Little Miracles

 

Sitting on this couch reminds you of the times that you lived with Nneochie; a grandmother in every sense of word; shrewd, frugal, and a financial advisor cum-equity strategies. 

You remember you’d pay rapt attention to her plenitude moonlight stories that always end with “Every penny matters; save and invest”, while watching the way she lifts a giant pestle and pounds the mouthwatering African cassava mash. 

It is Eke day: known as the first market day of the week according to the belief of the Igbo; a Nation in Nigeria.

Amid the serenity of that blissful moonlight, you sat leg crossed, enthusiastic, yearning for a folktale, and even though you knew that your sitting posture was against Nneochie’s ethics as you were being yelled at, “Nọdụ ala ka nwanyị”, a cautious of Sit down like a woman. 

You nodded like a lizard, as you cracked a smile and adjusted your sitting posture, then watched Nneochie sneer at you, but you avoided peeking at her face. 

But you said, “Nne, forgive me and please, tell me a story”. Then your grandmother smiled as she told you the story of a wealthy man who has five sons. 

You heard the name of the first son sounded like the drop of a bomb on a rocky ground; “Amuneke,” a literal meaning of penis creates, then you wondered if such a name was meant for caricature. But you hid your smiles in your palms as you avoided being addressed as a spoilt brat. 

The second son’s name was a bit bizarre, “Amaiwe”; meaning a land of wickedness. But you rolled your eyes like Mantis Shrimp; with a little chuckle and a little imagination of the name. 

Then you went ahead to ask for the rest of the other son’s names, like Oliver twist. 

And you were told as you held your upper and lower lips with your two fingers, to prevent laughing out aloud, because your grandmother would definitely shriek and stop telling the story if learned your flippancy towards it. 

So you were told of how the man gave his sons millions, thousands, to hundreds of dollars and to each according to their order of birth. 

And you heard that the man gave the first son a million dollars, to the second son, fifty thousand dollars, the third Son, thirty thousand dollars, the fourth Son, two hundred dollars, and to the fifth son, one hundred dollars. 

Then your ear widened and a surge of pain pierced your heart like an arrow as you became bothered and bitter about an unfair treatment meted out to the last Son.

So many questions lay on your heart, like the thoughts you had when you read about the crucifixion of the Messiah.

“Poor boy, why would he be given such a little amount of money as an inheritance?” You muttered and hissed as your eyes welled up. 

Perhaps his father detested him very much, just like your Mother was to you. 

You had watched her gift your big sibling a rainbow dress and to you, a single-color dress, and that single act always wanted to make you scream “You are not my true mother”. 

You knew that your father loved you and you had received tons of ornamented bags of kindness from him but you didn’t think that your mother had an ounce of love for you as she would poke your nose when you whimper about the way you were being treated. 

But you hastily detached your emotions from the story as you decided to play the reality card and hear the end part. 

Then you heard again that the man asked the sons to do with the money as it pleased them and he left for a far way land. 

You heard that the first Son invested his money in Bitcoin trading and it yielded multiple incomes. And you were later told that he became the richest in the city. 

And to the second, you heard that he invested in agribusiness, and it thrived uncompellingly; then the third and fourth Son, both invested in fish farming and it prospered. 

But you suddenly became awestruck as your ears bristled when you were told about the wealthy Man’s arrival without your grandmother speaking about the fate of the youngest Son. 

Then you deduced that  little children like you, were never loved as you became saddened and since the story was beginning to irk you; you feigned to be thirsty as you excused to run to the room to drink water; but you were stopped and offered a mouthful of it in a ceramic cup. 

And you quickly grasped that your grandmother has restricted the leeway to escape. 

Then you ground your teeth as you sat dejectedly, and you said your bead inwardly even though you never believed that the prayer of a malefactor could be answered, but you hoped that your grandmother would end the story sooner. 

As you were about to get drowsy, your grandmother gently greeted your clean-shaven shiny head with a knock and picked up from where she stopped.

In your grogginess, you heard that the man asked his sons to give an account of their inheritance. So you envisaged how the first son’s face glittered as he told an electrifying and boastful story about how he invested in a daring business, succeeded, and became a billionaire. 

You saw as he handed the income and the capital to the man and his face brightened like the sun.

You hastily scowled as the man appreciated and blessed him. 

Then your veins stood erect in furiousness as you wished to possess some superpowers so that you could fight and probably shred them into pieces. 

You knew and your little mind knew that the first son made those profits because he was more favored than anyone else and such acts to you, was considered an injustice. 

But as you perceived your heart was about to explode, then you carried it with your hands like an infant. 

You recalled that you had told yourself to detach emotions from realities but such a brittle heart of yours won’t let you. 

So you rose like a fierce lion and paced when the second son stepped forward to do likewise as the first son. But you were dragged back to the settee by your grandmother who thought that you were having a bad dream.

Patiently, you sat back; though a little uneasy and a little flaringly as you shut your eyes again and this time, you saw the third and the fourth presented both the capital and the income to the man.

And his joy knew no bounds as you watched him express it grandly by patting their backs and splashing their cheeks with kisses, while euphorically emblazoned them, “i mèrè ofụma, nwa m. Daluu ọrụ”. 

You could see how they showed their milky teeth, and how their shoulder pads suddenly rose like puff-puff in a hot oil. 

You smirked as their plume sent some rumble into your stomach. 

Have they committed any crimes aside from being obedient to the man?

“Yes.” You answered as you wrestled with your inner mind, which you attempted to bring to your side by persuasion. 

“How could you not see their crimes? Can’t you see that they are bunches of mercenaries who prefer to feed their banks and would prefer to watch their younger ones crumble. Kindly stay with me, my friend. Let us fight against this evil.”

And immediately your inner mind became speechless and then you concluded that the tranquility in your heart was because of it agreeing to your stances. 

Your face lightened up as you had a partner, who, for once, took your side. 

Your grandmother glanced at your smiling face and winded up that you were still intrigued by the story. 

You heard her chuckle through the nose like a masquerade. 

And that would be the first time, from the time of your birth, that you had ever seen your grandmother openly express pleasingness with you. 

And sometimes, the strictness you perceive in her voice makes you want to term her a weirdo or a witch as you often wonder what sort of human behaves in such a manner.

You didn’t want to goad her to continue with the story, but you saw her lips spilled it effortlessly. 

You heard that the youngest Son brought out the one hundred dollars that was given to him and presented it before the man. 

Your heart leaped with joy as you became proud of his deeds as you muttered, “A wicked father is not worth stretching oneself for”. 

You saw the man’s face reddened as you watched him spit at the youngest son’s face and howled. 

Again, you became proud when the youngest son rose from being wimpy and became defensive, 

“Your hatred engulfed me and it’s good to pay you back in the same coin. A wicked person who wants to reap where he doesn’t sow. That’s who you are, father!” 

From your left-hand side, you could see how other aggrieved sons rose from their seats to smear the youngest son’s face with good punches but you saw how the man hastily stood in their way and stopped them; then turned to the youngest Son.

“You ingrate, scoundrel! You should have been wise enough to deduce the plan that I have for you. 

Because you’re full of bitterness and didn’t know that one who works hard with the little that he was being given and increases it; would have more added to him. 

Now, rise and get out of my presence.” 

You watched the youngest son who you had believed shared the same story with you, cried his eyes out, kneeling and pleading.

And you wished that the man could forgive him but forgiveness they say, comes from genuine repentance. 

You saw the man turn his back on the youngest son and return the interests and capital to the other sons and even added extra dollars to them. 

Your heart sank and this time, your obstreperous cry filled the atmosphere and drew the attention of your grandmother who twinged you rather than questioning the reasons behind your cry. 

You angrily got up from your settee and ran to your room but from the bed where you were trying to nurse your pain, you heard a hoarse voice say,

“You should learn that hard work pays, you should learn that; else you would end up like him! Again, wipe those tears and shut your mouth or I come there and whip your ass!”

You became quiet suddenly and began to reflect on the story. And at a point, you became remorseful and pinched yourself for taking the wrong sides. 

You could have known that the man meant well for the youngest son, but your sentiment deluded you. 

Then you cried harder, but it was inwardly, as you realized that your mother didn’t hate you either and everything that happened was meant for your good. 

You hurriedly got down from your bed and knelt beside it as you said a short prayer of forgiveness and you asked your God to smear your mother and grandmother’s hearts with enormous love and wisdom to guide you. 

You woke up the next day having your mother sit by your side, squeezing your hands softly. 

You smiled heartedly and fell into her arms as the chuck of tears erupted from your eyes and dropped on her body. 

You felt her soft hands lift your face, dovish eyes staring right into your eyes, and then you heard, “You are loved, don’t feel any less, child.” 

You embraced her tightly and muttered, “You are loved a lot, Mama”, as you felt a wind of peace blow upon your heart. 

You watched her kiss your forehead and unwrapped your arms off her waist; then gave you a little amount of money and asked you to buy whatever you need from it. 

**********************

You thanked your mother as you hurried out to join your mates at the playground. 

You saw Ada, your supposed love interest from a distance, giddily waiting for you beside the big African star apple tree. 

You hastened your pace to the tree, wearing beautiful smiles, and even though your heart raced at her presence, you man up to peek into her charming eyes, and it sent some chills to your body. 

You held her hands as you both joined other children who were playing in the sand field. 

You were still with Ada making a mock soup for her, while she sat and watched as Queen Elizabeth when Chukwujeku called you. 

You saw the no in her eyes but you quickly asked Chukwujeku to give you a few minutes, as you whispered in her ear, “Keep stirring the soup, Ada m, … will see you soon.”

You knew that Ada was such a bad cook, but it didn’t bother you much as you believed that her beauty was enough to bring you much happiness. 

You followed Chukwujeku to the place where adults were gathered. At first, you thought that it was the normal masquerade displays 

But looking at the center, you could see two men of color and an interpreter, dressed in black shorts and white shirts, grey hats that sat on their heads like loads. 

And as you forced yourself into the crowd, you observed that they spoke through their noses. It amused you because such language was seemingly strange to your ears. 

You grinned and tapped Chukwujeku whose concentration was on the longness of their noses. 

You saw his lostness and then left him to listen to their teachings. 

You heard the word Bank for the first time as they said that you could save all your money there and it would yield good interests.

You became wowed again as you quickly asked if you could save the hundred naira that your mother gave to you with them, and you got a yes as an answer and it came with a condition. 

You were told that you need to have up to five hundred to a thousand naira before you could open a bank account. 

So you became dejected again as you left quietly like a snail. 

You ran back home tearfully to meet with your uncle who had just arrived from the city. 

You were offered biscuits, but you refused and requested to be given money instead. 

You watched as his eyes widened in amusement, but your request was granted as he gave you two thousand naira. 

You were asked what you would want to do with the money but you grinned to your uncle’s astonishment and said “you are a made man”. 

Still thinking of what you meant by those words, he gave you more money and advised you to invest it before you become a man. 

You hugged him fervidly then ran to give it to the trusted uncle Ndubuisi and asked him to help you to invest in cryptocurrencies.  

Then you smilingly returned to the playground to join Ada.