DESTINY
Episode 19
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 su!cide”, 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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