There was something heavy in Jerry’s voice, something heavy in his eyes, something in his story that could break a heart. She took a step back to make way for mother and son.
Jerry helped his mother sit on a chair. His guards stood silently around them to keep people at a respectable distance.
Jerry said calmly
Mom I thought you were gone but they found you. Someone told me you were still alive.
Mama Hannah wiped her tears with the back of her hand
But how he buried an empty coffin, we. They said you and your father left.
Jerry swallowed his saliva and his voice dropped
I have to explain everything.
There was another silence in the street. Even the wind seemed to stop.
Jerry took a deep breath and looked at his mother
Twenty years ago it started.
You remember when my father and I traveled to Lagos to buy goods
Mama Hannah slowly shook her head.
We never arrived, Jerry said. Mom, we were attacked by gunmen.
One of the standing people whispered
Kidnappers
Jerry continued, his eyes darkening
Call my father first. He died instantly. They called me Na too. They left us on the road thinking we were dead.
Mama Hannah burst into a new wave of tears and covered her mouth with her hand. Jessica approached Amara with her eyes wide.
Jerry’s voice is soft and the pain is sharp
A good Samaritan man found me. I was barely alive. He took me to the hospital. I lost a lot of blood and lost my memory. When I woke up, I didn’t know my name, my name, where I was from, or if I had a family.
Amara whispered
Oh my God
Follow Jerry
A volunteer man came to the hospital. He adopted me because no one knew who I was. He gave me a beta, gave me an S, and took care of me like a real father.
He paused for a moment and then added calmly,
They told me I was alone with no one.
Mama Hannah burst into tears again. She placed her forehead on Jerry’s hand, shaking with emotion. Jerry gently pulled her fingers.
He said
As time passed, some memories returned in the form of fragments of my father’s market road selling yams and Mama Hannah singing while cooking.
He smiled faintly in the pain.
But I didn’t remember enough to look for you.
Jessica asked quietly
How did you know she was still alive
Jerry turned to her
Recently, during a business project in Port Harcourt, a man met me. old man He said he once saw a widow begging for food who looked exactly like my late father. And Bass told me, Maha
His voice trembled
Hannah Mama Hannah.
Mama Hannah covered her mouth again and cried quietly.
Jerry said
I looked for her everywhere in the markets, in the streets under the bridges. I almost lost hope
Then he looked at Amara with his eyes deep
Until I found out she was coming here eating here and you were taking care of her.
Amara felt a lump in her throat.
Jerry stood up and helped his mother stand as well, then turned towards Amara, the woman who fed and sheltered his mother and treated her as if she were from the family.
He said in a soft voice
Oh Amara
She swallowed her saliva
Yes
He said
You didn’t know who she was and yet you fed her every day. I gave her a beta. I treated her like a human being.
His voice shook as he continued
