15 minutes, sky, work, fire, home, 15 minutes, sky…

“Can I have your attention please?”

“I am going to see them in 15 minutes.”

“See who?”

“My family.”

“Your family is not here with us.”

“I need to leave for the airport, I just have fifteen minutes.” He says as he aggressively throws the coffee table across the room, followed by a repeated banging of his head against the wall.

“Send backup immediately, the patient has become violent again.” The therapist says screaming into the phone. 

***

   He was the kind of man to wear a full suit to the airport because as soon as he landed, there was a business meeting, right on que waiting for him. Most people considered him, a strict and rigid person but he could care less. People like Adetosoye, were giving just one shot at life and if he screwed up, it was over. Who could have believed that, that poor little boy from Ajegunle, would one day, work his way up the corporate ladder and become one of the executive directors at shell. The NNPC scholarship changed his life forever and he had almost missed the exams. The devil did work hard but his fear of poverty worked harder. That day, it was raining heavily in Lagos, cars were literally swimming on the streets. Oga Ndubisi, his neighbour had promised him earlier that he was going to take him to the exam centre in his Keke Maruwa but with the flood that had taken over Lagos, and those eroded basin holes that had eaten too deep into the roads, the Keke had fallen into the ditch. They were 15 minutes away from the place, where he was supposed to write his exams, when he decided to walk. Looking back, that was a crazy thing to do that could have cost someone their life, but he always knew; he was destined for great things. That feeling had been brewing inside of him since he was seven, but his mother said she knew right from the day he was born and that was why she named him, Adetosoye. The crown is entitled to the throne.

   His poor mother did not live to reap the fruits of her labour. She died of ovarian cancer a few months after his graduation from the university of Texas. Her health had so greatly declined, and she was nowhere fit to attend the ceremony. Every year on his birthday, she would recount the story of his birth. The day before he was born, it had rained throughout and, on the morning, of his birth, the sun came out from nowhere, shining brighter than it had ever done in a while. He later had come to realise that it was the hottest day recorded in Lagos, that year. Before his mother could get to the hospital, he had made his grand entrance into the world, with his feet first. 

“Once I got up, you slipped out like okro. You were too small to be considered full term and from there on, I knew you were special. You became my miracle.” After living both lives, as peer mate to Dangote and the likes and being an apprentice at a mechanic shop in Apapa, you never get a break. With where he was in life, he could completely stop working, retire and still live a full life but when you have wined, dined and slept with poverty, you know you cannot afford to go back. The way people look at you with their noses in the air like you are a virus that would infect them with being poor, if they mistakenly shared eye contact with you. Also, when you are poor, you have no options, and the world does a good job of reminding you of that. It almost feels like watching a full-fledge man beg for a chance at getting his daily bread gave people a massive erection.

   One incident that would forever be engraved in his core memory was when one random self-acclaimed chief at church offered him a potential job at his warehouse. That in itself was just an avenue for insults and even till this present time, when Adetosoye looked back, the feelings of disbelief washed all over him again. Some people are just wicked! This man had come up to him in church, no one had forced him to, and told him to meet him at his place just to rub salt to injury.

“I have just made some new investments; I want to build a new factory, so I won’t be able to pay extra hands at this time.” Chief said laughing as his pot belly went up and down. 

From his tone, you could tell he was having fun, which made the whole thing sickening. The way he was able to casually pass this information irritated Adetosoye. In the space of 24 hours, he had made “some new investments.” Transport fare, wasted, just like that.

“Okay Sir, I will be on my way now.” Adetosoye said maintaining his cool.

“Is that all? You are not going to beg for your own future. The young people of this generation scare me. You are just proud for nothing.” 

This man made him come all the way from the mainland to make a fool of him, and today, he was going to get what he deserved.

“Mr wannabe big man, with all due respect, you are full of shit and go fuck yourself.” He said getting up to leave. The look on chief’s face was priceless, the way he clung on to his chest in disbelief with bulging eyes that depicted shock was a sight to behold. Adetosoye could not hide his smirk as he left. Having the last word was worth it and given a second chance, he was going to say it again and even add more.

***

   Back to more present times, away from memory lane. Adetosoye became an inspiration to both the old and the young. Appeared on Forbes billionaires list, owned major investments around the world and was considered one of the richest men in Africa. Some political God fathers had even approached him with several promises, but politics was not his thing. Not because it was too dirty of a game to play; he had principles. “When you oppress people who had no power to fight back, the land opened up to swallow you and if life didn’t get you that way, water drowned your children.” That was something, his mother used to say frequently. Some people are foolish enough to believe that karma is not real, simply because it does not take the shape or form you presume but what goes around, comes around. You are born with no teeth and if you are fortunate enough, you will leave this world with no teeth. In simpler terms, he said no to politics because he did not want his children suffering for their father’s sins.

   Adetosoye was too busy pursuing money rather than settling down. He later got married to his Nigerian Italian long-term girlfriend. While his mates were welcoming their grandchildren in their 50s, he was still performing primary school runs. Not like he cared though because that did not bother him at all. The business deal in Dubai with some major oil tycoons was going to seal everything. He had promised Loretta, his wife that after this, he was going to retire. He had made that promise to her several times in the past but this time he meant it, but you won’t blame her for not fully believing. Loretta had begged him to make it a family-work trip as the kids had not seen much of him over the summer. It was going to serve as bonding time and a good refresher for them before school started in mid-July. After the back-and-forth arguments, he finally had obliged her and agreed to the suggestion.

July 5th

   Their return flight to Lagos, the day before, was cancelled due to poor weather conditions so he decided that they would stay at the Hilton not too far from the airport instead of going back to Burj Al Arab. Few minutes before boarding, he noticed that he had left the signed contract on the side table in his suite. Without that piece of paper, this whole trip was useless, so he decided to quickly go get it.

“You know in about 15 minutes; they would start boarding.” Loretta said to him.

“I will be back before 15 minutes, I promise.” 

“This is why I wanted us to use the private jet because what if you miss the flight?” She said closing the Elle magazine she was reading and turning towards him.

“I will just take the next one.” He said giving her a kiss and hugging his children before he left.

   Getting a taxi was a hassle, so he decided to walk as the hotel was literally five minutes way. On getting there, he realized that the room was already cleaned up and the paper was gone. He had ransacked the whole place and finding the paper was proving to be difficult. No one seemed to know exactly what he was talking about. At different time stamps, he was referred to different people. From the lost and found station, to the cleaners, front desk clerks and eventually the manger. Before he knew it, he had lost track of time and 40 minutes had flown by. When he got back to the airport, he immediately noticed the change in the atmosphere. People were running in all directions, some were crying at different corners as various announcements were been made.

“Qatar Airway, Airbus 7201 enroute to Lagos, Nigeria; connecting from Doha just crashed.” He overhead one of the airport’s personnel say to a woman who looked bereaved.

   There must be more than one plane leaving from Abu Dhabi to Lagos and his wife and kids had to be on another plane. His first instinct was to reach for his phone and call his wife, but the call never went through. They were currently on air, that’s why. The next thing his eyes caught was the flight information display board where the status of Qatar flight 7201 was updated to “See Agent.” He had never seen that before, what did that even mean? All of a sudden, his ears became hot, his heart started to beat faster, and he was sweating from all places possible. He tried to grab his handkerchief from his pocket when his boarding pass fell. He picked it up and on closer inspection, he saw the flight number, 7201. His wife and poor children, he tried to imagine how scared they were as the plane caught fire still in the sky before crashing. The last thing he remembered before everything was replaced with total darkness was a persistent loud sound that made him cover his ears with both hands before he cowered to the ground.

***

   It had been two years since the great tragedy. After the crash, he had suffered from a cardiac arrest and was hospitalized at Mclean hospital, one of the best mental health institutions in America. He was diagnosed with Type 1 bipolar disorder that was characterized by severe, frequent manic episodes and an extreme form of PTSD. After eight months with no significant change, he was brought back to Nigeria. All the prayer houses proved abortive, locking him up in his room bounded to chains was the final option his extended family resorted to. This was better than letting him roam the streets of Lagos. Mental illness was a white man disease. This was a spiritual attack and until it was prayed away, he was going to stay hidden from the public. Not long did the barbaric nature of everyone start to show. Like vultures, they were all looking for their own pound of flesh; fighting for a man’s property that wasn’t even dead yet. Before he became the man he was, most of these people did not want anything to do with him but here they were…

Family meeting

“15 minutes, sky, work, fire, home, 15 minutes, sky…”

“What is this 15 minutes thing he is always saying?” Iya Ore asked with an irritated tone cutting off Adetosye. 

Aunty Gbemisola was usually called Iya Ore by most of them, she was the eldest and usually was the spokesperson at family gatherings such as this. For a woman who was about to clock 80, her brain was very sharp. Today, the lawyer was present and this whole situation was tricky. Adetosye did not have a will and he was not in the mental state to appoint a new next of kin as his wife was dead. A physical fight erupted because as a family, they could not settle on who the trustee was going to be.

“As there is no will, and you all are fighting like cats and dogs, I would have to apply the administration of estate act. The state might administer his estate and other properties.” The lawyer said before leaving.

***

    Once in a while, he will return to his consciousness, free from the entrapment of his mind. He knew he was not the same, but I mean who will remain sane after loosing your whole family like that. If only Loretta agreed to stay home with the kids. He didn’t mind if it was him, he wished it had been him instead. Life gave him more than what he deserved and if this was how he had to make his grand exit then it was fine by him. He had hoped that his family would have been spared. His mind travelled a bit, and he remembered Miriam, poor Miriam. The image of her lifeless body, covered in blood lying on the stretcher at the quack doctor’s abortion clinic remained vivid in his memory; he was scared so he ran away. Over the years, he had tried to suppress the memory. An innocent girl’s life, wasted just like that, her parents believed that their daughter was missing and would one day come home, up on till their dying breath. The truth is that he never forgave himself. He wished he had handled things better; she would still have been here. Miriam did not want that abortion, she suggested to stay with his mother while he travelled to America, but he did not want any of that. His dream was to go to America, and nobody could stop that from being a reality, not his own mother or Miriam. He knew if his mother knew about the baby, she would have insisted he stayed. He became cruel and more hostile to Miriam and insisted she removed the baby. Maybe he did deserve all of this. Was his mother’s death, the plane crash and his current mental state all a big coincidence or was it, karma, doing its thing?