Previously,
ROOM 39| CHAPTER 20
Ejike was expecting Ola’s call to tell him when she leaves the city for home. But instead of the call, he heard a knock on his door at about 7am. He was pleasantly surprised to see that the person behind the door was Ola. It’s been a while that Ola came around to visit him; both are principled Christian believers, but Ejike would love her to visit a few times instead of constantly talking at a restaurant or in school or somewhere outdoors. Ola on her part would also like to but wouldn’t want anything that would make them fall short of the vow they took on chastity before marriage. She was sure of herself to a good extent that she wouldn’t initiate anything unholy, but you can’t control emotions at times, more so the emotions of someone else.
‘Good morning, Ola. Please, come in. How’re you doing?’ Ejike asks, as he opens the door.
‘Just fine.’ Ola barely responds.
Ola strolls into the apartment with heavy eyes and an air of dejection all over her. She had tried to empty her heavy heart in the bathroom before leaving her apartment, but on her way to Ejike’s house, the entire weight of her mom’s health condition came back to her and she couldn’t hold it.
‘Ola, you neither look okay nor sound okay. What’s the matter, please?’ Ejike asked again.
‘It’s nothing. Just… nothing. Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I just came to tell you that … that I’ll be travelling to see my mom.’ Olamma said, with her eyes looking down to avoid Ejike noticing that she’s been crying for some time.
‘Alright dear, but you already told me that last night. And we agreed that you’d call me before leaving.’ Ejike says, sensing that there must be something more to this visit than what she’s saying.
‘And that’s what I came to do, to tell you that I’m leaving. Instead of calling, I preferred coming in person.’ Ola responds.
‘Okay. But why are your eyes heavy? It seems you’ve been crying all night. What happened to you? Talk to me. Dear, please, can you tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can help. Whatever it is, you know I’ll do anything for you.’ Ejike insisted.
Ola kept mute, but the tears were gathering. She knew that if she opened her lips to talk, the next thing that would come out would be crying. So, she looked in the opposite direction and tried to distract herself with the piece of paper on the table.
‘Ola, please, what’s the matter? You look sorrowful, What’s the problem? Is your Mom, ok? Is everything good at home? Did anyone die? Did you receive bad news from your place of work?’ Ejike gently insists, trying to figure out what may have gone wrong between the time they left each other at night and this morning.
While the last set of questions was still on his lips, Ola simply got up and walked to the bathroom, shut the door, and sobbed for a few seconds before letting her tears flow uncontrollably. Ejike didn’t know what to do, whether to go into the bathroom to console her or just stand by the door waiting for her to come out. After two minutes of hearing Ola’s cries, he opted for the first option. He couldn’t stand there hearing her cry without trying to know what the problem was.
‘It’s ok dear. Please stop crying. It’s alright… it’s alright. We can sort it out no matter what it is.’ Ejike said, trying to console her. He has never seen Ola this vulnerable before him, and he was confused as to what may have broken this beautiful lady.
‘Please, can you talk to me… did anyone hurt you? Did someone die? How’s your mom? Ola, please, talk to me.’ Ejike asked, pausing each time to see if Ola would say anything or even make a gesture to suggest that any of the questions were plausible.
After about three minutes of pouring her heart out in tears, Ejike helped her to wipe her tears and clean her face. Her eyes were visibly red as she stood before the mirror trying to put herself together to explain all the troubles, she’s going through to Ejike.
‘Can we go to the sitting room or kitchen to talk? I think it’d be better if we sat down. You can take your time, and I can make you something to eat or drink while we discuss. Is that okay?’ Ejike appeals.
Ola simply nods and slowly walks towards the door while Ejike follows a step behind, wrapping his right arm around her shoulders.
As they sit down, Ejike quickly gets her a cup of tea, some slices of bread and a bottle of water. Ola gently sits on the sofa opposite the TV set in Ejike’s sitting room with her head leaning on her carpus and intermittently rotating along the sulcus of her curved palm.
‘You know I told you about the health condition of my Mom,’ Ola began
‘Yes, you did.’
‘The truth is that she isn’t just ill, but she has cancer… a stage II cervical cancer.’ Ola mutters while holding back tears. She bends down to take another handkerchief from her handbag before proceeding with the story.
‘Last week, the surgeon called to tell me that she must be operated on and undergo radiation therapy for her to have any chance of survival. I didn’t want to disturb you with the whole thing because I know how much you’ve been through, and how tender your heart could be at times,’ she continued.
As she talked, Ejike listened attentively, not knowing what comforting words to speak. Although he hasn’t had someone live with or die from cancer, he understands what it feels like to have someone terminally ill; he knows what it feels like to lose someone close to your heart. He lost his elder brother eleven years ago in a car accident.
At the time, he was still doing his PhD program at the university. One afternoon while he was in the laboratory, he received a call that his attention was needed at Chibyke’s Medical Centre because his brother, Udoka was involved in a car accident. Udoka was like a father to Ejike.
They had both grown without their father whose death is shrouded in mystery. While official reports say that he died in active service in North Africa, other reports hinted that he had died from a mismatched blood transfusion that elicited severe transfusion reactions. The military medical staff was distracted for a moment and didn’t check to be sure that his blood group corresponded with that of the donor blood, so Ejike’s father was transfused with the wrong blood type. A few minutes after that, he had severe intravascular haemolysis that the medical personnel in the military camp couldn’t treat on time. Multiple organ damage occurred, and he died of shock.
When the news of his death was broken to the family, Ejike’s Mom was pregnant with him. She survived childbirth but the postpartum depression that followed afterwards was something she couldn’t recover from. She slumped into drinking and taking hard drugs to the point that Ejike and Udoka were taken away from her by the social services. Since then, the brothers have grown on their own basically, visiting their old Mom as often as they can.
Udoka worked from a young age to make sure they fed and went to school. He even paused his studies so that his younger brother could advance. Until Ejike finished his first degree, Udoka made sure he lacked nothing. Afterwards, Ejike began to work, and Udoka would finally finish his first degree in Business Administration and pursue a Masters in International Relations.
He was on his way to host the annual conference of the Centre of Commerce when he collided with an oncoming lorry carrying building materials. He was quickly rushed to the Emergency Unit with a severe brain injury. Despite the surgery, he couldn’t make it out of the intensive care unit.
Ejike grieved for months for him. Were it not for God and his passion for his profession, it would have been impossible for him to survive; he could have ended up like his mother. The healing process wasn’t complete, however, until he met Olamma, a beautiful, caring godly queen who helped him overcome the loss and now has a positive outlook on life.
So, when Olamma talked about her mother’s sickness, Ejike could feel the pains in her heart through her voice.
‘It’s alright dear… it’s ok. Wipe your tears. It is well. She will survive. She will be fine. God will take care of all that concerns us. He’s been with us since birth, and he’ll continue to do that even now.’ Ejike said, consoling Olamma the best he could.
‘Also, the hospital requested that I make a deposit of several thousand. And I don’t have much money on me. I was actually going home to see if I could plead with them to go on with the surgery and radiotherapy, while I come back to the city to see how to raise the money.’ Olamma cries as she bares her heart.
‘That’s ok. You don’t need to do that. I mean, you should go home to see your mom, but the bill won’t be an issue. We can afford that. Don’t worry, she’ll be fine, and we’ll be fine too.’ Ejike says, assuring Ola of his financial support.
‘And there’s another bigger problem.’ Olamma cuts as she takes a deep breath.
‘What is that? Please, go on Ola.’
‘Last night after you dropped me off, I went into my room to see a bag beside my bed. When I opened it, I saw some money. Surprised at who dropped the bag, I called my neighbour who told me that no one entered my room all night except for a man who came around asking after me.’ Ola said.
‘A man? Did she describe the man for you? Do you know him?’ Ejike asks, surprised at how a bag of money found its way into Ola’s room.
‘Yes, but I don’t know who he is. Or rather, I didn’t know who he was. So, because I was really tired, and had to wake up early to travel this morning, I decided to sleep and take the bag to the police this morning on my way home.’ She paused and shook her, showing regret for taking that decision.
‘This morning around 6 am, I heard a knock on the door,’ she continued, ‘some men came into my room saying that they had gotten a tip that the person that killed an FBI agent was hiding in my apartment. They even showed up with a warrant bearing my name. In less than a minute, one of them identified the bag, and besides the money, there was also a gun and the passport of the victim inside.’ Ola narrates, crying.
‘What?!’ Ejike said in shock and disbelief. ‘My dear, this sounds like someone is trying to frame you up. We must report to the police immediately and know how to go on with this.’ Ejike suggests.
‘The strange thing is that they told me that my fingerprints are on the bag, the gun and passport.’ Ola continues. ‘And seeing that the bag was found in my room, beside the luggage I’m travelling with, it’s suspicious that I was planning to run away with the money this morning.’ Ola said, shaking her head.
‘How can that be?! This whole story is staged. I’m sure that one of the men that came to meet with you this morning is part of this whole pantomime. So, what did they tell you?’ Ejike was looking visibly agitated.
‘So, they asked me to do something for them if I wanted them to drop the charges.’ Ola responds.
‘And what is that?’ Ejike asked further.
‘They asked me to persuade you to do what they asked you to do.’ Ola said, barely looking at Ejike.
‘What they ask me to do?’ Ejike said surprised at the offer. He didn’t immediately remember having dealings with anyone.
‘Yes, they said that you must get into that room and get them the items they asked you to get for them. That is the only way they’ll drop the charges against me.’ Ola said.
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