"In all my preparations, I didn't see this coming" Joseph spoke to himself, alone in the cold dark streets of Etoug-ebe. Indeed, who could have foreseen such a development? No one. Not even the great calculator ZENU Joseph was capable of imagining such a turn of events. Firstly, he wasn't himself for 3 months. Secondly, Dr. Primera's words about certain signs showing themselves troubled him the more. And now he is termed a hollow. This wasn't part of the plan. Joseph's plan was relatively simple; leave the hospital, meet family and resume daily activities. In his mind, his super plan was a win-win. He had not factored out the fact that his father might have super abilities and that, those abilities might lead to his expulsion from the family house. So many things ran through his mind as he slowly walked in those streets. Though there were many matters arising, the priority was to find a place to sleep. If he didn't, the cold would kill him (and there will be no doctor to resurrect him). If the cold did not get the better part of him, the 'don-men' of the quarter will see to it. The title 'Don' is not to be compared to the one used by the Spanish or Latin America. The 'Don' of the Spanish/Latin Americans, usually used before the first name or the full name of a person, is applied for different reasons. It is used to show respect to elderly persons. It is used to show respect to someone with a higher economic or social status, experience, or personal achievements. It is used to show respect to someone with a higher education degree. In summary, it is an honorific title given to someone with the intent to magnify a positive trait or character. In contrast to the Cameroonian 'Don' which has a whole other meaning. That title is a slang commonly used among the youth of the southern part of Cameroon. It was given to youth demonstrating deviant characters, to youth who were quick to pull out a knife for petty squabbles. To those youth who felt to be above the law and hence behaved wrongly in society, they were called 'don-men'. In summary, all those called 'don-men' were delinquents or gangsters. Those kinds of youth plagued the streets of the capital city and were generally out late at night. Joseph was not the kind of man to fight over material possessions. So, he was ready to beg for his life and relinquish everything he possessed if he was attacked. Luckily, he arrived at the Red alley without any issue. That street was called the Red alley because of the colour of the lights shining there at a certain hour of the night. It was an area where adult men who wanted to let go of some steam on ladies, would go. It was an area rated 18+. But it was in that alley that Joseph found a place to sleep.
***
Brother Sylvain was brought up with great moral values. Coming from a Christian background, he was imparted with humility, respect, and self-control. That worked so well for him till he entered the university. In the university, he discovered a different universe. A universe where his moral foundations were put to test every day. Unfortunately, he didn't resist that long. He went through a quarter-life crisis and the outcome was not positive. In the face of his acquaintances, he was the good and upright Sylvain. In the face of his true buddies, he was the real deal in shady affairs. To keep up with the lie, Sylvain went to church every Sunday. Worshiping, being in bible studies, and helping in the church. He even signed up to sleep in the church in order to keep guard and reduce the rate of disappearance of church equipment. No one knew that the Etoug-ebe branch of THE CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD was a rendezvous point for crooks, scammers, and drug dealers. Sylvain had made the church to be their sanctuary. They would gather there as from 10 pm and cook up their machinations, advertise their deals (legal and illegal) on social media, plundering those who fell for their traps. In the room he occupied, the merchandise was stocked up for constant shipping and delivery. It was a well-crafted enterprise run by a 24-year-old boy. When he was fruitful, he would invite his colleagues to the Red alley for restoration. On the 28th of November, Sylvain had called up his pals for another party. They had started when the night had just begun and indulged deeply in the nice food, quality wine, and quality women being served to them. At 11 pm, with their exhausted bodies, they came out of the red alley drunk and covered in all sorts of liquids. They had spent close to 5 million CFA francs without a second thought. All his friends boarded their cars and left, leaving Sylvain vomiting in a certain corner. One of the girls who was very fond of him was patting his back while he expelled the excess food and booze from his system. Joseph was observing from a certain distance as the kids took off in their expensive and fancy cars. As an assistant university lecturer, he was considered an elite by his age mates. Yet, he couldn't afford the cars those kids were riding.
"Life is indeed unbalanced." He said to himself.
Seeing just two people left, he marched towards the houses of the Red Alley. He waited for a lesser crowd because he didn't want a familiar face to recognize him. When he was close enough, the girl patting Sylvain's back noticed him.
"Sir? What a surprise. Wonders shall really never end." Sabine spoke coyly.
"Sabine," Joseph answered in his throat. "It is good as you are the one I have met."
"Why? Have you decided to come to indulge in some pleasures?" Sabine said, seductively and a little louder. She left the boy she was patting on the back and approached Joseph. She authorized herself to stroke his jaws gently. Her hands then went down to the chest, then the stomach. But she was interrupted before she could reach Joseph's stick.
"You are no fun." Sabine moaned softly, as she pulled back her hand from Joseph's grip.
"Yeah. I have other things in mind." Joseph responded. Joseph had not yet spotted brother Sylvain. Sure, he saw a young guy heavily vomiting. But he didn't see the face clearly.
"Sir, you have always been like that," Sabine said, interrupting Joseph's thoughts. "Even when we were your students, your eyes were not looking at us"
"Sabine, we have had this discussion several times," Joseph engaged. "You were my students and my aim —"
"Your aim was to achieve what? What was your aim?" Sabine interrupted. "To make us succeed and have a better life? To be exemplary citizens of the society? Well, look at how things turned out. Anyways, you are not to be blamed. At least you were straight with us."
"You keep saying 'us'. Aren't you the only one who works here?" Joseph asked.
"They couldn't let you know. But since I began, let me pour the rest," Sabine answered. Joseph rediscovered that some people had problems more than others. When Joseph was still a mathematics level 2 university student, he carried out weekend classes. He invited lowly privileged students and academically weak students to join. He taught them for free. Revised with them intensively for their secondary and high school examinations. His rewards were sometimes a simple 'thank you, sir'. Sometimes food, sometimes dresses, and sometimes money. He just felt happy helping others and creating happiness around himself. He had 4 promising ladies. ANGO Miranda; very brilliant and aspired to do an MBA in order to build her enterprise. MWAMBO Sabine, despite being very brilliant, didn't have any dreams. She was a free electron. Then there was YINDA Betty and NDZI Emma. They were not among the best but demonstrated grit and resilience in their studies. They were Joseph's favorite. He followed those girls from form 5 till upper sixth. After that, he knew they were ready to challenge society, challenge Cameroon, and the world at large. But fate had other plans for those girls. Sabine's revelations were worse than what he could ever imagine. Miranda achieved her dreams and became a project manager in a certain enterprise. But due to her father's mistake, she had to shoulder a hefty debt. In the end, her dad sorted out a dubious solution and Miranda suffered the consequence. Miranda was mentally broken and was interned in the EUGENE JAMOT Hospital for Mentally deranged individuals. Sabine on her part, crossed fingers with shady persons and ended up as a prostitute in the red ally. Betty was given a 5year imprisonment. She had refused to accept the terms of the colonel of her division and was suspended for insubordination. She was later framed for revealing secret information to the 'rebels' in the western parts of the country. Emma was the only one who seemed to be in better condition. She was married, with two kids, a loving husband, and a good house. All that made Joseph forget his own issues for a split minute.
"And so it is" Sabine finished. Though Joseph was sour after gearing that, he needed a place to sleep. He just wanted a hole in the red ally. Somewhere to feel warm for that night. As he was gathering words in his mind, the boy close to them vomited loudly. Sabine immediately rushed to him, pulling Joseph with her. The boy, hearing them approaching, removed a pack of tissue from the right pocket of his trousers. Rapidly dried his lips and turned to them.
"Hey, big bro Joseph. So, you also come to this kind of place? I thought you were Jesus Christ's Twin brother." Sylvain poured out.
"You sure haven't changed," Joseph said walking faster toward Sylvain. They bumped fists and embraced each other. Sabine was very surprised. She thought Joseph would be revulsed just by setting eyes on Sylvain and not embracing him so happily.
"You know each other?" Sabine wondered.
"Yes. We are in the same church." Sylvain answered. Sabine, dumbfounded by what she had seen and heard, left the two boys to take care of themselves.
"Big bro, tell me. I can't believe my eyes. I see you are a consumer of local meals." Sylvain said sarcastically, winking his right eye. The whole quarter knew Joseph to be committed to one and only one girl. It, therefore, shocked Sylvain when he saw Joseph in the 'arena of sin'.
"No," Joseph began. "I don't have the courage to betray Risa. By the way, I am more scared of diseases than anything else. Anyways, I need your help Sylvain."
"I am all ears," Sylvain responded. Joseph briefly told him the situation at hand. Sylvain promptly invited him to come sleep with him in church. When they arrived at Sylvain's room, it was 2 a.m. Joseph threw his luggage at a certain corner of the room, lay on the floor, and began slowly sleeping. The coldness of the cement floor didn't disturb him. Just the relief of not sleeping outside in the streets procured him the warmth of thick woolen bed sheets. As he was about to completely doze off, he heard a phone chiming. He got up to put it off but the name on the screen made him think twice. It was Risa, calling Sylvain. Joseph picked the call;
"Hello." Joseph introduced.
"Hello love. How are you doing?" Risa passionately responded.
Joseph held his breath and began imagining a very lewd scenario involving Risa and Sylvain. Surely in his 3 months of absence, she was tired of waiting for a dead man. While he was thinking, he paused his discussion with Risa and remained silent. Not saying anything. Even the urge to sleep had left him.
"Joseph darling. Why aren't you answering? Is anything wrong?" Risa broke the silence. That question brought Joseph back to the conversation.
"How did you know that I was the one having the phone?" Joseph asked.
"I just knew. Call it the feminine intuition" Risa answered.
"Feminine intuition. I am not convinced" Joseph began being scared. She spoke as though she was observing him from a certain position. It wasn't a coincidence. Her call was too precise. The call dropped and Joseph heard several knocks at the door. When he opened the door, Risa stood in front of him, with her phone and a little handbag. Her attire showed she was either at a formal ceremony or at a party. Joseph ushered her in and asked again,
"How did you know?"
"On my way home at met Sylvain at a roundabout. He is the one who told me you were sleeping in his room." Risa answered.
"Sylvain? He told me he was going to take a bath." Joseph answered.
"Well, his bath is in a bar just 200frs from here." Risa giggled. In the end, being chased from the house seemed to be very profitable.
"How come Sylvain has your number?" Joseph asked.
"He helps with some electronic devices," Risa responded, knowing where the conversation was heading.
"Electronic devices. Does Sylvain sell that kind of stuff?" Joseph continued questioning. Though he was happy seeing Risa, the idea of Sylvain having Risa's number disturbed him a lot.
"Don't play the jealous guy here. He helped me to buy the phone I now possess. He might deal in shady things but when his elder sister wants a service from him, he can't refuse." Risa quelled Joseph's jealousy prang.
"I am sorry for behaving as such," Joseph began. "I should be grateful to see you. You took a great risk coming here at this hour in this dangerous quarter."
"This wasn't risky. When I heard you were finally discharged, I couldn't stay on my two feet. I had to come to see you." Risa answered, jumping into Joseph's arms, hugging him tightly.
"I missed this warmth, this smell, this presence," Risa spoke with a teary voice. "You can't know how it was complicated for me. I passed at your hospital at least thrice a week. That old woman didn't want to tell me anything. I just —"
"That's ok," Joseph said, wiping her tears. "All is well and it can't be otherwise. All that matters is that I am here now. That we are here now."
They stayed in each other's arms for close to an hour. Saying nothing. Just silently appreciating each other's body. At around 4a.m, Risa asked to go. Joseph was surprised for it was still dark but Risa didn't even leave him to voice his opinion. She left Joseph in the room and hurried out of the church. When she had walked a certain distance, she looked at her surroundings. Left, right, then behind her. Made sure no one was close and that no one was observing. She put on her phone and selected the contact labelled Uncle Leon. She wrote the following message.
"It didn't work. The ritual failed. I verified his warmth, his smell, and his presence. It is truly him and not a different entity." She put the phone back into her handbag and continued her way to her home.