KIMBERLY FINAL PART!
(Continued form the previous part)
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| Kim's dream comes true. |
Kim
smiled.
“I
have decided to go back school”
“That
is a good news but like I said you don’t have to….”
“I
want to” Kim said firmly “He is right, if I don’t do it now, I may never have
the opportunity to do it.”
“So
are you still pursuing the dream of becoming a lawyer?” Mr. Smith asked with
smiles, he was happy that Kim had finally seen the reason why she should go to
school.
“Not
anymore, I have a better plan now”
“And
that is?” Mr. and Mrs. Smiths asked simultaneously.
“I
want to become a doctor. There are many sicknesses and diseases that medicine
had not been able to understand or cure. The world needs a super human to
provide solutions to these problems and that will be me!”
Though
she did not say more than that, yet the three of them perfectly understood what
she meant. Two ripe tears stood at the
corners of Mr. Smith’s eyes and he flicked them away. Mrs. Smith pressed her
lips together to suppress a sob that wanted to escape her throat. The maid
excused herself as the three of them clung together and cried.
“It’s
okay Kim, we will be there with you every step of the way until our last
breath” Mrs. Smith swore solemnly.
HIGH AND DRY.
August 1999.
Two years after giving
birth to Angela, Kim had resumed school and had written her O level exams. Those
two years had been the most memorable years of her life as she had to combine being
a student with being a mother. Angela had grown rapidly within the two years
and she was already in Nursery 1, doing what was meant for a five year old
child. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had devoted their free times (and they had enough
free times) to Angela’s upbringing such that when Angela said her first word,
she called Mrs. Smith “momma” and Mr. Smith “dada”. Both of them had been so excited at this that
they’d bought her toys such that her nursery was filled to the brim with them.
This attention that they paid to Angela had allowed Kim to focus on her education
wholeheartedly and this had earned her academic excellence. Meanwhile, Angela
had always been referring to Kim simply as “Kim”
One Saturday morning, the
family was at the reception for the wedding ceremony of the Isholas’ eldest
child- Kelvin. Kelvin had been Maxwell’s age mate when the latter was alive and
they had been good friends as well. The wedding had been so wonderful and the
Smiths were immensely enjoying every minute of it. In order to prevent
uninvited guests from gatecrashing, the couple had hired the service of a para
military group but a beggar woman had managed to get into the hall past the
watchful eyes of the security men at the door. Kim was sitting alone at their
table at the time because Mr. and Mrs. Smith had gone to dance with the newly
wedded couple and Angela had followed them so she was alone when all these
began.
Kim saw her her sneak
into the auditorium but she had decided
not to talk because she knew that the beggar was only finding something
to eat and probably give to her children at home. The beggar woman moved from
table to table, begging the guests for money but most of them looked at
revulsion at her. When she got to Kim’s table, Kim was already holding five new
one thousand naira notes that she wanted to give her. She knew the money was not
enough but it would go a long way to feed the woman and her family.
“Take ma” Kim said,
extending the money to the woman but the woman was staring at her instead of
collecting the money. Kim thought the woman thought the money was not enough so
she took more from her wallet and extended the money to her again but the woman
broke down weeping instead of collecting the money from her. The woman’s cry
drew the attention of the people from the other table and of course the
security guards. Soon, she was caught by the guards and they began to drag her
away, out of the hall. As they were dragging her away, she kept shouting Kim’s
name “Kim, don’t let them take me away, it’s I, your aunt!”
Kim sprang up quickly
and ran after the guards that were holding her but before she got them, they
were already outside the hall and they had carelessly dumped her on the floo
where she remained howling and lamenting. Kim bent over her, not believing that
it was her aunt but her fears were confirmed with each passing moment.
“Aunt Lola?” she asked
unbelievably.
“Yes, it is I, see my
life!” she cried “See how life had treated me!”
“What happened, I
thought you were in Europe?”
“I wanted to go there
but I never reached there!” she lamented. She wanted to begin telling her what
had happened when Angela, Mr. and Mrs. Smith came out of the hall. They looked
worried.
“Kim what’s wrong, when
we got back to our seat, we couldn’t find you but we were told that you ran
out, who is this woman?” Mr. Smith asked.
“She is my aunt” Kim said and broke down weeping. It took the Smith’s a long time to calm her.
“She is my aunt” Kim said and broke down weeping. It took the Smith’s a long time to calm her.
“Your aunt, the one
that travelled abroad?” Mrs. Smith asked unbelievably, looking at the poor
woman on the floor.
“It is I, had I known I
wouldn’t have gone o” her aunt said and busted into fresh tears.
Aunt Lola was given the
Smiths’ address and she was told to pay them a visit as soon as possible before
they departed from the party that day. Throughout the drive home, Kim was
unable to stop crying at the sorry state that her aunt’s life had taken.
Aunt Lola came one Wednesday
evening. Kim and the Smiths were having their dinner when she arrived so a
plate was set up for her. After the meal, Little Angela was whisked away by the
servants in the house while Kim, Mr. and Mrs. Smith listened to Aunt Lola
recounting her story.
“When we left Nigeria,
we were smuggled into Libya. Our
original plan was to stay in Libya for some weeks then travel over the ocean to
Europe through a cargo ship that would pass and we would pay some amount of
money for our passage. But when we got to Libya, we were robbed of all our
possessions so it was impossible to travel at the stipulated time. We had to
start working to raise the money for the passage. It was hard over there to see
any paying job apart from prostitution for a woman. Even a man will find it
more difficult to secure any type of job because after the death of their one
time leader, Gadhafi, the country had degenerated into anarchy so nothing was
working.
At first, I was concerned with how to raise
money to travel out of that country but as time goes on, I was faced with a
bigger problem; how to feed myself and my daughter. By then, we were
practically sleeping on the streets. In the end, I gave in to doing the only
available job; prostitution instead of starving to death. So I was connected to
a brothel by the agent who helped us process our papers in Nigeria. The job was
the worst form you can ever imagine and the pay was so small that it could
barely pay for a meal, yet the owners of the brothel must take seventy percent
of the pay. Life was really hellish. I did this for years, barely able to feed
my daughter and myself.
Two years after we’ve
arrived at the place, I was desperate to leave the country; even Nigeria seemed
like a paradise then. In my desperation, I met a Nigerian who offered to get us
back to Nigeria free but the shame of facing the people I left behind made me
decline the offer. They all thought I have travelled to Europe and the mockery
would be endless if I went back home with barely a cloth on my back. As if that
was not enough, my daughter’s health began to fail as a result f malnutrition.
I was helpless in helping her. I couldn’t take her to any hospital because I
couldn’t afford the bill so I watched her health deteriorated and she died few
months later. After her death, I lost hope in everything because she was the
reason why I was doing everything in the first place. I began to think of
leaving Libya at all cost.
I was not the only
Nigerian in that place being used for those inhuman jobs and many people have
died gruesome deaths because we were treated like animals so after three years,
the Nigerian government knew about this and stopped in to rescue us. All the
brothels and hotels in Libya were ransacked and the Nigerians who were there
and willing to return to the country were brought back by the Nigerian
government. I came back home about two years ago, homeless and childless. I
went there with my daughter and enough money but I came back home high and dry”
she said miserably. “When I got back to the house where were living Kim, I was
told that both you and my husband had left and I heard some rumours that he
raped you and so on like that. Someone else was living in our room already and
I couldn’t find my husband.
I left the place with
shame, knowing that if I had not left Nigeria in the first place, I would have
a lot more financially okay. Then it dawned on me that I have not been fair to
you. Maybe everything I passed through was a punishment for my wickedness
towards you. I should have sent you to school when you were living with me but
I didn’t, I was such a bad and selfish aunt. I wanted to see you and apologize
for the things that I’ve done wrong but I didn’t know where you were so I gave
u[p and accepted my fate.
For lack of anything to
do, I began to beg and that was what I was doing till I found you at the party”
Aunt Lola said.
“Hmm!” Mrs. Smith
sighed deeply. “What a pathetic story”
“So what is your next
plan now?” Mr. Smith asked.
“Before I found Kim, I
had no plan. I was just trying to survive but now that I have found her, I
think I will start my life from the scratch again. I will start selling those
satchel water again and soon enough, I will make it” she said with
determination.
“That’s good to hear. Like
how much will this business cost you to get started?” Mr. Smith asked.
“about ten thousand
naira…”
“I’ll give you the
money….” Mr. Smith said
“No sir, you have
helped our family enough and thank you
for taking good care of my cousin so I will not accept anything more from you”
“Aunt Lola” she said
“Let dad help you, later when you have made enough money then you can pay him
back”
“That’s right, see it
as a loan to start your business and when you are established, then you can pay
back” Mrs. Smith urged.
“Okay if you all insist
but I swear to pay back every dime you gave me with interest, do you agree?”
“Yes” Mr. Smith said
with a smile. “You need to get a house so I’ll include a rent fee and give you
the money you need for your business. In fact, if you don’t mind, I can be your
business partner, I’ll provide the fund and you will run the business and we
will share the profits equally, what about that?”
Aunt Lola smiled for
the first time since she arrived.
“I’d very much love
that, partner!”
She said and they shook
hands like business partners.
Aunt Lola got a room
apartment in a nice street and she began her business. WAEC result was released
and Kim made all her papers with distinctions. She scored 320 in JAMB and was
admitted at UNILAG for medicine.
DREAMS COME
TRUE.
After five years in
UNILAG as a medicine student, Kim proceeded to the Nigerian Medical School for
another three years and she graduated with a first class. Her graduation day
coincided with Angela’s valedictory service from high school. She had graduated
at the young age of eleven, the youngest in the Smiths family and throughout
the state. The Smiths had thrown a small party of their own to celebrate the
two geniuses and early that day, they had all attended the graduation at the
medical school because it was slated for early morning while they attended the
valedictory service at Angela’s school in the afternoon.
As the head girl,
Angela was to deliver the valedictory speech.
“I want to thank God
that made it possible for me and fellow graduating students. It has been God
all the way. Special thanks to our teachers and the management of this citadel
of learning who had inculcated in us the spirit of honesty, leadership,
diligence, compassion and loyalty to our dear nation, no amount of money can
buy the wisdom that they imparted on us while we were here.
Permit me to also
appreciate my mum and dad, Mr. and Mrs. Smith for being the best parents that
any child could ask for. I appreciate their invaluable contributions and I pray
that they will live long enough to reap the fruits of their labour.
Special thanks to my
big sister, Kim. I love you and I just want you to know that you are my
inspiration, I want to be like you in everything!”
THE END.
About The Author.
Olayiwola Oromidayo is a Nigerian published author, an educator, speaker, singer, a blogger and an entrepreneur. He was born on December 12th 1993 to Nigerian parents. His father, Mr. Adekunle was a native of Oyo state while he mother was from Gbongan Osun state, Nigeria. He hailed from a polygamous family but his mother gave birth to three children.
For comments and enquiries, contact the author:
Facebook: Olayiwola Oromidayo
Twitter: @oromiplus1
Instagram: @oromiplus
ABOUT THE AUTHOR.
 |
| Olayiwola Oromidayo. |
Olayiwola Oromidayo is a Nigerian published author, an educator, speaker, singer, a blogger and an entrepreneur. He was born on December 12th 1993 to Nigerian parents. His father, Mr. Adekunle was a native of Oyo state while he mother was from Gbongan Osun state, Nigeria. He hailed from a polygamous family but his mother gave birth to three children.
This is nice. It is good to know that after all the problems that she passed through, Kim eventually made it.
ReplyDeleteGreat story!
ReplyDelete