The black patch ( A Story)

I did not die that day.

However things changed in ways I had least expected. I was just a nine year old, I was not prepared for it.

You see, my family was not a very big one. At least Papa liked to think so.
At times, when we watched the evening news on tv we saw young men paraded for armed robbery. Every such time, papa would shake his head and say:

"This is why people should not have more children than they can care for. They end up constituting nuisance to the society."

I loved the sound of it. I knew I would speak 'big big grammar' like papa when I grew up.

One day, I recited the last sentence with him the best way I knew how. He stopped, looked at me, smiled and said "that's my boy"

I didnt know what nuisance meant but the way he said it, it sure was something really bad.
I was never going to be a nuisance. I was going to be like papa when I grew up. And Messi too.
I was going to buy a big coloured television and watch it with my family.

I loved the way friends of papa and mama called me papa's carbon copy.
Papa was not a very tall man, but he had a heavy build and his skin was the colour of chocolate. His hair, black, above a pair of thick eye brows, was always cut short, without the slightest hint of gray. He kept no beard.

He had huge veins and I enjoyed pressing the ones on the back of his hands. He never stopped me.

He always said he married early, and that it was good to marry early. I was going to get married early too, like papa.
I always imagined my wife looking like mama.

God bless mama.

She was the sweetest soul alive. Lighter than papa, she had long hair that wasnt black, but it was beautiful. She never wore weavons.

I loved how she smiled at me exposing her gap teeth, telling me I was her little man.
She was a hard worker, always putting things in order at home when papa wasnt around, having to put up with our excesses, especially from the twins.

I was almost three years older than them. Two years and eight months. Odion was the elder one, and Akhere came after. They were light skinned like mama, and Ehi.

At times they were quite a handful, and I had to separate fights all the time when we were home alone. They never seemed to agree with each other, unless the few times they ganged up against me.
Those times never did last, for they soon resumed their rivalry as suddenly as they ended it.

Mama said they would grow up to be very close, that twins always fought when they were little.
I couldnt wait.

Ehi...
The lastborn of the house, everyone adored her, even the twins.
She was easy to like. Cheerful with a cute dimple on her right cheek and a little voice that never stopped talking.

With her, I truly felt like a big brother. After mama, I was her favourite.
Probably because I always gave her a bit of my fish at supper. Or I was her only sibling who had time to play with her, and tickle her till she lay helpless on the floor convulsing with laughter.

Besides, me, Ehi was the only one who had a birth mark, black, on her right shoulder. Hers was small, and round, like the mark we saw on the foreheads of those women in indian movies.

Mine was bigger. It lay on my belly, just by my navel and was almost as big. I didnt like it.

It was ugly, a black patch which was very visible even from afar.

Mama said I was born that way, that it was a mark from God, given to me because I was special. She said it was never going to disappear.

I hated the sight of it. I always prayed to God to remove it, as soon as I learnt to pray.

He didn't.
"Good evening sah" a familiar voice greeted.

"Evening my boy... How are you?" Papa replied.

My heartbeat quickened!

"Fine sah". That voice belonged to Uchenna, the younger brother of Ugochukwu my best friend.

He was about the same age as my twin brothers. That however, was the only thing they shared in common.
Uchenna was a loner, hardly ever joining his mates when dey played football, or when they pushed tyres around the neighbourhood.
I could picture his lean frame crouched on the ground just outside our front door, drawing figures on the sand with a broomstick, then raising his head just long enough to greet papa before returning to his drawing.

On a normal day, we would all run out screaming:
"Daddy dede, oyoyo"
and we would take turns being lifted into the air.
Even Ehi had learnt to do it, and papa would throw her up in the air and catch her before pressing his lips on her belly, as if attempting to blow air into it.
Ehi shrieked with pure glee each time he did it, her dimple activated and her white milk teeth on full display.

I wish I had a dimple.

I didnt. But I had a black patch on my belly that just wouldnt go away.

Every such time, papa always carried Ehi on his hands, with her little hands wrapped around his neck.

This time, he didnt.

Papa opened the door and stepped in.

"Öbokhian" three subdued voices chorused. That was the way we said 'welcome' in Esan our native language.
No one had moved from their spot in an hour. Ehi was still fast asleep.

"Ehen... Is mama back yet?"

Papa spoke english with us more than esan. Mama made sure we could at least greet in our language and answer common questions.
Thanks to the holidays we spent in the village at times, I could speak a little, though I was far from fluent.

"No" I managed to reply.

No one else said a word. 3 pairs of eyes searched the floor for imaginary pins.

Then papa saw it. He moved closer and bent down to examine the tv carefully.

My heart skipped a beat.

Then without saying a word, papa got up and went to his room.

* * * * * * * * * *

It was almost 7pm before mama returned home with two 'ghana-must-go' bags.
Only Ehi welcomed her warmly. She had since woken up and was her usual cheerful self. Maybe she knew we were not to be disturbed, for she kept her distance, stumbling over some nursery rhymes mama had taught us.

Mama imediately sensed something was wrong, and touched each one of us on the forehead. Satisfied our temperature was normal, she looked around.

She flinched.

I knew she had seen it. I wanted her to asked what happened. I wanted the chance to tell her that it was not the fault of the twins.
I did not want her to walk away like papa did.
If anything, it meant big trouble.

"Where is papa?"

"Inside" I offered.
Ehi pointed to the door that led to the other parts of the house. My gaze followed in the direction of her little index finger.

There stood papa.
Mama greeted him and he mumbled something in reply.

"Ojie" Papa was looking at me.

"Sah?"

"What happened to that television?"

I was silent. I looked at the belt in his right hand.
I wanted to tell him the truth. I wanted to tell him how I dropped the remote control on the top of the television and went inside to urinate. How Odion and Akhere both made a dash for it immediately I was out of sight.
I wanted to to tell him that I was not there when it happened. That I was still easing myself when I heard a loud noise. I wanted to tell him I ran back to find the twins standing over the new television and the shattered vase, horror written all over their faces.

I looked at the twins. They looked scared. I felt sorry for them.

"Didnt I just ask you a question?" He moved closer.

I swallowed and looked down.
"I wanted to take my ball from the back and I mistakenly pushed it." I lied.

His hand connected with my face. The slap stung and tears started to well in my eyes.

"Do you know what it took me to buy it?" his voice was bitter.

Papa folded the belt in two and lashed at me. The first landed on my back. Pain errupted from that spot and spread all over my body. I went down in agony, crouching, with my hands shielding my head.

"Please, its ok, he is just a child" Mama pleaded in esan.

Papa ignored her.
The second stroke was quickly followed by a third.
The fourth stroked landed on my neck and I let out a blood chilling scream.

Mama gasped.

Papa raised his the belt to deliver the fifth.

Mama rushed in to shield me.

The belt landed on her back.
Papa had never hit mama before. He stopped and silently left for his room.

Mama held me tight and sobbed.
The twins looked on in guilt, shock and confusion.
Ehi looked on in fear, tears streaming freely down her cheeks.

That night I dreamt I was Messi and I broke in a million pieces when my twin brothers pushed down the tv with me in it.

Mom Drives Away with Her 5-weeks-old Baby on Her Car

Have you ever placed your cup of coffee on top of your car, only to forget about it and drive away, your cup still steaming on top? Have you ever placed your baby’s car seat, with your baby strapped inside of it, on top of your car, only to forget that your little one is still up there - so you drive away?

19-year-old Catalina Clouser “put her 5-week-old baby on top of her car in his car seat and drove away, apparently forgetting he was there, not even noticing when the seat fell off the car and landed in an intersection, police said.”

The baby was discovered in the roadway, uninjured and still strapped in his car seat, by neighbors. The police believe that Clouser was under the influence of something, most likely marijuana, which impaired her judgment.

The baby is now in the custody of Child Protective Services.

I’ve forgotten a water bottle on top of my car. And when I was younger, I had an outdoor cat that liked to sunbathe on the top of my mother’s van; and he once stayed up there while my mother began driving to the grocery store (he jumped off at the first stop sign).

Forgetting that your baby is on top of the car and driving away seems unbelievable! Not hearing the car seat fall off, and continuing to drive – still forgetting – seems much crazier. He was 5 weeks old… how do you forget that? You don’t – if you can’t be responsible enough to keep your judgment intact at all appropriate times, you should not have children.
What’s the craziest thing you placed on top of your car but forgot about, and then drove away?