'What are your reasons?'

I explained in detail. Exactly what I had told my mother, plus some.

'Lagos is out of the question,' he said when I finished. 'Definitely out of the question.'

He went into a bout of coughing. My mother leaned over and rubbed his back.

'Isn't it possible for you to tell them that you're not feeling well?' she asked. 'The way you're breathing, I think maybe you should stay at home.'

'Hmm. Have you forgotten Osakwe?'

The recollection caused a faint breeze of fright to blow through my pores and right into my marrow. Osakwe was my father's former colleague who had been bedridden with some unknown ailment for several years. During the last verification exercise, his children had asked for an exemption, but the people at the pension office insisted that all pensioners - no exception - must appear in person. So the children hired a taxi, lifted their father from his sickbed for the first time in years, and carried him all the way there. They left the door of the taxi open and went inside to call the pension officers who came out and confirmed that Osakwe was still alive and pension-worthy. Shortly after the taxi began the homeward journey, the children discovered that their father had left this world.

'As for looking for other kinds of jobs,' my father continued, 'I understand why you've decided to take this step. But we must never make permanent decisions based on temporary circumstances. Whatever job you might get . . . I don't mind as long as you realise that it's just temporary. You are still a chemical engineer.'

'Yes, Daddy.'

'When do you plan to leave?'

'As soon as possible. I was just waiting to hear what you would say.'

He paused and thought.

'You can go ahead and let Dimma know you're coming.'

'Thank you, Daddy,' I said with a smile.

'Why don't you hurry so that we can all leave the house together? ' my mother suggested.

With excitement, I went and had a quick bath. They were waiting in the living room when I finished dressing up. At the junction where our street met the main road, we stopped and waited. I looked at my mother with her man standing erect beside her and saw the pride radiating from her face. Even though his clothes showed too much flesh at the wrist and ankle, anybody would know immediately that he was distinguished. My father always looked like a university professor.

'Ah!' my mother exclaimed suddenly.

'What is it?'

'I forgot! Mr Nwude's wife said she wanted to give me some dresses to mend for her. I promised her that I'd send Chikaodinaka up to their flat to pick up the clothes before I left the house.'

'You should stop taking these sorts of jobs from people,' my father replied. 'If any of them needs someone to mend their clothes, they can stop any one of these tailors who parade the streets with machines on their heads.'

'It's difficult to refuse our neighbours,' my mother said.

'It doesn't matter whether the person is a neighbour or not. You're a fashion designer, not an obioma.'

My father appeared quite upset. I recognised that Utopian tone of voice.

'Nigeria is a land flowing with milk and honey,' he had said to one of his colleagues who was relocating to greener pastures in Canada and who had tried to convince him to join ship. 'Just that the milk is in bottles and the honey is in jars. Our country needs people like us to show them how to get it out.'

With that belief, my father had given the very best years of his life to serving his country in the civil service. Today, retired and wasted, he had nothing to show for it. Except our rented, two-bedroom, ground-floor flat in Umuahia town. And the four-bedroom, uncompleted bungalow in the village. It was every Igbo man's dream to own a house in his homeland - a place where he could retire from the hustle and bustle of city life in the twilight of his years; a place where he could host guests for his daughters' traditional wedding ceremonies; a place where his family could entertain the well-wishers who came to attend his funeral. But that dream of owning a home had been relegated to the realms of ancient history when I gained admission to university.

Eventually, I saw a taxi and flagged it down. When the smoky vehicle braked, the people at the back shifted to make space. I held the door open while my father climbed inside.

'Pensions Office,' I said to the driver.

'Bye,' my mother said as I banged the door shut.

He waved. I waved back. My mother kept waving until the car was out of sight.

She continued in the opposite direction while I walked three streets to the closest business centre. I was the ninth person in the queue for the telephone. Things might have moved a bit quicker if not for the young man three places ahead of me who was trying to convince his brother in Germany of the rigours they were going through to clear the Mercedes-Benz V-Boot he had sent to them three months ago via the Apapa Port. The agents were demanding more and more clearing fees. Apparently, his brother thought he was lying.

When it eventually got to my turn, I wrote my number on a slip of paper and handed it to the telephone operator. The attendant got through to Aunty Dimma's line after five dials.

'That's wonderful!' Aunty Dimma sang. 'Having you around will be good for Ogechi. She hasn't been doing well in her maths.'

From there, I went to the newspaper stand round the corner. I had been buying newspapers from this same girl almost every week for about a year. Whenever my budget was tight, she turned away her vigilant eyes and allowed me to carry on as I pleased. Ola had once joked that the old girl had eyes for me. I selected a copy of This Day This Day and saw that, in addition to Mobil and Chevron, a few insignificant companies were also hiring. I copied the relevant details before returning the newspaper to the stand. and saw that, in addition to Mobil and Chevron, a few insignificant companies were also hiring. I copied the relevant details before returning the newspaper to the stand.

Yes, Ola had asked me not to visit her in Owerri again, but now that I was aware of the source of her trouble - that her mother was bothered about my insecure economic status - I knew that an update would go a long way in allaying her fears. Ola might worry about my move to Port Harcourt, but in the long run, it would benefit our relationship.

Besides, women are from Venus. Like tying up shoelaces, they are full of twists, turns and roundabouts. They say something when what they really mean is another thing. For all I knew, right now, Ola was hoping that I would pay her a visit and wishing that she had not been so harsh on me the last time.

I confirmed that I had just enough money left over in my wallet and set off on another impromptu trip to Owerri.

Ola was not inside her room. My photographs were still missing. And instead of the wooden locker, there was a brand new refrigerator standing by the wall. Two girls were looking through some clothes piled on Ola's bed. I recognised one of them as an occupant of the room.

'Please, where's Ola?' I asked.

'She's not around,' the roommate replied.

She would either be in the library or in the faculty lecture theatre.

'If she comes in while I'm gone, could you please ask her to wait for me? I'm going to the faculty to look for her.'

The roommate was about to say something. The other girl hijacked her turn.

'Ola isn't in school,' she said. 'She travelled to Umuahia about two days ago.'

'She went home?'

'Yes,' the girl replied.

How could Ola be in Umuahia and not let me know?

'When is she due back?' I asked.

There was an awkward silence. The girl looked at the roommate. The roommate did not return the look.

'She didn't say,' the roommate replied.

'Thank you,' I said, and shut the door behind me.

It was late when I returned home. Godfrey and Eugene were huddled in front of the television while Charity was lying on the three-sitter sofa.

'Where are Daddy and Mummy?' I asked.

'They've gone in,' Godfrey replied.

'It's not been long since they went,' Eugene added.

'Daddy said he was having a headache and wanted to go in and rest, so Mummy went in with him,' Charity expatiated.

Their answers came one after the other, as if they were reciting a stanza of poetry and had rehearsed their lines to perform for me when I returned.

I went into the children's bedroom and changed into more casual clothes, returned to the living room and relaxed in a chair.

My mind was moving like an egg whisk. My brain cells were running helter-skelter. How could Ola have come into town without letting me know? What else had her mother been saying behind my back? Poor girl. I would visit her first thing tomorrow morning to allay her fears. Fixing my gaze on the screen, I tried my best to be entertained.

It was difficult. In the movie, a charcoal-skinned father and a charcoal-skinned mother had been cast as parents of an undeniably mixed-race daughter. This was not the only gaffe. Another woman had been cast with a teenage daughter who, based on her appearance, could very easily have passed for the mother's elder sister. Plus, whoever was in charge of that aspect of things had forgotten to replace the large, framed photograph of the family on the wall of the opulent living room with one of the family of actors who had borrowed the house to shoot the scene.

The lead actress had just discovered that the man she was about to marry was her long-lost father, when I heard the first scream. I assumed the noise came from the television. But when Godfrey lowered the television volume, we knew it was there in the house with us. We rushed to our parents' bedroom.

My father was sprawled like a dead chicken by their bathroom door. My mother was crouched over him with her hands on his shoulders and her head close to his chest. She was shaking him, listening for his heartbeat, and screaming.

'Hewu Chineke m o!' she cried. 'You people should see me o! Hewu Hewu!'

Her face was wet with tears. We threw ourselves to the floor and gathered around my father's still form. Charity burst into tears. Odinkemmelu and Chikaodinaka, having heard the commotion from the kitchen, also rushed in. I pushed everyone aside and listened for a heartbeat. With relief, I confirmed that my father's life was not yet finished.

'Mummy, what happened?' I asked.

'Hewu God help me o . . . God help me o . . . God help me o . . . God help me o . . . hewu hewu!'

I pulled myself together and recovered some of that level of thinking that sets man apart from the beasts of the field.

'Godfrey . . . quick! Go upstairs and ask Mr Nwude if he can come and help us drive Daddy to the hospital in his car. Hurry . . . hurry . . . !'

I turned to the rest. 'All of you go out . . . just go out. He needs air.'

I shooed everybody away and closed the door. My mother was still crying. I checked my father's pulse again and again. Godfrey returned from his errand.

'Mr Nwude said we should start bringing him out. He'll meet us downstairs.'

I turned to my mother.

'Mummy, please wear something.'

From the wardrobe, she dragged a boubou, which had black stains from unripe plantains covering most of the stomach area, and pulled it over her nightdress. I bent down and held onto my father's arms beneath his shoulders while Godfrey held his legs. We lifted his body from the floor. With his head balanced carefully on my belly, we carried him out. A quick thinker had already opened the front door wide - the main entrance to the house that we reserved for special visitors. That exit would be closer to Mr Nwude's sky blue Volkswagen Beetle.

Mr Nwude rushed out, dressed in an outfit that he ordinarily should have been ashamed of. He was wearing a pair of boxer shorts and bathroom slippers, with his short-sleeved shirt buttoned halfway up. His wife stood beside my mother while we arranged my father into the backseat. I and my mother squeezed into the front passenger seat and forced the door shut. The old car sped off as best as it could, leaving the members of our household staring in distress.

Eight

'What of your card?' the nurse asked.

We were at the Government Hospital Accident and Emergency Unit.

'What card?' I asked back.

'The one they gave you when you made your deposit.'

'We didn't make any deposit.'

'OK, hurry up so I can arrange for a doctor to see him soon.' She pointed her chin at my father, who was lying on a wooden bench with my mother standing beside him. 'Go and pay then come back and fill out the forms.'

What was she talking about?

'Just walk down the hall,' she explained. 'Turn right and walk to the end of the corridor, then turn left, and you'll see a blue door. Three doors from the blue door, you'll see another door that is wide open. Go inside, then look to your left. You'll see where other people are queuing up. That's the cashier. Pay your deposit and bring the receipt back here.'

Deposit? I looked at Mr Nwude. He looked at the nurse.

'Madam, please, this is an emergency,' Mr Nwude said. 'Let the doctor have a look at him now and we'll bring the money by morning.'

She almost laughed.

'Madam,' I begged, 'please, first thing tomorrow morning, we'll bring the money.'

She folded her arms and looked back at me. I wondered if the feminine of brute was brutess.

'Nurse, please . . .'

She patted a pile of forms on all four sides until every single sheet was perfectly aligned. We pleaded and beseeched. She strolled to the other end of her work space and started attending to other matters. We beckoned my mother. Reluctantly, she left her husband's side and leaned on the counter.

'Please, my daughter,' she said in a mournful, motherly voice. 'My husband is very ill and we need to get him some medical attention as soon as possible. As my son was telling you, by tomorrow, we'll bring the money. I can't lie to you.'

Pity clouded the nurse's face.

'Madam . . .'