“Please let me go!” Cried the boy on the sick bed, “But why are you
doing this to me doctor?”
“Please be calm Amed,” said the doctor to the groaning patient, “I
believe all will be well. You just don’t have to end your life because of a
simple amputation. The most important thing is life. And once there is life you
have hope.”
“No Doc,” continued the sad Amed, “You just don’t get it. How do you
expect me to carry on with just a single leg? My other one is gone. Isn’t it better
for me to die?”
“But think of all the people that love you,” said the female nurse beside
the doctor, “the sadness, the anguish, the sorrow and the irreparable loss.”
“No I don’t believe anybody still cares,” continued Amed, “It is over as
far as I’m concerned. Nobody wants to marry a handicap. Nobody just wants me,
isn’t it better if you hadn’t resuscitated me when I drank the poison? And now
you want me to live and face the shame all my life! I can sue you doc, you
know?”
“Morin doctor,” said a middle aged woman that had just walked into the
ward, “Thank God, he’s back. So how is he doing?”
“As you can see he’s
fine,” replied the doctor, “Amed aren’t you going to greet your mum?”
“No,” replied Amed, “She caused it all. She shouldn’t have brought me to
the hospital in the first place. She should have respected my wish; she should
have allowed me to die. Oh I want to die!” Then he continued to weep bitterly.
“But
you know we love you son,” said his mother, “We can’t just watch our only son
commit suicide just because his left leg was condemned in a motorbike accident.
We can’t!”
“So what’s the use now?” lamented Amed, “Alimat
is gone and I can never have her back again. The love of my life is gone, Mum!”
“Will you shut up? Shut up I say!” Amed’s
mother said angrily, “Alimat is not whom you live for. We all love you more than
she ever does. Perhaps this wouldn’t have happened if I’d listened to your dad in
the first place. He warned me not to buy you the power bike, but I was
stubborn. I wanted to make you happy because I love you and that was why I
presented you what you asked for as your twentieth birthday gift. And now I
receive all the blame and you are even making matters worst by your
attitude!” Gradually, tear began to roll
down her cheeks too.
As the only surviving child of the Garuba’s,
Amed had more than he could ever want. Additionally, he was handsome, intelligent
and with a high sense of humor. These had endeared him to the hearts of many. He
had barely spent a month as a fresh student in the university when several of
his colleagues began to flock around him, most especially desperate females of various
shapes and sizes. His parents were extremely wealthy people and there was always
enough money for him to squander with them.
He had never known how it felt to be
dumped by a lady until when Mariam, one of his numerous girlfriends, told him that
it was over, for no concrete reasons. That was the first time he got the shock
of his life from a woman. He was always the first to break any relationship he was
into as soon as he had had enough. But Mariam’s case was the opposite. Her complaints
as far as he was concerned were not well founded. He wondered why she of all
people would give her a week’s ultimatum to decide between her and his other
girlfriends. That was pure insanity, Amed thought. She was his last girlfriend,
and to make matters worst, he had continuously cajoled her for over two years
before she finally consented to giving him a trial, just less than three months
ago. She proved too difficult for him to handle, with other girls, he would
have lost counts of the number of times he had slept with them, but with her,
he was still begging for one, and unexpectedly, she was leaving.
Although from a poor
background, she was obviously well trained. And as a complement she has beauty
and brains. Amed was disappointed that not even his lavish spending on her
could break her. He got frustrated and later agreed to path way with her but
both agreed to remained casual friends. Amed’s frustration often turns into anger
any time he comes across her on campus in the company of any male colleague,
but he tries to conceal it for several months.
Toward the end of the first Semester, in
their final year, in one of Amed’s usual escapades he met a girl named Alimat, from
another department, during a campus gig. One thing led to another and the two
became so intimate, to the extent that both frequent each others home and are
no longer strangers to their respective parents. It was like a relationship
made in heaven, but that wasn’t enough to deter both parties from secretly
flirting around when alone.
By the end of the second semester, rumors
began spreading amongst colleagues about Mariam’s upcoming engagement ceremony that
would be coming up during the holiday. That was when Amed faced reality that Mariam
was gone for good. He hadn’t really given up secretly pursuing her, although unknown
to Alimat. At times he sent her love texts and birthday greetings but Mariam
never reciprocated. But lately he got a surprise examination success wish
greeting card from her. He believed that she was beginning to fall for him once
again and he was already planning his next strategy when the news leaked.
He was tired of all
his lascivious and his platonic love affairs, he too needed to settle down
shortly after graduation. Job hunting was never a word in his dictionary; his
father was the CEO of three successful companies. He was always tired of cheap
girls, and Alimat was no exception, but somehow she seems to have a way with
him. Sometimes he thinks of her as too wild for him. She drinks and smokes more
than he does, and whenever they went to parties Amed would bundle her into the back
seat of his car whenever she was inebriated.
If only he could
turn back the hands of time he would have stuck with Mariam – but then, it was
too late. He was angry at the turn out of events but didn’t want to show it. It
was no use crying over split milk. He wouldn’t want Mariam to think that he was
hurt; rather he would surprise her too. So he also planned to have a quick
engagement with Alimat during the holiday period, after all Alima had succeeded
in driving all other girls away.
It was shortly after the low-key
engagement ceremony that the accident occurred. Amed over sped and ran into a
lorry. Ordinarily, anyone without a sound financial back up would have long
passed away. But in his case, there was plenty of money to get him the best doctors
and orthopedic specialists within and outside the country. Nine months later he
was out of the hospital with a prosthetic left leg. He felt his whole was over
and prayed for death even after all the counsels from the psychologists. To
make matters worst, Alimat began to behave funny. She wasn’t always around when
she was mostly needed and most of the time she wouldn’t pick up Amed’s calls.
Finally, she came
one day and broke up the engagement and handed Amed back his ring. She
explained, “You see Amed I love you, but my parents aren’t in support of this
at all. They said that I am too young to start my life with a young handicap like
you!”
And that was the
last time she ever showed up at Amed’s residence again. It was clear that the
good old days were gone, there were no friends flocking around him anymore at a
time it mattered most. He had a total loss of confidence in himself for the
first time; most especially he lost interest in life.
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