CHINA TORI

Preye got to the house by a stroke of luck today. The boat that brought her back to her shaky double-decked home was almost leaving the dock when she arrived. She had gotten into a fight with the bike man that carried her from Amassoma to the waterside at Ogbolomambiri and he had threatened to stop her halfway. He even delayed her and charged an extra that she could not avoid paying him because she worried that she would miss the last boat.

The last boat heading her way was the one that belonged to her late mother’s friend, Aunty Julie. Usually, the driver, Pa Biedima transported her to the city and back for free. He enjoys her company and the small chops she shares with him whenever she boards. So he would reserve a seat for her and look out for her. And even though Preye was not sure Aunty Julie knew of their arrangement, she thanked her stars for Pa Biedima’s kind heart.

But today was different. Pa Biedima was surprisingly harsh and unkind. He spat her greeting back at her and nearly sent her out of the boat for mistakenly kicking another passenger’s wares. He won’t look at her face or tell her where to sit. When she offered her fare, he accepted it with a grudge, and kept muttering something about that being the practice from then on.

Sincerely, Preye had no problems with paying her fare; not at all. “At least, I can afford it now”, she thought to herself. What she had a problem with was her best friend’s hostility towards her. She kept trying to catch his eyes, but he won’t let her. She wanted to beg him, but he won’t let her. So she bit her tongue and fought back the tears.

Pa Biedima has been her confidant and her protector for as long as she can remember. When her mother died in 2013, Preye fought hard with loneliness and depression and fatigue. She found herself working twice as hard as any girl her age to fend for herself and her father. Sometimes, she would join the speed boat drivers who go out before dawn in search of crayfish on the still salty waters of Oluasiri. And some other times, she swam and dug in the swamps along the shoreline for periwinkles and crabs. She was always present wherever there was “work-for-pay”, and if Pa Biedima happens to be in the same space, he would leave her kind and encouraging words.

Things, for her, got worse in November 2017 when the waters became angry and unforgiving. And because no one could fish or trade for weeks, the economy of the entire local government area was affected adversely. Everyone who had money could not find food to exchange it with, and everyone who had food didn’t want to part with them. The only option the rich had then was to put their paper money in their cooking pots, cook them and eat. Hehehe. Young Preye was not left out; she was forced to come up with another means of earning her daily bread. And it was during this period that she ran into Pa Biedima.

She had prepared a quick dinner of Yellow Soup and Foofoo that evening and quickly dished a portion for her dad. She served him, as usual, with a good quantity of Palmie; the same one she laces with dada (marijuana) on days like that. She did that, waited for his snore and then sneaked out. She was on her way to see her favourite client, Grandpa Bomo, when she was accosted by Pa Biedima. Apparently, he had been watching her for some days and decided to step in at the time he did to stop her from ruining her life.

Pa Biedima took Preye to his house that day, shared his food items with her and walked her back to her house. He watched her go in before he made to leave, and Preye would never forget how loved she felt that day. While she was trying to understand his true intentions, she had to deal with the guilt and the shame he had saved her from. How she got to the point of giving her body for one or two bunches of plantain baffled her, and she couldn’t stop herself from weeping.

Over time, Pa Biedima became her best friend, and now, Preye would give anything to keep them that way. He shared her joys with her, and encouraged her to stay strong when no one else cared. She loved him like a daughter would love a father, and she never forgets to say a prayer for him every time she prayed for herself. Preye was an only child whose parents had failed, and the one person who took their place in her life was Pa Biedima.

So you cannot imagine how hurt she was today when Pa Biedima started with the attitude. She cried silently as she munched on her small chops. It was no surprise to her that they were tasteless on this day; but then, she could care less.

She took in the sight as Pa Biedima navigated the waters noiselessly in the dark. Lights from households preparing for an early supper dotted the waterline, and she let herself wish. She wished her mother was still alive and at home waiting for her. She just couldn’t fathom how something as small as typhoid could have defeated a woman as strong as the Fair One – the fearless woman from Akwa Ibom who was simply known as Eka. The ever resilient one whose greatest misfortune is the man she married.

Preye wished her father was not the drunk who stole from his only child. She wished she had a brother or a sister, and didn’t care if they became wayward or got pregnant at 12. She just wished she wasn’t born alone and doomed to work extra hard to make ends meet.

Thanks for stopping by. If you are as excited as I am about getting to the part where THE HEIST actually happens, please like this piece, leave a comment and share.

You know I love and appreciate you all, right? I really do.

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