LIFE IMPRISONMENT 14
WRITTEN BY: GRACE OLAYEMI
“Please, Big Bro, you are a good person and I know you have every right to be angry. Treat him like a complete stranger and just assume you are putting your money into charity,” Comfort said trying to cajole Ranti on the phone.
She had been calling to beg Ranti to pay for their father’s surgery since they left the hospital two days back but Ranti had remained adamant. She had been able to get Edward to forgive their father and they even cried together on the phone as Edward remembered the times of hunger and discrimination he faced while growing up due to poor parenting.
“If you don’t have anything to say again I’ll end this call,” Ranti threatened and Comfort searched her brain for what to say again.
“Okay Big Bro, can you borrow me the money?”
“I don’t have that kind of money.
“What if I was the one lying on that hospital bed, how will you get the money?”
“I’ll steal it,” Ranti said and Comfort sighed.
She knew her brother was capable of doing anything to raise money for them but she knew he was a good legitimate business man and not a thief.
“Can you steal it for Papa?”
“No, I don’t have a father and I can’t kill myself because of a stranger!”
He ended the call and threw his phone on the couch. He sipped the beer from the bottle in his hand and wished Mr Adel would just get out of their lives forever. They were living in peace without him and he didn’t know why he had to show up to disrupt their peace.
* * * * * *
Comfort and Edward came from their various schools to visit Ranti that weekend and also to plead with him in person to pay for their father’s surgery so he won’t die. Comfort lived on campus and Edward also lived on his own campus.
He had been denied admission into the Federal University Comfort attended because he could not meet up with the cut off mark for Medicine and Surgery. He had lost the hope of going into the university that year and had cried for many days before Ranti bought the application form for a private university for him. He was surprised and wondered where Ranti would get his tuition fee from but his brother had assured him that he would go to any length to see that they were well educated and that he was doing all he did because of them. He was grateful to him and since he gained admission he had not lacked anything and he lived like a child of a very wealthy man all thanks to Ranti. He was however surprised that their brother that always did everything for them would be so adamant and unforgiving towards their father.
They begged Ranti relentlessly but he maintained his stance and Comfort became angry. She threatened to kill herself if anything should happen to their father and Ranti remained unmoved. She said she would have nothing to do with Ranti again if he didn’t help their father and Ranti still didn’t bulge.
They left his house that day and started scheming for ways to raise money to save their father. They had never worked in their lives and didn’t even know anything about making money. They sought for charity and all but nothing came forth and Comfort became tired.
She swallowed her pride and begged Ranti again but he would not give her listening ears.
Comfort received the shock of her life two weeks later when Mr Adel breathed his last. She cried her eyes out and began to curse Ranti for being responsible for his death. She barged into Ranti’s house and gave him a piece of her mind leaving the latter bewildered and confused.
“You have finally achieved your aim. That poor man didn’t get a chance to life because his first son is heartless and adamant,” she said immediately she entered the sitting room where Ranti was playing video games with some of his friends.
“What happened to you, Comfort? You look awful.” He remarked and paid attention to her wondering what could have made his neat freak sister appear like she just came out of a mud fight.
“Nothing happened to me o. You have finally killed him, Ranti you have killed him. You are a murderer and God will punish you,” she continued to rant and cry and Ranti didn’t know what she was talking about. He tried to calm her down but she refused to be calmed and cried harder leaving everyone confused.
After a while, she seemed better and Ranti sighed while handing her a cup of water. She yanked it off and stood up aggressively.
“Your father needed money for surgery but you could not bring out a dime. You acted like a cold-hearted j**k until he died and now you suddenly become a cool guy again. You are a pretender. You never truly loved us. I wonder what would happen if we were the ones that offended you. The man was helpless, Ranti. All you had to do was pay for his surgery even if you don’t forgive him. But, that was too big for you to do.”
Ranti finally understood what the problem was and why Comfort had been acting strange since she arrived at his house. He was angry that she could disrespect him all because of their good for nothing father.
“You must be happy and proud of yourself now. You have just joined the league of children that killed their fathers. Are you happy?” She made a demo of a microphone with her hand and placed it in front of Ranti’s mouth. Ranti stood up and gave her a resounding slap that sent her to the floor.
“I will not sit here and listen to the girl I raise insult me all because of her good for nothing father. Get out of my house now and go to your father,” he said in rage.
“I will go! When next you see me in your house please, cut off my legs,” she replied angrily after she got her composure back and dashed out of the house.
* * * * * *
The relationship between Ranti and his siblings, especially Comfort, continued to deteriorate as Comfort had refused to speak to Ranti even though the latter was not ready to apologize for not paying for Mr Adel’s surgery, she wanted him to apologize and admit that he was wrong.
Mr Adel was buried in his village and even though Edward informed Ranti to come and pay his last respect as the first son, Ranti refused to go with them and he didn’t even ask how the funeral went and how they were able to source for the money they used.
“I’m an orphan. I have buried my parents a long time ago. I don’t have time to waste.” Those were his responses whenever Edward or any of his friends tried to talk him into attending the funeral.
Things went from bad to worse between Ranti and his siblings after the funeral and even Edward also refused to answer his calls. He tried reaching them many times but they would not pick his calls until their numbers became unreachable. He thought they needed time to cool off and even wondered why they would turn against him because of their useless father.
Ranti continued to send money to them like he used to do in the past and never for once did they acknowledge him or even come to the house. Days rolled into weeks and weeks into months and he had not heard from his siblings. He would seldom go to Comfort’s school to catch a glimpse of her while she went for lectures and would be satisfied to see that she was doing okay. He could not visit Edward’s school and he would stalk him on social media just to know how he was doing.
He felt so empty and alone without his siblings. Even though his guys had moved in with him, he still felt lonely most of the time and would take solace in alcohol.
Ranti was busy on his laptop one afternoon when Segun, his friend ran into the sitting room and gave him the shock of his life. He saw on Segun’s phone that that day was Comfort’s convocation day and she had graduated as the best graduating student in her institution. He read her interview on that blog and was surprised that there was not even a single mention of his name or the role he played in her life. She was gushing about her father throughout the interview and Ranti wondered who that father was. He got his car keys and dashed out of the house, refusing to listen to Segun’s call.
He arrived at the school a little after the convocation ceremony and had a hard time looking for Comfort. He finally sighted her in the company of Edward and some other people taking pictures and celebrating. He called out to her but she refused to answer even though he was certain she saw him. He pulled her by the wrist and she gave him a slap claiming that he was a stalker trying to woo her. Some guys carried Ranti away from the scene and tears flooded his eyes.
“Is this how human beings are?”
After all he did for her.
He didn’t have an opportunity to convocate because he dropped out to raise them and that was what he got in response. He sat at the arena where he was dropped and cried his eyes out. He remembered the look of disgust and disdain that was on her face as he approached her.
Does he mean nothing to her? After everything.
Where should he even start from?
He had been feeding them since they were less than ten and even until recently he still sent money to both of them.
“If Comfort was being childish, what of Edward?”
The same Edward he had to take up assassination job just to make sure he fulfilled his dream of becoming a medical doctor.
He staggered to his car and drove out of the school premises. He spotted a bar on his way and parked his car. He needed something to make him forget the cruelty of mankind. If anyone would turn against him in this life, he had never thought it would be his siblings. But, he had seen life and he knew without any doubt that life was cruel.
He ordered many bottles of beer and drowned himself in the ecstasy of the effect of the alcohol. He blocked his sibling’s numbers from his phone, deleted all their pictures, blocked them on all his social media platforms and continued to drink the alcohol so as to block them out of his mind forever.
“I’m an orphan without any sibling!” He continued to say to himself because he thought saying it out loud would make him forget the gravity of what Comfort and Edward had done to him.
* * * * * *
After Ranti stopped sending money to Edward, he began to lack a lot of things and Comfort had to take on the responsibility. It was heavy on her but she refused to complain and even when Edward begged her to let them go back to Ranti to plead, she refused and promised that she would do everything in her power to see Edward through school.
To be continued…
