“Fide used to be a two-legged person not until one Christmas ceremony which we all had in our village during our youthful days”, my father said as I watched him anxiously in the face waiting for the rest of Mr Fide's story.
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I've always known Mr Fide to be my father's best friend. He is a kind, generous and outgoing person. One may think of him as wicked or difficult because of his rigid face which never smiles and his big protruded belly. But, Mr Fide appears just to be the opposite. He visits our house regularly and usually buys lots of gifts for my siblings and I. However, there is one thing about Mr Fide which bothers me a lot. "Was Mr Fide born as a one-legged person?" I asked my father one afternoon as I assisted him with cutting cassava in our backyard.
Fide and I became friends at a very young age when his family moved from Auchi down to our town in Abeokuta. We shared everything together and even went to the same primary and secondary school. I remember when we were in secondary school, he will run to our house to eat whenever his parents refused to provide food as a result of lack of money. Similarly, I would go to his house to eat whenever I'm being punished with hunger for disobeying my mum. We were so close and usually fond of each other. I held no secrets from him and he tells me everything concerning him.
One day, Fide and I decided to punish a woman who usually report us to our respective mothers. Her name is Mama Ayo. Mama Ayo is considered the friend of every woman in our town because of her talkativenesss. She is the town gossip who spreads both the true and untrue news and events to everyone. We hated her so much because she reported seeing us at the stream to our parents. We were initially warned never to go close to the stream because of the evil activities going on there, and as a reward for disobedience we were severely punished. Thus, we decided to punish her.
We sneaked into her compound and stole the biggest of her chickens. We killed it and threw it inside her well. We were very happy seeing her drink and cook with the well water in which we threw the dead chicken, and this satisfied the burning anger and hatred in us. When she finally realised that her chicken was missing, she cried out and this made us even more happy. "Help me oo. Whosoever has stolen my chicken should return it ooo. That chicken has been paid for. Please oo" she cried going from house to house in search for her chicken. Our friendship grew and bloomed even until our university days.
Two years after our university, we both decided to celebrate the Christmas at Abeokuta as a reunion party with our other old friends. I journeyed down to Abeokuta from Ibadan while he arrived from Lagos. It was going to be a splendid reunion party and we all decided to enjoy ourselves to the fullest. It was a night party which started on the eve of Christmas. "Fide", I said. "Make sure you enjoy yourself to the fullest". However, unknown to me, Fide has his own plans.
Before the party, we had both decided to visit one of his father's friends who promised us a contract work. But sadly, Fide went there alone without my notice. He lied to me by cooking up a false story. He said he had to visit a friend whom he met during his NYSC and he'll be celebrating his Christmas there. So, he left us at the party and left.
I later got a call from him and he explained to me how he landed in the hospital. He entered a one-chance bus where he was robbed of all his belongings. I later got a call from him and he explained to me how he landed in the hospital. As he struggled with the robbers, he was shot in the left leg and they threw him out of the bus leaving him to die. "I thought I was dead only to find myself in the hospital after being saved by some good Samaritans" he said. I visited him in the hospital and cried when I realised that his left leg has been amputated. He cried bitterly asking for my forgiveness after narrating his true intentions.
"Thus, Fide celebrated the Christmas and New year celebration in the hospital. Although he wanted to prove himself as the sharpest tool in the shed, he realised that he had only been a fool" my father said as he ended his story. “I see why transparency is very important in all human relationships” I said and carried a basket of peeled cassava into the kitchen.