Dirty play
By the time I got to Solape’s house, all my friends are there waiting for me. The are very happy as they sighted me and after we exchange greetings we decide on which game we should play, we all agreed on hide and seek . I am the one seeking for the remaining children in their hiding places, they keep running very fast and I wondered who among them then is remember Opom as well fondly call him. He is very fat, he has a big hard head like that of coconut, he a very big mouth like that of crocodile, his white tiny teeth like snow which is full of gaps and whenever he talks air passes through the spaces in his teeth . We usually laugh at him because of the way he sounds when talking and because of this, he reported to his mother and we stopped the act.
Obom has a big stomach perhaps, there is a big store in his stomach where he stores all food for later consumption, and probably he is a ruminant being. I would have concluded that he is pregnant if not that my mother told me that it is only women that can get pregnant. Obom has a very short leg, he can hardly carry himself, between the twinklings of an eye I catch him and that originally make him the person to be seeking for us in our hiding places. After running for few minute and he was unable to catch any of us he was breathing heavily and sweating profusely, he sat down and cajole us to decide on another game.
Just then Fola come about with an idea of cutting stick and make it jumping sticks which every one of us will have to jump on we adopted the idea happily and we get sticks and within minutes our jumping stick stand erected and we started jumping it one after the other until it was Olu’s turn that we fell and had around his knee and a bleeding ankle and he could not help himself to stand. So we help him, we were very sorry for him and he all burst into tears except for Obom who is the eldest among us who tried to console us. We are afraid and we don’t know which step to yet we cant leave him take next and yet we can not leave Olu all alone so Solape was sent to Olu’s house to inform her his mother about what has happened .
Olu’s mother was eating when Solape get to their house his mother was eating she drop the ball of Eba we dipped into okra soup when she had what has happened to her son and she did not even remember to wash her hand before following Solape, on getting to the spot she met us crying and Olu looking so helpless she carried her on her back and take him to the village medical centre while we headed for our various houses sadly. When I got home my mother has return from the market and she is already resting in the living room. She was listening to our aged radio the radio is very heavy, I have heard mother my mother several times telling the story of the radio and how my father bought before they got married. Automatically the radio is older than I and my siblings. as I entered the living room my mother scolded me for being dirty from head to toes and asked me the kind of play I engaged myself in that makes me dirty to that extent and before I could utter a word she noticed that I was looking very sad, she asked met about the look on my face is all about and I told her all what happened to Olu and my mother assure me that he will be fine and that she will go with me in the evening to check on him so as to know how he is feeling . On hearing this I was relieved like someone who a heavy load has just been lifted from his head.
I went straight to the bathroom and take my bathe and then change my dirty cloth, my sister serve me my food which I eat and have my siesta .
Adebayo Victoria Tobiloba 