SOLDIER

Chapter 1: Gifted

On October 6, 1994, Priscilla awoke to her alarm bell at 6 a.m. and, like every other day, got ready for her morning jog. As she got ready to leave, she checked in on the kids to be sure everyone was alright.

Just as she was leaving, Kola called out to her. "Mommy!" he sleepily exclaimed. Surprised that he was awake so early, she sat on his bed and kissed him on his forehead, rocking him till he slipped back into sleep. Closing the door quietly behind her, Priscilla jogged out of the house.

Deciding to take a different path, she jogged towards the Sam Ethan Air Force Base in Ikeja. Fridays were quite busy in Lagos city and the snarls of traffic could get very frustrating. It was one of the reasons why Priscilla had decided to jog around the air force base.

As she ran on the newly paved road leading to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, she remembered her childhood when her parents would make her sister and her hawk dry fish on that very street. Now, recently erected street lights glowed in the dawn and flowers planted on the road's median made her morning jog more like a pleasant walk.

It was not long before she had reached the air force base. She would be taking a U-turn and retracing her steps here. Exhausted from the run, she sat down on the pavement.
Suddenly, she heard a baby's cries. She looked this way and that to see where the cry was emanating from but there was nothing out of the ordinary; just other joggers and cars passing by her on the road. The baby's cries seemed to be getting louder and Priscilla realised, with a start, that the sound was coming from underneath her.

Squatting down, she peered into the drain, which was thankfully dry from the summer heat. She was not surprised to see a small bathtub with a baby in it, cushioned by clothes. Somebody had done it again!

"Another abandoned child! Oh, how could people be so heartless!" she cried. Yelling out for help, she hastened to lift the child out of the pit and save the gift that God had given her (every child was one, she'd tell you).

Other joggers stopped to see what the fuss was about and helped her lift out the tub. Her eyes, moist with tears of joy, she cuddled and cooed at the baby, calming him into sleep.

x-x

When all the procedures for adopting a child and the medical check-up had been completed, she sat on her reclining chair with the boy in her arms and wondered why on earth anyone would ever drop a child with absolutely no defects on the roadside. A healthy baby boy, at that!

"What shall I name you, cutiepie?" she asked, staring at the child in her arms.

Three years later, Daniel had started school. He was smart and had started to speak immediately after joining school, setting into motion a pattern throughout his life. He topped everything except sports, came first in several competitions and even represented his kindergarten in a state-level mathematics olympiad. His grasp on logic helped him connect the dots and make quick calculations faster than his peers.

Life was beautiful. An abandoned child had become a blessing in the house. The prodigy child got his face on a billboard and news of his intelligence spread far and wide. TV crews visited the orphanage for a news clip featuring the boy talking and newspapers carried him on the front page. People would visit the orphanage and volunteer with Priscilla to take care of the children and teach them. Financial contributions also came flooding in and the children were offered scholarships for tuition and feeding.

x-x

In another part of the city, Ravish Nehru was watching the morning news in his living room. Hearing the phone ring, he picked it up. It was his brother-in-law from India, Arjun. They had been trying to arrange a call for days now but neither had been free. Ravish had finally managed to take a day off and had told Arjun to call then.

"Namaste! How are you doing? How is Sanvi bhabhi's health? And Samaira?" Arjun asked.

Ravish had been worried sick about his wife, who had been due to deliver a child but had fallen ill during the pregnancy, and the plan had been to shift her to India for further medical treatment.

"I am so worried about her! If we do decide to go back home now, Samaira's studies will be affected. Anyway, the doctors have told us that there is a high chance she will recover and deliver the baby this month, so I'm hoping for the best..."

Just as Ravish had finished his sentence, his sister grabbed the phone from her husband and asked, "Jaanu! How has my baby brother been? Are you eating well?"

"We are all doing well, Prisha didi. We have been eating at Barvesh uncle's restaurant, which is near our house. Food is not an issue, don't worry. By the way, I got your email of the flight tickets you forwarded. Sorry, I couldn't reply to it! I got so busy with work and taking care of Sanvi."

"Don't apologise for that," Arjun said kindly.

Prisha quickly added, "But you better not forget to pick us up from the airport, huh, kyunki main bhuljaayegi ki aap bada hai aur aapko maar doongi! (otherwise, I will forget that you've grown up and beat you up!)"