The Visit

My favourite cousin Paul once told me about the many business opportunities available in Lome, Togo. As a very ambitious young man, I jumped at the idea of going to a place where I could thrive financially and otherwise.

Lome wasn’t as busy as the Coal city where I grew up. I fell in love with the city and decided to make it my home.
The people were quite receptive and once I was able to figure out how to communicate with them, every other thing began to fall in place.

This was in the early eighties when the means of correspondence was mostly through letters so it usually took a few weeks to receive messages from home. Telephones were not so common back then.

One of the messages I received one time was that my mother was very sick. I knew that it would be foolhardy to send messages back and forth so I travelled to the Coal city to see her.

Even though everyone said she looked better and was recuperating nicely, I was worried that she looked like a shadow of herself. She had been to the hospital and the doctors couldn’t give any conclusive diagnosis. Some family members suggested that her sickness could be as a result of the land dispute she had with my late father’s brothers. Maybe they were not far from the truth but we couldn’t take chances.

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Anyway, I made sure my mother was doing a lot better before I left for Lome. I assured her that I was already making enough money from my business and would get her any plot of land she wanted as long as she promised not to meddle with my Uncles anymore, she gave me her word to stay away from them and I was happy.

Mom still looked frail and I knew that a change of environment would do her a lot of good so I promised to come back for her as soon as she was fit to travel. She jokingly asked me to leave my address so that she would come on her own if I wasted time to send for her.

Exactly a week after I returned from my trip, I drove into my compound that fateful evening and I was shocked to find my mother sitting on the stairs waiting for me. She told me that Paul had visited the Coal city and she decided to tag along with him when he was leaving. He had dropped her off and hurried home because of a running stomach.

It was so good to see my my mother looking so hale and hearty once again. Having her alone to myself for the first time was the best feeling ever. She was determined to spoil me and I couldn’t complain. My refrigerator was stock with all kinds of food and my house looked spick and span. This woman was supposed to be resting but her energy was on another level. There was different about her…a spark in her eyes and she was glowing. I liked it.

I was always in a hurry to go home after work because of her. I looked forward to our long gists that could stretch into the wee hours of the morning. She had so much to tell me.

My mother had only been with me for eight days but it felt like eight weeks. I didn’t want her visit to come to an end. I enjoyed how close we had become and the new bond we shared.

I still remember that day like it only happened yesterday. Paul came visiting and he was accompanied by the Chairman of the Coal city Union in Lome. This was quite surprising and unexpected. Chairman rarely visited anyone except when it was absolutely necessary. I offered them seats and drinks but they turned down the former.

I teaser Paul about not coming to visit Mama since he brought her to Lome and he looked at me with surprise. He argued that he just got into town that evening and he brought me a letter from the elders in my family, the content of the letter was the reason why the Chairman was with me.

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I understood these type of visits but I shook my head in denial. Considering how things were done, these men were obviously in my house to announce the passing of a member of my family, most likely my mother. But this couldn’t be happening.

My mother had been with me for over a week and she had come to Lome with my cousin who keeps on insisting that he only just got into town. I noticed the strange glances my cousin and Chairman exchanged as I tried to explain to them.

Something didn’t feel right. I ran into the room to call my mother but she was nowhere to be found. Paul was already shaking and Mr Chairman left my house, maybe I should say he took to his heels.

I took my cousin who by now was sweating profusely, to the room where my mother had been sleeping since she came. Her clothes were neatly folded in the wardrobe and her bible and pair of read glasses were on the bedside stool.

Both of us were trembling at this point. With shaky hands, I opened the later from my Uncle Sebastine confirming my worst fear. Mom had died two days after I left the Coal city.

I have never been so afraid in my life. She was my mother and I know she could never do anything to hurt me but the thought that I had lived under the same roof with a dead person for over a week was enough to kill me.

I didn’t know whether to be sad or happy that my dead mother chose to spend quality time with me before going to the great beyond. I felt mix emotions but most of all I felt fear.

Yes, she was my dear mother but that was her ghost. I had lived in my house with a ghost. I can’t even begin to tell how I went through that period without losing my mind but I must add here that I never returned to that house after my mother’s burial. I couldn’t imagine her turning up at my door again or suddenly appearing in my room.

Up till today, I still live with that fear. The worst part is that I’m always afraid to look at my mother’s pictures because it feel as if she’s smiling or winking at me. I know she loved me a lot but I think she’s taking it a tad bit far.