One Love, Many Tears

by Gertrude U. Uzoh

  She is really a short woman, and Paul is so tall. Helen is quite fun to be with and is very interesting to Paul in their conversations. She seems to be in charge, and Paul likes that too, as much as it makes him always want to surrender voluntarily to her charms. Or maybe he just can’t resist her charms. Talk about the attraction of opposites!

  And truly, Helen likes the best of everything, including the best of love and the best of men, at least by her own judgment. She always makes sure she is the best she can be, both to her personal satisfaction and that of Paul’s.

  Dr Paul and Helen are a sweet couple, not just because they are genuinely in love, but also because they have enough love to give themselves and their children, and they still have some more to share with other people. They easily recognize the humanness of Cynthia, or anybody else for the matter. They do not treat her like a slave, a castaway, or a shadow; they recognize she has a soul too, just like them. To them, it is even a privilege to actually be of help to someone in her real need.

  It may be hard to find a human without flaws, but some manage to minimize flaws and maximize noble characters, making them seem perfect to the rest. Cynthia lives in Paul and Helen’s house and loves having them as foster parents. They are more than just foster parents to her. Going by the warmth, love, and sweetness of their family relationship with Cynthia, the only way one might want to differentiate between them would be by some biological analysis.

  However, that would not be necessary anymore, because Cynthia is grateful to be in their home and needs no biological differentiation whatsoever. She is happy and content.

  Fourteen

  The senior school certificate result is announced, and Cynthia excels with flying colors. She is offered an admission to a university of her choice, and she is to read a course she has ever cherished. She has always loved law, and the University of Lagos is her first choice. She knows it right from start, and is also told by her foster parents, that she will make a good lawyer. That boosts her determination when she enters for the subject.

  As an undergraduate, she receives all the supportive encouragement and provisions she needs from her family. All she owes herself now is to do her best and be her very best, as Helen would always remind her at home. In university, she is at the top of her courses.

  At nineteen and a freshman in the University of Lagos, fondly called UniLag, she is a very beautiful young lady. She inherited her late father’s tallness, and her bright hazel eyes come from her late mom. She stands noticeably tall, pretty, and with a very beautiful figure. Cynthia can’t help but attract roving male eyes, quite against her reserved wish. Some other girls might say, “Some funny reserved wishes, indeed,” but she is a girl that gets admired even by her fellow girls. Despite her rather conservative sense of modesty, the social circles do not escape her.

  Her remarkable intelligence and academic brilliance are even more outstanding. She would rather wear the standing of her academic endeavors as a badge, than wear the reputation of a campus beauty who will not “glee with any guy,” as she is prone to be tagged. She finds the indiscreet attention she gets from some males very distracting and unnecessary.

  But the young men in her class and everywhere, even much older ones and suitors that are rather too early in her opinion, may not understand her reasons. If they did, they would probably redirect their attention elsewhere.

  She certainly believes in and trusts no one except her family. She seems to think and fear that everybody, especially guys, might hurt her, or that somebody, somewhere, and sometime—no matter how friendly or sincere he or she might seem now—will surely disappoint her someday. Her mind easily conjures up these fears, such that she is friendly and relates cordially but courts no binding relationships. She feels people will want something in return for any slightest favor, and she is afraid she may not have, or want to give, whatever she may be asked of in return. Intimacy with the opposite sex seems particularly too costly for her. Still recovering from her previous shock, or rather an aftermath of her harrowing experiences, she is scared of life.

  Cynthia has grown into a young lady who pals a lot with adult materials and mature companies. She knows many pros and cons of life and issues on male-female relationships, even just for the sake of it. Getting a lot of materials from Paul’s wife, she has read and heard many stories about people and their dishonesties, and she doesn’t want to experiment with her own heart or life. But of course there are also very beautiful stories she has read and heard about people. Still, she simply finds it hard to overlook the ugly ones! In her mind, the ugly ones will always warn her, and she is afraid of their embedded consequences. So the uglier stories of disappointment and heartbreak are easily magnified through her fear-informed lenses.

  Without knowing it, she has built a formidable, protective shell around her heart, which she hardly ever lets down. A vital part of her seems rather locked away, eternally afraid that she will be hurt if she dares to play with that privacy, like a sacred place not to be touched in her heart—more like some sacred heart she ultimately has. Yet with a remarkable ease, she likes people and has many friends already, especially from her class. Still, she prefers not to attend campus parties, which risk the wanton disturbance of some “ill-behaved, ungentlemanly, desperate boys who wouldn’t know how to differentiate between a tale and a tail.” With these varied combination of almost contradicting characters, Cynthia is now more like a puzzle to anyone who isn’t patient enough to understand her. A difficult puzzle she seems indeed, when viewed from a distance.

  At a point, Helen gets very worried that Cynthia’s attitude and views regarding other people, especially the opposite sex, are due to relative maladjustment from her previous disappointments. As much as she knows that these disappointments are not too far from the permanent loss of her birth parents and brother, Helen always tries to help and redirect the child on many occasions. But over time, Cynthia’s increasing detachment becomes more worrisome for Helen and Paul. Obviously, from what they know and from the reports of various therapy and consultants they enlisted Cynthia in recently, Cynthia is clearly not passing any traits as a psychopath, a sociopath, or a recluse, yet they feel something is not quite balanced in her social adjustment.

  “Could this still be some extended form of post-traumatic stress disorder?” Paul wonders.

  “Or maybe a type of bipolar disorder?” Helen adds.

  They discuss the issue between themselves and other specialists. Helen is particularly worried about this and generally feels it must still be some taint of maladjustment, which she believes that only time, full support, and adequate therapy will help correct.

  But eventually, at about the end of Cynthia’s second year in university, through deeper understanding and discussions with Cynthia, Helen finally discovers to her relief that it is not actually just a maladjustment. There is more of Cynthia’s personality formation in it! She realizes that Cynthia is simply a young woman who has her own will and choices by which she prefers to live. Her summary is that Cynthia plays when she wants to play, and with whomever she wants. Surely she plays well, but that does not mean she will play all plays, or play simply because somebody else is playing. Helen now knows that Cynthia certainly does not want to play that play with the “unhappy ugly boys,” as Cynthia usually defines the boys and men around her. She now knows that Cynthia will play only when she is ready, willing, and wants to. Helen is very happy to note this, and she now understands better this puzzle of her foster daughter. She can now relax knowing that nothing is actually “wrong” with Cynthia.

  And Cynthia, on her own preferences and personal consultations with herself, knows when, where, how, and with whom she wants to play. She can easily pass for a snub to the boys, and even to some girls, but she is good-natured, secret snub nevertheless.

  Therefore, good as she is as a student, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and a person, she has her own life to make the
best out of it. That is what Helen always tells her, and knowing what a sensible daughter she has, there is this confidence that her life is in her own hands to make with whatever she chooses. Helen will forever say that as the mother, her goal is to always give her best to Cynthia.

  Cynthia’s beauty and tallness, plus her academic excellence, makes her a campus beauty queen in her 300 level, but she remembers Helen’s words and opts out fast when the majority of her class voted her into the contest. She knows what she wants to be: not a pageant beauty queen but definitely a great lawyer, and more. Other people might as well be the campus queen if they want to, “Or be whatever else they choose to be, for heaven’s sake!” She confirms her preferences with such remarks, always in a polite manner, but she can’t fool herself.

  And surely there are many other girls whose dreams are to be the reigning campus queen or even just a one-time contestant, and they readily rush at the vacancy Cynthia creates with her opt-out. “Everyone is free and fair enough to latch tightly unto their life goals and ambitions,” Cynthia says much, much later in her life. The good looks she inherits from nature, if they are of any use at all, she hopes will be later in her life, not now. She has a degree to accomplish at the moment, and she is happy and content, knowing that her new parents and favorite lecturers understand that much. That is enough to help her succeed.

  This is who Cynthia has become, quite true to type.

  She also has a share of Okechukwu’s endless inquisitiveness, and if love could be inherited as well, by induction or through adoption, then she is also lucky to have inherited lots of love and comfort from Dr. Paul and his family. With all these inheritances and endowments at her disposal, she is quite an eye-catching combination of a lady. It gives her a winning edge over almost everything she does.

  As the years roll by, she finally graduates with her bachelor of Law, with honors in international law and foreign relations.

  Months after graduation, at twenty-five, she affiliates with Midas International Law while on an independent practice. Now her experience increases for greater advantages, both in her personal life and profession life, enabling her to savor all life’s beauty in bountiful possibilities. Soon she travels to Europe as an international attorney, representing the country and her company from their chambers at Midas County, London.

  All through her two years’ residence in London, before she is eventually reinstated back to Nigeria for a permanent appointment, she remains in close-knit relations with her family back home. The strength of the bond formed between her and Dr. Paul’s family will remain a family tie forever. One is not always lucky to find such rare occurrences of people with refined character and goodness as Dr. Paul and his wife. But God blessed the world so much that such people still exist, though they are rare!

  It is in London that Cynthia meets Edmond, the love of her life. When she eventually comes back to Nigeria, it will be with Edmond. The love between these two quickly makes one doubt the veracity of some existing opinion that claims love is only an illusion. Their love makes one rethink the subject, regardless of previous opposing opinions.

  Friends say about them, “Never have I seen a love so true! Their love is indeed real, and rosy, too.”

  But love comes from a place that has love. Cynthia and Edmond are two lovely people that love others. When they met, a greater love was born, better described as iron sharpening iron. But surely it was a task before Cynthia could love again.

  Cynthia’s life now is truly her dreams. Whoever said that dreams do not come true surely needs to hear of Cynthia, or even see her and witness the turn of events in her life. She recalls now how sad and bitter she used to be, in sharp contrast to the fulfillment her life has ultimately become.

  The experience she had with Mama Ngozi is particularly paradoxical in her recent realization that life is never unfair, no matter how stormy and unpleasant one’s experiences might be. Nothing compares to the loss of her brother, whom she still loves and misses every day, but her life must go on. She has long picked up and remolded the broken pieces of her heart, thanks to the miracle of heaven-sent Dr. Paul.

  She lives her life now, even thanking God for the experiences she has had and the blessings in her life. Finally, she is thanking God, helplessly forgetting her past when God himself seems to be her most cruel enemy. One may not really be able to explain the mystery of the seeming eternal affinity of man to God, because it seems that no matter the good or bad strokes of one’s life, God is at the center of it all, even if only eventually, and he will always be given “all the honor, glory, and praise” in the end.

  And now, Cynthia has Edmond too, all to herself, and she gives thanks. She not only loves him, his charisma, his person, and his lifestyle, but he loves her too, very dearly. She is very sure of it!

  What must have happened to Cynthia that she now loves this way with so much certainty? Like the story of two soul mates meant to be in heaven, she and Edmond form a wonderful couple for the rest of their lives. Edmond is the love of Cynthia’s life, and Cynthia is the love of his. Their meeting was while Cynthia still worked at the Midas County Chambers.

  In London

  Their first meeting would be in a social function. Dr. Edmond just got an emergency call from the hospital while in the party. Surely there were two other doctors, and even a surgeon presently on duty at the hospital, but they were in need of some extra hands at the moment because a group of about eight kids were in the hospital right now and in need of immediate, extra attention. The children were, by some accident, poisoned this morning by some halogen content from a tank of insecticides.

  The termite terminator was in their district this morning. It was a Saturday morning. So the children did not go to school today and were playing in their courtyards. Before long, their games and role playing took them to the streets, near the terminator van. The man had parked in the middle of the vantage street, from where he could easily access each house with the long hose connected to the tank in his van. He was at the time busily engaged in one of the houses, running the chemical round the earth and crevices of the house. He was covered in his overalls, mask, and gloves.

  The children incidentally went tick-tack in their playful adventures on the man’s van, where it was parked. This was a rough play, and their mothers would not be happy about it—they were playing with adult equipment without permission, and the man was just blocks away! They knew they would be scolded, but the excitement of not being noticed by the man was the great allure to their private adventure.

  But their mothers did not catch them in the act—they met the limp bodies of their kids lying on the roads instead. It was so toxic, and the kids were pale immediately as they inhaled the suffocating gas; one of them had carelessly loosened a screw on the adjoining pipe in their unwelcome adventure on the tank, and the gas had jetted out and sprayed directly on them.

  It was the whooshing sound of the sudden discharge, and the loss of pressure in the hosepipe, that got the attention of the terminator man, and he went to his tank, where it was parked. The man saw a number of kids coughing, choking, and fainting, one after another. He raised an alarm at once, attracting the parents of the kids, and they called 999. Altogether, there were about eight kids aged between five and nine, and two other grown people affected by the gas.

  Dr Edmond was a pediatrician, and his attention was needed urgently at the hospital. The colleague that just called his cell phone was both brief and quick in giving him the details of the accident, and the emergency nature of it.

  He immediately excused himself from the party and raced off to the parking lot outside.

  Outside the party hall now, he could make out his car from a distance, where he had parked it earlier. The bronze white Cadillac was now silhouetted by some other cars that were just making their arrivals. He quickened his pace, hurrying toward it in his usual relaxed but business-like manner.

&n
bsp; But on reaching the car, lo and behold, one of his front tires was flat. “What!” is the only thing he could mutter in surprise. “Was this tire ever weak? And is it so bad it has to give way just now?” he wondered aloud to himself. Utterly disappointed by his car, he is confused about what to do now. The expedience of time glared helplessly at him!

  As he still did not know what to do, a lady saw him standing aghast and came by to ask what the problem was. He could not find any suitable answer to give in response. He was feeling both terribly embarrassed and sorry for himself. The feeling of having been flopped so completely in his immediate agenda, by such a minor mishap, left a very desperate contortion on his face.

  Combined with her own peculiar and instantaneous sense of humor, this contortion on Edmond’s face appeared very funny to the lady. She was thinking, “What a giddy squeeze on a macho man!”

  The fact that the “giddy squeeze” didn’t quite fit the gentleman in his fabulous dress-up was even more comical to the lady. For one brief moment, Edmond’s dilemma made her want to laugh, but she could only stifle a wry smile, reminding herself not to laugh at somebody’s misfortune, much less to his face. Still stifling her laughter, she rather kindly took a while to ask if he needed any help. It was just a casual interest, to assist a fellow countryman.

  They were not friends, but Edmond had seen her before at the same function on previous occasions, he could remember. It was a regular function, occasionally attended by Nigerian practitioners in London from all walks, and no Nigerian in London would miss it! It was a real classy party that offered them a chance to get together and meet new people, and the party usually provides entertainment and lots more.

  As they were still talking, two other ladies called out cheery greetings to Edmond and then promptly walk into the party. Edmond merely responded absently, but still he took a quick look at their faces and recognized them with an abrupt “Hi.”