Waves Aligning

by Adaora O

  Tinkering on the edge of hysteria, Chinny drew a list of her prospective guests. Father, Mother, Dubem, Adaiba, Uncle Kika, Auntie Violet… She paused, not sure if her ten guests included herself. Deciding it did, she realised she had three slots left. Had Ejiofor not left after Easter, she would have been glad to invite him. But Mr Oliseh’s name made the list after Dede confirmed he would be available. A myriad of thoughts filtered through Chinny’s head as she fiddled with giving the last two slots to Eniola and her mother. But without a mobile number she could call, Chinny realised the futility in expecting them at the villa by 10:00 am the following day. But her list would not be complete without one person. Chinny decided to ask Rufus for a favour.

  The night sped past as nobody in the Onas’ home slept before 1:00 am. Their apprehension mixed with excitement caused dizzy spells and at first light, everyone scampered out of their not-so-warm beds, bubbling about ironing clothes and polishing shoes. Frantic demands of “Why did you not pick up my call? Did you see my text message?” “Have you left yet?” and “Where are you now?” were made from different mobile phones.

  The handover ceremony fast turned into a fanfare. On learning about the event, lobbying for invites by various individuals of influence seeking relevance hit the government house at all levels. A last-minute adjustment in the initial venue by the event planners became inevitable as the Government House grounds, formerly planned to be the venue, could no longer accommodate the expected number of guests.

  Almost bursting with people, Bay Events Centre blazed and buzzed with lights and activities. Representatives from both national and international television stations darted in a flurry of activities. One look at the hall setting, and Chinny’s bravado received a blow after she realised how grossly underdressed she and her guests looked. They took a table in a corner, close to obscurity but that did not appease the god in one of the ushers, who relocated them to the table closest to the exit. She wanted an apparently more affluent group to take their original table. Chinny and her guests did not appear to mind as they cheerfully obeyed the usher, grateful they received an invite in the first place.

  They soaked up all the entertainment from dance troops, poets, musicians, comedians, stage plays and choirs. Ejiofor implored, so Chinny took as many snapshots and videos as her phone memory could handle. Though good-natured and grateful, it was hard for Chinny and her guests to pretend not to notice how the different coloured and delicious-looking drinks in glasses, arrays of exotic snacks and other appetite-stimulating finger foods showcased masterful creativity in circumventing their table. Added to not being catered for, they were constantly bumped into and stepped on as the ushers carried on with their duties in skewed enthusiasm.

  Chinny’s phone began to vibrate. Unable to recognise the number, she picked up the call and strained to hear the caller. “Kenneth?” she shrieked. She could barely hear him and made to step outside, but the entrance was now choked by two bodyguards in white shirts and dark suits, cautious in their attempt to disperse a crop of guests, who judging by their shiny shoes, wristwatches and jewellery, gave the impression of being the crème of the society. They wanted a glimpse of the two new guests who had just arrived at the venue.

  The crowd refused to budge but the men in dark suits, now desperate, began to body-shove them. Scanning for an exit door, Chinny made to step back, but caught a glimpse of the six-inch long shining silver steel in the gaping jacket of one of the bodyguards and everywhere started to twirl before her. Last night’s dinner attempted a sneak peek through Chinny’s mouth and shutting her eyes tight, she charged out of the venue with the strength of an angry bull. Strong arms caught her as she fell head-long screaming, “Chimooooo Chimooooo!!!”

  Four bodyguards succeeded in barring guests from rushing out while one extricated Chinny from the arms of one of the new guests who just arrived. After a quick scan, he certified Chinny unarmed and harmless. The light-skinned man in whose arms she fell, chuckled with a strange accent, “Young lady, I am also delighted to see you, but I must look a lot like your Chinese friend ‘chee-mooo’. My name is Hugo Dolores, President of the Dominican Republic. What is your name?”

  A bodyguard who Chinny now recognised as one of the men who delivered her invite the day before asked, “Chinny Ona?” Still dry-mouthed, Chinny bobbed her head up and down in quick succession. He muttered to his colleague who whispered to the President of the Dominican Republic and another security official. Whatever information being passed filtered through the security officials until it reached the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  Chinny was a bundle of nerves as she stepped aside for the entourage to file in. The President of Nigeria stopped by her and whispered, “You are one brave young lady and I consider it a privilege to meet you.” He continued with the procession, leaving a thoroughly unsettled and open-mouthed Chinny. All the guests got on their feet at the announcement of their arrival. And as soon as the entrance cleared out, everyone on the Onas’ table ran out to find Chinny still rooted to the ground. They understood what happened to Chinny and assured her that in time, the sight of a gun would cease to evoke the kind of fear she just exhibited.

  At the end of the national anthem, the most remarkable thing happened. The moderator’s voice rang through the public address system. “Chinny Ona and her guests are to please come up to the table reserved for them. Chinny Ona, please, where are you? You and your guests have a reservation. Kindly indicate and you would be ushered to your table.” Their chatter took a nose-dive as alarmed bright eyes stared at confused bright eyes. Taking unsure steps to their new table, Chinny saw Mr Peters. His countenance reflected looming implosion and in one moment of sudden triumphant discovery, she not only saw, but heard the void in his heart scream in frustration and silent desperation. A soothing freshness coursed through Chinny’s once-battered mind, as she, with a smile borne out of unalloyed pity spreading across her face, sashayed past him to take her table.

  The rest of the events went on in rapid succession. The state governor gave his speech where he almost beat to death the stance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on human trafficking in any form, and vowed not to relent in the development of systems geared towards promoting deterrence-oriented consequences. Soon after, Chief Utah gave his speech, asserting his position on human trafficking. He ended with profound apologies for not paying enough attention to those he entrusted with his property and promised to spend his lifetime making right the wrong he unwittingly caused.

  Afterwards, the visiting president reiterated his country’s disposition towards child labour, human trafficking and female repression. He thanked his host country for giving the Dominican Republic the benefit of the doubt and vigorously working with his government to annihilate the racket.

  Gripped with fear at how close by crime lived, everyone watched a playlet illustrating the sordid episode at the villa, as presented by a group of secondary school students. After the playlet, more background music in the company of even more food, drinks and snack bites flowed through the hall. This was an interlude thought by most guests to be a welcome reprieve from the several lengthy and thought-provoking speeches.

  President Bennett C. Okofeli of the Federal Republic of Nigeria inhaled the charged air and nodded in appreciation, waiting for the eardrum-popping applause that heralded him to the podium to fade. He thanked the government of the Dominican Republic and all the guests who took time out to celebrate the safe return of the girls. Recalling how far the human race had come since the eradication of the legal slave trade, he stated that the discovered ring and countless others yet to be exposed, ran nothing short of slave camps and urged everyone to shun them in their entirety. A further charge to parents, to not only care for their children, but pay particular attention to their female children and wards, met with vigorous nods and exclamations of “Exactly, true talk and tell them!” from the testosterone-rich crop of guests.

  At the end o
f his speech, the president recognised the young lady, whose quest to find her missing brother led to the exposure of the callous and criminal web. Amidst thunderous applause, Chinny and all sixteen girls responded to the president’s invitation to join him on the platform. Scholarship grants, up to university graduate level, were given to those of the girls interested in formal education. For those who didn’t care much about following the academic path, opportunities to train for any vocation of their choice were given. On graduation, they would be set up as caterers, bakers, fashion designers, make-up artists or the like. Wild with excitement, more applause reverberated through the hall as they filed out, most of them running into the waiting arms of their emotion-bashed folks.

  With the glee on Adaiba’s face as she munched on the large onion rings from her plate of what resembled peppered snails in tomato sauce, Chinny could tell she was missing out on all the sumptuousness being served at her new table and made to return to it at once. But the president motioned for her to stay behind. His next words made her almost swoon.

  “I believe any lady with such courage and resilience would have a word of inspiration or two.” Cameras zoomed in on Chinny and the air in the room became too heavy for her to inhale. A speech?! She had not prepared for any speech. Dry-mouthed with a distinct awareness of the fast-forming sweat in her underarms, Chinny’s eyes flipped to her folks. Ama’s forehead, furrowed with a single line, threatening to splice the bridge of her nose in two, Adaiba’s smile, unsure as the waves and Dede’s bland face did nothing to tell her everything would be fine. Then she saw him… Chief Utah gave Chinny the double-thumbed ‘okay’ sign and the biggest smile she saw in all eighteen years of her existence. Rubbery legs floating on unending applause and blinding camera flashes carried Chinny towards Nigeria’s number-one citizen, to stand before the microphone he had been talking into a little while before.

  Once she stood before the microphone, the silence became as deafening as the just settled applause. This had to be one bubbly dream. None of this was real. And in a voice she hardly recognised as hers, Chinny began.

  18

  “Good afternoon distinguished ladies and gentlemen. This has come to me as a huge surprise, but how dare I refuse my president’s request?” Light applause and laughter rang through the hall. She continued, the initial tremor in her voice ebbing. Thanking the government for inviting her and her guests, she talked briefly about her family background, mentioning their slog up the mountain of life and the values they live by – love, friendship and mutual respect. Factors responsible for making her strong even when she had no reason to be.

  At the end of her speech, questions were granted. The state television correspondent went first.

  “How were you certain of your brother’s detention in Chief Utah’s villa?”

  In response, Chinny said, “The security guard to the villa happened to be a good friend of mine. He mentioned some troubling events happening in the villa and also told me that Chief Utah was not nearly as terrible as he had been made out to be. This gave me the courage to press on with my quest. More so, my initial chance meeting with the chief helped me put the final bounce on my courage.” Mild laughter bubbled through the hall.

  A radio station representative asked her to talk about her encounter with Chief Utah at the car park and in as few words as she could manage, Chinny narrated the botched theft which was to set the tone for all that happened afterwards. Next was the national television correspondent.

  “We gather that you do not have a secondary education. How did you come to sound this well-read and impressively exposed?”

  Chinny paused for a heartbeat before she responded, “For as long as I can remember, life has not been an amusement park for my family. So, an education for two children in the same family, a concept taken for granted by many, became a luxury fit for only the more fortunate. But, my childhood friend Ejiofor, handed down all his used books to me, with which I home-schooled myself, prepared for and sat for the private general certificate examinations. So, on the contrary, but for the unfortunate cancellation of my results, I am almost certain that I would have been a secondary school certificate holder.” A round of thunderous applause rang through the hall.

  The moderator granted one last question, and a lady took the opportunity. Her cameraman had the inscription ‘CNN’ on his shirt and camera.

  “Being a female yourself, what do you propose would put an end to human trafficking of females in particular?” she asked.

  Chinny’s eyes sparkled when they rested on Mrs Johnson, her former principal. Rufus kept his promise and left at first light to deliver the hand-written invitation to her. Chinny’s many years of self-doubt, punctuated by her school principal’s sedulous words of inspiration, “You can be anything you want to be, Chinny, never forget that!” hurled at her even when they met at her mother’s vegetable stall, crystallised into one precise truth… regardless of what life flung her way, history would make her important today. She began to tap the pad of her right foot, and with her voice as crisp as new bank notes, she responded:

  “The popular opinion would be to educate the girls, but I say, educate the girls and especially the boys. My rather young but eventful life still teaches me that the concept called education is not limited to how well one can reproduce what has been taught in class. Education is developing mutual respect for individuals – male or female. It is religious, cultural and ethnic tolerance. Education means cultivating a lifestyle relentless in its quest to rise above mediocrity, both when abounding and when abased. It creates in everyone a receptacle large enough to contain whatever surprises life throws your way. The male child is the lever sitting on the fulcrum of human existence. He must be taught from an early age that enslavement, debasement or repression of the female is not a prerequisite for attaining a good life, influence or respect. A man with such values inculcated in him would never represent the decadence we so furiously fight today. Instead, he would be a true reflection of an angel, casting illumination in every dark crevice of human existence. I should know – I am surrounded by a plethora of them. My best friend Ejiofor – he made my journey seem like a walk in the cool evening breeze. My Uncle Kika brought to earth my adorable and supportive cousin, Adaiba. My friend Kenneth who I once suspected to be an actual angel. There is Mr Oliseh, a man with a heart large enough to contain everyone in this hall, and my brother Dubem who I secretly call my sacrificial lamb – a fine gentleman, always happy to make a bridge of himself over a pool of mud for the women in his life. Chief Utah, a man of uncommon honour. There is also my maternal grandfather who made a strong, resourceful and resilient woman out of my mother. And my father, Mr Dede Ona who not only allowed me cross paths with Mrs Johnson; my inspiration, but also showed me the true meaning of humility, reflected in the courage he applied in facing and dealing with his mistakes. He is a man who loves his two children – male and female – unconditionally and who fought the financial pressures and cultural expectations that sought to rob him of his role as a father. So, my proposal is this – illuminate the boys to grow into men who would someday head homes poised to serve as enabling environments to raise completely rounded individuals – male and female alike. Thank you.”

  Chinny received a standing ovation. The tears in Ama’s eyes refused to stop flowing. Dede looked like the cat that lapped the last bowl of warm milk; her brother, cousin, uncle and auntie just applauded; Mrs Johnson fought back her tears, while Chief Utah and Mr Oliseh smiled in admiration of the enigma called Chinny Ona.

  *

  Clips of the official handover aired on the 7 o'clock news of the same day and many days after. The Cable News Network tagged their interview with Chinny – “Illuminate the boys – the solution to female repression, through the eyes of a Nigerian teenage girl”. And as is known to be typical, CNN aired it four times a day, over four days.

  Countless calls and text messages from Kenneth literally overwhelmed Chinny�
��s phone memory. After a sizable volume of her giddiness diffused, she returned his calls. Kenneth explained that shortly after her admission and following certain events he would rather not rehash, he went into his usual solitary confinement and by the time he came back to civilisation, she had been discharged from the hospital. On reaching Chinny’s home in search of her, he learnt about the fire and would have called her but lost his mobile phone and it took an unusual stretch of time to retrieve his contacts. Now in Greece for a short medical course, he promised to visit as soon as he returned. Beyond pleased to hear her friend was all right, Chinny attempted to thank him for all his help and also broach the subject of the hospital bill refund but met with the stiff rebuff she now learnt would remain a radiant feature in their interactions.

  Proud to be remotely associated with Chinny, Ejiofor could barely cap his excitement and did not stop telling everyone who cared to listen that she has been his best friend since he said his first words… Though Chinny thought his claims may be adding an extra three years to the lifespan of their friendship.

  Events following the handover ceremony were surreal. Adaiba received a re-invitation for her GCE result defence and right after the ten-minute interview, skipped away with a printed copy of her results. Chinny’s results arrived at the villa by courier with a note of apology, saying that her interview with CNN was enough defence.

  Weeks down the line, after Donald introduced Mel to the Onas as his soon-to-be bride and informed them of his intention to relocate to Abuja immediately after the wedding, Ama submitted her business proposal. She wanted to start up a domestic staff servicing company and hoped to begin her career by staffing Donald Utah’s new villa in Abuja. Ama almost floated away on cloud puffs when he said, “Consider your proposal accepted and all your terms and more met.” Without thinking to evaluate, Ama threw her arms around her host as happy tears coursed down her face. Now she could really do something gratifyingly filled with purpose. Drifting into sleep that night, Ama thought Donald Utah held a vague familiarity to someone she could not quite remember but waved it off at once as a fall-out of her appreciation of his unusual munificence.