"Dad! Please don't forget to send my school fees today, as you promised. You know it is my final year examination, and I don't pray to retake any course at all." I requested an over-the-phone conversation with him. "My daughter, you know I always keep my promises. Trust me on this. You will get the payment before today's runout.". He responded in a delighted tone.
I waited, like, forever, and I didn't receive the payment. However, when it was getting dusk, I decided to put a call through, but to my surprise, he didn’t respond. I tried several times, yet he didn’t pick. I thought to myself," What could be happening? My dad didn't pick up my call. He is always glued to his phone. Something is wrong!
I sensed danger, but I didn't know what to do. I was just perplexed and confused. Not long after, my phone rang, and I picked up with joy in my heart. I had thought it was my dad, but I was wrong. It was a friend, Sade, my roommate and study partner. She had called to inquire about my current location and to remind me of our initial plan to meet at our regular meeting point, which was always at the back of the Queen Elizabeth Library since the library rooms were usually filled to the brim during these examination periods.
I couldn’t contain my bitterness as I had to tell her my ordeals on the phone. "Don't jump to conclusions, my dear friend. You never can tell what has happened; just come to our meeting point first, and we can sort things out," Sade said to console me.
I later met with her. She told me that my dad might have left the house without taking his phone, which I refuted by saying, "I know my dad very well; he can't go a second without his phone." When the day was getting dark, we left the library premises and went to our hostel. With bitterness and dismay, I followed her with fear of uncertainty about the whereabouts of my dad.
At our hostel, I couldn't sleep as I was waiting to hear a beep from my phone, but to no avail. Sadness gripped my heart as I didn’t know what else to do. The following morning, when I woke up, I told my friend that I would be travelling if I didn’t see my dad's call until the afternoon.
"Sade, I have a problem; I don't have enough cash to get me home from here," Isaid that while explaining how I spent the part of the money I had with me on course materials. "If $5,000 will be enough to take you home, then you can have this." She said that while handling me the money to argue my transport fare back home.
I waited till noon but still didn’t see a call from her dad. So I decided to call my sister, who was also in school, just to inform her about my journey back home. On the phone, she also recounted the same ordeals as myself, as she had tried calling dad too but to no avail.
I boarded a bus heading to Lagos, as my dad resided in Oshodi from Ibadan. Even though the weather wasn't friendly, I had to travel. "I must see my dad, no matter what." I retorted with a heavy heart as I alighted from the bus.
When I got home, I met my dad on his couch, resting, but I noticed brushes on his body. I didn't know when I screamed, "Dad, when don't you go to the hospital? I can't afford to lose you." "I'm fine, my daughter; I just needed enough rest, and I will be fine," he responded as he told me how he was robbed and attacked close to an ATM machine when he was trying to use his card to transfer the money I had demanded for my school fees.
His lying position reminded me of how I had lost my aunt to the cold head of death. She was a good mother who sponsored me through primary and secondary school. She had no child, as she took him in as her biological child.
I could remember vividly how she had tripped and dashed her head against the wall as she was returning from the bathroom. She was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. It was a terrible experience that has refused to go away since that time. I never wished to experience losing a family or acquaintance in their prime anymore.
"Dad, we have to go to the hospital," I said while trying to lift him up from the couch, to which he grudgingly agreed. "Have you forgotten that your examination is in a few days from now? You have to go back to school," he retorted. "Your safety first; I will go back to school once the doctor says you are fine." I replied clearly. When we got to the hospital, the doctor ran several tests and confirmed that there was no cause for alarm. I was happy as we returned home with only the prescribed drugs.