Endless : The Diary Of A Nigerian Orphan - Episode 8

 

‘Dear God, we beseech thee,
Help our lives, relieve us ,
From awful situations,
Send us more grace ,
And help us to bear the present ones,
That spans us and empower us,
For that need be!’
This were the wordings in the paper that dropped , as soon as I flipped through my Bible Knowledge notebook. It is the prayer that we recite, every 1:30pm on Fridays . Minutes after the school band must have entertained us. When I newly came, I had to write down the words in a small paper, and glanced at them during the weekly fellowship hour, before I could memorize it. Now I have them settled deeply in my heart and without hesitation, I meditated on them.
“pray the words, when you are in confusion. It helps”, the headmaster would usually say. “at that moment of doubt, try to engage the Spirit of Christ and watch Him deliver you”. These were his words, each time we have recited the prayer. I pondered on them as my gaze fell on the latest topic we have treated in class. ‘Christ: The complete Redeemer!"
“would He redeem me ?”, I soliloquizes, as I let my teary vision dance around the wordings of the topic in my Bible Knowledge notebook. 
Did something happened?
Oh yes! It did happened again. Mrs Ojo’s naira notes had been stolen again

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/endless-the-diary-of-a-nigerian-orphan

. This time, it was a two thousand naira notes. According to her, she had tucked it into her black beret behind her Sunday-handbag, and had planned to use it, after church. I was branded the prime suspect, because I was the only one left at home after they had all left for Mr and Mrs Ariyo’s baby dedication in the morning. How could I have snaked around when she had saddled me with domestic chores, that kept me bent over throughout the hours of the day. Well, I guess this was because, Osas had hinted, the night before that there would be give-away and free foods , because it was the Ariyos’ first baby and they are wealthy. A typical class of Lagos ranking affluence! 
“oh…..dae mama. Oh…dae mama. I don’t even know the color of your room. I haven’t even handled a thousand naira note before. Not while my dear parents were alive. I had only seen its picture in my social studies notes. Please mama”, I had cried, as I held unto her feet. But all had fell on deaf ears as she forcefully shoved me away. How else would I plead with her to listen to me? If I have spoken in our native language and she despised me.
How would I start to tell her that, Andrian came around to change his shirt that day! That he had stayed indoor for the bowl of her soaked white scarfs to come off its stain. And to tell how much longer, he stayed. I finally washed the scarfs and hung them on the line, their water dripping off, until it was into trickles. All took place, before he excused himself through the exit door.
But we never talked on that day. I faced my duties, while he did his. I berate myself now for not mentioning a word to him. Maybe, if I had, it would have encouraged me to ask him to prove himself.
“give me a space in your mind, to express my voice. Grant my voice an audience. Lessen your voice-trampling and hear the real me!”. Me
The third evening, that ‘thief’ becomes my new name is ethereal. Not only that, it brings with it a special form of air that is ready to erase my putrid situations in the past days. I can sense this day to be different - but I am yet to pinpoint what would make this day rather special and amidst the throes of pains. There are no plans for outings today, so everyone is at the verandah, listening to the funny renditions from a child commedianne in TON -TON FM, over the radio. It is to lighten Mrs Ojo’s angry mood, as Osas had joked. But I believed it to be no joke, because Mrs Ojo had earlier screamed at me that until I produced her two thousand naira, I would never see her soft part. (like I have ever seen her soft part!).
Is it not until when you have seen the both/opposites sides of a thing/human, that you could tell the difference?