When You Forget Your Starting Point

Darlas as we called him was the tallest of six of us, we were like siblings and no one dared our group because we were always out for each other, a touch on one was a touch on all. We did everything together and helped each other with house chores. We all played football very well and we trained together all the time; three against three.

Chuma, Anyi, Bekee that's me were always grouped together while Darlas, John and Maradona were always in the opposite group. Darlas was a powerful dribler but he found it hard with me because I always gave him accurate marking. Infact, we were rivals on the field and I always made sure that i wasn't counted as one his victims.

After our secondary school, Darlas had an opportunity to travel out of the country courtesy of a maternal Uncle based in USA who registered all his relatives in the visa lottery but luck shined only on Darlas. Although our group disfranchised as we all took different turns in life after his departure. However, we kept in touch with each other and those of us that always met never let our bond loose.

We didn't hear from Darlas for almost twenty six years and when we eventually did, you won't believe that we all once had something in common, that we played hide and seek together, ran under the rain, played football on the muds and above all that he once passed his days in my father's house and ate food prepared by my own mother.

One of the most interesting period of the year is Christmas period, this is a period that brings all and sundry together and the preparation for this period starts the moment the year leap into what is proverbically known as ember month. Ember month is the begining of immense caution and safety because there is this belief that some dark forces rise from sleep during this period which starts from September to December of every year.

Apart from the dark forces, it is also believed that it is the period that fashions what the Christmas celebration will be like, a lot of people begins to buckle their safety belts and hustling booths this period but one other thing about this period is that it is a period that carries lots of sweet informations especially informations about who is coming in from overseas.

The news that Darlas was coming home for Christmas was the best news of the period and we were eager to see him because the news of how big he is isn't new, he has built two houses and renovated his father's house. We started preparing for his great home coming and I am sure that Maradona (peace be unto his soul) felt our preparation from the other side of this story.

Darlas arrived on the 20th of December but none of us set eyes on him until 12th of January when I ran into him and he turned his face away because he has a hummer jeep. You see, his father and siblings refused to give any of us his contact years back so we actually saw the hand writing on the wall but how can Darlas change and even forget us? We said prayers together before he left the country, we were best of friends but to him, we were no longer his level.

There is this saying that you know the true character of a man when he has money and as far as I can attest, poverty or rather hardship is a unifying factor. People get along very well when they don't have much but too much money in instances goes into people's head. Many a time, alot people after climbing to the top wants the ladder they climbed with to break so that other people climbing will not get to the top.

That is simply what Darlas portray. He portrays a friend who you cannot count on in time of need, a brother who kills his own to gain riches but one thing about life is that we all are in a race and the winner is not always the first person that leaves the mark. Darlas made reference to us especially me when he was commissioning the bore hole he constructed for the community.

He said that riches is not meant for everyone especially those that sell timber and bamboo. Well, I didn't get angry when I heard it because I make my living from my bamboo business. However, that statement became my motivation and enabled me to triple my hustle.The gubernatorial election was just the coming year and a man from our community was contesting so we all came out to help him and I was his biggest volunteer and fan.

I campaigned for him and with him and used my influence in the bamboo market to get him support so when he emerged the winner and became the state governor, he rewarded me with contracts. When God has your back, everything turns to your favor.The very first thing I did with the first money I made for supplying bamboo for the renovation of the ten state hospitals and building of new complexes was to buy a hummer jeep which I used to transport my goods.

You see, never look down on people because the part of towel that cleaned your ass today might be the part to clean your face tomorrow.

Life is all about what you make of it and just like the saying goes; you never know who you will need tomorrow. Believe me, it is always very good for certain things to happen to us so that we would know exactly who we are and also know the people around us. Some people are around us just because they have no other option and these set of people are the ones that literally kill us, they are hypocrites and always leave us with nothing but everlasting pains. However, there are these set of people that we meet and they throw spade at us.

Darlas threw spade at me and almost all his peers. But it didn't matter that much after all, we all later made it in life but imagine when the people who suppose to be your friends becomes your enemies because of your selfishness, how do you sleep at night and who do you say your prayer to knowing that you failed to take care of something but cautiously overlooked that thing and even went as far as plotting to destroy it.

So many people criticised me for using a hummer jeep as one of my courier cars but these people failed to understand that everything in this life is simply meaningless. Darlas oppressed us with that particular jeep because to him, it worth more than our lives so when I made money, I realised that the jeep is nothing so I decided to show him that there are things you don't die for after all it is said that one man's meat is another man's poison. So my choice might differ from your but it's still my money and my jeep.

I wasn't in any form of competition with him, i was simply contended with my life so I was totally broken when I heard about his predicaments and how everyone including the woman he wanted to marry abandoned him. It was difficult for me to understand but seeing him that day in the field broke my heart and I feel on my knees and begged God to grant him sanity. I learned that he was using hard drugs and was deported from USA. You see, no matter what, there was no way I would have left Darlas like that.

When you forget your starting point, the element in it might be your resting beam when things turn around. Be a friends friend.