THROUGH MY EYES...

THROUGH MY EYES...

"Dolapo, are you sure you have packed your white shorts?" her mum asked.

"Yes mum" Dolapo answered in a longsuffering tone.

That was the umpteenth time, her mum was asking her the same question. It wasn't the fact that her mum was jittery, and excited that grated Dolapo's nerves. It was because she had so many places to go before heading to the motor park.
She glanced down at her watch impatiently.

"Maami, I have to go now, you know I can't afford to be late. Anike says the soldiers at the camp are not nice." She emphatically stressed the last word.

"Well...ok. Please Asake call as soon as you get there, behave yourself o. It is just for 21 days. May God see you.."

"Amen Iya Dolapo, I have to go now, you have prayed enough, please pray for me after I leave. I love you. Bye!"
She literally ran out of the house before her mother could say a thing. Well, she tried to run but she just ended up walking really fast because she had a huge box to drag behind her.

"Aunty Dolapo!" a distant tiny voice called out to her.

She knew who it was, so, she turned around, with a smile on her face.
Her younger sister, Durodayo ran into her arms, and held her neck so tight, breathing became difficult for Dolapo. With her face buried in her sister's neck, she wished Dolapo a safe trip.

"Please stay away from bad people, call us, and pray everyday. We love you." Duro advised

Tears glistened in Dolapo's eyes for the first time since she woke up that morning.

"See this small girl o, I am not planning to give birth there now. I promise to come back, I owe you an mp3 remember?" Dolapo joked

"You owe me an mp3, and a video game, so you better pay up." Duro tried to lighten the mood too.

She let her sister down from her arms, and slowly walked away.
She stubbornly refused to look back but as she reached the estate gate. She had no choice. She turned and all she saw was her sister waving at her.

"Go home Duro, mummy needs you...shoo." She wove at her sister, and got into the taxi.

"Oga o, aunty Dolapo, na here you think say I wan sleep." The taxi driver's voice jolted her back to reality.

"No vex, uncle Jo, abeg we still get time go Sheni's house?" She asked

"No o. I get customer wey I wan go carry for airport so if you no ready.."

"Ok...ok...let's go to ojota." She replied.

She was suddenly very angry at her mother. She wished her mum hadn't taken so much time praying, crying, and fussing over her. Maybe she would have had enough time to visit her boyfriend.

"Mummy, and all her drama, acting like she is the only one that her firstborne is a corper." She complained aloud.

"Huh?" Uncle Jo asked

"Not you ojare Uncle." She quickly replied.

She dialled her boyfriend's number but the network was busy. Angrily, she sent him a text, asking him to call her soon.
In no time, they had reached the motor park. She got down, and was immediately attacked by ambitious motorists.

"Ife, Kano, Katsina, Oyo." They all screamed at her at the same time.

She managed to pass through them, and she headed towards the vehicle going to her camp.

"Aunty Dolapo, bye-bye!!!" The driver screamed.

She impatiently wove at him, and continued walking towards the vehicle. Her phone rang in her pocket, eagerly she picked thinking it was her boyfriend.

"Hello baby...oh Anike, its you, I am on my way o madam, just got to the park. I am not coming by air so you have to wait..."

She kept walking towards the vehicle, and talking with her friend Anike on the phone.

Little did she know, that it would be the last time she ever set her feet in Lagos or see her family.

You see, Dolapo had been posted to Borno state, and she left for camp towards the end of February 2011, days before the brutal attack on non-indigenes, and christians in the northern states started....

Dedicated to all the corp members who never came back home...

Mylipsrsealed..