Tears of Choice(Darlington Chukwunyere) Whenever I find myself in difficult situations, I always try looking around for people who’re in worse conditions than me… yes; they inspire me to move on, for one thing I know surely is that God cannot allow me access to an outsized cross.

Some people are yet to know they’re role models to some other people whom they believe are better off and better placed. On the other hand, if a barren woman should commit suicide for not being able to bear children for her husband, what then does she expect of another woman who’d lost her womb to an auto crash?

Well, I was witness to a similar case, it happened, and I’m writing in third person.

I lived with my family in a quiet neighborhood, not too populated but full of well meaning people — it was home to some people who’re more of the middle class and mostly the cream-de-la-cream of the city.
There was this spectacular couple who lived just adjacent our building; they were unique people. I always snuck into my father’s balcony upstairs to peek at them every week end. They had a little boy, who was always smiling. I recall watching the boy play petite tricks with the father who’d feign ignorance and would charge at him after a while of having realized the mock-tricks of his little boy. Mildred would be at a corner smiling and cheering father and son while they played hide and seek.

I sometimes imagined having a perfect family just as theirs; they seemed so content with each other that I often wondered if they ever had quarrels at all.

Well all these drew me closer to Mr. Joel and I looked up to him as an ideal husband and often evaluated my own parents with him and Mildred his wife.

I enjoyed their company, and even became a fourth member of the family and without sentiments or bias; my parents were just at the bottom of the ladder once I draw up my chart.

However, the blissful days turned stormy when their poor little boy was diagnosed of a heart disease, demanding for an imminent heart surgery. This triggered so many unpleasant events, amongst which was the very night I heard a gun-shot at mid-night. The next day around 8:00am, news of a robbery attack on my exemplary neighbors came.

Mildred was all in tears when I got to the house, the look of things told the rest of the story. Sympathizers were all over the living room, and, I saw blood stains on the floor.

Mildred was weeping uncontrollably and it was starting to give me much concern; besides, Mr. Joel? ‘How come he wasn’t on set?’ I’d wondered. ‘Or could it be he wasn’t in the house that night? Then, if that should be the case, Mildred must be in real shock right now’ I’d concluded. I felt so concerned and empathic, but something didn’t seem right yet.

I’d stayed up to three hours and Mr. Joel was yet to surface. How could he have abandoned his family at this point in time? The worst of it all was that nobody was talking to me, not even my own mother who was baring the little boy.

Soon, my unease turned to fear… the blood stains. Last night’s gun shot. These were giving me red signals. I couldn’t accept where my mind was going.

Soon, I heard police sirens, or so I’d thought. Four men emerged from within the apartment, they were baring a corpse.

Immediately, there was an outburst of whirling and lamentation. I never knew my own mother could cry so well that I was almost tempted to invite her for a movie audition. I felt like I was in a dream. Maybe I was right with my assumptions initially. Mr. Joel had abandoned his family. But not in any way like I’d imagined it earlier when I met Mildred in tears. He’d been forced out of this world by the vicious robbers.
Thence, I heard the real story.

Last night, the robbers had come into their apartment demanding for some huge money. They claimed to had been pre-informed of the money, and truly, Joel had brought back home the full payment for their house, which he’d earlier in the day sold out to a certain Chief Umeh… they needed the money to make deposits for a major surgery on their little boy who had a hole in the heart... he was willing to trade his family’s shelter for his little boy’s life.

Joel had tried putting up a little resistance which resulted to a gunshot; and he was the victim. He bled to death subsequently before help could arrive, and besides, he was shot in the head, through the left ear.
The police came afterwards, asking everyone to leave the crime scene. The rest of the story was made so boring by the local press and the local police, then I resolved to dig into every detail shortly… and, here below, is what I found:

The next morning, a blue Mercedes drove into the apartment, two monstrous guys alighted, one of them opened the door for an unknown fellow, and subsequently Chief Umeh alighted from the back seat. He waved his hands, his lips parted in a commanding gesture — I guess he had commanded his thugs to go into the building, but I didn’t exactly copy their mission.

However, my confusion was cleared almost immediately as I saw a box flying in the air, and next on the line was a leather handbag crawling behind. Few of Mildred’s garments ran after them subsequently and eventually, I saw Mildred herself struggling with one of those thugs over a kit… my God, they were throwing them out of the house? Mildred fought with all her might and screamed with her last breath, but no neighbor was on sight. For me, I was lost too, it was as confusing as I’d gathered. Joel had sold his house to Chief Umeh the penultimate day, and I couldn’t do any thing at all without being privy of their agreement even though the money’s been allegedly retrieved.

Suddenly one of the thugs gripped Mildred. He was choking her. I watched as she struggled for relief.

“Let me go!” She shrieked, gasping for breath, but the brawny man refused blinking. Little Pete saw his mother in the hands of this monster; he thought of something, he had to save his mother. Pete ran to the man who was strangling the mother and held unto his hefty right leg.
Now I was beginning to lose my patience and couldn’t stand the abuse anymore. Maybe Pete shared my opinion too; as he suddenly dug his teeth right into the man’s wrist… it was a terrible bite from a kid’s honey teeth, but that was a terrible mistake.

The man was virtually hurt by the bite; it was all over his monstrous face as he glared at the little hero who was just trying to save his poor mother. He let Mildred go, but grabbed the little man.

He raised the sick boy, twisted his arms, and flung him at a flower vase. My heart leaped as I took in the sight. It was a great crash, the flower vase shattered, and like wise my little hero. Pete remained motionless afterward.

Now that was the climax of it all, I had to buy the fight. My apartment was a few poles away from the crime scene, but I had to hurry as fast as I could hoping it was never too late and wishing I could borrow a bit of the Herculean spirit.

But so sad it was; I arrived just like the Nigerian police. A bit close to catching the culprits and it was so hurting because I only heard a buzzing engine speed past my gate even before I could reach for the handles.

Mildred couldn’t cry any less than she’d done already, My brave little hero was in her arms, their belongings all littered all over the floor and the apartment locked. The boy was not moving at all, he bled through the nose though, but there was a deep cut on his forehead — I guess he’d sustained it while colliding with the clay vase… my emotions clouded me afterward.

The boy was critical, he needed medical attention soon enough and Mildred knew this. She grabbed the little boy, like she was crazy, and she was going crazy, if not almost… the recent events could really render anyone insane.

Her hair was disheveled as she ran along the road, there was no taxi on sight, and she couldn’t wait for the long usual cue up for the KRC buses.
Soon, there was a taxi, she flagged it down, but the man was virtually diverting to another route, he wasn’t actually stopping for her—oh, I felt her anguish, Okota was quite a long distance from her position, I saw her staring helplessly at her dying child, there were pure bubbles of limpidness rolling down her virtuous cheek as she purged her emotions for nature to see.

Well, it was as if nature heard her cry; soon a tri-cyclist appeared.

Mildred almost forgot to pay off the tri-cyclist as she dashed into the hospital. Some nurses retrieved the sick child from her, and began with first aid measures before further questions, but Mildred was yet to quit sobbing.

“Calm down madam” one of the nurses assured, “he’ll be okay.”

“What happened to him? Was he hit?” another asked, but Mildred was not yet composed for any responses.

Soon the doctor appeared. “Madam? What happened to him?” he seemed stunned by the boy’s condition. “My God! Take him to the ward immediately!”

Mildred spent the rest of the day at the hospital. The wounds were clotted and bandaged, but the doctor had a disturbing message for her. The crash had caused severe damage on the boys retarding health, and there was need for immediate attention, even the doctor confirmed it in his words:
“Like I said earlier madam, time is running out… you have to do something fast. I have done all I can in my powers to assist, but as you can see, we’re professionals, you have to make payments before the surgery and soon enough too, time is running out for the child”.
“Thank you doctor, but how long do I have left to provide the money?”
“Just five days more madam, five days.”
“Okay, but can I make advance deposits and then… let me run around for the remaining balance?”
“Uh-oh, no, not at all madam. It’s against our professional ethics here. Clients make full payments before commencement of treatment.”
“Please Doc, help me. He’s my only child; he’s all I’ve got left in this world please”.
“I understand you madam. I feel your pain too and would’ve loved to assist; but you see, my hands are tied in this case. I can’t go against our operational policy”.

If tears were the solution, Mildred would have been alright by now — shed dried her tear bank and yet was at the threshold of suffering. Crying wouldn’t solve her predicament, the doctor was right; she had a whole lot of issues to sort out. At first she had to get a roof above her ailing child.

They moved out of my neighborhood. subsequently, I traced their new home and found they had a single room apartment in a public-yard. The whole thing was becoming phenomenal. I tried imagining the kind of life they would find in such a neighborhood, having been accustomed to a high standard of living. How was she ever going to cope with the face-me-I-face-you tradition?

Like I’d wondered, it wasn’t long before she hosted her first public-yard assault. It was from a co-tenant who had clothes to spread on the public sun-dryer. Mildred had earlier washed her garments in the morning, her clothes occupied a fraction of the hanging-rope, but there was enough space left. The woman also had clothes to spread, but according to her, the space was too small for her clothes and besides, she claimed Mildred was yet to be inducted into the system; therefore she had no right to enjoy such privileges yet as a new tenant. Consequently, she impounded Mildred’s garments and fined her for insulting her personality.

Another day passed, yet she had no hope. She resolved to meet a few relatives for assistance. Muna was the first person she approached. She’s known him as long as she’d known her late husband from their college days. Muna and Joel were inseparable friends until death. If at all Mildred had no one to run to, Muna was certainly an exception.

She’d arrived Munique Fittings and Finishing by 11:00. As a known face in the company, she had no business with the usual protocols for meeting the CEO, and Muna was eager to see her.
“Wow, what a pleasant surprise Mildred, please make yourself comfortable” Muna greeted, looking a bit surprised to see Mildred.
“Hmm, thank you. I hmm…”
“Please, I sincerely apologize for my absence, I heard what happened.”
Mildred was facing the floor, but her words stared straight into Muna’s face; “I thought you’d forgotten us all” was her response.
“Haba, how could I? You know my portfolio has much on my shoulders. Was intending pulling over this weekend. Hope everything is okay?”
What a question… imagine asking a blind man how bright the day is.
Mildred remained silent.
“Is everything alright? How’s Pete?”
Mildred couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.
“Pete is dying…”
“What! Are you serious? What’s with him?”
“Pete has a hole in the heart… he’s dying…”
“My God! How come you’ve not informed me all this while? Where’s he now?”
“Our new residence”.
“New residence? How come? You moved out from your husband’s house?”
There was a moment of silence, but Mildred found her voice later.
“No, Joel sold the house before he died.”
“What! You mean Joel had to sell his house without letting me know?”
“It was so urgent. The money was meant for Pete’s heart surgery but…” she began sobbing again.
“So, what happened? Was it successful? What’s Pete’s condition now?”
“We lost the money. They took it back that night, and killed my husband!”

Muna was put out for a while. He couldn’t think of something else to say.
“The doctor says the surgery must be as soon as possible” Mildred added. “Please help me, my son is dying, the doctor wouldn’t commence the surgery without full payment.”
“So… how much would the operation cost?’
“He says eight hundred thousand naira sir”
“What! You mean Joel sold his over-twenty million naira asset for a need of eight hundred thousand naira? How come he didn’t go for a bank loan, or at least, let me know about it? I mean, something is not just right about this whole thing. You know what, you’ll have to come back next week by then I’ll see how I can assist, okay?”
“But… the doctor says in four days… it might be late before then.”
“But there’s nothing I can do right now. Can’t you see the state of things in this country? The economic market is falling every day. Just come around next week”.

“Alright, thank you so much. I’ll be leaving now. You said next week?”
“Next week, okay, God willing I’ll be able to curve out something for you and…”
Mildred’s tone was a mixture of disappointment and doubt, but in this case there was no other choice for her than waiting on Fate.
“thank you very much sir” Mildred twisted the door handle.
“Don’t worry dear, what are friends for? Your husband was the brother I never had."

When strange things happen, nature is blamed. But when people do strange things, who’s to-blame? I believe for every rational action there must be an irrational cause; this depends solely on dilemmatic motives. However this is no justification to desertion of duty and love on the side of humanity. I was so astonished by Muna’s attitude; nevertheless… what are friends for?
“But, it would be late by then… the doctor says…”
“Just come back next week please!”

“But…” Mildred’s voice was drowned by surprise — she didn’t expect such negative response after all, yet she still had hope. Yes, she had a relative who’s married to a wealthy politician; they lived just a few poles down the street — maybe she could help… there’s no harm in trying anyway.

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