Silent Nights... Home at Last!!!

Hello Lovely people,

This is the final...no more to be continued at the end of the write up, lol. Thanks for sticking and staying with me throughout this story, enjoy...

"Ok... So Lord what next?" A simple trusting prayer I uttered with my eyes closed and a fulfilling smile on my face. Trusting, because here I was, a victim of a deceptive and wicked enslavement just a few hours ago; and suddenly, like a dream, I am on the street, not in chains and not looking over my shoulder. Uncle Sam was way behind me, and only a fool would come out of a situation as mine the way I did, and not trust the same power to help her find her way home.

That's all I wanted... To be home with my mum and my siblings. I was anxious. Anxious, not because I was walking down the streets in the middle of nowhere. I was anxious because as I walked down, I wondered what my home was like now. Two terrible devastations in one year - Daddy (My main man!... That's what I called him) walked out on his family (like a spell bound emissary with a death wish) with his secretary; then I was snatched away from my home, not by Uncle Sam, but by my choice of friends and my fear of the rod of discipline. Don't get me wrong. I am not wallowing in anything… I just imagine what the worst could have been, had I not run away from home. There was love at home, and I wonder why I couldn't trust that love to help me go through mummy's frustrations. I have experienced so much in this short life. That was all I could think about... Then I was scared and hoped to God that mummy didn't suffer a stroke out of heartbreak. I can't possibly go through all these for nothing. A little peace, a little respite for my mum. I knew she would be happy to see me. I just knew it... This gave me courage... It gave me strength.

Daddy always said to us, that if any of us ever got stranded anywhere... Anywhere at all; we should just take a taxi and tell them the name of the area, he will pay when we get home. So I did just that. I stopped a taxi. It was a fairly new cab, driven by a man that must have been in his mid twenties. He smiled at me and said "fine gal... (then he winked and said) where you de go?" I pulled back and said to him "Not on your miserable life Sam!" Then I moved forward towards a taxi packed by the pedestrian lane. It wasn't a busy street, but I wasn't so sure where I was. I bent down to speak to the driver through the window on the front passenger seat, but before I could speak, the man looked at me with a strange excitement on his face, then he said "Teasha pikin! (as in Teacher's daughter) U loss cheee, everybody make wild look for u everywhere (as in you have been missing for so long and everyone is frantically looking for you). What u de do for here? (as in, what are you doing here?)" I was still trying to figure out why he was acting so happy when I looked closely and saw... No it can't be! Oga Digor, Our school bus driver. That was when my first teardrop of joy fell from my face. I just opened the car and hugged him... I just kept crying... I cried so much that he started crying too... Then he said, "make u no cry again. I take you go house you hear? (as in, don't cry anymore, I will take you home ok?)"

We drove for over an hour... Meaning I was taken away to the outskirt of town. But the journey was even longer for me, because I could not wait to get home. Then finally, I was in familiar territory. I was seeing places I am used to. Digore just stopped. Then he said "Teasha pikin, we reach house (as in, teacher's daughter, we are home)". My legs were too heavy to come down, out of the anxiety of not knowing what to expect. But this is home! So I jumped down and dashed for the gate. I was shaking it so vehemently and for some reason I just kept shouting daddy!!!

And there he appeared from the backyard. My father... he is back! I am back!! "Daddy!!!" I shouted. Now the tears were rolling down like a waterfall. And he couldn't believe it. He called my name... He yelled my name. He made for the gate, stopped half way and ran back towards the front door of the house... Then I heard him shouting "she's here! Emelia is here!". I was still at the gate. I was crying and laughing all at the same time, Then my siblings started rushing out of the house one, two, three (I had to count to make sure everything was intact)... But there was one person who hasn't made the roll call... My daddy was at the gate and before I knew it, everyone was all over me... We were all over one another. My disappearance had brought dad back home, but where is mum? Before I could dwell on the distraction, I heard Digor shout "Teasha, ur pikin is back o! (as in, Teacher, your daughter is back)" My mum... I couldn't hold back, I ran towards her, and she towards me... the faster I ran, the farther away she seemed to be. The next thing, we were both rolling on the floor.

Then we were all inside the house... I told my story, at least as much as I could tell for the time being. All the sorries were said. The good side to my sad experience is the fact that my parents got back together again.

Hmm... So God was listening all these while? Well... My silent nights are over. Weeping may endure for the night, but joy does come in the morning. Hello morning! Hello sunshine! Hello family!!! Speak of miracles…

Peace… I’m out