The Stolen Years

by I. Izegbuwa

  ‘So, what are you going to do now?’ she asked.

  ‘I just want to bask in my new found freedom. May I stay here for a while? I’ll pay you for the space.’

  Bibi shook her head. ‘Keep your money Tosan. I’ll talk to my other roommates.’ She paused and added thoughtfully. ‘You know you’re not really free; not yet. You’ve left The Hack, but the real freedom has to come from within; a relationship with Jesus Christ. He’s the real Shepherd of your soul.’

  Tosan nodded quickly and turned away. She had heard it all before. Her father was the chaplain of their local cathedral back home, so she was quite familiar with the message of redemption. She just wasn’t ready to accept it yet.

  ~~~~

  ‘Well, we’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth.’ Bibi told Michael the next morning. She was so eager to tell him everything that she had stopped by to see him on her way to the faculty. They walked down to class together. ‘Madam Ofilia is running a glorified brothel in this school. What are you going to do about it? You can’t just leave Aima there. She’s your sister.’

  ‘And your one-time best friend. I’m not surprised you’ve drifted apart though, seeing you have different values and all. So the question is; what are we going to do?’ He paused and thought for a while. ‘We have two options. We could wait for Aima to rebel and get kicked out like Tosan, which might take a while, if ever at all. Or we could go into the lion’s den and bring her out ourselves.’

  ‘But how?’ Bibi asked. ‘Why would she listen to us? We don’t have the money or the connections that Madam Ofilia does. We can’t even begin to match her.’

  Michael shrugged. ‘We’ll just have to trust the Lord to make a way in this wilderness.’

  They soon parted ways. He said goodbye and stood watching her as she hurried off to class. It had been a busy week and the ‘Thank God it’s Friday’ mood was in the air. That day, lectures seemed to take forever, as the students couldn’t wait to begin the long weekend. Aima was stuffing her books into her rucksack at her usual back row seat, when she saw Bibi approaching. She fidgeted nervously and slung her bag across her shoulder.

  ‘What’s up?’ Bibi greeted her cheerfully.

  Aima shrugged. ‘I’m sorry Bibi,’ she said. ‘We can’t be friends anymore.’

  Here we go again Bibi thought to herself. Aloud she asked ‘Why not?’

  ‘Don’t ask me to explain. Things are already complicated enough as it is.’

  Bibi squinted at her and frowned. ‘It’s Madam Ofilia, isn’t it? Did she threaten you?’

  ‘Of course not, I make my own decisions. Just go away and leave me alone, for both our sakes.’

  Tucking her chair neatly under her desk, she turned and hurried out through the back door.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Sunny was the center of attraction at the party. He arrived in his naval uniform and caused a stir among the ladies at the villa. But he had eyes only for Aima. She was sitting in the corner enjoying a drink with Ekama when she felt a pair of eyes boring through the back of her head.

  She turned slowly, and his eyes locked with hers. Her smile was faint and lasted for a few seconds, before she tore away from his gaze. Calmly, she turned round again and sipped her drink. She had to play it cool.

  ‘He’s coming here,’ Ekama announced.

  With a few long strides, he had crossed the banquet hall. ‘I was hoping for an introduction,’ he said, his voice deep and smooth. ‘But none was forthcoming so I came over to do the honors myself.’

  Aima looked up and squinted her eyes to get a better look at this tall, imposing stranger who had half the girls in the room spell bound.

  ‘Hello,’ Ekama squealed, offering the introduction when Aima remained silent. ‘I’m Ekama and this is my friend Aima.’

  The man took Aima’s hand and squeezed it. ‘My name is Sunny.’

  ‘Nice outfit,’ Ekama commented.

  ‘Thank you,’ he replied, his gaze remaining fixed on Aima. ‘It’s my official uniform. I’m in work mode this evening.’

  Aima gave a loud laugh, her tongue suddenly cutting loose. ‘Work mode, and yet you’re at a party?’

  ‘Yeah, I should be conference calling right now. But I had a feeling I would meet an angel tonight so I stole away from my busy schedule.’

  ‘Oh?’ Aima raised her eyebrows.

  He nodded. ‘You must be the angel I came in search of.’

  By now, she should have been used to the flattery that assailed her at events like these, but Aima found herself blushing and smiling shyly. She wouldn’t exactly describe herself as an angel, but she accepted the complement without protest. Realizing her apparent redundancy, Ekama stood up quietly and slipped away. Encouraged by Aima’s beautiful smile, Sunny settled down in the now empty seat. Aima observed him closely, he was definitely of mixed blood, but she couldn’t make out his origin.

  ‘Your accent is different,’ she said. ‘Are you from these parts?’

  ‘No. I’m just visiting briefly.’

  ‘Is this your first time in the country?’

  ‘Yes. It’s a beautiful country,’ he replied, gazing into her eyes. ‘With beautiful people.’

  Madam Ofilia sauntered over to their table. ‘Hi Sunny,’ she said sweetly. ‘I see you’re already making friends.’

  ‘Oh yes. This sweet angel is keeping me company.’

  ‘Well, I hope she will make your stay worthwhile.’ Madam Ofilia smiled, and gave Aima a knowing pat on her shoulder.

  Sunny laughed. ‘I have no complaints so far.’

  ‘Such a charming host,’ he remarked, as Madam Ofilia walked away.

  That’s what you think. Aima thought to herself.

  They talked until the party wore off and then they left the building together for a nightcap, leaving the other girls green with envy.

  As soon as Aima got in the next morning, the girls crowded around her. They wanted to know about this mystery man, who had arrived out of the blue to grace their party.

  ‘Well, who is he?’

  ‘Where is he from?’

  ‘Are you going to see him again?’

  Aima remained evasive, unwilling to divulge any information. These girls were sly; she had seen the way they cast furtive glances in her direction the previous evening, whispering goodness knows what to each other, as she and Sunny talked. They would steal this catch from under her nose if she let them. She wasn’t about to play into their hands.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ she replied coyly. ‘He didn’t say much.’

  ‘Well, that one is a keeper,’ Ekama told her, as though she didn’t already know.

  But her catch didn’t stay long and their acquaintance was short-lived. Sure, he had already told her that he was in the country only briefly, but they had gotten along so well that first evening, he could have at least called to say goodbye.

  Aima found herself brooding when Madam Ofilia called her to claim the returns of her evening with Sunny. She was in no mood for deceptions; today she would come clean. Gathering the full payment she had received from him, she handed everything over to her. Madam Ofilia took the cash and counted it twice, then looked at her in surprise.

  ‘He’s a generous one, isn’t he?’

  Aima shrugged. ‘I don’t know.’

  Madam Ofilia peered at her inquisitively. ‘Did he give you all this or did you take some of it without his knowledge?’

  Aima frowned. ‘I’m not a thief, Ma. I would never do that.’

  ‘Oh, come now girl,’ Madam replied, in her usual condescending manner. ‘We’ve all played these games before.’

  She counted out a bulk of the money and placed it carefully on her lap, before handing over the leftover change to Aima.

  Aima sighed and shook her head. ‘I don’t want it,’ she said, her heart heavy. ‘You can have it all.’

  ~~~~

  Joyce recognized Bibi instantly when she brushed past her on her way to the study hall. She called he
r name and Bibi stopped.

  ‘Michael’s friend?’ Bibi asked with a tilt of her head.

  Joyce nodded. ‘I didn’t think you would recognize me. We met only briefly the other day. I, for one, never forget a face.’

  ‘Neither do I,’ Bibi replied. ‘What brings you to my faculty?’

  ‘I’m trying to get away from the noise at mine. I sneak here every now and then to read without interruptions’

  Bibi smiled. She liked Joyce, with her vivacious character. It was easy to see why she was a first class student. ‘We might have to charge you for that,’ she responded with a laugh, as they strolled down together. ‘Nothing comes free in Adenizen.’

  ‘Yeah, I know, but stealing away from a familiar environment works well for me. I found it very useful over the last two years, when I had so many appointments to keep up with; it was difficult to hold down enough study time.’

  ‘Was that while you worked at The Hack?’ Bibi blurted out before she caught herself. ‘I meant while you lived at The Hack.’

  Joyce nodded. ‘Yeah, while I was at The Hack.’ She eyed Bibi strangely. ‘Did I ever tell you I lived there?’

  Bibi bit her lower lip. It was Michael who had mentioned it. ‘Michael told me in passing,’ she said, feeling embarrassed. ‘We weren’t gossiping about you. He actually holds you on a pedestal.’

  Joyce smiled. She wasn’t offended.

  ‘So why did you leave?’ Bibi persisted.

  ‘I found Christ,’ she replied. ‘Or should I say He found me. Plus, I made an interesting discovery.’ Joyce had a queer look in her eyes. ‘Are you doing anything this Saturday?’

  ‘No.’ Bibi replied. ‘Why?’

  ‘There’s someone I’d like you to meet.’

  Bibi cocked her head curiously. ‘Who?’

  ‘You’ll see. Some questions are better answered from the horse’s mouth.’

  ~~~~

  Joyce rapped sharply on the door and they waited.

  ‘What are we doing here?’ Bibi questioned, looking round this new environment nervously. They were quite some distance from campus and all she wanted was to return to Adenizen.

  ‘It was Madam Ofilia who brought me here on our way out to town,’ Joyce explained. ‘You’re about to meet her old acquaintance. The way they spoke to each other got me wondering, so I did a bit of sniffing around. You’ll soon understand.’

  Uncle D was well in his sixties, his hair and beard were turning grey. He welcomed his visitors into his humble abode. Bibi and Joyce stepped into the sparsely furnished living room.

  ‘Uncle D has a well kept secret, which I’ve asked him to share with you,’ Joyce explained.

  The man sat down in the cane chair at the corner of the room. He offered the girls drinks but Bibi declined.

  ‘Madam Ofilia and I grew up in this house,’ he began, ‘Many years ago, my parents brought her home to work for us.’

  She was the sweetest thing he had ever laid his eyes on, but his older brother Koye never let him get close. He knew what had been transpiring between them. Koye’s attitude towards Ofilia changed from the first night he went to her. He began to treat her like she was trash. During the day when he was home, it was ‘Get me this!’ and ‘Move that there!’ and Ofilia scurried around trying to keep up with his tyrannical demands. When he wasn’t barking out orders to her, he kept a haughty distance as though she was a lifeless doll, undeserving of any kindness. But at night, he was back in her room again. Dede noticed his brother’s hostility towards the young girl and her resulting misery but turned a blind eye. He was too upset that Koye was having all the fun. The night Ofilia stealthily left his father’s house, carrying nothing but a small bundle of clothes, Dede saw his chance. He was wide awake when he heard the front door open. He peeped out through his window and saw her leaving.

  Swiftly, he put on a shirt and rushed out through the kitchen door, following her as she ran for what seemed like eternity. He watched as she entered an old brown Volkswagen, parked at the side of the road. Dede quickly flagged down a passing motorbike and offered the rider a handsome compensation if he could follow her. They finally stopped near a rundown bungalow, Ofilia got down from the car and the driver sped away. She sat down on the stone driveway, unaware of Dede’s presence. Dede knew the bungalow well. It was full of streetwise girls. One of them stepped out and talked briefly with Ofilia. Then she took her bag and led her back into the house.

  When he returned home, Dede never told his parents about Ofilia’s whereabouts. They searched for her for a few days and then gave up. Dede waited for the flurry surrounding her disappearance to die down, and then went back to the bungalow to see her. He wanted to continue what Koye had started. She was to allow him into her bed in return for his silence.

  In response, Ofilia had smiled. She was older and much wiser now. It was her opportunity out of a life of penury. ‘Sure,’ she had conceded. ‘But only for a fee.’

  ‘A fee?’

  She nodded. ‘You’ll have to pay me. That’s the way we do it here.’ She knew he was a spoilt rich boy who pilfered money from his parents. She had caught him and Koye on several occasions going through Aunt Bade’s purse. He was trying to manipulate her, but she would turn the tables on him and clean him out.

  Dede voiced his disapproval and threatened to squeal on her, claiming they would bring in the police and lock her behind bars for running away. But Ofilia was unperturbed. She knew he wouldn’t do it. He didn’t have the backbone that his elder brother, Koye, had.

  ‘You see the girls here?’ she said sweetly, motioning to the bungalow. ‘They are my family now. If you like, you can bring your friends over and I’ll introduce them. That’s if they can afford it.’

  Eventually Dede gave in and his rich friends began trooping in. He even brought Koye along one day. The hook-ups began. Gradually, Ofilia’s fortunes began to grow and so did her network.

  One night, Ofilia asked Dede if he knew anything about her family. Dede thought for a while. He had never heard of Akasi but he knew her father. He told her how papa made a down payment for a piece of land close to the city where they lived with the money Uncle Joe paid him. Unfortunately, he was duped. The alleged land owners sold the same plot to different buyers. There was a big dispute and Papa lost the property and with it, all the money he had received for his daughters. Ofilia was devastated when she heard. She persuaded Dede to take her to the site of contention, hoping that it would trigger in her some memories of her parents.

  The land was nothing but a wide expanse of bush. She wept bitterly as she stood over the area, wondering if her parents missed her and regretted their actions.

  ‘Akasi where are you?’ she whispered silently into the air. Standing around the overgrown shrubs, her face tear-stained, Ofilia made a vow that she would, someday, return and stake her claim on this land that was rightfully hers.

  It was many years later, but Ofilia kept her word. One morning, she said goodbye to the girls in the bungalow and declared she was going to recover her lost childhood. It didn’t matter that a private university had been erected on the once disputed plots of land. As far as she was concerned, part of the land belonged to her and her sister. She arrived when the last foundation stones were being laid for the main school library. With the help of some people in her network, she placed a bid on a building just outside Adenizen and in no time, converted it to what was now known as The Hack.

  Now settled in her new home, Madam Ofilia never forgot the girls in the bungalow who gave her succor. They had taken her in and were very kind to her. Now, she was ready to give back the hospitality which she had received from them. She was paying it forward to the ladies of Adenizen; the school that now occupied what was to have been her father’s land.

  She fed and clothed as many of the female students that came to her. But she also taught them life’s little lessons, which she herself had learnt the hard way. Under her mentorship, the girls in The Hack learnt to be streetwise, as M
adam Ofilia introduced them to her network of male friends and then shared the dividends of their escapades. She always took the lion’s share, afraid that if the girls got hold of too much money, they would lose their dependence on her and break away.

  Uncle D sighed deeply and shook his head. ‘I enjoyed the control I thought I had over her back then and was sad when she left. It’s been so long now and I have since given up my philandering ways. Now, if I could pay her back for all those years, I would.’

  He fell silent as he finished his story and the girls looked at him pensively.

  ‘It was Uncle D’s story that persuaded me to break out of the cycle.’ Joyce added.

  Bibi thought about Aima. The last thing she wanted was for her friend to get caught in the same trap as Madam Ofilia. They thanked Uncle D and left, both girls silent as they made the long trip back to Adenizen.

  ~~~~

  It was a long distance call, but the voice was unmistakable.

  ‘Sunny, is that you?’

  ‘It’s me baby.’

  Aima’s heart leapt in delight. ‘I didn’t think I would hear from you again.’

  ‘I know, and I’m sorry I bailed out on you. I got word that we were shipping out suddenly and I didn’t have time to say goodbye.’

  Aima brushed away his apology. ‘I’m just glad you didn’t forget me.’

  They had only met once, but that was enough. She had made an impression on him. He called her every other evening and they talked till late. Sunny proved not only to be a smooth talker, but an even better listener. He became Aima’s confidante; she felt like she had known him for ages and poured out her heart to him. She told him about Madam Ofilia’s commanding presence and how she feared her fiery temper. She told him about how she secretly missed her bosom friend Bibi, with whom she shared so much even though they didn’t always see eye to eye.

  ‘I could talk with her about anything, you know; just like I do with you.’

  ‘And Madam Ofilia forbade you to speak with her?’Sunny asked

  Aima nodded ‘Madam tried to take her under her wings but Bibi would have nothing to do with her or her ways.’

  ‘And why did you choose Madam’s way?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ her voice quavered slightly.