TEARS FOR A LIFETIME (EPISODE 1) : THE MOMENT!
You know how they say it only takes one moment to change your whole life?? You have to experience this to truly understand the depth of this statement. My name is Rita Dejumo and this is my story:
I was born to a poor family. When I say poor; I mean eating once a day and not knowing where tomorrow’s meal is coming from, living in a building with at least 7 other families sharing a bathroom and a toilet and sleeping in a small room with my Dad, Mom and my four sisters…that kind of poor. We were poor but we were happy. Now, don’t get me wrong at the time, I didn’t think that we were happy but having experienced all that I have and looking back, we were indeed happy.
Dad was a security man for the estate on the next street working the day shift and sometimes at night when necessary. Mom was the cleaner in that same estate and she helped maintain the street roads, maintain compounds etc. I can tell you so much about my parents, where do I start from? The way Dad would call me ‘riri baybay’ and put me on his lap to hold me or Mum’s big smile and tight hugs and the musky smell of her wrappers. My parents never ate the meat in the food, never. And when the food was not enough, they would go to bed on empty stomachs. I thought that was the ‘normal’ duty of every parent but I came to learn that I was privileged to have been born to Augustus and Agnes Dejumo.
On Friday, the 6th of April 2001, we were home from primary school. It was 8pm and Mom & Dad hadn’t come back home which was unusual because Mom would usually be back at 6:30pm or no later than 7 and Dad follows much later . Kemi, our last born, was already crying and complaining of hunger. We ate once a day and that was when my parents came back with food. I cajoled her and played with them until they finally slept off. I was so worried. I waited until I fell asleep.
The next morning, I woke up and Mom and Dad weren’t sleeping on the bed. I was so afraid. My sisters were asleep. I ran to the estate and when I got there, I saw blood on the floor close to the gate. I saw Uncle Friday (Dad’s friend and the other security man) sitting on the floor. There were wounds on his body and he was weeping. I started crying before I got there. ‘Uncle, where is Daddy? Where’s my Mommy?’. He looked up at me and kept saying ‘God, why?’ ‘Uncle, what is it? Why are you crying? Where’s my Daddy?’. Then I looked over and saw his wife, Aunty Moji flat on the ground weeping. People were attempting to console her but she didn’t look like she could hear them. I ran over to her. ‘Aunty Moji, please what is going on? Aunty, stop crying. Please, where is my Mommy? Please, where is my Daddy?’ ‘Hei God, what do I tell her? What do I tell her now, Agnes? Agneeesss, come and meet your daughter. Augustus ohh. HEIII.’
And in that moment, I knew that they were gone forever. That was the moment that changed my life forever. Every smile, every laughter was soon to become tears and I could do nothing about it. Nothing at all.
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