Sundown[1]

Ifeadigo was in a vacuum. The chaos and noise around him could not penetrate the sorrow that now enveloped him like a shell. Time was timeless. Even the phalanx of hands pulling him from his kneeling position could not shake him from his daze.
His benumbed arms held the body of his mother, now growing limp from lifelessness. His deadened eyes stared at the blood that was fast gathering beside her. In its pool, he was drowned in an ocean of memories.

12 hours before--------
It was just before dawn. A layer of mist hung low in the cold morning air. Ifeadigo staggered as he fought to keep his balance. He fished in his pocket for the keys, fumbled with the door and finally succeeded in opening it. Inside, the warm stale air of the stuffy sitting room assaulted his nostrils. His eyes burned from the kerosene lantern smoke that burned all night when there is no power supply.
He stood still for a few seconds, his bloodshot eyes trying to pierce through the haze of the dim light in the room. On the sofa directly facing the door, his mother stirred her heavy form and yawned, flakes of sleep falling off. At 49, she looked 60, and was overweight.

“Ife”, she called, coming towards him. “Ife, where did you sleep last night?”

“Ma”, he began with a croaky impatient voice. “I was at Basseys.”

“Ife my son”, she said wearily, holding his face. “Are you drunk? I was up all night waiting for you. You said you were at Basseys? Bassey is not a good friend. He will lead you into trouble. He w.....”

“Ma, I know. I'm tired”, he snapped, wriggling out of her hold.

“Ife, please listen to me. I...”

“Ma!”, he replied sternly, barging into his room.

Behind closed doors, he hurriedly produced a waterproof sachet holding a whitish powder, and stashed it away among the hotch-potch of things in his room.

Then he stopped and listened. It was his mom praying with his younger siblings; Chetachi, Nonso and Chisimdi, 16, 12 and 10 respectively. It always gave him a pang whenever they prayed. He knew they prayed for him, felt for him, loved him. He felt love for them too, but at 20, he was tired of the smell of decay and sorrow that hung over his home like the moon.
He was the first son, and he knew he needed to take care of his younger ones, especially Chetachi who was fast becoming a woman.

Old men knocked at the door, wanting to marry her. Men whose belly bulged out so much that a cup of water could balance, and with teeth bearing more colors that the rainbow.

Each time they came, he went into fits of rage, wanting to kick them out. But his mother won't have it.

After his father left, she had been heartbroken and was sick a few days. Churches had trooped in wanting to help. But Ifeadigo knew they only wanted more members and the result had been long nights of prayer and screaming in languages he didn't understand and endless quotations of the bible.

His mother had always tried to make him participate, but he would sneak out and go to his friends' houses where they would laugh in hysterics, smoking and drinking local liquor. 

In fairness to them though, they saw his siblings through primary school. But then stories upon stories piled up and they eventually stopped school.
He never went to school himself. They could not afford to cater for all of them and he had to find his own way, and he did. The things he had to do to get by didn't matter. It felt good paying for a haircut with money from his own pocket and not the meager dough his mother gave him from her work.

Where did she work?

Just then, his phone vibrated in his back-pocket. He took it out, basking in the pleasure of holding a phone bought by him. Not many boys of his age and status had such pleasures. The sight of the caller ID changed his mood in a swing.

“Ifeadigo!”, a husky voice rasped.

“Isaac!”, he replied, feigning nonchalance.

“Ifeadigo, I want my money back!”

“Isaac. I need more time”, still pretending to be unconcerned.

“No Ifeadigo! You know how it works. You owe me, you pay back fast. If you don't...you know what follows.”

“Isaac. I need more time. I will pay back double. I...”

“Ifeadigo!” an impatient angry voice snapped. “I want my money by tomorrow. If you don't pay back by then...”

Phone call ended.

Ifeadigo stood perplexed.

He had to do something.

And he had to do it fast.

       To be continued...........