The letter

***********'*****************************

Droplets of dew coated the brown anthills scattered across Iheanyi's compound. A profuse earthy smell cut across all the corners , an evidence that water had diffused into the soil.

Long grasses that had become denizens of the abandoned portion of the compound shone brightly, waving their green leaves around in the soft morning breeze.

Ngozi drew in shaky breaths as she approached the door. She had practically hopped through the grasses, to reduce the wetting of her feet.

She stared at the big metal door which harbored enough dust to cause severe catarrh if it was being swept away.

"How long had she been away?"

The plantain trees which were planted adjacent to the house had grown tremendously, their fruits not just mature but ripe. It was really evident that her former home lacked the touch of human beings.

Nnamdi stalked closely behind her, not just for protection but also because he feared that since she was remembering bits of her former life that it wasn't advisable to leave her alone, lest the memories invade her mind at once.

Agatha had spoken to him for long over the phone, her voice joyful as that of a child gifted a parcel considered to be quite valuable. She hadn't sounded like she was forcing herself to converse with him as usual and he couldn't feel the strong strain in communication before.

He had been too skeptical to enquire about his son but summed up enough courage and asked anyways. Agatha's response had not just been intriguing but detailed as if she had actually been caring for the boy. He could remember her promising to do so but he hadn't really expected anything more than talk.

It suddenly crossed his mind that his wife might have been speaking from observing his mom do the actual work but he shoved it aside, letting his thoughts focus on the good things.

Ngozi stared for a long while at the compound which seemed bleak, her mind forming clogs of unclear images as to what her life used to be. She found herself lost in deep thoughts once again, an image of a playful boy stayed behind. He had hopped tirelessly in the compound then finally resolved to packing sand. Her thoughts trailed along the boy's playful act and she found her feet wandering to a spot where the little boy dumped the sand.

She found it to be a little spot which bore stones around it. Stones that appeared to be a beautiful ledge but somehow represented something so sorrowful.

"Mummy!" Another voice called out to her and she saw a replica of herself filling a plate with sand. She chuckled noting how large pieces of sand were scattered on her hair. It would take a while to rid her scalp of the parts of soil. The little girl ran excitedly towards her and she almost felt the child's smile was actually being bestowed on her but was disappointed when she passed through. She could see the excitement on the girl's face as her little feet struggled to stay firm on the ground while she approached someone. She had almost screamed for her to be careful so that she wouldn't fall but it seemed another version of her which wasn't in the picture before had beaten her to it.

She looked weary, her eyes bearing enough sorrow to drown many joyful beings. The image of the woman before her seemed haunting.

This figment of her imagination that seemed real was seated beside the stony ledge, staring with a melancholic expression at the portion of the land.

She saw the little boy beckoning on an unknown person and hollered at him immediately.

"Obinna! Who are you talking to? Come here osiso" The boy smiled sheepishly as if the command did nothing to him but he ran excitedly to where she was kneeling.

"I saw tata" He had gleefully declared and Ngozi chuckled. Her eyes trailed the path he had been standing at before and she saw a teddy hanging close by.

"It's not a tata"

The little girl had poured bits of the accumulated sand on the ground but stopped to scoop them back in. She finally got to her mother panting like an athlete involved in a marathon.

The sand in her little plate wasn't up to a handful but she gladly presented it to her mother.

"I'm bringing sand for our new house" She had declared

She seemed confused by the girl's statement but the little girl continued talking.

"I'll build another house for you. We will go with dee Chijioke, daa and Obinna. Daddy will not come so that he won't touch you again"

Ngozi saw this gloomy version of herself give a very throaty laughter. The kind of laughter that stemmed from a well of sadness.

"Obanma you are very smart girl. You think just like your mother"

Another voice called out to Ngozi and the children ran excitedly to greet him.

Obanma had called him Onyi

"Ngozi, let's go inside" Nnamdi voice sounded pulling her out of her long trance. The boy in her dream had been right all along.

Their father was a murderer and she had just seen the boy's grave.

"Maybe this time you'll remember where you kept the letter and Ngozi please feel free to tell me whatever you remember" Nnamdi had urged as they traipsed across the room dwelling on spots, Nnamdi felt would bring back her memories. None seemed effective and after hours of waiting they decided they had tolerated enough dust for the day.

A picture hung at the living room called Nnamdi's attention and he laughed heartily.

"Is this you and Agatha?" He questioned with amusement gleaming in his eyes.

"I suppose so.... Chineke Agatha looks like a boy!" She teased laughing so hard

"We're definitely going back to Enugu with this picture. Oh Agatha is not going to hear the end of this!"

They extracted the picture from the wall and were surprised with another picture behind.

"How did they do this? There are two sides! Were they being economical?" Nnamdi taunted as they saw a picture of not just her and Agatha but a picture of a whole clan.

The pair left for the hospital immediately garnering enough jokes for the road from the appearance of the two sisters on the enlarged photograph.

****************

Chijioke's gaze never wavered from the derriere of the endowed nurse as she bent over to pick a piece of paper that had mistakenly left her grip.

The lady's ebony rich skin accentuated by her thick curves and interestingly curvaceous buttocks had kept his pain at bay for a long while as his mind wandered around the things he would have done to the lady, had he been in better shape.

Chijioke always gravitated towards dark skinned ladies, he always referred to them as black diamonds.

The flirtatious banter he had engendered earlier with the lady in question named Agnes, seemed to backfire as most of her monosyllabic responses were accompanied with glares.

He loved the challenge the nurse was posing and had even decided that he would personally request for her at all times. He hated the hospital but Agnes was reason enough to want to spend a decade in the awful place.

"I'll come back with your afternoon pills and I'll inform the doctor of the improvement" She had tartly stated

"As long as the pills will be delivered by you beautiful.. I find the ones you hand deliver much more effective than the rest. Ka m gwa gi eh, seeing you alone lessens the pain Nwanyioma" Chijioke replied with a grin that the lady probably perceived as cringe worthy.

He could have sworn that she did not even harbor a single bone of humor in her. Agnes only threw one of her looks that screamed annihilation and he quickly sealed his lips.

Nnamdi had been standing at the door watching the exchange with amusement while Ngozi went to fetch food for lunch. They all despised hospital food.

"I'll tell doctor Echem that your pain killers are very effective".Her parting words came with an even worse glare and Chijioke could feel his bones quiver with fear.

Women were very powerful creatures. They didn't even need words to send their points home, that was indeed a special power.

Nnamdi stepped into the room wearing a smug smile. Chijioke, oblivious of the fact that his uncle had been watching him for a while maintained a demeanor of a person in agony.

"One of these days nurse Agnes will finish what Chidiogo started, don't push her"

"Ngiri? What?" Chijioke's questioned with chagrin

"I was watching you the whole time Chijioke. Just know that wide is the road that leads to destruction and narrow is the way that leads to...?"

A deep throaty laugh escaped Chijioke's lips as he assessed his uncle's words.

"The wider the road, the sweeter the journey" he replied with a smirk

"Uncle please don't talk about Chidiogo, I'd really want to us to keep this to ourselves till I figure out what to do. But I'm certain she'll pay, if it turns out she was truly there"

Nnamdi nodded in approbation "I'm only worried about how you're going to find your proof. What you heard might not be so credible since you didn't see her".

"Uncle I'll find a way" Chijioke declared with a certain conviction

Nnamdi moved closer to the drawer where they kept most of the lab tests that were conducted on Chijioke including his xray results.

"Chijioke find yourself a good young woman, build something out of your relationship. You're now of age to have your own family. Not everything is about a quick lay" Nnamdi placed the item he had gotten from the house on the drawer beside Chijioke's bed.

"Who says I am not searching for a good woman. I was doing just that before you walked in" Chijioke retorted still maintaining the grin on his face.

"I said look for a good woman, not sniff out the goods on a woman's body"

"A bu cha we otu he a it's still the same thing"

Nnamdi shook his head in amusement and patted Chijioke's head. He could tell it was one of the things that infuriated him but his condition didn't avail him any opportunity to slither away.

"Agatha will be shocked with the way your sounding. She parades you as a monogamous young man." Nnamdi paused for a while then voiced out one of the thoughts that had plagued his mind for a while.

"Chi eh .... Did your father ever raise his hands against your mother? Did you ever witness such?"

Nnamdi could see from Chijioke's expression that the question was unexpected. Chijioke thought deeply for a while then exhaled.

"I don't really remember him hitting her, but I had walked in on several altercations when I was young, mother was always quick to dismiss me. You can ask Adaugo too or maybe Obanma. The twins were the closest to our mother but I doubt they'd remember much. Uncle is there a problem? Did she remember anything?"

"Actually Nna m she did. She says your father killed her son and I've been trying to understand what it means. I think she's remembering and I was trying to speed it up today."

"Her son? Which son Obinna ?"

"Mba No"

Nnamdi's hands flew up as he seemed exasperated from trying to figure out who Ngozi might have meant. He scratched his head that was beginning to accommodate greying hairs gently

"I truly have no Idea, she says it wasn't Obinna "

"It was just us and the twins that she bore. Maybe her mind is messing with her. I think the doctor should check her out now that she's in the hospital."

"That's a good idea. I'll fetch Ngozi immediately, the food has taken too long. Hope you've been eating your fruits" Nnamdi popped his knuckles as he made his way to the door. Something Chijioke found amusing

"Yes I have. Finding out that the spleen is nearly useless somehow makes being bedridden annoying" Chijioke tartly replied as his uncle walked away.

"Remind me to give them a list of important organs to target if there's a next time" Nnamdi retorted with a laugh, Chijioke soon joined in.

Chijioke stared bleakly at the walls and of his room feeling totally useless. He hated chatting on his phone and despised the sympathetic messages that kept popping up.

He exhaled deeply disappointed with how utterly boring his life had become.

How did the paraplegic victims cope?

His gaze settled on the item his uncle had kept on the drawer. His curiosity was suddenly aroused and he reached out to grab the item.

A strong pain shot up his abdomen and the object fell on the tiled floor, shattering into pieces. It left a groaning Chijioke and several pieces of glass on the floor.

Agnes walked in coincidentally at the right time and quickly attended to him, spewing admonishing words that left Chijioke amused after she had enquired about what happened.

It meant nurse Agnes had a human heart.

She helped salvage parts of the object which Chijioke realized was just an enlarged picture. She extracted the pictures and somehow an envelope fell out from the pictures.

She entrusted all the items into Chijioke's hands and promised to fetch the doctor to check on his wound, to be sure he hadn't ruptured his stitching. He could hear her beckoning on a cleaner to fix his mess.

Chijioke stared at the pictures and held himself from laughing as he was certain that it would result to him groaning out of pain.

He finally picked up the envelope and stared at the item for a while not certain if he was to know the contents. It then occurred to him that the letter was hidden in the picture, he found it amusing and quite interesting. Maybe it had been a love letter from an admirer addressed to his mother when they were young. After all he had seen a picture of his mother in her teen years.

He carefully extracted the paper installed inside the envelope and began to read. His hands shook as he digested the contents of the piece of paper.

Was finding the letter they had been seeking for an act of providence by the universe? Or was it a curse because the contents seemed to shake him to his core.

Chijioke quickly hid the letter underneath his pillow as he heard voices of both his mother and uncle.

*****************

The drive to the park had been quite uneventful and boring. Obanma, Onyedikachi and Oluchi hardly spoke to each other whilst they journeyed. The pair felt awkward about Oluchi's situation and the resolution that came afterwards while Oluchi was too ingratiated and quite embarrassed to talk.

Obanma had opened up about getting help from Onyedikachi and she couldn't even turn the offer down because she had no other option.

They arrived ITC (Imo State Transport company) in okigwe town in no time and Oluchi's bills were quickly settled by Onyedikachi. They had been so lucky that she was the last person to bring to completion the number of passengers required for the bus, which meant their journey was already set.

Oluchi tear eyed, wrapped her hands around Obanma and thanked her immensely. She shyly accorded the same gratitude to Onyi who responded with a smile.

Obanma walked towards the car but Onyedikachi stayed behind to whisper words into Oluchi's ears. Obanma couldn't make out what they spoke but from Oluchi's expression she could tell her friend was ecstatic.

Her first thoughts were that she had indirectly gotten her friend a scholarship with her forgiveness.

He approached wearing a smile and she gave him a quite enchanting one in return much to her disappointment. It seemed her body was too eager to make up with the man.

She waited until they got into the car before she enquired about what he had told her. His response drew tears to her eyes and she had to look away to abate their escape from her eyes.

"I figured if what I did... The hurt I caused you were to be equated with what you asked for, then doing this little... Mma I find it too small... it's not worth your forgiveness. I needed to give myself a reminder that no matter how angry I get, the issue of your father shouldn't be thrown at your face, certainly not from me. God decided to use Oluchi to teach me the and if it means paying my dues every semester to keep you happy, I'd gladly do it.

Please forgive me Mma"

Obanma cleared her throat not certain she knew the right words to say. She nodded repeatedly that she feared she had outdone an Agama lizard in that area in just few minutes. The night before, moments shared with him haunted her mind. She could picture him as if he was in her room and had mistakenly called Joshua Onyedikachi before he even left in the morning.

She exhaled deeply as her thoughts ran around every single thing Onyedikachi had ever done for her as a young boy. Her childish rage about his cowardly betrayal had wiped good memories about him from her mind and it seemed it flooded back at once.

Onyedikachi who had been beaten because he brought her eloaku despite their feud.

She could picture him breaking a cassava stalk because he wanted to take the blame for it.

Onyedikachi who had stopped to tie her oversized pants as they ran. The thought made her smile and she suddenly realized that the delay might have been what saved her from dying beside Obinna. Onyedikachi who had saved her more times than she could remember.

Onyedikachi who always managed to make her smile. Even as the words ran through her mind he beamed a smile at her. It seemed the world froze at that moment as she realized that somehow she had always felt something for him.

Her heart began thump furiously as the words formed in her head. She was in love with him.

"Stop the car" She whispered and he glanced at her stunned by her request.

"Isi?"

"Onyi stop this car... Just p... Pull over" She declared the second time with a louder albeit shaky voice. Somehow her hands had even begun to tremble.

Onyedikachi feared that something he had done had aggravated her anger once more.

He managed to pull over a distance quite safe for the two of them.

"Obanma I didn't mean to upset you... If it's about Oluchi I did not mean to... What am I even saying? I know I should have consulted you but I wanted it to be a surprise.... I"

"Just shut up" She declared with a smile as tears pooled in her eyes.

"Why are you the way you are?" She enquired with a grin

Her question brought no response from him as he racked his brain to find a suitable answer. His eyes trained on the wheel which he still gripped tightly

"I.. I.. I" He exhaled laughing hysterically at his Sudden speechlessness. Onyedikachi exhaled deeply then turned to have a good look at her. He gently caressed her face, drinking in the image and the sound of her soft sigh of pleasure as if his touch was a treasure.

"The right question should be why are you the way you are with me?" Obanma nodded in approbation

"Mma don't tell me you haven't figured out yet. I was told as a male that I'd always be the last to figure out what I feel for a woman"

Obanma chuckled lightly as her hands flew to her cheek to caress his hand.

"Stereotypes"

The pair took a deep breath together as to give them the courage to utter what their hearts had been whispering for long.

"I love you!"

"I love you! "

They had voiced it out the same time, each overwhelmed with joy that the feeling was mutual. Obanma quickly pulled his face closer to hers and captured his lips in a kiss that better explained how she truly felt.

****************************************

Hey Everyone!

How are we?

Hope we enjoyed the chapter.. Whew!

So I wrote this chapter whilst listening to a song by lady gaga titled "Always remember us". You might enjoy it, I think it's the song for our love birds.

Who else is curious to know the contents of the letter?

What do you think Chijioke will do with the item?

Do you think Onyi is too cheesy? 😂😂

Do you know any Agnes? The name popped into my head while I was writing and I realized that besides Agnes from despicable me, I don't really know anyone bearing the name. I'd like to have a friend bearing that name.

Remember to vote, comment.. Please please comment and share ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Michelle