My first day in a city


I was born and brought up in the village. My dream was to go to the township one day though i enjoy the life in the village; the coolness of the weather, the bushes everywhere. I would stand at the corridor watching how the breeze was making most of the grasses, cassava leaves and other grasses to bend from one side to another. How butterfly was piercing on the flower and Sucking something i did not know. How hen was roaming about with her children searching for food and bending down to remove faeces from their anus. The one that fascinated me the most was how most hen was determined to fight egbe hawk from stealing her children. Most of the cock would be chasing the hen and ones they catch them, he would eventually jump on top of her and quickly do something I might not be able to explain. But i like watching them, watching how the other cock would distract them, making them to stop what they were doing.

Mama was keeping domestic animals. She would go to the market, especially on orie day and buy goats of different genders. There was a time our one and only male goat died. She went and borrowed a male goat from our neighbor to the do the job of a male goat. I had the responsibility of getting food for the goats. I would go to the bush and get some fresh green leaves.

It was in the morning when the grace of God bus dropped me off at down flyover Onitsha near Izuchukwu Park woliwo. It was my first time in the city of which i had heard so much, and like new comer to this dubious city, Onitsha fascinated me in a hauntingly intriguing way. There were the fly-over, the wild double carriage lanes that bore uncountable vehicles speeding away to where i did not know. Pedestrian hurried along as if in a bid to keep pace with one horde of speeding cars. Women, large load on their head, starry-eyed babies strapped on their backs, waddled along, paying neither me nor any other person attention. Human beings clad in all shades and manner of dressing strode along with the urgency of civil servants hurrying to catch up with the bank near closing hours on Friday. Everybody was in a kind of hurry and the fact that they were not bordered, told me that it had become part of their lives, maybe they found it impossible to slow down.

“Onitsha” The name escaped my lip in a whisper, “The light of the nation”. Not far from my left a rank of taxis stop in different shades of yellow with black lines running over their bodies. A group of tough talking, tough looking characters milled along the cabs trying to convince passengers that their buses where the best to ride in. I borded a bike.
“Achalla Street ” I said.
“Achalla Street na hundred naira”. The Okada man spoke with an air of irrepressible honesty that oozed out from him naturally, an air that made me to believe him.

The Okada man eased off immediately I climbed onto his motorcycle. He was surprisingly shot. I mused as he pulled about five minutes later in front of the building.

“Oya your money” the Okada man intoned politely.

Though I've gotten down from the motorcycle, I was not convinced we had made a hundred naira journey under five minutes.

“Na number twenty one be this”. The Okada man was getting imperceptibly irritated.
My small bag slung over my shoulder. I pulled out my wallet and select one among the two hundred naira note I had. I handed the money over to the Okada man, who made a show of rumbling through a heavy wad of dirty notes in search of change. I leaned back from the motorcycle to adjust the strap of my bag and the Okada man speed off in a screech of tyres. It took me by surprise.

I opened my mouth to shout just as I took a thoughtless step after the Okada man. The futility of both acts freeze me to a spot and I stood mouth agape as the break light of the machine disappeared around the corner at the end of the street. Perplexion held me there for a minute during which i thought about every thing. I came back to myself slowly, my mouth still open, and starred at the wallet I was holding in my left hand.

I was warmly welcomed by Ikeogu and his wife. The family was so glad I came. There were electric light everywhere and i enjoyed the cool breeze from the ceiling fan rotating above my head. I ate quite a delicious meal that night. Chioma prepared it. She was the maid in the house. She does most of the work in the house. She was a young woman of about 18 years. She was not very beautiful, she was not ugly, she was of an average height, neither too slim nor too fat. She had a pair of large breast on her bosom and her buttocks were exceptionally big and attractive. She was very dark in complexion. She in fact very opposite of Amara my sister who was tall, slim, very fair in complexion with a pair of small sized breast on her bosom. Whenever Amara put on an oversized T shirt, one would find it quite difficult to know that she had breast at all. Because I was exhausted because of the journey, I rushed to the bed after taking his bath.

I woke up with a splitting headache. My mouth felt sore and coated with repulsive tasteless material. My entire being felt terrible. Several weights was tied to my body and fixed to the bed. The sunlight stung my eyes, so i kept them shot against the sunlight; against the thuds of ache in my head. My stomach was sown with thistles of wild oats. For a long time I lay supine, making little effort to arrest the dizziness in my head. Finally, i forced my body to obey me. I swung my feet violently off the bed and immediately fell back to the bed clutching my head with both hands. I lay motionless for a time, then more slowly, i lifted my legs off the bed, all the while, holding my head with my palms. Every joints in my body ached, but I forced myself to move. There were no sign of anybody at home, not my uncle and not even Chioma. I drew the blinds apart and peeped out, yet no sign of anyone. I went to the white rubber near the cupboard and with very tired finger, pulled it open. I took a cup of water and gulped it down. I sat on the carpet and gradually I began to feel better. I lay back, inclining my head against a sofa. Ikeogu and his wife had went to the market.

Ikeogu was trading at main market Onitsha. He based on selling rubber slippers in dozens. Main market being the biggest market in Onitsha, he always made a good sale and he was flourishing. He had many customers who buys from him. He do sell his goods in a good price and he sell in credit too. His wife was trading at Ochanja market. She was selling babies wears and rubber slippers. Chioma had gone to the market to buy food stuffs. She did not bother to woke me from my sleep. She served mt breakfast at the dinning where I can easily see it when I woke up.

One hour later, I woke very tired, I had fallen asleep earlier. I was very tired. A tiredness so satisfying. I was grateful to lie back, letting it take complete control of me. My headache had now receded to a faint ache, like a stain of what had hit me at first. I felt the vanguard shy tentacles of strength tickle my tissue, testing acceptance, then gaining more confident hold. Resolutely, i stood, went to the well in front of the house to draw out water for my bath.

The building was a kind of big building of about sixteen rooms. It was the kind of house people termed face me I face you. It was painted in a brown colour with 21 Achalla Street blazing on the top front of the building. It had wooden window. The doors were wooden with attached door net. The building has two rolls joint together. The first roll had eight rooms while the other roll completed it sixteen. It has two bathroom and two toilet with the kitchen near the packing store. The well was a few kilometer away from the soccer pit. Every tenants was on their part, minding and keeping it clean. The landlord had occupied the first three rooms of the building. He was a well respected human being. Everyone in the yard respect him a lot.
“Daddy good morning”. They would greet him including the old and young. He was a successful business man trading at ogbo efere market Onitsha. His container always arrive at every end of the week.

The bath refreshed me immensely. It washed away most of the dense fog which clogged my brain. Hunger came like a see waves at the rise of tide. I attacked the loaf of bread at the dinning table voraciously, pausing only to gulp down copious swallows of the tea. It was only when i felt that the next bite will make me throw up that I got up from the table to the video film. It was then that Chioma came back from the market. I watched film from film, slept, watched some more films until my uncle came back in the evening.

Written by:
Promise Onwuachu
promiseonwuachu@gmail.com
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Can't read it cause of length, deep down inside i know the story is meaningless and not worth it!!