REUNION

 

A Day of Rejoicing: We got to Aunty Agatha’s house late in the af­ternoon due to the heavy traffic in Lagos. What joy to be safely back home! The security man let us into the compound and ran to tell her I was back. Aunty Agatha came running to embracing me. We wept and hugged each for a long while. “My child, where have you been? What hap­pened to you?” She then noticed Lucy standing next to me. “Nkem, I see you have a friend here. Who is she?” “Her name is Lucy,” I replied. God used her to bring me safely back home. Come inside my children. You must be starving. Lifting up her hands to the heavens she prayed, “God, I thank you!”

 An Ordeal Never to be Desired 

Aunty Agatha wanted to hear every detail of my ordeal. She was not feeling too well during her trip so she decided to cut it short to four days instead of a week. She returned home on the evening I went missing. She was told I had not returned from the shop at past 9pm, which was strange. She called one of her sales girls who told her that they did not see me in the shop all day. Something was certainly wrong somewhere. Betty told her I was last seen with Mrs Laraba who offered to drop me at the shop that morning. Mrs Laraba’s phone number was not reachable for two days and fi­nally when it rang she said she had left me at the door of the shop and was also shocked to know I was missing.

 
Immediately Aunty Agatha developed a high pressure. She went with Betty to the police sta­tion to report that I was missing. Mrs Laraba went to the house to calm her down and made up a story that it was possible I ran away with a young man. Aunty Agatha did not believe her knowing how she had raised me and kept pray­ing for my safe return