We Are Able(a Touching Story) - Literature (16) - Nairaland
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We Are Able (A Touching Story) / We Are Able (A TOUCHING STORY) / My Story, My Life (A Touching Story) (2) (3) (4)
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| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 3:30pm On Sep 05, 2014 |
[b]CHAPTER SIXTEEN I began to live in my aunt's place. She took me along with her after the court case. My hobby became crying. I couldn't do without it. Rachael asked me to stop thinking about my mother. She told me that my mother would just be fine. "I can't live without her!" I said. "Let me go and live with her in the prison." "You can't go there, Rose. You can't!" Rachael told me. "God will see us through." When my aunt mentioned 'God' I frowned. What was God looking at when my mother was incarcerated? Was he sleeping or what? I need not ask my aunt those questions thumping hard at my heart, else an endless sermon would begin, taking me through Genesis to Revelation. My aunty loved to take advantage of any little situation to share her gospel message. I don't know if Jesus was paying her salary for that. There wasn't anyone I haven't challenged with questions that seemed bigger than my age. Everyone I directed my questions to, except her, hadn't been able to supply any tangible answers. But I dare not ask her any question, else she would do Job's life story into my eyes again. I wiped my tears and sat up to 'hear' my aunty speak. "Rose, I was in your class teacher's home yesterday." "How's she?" "She was fine." "Did you tell her about mother?" "Yes I did," I said. "She was mad at Toyosi." "Was she there with you?" "No, Rose, but Mrs Oyin was asking for her home address. She said she was going to fight her in her home. She asked me to give her Toyosi's home address." "And you gave her, didn't you?" "I didn't!" my aunty said. "She was going to go to Toyosi's house to fight her." "You should have given it to her!" I said in annoyance. "Why didn't you...?" "Do I know Toyosi's home to start with? And even if I knew, I wouldn't allow somebody to go and foment trouble in another person's matrimonial home." "But...but Toyosi did that in our own home!" I began to sob. The event of that gloomy night had set over my face--that night mum and I were in that dark room. I had even composed a poem of sorrow concerning that. I 'sang' it whenever my aunt was not with me. Beside me sat a gaze Her hands tied with rope Then tears down my face There seemed not a hope. What could she rather say? How would I hear her speak? I knew I could write poems but I haven't put my pen to paper at any time to give it a try. Now I just had to do it because it seemed to be the only thing that was cooling off my tension. I spent time standing in front of the mirror, demonstrating it. My aunt tapped me suddenly. "Rose, Mrs Oyin would be here tomorrow morning," said my aunt. "To see me?" I asked. "Yes," she said. "And to also come and get you ready for your graduation ceremony next month, August." I fumed. I didn't want to here anything concerning that graduation. How would I be having a graduation ceremony without my mother's presence? "I don't want to be there?" I replied her. "Why, Rose?" my aunt said and came close to me. "Rose, you have to be there. Okay why don't you want to attend your own graduation ceremony?" "Because my mom isn't going to be there," I replied. She scrubbed my hair as if I was a baby. She began to scratch something out of the centre of my head with her index finger. "What's that?" I asked her. She stopped scratching and said, "A white substance, Rose. What's that?" "I don't know," I replied. Immediately my aunt had begun to bind and loose again. She wasn't expressing it with sign language anyway. When she was done with her exercise, I asked, "What was that? Why were you dancing like that?" "You called that dance?" she said. "Anyway, it is not dance. I was praying for you. You know, that white thing, who knows how it got on your head? Toyosi your stepmother could have done something terrible." "It's not any Toyosi," I said. I have just remembered something; I was playing with chalk earlier. "I was playing with chalk." "Ha! Ha! Ha!" she began to laugh. I joined her in it. It was the first time I would laugh since my mother was imprisoned. Mrs Oyin came to my aunt's place as promised. She assured me that my mother wouldn't suffer long in the prison. "We are going to appeal it," she said. "Appeal?" my aunt said. "Will it work?" she was just skeptical about it. "It should," she said. "I just believe that there is nothing prayer cannot do," she said. "Let's just commit everything into the hand of God through fasting and prayer. He will do it." My teacher put out an angry face. The next ten minutes was a silent moment for me but a rowdy one for them. They had thrown the sign language behind them and now it seemed they were shouting at each other. I watched them opening their mouths in rage. I knew what was going on; my aunt wanted everything settled divinely but my class teacher was not supporting such idea. After they had argued it out between themselves, they turned to me again with a smile. I had shut my eyes so I wouldn't 'hear' them. [/b] 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Aipete2(f): 4:20pm On Sep 05, 2014 |
Dnt wori rose, all is well 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 4:28pm On Sep 05, 2014 |
Aipete2: Dnt wori rose, all is well Aal izzz weeeellll!!! Thank you for signalling it to ROSE |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by JigsawKillah(m): 5:41pm On Sep 05, 2014 |
Rose............ you are a genius really SAW 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 5:54pm On Sep 05, 2014 |
JigsawKillah: Rose............ Every Body Is A Genius |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 5:26am On Sep 06, 2014 |
Good morning my people...I can see Dammygoody here. How was ya night? |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 5:29am On Sep 06, 2014 |
[b]CHAPTER SEVENTEEN It had been decided between them. We would visit the court of appeal, but there wasn't enough money to do that. My class teacher promised to run around to see how much she could raise; my aunt would do the same. "Hannah cannot go to jail, God forbid!" my classteacher said. To bring up the case in the court of appeal we had to pay a certain amount. To also hasten up the case we paid another huge sum. Then the case was heard in the court of appeal first week of August. It was adjourned till the month of September after they had rendered my aunt and my teacher penniless. My class teacher bought the clothing material I would need on my graduation day. I loved it so much. She said she couldn't wait for that day to come. The elites had been invited to the graduation ceremony. Even the incumbent governor of the state would be there. It would just be great. To say that I was sad would be an understatement. What should I be happy about? My mother would be absent, yet she was the one always reminding me of the great event before me. For the first time in my life, I did some attachments. My hair(or perhaps someone else's hair) settled on my shoulders. One would think I was a goddess. I had also dabbed my lips in a pink ink. My eyelashes were made purplish. My class teacher had smeared the inner part of my dimples with red rouge. The earrings on my ears, they were like the size of the bangles worn on my wrists. She said I looked like a river goddess. I appeared like a bride. I paraded myself before my aunt. "Aunty, am I not beatiful?" I asked her. She gave a cold response. I knew why- she doesn't support excessive make-up. She'd have preferred I appear natural. I smacked my smooth lips as the event unfolded. I was going to present my poem. My face was no longer a smiling type. Someone was at the high table--Honourable Daniel as I later got to know. His eyes weren't looking in the direction of the graduands. His mind had wandered far. He stood up eventually and made for that spot where my aunt was sitting. He pulled at a seat before her and I could see them speak. My class teacher was the MC of the day. She announced over the microphone that I had a poem to recite. I was welcomed upstage with claps. I wouldn't know if the sound was thunderous or not, since all I knew was lightning and never thunder, except for the fact that I've seen it in books that thunder comes after lightning. I began my poem in sign language. First, I pulled off my graduation gown, scattered my hair and scrubbed off the paint on my lips. Then tears came in drops. All heads shook. They must have thought that I was going to present an elegy. The DJ offered me a microphone. Everybody laughed. It took a little while before the ridiculous DJ could realise his folly. With my hands in the air, I began: Beside me sat a gaze Her hands tied with rope Then tears down my face There seemed not a hope. What could she rather say? How would I hear her speak? Darkness around us, Light takes long to come No offence, no defense, Darkness prevailed for long. The only sound to hear Was gnashing of teeth. For nothing we did We suffered indeed And in the end, In prison she ended. Better I had been dead Than be at dead end. Who have we offended? None, yet we're not defended My mother remanded Myself left upended My father's bad deed Was what his wife demanded. Nobody cared, nobody cared Not even my God. Judges in the court Saw not beyond their noses Convicting the just Vindicating the guilty. Is God for real? Where was he when The innocent suffer And the guilty laugh? There is never God Or maybe God is an idol He created me deaf And dumbness with me In the smoke of the earth I stood to face terror If there is God, He is a partial one I had broken into tears as I threw the sheet of paper away, dashing out of the stage. I was running out of the place. The whole place was in pandemonium. My class teachers' lips had gone inches apart. She never knew my poem would end in a note of blasphemy. She must be feeling guilty now that she had used her voice to support blasphemy since she was the one interpreting my poem in voice language. My aunt's face had folded up in disappointment where she was seated. She didn't come after me, knowing quite well that the security men wouldn't let me leave. I was at the gate asking for allowance. "You can't leave this premises, Rose," the boys scout at the gate told me. He was one of our school boys scout. I knew his medicine--give Jackson a hundred naira note and he would pave way. "Jackson, what do you want from me?" I asked. "The usual," he replied. He tilted his head to one side of his lopsided neck. He was fond of that posture. Jackson is just about six feet tall, with a nose I would call oblong. He is slender and handsome. I didn't hesitate. I handed Jackson a hundred naira note. He gave me way. It was the first time to be on the road all by myself. I couldn't hear any sound. How would I know if a car was coming behind me when I wouldn't hear them horning. Someone pushed me out of the road. I had just escaped being grinded to slurry by a gallivanting 'Molue'. The conductor was enraged, shouting. Who knew what he was saying? Everyone just minded his or her business on the busy road of Ejigbo market. The only thing I had to cope with was their jostlings. Someone would just push you aside from behind. Egbeda was my destination, but how would I get there? I couldn't even hear the conductors speak. How would I hear them? How on earth would I get to my destination right now? Everyone I approached to ask them to show me the way didn't afford themselves a little time of patience. I scribbled what I wanted in a sheet of paper. I would give it to whoever cared. The sun was hot on my head. It also drizzled alongside it. A tiger must be hiding somewhere in a labour room, I thought superstitiously. A young boy of around eighteen came close to me. He was putting his mouth to use. I did what my mouth could do--sounding out my gibberish! The boy was astounded, going by the look on his face. He was having a blue bag strapped to his back. He unzipped it and gave me a paper. He pointed to the paper and handed me the pen. I wouldn't need it, I gesticulated and gave him the one I had scribbled earlier. He read and nodded. He took me by the wrist and began to walk me to the Egbeda park. I didn't like the way he held me like a baby. I am twelve for Christ sake! I turned my face down and saw that the boy was in a big white pair of canvases. To me then, everyone in canvas was rich. It was Kitto people like me wore to school. Not that my father couldn't afford something better, but only that I had no father, or did I have any? Rain began to come down in torrent. The young teenager held tighter to my wrist and fled with me. He wouldn't even care if I fell and got injured. We couldn't get to our destination--we just had to pull up under a shade to allow the rain stop. Somebody's image flashed through my eyes. It looked like Toyosi's. She had just passed off like a shadow. It must be my imagination because I didn't see any Toyosi around. All I saw was a bike fleeing past me with a passenger sitting at the back.[/b] 2 Likes 1 Share |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by tenajtek(f): 5:45am On Sep 06, 2014 |
Quietly takes breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate. Thanks Sammy! Great way to start my weekend! 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 5:52am On Sep 06, 2014 |
tenajtek: Quietly takes breakfast with a cup of hot chocolate. Thanks Sammy! Great way to start my weekend! Tell me you need one more round of meal and I will give you immediately  Happy Weekend!!! |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by lenmafon: 7:08am On Sep 06, 2014 |
yes sir we need one more round of meal and immediately. gudmorning sammyhoe and thanks for the update, but it got me crying @ de poem  |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 7:13am On Sep 06, 2014 |
lenmafon: yes sir we need one more round of meal and immediately. gudmorning sammyhoe and thanks for the update, but it got me crying @ de poem It was late, too late...it got deleted... I would have served you two more sef  |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 7:27am On Sep 06, 2014 |
My chapter Eighteen and Nineteen didn't save on my phone and it was erased. So painful, I don't know where to start from again Anyways, join me in few hours for the two chapters How about that? |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by dammygoody(m): 7:31am On Sep 06, 2014 |
SammyHoe: Good morning my people...I can see Dammygoody here. How was ya night?Good Morning Prof., my night was good...thanks. I've been super-busy lately, meanwhile, I saw your hands on the Unilorin thread, how did you find me there  |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 7:52am On Sep 06, 2014 |
dammygoody: MTN! Anywhere you Go!!! |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 8:54am On Sep 06, 2014 |
[b]CHAPTER EIGHTEEN I pulled at the gate and got into my aunty's compound. That verandah was waterlogged as usual. Since my aunty's husband's death, she hadn't had enough money to put it right. I looked around, all the clothes on the line had been drained. All the undies had been blown off the line. I began to pick them up to hang them back one after the other. I had to stand on tiptoes to put them across the wire. I traipsed to the door. It was locked. Does that mean my aunty hadn't arrived yet? I pondered. I checked the time on my little digital wristwatch. It displayed 88:88. It was strange to me. "What do you mean?" I whispered to the watch. No response. If it had replied me, how would I have heard its voice. I checked the watch, water resistant. I sprawled beside the entrance door. The tiled floor was unusually cold. I shivered uncontrollably. My teeth shook like bomb blast. It was as if I would freeze up in the next minute. The memory of the event came up in my head--why did I leave the venue that way? Anyway, I still didn't feel any guilt that I spoke against God. I would even do more if situation warranted it, I hissed. I remembered Moses. He was the boy who helped me to the Egbeda bus park while I was in Ejigbo--first time a male would assist me; Bode and John weren't so kind. He even paid for my transport fare without my knowledge. Were it not for the bus conductor who refused to collect my transport fare when I was alighting, I wouldn't have known that he had paid for me. I read out the name he wrote on a sheet of paper he handed to me before leaving me alone. It contained his name and home address: Immaculate Moses; Plot 5, Estate Road, Lekki. My attention was shifted to that moment I was in the Egbeda bus waiting for it to be filled up. A boy peeped into the bus from the window. He was dressed in an outfit lacking taste and glory. His hair was curled up like popcorns. He wore a long chain on his neck carrying a laminated write-up: I Am Deaf And Dumb, Pls Help Me The boy saw my face lit up, then he knew I had interest. He quickly gave me a piece of paper and then an envelope. I read what was in the paper: He is a Deaf and Dumb Student of the Ejigbo Deaf and Dumb School. He needs some money to pay his school fees. Please Help him with any amount. Deaf And Dumb Association of Nigeria I smiled. It would take a thief to catch a thief, so I got into action, pushing the sliding window aside and putting my hands out of it. "What is your name?" I asked him in sign language. No response. I had just used the British sign, perhaps he didn't understand that, so I made use of the American sign, still there wasn't any response. "Don't you have a name?" I kept saying. He was a novice, yet he had claimed to be in a deaf and dumb school. He knew I had already discovered his secret, so he moved on after protruding his lips as if he wanted to have a kiss with somebody, definitely not with me. I knew what he just did; he had just hissed at me. I am surely a bad market to him, I thought. I began to freeze in the cold. My spirit and soul had departed my body. I would have to continue the next episode in the land of the non-living. My eyes flashed open suddenly. I was on a bed, my bed. A candle was lit few inches away from me on a table. My arms could reach the candle. I gazed at the ceiling. It was my room. How did I get in? I set my eyes at the watch and it was a shock to me when I found it to be 2am. If I could talk I would have yelled 'What!" I threw my hand away aimlessly and inadvertently, it brought down the candle upon the rug. The house was on fire but I wasn't aware. I didn't even know that the candle had fallen I turned at the wall and squeezed my eyes together. I needed to sleep. I would ask my aunt in the morning how it all went--the graduation ceremony. I turned around on the bed and I saw hell beneath my bed. Am I dead? Am I in hell right now? God why? Why did you bring me to hell just because I spoke against you once, yet I have spoken well of you a thousand times before and you didn't take me to heaven? I woke up from my dream. No, I wasn't dreaming--it is real; the house is on fire! I couldn't quench it. I ran out with a scream and two souls came in a rush; my aunty and my classteacher. We fought the fire like the firefighters--water, sand, Omo and anything we could think about all to no avail. Few street dwellers even assisted. They called the fire service but the response they heard were snores from the other end of the line--they were drunk with sleep. I don't blame them, since it was midnight. When my aunt's husband's house was completely brought down with the raging conflagration, I 'heard' the devil's voice: it was time for me to flee to the nearest lagoon. I ran like lightning, heading to nowhere in particular, but my teacher raised an alarm and I was caught. My aunty didn't speak a word all through as she watched her only hope go up in flames like Cain's unacceptable sacrifice.[/b] 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by talk2riel: 9:00am On Sep 06, 2014 |
Waoh! |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by dammygoody(m): 10:02am On Sep 06, 2014 |
OH My God!!!!!!!! Sammyprof, whyyyyyyyyy  ??   |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 10:09am On Sep 06, 2014 |
dammygoody: OH My God!!!!!!!! Just touch your chest and say...aal izzzz weeeeellll!!! |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by lenmafon: 10:21am On Sep 06, 2014 |
sammyhoe! sammyhoe!! sammyhoe!!! how many times i write ur name? no kill person with suspence o! but why. why why u no fit stop de fire frm happening? how u want make rose's aunty survive? abey come finish de story pleeeaaassseeee!1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 10:27am On Sep 06, 2014 |
lenmafon: sammyhoe! sammyhoe!! sammyhoe!!! how many times i write ur name? no kill person with suspence o! but why. why Okay, just touch your chest and say 'Aal Izzz Weeellll!!! Ayam coming |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 10:51am On Sep 06, 2014 |
PrinceAdepoju: *picks up a microphone and shouts*It seems they've had a meeting that no literature thread must make fp again.. As for the case of Rose.. Dairis God o Dairis God oooo Daris God ooo Daris God ooo All this lying that you are sharing. Dairis God |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Timcy2(m): 10:52am On Sep 06, 2014 |
In tear, Sammyhoe, this is not fair oo. Quality of a good writer, making your readers feel d pain of the storyline. Indeed "WE ARE ABLE" sobbing. |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 10:58am On Sep 06, 2014 |
Timcy2: In tears, Sammyhoe, this is not fair oo.And also the quality of gospel worshipper... I am learning that from you my Oga |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 11:07am On Sep 06, 2014 |
Divepen: Welcome oga Divepen... I an currently typing...stay tuned... |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 11:10am On Sep 06, 2014 |
SammyHoe:Oya reloading thhnz |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 12:01pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
[b]CHAPTER NINETEEN Since the day before when my aunty's home was burnt, she hadn't spoken a word to me. It made me almost go insane. My classteacher had taken us to her place at Magodo. Since her husband was a london-based businessman, we wouldn't have any problem putting up with her till further notice. Her two sons and only daughter were all in the UK with their father. Mrs Oyin called me into the parlour. Then, my aunt was fast asleep. "Why did you do that, Rose?" she asked me. "It wasn't intentional!" I replied her. I had begun to sob. "I am not talking about the fire accident, Rose," she said. "That was the devil's work and God must have a good reason for it because according to a Yoruba proverb, a King's house that got burnt would only bring about more beauty in the end. I am only asking why you left the graduation ceremony like that." I couldn't explain clearly. I didn't even know what to explain. "I--I..." I couldn't speak on. I was down in tears. "Rose, congratulations!" she said. "For what?" I asked. It was strange to me. What was here to be getting congratulated for? For all I care, I have only been a thorn in everybody's flesh--my mother imprisoned because of me, my aunt's embarrassed and rendered homeless, all because I am existing. "Rose, guess what?" "I can't guess," I said. "Your poem won you a lot of prizes!" she said. "You were announced as the best graduands of the ceremony." "How?" I couldn't believe my eyes. She must be joking. "Do you mean that...that poem in which I lambasted God?" Mrs Oyin unzipped her bag and produced the piece of paper into which I wrote the poem. I was shocked when I checked and discovered three more stanzas added to it: Oh! my idle hands Speaking idle words Brain befuddled, Like a mouldy cake God isn't an idol And he is for real He will forever heal Taller than the heavens Brighter than the sun His ways are glaring Though to us blurry 'Cos we are human Seeing a bit afar Through the twilight The stars bowed The rainbow cowed The gaoler turned the gates Leading my mother out Freedom at last! I was shocked. "Who added these stanzas?" I was quick to ask. "Thanks to your aunt. She picked it up and recited those stanzas offhand while looking into the paper blankly. Everyone thought it was the continuation of your poem and a round of applause rented the air for you in absentia. The scream was deafening. They wished you were around." "Is that so?" "Yes, Rose. It was a standing ovation, unfortunately you weren't there. A lot of gifts were awarded--a bicycle by the governor-representative, an electric kettle, electric blenders, all for you. My car boot was filled to the brim yesterday." "I don't believe this," I was confused. "After the party, the PA to the Commissioner for Education, Honorable Daniel, picked interest in the poem. He asked to see the write-up, therefore myself and your aunt brainstormed and came up with these. We had to strain our brains to remember every word of the three stanzas she had rendered impromptu. Then we wrote it down here and showed him." "Awesome!" "Not only that, Rose, Judimax, a publishing company also showed interest in your poem and they asked that you should provide them with nine more to add to your anthology. You have won yourself a publishing contract with them. They would publish you under the title: Rose's Anthology; The Voice Of The Deaf Mute." I wept. I was shy. How would I be able to face the world? Didn't I have my limitation? More so, how would I be able to write nine more touching poems? That one I wrote came as a result of luck. I could write nine more craps and make a fool of myself. "Please ma, let's forget about all that for now. I am only twelve so what can I do? You said I won a lot of awards ma. Where are they?" "All gone in flame in your aunt's store room." I wept. [/b] 1 Like |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Mczigx(m): 12:03pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
Diz g.al na bad market |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Kaymania(m): 12:07pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
Munching in progress DONE. Oh my! All the awards are gone in flame in her aunt's store room? |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Jasminelilian(f): 12:28pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
what a pity,poor Rose |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by dammygoody(m): 1:45pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
Finally on FP... We Are Able!!!!!!!!!!!! |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Abuklaw(m): 1:52pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
Poor Rose, she is suffering too much. |
| Re: We Are Able(a Touching Story) by Nobody: 1:57pm On Sep 06, 2014 |
FrontPage after all these years... *dozing* Zzzzzzzzzzz |
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