Janet Solomon's Diary - Episode 7

Janet Solomon's Diary - Episode 7

Many people do not believe in true love, and it pains me that it is that way. My love encounter with Eseme was and is still the best love time in my life, and I would never forget him or what transpired that time. 

The thing is, many adults think juvenile love is 'confused' or just mere 'infatuation', but I must tell you that sometimes it is more real than that between the so-called adults. 

At least, at that point, the minds of the lovers are un-prejudiced and only need nurturing.

The story continues...


I always figured I’d be one of those children who would never enjoy their childhood or ever find someone special to spend the rest of their lives with. It’s amazing how all of that can change in a twinkle of an eye. Turns out, I may have left the ‘torture’ world afterall and found someone dear to me. None of the children really understood what has been happening to me before now (at least I told them), but because they shared somewhat the same experiences, they taught it was all the same. I really didn’t expect that I would go out of that world and find that special someone. I probably would have never found out, if it weren’t for the last few days that unfolded.

Sunday morning was just as normal – everyone would relax and chat away all the stress of the previous week, also preparing for the coming week. We were all in our circles, though a few were out buying some things for the ‘family’. It was like some sort of ritual we had to perform to prove that we were one ‘extended’ family.

I hadn’t really noticed when 'he' came in, but at some point he did, and he took his seat with the other older kids. There was a check to ensure all of us were around, it was then he gave me the same look he had been giving me for some days now. 

The gisting and gossiping continued; the older students also chatting away the Sunday, expecting us not to keep gossiping about people we met on the road while working. Sometime into the family Sunday ‘reunion’, something happened that would rock us to our bones. 

One child who had gone out to take a piss ran back to the family house breathing heavily. We were all prepared to ignore her, because she was a funny type, but the panic in her voice woke us from our intentions. She wanted to shout but couldn’t.

“Make everyone comot for here now. just run anywhere you wan run to, but no stay here”.

She said this and there was silence, graveyard silence. It was then we heard the screeching of tyres.  

We stayed in confusion, blankly glaring at each other. Our leader, Baba Ile, moved to see who and what was coming to the house. He paused before looking. I saw his head jerk back in hesitation before he looked really well. None of the younger children expected that his face could express such amount of fear.

There was panic in the house. Some beginning to park their things as he ordered. Others were already fleeing, bumping into each other and tripping everywhere. But the older ones were ‘almost’ calm; they weren’t running around in a panic, just trying to pack their stuff. They were intent on making sure nothing was left out, as they had worked hard to acquire those things. 

Screams filled the house; Baba Ile started gathering all the children towards one direction, trying desperately to get our attention to park our stuff. Some of them already in tears, needing consoling. 

Halfway through our running away from the house, I found out what panic turned into when it didn’t have an outlet – although I had driven way panic before by running from my aunt’s house, but this was more ‘intense’. 

Kehinde, one of the boys I liked so much snapped. And when Kehinde snapped, so did Baba Ile and our assurance that our ordeal wasn’t going to end in a few minutes.

We were then informed that it was the owner of the house and the soldiers that had come to arrest all of us. We’d also been informed that the only way they would release us was when we agree to become ‘housemaids’ or ‘houseboys’. We eventually saw them coming towards us, although I don’t think they knew where we were.

We ran as fast as we could away from the house further into the bush.

Kehinde then ran out of the group and started towards another place where Baba Ile hadn’t directed us. A group of girls ran out behind him, screaming and crying, leaving their personal items behind in the rush. And then, there were few of us: me, four guys, five girls, Baba Ile and ‘him’.

I was watching him, I’d never really paid any attention before, and in all this mess, he seemed oddly level-headed. Watching him helped me calm down because he had saved me before, but with all of my attention on him, I didn’t notice that the ‘chasers’ weren’t too far behind – they seemed determined on arresting at least a few of us.

Within seconds, our small ‘love encounter’ was broken up by gun shots in the air. Our pace increased and we were losing them quite convincingly. Virtually most of us had left our stuff behind us, in order to run faster. 

I fell, and finally the hand that grabbed me made me struggle for a while, but forcing me to stop struggling and look up. It was Eseme. 

In an unintentional hesitation, I began to stand and snapped back to reality. Eseme and I looked at each other and began discussing what we knew about the situation, while we were running though. The gun shots were faint now, and we didn’t see any figures of them anymore. Eseme suggested we look for a safe place away from the other kids, he grabbed my hand again, and I instinctively followed. Then we ran.

We got to a bush path that looked safe and quiet. Unfortunately, it looked like a farm land – though untouched in a while. I looked unhappy. Eseme grabbed my hand tightier and whispered that it was going to be alright. 

We left the place and saw somewhere quite desolate, with only birds and flies in the background. And then came the one good part of the day. Eseme turned to me and looked into my eyes as if he were trying to find words hidden under my eyelids. He took a deep breath.

“I know say you dey fear, but make you hold body. No give up. We no go just fight this together, we go also survive. I wan survive, and I want make you survive. My heart dey jolly say I catch you quickly for there. I like you. E don tey wey I don dey like you. I for no tell you, because say I dey fear you small. You too quiet, but this thing wey happen today make me realise say na only you I wan dey see for face, the only one wey I wan protect for the rest of my life”. 

“No vex say I dey throw this kind news for your face today, but sleep no go come again for my life if I no tell you and I lose you. I been think say I go get one day for family house wey I go tell you. I just dey observe the day when you go come house, but today change all that one, so I dey here now dey tell you say I wan survive this life with you. If you no know, we get the same kind of experience from where we come. He stopped as nervously as he started”.

After all of those words rushed out of him, he looked down in shyness, and reached for my hand again. I pushed his hands away and wrapped my arms around his neck. Our hearts started beating faster, grateful for the fact that we were both together and (maybe foolish) hopeful of a better tomorrow.

We were happy as we embraced and felt ready to ‘really’ survive the harsh realities of the world. The bush where we found ourselves looked like an evil forest, but we were ready to face the evils herein and thereafter. I felt safe in his hands anywhere we found ourselves. 
That night, we slept on a wrapper he had secured while we were running, and I slept like a baby not knowing he watched me all night. That night made us fighters, and that’s where we are now, hand in hand, ready to fight the wickedness of the world around us, together. 

To be continued…