WE ARE ABLE [A TOUCHING STORY] Episode 22 Toyosi asked me something in sign language. I was surprised she was able to do the sign better than I left her. Your mother would be here in few minutes, she assured me. Really? I was excited. Yes, she said. My father came to sit beside me and held me close to his chest. He cleaved my hair and kissed the middle of it. This is a miracle, I thought. Bode was lying down ill. He needed care. Toyosi took all his clothing material to wash. I asked her if I could help, but she insisted that she would do them on her own. When I remembered that my poem collections would soon be published, I intensified my effort on it, writing more and more. This time around, they were poems of happy reunions and happy endings. I couldnt find it hard coming about a poem anymore, because they were just a replica of events unfolding. It was a week already and my mother wasnt back yet. Toyosi had assured me that she would soon be here with us, so why should I keep worrying? I began to develop a poem. It was titled THE STRATEGY OF GOD: It all began with a solid tragedy Until I thought there was no remedy Never knowing it was a strategy To bring about a wonderful comedy I thought it would end in an elegy But in the end it becomes an eulogy All glory to God who made me a prodigy Beyond all human analogy I thought I had no ability But I discovered them with agility When challenges came with intensity But now I can display my audacity... Toyosi saw me writing it. She tapped me and smiled. She had been reading it all the while, unknown to me. If my ears could hear I would have noticed when she opened the door and entered my room. I quickly flipped the book closed. Come with me, she said in sign language. I have a... she couldnt sign out what she meant. I have a something for you, she said at last. She must have thought of saying she had a surprise for me, but she didnt know how to do that in sign language. I followed her. To my shock, it was my mother I saw sitting right inside the parlour. I rushed to her and gave her the tightest hug I have ever done to anyone. Mother and I rolled on the floor, thanking our God for a happy ending. My father met us in the euphoria. He was happy too. My father and my mother hugged each other for the first time since I got to know them. Toyosi said that she had become a born-again Christian now. She said God told her to bring my mother back from the prison. She even confessed to the fact that she was the person calling me up in my dream. I knew I cannot kill whom God hasnt killed because I tried it with voice language the first time but Rose didnt hear me, let alone give a reply. The second time I tried it, it was my own son who appeared and not Rose, Toyosi said. Assuming Bode understood the sign language, he would have been dead by now because that is Apepa! Toyosi wept and asked for our forgiveness. Willingly we forgave her. A week later, aunty Rachael came to tell us that she had found a fiancé--a very rich one for that matter; Honorable Daniel, the man she met during my graduation ceremony. Daniel is a God-fearing man, Rachael said. I could spot a tint of gladness in her dimples. Her lips expanded and contracted as she did the sign language. She was telling my mother with her mouth and doing the sign language at the same time. Thats great! my mother was happy. Daniel would be travelling to the US with me permanently. He would be settling down there. Thank you Jesus! I exclaimed in sign language. But I would miss my aunty so much. Our school had resumed but my father insisted that I wasnt going to continue in a public school of the handicapped. They said I would do my school in a private secondary school for the deaf and dumb. I would be travelling to Abuja for that purpose. It was a special school where the special people from rich families attended. My father and her concubine, Toyosi, took my mother and I to Abuja to see the school I would be attending. It was like heaven. The buildings were as tall as the clouds. I saw rich children over there; the deaf, the dumb, the lame, the blind. They had no cause to be burdened in their hearts. Why should they worry when they had all things at their reach? If there is money, the disabled people wouldnt have any reason to worry, I thought. My father and I returned home after the one-week holiday in Abuja. My mum and Toyosi said they were going to do a little shopping. When we returned home, I found a letter hung in our letterbox. I read it: My aunt was notifying us that she had just travelled out of the country with her fiancé, Honorable Daniel. They wouldnt be returning soon. It was a mixture of joy and sadness for me when I read the news. Oh! My aunty! There can never be any two aunties in the world for me. The picture of my school-to-be set on my face: Springtime International Special School. I was glad I would be there someday, soonest. Toyosi returned to the house late. I was shocked when she returned all alone. Where is my mother? I asked her. She made her fingers into a bundle and flipped it over her mouth to signal to me that I should speak with my mouth. Where is my mother? I asked with a frown on my face. She touched her ears to signal to me that she couldnt hear my voice. I was flabbergasted as I saw her laughing out loud. John joined her in it. Time/Target: 10Likes
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 18:00:11 +0000
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