[STORY] PAPA LOVES HIS GIRLS (Episode 08)

Episode 08.

“Good Afternoon ma, I booked an apartment for my….” I was saying

” Your name please?”

” Mayowa Nwosu”

” Oh! Welcome ma…Oh! Your children are…. wow! Hello dear, Wow you remind me of someone” The woman said facing Nonso.

” You look so much like my son”… The woman said

” Oh!” I replied

” I mean, this was exactly how he looked when he was your age” She said smiling at Nonso. Nonso was a replica of Chike, likewise Amaka. I was dark-skinned while Chike was very fair-skinned. Both of my kids took after Chike…

” Wow! Interesting..Thank you ma” I replied. The woman had a warm Spirit. I felt at ease around her…

” Please sit” She pointed at a couch. She picked up her phone and spoke calmly to the other person.

After few minutes, a man came to the reception. He brought a small shuttle which I suspected he wanted to use to transport our luggages. I was so exhausted I didn’t pay attention to the man, but Nonso my son said…

” Mum, the man looks so much like Uncle Kamsi” He said and I looked towards the man. My heart stopped for a few seconds.

Kamsi was my brother in-law. Not only did he look like Kamsi, he had a striking resemblance with my Chike. I tried to see his full face feature and I could say he and Chike were probably twins separated at birth…

” Hello Sir…”

” Hello Ma” He answered very cautiously

” Are you related to the Nwosus?” I asked softly.

He looked at me and shook his head in the negative.

His face tensioned. I could see that the question did not sit well with him.

” He is not related to anything Igbo, He just looks like one.” The Woman said from behind.

” So sorry about that, He looks like someone from my husband’s family” I said as I was relieved as well. I didn’t want any of Chike’s family knowing about my whereabouts. I wanted to lay low till the day of the Rememberance where I planned on spending just an hour at the function before disappearing and without saying goodbye.

The man carried two of our bags with the intention of coming back for the others…

” Nonso and Amaka, pick your bags”

” No, I will come back for it” the man said

” They have hands…” I replied, carrying two other bags as well, that way there won’t be the need for the man to return the second time.

*****
We got to our apartment, it was a two bedroom apartment. It looked very cozy and neat…

” Can we stay here forever” Chiamaka said.

” Yes!” Nonso agreed…

I smiled. My dream was that my Children would live a good life but circumstances;
was proving otherwise. Back in Rivers, we were living in a one room studio apartment close to my small restaurant. It had one living room where I slept most times, it had a bedroom where my kids slept. The house had a separate toilet and bathroom. We also had a kitchen. The money I received from Chike’s business partner was being spent wisely. I therefore could understand why my children felt good about stepping into the beautiful short-let apartment.

” This is my room” Chiamaka said running towards one of the room

” The other one is mine” Nonso said too…

” What about me? Where do I get to sleep?” I said happily

” You can stay in my room” they both chorused. I couldn’t help but laugh. Nonso and Amaka were God’s gift to me…

Another laughter besides mine jolted me back to the present. I turned and realized the man who had brought our bags was still at the entrance…

” Oh! I am sorry , I thought you had gone..” I said. I also had caught him off guard as I saw his wide smile. There was a look of Longing in his eyes…

” I am sorry ma. If you need anything , please feel free to call the number on the table.”

” Ok..thank you sir!”

” Ma’am I should be the one thanking you. Thank you for helping with the luggages. Not all guest treat workers with such utmost respect . Thank you ma” He said

I looked at the man, he still had the striking resemblance to my Chike, but his eyes were sad unlike the happy eyes my Chike had.

I dipped my hands into my pocket and brought a few naira notes…

” Please have this!” I said

He stepped back in total shock and shook his head in the negative.

” No ma, thank you ma, you have shown enough generosity towards me. ” He said hurriedly leaving our apartment…

I instantly liked that about him. He definitely was a well trained man. He had integrity, he was not greedy a person.

I called out my children and gave them a short lecture about the man, teaching them the moral in my encounter with him.

*****
We had a very sound sleep.

I woke up around 5am. I wanted to wake the children to pray but I decided to let them be. The journey was a long one. I decided to clean up the house instead. I checked the apartment and there was no broom in sight. There were no cleaning essentials around.

I went to the table where the intercom was and dialed the number from the paper…

No one answer despite several calls. I concluded all the staff were still sleeping.

I waited till 7am and called again. This time around gratefully the woman picked up…

” Good Morning ” She said heartily

” Good Morning ma, this is Mrs Nwosu, one of the guest that arrived yesterday.”

” Oh! Good morning ma. Did you sleep well?”

” Yes I did!”

” Thank God. Is there something you need?”

” Yes ma, there is no broom in our apartment, I mean cleaning essentials.”

” Oh! That’s because the man who brought you cleans the apartment. I will send him to you right away.”

She ended the call!

The first thing I thought about was the man ..

” Does it mean that he does a lot of chores around here. He must really be poor?”

I soon forgot about him and went
to have my bath. Nonso and Amaka said their prayers, had their bath and resumed watching TV. After having my bath I came out of the bedroom to the living room to tell them to turn down the volume of the TV.

What I saw shocked me to my bones…

To be continued…

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