Heavy rain fell on the newly installed zinc roof of Benjamin William's private home close to the beach. The rain first started with a drizzle which lasted from noon till the night hours when it began to fall heavily as the night came by. People ran in panic, looking for a shade to protect themselves from the rain. Most of the residents who lived close to the beach never liked when the rain fell at night because of the strange sounds their rooftops made like the sound a rattlesnake made with the beads at the end of it tail before it attacked it prey.
Benjamin Williams barged into his daughter's bedroom and gently tapped her shoulders so she could wake up from her sleep.
"Dad" Aisha said in a sleepy voice as she rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. Her long black curly hair was scattered on her head like a big ball of fur. Her small pointed nose was a bit pink because of the nasal congestion she suffered from the cold. She squinted her big vibrant blue eyes at her dad.
"Hey, my little Miss. Sunshine. You've got to stand up" Benjamin groaned.
"Why?" Aisha cried.
"We have to go, someone's coming, someone mean, very mean" Benjamin bent and carried Aisha from her bed and led her out of her room. "I have to get you away from him"
Aisha looked up at her father as she walked beside him. "Who are we running from, dad?" She asked curiously. "Is it the bogeyman?"
"No!"
"Is it the cookie monster?"
Benjamin didn't answer Aisha instead he placed his index finger on her lips for her to be quiet. He took her to the kitchen and shut the door lock hurriedly with his hands shaking nervously. He walked to the shelf where plates were kept and pushed it aside, revealing a big carved entrance on the wall that led to a secret tunnel.
Aisha's eyes widened as she stared at the huge hole carved on the wall that led into the tunnel. She thought the tunnel was dug by a giant mole. She shrieked when she heard someone bang the front door heavily.
"Dad, what's going on?" she asked.
Now Benjamin was breathing nervously with his mouth open. He turned and gently put Aisha in the tunnel then kissed her on her forehead.
The person banged the door more heavily and wobbled the doorknob, the door hinges made a disturbing sound that warned Benjamin the door would fall to the floor any minute.
"Dad, who's at the door?" Aisha cried.
"Aisha, you have to go. It's not safe here. Go" Benjamin cried.
Benjamin pushed Aisha into the tunnel and gestured at her to run as far possible. He stepped back and began shifting the shelf to its original position like he was a pirate hiding a treasure from other pirates. He was halfway into covering the entrance of the tunnel then Aisha stuck her left hand outside and grabbed her father's hand.
"Dad, please don't leave me out here all alone" Aisha cried soberly.
Benjamin squeezed Aisha's hand in his and looked at her eyes admiringly. "I love you so much, Aisha. You have to be strong". He let go of Aisha's hand and continued shifting the shelf until the front door finally broke open.
"I love you, dad" Aisha said aloud through the small crack of the entrance as it was being covered by the shelf.
The entrance of the tunnel wasn't closed completely. Aisha could still see from the tiny space that was left open by her father.
Benjamin let out a sigh of relief as he was glad Aisha was safe. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a masked man walk into his house. The man was armed with a shotgun. He reached out and grabbed a butcher knife on the cutlery table and walked slowly into the living room.
The masked man held his gun downwards with his two hands. He was dressed in a black outfit but the mask he wore made him look less like a burglar and more like a Goth rock star.
"Who are you?" Benjamin bellowed coldly as he tried to sound tough but failed, only to sound more like an exhausted pigeon.
The man walked and stood close to Benjamin and pointed his gun at him.
Benjamin felt a cold chill run down his spine. His hand shook with fear as he stared at the masked man. He thought the man looked familiar as he reminded him of someone.
The man wanted to shoot Benjamin but delayed as he noticed the way Benjamin was looking at him. "Do you know me?" He chuckled as he asked.
Benjamin recognized the voice immediately .It was an old friend of his ex-wife. "Reign!" He scuffed.
"Hey Ben." The man said in a sinister voice. "You know me too well, don't you?
"Obadiah" Benjamin groaned.
Aisha heard the name her father called the man as she was listening behind the shelf. She whispered the man's name repeatedly so she wouldn't forget. She lightly pressed her ear in the small space at the back of the shelf like that would enable her to hear the conversation better.
"Have mercy on me, I'm just a scientist" Benjamin stuttered. He knew clearly well the man wouldn't spare his life but he thought it was the right thing anyone that was held at gunpoint would say.
"Mercy is a luxury I can't afford you, Benjamin" The masked figure said and shot Benjamin in his head.
Aisha trembled when she heard the gunshot. She knew her father had been killed. She saw her father's body fall on the floor like a bag of rice. She was left alone inside the pitch dark tunnel which she had no idea where it led to. She wanted to scream but didn't for her own safety as she didn't want the man to know where she was hiding. She rubbed her hands on the wall of the tunnel so she could find her way to the surface. She walked slowly and carefully like a blind man walking on a bridge suspended hundred feet above the ground.
A dim light glittered at the end of the tunnel. Aisha became more hopeful when she saw the light at the end of the tunnel but as she walked closer to it, she was already used to the darkness and as she got closer to the light, it was nothing but blinding. She guessed the light was the exit out of the tunnel.
As she walked, she hit her right foot on a pipe and tripped and fell face flat in a small puddle of mud. She stood up miserably and wiped her face clean with her hands. She sobbed and ran towards the light and came out of the tunnel only to find herself in the middle of a busy market. She limped as she walked because her toe was swollen.
Traders rushed to pack their goods and return home. Those who still sold till night covered their goods from the rain.
Aisha's shirt was soaked in sweat and she looked like a complete mess.
In the market, nobody paid attention to a beggar. Customers who came to buy goods stood with their umbrellas while others stood under a shade.
Aisha turned around in despair, lost and confused as she didn't know who to ask for help neither did she know where to go. She walked through one or two alleys, asking for help but no one answered, some of the traders chased her away from their shop and called her a beggar. Aisha looked for a way out of the market like she was in maze garden.
"Help me! Anyone" Aisha cried at the top of her voice. She forgot how messed up she looked; she even ignored the pain that came from the swelling in her foot.
The rain fell heavily as it got dark, sweeping kiosks and dirt from the ground.
Aisha found her way to the main road but she was too scared to cross. She staggered and decided to take on the sidewalk, shivering and rubbing her palms as she walked under the rain. She spotted a Chinese restaurant across the road, painted in red and white. She decided to go there and seek shelter. As she crossed the road. A lorry sped behind her and splashed water on her back as she got to the other side of the road.
The light outside the restaurant was still on, though the bulbs were shaking because of the wind. There was an image of a dragon carved on the door of the restaurant with an inscription in Chinese which translated 'EAT.PRAY.LOVE'
Aisha pushed the front door of the restaurant but it was locked. She sulked and curled herself on the front porch of the restaurant. At least she wasn't under the rain anymore. She gritted her teeth because of the cold. She could see her veins on her foot; they looked like tiny tree roots. She rested her head on the door and slowly dozed off to sleep.
The pool of water in front of the stairs rose to the porch where Aisha slept and slowly began to soak her hair and her clothes. The bells hanging above the door rang and made loud noises because of the wind. A lady inside the restaurant slid the door open and saw Aisha at the front porch. The lady pitied Aisha as she saw her as a harmless little girl then took her inside the restaurant and away from the cold before she died of hypothermia.
The first thing Aisha did when she woke up in the morning was to stretch her arms on the soft quilt that she slept on in the middle of the room. She yawned like a cub opening her mouth for the first time. She still thought she was in her bedroom where her bed was big enough for three people to sleep in and her books and her toys in the right corner of the room. She reached to take her glasses which she imagined was on the drawer beside her bed. She waved her hand in the empty air and noticed her desk or her glasses weren't there beside her. She opened her eyes and realized she wasn't in her bedroom and her experience last night wasn't a dream. She sat on the quilt and wiggled her toes. Her foot wasn't swollen anymore, amused that they didn't hurt as much as it did last night. She figured the person who brought her inside must have bathed her, dried her hair, massaged her feet, changed her clothes and put her to sleep.
The room Aisha had woken up in had rose and lavender flowers beautifully designed on the white ceiling. Flour, bags of beans, small bags of rice and small bowls of seasoning were arranged close to the wall. The room was the store of the restaurant.
It looked less like a store to Aisha and more like a guest room. Rays of the sun shone through a small white curtain that covered half of the window, making the room look like it was illuminated by a half of a yellow sun.
"You're awake little one" A young Asian woman said in a gentle voice with her strong Japanese accent as she walked inside the room. She had a plump body and her hair was neatly packed inside a torque. She dried her wet hands on the apron she wore and crouched in front of Aisha with a friendly smile on her face. "What's your name?" She asked mildly.
Aisha looked at the smile on the woman's face. She had never met an Asian lady in person before. She thought the woman's smile was plastered on her face just like how her class teachers kept a fake smile on their face when the principal walked into the classroom. Aisha kept her head still and didn't utter a single word as her father had told her never to talk to strangers.
Ma Kesem gulped and nodded her head slowly, intrigued by Aisha's awkward silence. "Uhm, are you hungry?" She asked.
Aisha turned her head sharply as a strong no but her stomach betrayed her and turned her no into a strong yes and growled loudly. She looked at Ma Kesem. Her eyes widened with guilt.
Ma Kesem smiled and glared at Aisha. "I'll get you beanscakes" She said and walked out of the storeroom then came back a minute later. She sat beside Aisha on the bed and placed the bowl of beanscakes on her laps, facing Aisha.
Aisha darted a long look at the beans cakes and tilted her head strangely as she stared at the beans cakes. She wondered why the surface of the beans cakes were so smooth yet so rough and brownish red like clay soil. She had never seen this type of cake in her life before. "Is this cake?" She blurted out, pointing at the beanscakes with her index finger.
"Beanscake, It is" Ma Kesem answered with a smirk. She took a beanscake from the bowl and took a bite out of it, chewing it in her mouth and smiling in satisfaction.
"Havve some" She offered.
Aisha took the beanscake Ma Kesem had taken a bite from and slowly took a small bite out of it; she chewed the beanscake slowly in her mouth and paused. She looked at Ma Kesem and smiled happily.
Ma Kesem nodded because Aisha liked how the beanscake tasted.
Aisha took another beanscake from the bowl and began to eat it. "It's great!" She exclaimed.
"You like it?" Ma Kesem asked.
"I love it." Aisha replied in a bass voice with her mouth full.
Ma Kesem moved close to Aisha and watched her eat the beanscakes hungrily like a savage. She cleared her throat and said "Your people call it akara" She thought Aisha must be a Yoruba girl. Beanscakes was the first food she learned how to cook when she first came to Nigeria as a young woman. She served them as desserts in her restaurant and named it akara in the menu. Akara was the name most people were familiar with.
Aisha swallowed her burp, and then licked her lower lips. She kept quiet for a while and thought of what to say, whether to ask for more beanscakes or a glass of water. She opted out and politely said "Thank you, Ma"
"So what's your name?" Ma Kesem asked.
"Aisha Williams"
"How old are you?"
"Eight"
Ma Kesem rubbed her palms on her apron, pressing them hard on her laps as she inhaled deeply. "Where do you live? Where are your parents? They must be worried about-"
"My father died last night and I don't know my mother!" Aisha interrupted; she didn't look at Ma Kesem as she talked.
"Oh" Ma Kesem mumbled under her lips.
"What about your relatives? Your aunts? Your cousins?"
Aisha smirked. "I haven't met them either" She said sadly.
"I'm sorry" Ma Kesem said. She nodded and gently placed her hand on top of Aisha's head and stroked her hair. "I'm very sorry"
A tear rolled down from Aisha's left eye. Not because of what happened the night before. She cried because of the way Ma Kesem held her with affection. She felt loved. Motherly love.
"You're going to live with me, okay."
"Really?" Aisha said, surprised.
"For as long as you want."
Aisha hugged Ma Kesem tightly to Ma Kesem's surprise. She pressed her face on Ma Kesem's big bosoms and smiled happily.
Ma Kesem stroked the back of Aisha's head with a mild touch. She quietly stood up and walked to the door then stopped and looked at Aisha. "You drink milk, right?" She asked as she squinted at Aisha.
"Yeah" Aisha paused and asked. "Why milk?"
"Because, every great story starts with a glass of milk, my love" Ma Kesem replied.