VALLEY:The Trials Of A Girl Orphan

CHAPTER 5

Oshodi! Oshodi! Oshodi! The noise of a bus conductor woke me up that
morning. I was sleeping under an old bridge with the old polythene bag
containing my few clothes as a pillow. I yawned. I had a very short night rest. I had
to battle with numerous mosquitoes that tried to eat of the little fresh flesh I had
left. Their sound didn’t even allow me to listen my own thoughts well.
Ever since I left The Adeyemi’s villa, life had been hectic. I hadn’t had a
proper meal. I barely had a thousand naira with me. I decided to get some biscuits
to start selling in the car pack. I bought a few and started hawking. I barely sold
anything. I couldn’t keep up with the pace of other hawkers. They always got to
the buses before I did. I was downcast. What was wrong? One day, as I ran after a
bus during a traffic jam, I fell down. Most of my goods were ruined.
“Be careful.” A young girl of about the same age as I was said to me. She helped
me get up and packed my goods.
“Thank you” I said.
She helped me get to a closed stall.
“Sit down here. Let me help you get water to wash your legs.”
She left and came back soon with a bowl of water. I washed my legs.
“Thank you.” I said.
“You’re welcome. I am Ewaoluwa.” She said as she sat down beside me.
“I am Keyshia”
“Keyshia?”
“Yes, it means everyone’s favorite.”
“Hmm thoughtful.”
I asked about her family. Her story was pathetic. Her father died when she
was eight years old and her father’s family had taken over all his properties. It
wasn’t like they were rich but at least they could afford to go to a good privateschool and eat three square meals. She, her mother and her two sisters were
thrown out of the house. Her mother rented an apartment on the outskirts of
Ikeja. Alas! Her mother died two years later.
They were accommodated by their mother’s thirty years old brother who
lived in a slum and was a drunkard. A particular day, he got so drunk that
He tried to molest Ewaoluwa and her sisters. Ewaoluwa decided to move out in
the middle of the night with her sisters. They then lived in an uncompleted
building in Ikeja.
“So sorry about that” I said sadly.
“No problem, Keyshia. Now tell me about you.”
I explained all I had faced in the last one year. I almost cried as I narrated all I had
gone through. I moved in with Ewaoluwa and her siblings. Olamiposi was the
second child. She was very convivial. She used to hawk peeled oranges.
Aduragbemi was the third and last child. The building was owned by a rich man
that died two years earlier and nobody had taken responsibility. The house was
roofed already. All we had to deal with were the birds that kept coming in and the
win during heavy rainfalls. We at least had one another. We lived from hand to
mouth. We barely ate balanced diet, just what we could afford. Sometimes, we
had to share little quantity of food among ourselves. 2 cups of rice for 4 people!
We made sure we worked very hard so that we could feed. We wore whatever we
had- thatched? Torn? Dirty? We had no choice.
We lived in this situation for 6 months right before tragedy struck. It all
started a month earlier. Aduragbemi had always complained of stomach pain.
Ewa and I had thought it was a minor issue. We didn’t pay much attention to it.
We kept encouraging her. She would cry all night. We knew she was in pain but
there was nothing we could do. We didn’t have enough money to take her to a
hospital. We had an Igbo chemist down the street. Ewa and I used to consult him.
He would pack multiple tablets for us and we would give them to Aduragbemi.
It was a Friday night. We had all retired to bed- did I say bed? I mean
anywhere we found to lay our heads. I sensed that all the girls weren’t asleep.“Are you guys sleeping already?”
“No.” Ewa, Aduragbemi and Olamiposi said in unison.
I looked up to the roof.
“What would it be like if we had our own house and money? I said
“Like a paradise, Keyshia. I’ll buy a big mansion of mine. I will buy a lot of cars. Life
will be all easy. I will have everything at my beck and call.” Olamiposi said.
“That’s all? I will leave this country forever. I will never return. This country has
brought me nothing but pain and sorrow.” Ewa said.
“Ewa? Leaving the country? Hmm, I won’t do that. I will rather stay and make this
country a better place. The only thing I will do is to make sure I secure my
children’s future because we’ll never know when death would come knocking.” I
said.
“You guys, I don’t see the use of all these things. If I get rich, I will build a very big
orphanage. We’ve been through hell. I don’t want any other child to go through
this. They should be able to see the good side of life.” Aduragbemi said.
Immediately she said this, she started coughing. We all thought it was simple. I
rushed to get her a cup of water. When I got back, the story had changed.
Aduragbemi was still coughing but this time, she was coughing out blood.
“Wait, guys!” I said as I saw blood. I dropped the water on the floor.
“Blood!” Olami said.
“Yeh! We are finished.” Ewa said.
We tried to calm Aduragbemi down to no avail.
“I think we need to go to the hospital” Olami said.
“Ha! Hospital isn’t for people like us. They pay a fortune there.” I said
“I don’t care, Keyshia. My sister is on the verge of death. I don’t care giving up my
life for her.” Ewa said.We decided to go to the hospital. Olamiposi rushed to get a cab. It was 9pm
already. We were lucky an old cab man was just going home. Olamiposi explained
our plight to him and he agreed to help us. We got to the hospital at 9:30 pm.
Aduragbemi was rushed into the intensive care unit.“Are you guys sleeping already?”
“No.” Ewa, Aduragbemi and Olamiposi said in unison.
I looked up to the roof.
“What would it be like if we had our own house and money? I said
“Like a paradise, Keyshia. I’ll buy a big mansion of mine. I will buy a lot of cars. Life
will be all easy. I will have everything at my beck and call.” Olamiposi said.
“That’s all? I will leave this country forever. I will never return. This country has
brought me nothing but pain and sorrow.” Ewa said.
“Ewa? Leaving the country? Hmm, I won’t do that. I will rather stay and make this
country a better place. The only thing I will do is to make sure I secure my
children’s future because we’ll never know when death would come knocking.” I
said.
“You guys, I don’t see the use of all these things. If I get rich, I will build a very big
orphanage. We’ve been through hell. I don’t want any other child to go through
this. They should be able to see the good side of life.” Aduragbemi said.
Immediately she said this, she started coughing. We all thought it was simple. I
rushed to get her a cup of water. When I got back, the story had changed.
Aduragbemi was still coughing but this time, she was coughing out blood.
“Wait, guys!” I said as I saw blood. I dropped the water on the floor.
“Blood!” Olami said.
“Yeh! We are finished.” Ewa said.
We tried to calm Aduragbemi down to no avail.
“I think we need to go to the hospital” Olami said.
“Ha! Hospital isn’t for people like us. They pay a fortune there.” I said
“I don’t care, Keyshia. My sister is on the verge of death. I don’t care giving up my
life for her.” Ewa said.