“Good Afternoon sir!“ “Your name and a little history about you in 50 seconds? ” The elderly man said looking intently at me “ Chuks Anthony, a graduate of Fine Arts, a former Fine Arts teacher, but unemployed at the moment. Was living in the north, but relocated to the west . I am presently unemployed and homeless… therefore the job of a housekeeper solves two problems for me” I said in a rush The Elderly man kept quiet while looking at me, all of sudden he clapped his hands…. “ 48 Seconds and I already know you! Shows you are smart, only 5 people have ever passed this test of mine…As a lecturer for 35 years, only two of my students passed this IQ test of mine…I like you already and you have the job…” The Elderly man said with a smile as he walked up to me stretching his hand to me for a handshake… “ Roberts Andrew, married thrice, widowed once, twice divorced, a professor of arts, avid reader, childless and a believer of self righteousness.” He said with a wink as he brushed his white beard with his hand. “ I hope to find a friend in you Chuks, since you are a lover of arts” He said as he told me to follow him. I was holding a black worn out bag Usman had given me, which had the few clothes he had given me inside it… “ What’s That?” He said referring to the bag… “ My clothes!” I said very briefly as I had realized the man loved brief conversations. I had quickly analyzed him to be A very intelligent man who thinks very fast and expects everyone to do likewise. “ Well, if what you have on you right now, is what you call clothes, then please trash them outside.. I will give you better ones…” He said laughing…. I followed him obediently up the stairs… All around the house were art sculptures in different sizes…Different artifacts, paintings occupied the whole house. I saw different Award frames on the wall…. “This will be your Room, I only eat twice a day, I hope you cook?” He asked “ Yes sir!” “ Yes sir, I do….that is the correct way to answer” he corrected me.. “ Correction taken sir….” He showed me around and explained my job description to me. He gave me a collection of new expensive clothes. Professor Roberts’ place was home sweet home. Before long, we became like Father and son. I soon became more than his housekeeper. Due to my interest in arts, I started following him to exhibitions and most times, people assumed I was his son… I somehow tried to forget about the Lighthouse and God… The guilt I felt made me feel ashamed to the point of not praying. Rather, I got more interested in arts and Professor Roberts’ way of life. I felt if I was no longer deep in Christianity, I could live the life Professor was living. I felt Tina and the people from the SCA could not attack me if I was far away from the immoral lifestyle. Professor Robert could best be described as the most morally upright man I had ever met. He didn’t smoke nor drink. He hated Sexual immorality so much, that he said in his words…. “ Any man sleeping with a woman who is not his wife is a dog, because dogs sleep with each other without being married… I got married three times because I did not want to commit sexual immorality” Professor detested lies and any other immoral character. If he was a Christian, Heaven was sure for him. I started Living this new life very content… By the time, I had lived 6 months with Professor Robert, I was on my way to becoming an avid reader and a professor of arts. I read his books in my spare time. There was no Bible in his house, so it wasn’t an option. One day, Professor informed me we were going for Art & Music exhibition. I drove to the address he gave me, it was Tafawa Balewa Square. A public square in Lagos that could take thousands of people at the same time… “ Sesay, I am almost there… hopefully 15 minutes from now” I smiled as I heard Professor saying to his friend over the phone…I smiled because of Professor’s level of morality. He tried to always say the truth… He never lied about his movements. “ Sesay invited me for this exhibition…. He said I will be surprised at the raw talent on display, he told me the exhibition started 2 days ago and it has been mind blowing” Professor said to me… We got to the venue in about 12 minutes, but something caught my attention which immediately got my heart racing…. “ LIGHT UP LAGOS! ( A blend of Music, Arts, Dance, food , Football and Drama)” It sounded familiar… My heart started racing… Could this be….? “ Chuks… Chuks…. snap out of it….” I heard Professor saying…. I snapped out of my thoughts and followed Professor. I quickly put on my shades trying to hide my identity Incase what I was thinking was the reality…. As we walked into the square, I saw a lot of teenagers…. At that point, I knew I was right…. This was my idea being executed in my absence…. I saw beautiful paintings exhibited by teenagers….I couldn’t see a familiar face… I wondered if the vision had been hijacked by another or God had transferred it to someone else…, but I saw a familiar painting…. It was the Charcoal drawing done by Kenneth for Mercy, when she got missing…. “ Wow… real talents here….Chuks …” Professor said with a big smile on his face… Then I saw her… I saw Mercy walking towards Professor and I… “Mercy was back from Saudi Arabia?” I reasoned as I stared at her but I wasn’t sure if she took notice of me… I quickly said to Professor, looking for a way of escape…. “Sir, please I need to get to the gents…” I said and turned in a rush… To be continued….
