Atoh lived with the Johnson from when he was a six-month-old baby. His mother was until now not known to anyone, not even the Johnsons. Ahe wrapped Atoh in a biscuit carton and dropped him off at the gate. Probably because she could not cater for his needs. This is one of the consequences of unwanted pregnancies.
The Johnson's had been married for twelve years without a child. They have been looking up to heaven for this wonderful gift and somebody somewhere had the guts to abandon one.
Mrs. Johnson came out to dispose of their refuse but found the baby crying in an empty carton. Perhaps, the cold weather had bitten the child to scream out for the attention of his mother. Fear gripped her as she ran back inside to call her husband.
He summoned courage as a man to pick the child and later in the day after the child had been normalized, they reported to the police who made an entry of the abandoned child. The mother had written a special note and kept it inside the carton.
Dear helper,
I am a sex worker some in town. I had been gone six months without knowing I was pregnant. Please, kindly take care of my son, his name, Atoh. These past days have been hell for him and me because I could not continue with prostitution, which is our only means of survival.
The only reason why someone else would have to take care of him. Please, bear with my foolishness.
I am dropping him here with the tears of a mother.
This letter was shown at the police station who requested that an orphanage be consulted and in case the family would love to keep the child, all documents are duly signed.
The Johnsons accepted to bring him in. About a year later, Mrs. John became pregnant. She was carrying a set of twins. Who knew if it was their acceptance to keep Atoh that paved a way for her to get pregnant.
Things began to fall in place for the family. They moved away from a rented apartment to their house in the high breed part of the city. Atoh and the twins were doing very fine in their academics. All the kids were doing great both in morals and otherwise.
Since Atoh was their oldest son, they ensure there was no discrimination between them. Pat and Tricia, the twins are calm like doves.
After secondary school, Atoh went to take a vocation in Software engineering. The following year, he got admission to study Computer Engineering at Delta State University. During this time, Pat and Tricia were in their final year in secondary school.
All the while, Atoh's unknown mother had been following his progress from a distance but could not show up to lay claim of her son. It is a delicate measure to take, now that the Johnson had gotten every legal stand to take possession of the abandoned Atoh.
On the day of his Bachelor's Degree graduation, a strange woman requested to have a photoshoot with Atoh, he couldn't turn it down because it was a happy day for him. The Johnson had never for once told Atoh of his origin. As far as he knows, he is a son, the first son of the Johnsons.
While he awaits the National Youth Service Corps call-up letter, Atoh was engaged by the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza as a Computer Analyst and Programmer. He was well paid.
Pat and Tricia both gained admission into the University of Lagos two years after passing out of secondary school. While Pat was studying Medicine and Surgery, Tricia was studying Medical Laboratory Science.
One particular day, the woman who had requested to take a photoshoot with
Atoh, appeared in his office requesting to have a moment of chat with Him. Atoh first refused to give attention to her, but she persisted.
Madam, please, whatever you want to say, you have just five minutes, Atoh told her angrily.
Alright, son. She said.
Son? I am not your son, please. Atoh told her.
It's ok. Kindly listen.
When I got pregnant with my son, as a sex worker, I never knew until I was six months gone. There was no way I could abort the pregnancy, so I decided to give birth to him. After the delivery, things became so hard. So, I decided to drop him off at the gate post of the Johnsons. Then they were still childless and living at Bode Thomas, Surulere. All I want you to do now is to get home and ask Mr. Johnson and his wife how they came about you.
The woman, Jane gave Atoh her complimentary card and walked away.
Atoh had started sweating and his heart pounding heavily.
That day, he didn't wait till the closing hours. He packed his haversack and straight home he went.
When he got home, daddy and mummy were not back from church weekly activity. He couldn't eat. He sat in the living room waiting to throw the question of whom his biological parents were.
At the same time, he thought, how could a mother be so daft, so wicked to dispose of a whole child. These thoughts rammed in his mind as he kept waiting. There on the couch, he slept off.
To be continued...................
A short story
Solomon as we all know was the son of Beersheba, the wife of Uriah whom King David slept with and called back her husband from the battlefield to go home and lay with his wife. Uriah couldn't do that because as a trained soldier, he couldn't bear it when other soldiers were at the battle, now would be have gone into the comfort of a woman.
David came to the knowledge that Uriah had refused to go home that night, he angrily sent him into the hottest part of the battle where he was eventually killed. Beersheba got pregnant and gave birth to Solomon.
King Solomon was crowned even though there had been other sons of King David before Solomon.
The bottom line here is, what will be will be
lo Que sera sera. Just ensure to play your roles and let the rest play out the way it will late coin out.
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I think it would be very difficult for Atoh to decide as to which side to choose between his biological mother and adopted parent. The suspense of this story of yours looks very strong. I'm hopefully waiting for the next chapter. Thanks for this great story.