"I think I have found a girl I love" announced kalu as soon as he found John returning from work, he had been outside John's house waiting for his return.It wasn't yet Sunday when they normally see each other but the joy of the dream kept inflating in him as if he would explode if he didn't let it out. He had to go against his laid down principle of not making a visit to his friend on business days except on Sundays, but the imperativeness of the issue as he could understand called for the demolition of all principles. he needed to free his anxious mind.
John paused for a while, it was as if he didn't get the message clearly, first of all he was startled to see kalu waiting for him outside his compound on a week day, unlike him. But his mind came to ease when Kalu made that announcement, atleast it was clear to him now that kalu wasn't there for an unpleasant news. "I think I have found a girl I love" kalu repeated, it was then that John was well disposed to reply. " as I saw u standing in front of the gate, my mind skipped, I thought may be something was wrong or something bad has happened" he confessed. "why would you think so" replied kalu " because it was unlike you to visit on a week day" John cleared at once. Kalu immediately returned to his senses, he came to realize that John had spoken nothing but the truth. he chuckled in admittance.
kalu wasn't ready for any other thing rather than what he had come to discuss. John's attention too was also arrested by what had first dropped from kalu's lips, his ears kept itching to hear more as kalu was ready to continue. "what girl are you talking about' he asked inquisitively. "does she live around here? where did you meet her?" he added. "come let's go and sit down so that I can explain to you" kalu insisted after John had suggested they should go inside. He led John to a culvert that was by the side of the road and they both got seated on it.
kalu started by inquiring if John knew any girl by the name Rose. but John after raising his head in thought trying to know if he could remember any. told him apologetically that he didn't remember any. it was then that John started to narrate the dream to him, he told John how his thoughts had been racing all through the day, as he couldn't keep himself from the memories of the dream. After narrating the dream, John took a very deep breath, from his facial expression it was quite understandable that he was so much disappointed by the narration.
At first, when kalu was jubilating about founding a girl he loved, deep inside John was so joyful about the statement, at least for the first time his friend would talk about loving a girl and came to terms with him about falling in love or keeping a girlfriend, but his joy was caught short as soon as kalu made mention of a dream. John was beginning to imagine if his friend had gone out of his senses, "how could a right thinking person fall in love with someone he saw only in a dream, that's madness" he thought. all John's mind was that kalu was trying to tell him about the girl he saw him with outside the birthday hall the previous day. They hadn't got the time to discuss what went on between him and that girl. John's ears always itched on such issues.
John attempted to divert the topic to the things that took place at the birthday party. He was observing everything that those girls were doing to trap kalu's attention, all the exaggerated body languages. But kalu's dream was so important to him, he never wanted to discuss anything else apart from that. At a time, John was forced to be plain with him "oga let's discuss important issues forget that dream it's only a dream" he snapped. "to me is not just a dream o! it was as if it all happened real " he insisted. " thank God for that phrase ' as if" John replied " you know me so much, you know I am the last person that believes in dreams but this one, I don't think its just a dream" kalu pleaded softly. "then, do you intend searching for the girl" asked John. " I just wish I could just see her" he answered.
kalu had put his mind at ease by telling John What had been blowing up in him. Now he realized that he had to go, he didn't want to go home late.
But John had something burning in his own mind which he wanted them to chat about. he really wanted them to discuss about the girl that was with kalu at the birthday. The girl before leaving that day, came to him and made an arrogant appeal that sounded like a warning, telling him to talk to kalu. " you better talk to your friend" she muttered as she met him outside on her way home, as he was coming back from seeing his old friend who also attended the party off.
kalu was mesmerised by the dream that he didn't want to discuss any other thing apart from it. From his response, it was clear that his interest was far beyond anything that had happened at the birthday party yesterday. So John was forced to see him off, for he was also complaining about time. he walked with him until they almost got to kalu's gate before he went back home.
Kalu was a bit disappointed from the reaction he got from John, had John shown interest in the dream or at least pretended to have, he would have stayed till anytime not minding what Abuchi his uncle would say. but since John's reaction depicted indifference, no need of staying long with him he should go home and rest, he advised himself.
kalu, who normally got home much earlier than the master, Abuchi, almost got home the same time with him that day. Immediately he got into his room and was retiring into his house wears, he heard the sound of his master's car as he drove into the compound. he grinned in excitement, for even though Abuchi would not do anything to him if he had come back before him, but he would always care to know about his whereabout, something that kalu was not always comfortable with.
As has been the norm, Abuchi called him for account settlement. Kalu had been the head of all the servants, according to the rules that was laid down by Abuchi, all the other servants would account to kalu then he would be the one to account to their master. the accounting was what would always make Abuchi look for him each time he returned from the market.
For Abuchi never concerned himself with the affairs of the shops anymore since the day he came to understand that kalu had mastered the business. he left everything in his care, and kalu had never given him a reason to complain or disappointed for once.
After he was through with the account settlement, which was the only thing that was still keeping him awake, he quickly brazed through all the other things he needed to do, then he took his night bath and dumped himself in his bed. he was praying to see the girl he saw the last night once again. he was even wishing the girl could appear in the room at once, he wanted the experience physical, it was a dream but he wanted more than a dream, he wished he had the power to turn dreams into reality. As he was deeply lost in the thought of the dream, he slept off.
kalu was seated at the bar of the same hotel he had celebrated his birthday, the way he glanced at the new wrist watch that was given to him on his birthday by his uncle, it was very clear that he was waiting for someone.
Rose came from behind and gave him a gentle tap on the back, kalu's mouth widens in smile as he turned and saw the damsel he had been waiting for, "am sorry for keeping you waiting" said Rose apologetically. "it's okay I can wait the whole day for you" nodded kalu softly. Rose got seated facing him. kalu chuckled in excitement as he stared at Rose, admiring her beauty. And for sometime they maintained silence, as they romantically assess each other. Kalu really loved everything about the girl's appearance, the coiled long hair, the fair skin and the straight tender face that has a natural red dot on the forehead like that of the Indians.
"you are charming" complimented Rose, to break the silence. " you are beautiful" responded kalu " you are teasing me" she laughed "I am not, am just saying the truth, infact I have not seen any girl as beautiful as you are, you are the most beautiful girl I have ever seen in my entire life" Rose grinned in excitement "and you are the most charming man I have ever seen."
Kalu was really in short of words he wanted to hold her hand once again as the first day. he made the gesture by putting his opens arms on the table and Rose dropped her hand in his. he was more satisfied as he felt the girl's soft Palm in his. "how old are you" he managed to question " I am seventeen" replied Rose 'and I am eighteen" he said. they relegated to silence once more as kalu was not sure of what to ask next. The other time they were together, Rose was the one asking all the questions, this time, she wanted him to be in charge. "do you have a boy friend" kalu forcefully asked as he was battling within himself whether it was the right question to ask at that time. Rose paused for a while before giving an answer to the question, and kalu heart raced in fear, for the greatest harm that could be done to him by the girl is to respond to the affirmative to that question. "no I don't have any" replied Rose, and kalu's face glowered in excitement as he was not disappointed. "do you want to be my boy friend?" she asked, and kalu didn't hesitate in saying "yes" his heart almost jumped out of his skin as the girl frowned at him immediately. "maybe that's not the answer she needed from me" he blamed himself. " I have done a terrible mistake"
Kalu's mind kept racing on what to do as Rose stared at him maintaining the frown. He so much wanted the frown to disappear, the last thing he wanted was to do or say anything that would hurt the girl's feeling, he never wished to stop seeing the girl at least for the time being, but it already seemed like he had delved into those things that he was avoiding, what was now left for him was to apologise. "yes I have to apologise to her so that she would be happy with me once more" he thought.
"I am sorry" he uttered apologetically "you are sorry about what?" Rose asked softly "about what I said" rose already knew that he wasn't comfortable with her frown but she just wanted to whine him up. "I can't remember what you said that you are apologising for" she pretended "I said that I wanted to be your boyfriend, and I guess it made you angry" he explained "I was never angry, I was just thinking about something".
She got up from her seat and came to stand behind kalu, wrapping her hands around his neck romantically she pecked him by the cheek, kalu's mind wanted to explode with Joy, he couldn't believe what the girl just did to him, he couldn't move for sometime for he was gripped with a mixed feeling, a feeling of fear and surprise.
Before he could recover from the shock and turn to know if she really meant what she just did or if he was being played by his imagination, the next thing he heard was "I have to go", as he turned to see her face once more and to beg her to stay a little longer, he discovered that she was already gone. He jumped up from his seat immediately and rushed to the door to know if he could see her. but his eye balls wandered about in vain, for the girl was no longer at sight. he stood at the door gently caressing the spot were the girl had pecked him.
kalu turned on the bed, as his eyes gradually opened, he took a deep breath and stretched in disappointment as he discovered that it was a dream again. he laid on the bed for sometime caressing the cheek, the spot he had received the peck. As his eyes were directed to the round clock hanging on the wall of the room, he was surprised to see that it was already 5:30am the exact time he normally woke each business day. he stretched once more and got up from bed to attend to the normal house chores before he could freshen up for the business of the day.
He dragged his feet with the things he did that morning as his thought was occupied by the dream. he was filled with morning joy and once in a while he would touch that exact spot where Rose had pecked him in the dream.
The night was too short for him, how come it's already morning just now that he closed his eyes in sleep. he felt like not waking up again. the dream could have been far better to him than whatever he would be facing that day. nothing had been as beautiful as those dreams. He would have love to go back to sleep, but going to the market is also important, as at then, he didn't have a choice. "the girl really loved me" I whispered to himself as he grinned in excitement. He closed the door and left for the market.
One thing he tried really hard to guard against, was allowing the thought to creep into his activities of the day, when he was busy with something serious, he would try as much as he could to dismiss the thought, he knew the devastating effect it could have on his future if he should allow it.
Rose scattered everywhere in her a room self contain, scouring for a picture that she and Rose took together with her parents and the herbalist with his son, for the herbalist's son had been in the same school with them when they were living together in the same neighborhood. The picture was taken on their graduation day, when they were graduating from the primary School. the boy was in the same class with Clara, and they were the graduands that day. Being that they reside in the same neighborhood, the both parents decided to take a picture together. And the picture like all the other pictures of their school days had been in the possession of clara.
After she had graduated from the high school, she got a job in the ministry of works, since she managed to graduate with a fair result. As she was now independent of her parents financially, she rented an apartment of her own and moved out of the family house. All her wishes seemed to have come through except for one, and that was the most important of them all 'her sister's reappearance'. she was independent of everyone's disturbance now, but now that she has the freedom to sleep whenever she liked, Rose no longer visited regularly any more, now that she needed her visitation more than ever. Rose no longer resided in that state anymore, she came once in a while to visit Clara she was actually there the day Clara was relocating, so she knew her new place.
Clara's intention was to take the picture to the police so that they could help in fishing the herbalist out wherever he was hiding. Since she was then financially dependent, is now time to fight for her sister, she didn't have to wait for support from any family member. After searching for sometime without seeing the picture. she sat and her thought diverted on how she would even frame her report in order to be acceptable to the police, for she knew for sure that the police would never accept any report based on spirituality or magic. " I will tell them that he kidnapped my sister" she finally concluded. And her thought was redirected on how to get the picture once more " let it not be that I forgot that picture at the family house" she continued searching the bags in the room. there was this look of intense seriousness in her eyes as she was ransacking everywhere in search. it was clear now that the picture wasn't among the things she packed as she was packing out of the family house. She packed all her pictures, especially the ones that had her sister Rose on them. she knew that as she was packing out, her sister was literally packing with her, so she had to sneak out some of Rose's belongings that was still remaining in the house, the ones that she perceived important.
Although she didn't leave with all her belongings since its their family house, it's still remain her home inasmuch as she still remain single. it will seize to be her home any time that a man paid money on her head in bride prize, that was how the tradition held it for a female child. while for a male child, it would remain his home forever even after he had married and built his own house, that is if he was bouyant enough.
Clara had given up the search, she was now thinking on when to create chance and go to the family house to look for the picture. It is not something that she could let go, she needed badly to go and make that report in the police station, the herbalist needed to be fished out so that Rose's body could be restored. " where exactly could this picture be at home?" she thought to herself as she was seated on her bed looking so exhausted with this far-away look in her eyes. " I am sure this picture is not on the shelves, I made sure I brought every of my picture from the shelves." she took this deep breath that depicts her relentlessness. " there is no better time to go to the family house than now, no more delay about this, I really need to go now" she encouraged herself. without caring about the room she had scattered or her appearance, for she hadn't taken her morning bath, it was on a weekend, and her job didn't support weekends. she had been kept awake all through the night by the thought of Rose's situation. she had been thinking on how to frame her report as she planned to go to the police station that morning. She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face before dashing out to the family house which was not so far from hers.
As she was turning every thing in her former room, which was still not occupied by any one, upside down in search of the picture, the mother who was in her room, when she came and only heard her voice, without seeing her, came to the room, to see her. the mother was forced to ask what she was looking for on seeing how she had turned everything in the room upside down even the foam on the bed.
Clara, who was carried away by what she was looking for, was shocked to know that the mother had already come into the room. she quickly tried to adjust, and she stammered as she was trying to come up with a lie. she knew that she didn't have to tell the mother the truth about what she was really looking for to avoid any form of discouragement, for surely she knew that the question would not just end there, if she should open up to her mother, she would no doubt, like to know the reason for her looking for the picture, Clara on her own part would be forced to tell her every truth about her motive knowing the power of her mother's persuasive tongue, so inorder to avert all that, she had to lie to her. "I ,am looking for my hair brush" she finally muttered after she couldn't succeed in coming up with a better lie. "is it because of a hair brush that you turned everywhere upside down, why not take another hair brush, we have about four in my room?" the mother replied "or you could just buy another one, how much is hair brush?". Clara hissed in pretence, as if she had forgotten about what the mother was actually saying. "it's true mummy I have actually forgotten". she started rearranging the whole room as the mother was still standing, watching the whole room as it was scattered. Clara knew that she couldn't continue the search as long as the woman remained there. The mother even lent a hand in rearranging the room so that she could finish up quickly, she had been expecting Clara, she wanted to discuss what she deemed an important issue, but to Clara a triviality.
There is this man that had been seeking Clara's hand in marriage, but Clara had been avoiding the man. the mother had wanted them to discuss the issue, but Clara had been dodging her, she didn't want to deliberate on that issue or any other issue apart from Rose' for now. she had been using her work as an excuse to avoid visiting the family house. Now that she was there, there was no more excuse to tender, they must deliberate on the issue. the mother liked the young man and wanted him for her inlaw. according to her, the young man was very decent.
Clara's plan had been thwarted, the time the mother came in, was exactly the time the idea of the exact place she could find the picture flooded to her. now she had no choice than to follow the mother to the sitting room for the discussion without having the opportunity to search that particular spot ontop of the wardrobe, after they were through with the rearrangement of the room since the last thing she wanted was the mother to be aware of her plan.