"Get out of here, you worthless mongrel!" Ayo yelled. Seconds later, a poorly aimed bag of garbage landed harmlessly next to the small brown dog.
The hungry animal tucked his tail between his legs and sprinted around the corner, out of sight. When he heard the door slam, he carefully crept back.
A quick sniff confirmed that the black bag wasn't worth his time. So the filthy, dejected dog returned to his meal in the neighboring garbage can.
"What's wrong, Father?" asked a boy of perhaps seven. He put down his pencil, giving Ayo his full attention.
"There was a dog in the alley. It's gone now, Ekon," he assured his son with a smile.
"Good. I wish the neighbors would stop throwing spoiled food right in the can," the boy replied soberly.
"Me too," Ayo replied, nodding.
The next day, Ekon was sitting on the steps in front of his home, waiting for a friend. He stiffened as a tall man walked by, his mastiff like dog close at his heels.
The dog detected something on the other side of the road, and crossed at a trot. His tail held high, the huge brindle dog headed right for the rain gutter.
"Nick! Here, boy," called the man as he continued.
The dog's tail wagged, but his head remained down, rooting for something.
Unworried, the man continued.
"No, not again," Ekon whispered. Despite the dog being over fifty yards away and oblivious to his existence, he began to sweat. Then a familiar scene began to replay, the details as clear as if presented on a movie screen.
"Alika! Watch out," screamed Ayo from the doorway of the family home.
Tiny three year old Ekon looked up from the tricycle he was pedaling home on the sidewalk, to see his mother walking beside him in the road as usual. Her flower cart was almost empty - it had been a good day at the market.
Charging head-on towards his mother at full speed was a huge Rottweiler. Alika stopped pushing her cart and looked up with a confused expression on her young, smooth face.
As always, Ekon forced the memory to a stop at this point. "That's all I can remember, I was too young," he had convinced himself long ago.
Cradling his head for some time, Ekon wasn't aware that the mastiff had crossed back over, with a ball in his mouth. He briefly stood before Ekon, then sprinted off to rejoin his master.
The next day while walking home from school, Ekon saw the little brown dog which had been hanging around their place. It was lying in the shade of an ornamental bush, by Lira's Food Store. "Why must there be so many dogs around here?" he wondered.
After he arrived at home, Ayo greeted him at the door. " Hello Ekon, will you please go to Lira's, and get some noodles?" asked Ayo, handing his son some money.
"Yes, Father," replied Ekon, as he hung up his book bag.
A few minutes later, Ekon was walking home, bag of noodles swinging at his side. Suddenly he heard frantic, high pitched yapping in back of him.
"Stupid dogs," he muttered, turning around. Suddenly he saw a motorbike bearing down upon him from behind, its rider struggling to change direction in time.
Instinctively, Ekon rolled to safety, dropping the bag of noodles.
"Are you alright?!?!" the young man who had almost hit him asked, looking at the busted bag of noodles under his front tire.
Ekon didn't say anything. His mind was involuntarily playing the scene he had rejected for so many years.
He saw his mother frown at the huge dog barreling towards her, paws pounding. Finally the moment came when he was close, and he lunged, hurling himself through the air at her.
At the same moment, Ekon heard the screech of brakes, and turned around. Outside of his field of vision, he heard a scream, and a yelp. The toddler began to turn around to look, but tripped. A few seconds later, huge arms swept him up, preventing him from finding out what had scared Mother and Abaeze.
Ekon was brought back to the present by a small paw resting on his leg. "Good boy," he said smiling, as he rubbed the little brown dog's head.
"Are you hurt?" the driver tried again.
Ekon replied "No, Sir. But I can't afford another bag of noodles."
"Here's some money to replace them, and get some candy too. I'm really sorry," he apologized.
"Thank you," said Ekon, as he rose from the street, and accepted it.
After buying another bag of noodles, he made his way home - with the skinny little stray dog at his heels.
"Ekon! What happened? You're bruised, and covered in dirt," Ayo cried when he saw his son.
"A lot happened, Father. But most importantly of all, I remembered! Abaeze didn't knock Mother down in the street. He sacrificed himself trying to save her. He was trying to shove her onto the sidewalk, because he saw the car was coming too fast. But he wasn't in time," Ekon said, stifling a sob.
"You were too young to know all that, and you always said you only remember the first part," insisted Ayo.
"That was until today. I was almost killed by a motorbike. That made me remember the rest. And I didn't really understand what happened at the time, but I do now. It replayed in my mind like a video," he explained.
"Ah yes, I have some memories like that too," replied Ayo emotionally.
"Also, the little stray dog that comes around here warned me, or I would be dead," Ekon said, huge tears welling in his eyes.
"The mongrel?" Ayo asked in surprise.
"Yes, and he made sure I was alright afterwards," Ekon replied.
"I'm just glad you weren't harmed," Ayo said, hugging his son close.
"Uh, Father? The dog refused to leave me after that. It's outside," the boy admitted, his eyes down.
"Very good. I owe it a debt of gratitude. Bring it in, Ekon."
Ekon complied, and the dog was soon crouched under the kitchen table, unsure of its fate.
"Don't worry, little friend. You live here now," Ayo assured the dog.
The dog, remembering his past experiences with Ayo, crouched down even more.
"It'll take time. For all of us," Ekon said, as he bent down and stroked the soft brown ears.
Cover image made in Canva Pro using their gallery