The night had finally arrived. The streets glowed with color LED lights and the local decorations of cassettes hanging on ribbons. The beer parlors blasted loud music; it would soon be time for the churches to start their own Christmas tunes. I was lost, staring at the night sky, when my little sister interrupted.
“Evanna! Evanna! Mummy is calling you, it’s time to eat”
I hurriedly got down from my bed.
Our
Christmas Eve dinner was something I couldn’t miss. ”It’s about to start!”,
Linda’s tiny voice rang out as she held the remote to change the channel.
Everyone
sat down to eat. The movie “Home Alone” had started playing already. I smiled,
‘No matter how many times I had watched it, I still found it funny’
Just
as our pleasant dinner started, my elder brother Leon walked past us to the
front door.
“Brother
Leon” 5 years old Linda called.
He
paused and looked at her.
“Won’t
you eat?”, She asked and stared at him with pleading eyes.
Leon
hesitated for a while before saying in a bold voice. “No”
Then
he opened the door and went outside. I turned to see my dad rubbing my mother’s
hand in an attempt to calm her down. It wasn’t long until the house was filled
with Linda’s giggles and the mood lightened up again. Even mummy started
laughing.
Suddenly,
mummy was startled by the strange noises she heard.
“Mogbe
o! Mogbe o! Won nbo!”
“Oko
mi, did you hear that?” Mummy asked Daddy.
“Hear
what?”
I
focused my attention on the movie. Maybe those street boys were at it again,
trying to prank people.
Mummy
was about to speak but was rudely interrupted by the sound of gunshots and
screams. My heartbeats increased as I got scared. Daddy rushed to the windows
to check what was happening. His eyes widened at what he saw. In a shaky voice,
he told mummy to take us away. Linda was still engrossed in the movie and was
still giggling loudly.
“Evanna,
Linda! Get up, we have to go somewhere”, mummy said and started to clean Linda
up.
“But
mummy we haven’t finished eating”, Linda complained. I was more concerned about
where we were going to amid gunshots.
“Where
are we going to?”, Linda asked with some pieces of chicken in her mouth.
“Stop
asking me stupid questions and do as I say!” Mummy shouted.
Daddy
went into the kitchen and carried his machete. Mummy was still dragging Linda
when the door burst open. My heart almost jumped out of my chest, I was so
scared. The leader of the masked men smiled when they walked in. “Eniyannla, a
tiwá fun ebunkeresimesiwa, hehehe!”
(Meaning:
“big man, we have come for our Christmas gift”) He spoke and pointed his gun at
my mother’s head.
It
was at this point, Linda let out a loud wail. As scared as I was, I knew this
wasn’t the time for her to cry so loudly. So I attempted to comfort her.
I
watched as my father got on his knees to beg. My mother was already silent
tears and sweating profusely.
Suddenly,
the man withdrew his gun and aimed at my father.
“You
think sey I be mumu, abi? Now you go stand up go bring my share of the money
wey presido give you yesterday”
‘What
were they even talking about?’, I thought. The sound of a lighter getting lit
caught my attention and I turned to look at one of the armed men holding it. He
looked so familiar. Like the Keke man who lived two blocks away.
“Please!
I don’t have it. The chief came and took it all yesterday”, my father begged.
I
had only seen grown men cry in movies, this was my first time seeing it in real
life.
“Ehen!
You still think I’m a fool shey? Okay na, I go show you”
He
pointed his gun at my mother again. The next thing I heard was a loud bang that
left my ears ringing and I saw my mother’s body fall flat on the floor, her red
blood staining the grey rug. My sight became blurry with tears. “ No! No!
Mummy!” I called out and cried. I struggled with the little strength I had to
hold my little sister, who was already unconscious and bit my lips to stop
myself from screaming.
“Ah!
Please! Please don’t do this! I’m telling you I’m not with anything, leave my
family out of this”
“Oga
mi! You for no shoot the wife na, no be wetin we come here for”, the Keke man
said.
The
masked leader pointed his gun at my father again and spoke
“Since
you don’t know where it is. Until you give me my money, these your pretty
daughters…I go sell that big one give ‘onyinbo’. Him go like her for him club,
hahaha” he laughed as he said those last words. My heart beat even faster and I
could feel myself losing consciousness. His laugh was all I could hear as I
struggled with the darkness, right before it overwhelmed me.
‘was this really my fate?’
I
woke up to the choking smell of smoke and found myself in an uncompleted
building. My head, ears, eyes, and hands were hurting. I was tied up with ropes
and I shivered from the cold harmattan breeze.
‘This
wasn’t how I had planned out my Christmas holiday. I wanted to spend it with my
family, I’m supposed to be in church tomorrow morning singing in the choir’, I
thought. The men who were with me didn’t pay any attention to me, they were
smoking and arguing about the recent match between Arsenal and Aston Villa.
I
struggled with the ropes in an attempt to free myself. The Keke man noticed and
immediately started walking towards me. His fierce gaze sent shivers down my
spine. I swallowed hard as he pulled the trigger of his gun and aimed at me.