l found it difficult to speak.
Mum rushed in with three nurses and Dad's assistant doctor immediately tried to stabilise his condition. The medical laboratory scientist entered the room shortly as the doctor and the nurses were still with Dad. He called Mum outside and mumbled something to her. l stared at Dad and then directed my gaze at Mum's position.
Seconds later, Mum shouted and fell to the floor, rolling carelessly on the floor. Fresh tears began to flow down her cheeks as she wept and shouted.
"Brakor has killed me oh, Daddy William, you have finished me, ewu!" Mum kept yelling. l rushed towards the medical laboratory scientist, who was trying to calm Mum down.
"What did you tell her? What did you say that made her shout that way?" l furiously held him at his tie region.
"Calm down, William; it was just the test results from your dad's blood sample we collected," he replied, stuttering.
"And what about it, because l have a feeling that you are about telling me a big lie," leaving him to speak.
"Your father is.....em," the young man stammered. It was as though the words had hung in his throat.
"Is what?" l asked more quietly.
"Your father is HIV-positive," he quickly said.
My eyes expanded and l felt a shiver run down my spine. I was shocked and l tried reflecting on what the laboratory scientist had just told me.
"HIV? Where did that come from?" l queried anxiously.
"I wouldn't know, but it should have been for a long time now, because the virus had eaten deep into his system, making him vulnerable to other diseases, like tuberculosis, as we discovered. l decided to put him under the necessary medications for an HIV patient, so l don't think anything is going to happen to him," he confidently said.
My heart dropped into my stomach, my whole body went limp and l stared into the room where Dad was lying lifeless on his bed. l heard the nurses saying frightfully, "We have lost him, l think we have lost him; he is gone." My mouth flopped open as l stared shockingly at the medical laboratory scientist.
"He is dead," l heard the scientist say gently.
A violent fit of trembling spread to my toes, my head became swollen and my stomach tightened. My eyes searched for Mum and l saw her lying down helplessly on the floor. She had fainted; the nurses were trying to revive her by all possible means, but she lay still like a log of wood. Just then, l heard my phone ring. It was James, l was sure, but l seemed not to recall that the phone was still in my pocket. I sat down cautiously on the floor, still looking at Dad's corpse that was being covered by a nurse. Tears sealed my eyes and l shrank in dismay.
I seemed to hear my name from the narrow corridor where I sat. l stood up slowly and walked down the corridor to see who was calling me. l heard Dad's voice, l was sure, and l wondered if Dad had come back as a spirit to finish saying his last words to me.
"Save yourself," l heard faintly as the words echoed in my ear. l looked around, but l saw no one. "Was l daydreaming?" l asked myself as l kept walking down the corridor.
"William m," a soft voice caught my attention behind me. I turned round to see Mum. She stood hopelessly like a man who has lost his whole life savings in a gamble. We hugged each other so tightly and all l heard from Mum were her soft touching words, "You are all that l have now."
You never know the value of what you had until you lose it. I never really cared or desired to stay with Dad when l was at home. I never missed seeing him and it was just like he was never there.
But now, I felt this emptiness, as though something had been taken from me. As if my life wasn't complete anymore. That feeling made me sick. It would be best for us to enjoy as much here moments we can with our families and loved one since there was no telling when death would come knocking at the door.
It was already four days after Dad's funeral;
Mum had not talked since Dad's funeral was over.
She would walk quietly out of her room and then to the kitchen, and, from the kitchen, she would walk, in the same manner, into her room, as though she had been instructed not to utter a word.
That afternoon, Blessing's friend, Caroline, came to the house to see her. Blessing had told me about her friend, commenting on how pretty and luscious she was. l had longed to see the damsel as Blessing had called her. Later that day, Blessing introduced her to me as her 'one and only friend'. I was shocked at such a creature that l found it disgusting to even shake hands with her. I never believed that Blessing was more beautiful than any girl until l met Caroline, her so-called best friend. She was about Blessing's height, but her head was fatter than Blessing's and her long neck was like that of a turkey. Her rotruded belly and her bony structure reminded me of a boy l had seen along the road who was suffering from kwashiorkor. I was bewildered and embarrassed as Caroline beamed a smile at me; her lips parted to reveal a set of brownish-yellow teeth.
"Is this the damsel you told me about?" I asked Blessing, pasting a fake smile as to shield how nauseous l felt at the time of seeing her friend, Caroline.
"Yes! Caroline is her name. She looks almost like you, tall, pointed nose, red lips...."
"God forbid! lf this is how l look, then l would commit suicide right away," I interrupted her sharply as l couldn't hold back my feelings. l felt queasy as l stared at the uneven make-up on Caroline's face which made her look more like a masquerade.