I knew within myself that though I was walking, I had no definite destination in mind… I felt too ashamed to return to the Lighthouse. I had disappointed myself… I didn’t feel worthy to preach sexual purity or godliness to the teenagers. I made myself feel better by telling myself that Favour and Baba Agba could meet their spiritual needs in my absence. By then, I was feeling a certain level of hatred for the female gender. I remembered it was Laraba that started the evil fire in me… I concluded with tears flowing down from my eyes, that women were the greatest tools in the hands of devil and I didn’t want to have anything to do with them. I remembered how Favour almost lured me into sleeping with her as well, but I escaped. I kept walking till I saw a sign post in front of a house… “ MALE HOUSEKEEPER NEEDED”…. My heart immediately warmed up to the idea of working as a house keeper temporarily. There were two advantages to that… I felt I would have a house over my head and two, I would be too busy to think about the Lighthouse… I was about knocking at the gate,when I realized how dirty I was looking…I walked around looking for a public toilet to freshen up. On getting to the public toilet, I met an Hausa man and since I could speak the language I made friends with him. I told him my predicament. However, my story was in bits and pieces. I told him, my family lived in the north and I was in Lagos for a better life. I told him I had been kidnapped and was just released. He offered me his little kiosk , if I needed a place to stay for a while. I gladly accepted the offer. I stayed with Usman for a week, still not getting myself. During the week, I kept thinking about the job vacancy of the house keeper I had seen a week earlier. I told Usman about it, and he was elated as he was familiar with the owner of the house. During my one week stay, I noticed an elderly man who made it a daily routine to blast his horn at Usman on his way home as a way of saying hi to Usman…. “ My Oga friend… I will take you there as my brother….” Usman had said excitedly Usman took me to the man’s house. Fortunately, the gateman was also a northerner. He and Usman exchanged pleasantries. He explained all about me and how my family was living in the north. I spoke Hausa to the Gateman as well, telling him of my interest in the job of the housekeeper… With excitement, the Gateman went in to inform the boss about me. I was told the elderly man asked to see me. I walked into the big house with anxiety tugging at my heart. I was hoping I wouldn’t get a No… The first image that caught my attention was… “ The best way to be a God, is to read wide… I don’t need a God to solve my problems, because I believe through books I can have the solution to all life issues…” And indeed…. the living room I stepped into was more of a library than a living room…. “ Welcome … Young man!” To be continued….
