Lineage

Funmi Dada Part 3

Bankole may have forgotten what happened a week ago, but she remembers it all. It seems like a lifetime ago when she went on her quest to search if her son was a witch. For Funmi and her son, things would never be the same. The school for the blind would not take him in now until the next session. She was searching for a private teacher for him. Presently Bankole stays at home alone while she is at work. Bankole seemed to be adjusting well, a little withdrawn but otherwise handling things well. With a wonderful memory of where most things in the house are, he was able to navigate his way around the home, but Funmi had to remove obstacles from the way. Funmi will never forget the sight of her son laid out on the bed, not moving but yet screaming for his life. She had asked him about the nightmare, but he won't talk about it and yet was too scared of sleeping alone.

Bankole really missed going to school. All he did at home was listen to the radio or sit by the window 'looking' at people walking by. Medically he was blind but yet as he looked out of the window and hear the voices of people passing by. He saw them as light, with different degrees ofbrightness light. He noticed that children have brighter lights thanadults, like his mother. Then there a few individuals with lights brighter thanthe average. 

The first time he saw dark light his mother took him shopping at a popular supermarket. He had a pair of dark sunglasses and on a wheelchair. He did not notice the dark light at first until someone regular person stood behind the individual he realized he saw darkness. Bankole recognized Lydia's voice. It came from the direction of the dark light. Then he heard Tinuke's voice, another dark light. Bankole was glad they hadn't spotted him. He didn't want any of his schoolmates to see him in this state. He just wasn't ready for it. What does it is this light he sees? Bankole wondered. Maybe it is the human soul or spirit.

Hearing the laughter of children as they walk along the road reminded him of school and his friends. He remembered hanging out with 'the others'. He wondered, how did that happen, how did he ever become a member of the others? Maybe it was because of Tinuke. He like Tinuke and now cannot understand why she had dark light. He assumed that the dark light were evil people, adults. Tinuke and Lydia were kids and they should have bright light or are they evil. This got him confused. Well, Lydia could have dark light remembering all the rumours about her, not Tinuke. It made him ponder, what kind of light did he have? He could not see his.

Bankole had not told his mother anything about-how he sees people and what happened to him in the hospital. How can he describe what he could not see but only sensed? He knew something was in the room with him when he was in the hospital and it stank. He remembers being lifted off the bed and thrown down like a piece of rag. Bankole remembers lying there, unable to move. Somehow he sensed that whatever that thing was, it hated him and this scared him. He never sleeps in the afternoon because he is home alone, too scared that it would appear in his dreams again. 

It's a month after they discharged Bankole from the hospital. He is doing much better now he uses a cane to navigate his way around because he was still blind. Surprisingly his hearing improved in both ears. Funmi was happy with the progress they have made so far. She'd got him a teacher, to teach him to read and write in braille. His teacher was a young lady about twenty-two years old. She worked in the school where Funmi hopes they would admit her son next session. She is a tall, slim, and pretty woman with a very pleasant personality. Bankole, he liked her immediately. Her name was Miss Leslie Johnson, but he called her Aunty Leslie. She would come for her classes Monday to Friday during her free periods. She had promised Funmi that Bankole would read and write braille before the next session. Funmi should be happy, life was calm and peaceful, but she wasn't. Her instincts are telling her that her son is hiding something from her. She doesn't want to push him. Funmi only hopes he would open up to her. Something is going on with her Bankole.