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March 14
The sound of a car crashing a motorcycle felt like the inside of my mind, like hate speeches and noises all combined together to stir me to misery.
After Aunty Matilda's text message, I started to feel somehow. My mind turned into a busy, crowded fusion of mocking men and women dressed in garbs.
"How are you doing? Are you sure that you are ok?" Someone asked me this morning after I had taken my bath. It was Uncle Max.
"I am fine. Thank you, Uncle Max," I smiled.
Inside my mind, I could see a man pushing forward, grimacing as he brushed past an exiting patron who was a little bit older than him, feeling the transfer of dewy sweat from the patron to him, the momentary tangling of their arm hair which he felt could create a bond that could be seen as a form of union. The air clung to the ceiling with a cloudy, obscuring darkness that threw shadows on the face of the man who checked his wristwatch and stared at me. I felt my heartbeat skip a little as I trie
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Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 15
"My name is Mike. I am from Edo State. I am the first child of my parents. I turned seventeen last month, two days after I discovered that my mother was pregnant with a girl child. I was excited when I first heard the news from my father. I had waited so long for the day I would see a new baby in our home. When I was twelve years old, my mother had a miscarriage which made me feel bad because I was not there for her when she was crying for help. I lived with that guilt for a long time until I heard the news of a new baby," Goodness checked the script he was reading then looked at me."That was odd," I drawled."How do I sound?" Goodness asked."Pathetic! You sound like a teenager who is at the verge of exploring puberty."Goodness face shrank."Not too awful though," I added."Do you think I can be able to perform well in the competition?""I don't know the rules of the competition so I can't decide the criteria you will be judged."
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 16
Several times, I have ran hysterically through the valley of darkness with hands above my head. I have ran with no sense of direction just survival instincts flooding my mind. Most experts would call me crazy for running with zero destination in mind but sometimes in life, people just run to relieve themselves from stress; to gain freedom from a bondage they can only escape from by running. Also, against most reasonable accounts, people run to be far away from the world and be lost in their own silence.Today, I ran in the morning, just before five O'clock, to escape from my very own imaginations. Each step I took seemed to take me deeper and deeper into the worsening labyrinth of the jungle. I nearly fell down several times as I was torn into pieces by the fear of my own failure. I could feel the hot breath of my wild pursuer, chasing me in circles as I ran endlessly into a barricade of hostile men dressed in military uniform. What was worse, my feet kept getting entan
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 17
I was still half asleep a couple of hours after mid-day when I woke up to the sound of persistent knocking on the door. It was Goodness."I will be there in a second," I said.I felt my heart beat faster as I stood up from the bed to open Uncle Max's house for the outside world to see."Good afternoon," Goodness greeted."Good afternoon," I replied.Goodness stood in the centre of Uncle Max's living room, an infectious welcoming smile flooded his face."Come and sit down," I suggested."I did not come here to sit down," Goodness' voice was loud."What do you mean by you did not come here to sit down?" I was surprised."I am going to answer your question when you have answered mine first. Why did you not come to school today?" Goodness asked.I scratched my thick black hair. "I was tired," I said."Tired? Is that reason good enough to make you miss your elder sister's marriage?""I said th
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 18
Uncle Max was back from work earlier today. It was not as if he never came back from work before his closing time since I have been living with him but not as early as he did today. After he had drank a glass of water that I had brought for him, he started to complain about the people at his workplace and their unbearable attitude that was getting out of hand."Never you work in a place that is lower than your standard," Uncle Max advised me after he finished drinking the water I had brought for him. "If you make the same mistakes that I have made in life, you may end up hating your job for the rest of your life.""Why do you say so, Uncle Max?""Perer, experience has made me to know that it is better to be late at a party than not to attend the party at all. If you are in the same shoes that I am in, you will understand why I am saying what I am saying.""Are you sure that everything is alright wi
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 19
The light was gone before I could even step inside the siting room and say hello to Miss Bisi. It was replaced by candlelight."How was school today?" Miss Bisi asked."You know there is nothing special about school. It is the usual stuff of taking home assignments you are not interested in doing."I wondered if Miss Bisi was paying attention to what I was saying about my school. It is almost a month now since I have lost interest in my classes. Any conversation that involved me going to school was not taking lightly by me. Why is Miss Bisi so interested in my schooling?"Education is as important as food," Miss Bisi announced after she had served me dinner, "you either eat it and survive or you don't eat it at all and end up dying.""Well, yes, Miss Bisi. . . About that. ." I fought hard to find the appropriate words to explain my recent dislike for school but found myself simply staring at Miss Bisi."Trouble at school?" Miss Bisi su
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 20
It had started raining heavily as I walked slowly to meet Dad and only then, did I realize that I had made a terrible mistake I could have avoided. When I am pissed over something that is not worth my useful anger, I normally just move away or pretend as if I am not there, but the damp and drizzle that flooded my mind yesterday did not give me the opportunity to make a reasonable decision before picking up a fight with Uncle Max and leaving his house at an ungodly hour of the night. I should have done better than standing tall and proving my innocence. I should have been much more considerate rather than desperate to see what Uncle Max had in mind. If I really thought that standing up against Uncle Max was my rise to adulthood then I must be a fool. Also, if you really supported me in standing up against my dear Uncle Max then you must be a bigger fool. There is no honor in standing up for what is wrong. Even in the face of danger
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 21
You can start a dance with a step, with an incredible movement or with a grand entrance that no one would be able to understand but you. It may seem hard at first to imagine your body will flow to the sound of pleasant music in the air but the farther you go into the song, the easier it becomes. Sometimes you may feel you are not getting it right, that your body is not moving to the rhythm of the beats, that your feet is moving faster than the way you expected. In the end, you have nothing to do other than to appreciate the way you have danced.I started today by dancing crazy. Real crazy! The kind of crazy you know that exists but you don't ever get the opportunity to see it done in the movies or in real life, just in your dreams. Do you understand what I just said?Dad driving back to Port-Harcourt was lovely even though I knew that my stay would not be long because I had to go back to Enugu soon. My WAEC exams were fast approaching and my first paper was going to be
Perer Ford: Diary of a Stranger March 24
The night air had grown warmer than normal. A sudden wind had risen and had departed as soon as it came. I saw a woman lit a cigarette and prepare to close her shop; the iron door made a disturbing sound as she jammed it close to the wall and again she cursed as she experienced another failed attempt to lock the iron door with a padlock. Everything had changed a little from the last time I was here, I mused. I was a little disappointed when Dad came out from the barbing saloon and told me we were going somewhere special because I had hoped we would just jump into his car and head back home, as peaceful as we had came."How is the weather?" Dad asked half-aloud."It is coming clean," I replied sharply.Dad got in the car, turned on the car engine and backed it into the driveway."Where are we going?" I asked as we stopped."Somewhere special, Perer. You ask too much questions."I watched as Dad got out of the car. He held the rear door
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