Ijeoma was in the kitchen crying. My heart bled when I walked in and saw her on a stool crying. Her eyes were red as ember. Never before had I seen her in such a terrible condition.
“Stop crying,” I mumbled dryly. It pained me to know that I had nothing tangibly soothing to say to her.
“Is this what they wish for me; to tie me down with a man old enough to be my father? Don’t they even consider the fact that I could have my own dreams? This is exactly what they did to Ada. They are replicating the same thing in my life..”
She went on sobbing uncontrollably. Grief hung in my throat as I watched her cry. She was going to be eighteen in five days. I remembered I had told her that she was still a minor days before and she had grown wild with indignation.
Suddenly, like a flash, the thought of the caretaker crossed my mind. Perhaps he could be of help.
I quickly stormed out of the house to meet him. He was watching football on his large television screen when I came in.
“Ugo,” he sprang up immediately he saw me. “What happened?”
I told him swiftly what had happened that night and that Ijeoma was at home crying. I could see in his eyes that he was not happy to hear what I had told him.
“What do you think we should do?” he asked and I told him that I was confused.
He bowed his head and hesitated for a second. When he looked at me again, there were tears running down his cheeks.
“I am sorry. I really like your sister so much and wish I could marry her but I have a problem which I told her earlier. I am HIV positive. I have just a few years to live. I wish a cure would be found but it hasn’t. Your sister is still a virgin and I have always advised her to stay chaste until she graduates from the university. She is a very brilliant girl. I am not happy that your parents are doing this to her.”
It was my turn now to shed the tears as I listened to him. How could he be HIV positive? No, no, no! He was simply a rare gem for not taking advantage of my sister. I thanked him exceedingly that night and begged him to help Ijeoma in any way he could.
I still thank God to this day that I took that move. Uncle Innocent came with wine to ask for my sister’s hand in marriage days after. He gave my parent three times the amount that the old suitor had given them and they immediately began to sing a new song. He told my parents that he would wait until he had seen Ijeoma through her education before taking her in.
My sister left Nigeria that same year. She left for Ukraine where she studied to become a nurse. Uncle Innocent spent quite a lot of money sending her there. Unfortunately, he died the year she graduated. No one except my sister and I knew what killed him. Ijeoma will be coming home with her German husband-to-be this Easter. She promised to visit Uncle Innocent’s village to pay tribute to his people because according to her; “Such men are very rare in our clime.”
As for me, I have learnt the true meaning of love.