did you do it?" The manager asked later in the evening "Fifty bags of water in a day, it has never happened before!"

Kim was too happy to talk.

"With the sales that you made today, I think that you are ready to buy soft drinks after all." He said and gave her the money. She thanked him profusely and on her way home, she stopped at a depot and deposited the money for the drinks and told the woman attendant that she would come by the following day take them.

Molested.

The following day dawned bright and shining and she left home as early as possible and began the day's journey. Selling soft drinks proved more profitable and easier than selling satchel water. She made enough profit on a bottle of drink than she used to make on five satchel of water. By the time she got home that evening, she was already full of imagination of how much she would have at the end of the year and continuing her education in January of the new year.

She was fast asleep when her uncle came home that night. If she had been awake when he came in, she would have seen the lust and the greed in his drunken eyes but because of the stress of the day, she was asleep even before she hits the bed. Suddenly, she felt strong hands clamped tightly shut over her mouth and another pinned her down. She struggled violently but her uncle in his drunken state was way too strong for her. She cried for help but her voice only came out lower than she wanted, nevertheless, her neighbours could have hear her shout for help but no one came. Soon, he forced himself on her and despite her protests and pleas, he didn't stop. She kicked and bite him but he didn't let go of her until he was sated then he rolled of and fall soundly asleep.

She cried bitterly and few neighbours came into their room to inquire if anything was wrong. She wanted to curse them all but she was too drained.

Where were you all when he was molesting me, where were you all? Where were you when I was screaming, crying out for help? You pretended as if you did not hear but you did. She screamed at them and one after the other, they all went back to their rooms and bolted their doors.

Early the following day, she went to the nearest police station and reported the case. Immediately, two uniformed policemen were sent with her to arrest her uncle and they took him into custody. Kim spent greater part of the day in the station, writing her statement over and over again. By 3PM, she was finally released and told to come back the following day. By the time she got home, she couldn't go out again so she lay on bed and wept endlessly. Some neighbours came into the room to sympathize with her. The women among them brought food and water while the men told her what to say at the police station in order to make sure that her uncle did not go scot free. Some of them confessed that they had heard the noise but they didn't want to poke nose into other people's affairs. They apologized and promised to stand as witnesses if the police demands witnesses. Kim thanked them all and she was unable to sleep till 11PM when the last of them had gone.

Kim was able to resume her business four days after the unfortunate incidence. Though it was hard to forget, yet she decided to put the incidence behind her. The most painful part of the incidence was that everyone on the street seemed to have heard about it and behind her back, the people were laughing and snickering but in her presence, they treated her with exaggerated courtesy. It was this that made her cry every night. There was no one she could speak to and everyone pretended to understand how hurt she was but it later turned out that the ones who pretend the most are the ones who made gest of her the most.

Her business began to pick up after three weeks. She put all her energy and efforts behind the business in order to escape from the trauma of the incidence. Her uncle still remained locked up in cell but as days went back, his family members began to mount pressure on her to drop the charges against him. They begged, cajoled and later resorted to threats but she was adamant in her resolve.

A month after the incidence, she was summoned to the police station where her uncle was locked up. She was led into the DPO's small office where the DPO, her uncle and his family members were waiting for her. When she entered the office, she had a feeling that she was entering into a trap because they all looked conspiratorially at one another. She noticed that her uncle was no longer in cuffs and that he had shaven and worn new cloths. She was told to sit and she sit. She felt alone and lost among those strange people. The DPO began by advising her to drop all charges against her uncle and that it was the best that she could do. When she said no, he further told her that if she dropped the charges, her uncle's family was ready to give her a certain amount of money that she could use to do business or further her education if she chose. Kim thought a lot about this. She desperately needed moneys to go back to school and if she had to raise the money on her own, it may take years before she was able to raise it and then it might be too late. But now, the opportunity was presenting itself for her to realize her dreams.

"No, Uncle…gbo….has…gbo….made me a laughing stock…gbo….in the streets. Everywhere…gbo, I go, people…gbo….point accusing fingers at…me!" she said and broke down weeping silently.

The DPO spoke again.

"If you continue with this stubbornness, you will regret it. It is either you drop the charges now and let us release him and you will be given the money OR you let this case go to court. Now listen, if this case goes to court, you will lose because you have no money to hire any lawyer that will defend you, it is a lost cause and you might even be penalized for accusing him wrongly…"

"But he…gbo did it!" She shouted "As our neighbours. Gbo, they will tell you that he did it!" she said angrily.

"May I have the names of those neighbours that you are talking about?" the DPO asked and Kim gave the names of the neighbours who said that they were ready to be witnesses against her uncle. The DPO wrote down the names on a sheet of paper and gave the list to an inspector to bring those people to the police station. About forty minutes later, the people arrived and they were ushered into the DPO's office. They were four in number, two women and two men.

"Who among you saw Mr. Sayid rape her?" the DPO asked challengingly, angrily but no one spoke "You people should talk if you were there in the room when she was being raped, were you?"

They said no.

"If no, how come you are willing and ready to corroborate her lies against her uncle?" the DPO asked angrily.

"I heard the noise" One of the witnesses said, they called her mama Dada. "I was sleeping when I began to hear the screams. I left my room and when I got to the door of their room, it was locked from inside but I could hear the noises from within and the struggling. I banged at the door several times but no one came to open the door and I was there for almost ten minutes until she finally opened the door, crying. Her cloths were torn in several places" Mama Dada said boldly, looking at the DPO without flinching but the other witnesses shrank under the baleful stare of the DPO.

"Is that true?" the DPO directed the question at the other witnesses but the remaining three witnesses were suddenly dumb.

"You people should talk or why are you so quiet?" Mama Dada asked with agitation.

"Madam please keep quiet!" the DPO snapped at her. It is obvious ds that you are a liar and you just made this up, you will remain in our custody until you say the truth. Inspector, take her to cell 3"

Mama Dada was dragged away from the office amidst struggles and noises. When she was gone, the DPO turned his attention to the other three witnesses. "Is there anyone among you who saw anything?" he asked and they all shook their heads no. "Okay then, you may go back home. Inspector, please give them transport fare back home. Thank you all for helping the police and saying the truth" he said and the three witnesses left the office with their heads bowed in shame. The DPO turned his attention back to Kim where she was sitting shivering with rage and anger.

"Now, where were we?" he asked and smiled at her "Those are your witnesses, look at them. The police know liars when we see one and they are all nothing but liars. Once again, I advise you to drop this case and move on with your life" he said and signaled to a policeman that was standing nearby "Bring the envelope" he said and the policeman passed a bulky brown envelope to him. He opened it and peeped inside then he closed it and tossed it on the table in front of her. "That is a hundred thousand naira. It is enough for you to pack away from that house and rent a new house in a new street where if you are tired of being laughed at where you currently live. You can start schooling again with it and one day, you will graduate and forget all these unpleasant memories…."

A man was led into the office; this made the DPO to pause from what he was saying.

"Yes?" he asked the stranger.

"I am Mr. Daud; my wife has been detained here…"

"Are you the husband of that lousy and lying woman?" the DPO asked sternly.

"Yes sir, she is indeed lousy and a liar. Please, release her to me and I'll deal with her at home. I have a six month's old baby at home, this is why I am pleading fro her release, and otherwise, I would have forgotten her here"

The DPO thought for a while.

"Inspector, go and bring that woman" the DPO said and the inspector left. He returned moments later with Mama Dada, she looked defiant and unrepentant.

"If you all think that you could cheat this poor girl and go scot free you better think twice because laws of karma will catch up with you all…."

Her husband slapped her hard across the face, stopping her from what she was saying; this seemed to please the DPO. He nodded in approval "You have done the right thing sir. A sensible man must control his insensible wife" he said and laughed. Other people there laughed with him except Kim, mama Dada and her husband.

"Give the inspector five thousand naira, that's bail fee and let your wife sign an undertaken that henceforth she will not lie against Mr. Sayid any longer" the DPO said.

"But sir, I thought bail is free. I didn't come with any money because someone just rushed to my work place to inform me that my wife had been locked up…"

"Bail is free, is fuel in our vehicles free too?" the DPO asked scornfully "Inspector, return his wife to the cell and let her go when her husband pays the bail fee" he said and dismissed them but Mr. Sam spoke up quickly

"Don't worry about the bail fee Mr. Daud, you are good neighbours to us, I will pay the bail fee" he said. Mr. Daud was very grateful.

"You see, the person your wife accuses is the one paying her bail fee" the DPO said "How can such a good man do what your wife is saying he did?"

The man and his wife were led out of the office.

During the whole time, Kim had thought a lot about the offer and she had already made up her mind.

"So, back to you, what do you say?" The DPO asked impatiently.

"I will….gbo, drop all the charges against him but I don't need his blood money, God will judge him…gbo, gbo, gbo!!!" she said and stood up to go but she was told to sit while a form was brought to her to sign. She read the form with sadness and anger, knowing that by signing the form, she would be dropping all the charges against him. After signing, she left the station with a broken heart.

She cried till she got home and throughout the night. All her neighbours stayed away from her. Mama Dada made an effort to visit her but her handstand stopped her each time she tried, with kicks and punches until her face was swollen and her teeth broken.

Few days later, Kim resumed selling on the highway. She tried to put the past behind her and made up her mind not to dwell too much on the unfortunate incidence. Soon she began to accept the fact that that was the way God wanted it to be. She continued living in the house but her uncle had moved out a day after the police station incidence and since then she had not heard from him. He had not come himself, his elder sister had come and picked his things and she had left without exchanging a word with Kim. No goodbye, no forwarding addresses.

One bright Saturday morning, Kim was about to take her breakfast when she began to feel queasy. She thought it was just a normal morning sickness and that it would pass but it didn't until she vomited. After cleaning up, she felt a little better and decided as she left the house that she would go to the nearest pharmacy store to get some drugs. Throughout the day, she felt light headed and unusually hungry. She ate almost everything that she saw yet the hunger persisted.

At the pharmacy, she bought a few self-recommended drugs and began to take them. Her morning sickness however came on the third day again. This time, she was already on the highway, selling to the driver of a bus when she threw up. Part of the vomit escaped into the vehicle and the driver almost beat her for messing up his bus until she was rescued from him by the female passengers onboard and fellow hawkers, yet she was made to cle4an the mess.

Later in the evening of that day, she headed to the pharmacy to complain that the drugs that she had been given was not working.

"If you had met me when you first came, I wouldn't have sold those drugs to you but I cannot blame the attendant who sold them to you because that was what what you requested for. Self medication is bad, especially when one has little or no understanding of the drugs that one is using. However, this persistent morning sickness is a symptom of a particular disease that I don't pray that you have." The elderly owner of the pharmacy said. She was a retired nurse from one of government's hospital. A stethoscope hung around her fragile neck. "Here, pee inside this contain" the old woman gave her a small container and showed her an enclosed place where she could do that in private. She came back few minutes later with the container and gave it to the old woman who put it on the table and conducted a series of tests on her. She checked her eyelids, her heartbeats, her palms and ankles and she finally ran a test on her urine. The whole process took less than an hour. When she was done, removed her glasses slowly and wiped them.

"My daughter, how old are you?" she asked

"I am thirteen ma"

"And where is your mother?"

"She is no more"

"And your father too?" she asked and Kim shook her head "Well, I have worked for more than thirty five years as a nurse and I have treated more than a thousand pregnant women and the symptoms are always the same. Without doubt or hesitation, you are pregnant" She said and Kim broke down weeping, sitting on the floor.

When she finally left the pharmacy, after swearing and promising the old woman that she wouldn't do anything stupid, Kim felt suicidal. She had never felt more like killing herself than then. Alone, she was barely surviving, how could she care for another human being?

Two days later, she was able to get a daughter of a neighbour who was rumored win the house and on the streets to be a prostitute, her name was Favour and she was twenty five years old. In the past, Kim always shunned her and avoided her company but now, Favour was the only one that Kim knew could help her without telling anyone. That night, she had invited the lady into her room and locked the door from inside. When Kim told her what she wanted, Favour had feigned anger and ignorance.

"What made you think that I know where such things are done?" she asked aloud and Kim had to beg her to lower her voice because other neighbours may be hearing them. After much pleas however, she consented. "Well, I have never done it before you know, but I had a friend who did it then and I will ask her for the details and tell you everything as soon as possible"

Kim thanked her and they had parted way. The following day, the landlord came again and told Kim that the rent for the room had expired since the previous month and that she should pay up or start looking for another house. When she inquired how much the rent would cost, her heart sank because at that time, she couldn't afford it. By then, it was clear to her that her only salvation was to go back to the Smiths for assistance but before then, she had a little issue to take care of.

Favour came back four days later. By then, Kim was behind herself with worries and apprehensions because the pregnancy was already becoming noticeable. Her stomach was already growing and her ankles were getting swollen.

"I have gotten the number of the doctor, he will help you" Favour said immediately she came into the room. "But this must be a secret between me and you, okay? My parents must not know and more importantly, our nosy neighbours must not know"

"Nobody will know anything. So like how much will this cost?"

"The doctor said ten thousand naira" Favour said "but I was able to haggle the price till he agreed to collect seven thousand naira instead. He said the money must be completed before the operation began"

"How good is this doctor?" Kim asked. She had heard a lot about teenagers who had aborted pregnancies before and died due to poor medical attention. She didn't want to be on that list.

"He is good, he had helped me too one or two times in the past and he helped a friend of mine so many times that we both lost count" she said and laughed but Kim didn't find it funny. She found it disturbing.

"How could someone be so careless for so many times? Where is that friend of yours now, Aunt Favour, is she married and does her husband know what she had done?"

"She is dead now though"

"How, what killed her?" Kim asked, greatly concerned.

"Abortion-the last one. But hey, enough of these pasts, when will your money be ready so that you can get rid of this thing as soon as possible? It is already showing, you must get rid of it before it becomes too late."

REUNITED.

The following day at work, Kim was a shadow of her usual self. Her heart was beating madly and the thought of the baby growing inside her filled her with dread. What really scared her however was how to raise the money to terminate the pregnancy. Though her business now worth ten thousand naira, yet it may take days or weeks before she could be able to sell everything and raised the money. So she was filled with all these thoughts that afternoon when she absent mindedly walked into the middle of the busy road.

A car coming from the direction of Apapa at neck breaking speed was passing through the middle lane; it was in a hurry to cheat other vehicles and escape the hold up that was already building. Because the driver couldn't see far ahead, he didn't see Kim until the bus was on her and Kim too was too lost in her thoughts to notice the vehicle until it was too late. The bus hit her hard and rolled her on the floor. Suddenly, noise broke out as people ran to the place to rescue her. Among the babble of voices, several women could be heard, wailing.

Kim was rushed to the nearest hospital inside one of the sympathizer's car. At the hospital, the doctor and the nurses on duty quickly swing into action and began resuscitating her. One after the other, all the sympathizers left except one who stayed at the reception as the doctors worked on her at ICU. Some hours later when she was declared safe and wheeled into a ward for recuperation, the man was still there at the reception, pacing the floors to and fro. He was finally allowed to see Kim the following day. He was happy that she only sustained few injuries which was considered lucky.

"Are you her father sir? I must say that your daughter is very lucky indeed because she only sustained few injuries and the baby inside her is safe as well!" the lady doctor said, beaming at the man.

"I am not her father though I just happen to know her through a friend. All the same, thank you for saving her life and did you say she is pregnant?"

"Yes sir, she is" the doctor affirmed. "Though at her age, I consider that most inappropriate" the doctor said.

"I'm as baffled as you doctor but thank you all the same, I will settle the bill when I'm going" he said and the doctor exited the ward. He sat on a chair nearby and began to watch the sleeping Kim. Despite her age, deep lines were etched over her forehead and her visage was frowned even in sleep as if she was thinking in her sleep. After an hour, she stretched and yawned and woke up. The man remained seated on the chair while he allowed her to come to full consciousness.

"How are you?" he asked when her eyes finally rested questioningly on him.

"I am fine, who are you and where am I?" Kim asked, she made an effort to sit up on the bed but the IV that was hooked to her body became tangled so she decoded to lie back down.

"I am Adams, you may not remember me because it has been how many years now? Four years I guess because you were still around nine years old the last time we met. A lot of things had happened in between as well" he said.

"I am sorry, that name did not ring a bell" she said apologetically.

"No problem, perhaps you remember my good friend, Smith?"

"Mr. Smith?! Of course I remember him, how could I ever forget him?"

"Good. He was my golf partner, he still is but I'm afraid he may never play golf again" he said suddenly with sadness as if speaking to himself. Kim wanted to ask what he meant but he had quickly moved on with other things "You were involved in a vehicle accident today and it was just God that made me to be passing by so when it happened, I waited to offer help, not knowing who was injured but I was shocked when I found you in a pool of blood on the road. The bus driver ran in the middle of all the noise but we thank God that you are safe and sound"

"Thank you so much sir, may God reward you for your kindness abundantly" Kim said gratefully. "But you didn't use to come to the Smith's place when I was there because I knew most of the friends of the family. I knew the Isholas…"

"Ah, Ishola, that is our third man. Smith, Ishola and I are what we called aaro meta the three cook stones that will never let the soup pour away." He said with nostalgia and Kim could sense his unease.

"Sir, tell me about the Smiths, how are they now? Angela must be grown up now and beautiful too?" she asked wistfully.

"I'm afraid the Smiths are not so lucky right now…"

"What happened?" Kim asked, agitated.

"Well, about four years ago, the family lost its first son, Maxwell, did you know him? A very fine and promising young man"

"Yes, I was aware of that" Kim said.

"The following year, his sister too died…"

"Jesus Christ!" Kim shouted. "Why, how, how come?" she began to cry softly.

A nurse came in and shot Mr. Adam a baleful look.

"You shouldn't have told her anything that could complicate her issues" the nurse chided. "She has to rest now, please you may leave" the nurse said and sent him out of the ward. She came back to bed and adjusted the drip "You have to take it easy young lady; you are in no position for excitements and surprises. You need to rest now." She said as she exited the ward.

Tears rolled down Kim's cheeks as the door closed softly after the departing nurse. She remembered the last time she saw Rose, she had been going back to school after her brother's burial and before she left, she had told Kim and Angela to take care of Mrs. Smith and bring her out of her grief. Kim remembered how Angela and her had risen up to the challenge and how they have succeeded before she left them to start living with her aunt. She remembered how had treated her like a member of their family and how generous she was to her. Kim cried herself to sleep that morning. When she woke up, the sun was already setting and she was alone in the ward. The drip has finished so she sat up in bed and removed the syringe from her arm. She rubbed the place where the syringe had left a tiny mark.

She sat up in bed and began brooding about her life and how things were going from and to worse. She was still on this an hour later when Mr. Adam came in. he came with a bouquet of flowers and a card which he dropped on the table beside her bed. Kim thanked him and immediately he sat, Kim asked him what killed Rose, it was a question she had been meaning to ask when the nurse shooed him out the previous day.

"It was a genetic defect. When Rose's incidence happened, the autopsy showed that she had died from the same cause as like her elder brother- Maxwell. Medical practitioners said it was a genetic defect that had never been discovered before and that it was as a result of the incompatibility of the genes of both Smith and his wife and this backfires on their children" he said.

"So what about John and Angela, I hope they are safe?" Kim asked, alarmed.

For a very long time, he didn't say anything. His silence confirmed Kim's fears.

"Jesus!" She wept.

"Did you know that yesterday, we were coming from John's burial when I saw you?"

"John too?!" she shouted, unable to take it any longer. John was the third child of the Smiths; he was very calm and too brilliant for his age. Rose used to call him The Living Library. There was hardly a thing that he didn't know despite his young age. John had been the perfect and amiable teacher to Kim while she lived with them. He was the only who understood perfectly how her Tourette worked and how to ensure that she did not have to be over excited. John had been. If John was dead too, that leaves only Angela out of the four children.

"Yes, it is a very painful thing. We were coming from the cemetery when I saw you. His death had negative impacts in the family. Lola has been admitted at a psychiatrist institution since Rose died, her death really affected her mentally and she had to be checked into the institution. As I am speaking with you, she doesn't know yet that John too is gone."

"What about Mr. Smith, how is he holding on through all these?"

"He has been valiantly trying to bear the pain but no matter how prepared one is, the death of a loved one will leave a permanent mark. Since Rose' demise, he had been paying the best scientists in the world to ensure that John and Angela were saved but John's eventual demise last week made him give up and lose hope. He collapsed when he heard the news of John's demise and had been in coma since; the doctors said that he may not regain consciousness again"

When Kim was discharged later in the afternoon, at her insistence, Mr. Adam drove her to Mr. Smith's hospital. They were led into his private ward by a plump smartly dressed nurse. Angela was sitting beside his bed and holding his cold and lifeless hand in hers. She stood up when she saw Kim and ran to take her into an embrace. They both held each other and Kim cried very hard. Mr. Adam left the reward after he had checked on Mr. Smith on the bed. After a very long time, Kim and Angela pulled apart and surveyed each other. Angela looked haggard and forlorn. Kim's heart melt and she broke down into another round of racking sobs. She felt sad to see Angela whose contagious happiness could melt even the hardest heart, looking sad and if she had never smiled before.

Quickly, the two girls told each other what had happened within those four years that they were apart.

"Kim, I don't want to spend the rest of my days shedding a single tear anymore, I have done enough of that already when bro Maxwell passed on, when Sister Rose too passed on and recently when John too joined them. My only regret is that our parents have to see all these sadness. I cannot imagine a greater sorrow than this. No pain is comparable to a mother's or a father's whose child dies"

They both took a stroll in the evening through the big garden at the back of the hospital. They pause when they got to an artificial fountain. They watched as water rose and fell in the fountain.

"Did you know that dad owns this hospital?" Angela asked suddenly.

"Really?" Kim asked, wondering why she had told her that.

"Yes. Apart from this, he has three more hospitals and many companies and industries that are almost countless. Yet, he gives to the less privileged a lot. Sometimes I wonder why God will not consider all his goodness and spare his children, his happiness" There was a sorrowful note in her voice that made tears swell up in Kim's eyes again. "But whenever I think about this, I always also think that God's ways are different from ours. He must have a plan that is not clear to anyone but God shouldn't have given our parents children instead of plucking us away from them like this"

Later in the evening, they both went home to sleep. The big mansion looked forlorn and empty without the happy voices and noises that had once filled its walls. The cook, the gateman and other workers in the family looked somber and sorrowful. Kim walked through the room, remembering how she and Angel used to run through the house, playing hide and seek. That was four years before but it looked like eternity.

They had a quiet supper that night with Mr. Smith's secretary who came to ask Angela's opinions about urgent decisions that needed to be made in all the companies and industries that Mr. Smith owned. Kim watched with undisguised fascination as Angela listened to the secretary and read carefully through the documents that he presented her to her to sign. All these took almost two hours, when they were done, the secretary left and it remained only Kim and Angela.

"You were so impressive" Kim said "And so matured"

"Dad could have done it better. He understands the situations and circumstances better than I could ever do. I can only try but thanks for the complement. Anyone could do it though. The day that dad wen into coma, the secretary had stood beside his bed, hoping that he would be able to sign the documents. I was mad at him at first when he explained the import of the documents to me, I fully understood the reason why they shouldn't be delayed. Thousands of people are working in dad's different companies and establishments. These people have families and their families have different needs. A family may urgently need a loan to pay a hospital bill for a surgery or to pay a school fees and so on. If I refuse to sign these documents because of my own grief over my family then I would be robbing another family of its happiness, I may be sending some children off to bed at night because I have refused to sign a document that will release the money that their parents need very badly to take care of them."

"Hmm, you are so right. If all the privileged people in our society think this way, this world would be a better place".

Kim and Angela were woken up early the following day that Mr. Smith had regained consciousness. This was very good news in the middle of all the sadness and gloom. They'd both planned to visit Mrs. Smith at the psychiatrist hospital that day but Mr. Smith regaining consciousness meant that they had to always be by his bedside henceforth and help out his recuperation process.

They met the doctor in charge of the hospital in the ward.

"He came to this morning" he told them as they walked in.

"Thank God!" they said as they neared the bed to peer at the sleeping Mr. Smith.

"But the shock had paralyzed the right side of his body. He may be confined to the wheelchair for the rest of his life"

This was a very deep shock to both Kim and Angel; this piece of news broke their hearts beyond imagination.

"But doctor, isn't there anything you can do to avoid this?" Angela asked "Money is not an issue, all I want is to see daddy walking and happy again"

"Miss Angela, you should trust me that if this has a solution, I would have done it without even letting you know but it doesn't. A part of his brain had shut down and this affects a whole side of his body."

Angela thought long and hard about this. Being the decision maker for her family, she was now quick in identifying problems and providing solutions.

"Apart from not being able to walk, hope there is no other side effect?"

"It depends. The brain is a very complex part of the human body and each brain is unique in its operation. Until he gets well, we may not be able to say specifically what else this partial neurological shut down will cause" the doctor said gently. "In order for him to get better faster, you both have to always be near him and make him happiness. Happiness is free though it may be hard to get" the doctor said and he gathered up the charts by the bedside and put them in a file. "He is sleeping now but when he wakes up, I want you to be the first person he sees, so take care not to go anywhere till he wakes. Also, remember that the last thing he knew before he went into coma was the news of your brother's death, so it might be very hard for him to bear when he wakes up. Good luck" he said and exited the ward.

Kim and Angela both took seats and sat beside his bed, gazing at huis sleeping features.

While they were waiting for him to wake up, they discussed a lot of things, especially about the fetus growing inside Kim's body.

"Kim, what does it feel like to be pregnant?" Angela when they began to discuss again how Kim had planned to abort the pregnancy and how Angela had talked her out of it when they met again. "I may never experience it with this genetic problem" she said with a sad smile.

"It feels a lot different. For me, I feel powerful- like a god who can create because I am making another human being. Besides, it feels sometimes both exhilarating and annoying. You feel nauseous, dizzy at times, hungry and emotional. There are lots o other feelings, indescribable feelings. And then there's a fear of the delivery day, the pains that you will most likely pass through before you give birth to the child. For married women with loving husband, pregnancy can be sweet because he will shower you with love, care and attention but for people like me who got pregnant out of wedlock, you are at the mercy of scorn and criticism and ridicule. It is harder in the ghetto where I was living before but here, it is a little bit bearable because I don't see much people the ones I meet are educated enough to mind their own businesses"

"Speaking about education, what is your plan?"

"Everything I do every day is centered on going back to school. It doesn't matter the number of setbacks that I have had, I am still going back to school and one day when I finally graduate at the top of the class, i would be proud to tell the world what I have been through."

"Wow, that is so awesome." Angela said admiringly. "Kim, I have a request, now that your aunt is no longer in the country and your uncle had treated you badly, don't' you think you should be part of us? Look at the way God brought you back into this family in the first place and now"

"I'd very much loved to. I wished that all these things did not happen to your family. Your family is one of the best in the world. But whatever happens to us, we must give thanks like you rightly said. Now, how does it feel, this genetic disorder?"

"Awful. Before John passed on, in his last days, he said that he felt as if his body belonged to someone else and he lived so much on drugs to dull the pains. I can already feel the pains gathering in my own body and I knew I don't have so much time left…"

"Don't talk like that…."

Mr. Smith stirred from the bed and opened his eyes; they both stopped their discussion and stood up with smiles at him.

"Dad, are you alright?" Angela asked excitedly. "Can you imagine who you have here, it's Kim!"

Mr. Smith's eyes rested on Kim and there was a spark of recognition in his eyeballs. He face creased into a smile and he smiled, showing his teeth but he smile suddenly froze on his face.

"Where is John, he is gone too, right?" he asked, his voice came out raspy and in a whisper. Both Kim and Angela held his hand as he sobbed endlessly.

Later in the evening when he had calmed, Kim told him everything she'd been through. He listened without interruption at all she said and when she was through, he didn't say a word. He kept gazing at a spot on the wall. Kim and Angela excused themselves from the ward as the doctor came in. for the rest of the night, both Kim and Angela sat at his bedside, reading some passages from his favourite books and singing him songs until he finally drifted into a deep sleep; that was when they left the hospital and went home.

Mr. Smith was in a lighter mood the next day when they arrived at his ward. A nurse was feeding him his breakfast. Angela relieved the nurse and began to feed him. They were all chatting happily in the meantime. At his request, a wheelchair was brought for him to sit on because he insisted that he wanted to take a stroll. Angela and Kim pushed his wheelchair out of the ward out into the early morning sun. They moved slowly through the garden, observing the beauty of nature in silence.

Kim gazed up longingly at a school of white clouds that were chasing one another in the blue sky and others eyes were drawn to the same spectacle.

"Wow, this is something you don't see every day" Mr. Smith said sagely. "It is so funny that while we humans die and perish here on earth, the nature continues its beautiful existence, oblivious of our pains and sorrows"

"That is very true. But isn't it right that our loved ones never die, that they are part of all the nature around us? They are in the air that we breathe? The water we drink? The trees and flowers that provide our foods?" Kim said. "I read that part in a book but I cannot remember exactly which one."

"Whoever wrote that is indeed blessed. That makes all my pains bearable. Thinking that my children are part of the air I breathe and water I drink makes their loss a lot more bearable." Mr. Smith said. I want that saying engraved in all the rooms in the house before I am discharged"

"I'll see to it dad" Angela said, quickly taking note inside a jotter that she carried in her backpack. "How long does the doctor say that you are staying dad?"

"He said a week, after that, I will be able to go"

"That's good to hear" Kim said "You should go on a vacation for a couple of months sir"

"I can't, my businesses will suffer" he said immediately.

"No they won't. dad, you have been out for the past one week, we thought we'd lost you but God brought you back. Within that time, there were considerable improvements in all your businesses, at least your secretary comes in every evening to brief me as he would come today but I won't allow him to see you. You need a vacation like she rightly said. Take a sea trip to any part of the world and by the time you come back, you'd be refreshed and strong again. Remember, a dead man will not know anything about a business" Angela said but her dad said nothing again after that. The rest of the stroll was in silence.

At noon, the girls visited the psychiatrist hospital in Yaba where Mrs. Lola was admitted. The hospital was located on a large piece of land and it was walled round by tall imposing fence with barbed wires. There were many blocks of living quarters within it and the garden was filled with sweet smelling and rare species of flowers. They were made to fill a form and sign at the beautiful reception where beautiful landscape pictures hung on the walls. A nurse in an immaculate crisp white scrub came in and led them to the private suite where Mrs. Smith was admitted and all through the way, large canvas of nature pictures adorned the walls. The suite had its own living room, two bedrooms and toilets. A nurse stayed in the suite with Mrs. Smith twenty four hours to keep an eye on her and to record her recovery progress. On the day Kim and Angela visited, Mrs. Smith and the nurse were playing scrabble in the living room. A song was playing softly in the background. The song brought tears to Angela's eyes as they waited for the suite's door to be opened.

"Any problem?" Kim asked

"No, it 's just the song coming from the suite, don't you remember it, Kim?"

Kim listened attentively but she couldn't remember if she had heard the song before or not.

"Is there anything special about it, I can't feel…."

"Do you remember one day when Maxwell was celebrating his birthday, before he travelled to the US? You remember that he was playing a song in his room and increased the volume till the whole house was shaking from its foundation…."

"Yes, yes, wait….this is the song!" Kim exclaimed, putting her hand on her mouth to suppress her shouting.

"Remember that day that all of us were singing and running through the house because he kept the song on repeat, remember?"

"How could I forget? I remember the neighbours ringing the doorbell and telling us to put down the volume and how we have all insulted them…."

"Yes, though we all apologized to all the neighbours on our street the following day" Angela said nostalgically.

The door was opened by the nurse and she led them into the living room where Mrs. Smith was waiting on the couch. She jumped up from the couch excitedly when she sighted Kim and took her into an affectionate embrace.

"I thought I'd never set my eyes on you again, where have you been and why did you leave us for so long, don't you miss us?"

"I missed everyone, it is long story and I'll tell you. Kim said, still locked in the embrace"

The nurse served them fruit juice and excused herself to give them privacy. They exchanged pleasantries but no one mentioned John's demise. Later in the evening, the girls took their leave after giving Mrs. Smith the gifts that they'd bought for her. They stopped at the Doctor's office to hear the report about her progress.

"Your mother is progressing fine. She is getting better." He said.

"But she seemed fine to me! Maybe there's no need to get her admitted here in the first place" Kim said

"She needs special care and attention. Many people are psychiatrist patients without even knowing it. In our country, we think everyone who goes to a psychiatrist hospital is insane or mad but that is a wrong perspective of things; everyone needs to do a regular psychiatrist checkup. Why do some people get extremely mad at other people at the slightest provocation? It is because their brains have been carrying too much load and they are so pent up to the extent that a slightest touch can trigger an explosion. As for your mother, you have not been here at those times when she has fits of mental disorder; your opinion would have been a lot different"

"Oh" Kim said dejectedly.

"However, your mother's mental breakdown took a positive dimension. Did you perhaps notice those beautiful pictures on the walls?"

"They are everywhere such that it is impossible to miss them" Angela said.

"Those are your mother's works…"

"Jesus!" Kim and Angela chorused. "How come, mum never drew anything in her life?!" Angela said.

"Yes. The brain is a dynamic organ; it does mysterious things especially when affected by shocks."

"Since when did this start, it definitely not there when I visited last, otherwise I would have seen it?"

"It started last week. Did you take time to look at the pictures very well?"

The girls shook their heads.

"You should, it may explain a lot to you" the doctor said.

Kim and Angela exited the doctor's office and walked through the reception and corridors, looking in amazement at the canvass that were hung on the walls. The pictures all depicted different landscapes and natural elements in their beauty and in the middle of each picture, there was a child.

"Jesus, can you see this, look at this picture right here, it is Maxwell when he was younger!" Angela pointed at a large canvass showing a snow capped mountain that was reaching for the cloudless blue sky. The child was standing on top of the mountain.

"Yes, I see!"

"And look here, that is Rose in that field of daffodils with petals tucked into her hairs…mum is drawing each child she had lost in each picture!"

They left the hospital an hour later after taking one of the pictures with them.

"Dad will not believe this" Angela said as the driver carefully put the canvass in the booth of the jeep.

Mr. Smith was discharged the following week. Kim and Angela organized a small surprised party to welcome him back home. His friends and business associates were invited to the party. Though he was now permanently on wheelchair, yet the presence of all the faces that he had known for years cheered him greatly and by the time the last visitor left, Mr. Smith was brimming with joy and happiness. Both girls were happy to see him smile again.

Later when he had been tucked into bed by the nurse the hospital provided, both Kim and Angela stood by his bed and read him a story, he fell soundly asleep a couple of minutes after they started the reading. The two girls kissed him on the cheeks and went to their bedrooms.

Mr. Smith took the sea trip the following week and he came back a month later after sailing in a cruise ship round the world. He came back with souvenirs from each country where the ship docked. He looked fresh and agile again despite the fact that he was on wheelchair.

Kim's pregnancy by the end of her second month at the Smiths' residence had considerably grown and it became very obvious. Mr. Smith had called in the family obstetrician whom he said had delivered all his children because she was the best in the country. "She is so good that she sees a problem before even the problem surfaces" he had said and she had been registered in the family's clinic and she attended the maternity section regularly. Her vital signs were taken and the doctors were positive that she may not have complications during delivery.

"Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables then work out frequently, these things are very important for the growth of the baby in you and your health as well. If you notice any strange signs in your body, call the clinic's hotline immediately, understood?" the doctor had asked her and she had nodded reluctantly.

Though she was just fourteen years old, yet, she had begun to dislike the way people treated her like a child. She was now a woman if the truth must be told and she was passing through the highest stage of womanhood, how then could she still be treated like a child?

As Kim's day of delivery neared, Angela's health deteriorated rapidly. It all started with a cough that developed into tuberculosis and before twenty four hours, she couldn't respire on her own, so she had to be put on the respiratory machine. At times when Kim had to attend maternity sessions, Mr. Smith would sit alone beside Angela's bed and read her stories though she was unconscious most of the time. Whenever she was free, Kim would join Mr. Smith at Angela's beside and both of them would be keeping a watch over the unconscious Angela, saying nothing to each and lost in their individual's thoughts.

Mr. Smith

December 12 1997

Kim was told by the doctors that she would deliver in August. As the delivery day neared, she became worried about Angela. For weeks, she had been unconscious and living on machines to feed her and pass her excretion.

At times when she was not keeping watch over the unconscious Angela, Kim would visit Mrs. Smith. On some occasions when Mr. Smith was strong enough, he would join her and both of them paid her a visit. Like the doctors said, she was getting better gradually and the doctors were hopeful that soon enough, she would be discharged.

One bright Tuesdays morning in August, Kim and Mr. Smith were at home, preparing to visit the hospital to see Angela when she suddenly cried out in pain. The cook quickly held her before she could fall and took her to a seat. At the time, Mr. Smith was in his room so he had to be wheeled into the living room. After examining Kim, he declared that her water had broken and neared delivery. The family doctor was called and few minutes later, an ambulance arrived to take her to the hospital.

Immediately thy arrived at the hospital, three nurses wheeled her into the delivery room. She was told to push several times and she did. After about two hours without any success, the doctor began to fear that it could lead to cesarean section.

"Must it really come to that?" Mr. Smith asked when the doctor briefed him and told him that it might be the only solution to save the mother and the child. He signed the forms for the operation and the doctor sped away to prepare her for operation.

Later that night as Mr. Smith sat beside Angela's bed, gazing at her sleeping face, he began to wonder if he was about to lose both Kim and Angela at the same time because since the operation began at noon, he had not gotten a report of its progress. He had tried unsuccessfully to get the doctor but each time he tried, he was told that the doctor was still in the operating room; even the nurses he saw were mute and kept long faces. He was still brooding on this unpleasant outcomes when the doctor himself came in. the doctor took a seat beside him. From the way he looked, it was obvious that he just left the operating room.

"How was it doc?" he asked fearfully.

"It was a bouncing baby girl, congratulations sir" the doctor smiled.

"Thank you so much, so how is the mother?"

"She is off the danger now but she has to be under intensive care for the next couple of days. There were lots of complications. We made the right decision by conducting a CS on her; otherwise, we could have lost her. She is too young to deliver the baby herself."

"thank you doc, I can't bear losing my two daughters at the same time" he said with a heavy heart. "Any progress on Angela?"

"Like I told you yesterday sir, we are rapidly losing her. However, the pains have been subdued by pain relievers. The end is unavoidable and when it comes, it will be swift. However, I want you to be here, let yours be the last face she sees when it happens because it is not always easy"

Mr. Smith nodded in understanding.

"When do you think that will be?"

"I cannot say but whenever it is, it won't be far…"

"would you advise me to consider euthanasia for her, because of the pains that she must be passing through?"

"No, like I said, she has been given enough pain relievers to take away most of the pains, there's no need for that"

After their discussion, the doctor took his leave and Mr. Smith's secretary came in to give the daily reports.

Two days after delivery, Kim was pronounced okay by the doctor and was discharged. She came to Angela's ward where she met Mr. Smith with puffy eyes. It was evident that he had not slept for a long time. She sat beside him and passed him the squalling baby. He began to play with the baby while Kim stared at Angela's sleeping figure on the bed.

Suddenly, Angela coughed from the bed and both of them sprang up, Kim rushed out to call the doctor. They came in moments later. The doctor examined her and later left after making sure that nothing was wrong. Both Kim and Mr. Smith were too excited to hide their happiness. Though Angela was too weak to move, yet she smiled back at them.

"When did she come?" she asked Kim, pointing at the baby in Mr. Smith's arms.

"Two days ago' Kim said.

"Have you made up your mind about the name yet?"

"Sure, she is Angela" Kim said without hesitation and they all smiled.

"Angela" Mr. Smith said into the baby's ears.

After five minutes of chit chats, Angela vital signs began to worsen and the doctor was called in again. They were shooed out while the doctor and the nurses attended to her.

Mr. Smith and Kim remained in the reception despite the doctor's advice that they took a break, especially Kim. They were both /silently pacing the length and breadth of the big reception twenty minutes later. Both of them gathered on him immediately. The doctor shook his and its meaning struck them both very hard. No word could have said better. That simple gesture meant only one thing; that Angela too was gone.

The burial took place the following day at the private cemetery that Mr. Smith had originally bought for himself and his wife when they grow old and pass on many years ago before even Angela was born. The burial was a private affair. Apart from a few friends and families and the priest, no one was there save the Smiths and Kim.

Kim's baby was christened Angela on the eight day of her birth. Though Mrs. Smith was unable to be there yet she sent her well wishes and promised to pay them a visit as soon as possible. The baby became the center of attraction in the house. She was seldom out of Mr. Smith and Kim's sight, even the workers in the house always took turns in carrying her. Whenever Mr. Smith carried her, she would grasp his hand in her little wrist and begin to suck his fingers to the latter's amusement and joy. Little Angela as she was fondly called by everyone seldom cried and this endeared her greatly to everyone and her smiles and laughter were so contagious that it was impossible to resist and she grew so fast that at three months, she was crawling.

One Tuesday morning, Kim and Mr. Smith visited Mrs. Smith at the psychiatrist hospital. That was Kim's first visit to the place since she gave birth to Angela. Mrs. Smith's joy knew no bounds when she sighted them and she was instantly drawn to Little Angela.

"What a beauty!" she said as she scooped Angela up in her arms. The baby reached out pulled her hair "and she is so strong!" she said and laughed. The visitors stayed long into the night before they left the hospital that day because Mrs. Smith insisted that she wanted to draw the baby's picture before they departed so they had all waited and watched as she sketched the picture of the baby who was crawling through the room and scattering everything in her path with full concentration. When she was finally done, both Kim and Mr. Smith were unable to hold back their amazement.

"You got it so perfectly! Even a camera will not do a better job, I have married a genius!" he said and took his wife into an embrace, as much as the wheelchair would allow.

"So you are just knowing that I am a genius, this man?" she teased.

"Well, men are most times blind and I must have been the greatest of them all for not knowing what a prodigy you are until now. Baby, we can make money out of this" he said excitedly.

"You have come again" she said with feigned disinterest. "You can even make money from a dog's poo"

"I am serious. Just hear me out. We will start selling your paintings and they will fetch you handsome prices. You could be the Da Vinci of our time!"

"Young man, are my drawings that spectacular?" she asked in self-mockery.

"Of course a, he is right" Kim chipped in excitedly "I have never seen a better artist"

"You both are going to make my head swell but okay, I have heard you, maybe I will do it when I am out of here. I can't wait to be out"

Before they left the hospital, the doctor briefed Mr. Smith about his wife's progress. He said in a couple of weeks from then, she should be fit enough to go back home but gave strict warning that she must not be too stressed or be too excited about anything which may trigger her psychological misbehavior.

True to the doctor's word, Mrs. Smith was discharged two weeks later. Some friends and families were invited over for dinner and too welcome her back home. Life began afresh for Kim and the Smiths.

Few months after her arrival back home, Mrs. Smith was already her old cheerful self. She had resumed going to her supermarket and Mr. Smith too, despite being on wheelchair had begun work too so most times; Kim was alone at home with the baby Angela and the workers in the house.

One Saturday morning while they were having a breakfast, Mr. Smith broached the subject of Kim's going back to school.

"Nothing is comparable to true education" he said "You should put the past behind you and start thinking of going back to school. Thank God, Little Angela is a highly spirited child that can stay for hours without making a noise, she is really a gift and a blessing to you and this family so she cannot be your excuse not to work on yourself"

"That is right, Kim, you have to go back to school…."

"But where will I start from after almost six years that I have not stepped into a classroom, my mates are already graduating from the University, yet I will have to go back to secondary…"

"That is a very wrong way of thinking about this. Education is not limited by age. Besides, we all have been destined to achieve different things at different times in this life. You may not know it but what if all those things had not happened to delay you from furthering your education and you had actually gained admission into a University but something bad happens to you?" he asked rhetorically "If it is because of Little Angela, my dear will help with that. "She can take her to her supermarket and drop her off at the crèche before heading to the supermarket and in the evening when she comes back, she would pick her up and bring her back home. It is as simple as that. Think about what we have said. Remember what you told me when we first met, you said you want to become a lawyer, to prosecute law offenders, remember? What happened to that dream?"

Kim hung her head.

"Have you given up and accepted defeat? Where is the fire, the passion and the determination that was in your eyes when I first saw you, have you quenched them…."

"No!" She shouted, touched by what Mr. Smith had said.

"Good, I want that Kim back. I want the Kim who believed that nothing is impossible and who has the vision to be the greatest woman the world had ever seen. Convert all your past failures, pains and hurts into a determination so strong that it can stare death in face!"

Excused herself from the table and took a stroll in the garden, thinking about what she had just been told. After twenty minutes, she returned into the house but the breakfast was over and Mr. and Mrs. Smith had left the dining room, Mr. Smith was sitting on the chair beside the bed while Mrs. Smith was sitting on the bed, supervising her maid as the latter was rearranging her wardrobe.. She found them in Mrs. Smith room, both of them talking about their Christmas trip to the Bahamas. She sat on the bed beside Mrs. Smith and rested her head on her shoulder.

"I wonder what you are doing with all these clothes and shoes, they all look the same to me" Mr. Smith in despair.

"They look the same to you because men are colour blind."

"What is this difference between these two suits?" he said and pointed at two grey suits that the maid was about to put back into the wardrobe.

"There is!" Mrs. Smith said with exaggerated impatience. "First, they are not made by the same designers and apart from that, this is grey while that one is ash, they are also cut different too, see" she said and tried to show him the difference but he was still not convinced "Gracious God, I thought I had married a genius" she said and turned to Kim "Per chance you know a judge that can separate me and my husband, I need a new husband" she said and everybody laughed. "By the way Kim, you looked distress at the table. I blame Smith for that. He shouldn't have spoken to you like that, he should have let you make your choice but he thought he was in one of his executive meetings so he piled it up on you. You have to understand that if you don't want to go to school, you are still our loving daughter but we just want you to be fulfilled. Soon enough, you will start meeting people of high caliber and the first thing most of them will notice is the level of your education because education is what differentiates men- and women too. I wonder why everything in this life is about men" she said and rolled her eyes at her husband.

Kim smiled.

"I have decided to go back school"

"That is a good news but like I said you don't have to…."

"I want to" Kim said firmly "He is right, if I don't do it now, I may never have the opportunity to do it."

"So are you still pursuing the dream of becoming a lawyer?" Mr. Smith asked with smiles, he was happy that Kim had finally seen the reason why she should go to school.

"Not anymore, I have a better plan now"

"And that is?" Mr. and Mrs. Smiths asked simultaneously.

"I want to become a doctor. There are many sicknesses and diseases that medicine had not been able to understand or cure. The world needs a super human to provide solutions to these problems and that will be me!"

Though she did not say more than that, yet the three of them perfectly understood what she meant. Two ripe tears stood at the corners of Mr. Smith's eyes and he flicked them away. Mrs. Smith pressed her lips together to suppress a sob that wanted to escape her throat. The maid excused herself as the three of them clung together and cried.

"It's okay Kim, we will be there with you every step of the way until our last breath" Mrs. Smith swore solemnly.

HIGH AND DRY.

August 1999.

Two years after giving birth to Angela, Kim had resumed school and had written her O level exams. Those two years had been the most memorable years of her life as she had to combine being a student with being a mother. Angela had grown rapidly within the two years and she was already in Nursery 1, doing what was meant for a five year old child. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had devoted their free times (and they had enough free times) to Angela's upbringing such that when Angela said her first word, she called Mrs. Smith "momma" and Mr. Smith "dada". Both of them had been so excited at this that they'd bought her toys such that her nursery was filled to the brim with them. This attention that they paid to Angela had allowed Kim to focus on her education wholeheartedly and this had earned her academic excellence. Meanwhile, Angela had always been referring to Kim simply as "Kim"

One Saturday morning, the family was at the reception for the wedding ceremony of the Isholas' eldest child- Kelvin. Kelvin had been Maxwell's age mate when the latter was alive and they had been good friends as well. The wedding had been so wonderful and the Smiths were immensely enjoying every minute of it. In order to prevent uninvited guests from gatecrashing, the couple had hired the service of a para military group but a beggar woman had managed to get into the hall past the watchful eyes of the security men at the door. Kim was sitting alone at their table at the time because Mr. and Mrs. Smith had gone to dance with the newly wedded couple and Angela had followed them so she was alone when all these began.

Kim saw her her sneak into the auditorium but she had decided not to talk because she knew that the beggar was only finding something to eat and probably give to her children at home. The beggar woman moved from table to table, begging the guests for money but most of them looked at revulsion at her. When she got to Kim's table, Kim was already holding five new one thousand naira notes that she wanted to give her. She knew the money was not enough but it would go a long way to feed the woman and her family.

"Take ma" Kim said, extending the money to the woman but the woman was staring at her instead of collecting the money. Kim thought the woman thought the money was not enough so she took more from her wallet and extended the money to her again but the woman broke down weeping instead of collecting the money from her. The woman's cry drew the attention of the people from the other table and of course the security guards. Soon, she was caught by the guards and they began to drag her away, out of the hall. As they were dragging her away, she kept shouting Kim's name "Kim, don't let them take me away, it's I, your aunt!"

Kim sprang up quickly and ran after the guards that were holding her but before she got them, they were already outside the hall and they had carelessly dumped her on the floo where she remained howling and lamenting. Kim bent over her, not believing that it was her aunt but her fears were confirmed with each passing moment.

"Aunt Lola?" she asked unbelievably.

"Yes, it is I, see my life!" she cried "See how life had treated me!"

"What happened, I thought you were in Europe?"

"I wanted to go there but I never reached there!" she lamented. She wanted to begin telling her what had happened when Angela, Mr. and Mrs. Smith came out of the hall. They looked worried.

"Kim what's wrong, when we got back to our seat, we couldn't find you but we were told that you ran out, who is this woman?" Mr. Smith asked."She is my aunt" Kim said and broke down weeping. It took the Smith's a long time to calm her.

"Your aunt, the one that travelled abroad?" Mrs. Smith asked unbelievably, looking at the poor woman on the floor.

"It is I, had I known I wouldn't have gone o" her aunt said and busted into fresh tears.

Aunt Lola was given the Smiths' address and she was told to pay them a visit as soon as possible before they departed from the party that day. Throughout the drive home, Kim was unable to stop crying at the sorry state that her aunt's life had taken.

Aunt Lola came one Wednesday evening. Kim and the Smiths were having their dinner when she arrived so a plate was set up for her. After the meal, Little Angela was whisked away by the servants in the house while Kim, Mr. and Mrs. Smith listened to Aunt Lola recounting her story.

"When we left Nigeria, we were smuggled into Libya. Our original plan was to stay in Libya for some weeks then travel over the ocean to Europe through a cargo ship that would pass and we would pay some amount of money for our passage. But when we got to Libya, we were robbed of all our possessions so it was impossible to travel at the stipulated time. We had to start working to raise the money for the passage. It was hard over there to see any paying job apart from prostitution for a woman. Even a man will find it more difficult to secure any type of job because after the death of their one time leader, Gadhafi, the country had degenerated into anarchy so nothing was working.

At first, I was concerned with how to raise money to travel out of that country but as time goes on, I was faced with a bigger problem; how to feed myself and my daughter. By then, we were practically sleeping on the streets. In the end, I gave in to doing the only available job; prostitution instead of starving to death. So I was connected to a brothel by the agent who helped us process our papers in Nigeria. The job was the worst form you can ever imagine and the pay was so small that it could barely pay for a meal, yet the owners of the brothel must take seventy percent of the pay. Life was really hellish. I did this for years, barely able to feed my daughter and myself.

Two years after we've arrived at the place, I was desperate to leave the country; even Nigeria seemed like a paradise then. In my desperation, I met a Nigerian who offered to get us back to Nigeria free but the shame of facing the people I left behind made me decline the offer. They all thought I have travelled to Europe and the mockery would be endless if I went back home with barely a cloth on my back. As if that was not enough, my daughter's health began to fail as a result f malnutrition. I was helpless in helping her. I couldn't take her to any hospital because I couldn't afford the bill so I watched her health deteriorated and she died few months later. After her death, I lost hope in everything because she was the reason why I was doing everything in the first place. I began to think of leaving Libya at all cost.

I was not the only Nigerian in that place being used for those inhuman jobs and many people have died gruesome deaths because we were treated like animals so after three years, the Nigerian government knew about this and stopped in to rescue us. All the brothels and hotels in Libya were ransacked and the Nigerians who were there and willing to return to the country were brought back by the Nigerian government. I came back home about two years ago, homeless and childless. I went there with my daughter and enough money but I came back home high and dry" she said miserably. "When I got back to the house where were living Kim, I was told that both you and my husband had left and I heard some rumours that he raped you and so on like that. Someone else was living in our room already and I couldn't find my husband.

I left the place with shame, knowing that if I had not left Nigeria in the first place, I would have a lot more financially okay. Then it dawned on me that I have not been fair to you. Maybe everything I passed through was a punishment for my wickedness towards you. I should have sent you to school when you were living with me but I didn't, I was such a bad and selfish aunt. I wanted to see you and apologize for the things that I've done wrong but I didn't know where you were so I gave u[p and accepted my fate.

For lack of anything to do, I began to beg and that was what I was doing till I found you at the party" Aunt Lola said.

"Hmm!" Mrs. Smith sighed deeply. "What a pathetic story"

"So what is your next plan now?" Mr. Smith asked.

"Before I found Kim, I had no plan. I was just trying to survive but now that I have found her, I think I will start my life from the scratch again. I will start selling those satchel water again and soon enough, I will make it" she said with determination.

"That's good to hear. Like how much will this business cost you to get started?" Mr. Smith asked.

"about ten thousand naira…"

"I'll give you the money…." Mr. Smith said

"No sir, you have helped our family enough and thank you for taking good care of my cousin so I will not accept anything more from you"

"Aunt Lola" she said "Let dad help you, later when you have made enough money then you can pay him back"

"That's right, see it as a loan to start your business and when you are established, then you can pay back" Mrs. Smith urged.

"Okay if you all insist but I swear to pay back every dime you gave me with interest, do you agree?"

"Yes" Mr. Smith said with a smile. "You need to get a house so I'll include a rent fee and give you the money you need for your business. In fact, if you don't mind, I can be your business partner, I'll provide the fund and you will run the business and we will share the profits equally, what about that?"

Aunt Lola smiled for the first time since she arrived.

"I'd very much love that, partner!"

She said and they shook hands like business partners.

Aunt Lola got a room apartment in a nice street and she began her business. WAEC result was released and Kim made all her papers with distinctions. She scored 320 in JAMB and was admitted at UNILAG for medicine.

DREAMS COME TRUE.

After five years in UNILAG as a medicine student, Kim proceeded to the Nigerian Medical School for another three years and she graduated with a first class. Her graduation day coincided with Angela's valedictory service from high school. She had graduated at the young age of eleven, the youngest in the Smiths family and throughout the state. The Smiths had thrown a small party of their own to celebrate the two geniuses and early that day, they had all attended the graduation at the medical school because it was slated for early morning while they attended the valedictory service at Angela's school in the afternoon.

As the head girl, Angela was to deliver the valedictory speech.

"I want to thank God that made it possible for me and fellow graduating students. It has been God all the way. Special thanks to our teachers and the management of this citadel of learning who had inculcated in us the spirit of honesty, leadership, diligence, compassion and loyalty to our dear nation, no amount of money can buy the wisdom that they imparted on us while we were here.

Permit me to also appreciate my mum and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Smith for being the best parents that any child could ask for. I appreciate their invaluable contributions and I pray that they will live long enough to reap the fruits of their labour.

Special thanks to my big sister, Kim. I love you and I just want you to know that you are my inspiration, I want to be like you in everything!"

THE END.