Chinedu Kizzito Uwalaka
When a man’s heart is eaten
up by lust he loses his senses.
A handful of people gathered in front of Mr. Vitalis’ house. They were sympathisers and hardly confined to a permanent position. Some hung by the door while others walked about. Another group sort support on the scrapped car packed metres away from the building in the compound.
“Chai, so dis woman don take like that go!” said a female sympathiser in Pidgin English.
Forlorn cast on every face and most of them folded their hands across their chests.
“Wetin dem say kill lam?” a man said.
“Nawa…nobodi no,” replied the woman who lived next-door to Mr. Vitalis.
They sighed and shrugged their shoulders. Sad news never pampered faces with smiles except the faces of pitched enemies whose fervent prayers attracted such answers.
“Where em husband dey now?” another neighbour said.
“Inside the house, poor man” said a sympathiser.
“What about his son Chike?” the neighbour said.
“Nobodi no, they say na playboy,” said the same woman.
Everybody’s attention pulled at the black 190E Mercedes Benz car that drove in. The door opened and Chike walked out. He stood a while, looked at the spattered crowd that collected in two’s, three’s and four’s in the compound. His mind went to it and he walked into the room, not talking to anybody.
“Old boy,” said Chike to his father, “I didn’t know you were serious.” He sat on the mat with his father amidst friends and relations.
“It’s now you think of returning?” said Mr. Vitalis.
“What did I do wrong?” Chike spread his arms in bewilderment.
“For one week now, you’ve be gone and ignored calls from me until this morning?” said Mr. Vitalis, sternly.
“Business…from one hotel to the other,” said Chike.
“It doesn’t stop you from checking back home to know how your mother, at least, was fairing.”
Chike remained silent.
“You know your mother was sick…she had your name on her lips in her dead,” Mr. Vitalis clipped his hands together across his chest.
The silence was smashed by mutters from sympathisers. .
“But dad I . . .?” said Chike, with an emotion-ridden voice.
“Shush…, but what? You’re a worthless son. I don’t know why you choose to come to this family. You would have come to this world through other parents,” Mr. Vitalis said.
Grin…. grin… Chike’s phone rang and he received the call smiling.
“Ah! B.J,” said Chike into the phone. “B.J what’s up, So how far, did you get the babes...oh yeah, the night is not going to be easy, you know...in the hotel, I’m right on my way.” Chike ended the call and looked at his father.
“Just imagine you…” said Mr. Vitalis.
“You’ve always told me how worthless I am. I thank you for training me through university but I can’t do things your way. We’ll bury mama next weekend…I shall come back tomorrow to talk with you as a son; a bad one,” Chike looked at the faces in the room and stood up. “It’ll be a gathering of who is who with all my political and business friends in attendance. Everything turns into an opportunity in life, you know?” Chike walked out, entered his car and revved off.
