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26/07/2024 2:01 pm
It was a memorable day, one I can hardly get out of my mind. October 1st, 2010, how can I ever forget that day? The incident is still very fresh in my memory like it happened yesterday.
That day took away my joy, my happiness, my parent, and my unborn sibling, while others were celebrating Independence Day in one way or another, I would curl up in my bed and cry till I fell asleep, luckily for me that day is always a public holiday, because I always woke up with swollen eyes.
This happened every year, Mum's beautiful smile and Dad's tender voice could not just stop playing in my mind, and today is another October 1st, it's been two decades since the incident occurred, since I last saw them.
I sat up in my bed and tried to get busy with something, anything that would get my mind off that day, I took my laptop from the table where I had left it the previous night and switched it on, a movie would do the trick, I said to myself but when it came on the picture of my parents which I had used as my desktop background flashed before my eyes. I held a sob that threatened to come out with my hand as I closed the laptop halfway, pushing it aside.
I shouldn't cry anymore, I'm an adult now, mum wouldn't like it if she was here and dad hates to see my tears, moreover, I'm going out tonight. I had agreed to go out today, so that I wouldn't end up cry like I always do each year. Steve had promised that we would have a nice time and I was really looking forward to it. I wouldn't want him to meet me moping around.
But how could I ever get this out of my mind? A day that changed my life and my being, I pushed some books away from the table to make space for the laptop, some fell on the floor with a loud thud, and l dropped my laptop not bothering to switch it off. I cared less at the moment. I hugged my pillow as the event of that day came flooding back.
I was eight years old when dad suggested that we should visit my grandparents who lived some streets away, I was excited not just because I wasn't going to school today but also because I was going to see my grandparents.
I would eat grandma's "abacha" which she usually prepares whenever we're around and listen to grandpa's never ending stories. My grandparents and I have a special bond and so I always enjoy going there. I would beg dad to take us there during weekends or school holidays. My childhood was perfect.
The Independence Day public holiday was another great time to visit them. Dad had once told me that Independence Day marks the day Nigeria was declared free from British rule on October 1st, 1960. He told me that from that day we became independent and free to rule without any interference. He also told me that when I'm eighteen I'll be independent also and I'll be an adult. If only I knew that my independence would come at an early stage.
We got to my grandparent's house and I waltzed into the big compound wearing a short light green sundress and a black sandal, my girly wristwatch ticked signifying that it was 12 noon.
I knocked on the door with a smile plastered to my face. My grandma opened the door and welcomed me with a warm hug. I hugged her back as her perfume filled my nostrils. During lunch, Mum announced that she was three weeks pregnant. I couldn't explain the joy I felt that day, at last, I would have a younger brother or sister. It can be so lonely sometimes being an only child.
It was time to go but I refused to go with my parent, I wanted to spend the rest of the week with them. Mum pleaded with me that it was getting really late and I had to go to school the next day, but I remained adamant.
Dad was losing his patience and promised to beat the living daylight out of me if I don't get into the car, even though I knew he didn't mean it but said it to scare me, I did as I was told but my wailing increased. He started the car and ignored me. I continued to cry and I got tired, my voice was reduced but when I saw that no one was paying me any attention I began again.
After some minutes, he promised to buy me ice cream if I kept quiet and that shut me up. Dad parked somewhere by the roadside and gave me some money to go get my ice cream. I was an ice cream freak, so buying ice cream for myself was a small task, especially when Dad knew it was the only thing that could make me keep quiet.
I entered the eatery talking to no one as instructed by mum. Walking to the counter which was slightly higher than me, I bought my ice cream and began to walk out of the cool place but before I could step out, I heard the sound of vehicles screeching and hitting one another, the screaming of women and the lamenting voices of men.
People were running towards the scene and fear seized me as I stood in front of the door, clutching the nylon of the ice cream I had just bought. I lost my appetite immediately. I didn't know why, I never lose my appetite for ice cream, but I just did.
“Leave the way!” a man shouted, startling me as I broke out of my trance.
"Where are your parents? Are you lost?" A young woman asked, bending down slightly to touch my shoulder. But I couldn't answer, because that question triggered something in me. I pushed the door with all the strength I had and ran out of the eatery.
I caught the sight of a tricycle that had fallen into a gutter and behind it was an overloaded truck that was slightly on top of what looked like my dad's car. I ran to the car ignoring the voices of people telling me not to go near the scene.
Then I saw them on the floor in a pool of blood. I froze at the sight before me as I let go of the ice cream I had been holding onto. It fell to the ground and rolled under the damaged car. I was hyperventilating and couldn't comprehend what was happening or what had happened. I caught sight of mum's finger shaking lightly, she was alive, thank God, I had thought. I bent down and cupped the side of her face with my little hands as she always does to me, she opened her eyes and looked at me, a drop of rain fell on her bloody face then another, then another.
"Mum, don't worry you'll be fine I promise," I said to her with a trembling voice.
"Stop crying my baby" she whispered and I realized I was the one crying and not rain fall.
"Be a good girl" she whispered again and closed her eyes. I was shaking on the floor as I moved from my mum to my dad calling them both but the reply I got was the sound of an ambulance from a distance.
With tears in my eyes, I looked up to see some people lamenting about the bad roads, the street lights that were not in good condition, and the traffic lights that were not functioning while some others were taking pictures of a crying girl in front of her dead parent.
A knock on my door ended my flashback. I wiped my tears and walked to the door to open it, I met Steve wearing a big smile. He was all dressed and looked excited but when he saw me, his smile changed into a frown.
“You are not dressed yet? It’s almost 7. Wait, what happened to you? Have you been crying? What’s wrong, Anna?" He asked but I broke down in front of him, knowing that no amount of tears would bring them back.