THE VOICE

THE VOICE

It had been a long and painful day for him, his mother was ill and doctors says she might not pull through, sitting right there beside the hospital bed where his mother was lying, he knew it was only a matter of time before she finally slips away from him forever, he loves his mother very much, he hardly calls her mother instead he fondly calls her erinmi which means my laughter, it had always been both of them, the relationship between both of them was more than that of mother and son, they were more like siblings and he could not just imagine life without her.

He was very angry with himself because there was nothing he could do to stop this from happening, then he remembered what his mother told him that whenever he was in the eye of the storm and the world was against him, that he should just take a minute from all the madness around him and feel the wind against his face and then he would know that she was right there beside him, even closer than the wind.

Finally…..she wakes up, struggling to keep her eyes open she knew it was only a matter of time, she wanted to look at the gift God had given her ,her precious boy who had grown into a fine young man .Erinola takes along hard look at her son, oh! How she loves him, she thought, the look on her sons face made her made her shiver but she was scared not because she was afraid of dying but she was afraid of the kind of man she was leaving behind because the look on her sons face was that of a angry, bitter young man, Erinola knowing that time was not on her side and with no strength to utter any word, Erinola found solace in praying to her God that her son would find someday find a voice that would lead him to a place of forgiveness, and with that prayer in her heart erinola went home.

The death of his mother was a major blow for him, his heart heavy with grief, he committed erinola to mother earth ,he couldn’t even afford a decent burial and that even angered him more, his dear erinola was gone, several though ran through his mind to him but nothing could comfort him not even the words erinola had spoken to him while she was still alive, he would never forget her smile, her cheerfulness and how she brought laughter to the lives of people around her even when it seems the world was on hers shoulders, erinola always had something to laugh or sing about, no wonder she was called Erinmi.

Despite all these He never shed a single tear and that was how he left his mother’s graveside an angry, bitter man with the burden of unforgiveness in his heart.

Caring for anyone was a thing of the past for him, the only one who meant the world to him was finally gone and there was nothing he could do about it, he sat down on the little bed he used to share with his mother and he stared into the space for a very long time, the old radio which could be classified as the only luxury in the house a soft soothing song played from the radio, but he wasn’t paying attention, but suddenly the music stopped and a the voice of a woman began to announce that Sertia had join in the war against Ferban,the other allies of Sertia had been on the battlefield for about four months now, in order to rescue the people of Ferban from the clutches of its mini god who had made been in power for about thirty years now and had become paranoid by hanging on to power, any opposition to Kellers murderous regime was unacceptable, Kellers troop had invaded Sertias borders yesterday because Sertia president had openly condemned kellers murderous rule , the president was calling in for young able men to come and join in the war against Keller, recruitment had started and at that very statement by the newscaster he lifted his head, he knew this was the very opportunity he needed to get away from every pain he had, with excitement burning in his blood, he knew he couldn’t miss this for the world ,he took the little belongings he had in a back pack, steeped out of the dark little room, he set out for the adventure that would change his life forever, promising himself never to set his foot on Lafia again a town that caused him so much pain, and without a word to anybody he set out.

The ride out of the town was a bumpy one for him, just like his life has been bumpy all the way, it felt good to be finally out of a place that held him captive for a long time, his father had been a very wealthy man who sought solace in the arms of numerous women, his precious mother erinmi had been a gift to his father at the age of thirteen, erinmi’s parents had seen it has a privileged to give their daughter out in marriage to the rich and famous Adio, but Erinmi days were numbered in Adio’s house has she was the only one who gave Adio a male child, the other wives in their jealousy soon saw to it that Erinmi’s life was unbearable in her husband house, the death of Adio when he was at a tender age finally served as a clue For Erimi to leave her husband’s house afterwards life became even more unbearable for her.

The ride stretched on forever, until he felt a tap on his shoulders, and the beaming face of a young man looked at him with so much love and that really made him uncomfortable, the looks were just like his mother’s and he really was not ready for anyone to look at him that way, not even this young man by his side in the ride.

TO BE CONTINUED........................