Sunday Surprise 🎉 I hope you have fun reading. Really really really unedited, btw. I apologise in advance for any typos or punctuation errors you may find. Biko, help me manage it. Ẹṣé😁
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"I left home one hot afternoon in June 1998. My stepfather was drunk out of his mind, and passed out in the parlour. As soon as it occurred to me, I didn't wait on it, or think it through, I just went for it.
"The path was clear to escape, and leave behind my stepfather's cruel treatment. So I stuffed my favourite clothes into my knapsack and I emptied my secret stash of sweets and snacks.
"First of all, I went out on the pretext of carrying dirty clothes out. Then as soon as I got far enough, I arranged my load, and I kept walking. I kept walking without looking back.
"I didn't want anyone to know, so I didn't breathe a word about what I was going to do."
Mosope's eyebrows rose involuntarily. How on earth did she think she could survive on her own as a ten year-old?
Even with how much he hated his family, he didn't think of running away.
But he said nothing of his inner musings, letting her go on with her story.
"I walked for miles, without any destination in mind. I didn't exactly know where to go. My parents never let me go to visit my extended family.
"When I tired, I sat on a bench I stumbled upon, hungry, thirsty and miserable.
"While desperately looking for the way forward, this man came up to me. My mum had always warned me about talking to strangers, so I didn't say a thing.
"But I can't deny that I was curious about what he had to say. He noticed that I was wary, so he introduced himself as Uncle Okoro.
"He said he had been watching me for a while. That he wanted to know what I was doing outside on my own. He asked of my parents, and that was when I burst into tears.
"Being reminded of my parents was something that pushed all the wrong buttons. You can imagine how startled he was when I started crying.
"That was when he sat down beside me, and asked me about my parents. Trust now, as an innocent little girl, I downloaded everything. Trust me when I say everything for him," she said.
Mosọpẹ wondered the irony of it, since even after twenty two years later, she was doing the same thing. Telling a stranger all about her business.
He wanted to laugh. He did start it, by giving her all the dirty, ugly details of his life's journey.
"He asked if I had any relations, and I told him I did, but didn't know where they lived. So he said that he was going to help me. He offered for me to follow him to his house."
"His house?" Mosọpẹ echoed disbelievingly, not even realising that the words had slipped past his mouth.
"Yeah, I know. Sounds quite odd. But he explained that he had a wife and son who could be my new family. They'd adopt me and raise me like their own.
"His offer sounded good enough to my naive ten year old self, so I followed him. Apparently he had a shop in the area, so, people in the neighborhood were not alarmed when they saw him with me.
"Besides, he had a car, and as someone who was not used to such luxuries, it cemented my wish to go with him.
"So, we went to his house, and only his son Junior was home. Junior was four years older than me, so he was a gangly, pimple-faced teenager.
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The Bridge|| Completed✓
General Fiction"Can I help you ma?" He asked. His voice was scratchy and low and his tone rang out as sarcastic. "What do you mean by 'Can I help you ma?'" she asked him in incredulity. "I said what I said. Now what exactly is your problem?" He asked, obviously no...
