Baba Florence: “have you suddenly lost your
voice?”
Florence: “daddy, I got it from the money I
made when I went for the competition in Ghana”.
Baba Florence: “I didn’t hear about you going
for any competitions talk more of winning”.
Mama Florence: “How can you say that you didn’t
know when she went for the competition? What about the other time we sent money
to her for excursion?”
Baba Florence: “All you told me was that she
called while I was in Church to say that she needed money for textbooks,
handout and excursion and I ran around to get the said amount. How does that
now translate to going for a competition and winning?”
Florence: “daddy, we had the competition when I
went for the excursion and I emerged the overall best. I won some money and
that is what I used to buy these food stuff”.
Baba Florence: ” Oh, I am so proud of you, my
daughter. Why didn’t you call to inform us so that we can arrange a thanksgiving
service for you?”
Florence: “I thought it would be better if I
come home to inform you myself”.
Baba Florence: “Okay, so where is the
certificate or award that you were giving for participating and for winning?”
Florence: “er, I forgot that in school”.
Baba Florence: “please come along with it next
time, you know I love to keep those things safely for you and get ready, you
shall testify to the glory of God in Church this Sunday which is our monthly
thanksgiving service”.
Florence: “okay, sir”. She grumbled not knowing
how to object to going to testify in God’s altar about a lie she had cooked up
to cover her extravagant life style.
====
Philip was on his way to visiting his parent
when he saw a lady hanging on the rails of the bridge, in a bid to jump in. “So
people can still think of killing themselves in this world? Na wa o, na real
wa. Na wetin dem wan go tell papa God if they kill themselves na?” he thought.
But when the commercial vehicle he was in drew close, he saw that the face of
the lady was familiar. At first his attention went to Naya. “ Naya’s ghost is
here? What is she doing her and why is she attempting to jump into the bridge?
Does she want to die the second time?” he asked no one in particular. The
passengers in the bus cast him a weird glance, they couldn’t understand why a
young man like him would be talking to himself. “Probably he is running mad,
abeg, the madness should wait till we drop before it gets serious o”, they
thought.
Then his head struck, “Maya!” yes, that was not
Naya’s ghost but her twin sister attempting to commit suicide. “damn it, why
didn’t I remember that Naya had a twin sister?” he cursed as he ordered the
driver to stop.
Driver: “make I park on top bridge say wetin
happen? You no know say FRSC dey arrest anyhow for here?”
Philip: I beg you in the name of God, just
stop. I saw a lady attempting to jump into the water and I want to go and help
her. Help me save a life, please”
The driver being a devout man stopped the car
immediately and Philip jumped down and began to run backwards to where Maya
was, saying her last prayer.
Maya: “God, please accept my soul. I desire
nothing more than to be with my twin sister. I guess that is not my fault
because you were the one who created us as twins in the first place. If you
knew you would call her away this soon, why did you bother to give her to me
then? I can’t take the pain anymore, mum is not helping matters and I feel all
alone in the world. I…”
“Stop it Maya, don’t do this, don’t kill
yourself!” she heard a voice call out and she stopped her prayer and turned to
see Philip running towards her. “What the hell is he doing here?” she thought.
Maya: “Stop there. Don’t come further. If you
take a step further, I swear that I shall jump in”.
Philip: “Okay, fine. I have stopped, come down
from the rail please. Why are you doing this to yourself?”
Maya: “What are you doing here? How did you
know that I am here?”
Philip: “I was in a commercial vehicle going to
see my parents when I saw you. At first I thought it was Naya, then my brain
clicked and I remembered that she had a twin sister”.
Maya: “Naya, well, you will not have to confuse
the two of us anymore. I am going to join her, she is the cause of all these”.
Philip: “the cause of all these? How do you
mean?”
Maya: “yes, she caused it by leaving me all
alone in the world. She waited for us to come into the world together, why
couldn’t she wait for us to leave together? Why did she have to die without me?
How does she expect me to cope all alone in the world? Who will I call my twin
now that she is gone?”
Philip: “But you are not alone in the world.
You have your mother. Think of the devastating effect that the news of your
suicide will have on her”.
Maya: “My mother? Who knows if she has joined
Naya and my father already? She told me that she could not bear to live without
them as if my being alive meant nothing to her. Let me just end it all here”.
Philip: “No, Maya, I am sure you misunderstood
her. You should understand that life has not been fair to her too”, he noticed
that she was staring into space and so he seized the opportunity and began to
walk towards her. By this time, a crowd of people had gathered on the bridge
and some were taking pictures and videos of what was happening with their
phones. Some were streaming it live on social media.
Maya: “I told you not to come closer but you
wouldn’t listen. You are also not trust worthy” she barked causing Philip who
was an inch close to her to freeze. He was watching her intently and he knew
the moment had come for him to practice the taekwondo skills he had learnt back
then in secondary school. She climbed the rail with her other leg and attempted
to let herself down the bridge and into the water but Philip was faster, in one
swift move, he grabbed her hands and held her tightly. She was suspended on the
wall of the bridge. Beneath her was the large body of water beckoning her and
above her was Philip who was struggling not to let her go. He was breathing and
panting heavily, he didn’t know that such a petite girl could pull so much
weight. He tried to drag her to him but he couldn’t, she seem to have the upper
hand as he felt like she was gradually slipping from his grasps. The crowd
looked on, none venturing to help. Some stood close to them taking selfies with
different captions that they would post on social media. Philip screamed for
help but no one ventured to help. He thought of letting go to save his own life
since she appeared to be dragging him gradually, but he knew he couldn’t let go
even if it meant losing his life in the process. He had slept while Naya died,
he could not afford to allow her twin sister whom he had come to love as much
as he loved her die to.
A policeman had stopped his car to check his
water gauge for the car was over heating when the saw the crowd gather on the
bridge, talking excitedly and taking pictures. They made way for him when they
saw his uniform and when he got to the center of the drama, he saw a young man
trying to pull out a woman who he believed had attempted to commit suicide.
“Another case of someone attempting to jump
into the bridge when we have not finished talking about the one that recently
happened? And to think Nigerians are just standing and taking photos without
doing anything to help” he fumed as he drew close and began to pull Philip
while Philip pulled Maya, it was a thug of war but at the end, he and Philip
won and Maya was pulled out. She sat on top the bridge, her body shivering from
fright and fatigue. She had thought that committing suicide was an easy
adventure, but the events of the past few minutes had thought her otherwise. In
as much as she wanted to die, she was grateful to God for giving her a second
chance. She looked at Philip and their eyes locked, she was in love with him,
she had fallen in love with him right from the first day that she had set her
eyes on him. She wanted him and she knew he wanted her to from the way he looked
at her. She had taken courses in Psychology in the university and she could
tell when a man was in love by simply looking at him in the eye. She felt her
heart urging her to go on and start a relationship with Philip but she was
afraid of what people would say and what her twin sister in the land of the
dead will think when she saw her and her boyfriend in a relationship.
Back home, Mrs Lanre was getting tired of
waiting for her daughter. “I hope I have not provoked her into doing something
stupid? If she does not return in the next five minutes, I will just go and
hang myself. I can’t bear the grieve of being fingered as the wicked mother who
pushed her daughter into committing suicide”, she concluded.
Question: Hmmn, it is getting complicated o,
love can be so unpredictable. Do you think it is right for Maya to start a
relationship with her late sister’s boyfriend considering the fact that he
means well for her?
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