It was the 22nd day of December 2021 and my mom had taken my younger brother and I to the village to see our grandma after almost 17 years since we had last set foot in the village.
Source
I remember alighting from the bus with my hand luggage, dropping it just behind me, and turning aside to help my mom down. Upon turning around to get it, I saw a young man marching ahead, my bag in his hands. I didn't know when shouts of “Thief, Thief!” Escaped my lips, a group of able-bodied young men chased after the man who wasn't running.
When they caught up with him and dragged him over, he said he was merely a motorcycle rider who was trying to secure a passenger. Several of the motor park drivers who knew him attested for him and he was left to go.
With that incident, I knew my stay at the village was going to be an eventful one.
We got to our family house a few minutes later to meet a warm reception of almost the entire community waiting for us. Friends of friends and their extended families hijacked our bags as soon as we landed, taking us up into tight embraces while pronouncing our names wrongly.
The ones who cared gave a brief history of who they were and how they were connected to our family. My grandmother who had been sleeping woke up to the noise of the chaos and was finally able to come to our rescue by chasing everybody who didn't stay in the family house away.
My cousins and extended relatives began their own meet-and-greet session once we were taken into the house. It seemed like everyone knew us and had been waiting patiently for whenever we were going to deem it fit to visit them. Their excitement was palpable, however, my brother and I could barely relate with any of them because they were either too young or too old.
Later that evening while I was taking a nap, I heard some raps on the door to our room. My brother proceeded to get it and yelped in excitement when my beautiful cousin, Victoria, and my half-uncle Samuel shouted “Surprise!”.
My brother let them into the room, amidst sounds of laughter and exchange of pleasantries. It was the most amazing moment since I arrived at the village.
Vicky informed us that she was staying for the entire week, which was a huge relief since we could relate on the same page.
It was two days later; my younger brother and Vicky were seated opposite me asking for permission to go to the stream my grandmother had warned us about.
“Don't go to the stream no matter where you go, some people have gone missing there lately”. She had said.
“Are you both serious? Grandma has specifically told us not to go there”
“But that's our local beach we're talking about here. This is our only chance.”
I sighed heavily and then gave my consent.
We were headed to the beach immediately after my grandmother went in for her usual siesta. It was not deserted as we thought it would be, there were several families present there, having a field time and we joined in. We also joined in the local games that some indigenes introduced to the tourists and visiting families. Neither of us had realized that one of my younger cousins had followed us to the beach.
We stayed for two hours as we estimated how long my grandmother's siesta usually lasted and we were about to leave when we saw him. He was lost in one of the sand games.
“Junior! What on earth are you doing here?” Vicky asked seizing him and dusting the sand from his body.
“I followed you,” he said grinning from ear to ear.
“What if they're looking for him?” I asked the dreaded question on all our minds. We sat down to make a plan, drilling Junior on what to say when he was asked where we went. After two sweets and one ice cream, he finally got the fact that we strolled out to get snacks and never went to the beach.
We were right when we suspected they were looking for Junior. We stood with hearts in our hands as Junior was interrogated severally about his whereabouts. His answer was the same; “We went out to buy ice cream. Aunty Treasure bought me ice cream.”
When the adults were satisfied, they let us go.
Every time I remember that particular period in the village, smiles grace my face, and a warmness, in my heart. It is one of the fondest memories I have of the holidays but no matter how amazing it was, I don't wish to recreate it.