They
took off early. They had decided to use the brand new Peugeot. While Dr.
Chuba drove, his wife sat beside him, holding their eighteen months old baby.
She was a robust and pretty baby, a complete mulatto. She was also a peaceful
baby and never cried or disturbed anyone, unlike her errant brother Tamie.
|
She
stole a look behind and breathed a sigh of relief, he was finally asleep. What
a handful! She stole another look at her husband; he was driving with so much
concentration. She smiled, looking out of the window.
She
saw a sign that said they were in Benin. She was yet to get used to these
Nigerian roads. But she knew she loved Africa and believed strongly that she
belonged here. She cuddled her baby and remembered how her dad, brothers and
sisters had raised hell when they heard she was coming to Africa. It had
certainly been a battle. She couldn't blame them, they'd been scared for her.
Over and over, her husband and her had tried to assure them everything would be
okay. She loved Rueben and would go to the end of the world with him.
Affectionately, she squeezed his free hand. He gave her a questioning look and
she mouthed the words, "I love you."
He
smiled and mouthed them back at her. "I love you too,"
Suddenly,
as he tried to overtake a bend, a car horn sounded loudly, a sports car drove
side by side with the Chubas. In a split second, Dr. Chuba and his wife saw the
raised gun. Armed robbers! he thought. Then the gunshot and everything went
black. Paula screamed as the car lost control with Dr. Chuba slumped over the
steering. The car swung off the road, and began somersaulting. Then came
silence. The silence was suddenly pierced by the cries of a baby who was
miraculously uninjured. Somehow she had been thrown out of the car. 20 minutes
later, People had gathered along the road, mostly villagers and travelers who
had been attracted to the spot by the wailing and gnashing of teeth by early
witnesses to the scene.
"Oh
God! Na wetin be dis?" a villager wailed, wiping tears from her face.
"Dem
go don die, nobody go fit dey alive," another cried.
"Na
wetin cause the accident sef?" another queried. The wailing increased, as
a man was brought out of the wreck, followed by a white woman with her head
almost smashed in. They were laid on the main road. Later, a boy was brought
out. He was unconscious. He'd sustained a deep cut on his forehead. The faint
and weak cry of the baby was not heard until much later by a villager who had
wondered from the crash sight. The middle-aged woman quickly scooped her up.
But by the time she got to the main road, a good Samaritan had already left
with the bodies of Dr. Chuba, his wife and their son.
"You
go carry am go police station," a traveler volunteered.
"For
where dat one dey?" the woman cried, tempted to leave the baby on
the road, but she was sure
nobody
would want to touch the baby.
And
she would be in danger of starving to death or being crushed by a moving
vehicle.
She
regretted picking her up. Well, she would take the baby to Benin herself, she
thought. The tiny tot was such a fine baby.
One
after the other, people began to disperse. To her great relief, the
police arrived and quickly she walked up to them. “officer, dis baby dey for
the accident, im mama and papa die”.
The
officer looked at her, irritation showing on his face. He hated accidents and
that was why he didn’t like to be stationed on the express road. They’d
received a distress call and here they were. “Wey im mama?” he asked.
“No
mama now, na dem die for the accident. I see the baby as im dey crawl come dey
cry. A beg una go carry am go station?” she implored.
He
ignored her and joined his colleagues who were towards the crushed car. “Carry
am go yourself, abi you know no road to police station?” he threw at her. A
week later, the woman took Paula to a police station, from there she was
directed to an orphanage in the city.
************************************
“It’s
got to be here, somewhere,” he thought to himself as he opened and closed
drawers and files. Rueben should be his ancestors by now. The boys had called
him to say that their job had been neat. He had to find that document, the
will.
Breathing
heavily, he sat down
The
excitement of suddenly becoming a billionaire ….. no ….no a billionaire
was too much.
Oh
God, how he'd waited for this. All these years, finally the waiting was over.
Everything would finally be his. Where could this document be?” he wondered as
he upturned the safe, files etc. hours later, frustrated and angry at not being
able to find anything, he rearranged everything and let himself out of the
house, got into his car and zoomed off.
CHAPTER 3
TO BE CONT.
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