I thought the wall between us and Mr. Tunde was just a wall; I never knew there was more to it. Back then, when I was still a child, growing up, my mom would tell me to not play near it or even think of climbing it, because it was weak already.
Or maybe because my family and Mr. Tunde's family never agree. I grew up to know Mr. Tunde as the never-smiling man; my dad himself won't stop saying how stubborn he is too. I don't know why, though, but I've never seen them talk, walk together, or even exchange greetings.
One afternoon, I think I was around eleven years of age then; I was playing ball inside our compound, and suddenly the ball bounced higher than I thought, and it went into Mr. Tunde's compound. I honestly didn't know what to do or who to tell, so I just thought it best to climb the wall and pick it up before anyone knows.
As I was about to jump to the other side, I felt a hand touch my feet; it was Mr. Tunde. I almost slipped, but he held me tight.
"Don't worry, I will hand you the ball." He said.
"Thank you, sir." I replied with my voice shaking.
He handed me the ball and told me not to tell anyone, especially my dad, what happened or that I tried climbing into his compound. That again made me feel somehow, like it was strange.
Some years later, my dad fell ill and died. Everyone mourned him and came to pay their condolences except for Mr. Tunde. He didn't say hi, nor did he come to greet us or even attend his funeral.
I had no option but to ask my mum about it.
"Just leave him alone." That was my mum's response.
"But why? Can't I know why? Why does Dad hate him too?"
"I said, leave that man alone." She said, then continued, "It's just that some matters are better left unsaid."
Well, a few years later, my mom got sick too, and she died. I wasn't staying with her as at then again. The pain of having no mom and dad hit me. And at the time she died, she was with one of my elder sisters. So, I just traveled down, did all the arrangements, and took her to the village for burial.
A month later, after everything was settled, I returned home to arrange the house, clear things up, burn what needs to be burned, and all. After I was done with all of that and made my way to the side of the house, I noticed the wall separating us and Mr. Tunde had begun to crack.
The wall is now so bad that I can see almost all of Mr. Tunde's compound from ours, and they can as well see ours too. My eyes suddenly caught someone sitting very close to the fence. It was Mr. Tunde. He's looking very old now. Almost all of his hair has turned white.
I greeted him, and he responded.
"You're back. How are you?" He asked.
"Yes. I'm fine, sir." I responded.
"The wall won't stand much longer." He is looking at the breadth and length of the wall.
"Yeah, I noticed that too." I replied.
We both kept silent for a while. Then he called my name.
"Toyosi."
"Yes sir." I replied.
"Come nearer." He said.
Then he began...
"Your father and I were friends; it just happened that something money-related transpired between us both; he promised to sort it, pay me back, and all, but he couldn't." He said and sighed.
"And that's all... Like, is that enough to warrant all of that." I asked
"No, it doesn't." He replied.
Then he explained how he also needed the money and kept postponing what he wanted to do with it until the opportunity slipped by, and another thing came up, but my dad kept giving him excuses until he couldn't do what he's supposed to do with that money again.
I just couldn't help but feel bad about.
"I never knew about it. My dad didn't tell us." I said.
"I know. But I feel bad; I should have at least come to his burial. At least he was my friend. But I was just too ashamed and felt you may either think I'm glad he's gone or that I'm doing eye service."
I just sighed and looked at the wall. It gave me a different meaning, maybe its actual meaning. The wall wasn't built because they hated each other, but it has become a hiding place for pride, stubbornness, anger, and silence. And it had been so for years, each man waiting on his own side of the fence, expecting the other to reach out first.
Very early the following morning, rain began to fall. It was a heavy rain. When it reduced, I stepped out, and that was when I noticed something: the air feels different, and the compound looks lighted up and spacious. I quickly opened the small gate by the door to step out and see what changed. That was when I noticed that the wall had fallen.
Mr. Tunde was already there, staring at it.
He looked at me and smiled. That was the very first time I would see him smiling.
"I suppose it's finished... just like Christ said." He said with a smile.
I looked at him, then at the fallen wall.
"No, I think it just began... Just like the Avengers said."
And we stared at each other for a long while with nothing between us but a pile of crumbled walls.
馃尮
Images are AI generated.
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