Lost Gays in the Savannas - 1. The Rude Shock In Little Haven

Its a beautiful morning in the month of August, it doesn't look cloudy today but very likely to rain later on today. As my mum go about preparing to head out for business.

"Evelyn, Evelyn", she called repeatedly as she pace around the house early hours of the morning.

"Yes mum" -she dropped the broom she was using to clean around the yard.

"Wake the boys and get them prepared for school. When you're done, bring them by the restaurant so you can get some food for them to take along."

"Okay mum." -as she turns walking towards Charles and Edward's room.

"Charles ?" She called not really stopping but stopped, when past their door.

"What?" Sounding as usual in a tone he wishes, conferred firstborn right on him. "I'm still in bed".

" No. you're awake and on bed. Mum is leaving. Wake Edward so you two can get ready for school."

She walked away without waiting for Charles response. "Let me go and get Audu and Lazarus prepared." She says' more to herself than to anyone in particular around the house.

"Hey' wake up" as she hit lightly between Audu and Lazarus, sitting on the edge of their bed.

"Mooning" one of the boys called, as both stretch and turns on their bed.

"Mooning to you too." She smiles intentionally following the boys way of saying morning.

She woke them up, walked both of them to the bathroom, getting their bathing water adjusted to a comfortable warmness as they took turn peeing. She got them ready for school and passed by the restaurant, then to their school to drop them off.

"Bye-bye" they called after her as she walked away.

"See you later and make sure you finish your food". She replied as she turns to leave.

                     **************

Mum have started taking a little bit of time off her restaurant business, as she's heavily pregnant and looking closer to delivery. If I'm not mistaken she might put to bed by September which is next month.

"When is dad coming home? -Mum" she says while sitting next to mum under the shade in the backyard.

She kept silent for a short while; like she didn't hear what Evelyn said, staring into the quiet compound looking at nothing in particular but not actually pensive.

"He's a very busy man, but when he could take time off his job? He would come over and see how we're doing."

"Mum, I don't know what kind of job Dad does, he's never really here and when he comes he doesn't even talk to us aside his actual day of arrival. Where does he work?"

"Your father loves you guys. He's like that with all his children."

"Dad have other children?"

"Yes. He has two other wives living in his hometown with their kids. Leave that for now."

"Okay mum"

"He's with the ministry of agriculture, as an Agric. Extension Officer, he got transferred to Calabar last year."

And true to her words he showed up at the end of that month and spent like one week with us and he's gone. A culture that has been before the birth of my three older siblings; Evelyn, Charlse and Edward and so it continues till I and my twin arrived the scene and well into the birth of our last born Solomon, till he was two years old and I and my twin turned five,then the world flipped upside down.

                   ***************

"Evelyn"

"Yes mum"

"Go to our neighbors house and call mummy Rachel for me"

"Okay mum" and she leaves for mummy Rachel's house, very close, about 100m.

"Daniel is your mum at home? My mum said she wants to see her."

"Who's there?" Mummy Rachel calls from inside the house before Daniel could reply Evelyn, as she walked to the door.

"Evelyn, how are you?"

"Good afternoon ma'am, I'm fine."

"How is your mum?"

"She's alright, she asked that I call you."

"Okay. Tell her I'm right behind you, let me change my blouse."

"Alright" she walks away towards home and they were soon joined by mummy Rachel as she got home.

"Mummy Evelyn, how are you and the kids?"

"We're fine my sister, from the way I've been feeling since early hours of the morning, I think its time to go to St.Mary"

"Oh my God! Our baby girl is ready to see the world."

"Yes! Yes! I think so" they both laughed and swiftly a couple of stuff were taken and they left for St. Mary's Hospital at 3:00 pm. Before 6:00pm my mums elder sister - mummy peter and my grandmother were already by her side along with mummy Rachel, and she was taken into labour room.its 8:00pm and no news about the baby or my mum.

"Mummy peter" mummy Rachel calls rushing along side grandma as they approached her, her expression doesn't look good, a mixture of fear,confusion and sadness.

"We need to call her husband. The labour is not progressing. And the baby is not positioned properly and she's running out of strength"

"Is he not aware already? - That his wife went into labor today?" Mummy Rachel asked.

"He is. But the doctor said they are likely considering an already communicated option, just need to make him aware, so they can proceed." Mummy peter turned to grandma who's already looking frightened by the situation and held her hand.

"Doctor Dennis, please do all you can for my daughter, I want her and the baby safe and sound"

"Yes. we would do our best and your daughter and baby would be alright. C- section is our best option right now, if we must save both the baby and mother."

              *****************

Its 10:00 am and we haven't heard from the hospital. We were busy playing around the house, when we saw mummy peter sometime towards late afternoon. She ask how we are doing, took more clothes and left.

"Mum this is not good."

"I know. Non stop blood flows for two days? What could cause such instant postpartum hemorrhage?"

"The doctors said she would need blood transfusion, her blood count is depleting rapidly, and there are no blood available in the hospital"

"The husband would be here tomorrow"

"Yes I know, but search has begun already for donors, and a close patron of her restaurant is willing to help. They're running test on him already."

Its been six days since mum left for the hospital.They came home after she was cleared to be stable and the blood flow doesn't look too unusual anymore. But just two weeks and she started turning yellow and coughing. Then the stitches to close up her operation during delivery loosed.

"Dr Dennis?"

"Your wife is alright. The stitches have been taken care off, but she has jaundice."

"What? Jaundice. What's going on?"

"Take it easy Mr Benson, we are doing our best."

                 ***************

"Hey honey" he sat down by her bed, holding her hand while mummy peter sat with the new baby in her lap on the other side of bed.

"Hey, are the kids alright?"

"Yes. They're fine."

            ***************

"My Sister, I don't think all of these is normal, we need to make a sacrifice to the gods on your behalf" mummy peter squeezed her hand as she looked into her eyes pleadingly.

"I have chosen the way of Christ. I can't follow two ways anymore, I don't want to make any sacrifice, I don't want to dirty my garment anymore."

While they were just finishing their talk some members from mum's church came in to have a little prayer with her which happened to be her last.

"Tell Evelyn to bath the boys and come with all of them."

"Okay."

"Mum" Evelyn rushed to the bed side hugging her, she talked and touched the boys for a while and send them off with mummy peter out of the room leaving her alone with Evelyn.

"Evelyn"

"Yes mum"

"Your father has two other wives, and they have five and four children respectively. He also had a girl child with a woman who was my friend in college, and also a boy child with a woman living in his maternal hometown and finally a girl child again with another woman living in his hometown. All the three children he had with three different women aside the two women he legally married are living with their mothers."

" wao! All this women in his life? And children? "

"Yes."

"Is that why he doesn't live with us?"

"Yes. Then his job"

"Mum what is going on, I'm getting a bit scared. Won't you come back home?"

"Don't be scared, be the strong young lady that you've become, don't let the boys fight, and don't let them go hungry."

"Okay mum"

"Take them home, the sun is going down."

"Okay mum" she walks out the hospital room along with the boys from mummy peter and along with mummy Rachel they left the hospital.

"Honey is there something you've done that you'll want to confess? Did you ever sleep with another man while I was away? Tell me and we would do the traditional rituals needed and everything would be alright."

She kept looking at my Dad with an expression that seems void of any readable emotions, then shortly with a faint distant smile as if thinking of a happy. Then she finally responded.

"No. And don't let the kids suffer no matter what happens."

Mummy peter and my grandmother walked in and my father walked out, head hanging down and both hands in his trousers pocket.

Its not been long we got home it just started getting dark; maybe 8 pm or so then we started hearing loud wailing coming from the hospital's direction, and its one of our neighbor that is crying. And she's heading straight for our house with my dad walking behind her along with some other familiar and unfamiliar faces.

                    *************

Its 6th October 1996 and mum left without looking back forgetting that we are too young for her to die now.

As the only real support we've come to know and believe disappears suddenly; we were not prepared at all as a family as the death of my mum threw us into panic and utter shock too strong to bear sieved through the whole of our being, we were just kids; Evelyn was 14, Charles was 11, Edward was 8, Solomon 2 and we the twin boys were 5.

It was such a helpless pitiful sight to behold during the funeral as the new born cries non stop most times, running into weeks and months afterwards before she died too.

                       ************

Then we moved in with our grand ma, my father came for visit couple of times, maybe he was deeply saddened by my mum's passing and every time he had to face us makes the healing process difficult for him; because he started pulling away and we noticed seeing less and less of him till it feels like our father passed and we didn't hear about it. But that wasn't the case, he just couldn't get womanizing out of his system.

                  **************

We would grow up to learn of our own kind of father, as we get accustomed to being abandoned, and while he was gone tragedy struck again. My twin brother who is SS died after battling the genetic disorder for as long as his strength could carry him in face of lack and rude U-turn of proper care. But now I am ten years old and was still Lazarus and never knew I do change my name, move around a lot and become Basil. At this time I knew I was terribly gay, but i haven't come in contact with the word "gay" yet, I didn't know what it meant, if external cultures contaminate then it didn't happen in my case, but I would say it helps me understand my characteristics manifestation and to realize a greater louder voice of who I am, playing out somewhere. But I wouldn't know that till well into my years. And after my twin died, my sister moved to boarding high school; supported by her boyfriend and money she saved from street hawking, my two older brothers moved to separate cities to squat with distant relatives, Solomon stayed back with my grandmother and I began another phase of the journey that have me writing this, I moved to stay with another distant relative at 10, in a close by neighboring small town and its 2001.