Chapter 8: Stranded

"Hey! Hey!!" I yelled.

I ran as quickly as my legs could carry me. He ran faster than myself of course. He was obviously a pro in the theft business.

I came to a junction and I couldn't see him in sight anymore.

Which direction had he followed? He had disappeared like a ghost.

Oh my goodness! What do I do now? I wondered.

Men!

In the past two days, men had proven to be utterly useless and disgusting.

Why was I even surprised?

Wasn't it a man who had impregnated my mother and left her all alone?

Men...Men will embarrass you!

I had thought I'd be able to get a place to lay my head with part of the money and the idiot had just ruined my plans. What do I do now?

I'm so stressed out. I'm tired of all these honestly.

A chilly wind blew.

I shuddered.

I looked up to the sky.

Dark clouds were gathering. It was going to rain.

God, please, God... Don't let it rain.

What will I do if it rained? I'd just die on the streets from cold like a chicken.

I didn't want that for myself.

God, please, do something.

I looked at my phone.

Rita's number was there unsaved.

I quickly saved it to my contacts and kept the phone in my purse.

Should I give her a call?

I ignored that thought.

She was still young and I knew she didn't have much and was even staying with her aunt. I didn't want to bother her. Besides, how could she possibly help?

Breeze started blowing everything in sight. I saw little children who were hawking their goods scampering to their homes.

I was surprised that little children also hawked in a whole Lagos.

And here I was thinking Lagos is a big place for opportunities and where everyone is rich.

Obviously, everything was all a lie.

I saw people hurrying home from work, job hunters (it was obvious because they had files with them), people walking their dogs, mallams with their trucks and Igbo boys with their wheelbarrows.... All of them were hurriedly going home in a bid to get home before the rain started. But here I was, walking slowly with my purse in my left hand and my polythene bag in my right hand.

I was walking aimlessly with no direction in mind.

"You're busy doing shakara. No run fast. Rain go beat you today, your eye go clear." A woman with a baby on her back and a basket of fish on her head screamed at me mockingly as she sped past me.

A drop of tear slid down my right cheek.

If I had somewhere to go, wouldn't I have gone there?

Why do people just jump into conclusions?

Was it their fault?

Of course not!

It was life's fault.

Why was life so unfair?

No! Life wasn't unfair.

After all, other people's lives were okay.

Why is it that some people's lives are great while some others like me live like peasants?

God was!

God was the one who was unfair.

Why did he create some people's lives to be perfect and others just lives so bad?

Why were some people like me in unfortunate predicaments?

Did we do something to annoy him?

"God, if I did something to you, just tell me. Why do you hate me so much?" I cried out with tears falling from my eyes.

Some people looked at me and shook their heads like I were a lunatic and hurried off, ignoring me.

But no, I'm not a lunatic!

"God loves you." A voice said behind me.

I spun around and saw a man with average height in black suit. He had a hint of grey hair, he was likely to be in his mid-fifties or almost sixty. He carried a big hand bag and he looked like all these pastors who were broke and looking for members.

"What did you say?" I asked.

"God loves you." He repeated, with so much confidence.

"God loves me? That's what you said, right? God loves me!" I said with so much anger I never knew existed in me.

I laughed hysterically.

"God hates me!" I yelled at him.

"No, God does......"

I cut him off.

"Keep quiet, you fool. Do you even know anything about me?" I asked.

"I may not know anything but......"

I shut him up again.

"Keep quiet and let me finish." I said and stared him right in the face, unflinching; my eyes were red with anger, hurt, pain, sadness and tears rolling down like a river.

I wiped my tears with the back of my palm.

"Now, you listen." I said, with my right forefinger pointed at him.

"My mum kept going to church all her life but God couldn't even save her life.

He made her die just like that without even saying so much as a goodbye to me.

He allowed me burn my apartment down and now, I can't even go for the little funeral the hospital organized. I can't even go back to my state because I'll be arrested and jailed. I don't even have a home, Mister. I'm homeless.

You know what else? Your so-called God who you claim loves me made me go through the stress of sleeping with an idiot for money to save my mother's life and at the end of the day, he still made my mother die.

If your God loved me so much, why did he make me fall for someone who just wanted to have sex with me and break my heart?

I don't know my relatives. I don't even know my own father. When my father was abandoning my mother, why didn't God stop him? Answer me!" I screamed and tried not to cry but the tears betrayed me and fell from my eyes.

He held my shoulder and gave a warm smile.

"My dear, I don't know and I don't think I can ever understand the pain you went through or are still going through but all I can tell you is that there's a reason for everything. You'll be just fine." He assured.

My tears reduced. As much as I hated him and His God, there was a part of me that believed him.

"A Reverend who calls the name of your God took advantage of me, drugged me and slept with me." I said, through clenched teeth.

I thought he'd give up, hearing what his fellow man had done to me but instead, that calm smile of his remained on his lips. And that made me feel disgusted.

How the hell did he maintain a calm composure?

I wished I were like that.

Maintaining a calm composure and hiding my feelings.

"My dear, not everyone who calls the name of God knows what it means to be in Christ and be a true Christian. People are different. You don't judge people because of what someone or a few people have done to you. There are good people out there, all you need to do is believe." He said.

I removed his hand from my shoulder and looked at him deep in the eyes.

My eyes were red and bloodshot while his were calm and confident.

"Your God took the one person who completes me and now, I'm empty and incomplete." I told him, without removing the hold my eyes had on his.

He smiled. "I agree no one can ever replace your mother but just as you've already seen, everyone has the tendency to disappoint you and leave you. The only one who'll never leave you is God. The truth is no one completes anyone. As long as you have God, you're a complete person." He said.

I sighed. He was ready to stand his ground and believe in His God.

The rain started drizzling.

I straightened up. "Okay then, mister. Let's make a deal. If I can get a place to stay without any stress nor trouble tonight, I'll believe in your God." I told him.

He smiled. "Okay then. I won't make you an offer to stay in my place because I know you will decline but I can assure you, the God of Heaven will definitely give you a place to stay. God bless you." He said and walked off.

I gave a gruffy chuckle. I knew I was gonna die in the rain. The silly man had walked away because he knew I wouldn't fall prey to him. Reverend Lawrence had taught me a lesson of life.

The rain started pouring in torrents and the cold that came with it was high. I quickly kept my phone in my purse in my polythene bag do the rain doesn't make it wet.

I was wearing a light flannel blouse and a knee-length skirt and rubber slippers so it was easy for the cold to get to me easily. I was completely drenched in the rain and I shivered as my teeth chattered.

Didn't that man just say I'd get a place to stay?

Mtcheeeeew. I should have known better.

They say God doesn't sleep but I feel it's different in my case. He has been sleeping in my case since I was in the womb.

The streets of Lagos were dark and flooded and the water crept up to my ankle. It'll get worse soon, I thought as the rain got heavier.

I looked around and saw a locked store in the opposite direction.

I was really shivering badly and I hugged my arms across my body which didn't help matters.

I sneezed. Gosh! I'm going to catch a cold.

I checked towards the left and right direction in search of any oncoming vehicle so I could cross over to the other opposite side and stay in the locked store's verandah as shelter till the rain stops or till the next morning when I can find my way.

It was late and I couldn't call Rita. I'd just manage till the next morning.

Suddenly, I felt the rain stopped coming over my head. Although, I saw the rain was dropping, it wasn't touching me.

I looked up and saw the inside of an umbrella with a hand holding it up.

I swung to my side and there I saw a guy with the cutest smile ever looking amused and standing there, holding up the umbrella to cover my head.

I clutched my polythene bag to my chest and tried to say something but my teeth were just chattering.

"Looks like you've been in the rain for a while." He said, with a lovely British accent.

Gosh! He was handsome. Very tall about 6'1. He was dark and had shimmering brown eyes with a nice afro haircut and red lips.

He was dressed in tight pencil blue jeans, a black shirt and a black leather jacket with black sneakers with white laces and he hung a black backpack on his left shoulder.

Who created this human being in front of me? Damn! That person deserved an accolade.

"Are you done staring?" He asked, in his sweet accent.

I was still amazed at his good looks when he laughed out loud.

"Hey, I know I'm a handsome young man. You can close your mouth now." He said, still laughing.

I didn't know my mouth was wide open in amazement and I immediately closed it feeling a plunge of embarrassment.

I felt dizzy and my head spinned. I was tired and my eyes were blurry.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked.

The next thing I remembered was me falling right into his arms and him uttering a loud yell: "Hey, don't die on me!."

His angry voice sounded cute too, I thought as my eyes shut close.