Kwame shifted his eyes from the fly buzzing against the glass window to the stack of dirty clothes on the floor, then to Amina who thought she had found a good listener, a listener whose mind was far away, as far back as the years he thought his dreams were made of sand, to be soon erased by looming waves.
For whenever a dream of his managed to rise, some unfortunate incident shot it down, a recurrence that drove Kwame up the wall and forced him to crawl into his shell.
He was always the first to text. First to call. No one ever missed him. The fool had wised up. Will live in his shell henceforth and mind his business.
Every now and then he would hear of a friend who just got married, landed a great job or travelled abroad to further their studies. His circle were upgrading their lives while his stood still, determined to remain the same.
Seems whoever was distributing the blessings was one-eyed, and had problem determining where distribution ended last and who was next. So far as Kwame was concerned, he was next, unfortunately, next to nothing worth a moment’s discussion!
Everything was deteriorating. Friends were falling off like leaves. He still believed he would make it some day. It was hard holding on.
It’s a different story today as he sits before Amina, his new found love, wondering what would have become of him if he gave up along the way, allowing critics to dampen his spirit. He certainly would have missed the many good things now happening to him. He actually gave up a long time ago. Just didn’t know what kept pushing him to keep on keeping on till his dark life began to brighten up. A lesson he shall never forget. To never give up.
“Shall we?” Amina interrupted his thoughts.
“Yes!” He responded, suddenly glowing with a sheepish smile, not knowing what it was all about.
Impulsively, he rises and follows her lead outside to a jeering crowd beside a Toyota Coaster from which Angélique Kidjo’s “Akwaaba” blared.
“Ah! The Safari tour,” he exclaimed, suddenly remembering the adventure that lay ahead of him and his white friends.
*Akwaaba means welcome.
Mowabites Worldwide 