chapter 53

Idaho wasn't the type who grew up with a silver spoon, in all his whole life he had lived with his family in a tenement before he departed from there to the university and later to his new mansion. The tenement was situated in an area like a slum without any attractive facilities, it had just a single toilet and a bathroom where the tenants in the six apartments made use of. The toilet was close to Idaho's apartment, It had a hole dug in the middle of the room, while a concrete material was plastered around it as a stand for users to stand on. Most times when someone is passing excreta, the unpleasant smell that proceeds from the toilet normally chase people away from their rooms, as they flee, they would shout at the top of their voices; 

  'Na who be that ohh?'  another one would say; 

  'Who wan kill us with hin shit?' 

  'Who has eaten spoilt food and had moulded deadly bomb in his stomach?'

The bathroom on the other hand was also not well furnished, it had a tattered door that had to be supported with a strong stick before it could be shut. A visible tunnel was dug beneath the plastered blocks, supported with an old pipe that discharges water to the back of the house which however makes the backyard a stinking place. Most times the tunnel get blocked and water would be trapped in the bathroom, this was mostly caused when the female's sanitary pad is dumped on the floor or sponges and mini soaps are thrown on the floor. The six apartments in the house consist of a single room each and the least number of occupants in each room was four which was Idaho and his kinships, the remaining rooms were always filled with numerous occupants. Most of the houses in the area were very much like that, even some were far worse than that, they were typical slums' domiciles. 

Idaho's parents were the first occupants to lease the house after it was built, they packed to the house when Idaho was just two years old.  The family lost their head when Idaho was very young, he died due to environmental pollution that got his internal organs affected and damaged. He was to undergo a surgery, but when the financial status of the family was at the minimum level, penury had to struck him dead. Dying at the tenth birthday of their second child, Maryam. A girl who resembled her mother and had an aura of beauty,  she was clever and was the most intelligent among her peers. At the demise of her father, she was always seen hawking around the vicinity in the evening and at weekends. When she got to the senior level in her secondary school, she had grown into full puberty, then her mother deemed it fit to put an end to her hawking exercise. She did that to prevent her from being harassed by hoodlums that look out for young girls in the street to have canal Knowledge of. She was warned severally by her mother about the notorious gangs in the vicinity and how to relate with them when they cross her path. Maryam made a lot of sales while selling her wares, not until when she stopped and the family had to live up with the little income that came from the mother's trade. Their mother, Mrs Rhibe sells a particular type of food, although not really in large quantities, but she sells a lot and most days her food would finish from her stand. When Maryam was in her penultimate class in secondary school, she represented her school in a competition in which the winner of the contest would be a day governor and would be issued a scholarship to further his tertiary education in the university, though within the country. The last stage of the competition was the tenth phase which was dominated by only two contestants. Maryam had ruthlessly defeated all her opponents till she reached the final stage where she met her match. Her mother was there on the final day including many dignitaries of the society who came to grace the event. Maryam had determine to defeat her opponent, everyone also believed that she would be crowned, with the manner at which she had eliminated her previous opponents. Most of the audience were startled when Maria, Maryam's opponent was crowned the victor of the competition. She was declared the winner with a difference of little margin, though most people including Maryam believed that the officiating crew were biased, their voices weren't heard and Maria became a day governor with a scholarship and lots of prices while Maryam who couldn't stop weeping was given a scholarship and present in cash. The cash that worth two hundred and fifty thousand naira boosted the family's financial status. With part of the money, Idaho's mother was able to start a business in which more income was fetched into the house. 

   In preparation for the entrance examination into the university, Idaho enrolled in an evening tutorial, he was actually a serious minded individual and he was the most intelligent of the students there. As populated as the tutorial was, Idaho was so famous and he was loved by many including the tutors. 

Among those who were clandestinely crushing on Idaho at the tutorial centre was Simbi, a rich pretty young girl who was a year younger than Idaho. When she couldn't help crushing on him and it seemed he wasn't going to show any sign of affection towards her, she deceptively lured Idaho to her house at weekend when her parents were on a business trip. Her parents were actually wealthy, her father was always based in Abuja where he comes home once in a while, her mother also deals with importation of wears in which she sells in large quantities in Nigeria. Having fully known that Idaho would be coming, Simbi sent her younger brother to a place where he would have to stay for hours. Since she had told Idaho to come over and help her with a particular subject that she finds tough and difficult to grasp well. Idaho left home with a joyful heart to impart knowledge on his mate. Arriving at the house, he was welcomed by Simbi who was putting on a seductive mini gown that barely reached her knee, at first Idaho didn't felt moved since he knew the motive of his presence in the house. Though Idaho was just in his early twenties, still, he was naive to mundane affairs, in contrary to Simbi who was more lewd and worldly at her age. As told, Idaho sat on one of the beautiful sofas in the large sitting room, the house's interior looked so attractive to him, he hadn't seen such in many years. He was actually not a person who visit friends or people in general, he was always based in their single room apartment apart from schooling trips. 

He was offered a glass of drink which he refused. Right from childhood, he had been warned severally by his mother not to consume anything outside. 

  'Do not collect anything at all, apart from the one I give you.'

Though they didn't know the reason behind that clamouring from their mother but they kept complying to the instruction till they grew up. 

At first, Idaho refused the drink but as a devil-sent agent, Simbi had her way. She enticingly persuaded him to drink up, deep down in his mind, he knew he was going against his mother's all time order. But since no one was around except Simbi to make it known to his mother, he took the cup and gulped the content to Simbi's excitement. Unknowing to Idaho, inside the drink flowed a medical substance that enhance sexual urge. After few seconds, the real man in him began to manifest. He sat on the sofa looking pitiful, ignorant of what had gone wrong with him, his mind really wanted to teach Simbi but somehow, his body right there wanted something else, something unhallowed and tainted. At a twinkle of an eye, the angel that disappeared immediately after he took the drink, re-appeared again at his presence, in another more seductive and diaphanous apparel, she pulled him so close and right to the inner chamber as they both stared at each other like wild bitches. 

  'Only God knows the perverted planet that you came from'  that was the last word Idaho mumbled to himself as he went on to become a man, to 'know' the alluring witch in his presence. 

After the incidence, Simbi didn't tell anyone including his parents that she wasn't a maid anymore, she concealed the shameful act to herself and her prey, she knew surely that Idaho also wouldn't uncover it to anyone. But the deed has been done, she wasn't aware that she had taken in, not until after three months when her father was around, he was on leave at work. Her father observed her for few days and decided to take her to the hospital for medical check up so as to diagnose possible illness, she was tested and when the result came out, it was to her bewilderment that she was three months and few weeks gone. Having known that her parents would inquire about the person who laid with her, she contrived that she was ravished by hoodlum who violently seized her on her way back from the evening tutorial. Her mother rushed home the next day to see her victimized daughter, her parents couldn't ask why she didn't inform them earlier because they knew they weren't always at home. To prevent further course of ridicule and derision from her parents, she went on lying that she didn't tell them so they wouldn't be bothered a lot about her. 

To evade from the real form of ridicule from her friends and neighbours, her father took her to another country entirely to begin a new life there. Also, he retrieved from her all her means of contacting her Nigerian friends so they wouldn't reach eachother again. After months, Simbi delivered a baby girl through Caesarean section, after the birth of the child, Simbi hadn't been normal again, she was always falling sick on a regular basis. Although she resumed in a university after a while but her father kept transferring her money that she spent on her health issue that kept deteriorating. 

Her friends, especially the close ones in school began to worry about her, they weren't familiar with her parents so they couldn't go on asking them her whereabouts. One of her friends secretly asked Simbi's younger brother about her and the boy said her sister had travelled to Europe to further her tertiary education. That was exactly what his parents had told him to tell anyone who asked of Simbi. 

Everything concerning her was actually out of Idaho's cognizance, he secured admission to the university of Ibadan where he bagged first class in Economics. As an intelligent person that he was, he began to ponder on the possible outcome of his intercourse with Simbi, his thought began to seem tangible and realistic when he remembered he had seen her on a couple of occasion, when she threw up during the evening tutorial. She actually told them that she was suffering from fever, her body really looked pale then so they all believed her. After few days, she threw up again, this time, it was more severe than the first time, her friends were teasing her if she was pregnant but she wouldn't tell anyone what was really wrong with her. 

Another thought that rang in Idaho's mind was the major reason why her parents would suddenly take her away when UTME was at their doorstep and it all occurred after the intercourse. 

There was a time he came home from school when it was closed due to riot and un-ending staff protest. He had to cleverly ask his mother if someone's first intercourse leads to gestation, he felt how clever and witty he had put up the question would obtain him a nice response but instead, his mother roared and said:

  'Ehh! see my son ohh! is this still my son? Have you being so promiscuous at school? Have you started running after females that are still sucking their mother's breast? before gaining admission, my Idaho would never ask such a vulgar question' she ranted for a while to Idaho's shame. He wondered if his question was actually indecent, he had to feign a slumber so his mother could close her runny mouth. He made up his mind not to ever discuss with her on any non-platonic matter. Still, a part of him kept telling him that he has a seed somewhere, maybe in a remote or proximate location. 

   At twenty two, Maryam's physique wasn't a match to her mother's as the former had grown into a full woman who is ready to have a blissful matrimony. She was in her third year in the university when her brother was serving his father's land in Enugu, a state in the eastern region of Nigeria. At early period, the both of them had stood out as promising people with a foreseeable grand prospect. 

When the both of them were in the university, their mother never spent a week without visiting them, though the visits weren't simultaneous being that they weren't in the same institution but she had a shift for them, while she visits Idaho this week, mostly at weekend, she would visit Maryam the next weekend. The part of her incessant visits that her children considered irritating was that she wouldn't give a prior notification before coming, they might be with their friends and she would call in that she is at the School's vicinity and they shouldn't retard her. Her main reason for always coming was best known to her, it surely differed from the surface reason which might look as if she came to check on their well-being. At least checking on a university student should be based on once in a month or two months, it shouldn't be a weekly activity. In conjunction with her visit, she would bring them sumptuous meal that she had specially prepared, she would make her first child his favourite meal of pounded yam with egusi soup, Maryam doesn't differentiate meals, she eats all, she lacked a favourite dish.