“Hello, am I on to Mrs. Adams?”, The receiver from the other end of the phone said.
“Yes you are, who are you please?”, I asked.
“Please could you come to your shop in Moscow Street? your attention is needed”, the receiver said.
“My shop? Why-“Just before I could complete the question the line went off.
I was taken aback, was this some kind of a scam? I asked myself and redialed the number.
“The number you are calling is-“ I ended the call without listening to what the network providers had to say.
I redialed the number and it was the same thing, I couldn’t get a hold of the person who delivered the vague message to me, I finally concluded that it was a scammer who was trying to pull a fast one on me.
Instinctively I called Abigail my sales rep but she didn’t pick up her phone, same with my second sales rep. It felt weird because it was 7 a.m. and they were supposed to be at the shop, setting up for the day’s work.
I sighed and dropped my phone back into my bag, maybe they were busy, I concluded and decided to concentrate on buying the goods I came to buy in the market.
While negotiating prices with different sellers, I felt uneasy, something kept telling me to return back to my shop but I had a long list of things that I needed to buy before leaving the market. I decided to call Abigail again but there was still no answer, I couldn’t fight the urge anymore, I finally resented to fate. I folded the long list I had in my hand and put it in my handbag “I shall come back tomorrow to get everything” I said to myself before heading to the bus stop to board a bus to my shop.
I got off the bus and started walking down to my shop. While walking I noticed the entrance of our shopping complex was a bit empty.
“Where is everyone?” A passerby asked no one in particular.
“Everyone is broke, no money for people to buy foodstuffs anymore”, I replied sadly.
I continued walking to my shop, and the closer I got to my shop the more crowd I saw scattered at every corner of the place, it felt like they were holding a crusade and I couldn’t wait to see the pastor who was preaching as once in a while a crusade is being held for women to pray over their goods and for great sales.
The more I walked, the more stares I got from passerby’s, some looked at me with pity, others whispered and my two ears stood like two active antennas ready to get the frequency of whatever they were whispering about, the more I concentrated on the little whispers the more I could make up the words that were flying around.
“Ohh God! That’s the lady”, Grace the nursing mother that sells kiddies wears said and I caught that.
“Did someone die?” I asked a lady who had a baby on her back and she shot me a pitiful look and shook her head, she looked away from me and I followed her gaze and what I saw made my heart sink.
I walked further to get a clearer look at what looked like a scene from Disney cartoons where a science experiment goes wrong in the lab.
Walking mindlessly to where was supposed to be my shop, I gasped, shook my head in disbelief, my heart tightened, my hands were sweating, I was hot at the same time cold and I covered my mouth.
“Someone please hold her”, someone from the crowd said.
No! No! No! This can’t be happening, I went forward to pick up what was supposed to be the bag of rice I had just bought recently but I was greeted with a black shredded nylon that was melted on some parts and was filled with ashes.
I took a step closer and there lay littered of burnt things, there were burnt to unrecognizable states, nothing was left to be salvaged, everything was burnt to the ground, and my supposed shop was filled with ruins, the disastrous fire didn’t spare anything.
I let out a loud scream, I looked from left to right, there was nothing to salvage, my whole investment was gone in a twinkle of an eye. I rolled on the floor like a mad woman, laughing in between my screams and tears, I was hysterical. The last time I felt this way was three years ago when I lost my husband to cancer.
“How do I train Regina who just got admitted to college!” I wailed.
“Where do I start from?”, I asked no one in particular.
“ How do I pay for Mama’s surgery?” Ohhhh my poor mother!!”.
“I am finished!!”.
“How do I recover from this?”, I patted one of the young ladies who sat down with me on the floor.
“Ohhhh God where are you?” I looked up to the sky.
What is this!! Everything I ever worked for is totally ruined! nothing to salvage just ruins! I exclaimed and cried.
“Mummy sorry, stop crying” I heard a familiar voice say, even in my chaotic state I was able to recognize the voice, it was my 5-year-old son, he walked down to me, he was in tears, my screams and tears must have frightened him, he touched my face and with his little hands he wiped my tears, seeing this gesture I couldn’t help but cry even more, I pulled my son into a big hug, my daughter who was watching the scene from a distance ran to join in the hug and all I could say was “Grandma would be fine, we all would be fine, I promise”.
I lost count of how many minutes or hours we stayed in the safety of the group hug but I knew for a fact that we would be fine as a family, if not now but eventually.
All images are mine except otherwise stated.
