Chapter Thirteen

"Are you telling me, he has to be transferred to another hospital?" No amount of sympathy could erase the pain Mrs Coker felt at the moment. At the middle of the night she stayed up late to make sure her husband is properly attended to by the doctor, as  she was trying to get herself to think properly. She turned to look at the nurses in the ward. After sometime she looked at the doctor and asked him what his health condition was at the moment.

"His chest area seems to be badly injured, and there will be a need to getting a surgical operation although the probability of his survival is low."

"But don't worry ma, we would do our possible best to keep him alive, at the moment I have to make sure he is transferred to a better hospital were he can get a proper medical care." 

Mrs Coker began to feel bewildered as she questioned the unknown. All that filled her head were thoughts of how long she was to persevere. If eventually her husband was going to die, how would life turn out to be like.  Her energy would be geared towards bringing up her children. Two teenagers standing adjacent to her stared at her as she felt jittery but tried to calm her nerves and keep herself in control.

*

"Mother how is he doing?" Dele spoke 

pacing around the house in discomfort.

"Well; she started off slowly, he will be fine." She lied.

"Are you sure about that mother?" 

"Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope he will." The household of the Coker's felt sober that day which continued for a whole week. Eight months after Mrs Coker left the house they resided in, she sold the house to meet up with her husband's hospital bills. Suddenly they had dropped down in their standard of living and lifestyle and things were not getting easier for them. He looked at his mom laying helplessly on the bed asleep, he wished for anything that could take him away from his situation right now. He flexed his finely carved biceps as he looked at the small room he occupied with his family. Looking out of the window he saw the poorly built structures. He decided to take a walk around the vicinity, walking down the street in front of him he saw a car stop at the bar, it wasn't a bad idea to take a walk he thought to himself. It sickened him to think that he didn't have a variety of options on his mind right now. Well he could not stay at home anymore doing nothing just like that. He tried deciding whether to go to the bar and just relax letting fresh air caress his skin or go back and get a good sleep before the day comes to an end. With his hands akimbo, he watched the men from a distance walk back to the car.

That Saturday Dele went back home as it was a hard time for him and his family. The next day was a sunny day and it was a wonderful thing for Dele considering the fact that it had been raining for weeks now and the sun had not shone, he had been inside most of the time due to the rains. He prayed for the day to turn out to be a good one, however his mother who now looked sad most of the time went to a market down the street to sell her wares. Outside his vicinity he immediately thought of going to the bar to check if their would be a vacant job for him although their were no placards or invites in front of the shop signifying a vacant job, but he held his hopes up high and believed that their would be a vacant position for him to work. A car speedily passed him, at about nine'o clock in the morning he was already at the bar but it was not yet open. He saw a drunk man with a bottle of beer placed on his body as he was asleep. Dele sat on a crate and watched the man who was looking filthy with a bad odour as a spit mark ran across his chin. He stood up from were he sat and paced around for sometime, watching shop owners as they began their work for the day. A restaurant situated across the street filled his nostrils with the smell of freshly made food. His stomach growled, he was hungry and their was no cash on him to purchase anything to eat. He had left early in the morning to avoid the crowd that may appear if he came late so that they could be a chance for him to talk to one of the bartenders properly without any disruption. It felt rather disheartening for him that his family was in this mess especially now he was preparing to get into the higher institution. One of the bartenders arrived that morning looking decently dressed, presently the drunk man was awake with his sunken eyes, he rubbed them fast and took the bottle of water close to him and washed his face. He walked past the bartender staggering a little as he was still under the influence of a alcoholic drink.

"Good morning" Dele greeted as he stood up from were he sat.

"Good morning to you too," the bartender replied.

"I am Dele and I wanted to inquire from you if their is a job vacancy for someone to work here.

"one of the bartenders resigned the previous day and we were putting up a placard today for interested applicants but since you are here this early, I suppose you are the lucky one befitting to take the job, but you have to bring an application letter for the job.

"He replied grinning." 

Dele thanked the man and promised to apply before the day came to an end. He went home that day and came back with a written letter applying to work as a bartender in the bar. Then he went back to the bar, and gave the bartender he spoke to in the morning his letter of application. Walking back home he came across a cyclist quarreling with a passenger over an agreed price of transport fare. The passenger claimed that he had told him the specific amount he had in his pocket to pay but the bike man, kept ranting that the distance he covered was more than what he had bargained for. They continued arguing with each other and began to abuse themselves when a small crowd gathered. A woman from the crowd dressed in a yellow apparel with a protruding stomach came forward and paid the fare. Dele who stood watching them from a distance walked past them when he saw the problem had been resolved.

The next day at the evening hours of the day when the people in the street began their hustle, he went to the bar to get a feedback on the job offer he applied for. From seven o, clock in the morning to ten o, clock in the night their was no policeman on duty, and this baffled him because their was a recent case of a murder case which had occurred. He looked up and saw the bar across and walked towards it, when he got to the bar he stopped and read the inscription on the wall written boldly 'NO FIGHTING'. Every slight movement evoked in him a spirit to work hard. As his eyes roamed around the bar he saw some men lean their back against the wall adjacent to were the bartender sold drinks, they had lit cigarettes in their hands as they smoked into the air filling the bar with smoke. At another side of the bar he saw beautiful curvy ladies seated on chairs with some group of men. One of the ladies stood up his eyes followed her as she swayed her whole body revealing her finely curve features. He went to were the bartender was and exchanged pleasantries with him after greeting him, he asked for a reply. The bartender told him to start his work the next day, he walked out of the bar in happiness as he felt a new dawn had sprang up in his life. It was a good thing to him that he would not be idle anymore waiting for his mother everyday to fend for him. He could use the little money he earned, to take care of some necessities needed in his life. The clock on the wall ticked, in the silent room at the middle of the night. He lay on the bare floor as his sister was up on the bed with his mother. For a moment he felt very happy to have gotten a job as he reminisced about the event of the day and promised himself to be careful. But he had not told his mom yet, maybe later he thought to himself. He yawned now stretching his arms as he turned to sleep.