Short Story: The Shooting Star

Adetoun walked down the streets slowly, she looked quite torn between two worlds – the world of reality and that of her thoughts. She mistakenly bumped into a dark young man who seemed to be in a hurry; this was met with a series of insults. She quickly did her best to apologize to him, but he was gone already. She composed herself immediately, and sat down on the bonnet of a car.

Adetoun was a beautiful lady, dark in complexion, she had a slightly pointed nose, and an oblong face. All these features even made her beauty to be more pronounced. She was what the guys of today would call “melanin popping”.

As beautiful as she was, she had her scars. She was an only child; and as fate would have it – she became an orphan at the age of twelve. From that moment, Adetoun’s custody was handed over to her father’s brother, who was popularly known as “Chairman” in his area because he happened to be the head of the area boys and touts. Chairman was a huge man, with a round face and receding hairline; he also had a stomach that looked like it was housing twins. You could always perceive the stench of beer or cigarettes around him; he had a wife- Mummy Tayo, and two children- Tayo and Wumi. Wumi and Adetoun were age mates, while Tayo was already eighteen.

Adetoun soon moved in, and started school again. All seemed to be going well until one terrible incident happened; on a cloudy day, Adetoun was inside the house, all alone, washing her clothes. Tayo and Wumi had already gone to meet their mother in her shop which was three streets away .Adetoun happily washed her clothes at the back of the house as she hummed a song she heard from the radio. Chairman staggered into the house, heavily drunk; he shouted “who’s in this house o?” .Adetoun quickly stood up from where she was washing and went inside to meet her uncle. “E kaabo, Sir”, she knelt down to greet him; Chairman’s eyes did a quick scan of Adetoun’s body and he licked his lips. “Oya, go and bring me the two thousand naira I kept on the small table in my room”, he commanded.

Adetoun, the obedient child she was, ran to her uncle’s room to get the money; little did she know that she was walking into an evil trap. When she got there, her eyes scanned the room for the small table. She saw it, but she couldn’t see any money on it. As she turned around to go and give her uncle a feedback of the little errand, she was met by her uncle who was already by the door. Chairman locked the door and put the key in his pocket; Adetoun was confused and asked “Uncle, what’s happening? Is there an armed robber outside?” Her questions were met with a reply of four words, four words that would later haunt her in the future. “Adetoun, remove your clothes” was all her uncle told her. Adetoun was so dumbfounded, but then, she quickly realized the implications of her uncle’s words. Already in tears, she started pleading with her uncle, but her uncle pushed her to the bed. She started to shout, but her uncle was quick to quiet her by giving her two slaps and he covered her mouth with his hand. Without wasting time, her uncle already stripped her of her clothes, along with her dignity and pride, and whatever happiness she had been feeling previously. Adetoun had no strength left in her, as her uncle mounted her and devoured her virginity like a hungry lion; she could only curse him in her heart. After Chairman was done eating the forbidden fruit, he heaved a sigh of satisfaction and fanned himself.

Next, he threatened to kill Adetoun if she ever uttered a word to any soul. Adetoun. Chairman stood up and happily left the crime scene. After much shedding of tears, Adetoun stood up, staggering and went to the bathroom first, trying to wash away the dirt and the pains away. Then, she went to her uncle’s room; as she entered, she started crying and she removed the sheets. Amidst the tears, she washed the sheets and her remaining clothes so the other members of the family wouldn’t suspect a thing.

When Mummy Tayo, Tayo and Wumi got back from the shop, Adetoun acted like as if everything was perfectly alright. For one week, Adetoun was withdrawn to herself, she was no longer the friendly child she used to be. If anyone asked what happened to her, she simply replied that she was remembering her dead parents. This façade went on and on, until another day came when Chairman wanted to have his way again. This time, Adetoun used all of her strength to resist him and she ran away (At this point in time, she was just in the second class of junior secondary school). Chairman went outside and sent some of his boys to look for her. When his wife and children came back, he denied ever seeing Adetoun that day; “I thought she was with you in the shop”, he said. He calmed his wife and children down and made a show of calling his boys to look for Adetoun.

Adetoun kept running till she was very tired and out of breath. She looked around and tried to assess her surroundings. She realized that she was already in another area. Then, she saw a man who was loading his truck with farm produce, and she deducted that he was going to the city. She sneaked into the back of his truck and soon enough, the man started driving, unaware of the fact that he was carrying an extra passenger.

In Chairman’s house, his wife and children were very worried and eagerly awaited the reports of the boys. The boys came back with a negative report as all efforts in the search for Adetoun were futile. Mummy Tayo and her children were greatly distressed after hearing this; Chairman reassured them that he would still search for her the next day.

When she got to the city in the morning, she walked around the streets looking at the busy ways of the city and thinking of a way to survive. The next day, she decided that she would have to look for a way to fend for herself. Just as she was thinking of ideas, she saw a girl that was caught stealing. She went to meet the girl and  then indicated her interest in joining the group of pickpockets. The other girl, who was called Esi, as she discovered later, reluctantly agreed to teach her. That was how Adetoun became a full-time pickpocket; she became quite a professional.

At Chairman’s house, after all continued efforts to search for Adetoun had been in vain, they all concluded that she must have been kidnapped or used for rituals. So, everyone mourned for her, some with crocodile tears, and everyone moved on with their lives.

For many years in the city, Adetoun continued in the art of pickpocketing and had a lot of friends. Their shelter was an uncompleted building. One day, as Adetoun was walking around the city, already a lady of eighteen, she heard a talk on the radio about life. The radio presenter advised the youth to do something meaningful and legal, something their parents could be proud of, and not to engage in illegal vices. Adetoun was disturbed as the thought of her dead parents came floating to her mind. “Would they be pleased with her if she was engaging in this terrible act”? , this was one of the many questions that troubled her mind. That night, Adetoun tossed and turned as she kept thinking of what to do, she finally made a decision.

The next morning, before anyone woke up, she packed her bag, and with the money she had saved over time, she made her way to another part of the city. She had decided that she would be selling groundnuts which is “epa” in Yoruba land and roasted plantain popularly known as “boli”. She rented a flat and she went to the market to acquire the materials for her business, then she went to get a stand where she could sell her boli and epa. She soon became popular in that town, because she was always nice to her customers and everyone around her. Due to the nature of her work, she became known as “Anti Boli” by the young and old. Adetoun was also involved in the town’s youth forum, and she was an active member. Whenever there was a call for help, she was always willing to do so. Alas, she had really changed overnight. For Adetoun, it was tough to resist the temptation of being a pickpocket, but she tried her best to steer clear of pickpocketing.

One fateful day, at the market where Adetoun happened to sell boli andepa, a boy who looked to be about fifteen years old was running with so much speed, with five area guys fast at his heel. Shouts of “thief, thief, ole” hung in the air as everyone gave their attention to the ongoing chase. Eventually, the boy was caught and before you could say Jack Robinson, a big black tyre was placed around his neck, and one of the area boys popularly known as “Ijakadi” went to get petrol to make the sacrifice complete.

While all this was happening, Adetoun was watching from her stand and she felt a tug at her heart to help the poor boy even though he was guilty of the crime. She said a short prayer, and proceeded to do an Esther. She held her head up high, and went to meet the head of the area boys, who was called “Kayefi”. She pleaded with him “Kayefi, baba to sure, abeg help me free this small pikin”. “Anti Boli, that one no possible o, e no fit happen”, he responded. She begged him and pleaded on account that he was small and not yet wise. After much pleading, Kayefi agreed and said “Anti Boli,because na you o, wallahi, if no be say we be padi, I for don send this pikin go Baba God side”. The boy was set free, and he prostrated himself before Adetoun, thanking her with tears in his eyes. She told the boy to accompany her and he did so.

At her stand, she quizzed the boy about his life and family. There, she learnt that his name was Abayomi, he was an orphan and he was living on the streets. She agreed to take him in like a younger brother, if he promised to behave. He joyfully agreed, and so, Adetoun really had someone to call family. Soon, after she could see that Abayomi was behaving well, she got a JAMB form for him and she made him sit for it and other necessary exams. Abayomi passed and was admitted into the University of Lagos to study Law; Adetoun’s joy knew no bounds.

 Over the days, everything was going smoothly and Adetoun was enjoying her simple life selling boli and epa. One morning, as Adetoun was dressing up, she felt a slight pain in her left breast and saw that a lump was on her breast. She thought it was an insect bite, and she went to rub some shea butter on the affected area. Every day, she rubbed the area with shea butter. After a week, she woke up to see that the nipple of that breast was giving out a bloody discharge. She was scared, and she quickly made her way to the hospital. After waiting for an hour, the doctor finally attended to her. She explained her situation to the doctor, and he told her that she would have to get a mammogram. The mammogram was conducted shortly, and she was told to wait in the doctor’s office for the results. The doctor came back after thirty minutes with some papers in his hand.

“Ma’am, after the mammogram, we have discovered what exactly is behind your symptoms”, he said. “Okay, what is wrong with me doctor? “, she asked; he told her she would have to be calm to hear the results. By now, Adetoun was very tense; the doctor finally said “Ma’am, you have stage two breast cancer”. For two minutes, Adetoun was in shock and didn’t utter a word, then she burst into tears amidst cries of “Doctor, why me? This can’t be true, who have I offended? ”. The doctor tried his best to console her, and when she was a little bit calm, she asked “Doctor, please, what exactly is the solution to this?”, the doctor replied “Ma’am, you’d have to undergo a surgery in two weeks from now. ” The doctor explained that she could either go for a lumpectomy or a mastectomy, and he told her to eat some specific foods before the surgery. He also advised her not to worry as the survival rate was high. The doctor then stated that the hospital fee for the surgery was five hundred thousand naira. Adetoun’s eyes almost bulged out of her sockets when she heard this, but she didn’t say anything.

Adetoun was not herself when she got home. She took a walk down the streets, and started thinking about how she would raise the money for her treatment. She called Abayomi and broke the sad news to him; Abayomi was very unhappy but he assured her that they would get the money and she would eventually be fine.

The next day, Adetoun sold some of her belongings and raised a hundred thousand naira. She also went to meet a friend, who borrowed her hundred thousand naira too. Abayomi came home to see his sister, and to inform her that he had borrowed three hundred thousand naira. Adetoun wasn’t too happy as she didn’t want to burden Abayomi, but she thanked him. Abayomi stayed with Adetoun throughout the two weeks before her surgery. Many people in the town stopped by Adetoun’s place to ask after her.

Time flew so quickly, and the day of the operation arrived. Adetoun and Abayomi exchanged tearful farewells as Adetoun was wheeled into the theatre room. Abayomi was praying and pacing around nervously. After what seemed liked forever, the doctor came out of the theatre room, and Abayomi ran to meet him. “Doctor, what of my sister, how is she?”, the doctor shook his head with pity in his eyes and said “I’m sorry but she couldn’t make it”. Abayomi shook his head and said the doctor was lying, but the doctor reaffirmed the news. He sat on the floor and burst into tears, shouting for Adetoun. It was very painful, indeed, the loss of a sister and a benefactor. Later, Adetoun’s body was taken to the mortuary and Abayomi went home to give the sad news to the town people. The town mourned for Adetoun, for she had been kind to everyone in one way or another.

O-REY