Shattered Hope

CHARACTERS Chukwuebuka..........................................................Okeke’s last son Chukwuma…………………………………………Chukwuebuka’s Friend Damilola……………………………………………Chukwuebuka’s Friend Okeke………………………………………………Chukwuebuka’s Father Akwaugo…………………………………………..Chukwuebuka’s girlfriend Nnanna……………………………………………..Chukwuebuka’s elder brother Chiamaka……………………………………………Chukwuebuka’s Sister Izunna……………………………………………….Chiamaka’s Husband Uchenna……………………………………………..Akwaugo’s Brother Akunna……………………………………………….Akwaugo’s Sister Bomo…………………………………………………Uchenna’s fiancée Maxwell………………………………………………Uchenna’s Friend Biola…………………………………………………..Chukwuebuka’s Friend Funmi…………………………………………………Chukwuebuka’s Friend Chukwuebuka’s Lawyer ICPC OFFICIALS……………….Independent Corrupt Practices Commission Officials Bank’s Attorney Charles………………………………………………...Bank’s Manager Chioma………………………………………………..Chukwuebuka’s Wife Emegwali……………………………………………..Chioma’s Father Chinelo……………………………………………….Chukwuebuka’s baby Chinonso……………………………………………...Chukwuebuka’s Friend         CHAPTER 1   In life, there seems to be ups and downs. What makes us emerge as a conqueror is how we resist the downs of it. This story rotates round a boy whose life was full of misery and setbacks. He saw downs of life, but refused to be held down by it. His name is Chukwuebuka.   Chukwuebuka lives in a small village in Enugu State.He was born with an iron spoon by his parents who lives in a small village in Enugu city.The name of chukwuebuka’s father is okeke and name of his mother is Akwaugo.   Chukwuebuka’s father is a palm wine tapper while his mother was a petty trader.Chukwuebuka’s parents worked so hard to make sure that they meet the needs of their children.Chukwuebuka’s siblings are Nnanna and Chiamaka.   Nnanna beingthe first child helps the family by selling of fishes he caught from their river.While Chiamaka is married to Izunna.Izunna is their village town crier,he was killed during a robbery in their village as he was trying to escape from their back door,He was shot and he died instantly,the news was later heard by his age grades and the whole community at large.   Izunna’s body was later buried on the grave yard owned by Saint Paul’s Anglican Church.Izunna was buried in the church’s grave yard because of him being famous in the community.Izunna’s death brought a set back in Chiamaka’s life because she was then eating with silver spoon,now she eats with bronze.Not only that Izunna’s death brought setbacks in Chiamaka’s life,but also in Chiamaka’s family because Izunna was the bread winner of their family.   Nnanna,also being the first child of his family tries to help but fishing is not a job that can cater for his family to the fullest. The little he brings out helps in the family’s living but cannot satisfy their want to the fullest. Anyway all things being equal,his family thanked him for the little he brings.     Chiamaka on her side came back to her family.She helps her mother in cooking and other maternity works in their home.She also follow her to farm to harvest matured crops that are fit for food and also for selling.Chukwuebuka on his own side follows his friends to hunt rodents.Chukwuebuka’s mother prepares the rodent for their family use. They gather around a fire in the night to feed on it. Their father eats the anal part of the rodents while chukwuebuka gets the larger share because he was the one that caught the rodent.To make both ends meet,Chukwuebuka helps his father in selling his palm wine and also hunt for bush animals.   Life is not all that a bed of roses because Nnanna drowned later in oyioji river while he was swimming with his age grades.His family,both Chiamaka and Chukwuebuka wept till their tears turned to blood.Life became a torn in the flesh for Okeke’s family because of the absence of  Nnanna,They now eat on low key.   This was because okeke fell ill on hearing of his son’s death.He was on struck by a partial stroke.Akwaugo on the other side have tried her best to look after her loving husband by visiting clinic centres in their community.Since the community is still under developed,They prescribe unqualified drugs for Okeke.                                   CHAPTER 2   Okeke’s health is becoming so hot for his family to bear.Akwaugo’s family and okeke’s family were not all that capable financially to help in treatment of okeke. This made akwaugo to sell some of her clothes and lovely jewelleries.Okeke was well pleased by Akwaugo’s action towards his health and thanked his ancestors for giving him such a loving and caring wife to marry.   But Okeke’s health was not getting any good because stroke is not a sickness that can be treated by armature doctors,because their village clinic is made of nurses with ordinary national diploma as their highest certificate.   The  sun darkened on Chukwuebuka’s family when his father left the face of the earth to join his ancestors.Akwaugo couldn’t even cry because watching her two children by her side encouraged her that there is still hope for brighter future. Elders of their community with the okeke’s associates in palmwine tapping came together and arranged okeke’s funeral.   Okeke was buried on Ofor day just before the sunset.Most of okeke’s family members and akwaugo’s family members also came for the burial ceremony.Later akwaugo asked  her sister akunna to give her the brother’s address “Uchenna” in Lagos.Akunna did as she said and later akwaugo did as she said and later akwaugo wrote to her.   The letter reads;                                                                                   Amaukwu Community,                                                                                 Enugu,                                                                                 Enugu State.                                                                                 23rd February,2011. Dear Brother,                      It has been long when we last saw each other. Since our parents died you left for Lagos and erased every memory of your siblings from the mind.Anyway,I hope you are doing well, If so thanks be to God.I just want to tell you that my husband “Okeke” is dead and buried.And also that Nnanna is also dead. I am now left with Chiamaka and Chukwuebuka.Brother,it has not been easy for my family, I wonder where  you are right now.                                                                                            Yours Sincerely                                                                                             Akwaugo Okeke.   After writing the letter she posted it to Lagos through Postal and Telecommunication Service(P and T) in their community.Uchenna on receiving the letter felt very sorry and planned to travel to Amaukwu.In Akwaugo’s mind,she wrote the letter for writing sake because she knew deep within her heart that she was never going to see his  brother “Uchenna”.   Morning came and night passed without hearing the voice or foot step of uchenna in their community. The dry season was fast approaching, the ground started hardening and rainfall start to fade away, the harmattan breeze starts to invade the community.Since no rainfall, crops refused to yield, and ember month have come to stay for the mean time.   Chukwuebuka’s family is now sustained by the yam they stored in their ba rns and the grains in their silos.Towards the beginning of December,families in Amaukwu community that lives abroad started arrived home for Christmas.In amaukwu Community,families that lives abroad always arrived home on the same vehicle depending on their state.   As the gentle but harsh breeze of December blows,people sat down under the tree and stream sides to ponder on how they have lived their lives in the previous months.As God have done it,uchenna arrived amaukwu following the Lagos bus.As he arrived in Okeke’s vicinity, to Chiamaka sighted him and rush to help him  with his Luggage.   Akwaugo thanked her ancestors for bringing her brother back safely from her long awaited journey.Once again okeke’s family is happy seeing uchenna’s face. Uchenna was served with their soup “Ofe Nsala”.He was so deligted to see his once again.Akwaugo told hi them that there is no need to narrate the wedlock that befell because uchenna understood every part of her story.   Uchenna promised to take care of her family and also promised her that he will take chukwuebuka along with him to Lagos state.Akwaugo’s heart  was once again delighted to hear all those sweet and comforting words from his run away brother.As twenty fifth day of December approaches,Amaukwu market starts to blossom with varieties of household materials for celebration of chritmas.Akwaugo did not hesitate to buy  household materials such as food like garri,vegetable and fowls.                                          The villagers merried on the Christmas.Some went to church to pray for their God.While some stayed back to prepared food for Christmas.Akwaugo,his brother and children did not hesitate to go to church on that to praise their God.In the church,the layreader read the book of Ephesians 3:20 from the bible and they sang a hymn which reads; “ Great is thy faithfulness O God my father There is no shadow of turning with thee Thou changest not and thy compassion They fail not As thou has been there forever will be.   All the Church said the chorus of the hymn.The church then gave a thank offering and an announcement was made by the church vicar and their section was closed. The church members went home happily and spiritually filled.   Akwaugo prepared rice and palm oil stew (Ofe Akwu).Palm oil stew Uchenna’s favourite stew.Both Uchenna and akwaugo’s children ate to their satisfaction and started having diminishing returns,infact they were wholly filled.                                                   CHAPTER 3   As the month of December came to an end.The thirsty first day was the day of New Year resolution.That night people went to church to pray for God to lead them into a safer year.People brought their new year resolutions wrapped in an envelope and placed on the church altar for prayers.   While the church was going on,some people were outside playing explosives such as knock-outs and Christmas lights so as to wade off or expel bad lucks from following to enter the new year.   The church was closed by Psalm 23 and the hymn was sang.The youths and average men of the community joined their friends outside to rejoice for entering a new year.   The families went to sleep at 3:00am in the morning.Some slept till 11:00am while older men and women who did not participate in the year pursuit woke up very early at exactly 6:00am before the c**k crows.   Before chukwuebuka could wake up,his family has finished saying their morning prayers and the day has totally broken.He came out of their vicinity just to see his uncle Uchenna washing his clothes.He greeted him  and uchenna replied with a gentle voice.Chukwuebuka asked him of his mother and uchenna told him that she went with Chiamaka to fetch water from the stream.   Uchenna told chukwuebuka that he should get his things ready,that they are leaving for Lagos on the third day of the month of the new year.Chukwuebuka was so happy.Chukwuebuka told his age grades about him leaving them as soon as possible.His age grade was so unhappy,especially chinonso his closest friend because of him leaving them.   Later that day, Uchenna narrated to chukwuebuka how life in Lagos is and told him that only the fittest survive.From that day Chukwuebuka attended standard 2 and stopped before his father’s death.Anyway,he was seen another opportunity to climb to a higher ground.           CHAPTER 4 Chukwuebuka was awaken on third day of the month by sweet melody from birds of the air.He rose and looked out from the window just to see the day.He hurried to his box to park his clothes into it,and he also lighted fire woods to boil hot water for bath.The smoke and the cracks of noise from the firewood awoken his mother.His mother went to the kitchen and saw him preparing water for morning bath and food.   Akwaugo smiled at him and he smiled back.Akwaugo advised her to know the knid of friend he associate with in lagos because Lagos is a state full of desperate young men and women that struggle for survival.As they were communicating with each other,Chiamaka interfered by greeting Akwaugo with a good morning.   The family was about eating their breakfast when uchenna joined them and Chiamaka and chukwuebuka greeted him and replied back.The family said “The lord’s prayer and ate their food.Chukwuebuka was the first to finish his meal.He ran immediately inside the bath room,took his bath and not minding whether or not he washed his body well.He came out and went inside their dressing room to dress.While he was dressing Uchenna was busy taking his bath.   After every,uchenna and chukwuebuka is now set to leave for Lagos.at 6:50am they were at the Bus park.Uchenna purchased a ticket for both him and chukwuebuka.Both siting beside the counter were they got their ticket waited patiently for their turn to reach.They packed their “Ghana must go” bag in the back of the bus and all passengers entered.The driver of the bus made announcement over passengers luggages and called the terminals that they always stop.   The Journey to Lagos begins and one of the passengers led the other passengers in safe journey prayers and some few songs of solo.The bus arrived first around Jibowu and off loaded some of its passenger.The journey started from Jibowu terminal and also branched at Ikeja terminal.Uchenna and  Chukwuebuka came down and carried their lugggages from the bus, bidding farewell to the other passengers.   At Ikeja terminal bus stop,they boarded a taxi and headed for badagry.They arrived at badagry Junction near Abule oshun and entered the streets of Abule Oshun.The Streets was dominated by Moslems.Moslems pray at their mosque daily every evening by 6:00pm.   As they work the streets of abule oshun,feelings of insecurity pondered through the mind of chukwuebuka.His hands started shivering like a church mouse that just came out of cold bath.That evening was a Wednesday evening,So Moslems always gather to pray in their mosque.   As they approach an L-shaped junction,they diverted right and  lo and behold that was in their midst a ghetto street with ghetto houses built with old fashioned architectural designs.In front of them was sculptural design of Abule-Oshun built in form of rock pedestal with terracotta.   Some of Uchenna’s street members both the crawling ones and younger ones ran to him to help him his luggages.All things being equal,chukwuebuka thanked his ancestors for bringing him to the so-called Lagos state.Their Luggages was taken into their room.   Uchenna was leaving in a 2 bed room flat.He showed chukwuebuka his own room.He showed chukwuebuka his own room.Chukwuebuka querried about his wife,he told him that he is not yet married,but he has got a fiancée who he wants to marry                                             CHAPTER FIVE Uchenna’s Fiancée is Bomo.Bomo is a name of people from bayelsa state.Bomo is an undergraduate of lagos state university in the department of international relations.Uchenna on the other hand is working with Dangote Industry.He got his higher level diploma from yaba polytechnic and was later recruited into dangote industry.Though he studied computer science,he was employed as the assistant secretary of dangote flour mill.   Bomo used to visit uchenna during the weekends to help him with household activities.Bomo is a caring and loving friends,she is very dark(Black) in complexion and average in height.While uchenna is slightly fair in complexion and above average in height.   During the weekends when bomo visit Uchenna,probably on Saturday she will cook,because she usually buy items for cooking on her way to uchenna’s house.she cleans up the whole house,both the bedroom.   Uchenna gets amuse as he comes back from work.He always close around 12:00pm in the afternoon on Saturdays.As he arrive home,bomo welcomes him,removes his suit and serve him a chilled water.After the water he served him food to eat.After eating uchenna relaxes for about an hour and then they move over to badagry beach for further relaxation and bit of picnic.   Badagry beach located outskirts of abule oshun is a very quite beach in Lagos city.They both sat down on the fine white grains of sand on the fine white grains of sand along the beach shore.   “Life is full of struggle Of which only the fittest survive” Uchenna said,Bomo replied “Yes” and told him that life will be much easier for him with her by his side.Uchenna smiled and curdled her with his arms and thanked his ancestors for bringing that wonderful gift “Bomo” to him.