PIA, Episode 20.
“Pia, Pia…my princes…wake up…we are there…wake up…
I opened my eyes and saw my dad looking at me and smiling…I squeezed and stretched my self in different direction, while my dad kept smiling, I slept for almost two hours, I was only awake in the beginning of the journey, I looked around me, there were just building, and a big supermarket, cars where parked according,
I looked up at my dad who was looking ahead,
“Where are we…where is this place dad…
“We will soon find out…just don’t panic…I’m here with you…I want you to meet someone…but first of all… you see that supermarket over there, I need you to go over there and get some cold drink for you are me…I’m tasty…maybe we will continue our journey after that…Pia, go get the drink first and I will tell you something, that is if you did not get the hidden message before coming out of the supermarket…
I wasn’t tasty but I wouldn’t mind a drink anyway, that means we have not even gotten to the main place…this is really a long journey… I don’t understand what my dad meant by the “hidden message” so I stepped down to buy the drinks and just when I was about to enter the supermarket I saw the sign board, it’s name struck me, I have to stop and stare first before I proceed, I wonder why the name of the supermarket is “HELEN PEAR” that Pear is a fruit but it sounds like my name, Helen is my mother’s first name, the woman that bore me, I don’t even know what she looks like, the big supermarket looks very new, it was as if it has not being long they opened the place, people were going in and out, it was located in a very busy area, but why is it having my mothers name and then my name spelt like a fruit name, I looked back to the car my dad was looking at me, he urged me forward with his hand. I went ahead, I wonder why the supermarkets name rings a bell, why am I even surprise, when my mother is not the only one that bears Helen and I’m not the only Pia in this word.
I entered the supermarket, a lot of people were picking things from the shelf, I guess they were on discount sales, that’s why people are flowing in and out, they want to use the discount sales to attract more customer, the place looks so cool, there were surveillance camera inside, I saw the name again at every corner, even printed on the bags the customers where having, you will identify the staffs by their uniform which also has ‘”Helen pear supermarket staff” I saw a young girl who was also a staff there, she kind of look familiar, I quickly remember who she may look like, Lano, she looks like Lano, June’s elder sister, she look bigger and plump, the girl passed smile and greeted me, and I nodded, she even sound like Lano, but I’m wasn’t sure she was the one, I couldn’t see her name tag very well, Lano can not be working in a supermarket, but anything was possible, is probably not her, we have look alike of people everywhere, I was here to get drinks, not to stare at everyone and to assume things,
As I was going around looking for the drink section, when one of the staffs came to me, she has a tag under the supermarket logo uniform she wore, which shows that her name is FELICIA, she was black and beautiful, as she smile, she exposed her well set white teeth, I was taller and I know I’m older too, she looks like she was still in her teens, she’s probably a teenager.
“My name is Felicia, I guess this is your first time here, you kinda look familiar though…is as if I have seen you or met you before somewhere… anyway, don’t mind me…I meet different people everyday…we just opened Helen Pear supermarket a year ago, and we are giving gifts to all our first and second time customers, after picking whatever you want, I will take you to my mum, she is sitting over at the cashier side she will hand you your own welcome pack, hope we will see more of you…we also have discount for most of our products, and over at the wears section…is on bargain sales, we are customer friendly and we have everything in here except human head and parts…hahahaha…
I smile as Felicia speaks, she was indeed very customer friendly and I guess she like talking, I like her already, and if not that we have to journey down I would have love to be patronising them all the time, i found out that it was her mum that owns the place, which means her mom’s name is Helen Pear or whatever. Because I can be very inquisitive I decided to ask Felicia some question which she was ready to answer me more than the question I asked…
“Your mom’s name is Helen Pear or is just a random name that was picked for the supermarket…why the Pear…is any of your sibling or your dad bearing Pea …I also saw somebody I might know, is there anybody by name Lano working here… sorry for my crazy questions....
“no is not a crazy question, yes, Lano is a staff here, my mom employed her last year when she came looking for job, do you know my elder brother likes her, very funny, my brother is home with my dad, they sometime drives down here, Lano came seeking for employment and my mom employed her, and we also needed lot’s of help here then, even her brother Midi works here too, he is at the men’s wear section, but there is no vacancy here again, all vacancies are close for now, until mom decides otherwise, anyway, my mom name is Helen, I don’t know how she came about with the Pear thing, my dad name is Anthony, my elder brother’s name is Bright, funny enough she only got me and my brother for my dad, but Pear is a fruit and is a good fruit, hahahaha…so I guess that’s why she put it there…I could have reveal more things to you on why I think she might have attached Pear to it but I don’t want to delay you... you are my friend already…I like your colour and height too and the way you speak, you have American accent…you are beautiful also. You kind of look like my mom when she was young, she use to show us her pictures…seriously, if you see her young picture then you maybe mistaken as a relative, I even wish you are my sister…hahahaha…I use to have an elder sister, but I have never met her, but mom revealed it once to us, she hate to talk about it, I guess she hurt that my sister and she felt she will never forgive her, mom will kill me today if she sees me gisting away with somebody I just met when I should be working…but I will just tell her that you are my friend…because you are…I claim you as one…have you being to America before…?
“hmmm…Thank you Felicia…I like you too…yes I have…I use to school there but…I want to get drinks for me and my dad…he’s waiting outside, we are heading to somewhere, I wouldn’t want your mom to shout at you for wasting too much time with me…I can see the whole place is busy, is nice meeting you anyway…please take me to the drink section…so I can be on my way…by the way, the supermarket is very lovely,
“yeah, sure… thanks, hope to see you soon again, strangers can turn out to be friends, just like what happened to my mum, I will tell you a very short story about us, please listen, I won’t take your time, we use to live like church rats, until this my mum’s old friend found her and decided to give meaning to our lives, dad was hospitalize we have almost given up hope that he will live because there was no money to care for him again, mom was just a tailor and I was assisting her in her tailoring, and the money wasn’t even enough for feeding, not to talk of hospital bills for dad, which was pilling up, but this good Samaritan just showed up from no where, and change our story, paid up dad’s accumulated bills, dad had arthritis, multiple joint break down, and he can’t even walk well again, we couldn’t even afford a wheel chair for him, or anything…hmmm but this man just appeared like an angel, and dad got the best treatment, and he can walk now, not so well though, he leaps while walking, so he supports himself with a walking stick, and he is receiving treatment from the best expert, do you know this angel man got him a car, just in case he wants to go far and he can’t possibly walk, the angel man opened this place for mum, yes he did, it was a miracle, he gave my mother money, me and my brother are back to school, I’m have never being so excited in my life like I am now, I met him severally when he visited us, he is very tall, huge and handsome too, he is very friendly, he once took us all out, dad, mom, me and my brother, we have never experience that kind of turn around before, dad and mom thanks God for him everyday, from my understanding…he use to be mom’s friend even before she got married to my father, and he later hurt mom, I can’t go into details but he really hurt mom and I guess he was trying to make up for the past but he wasn’t obligated to do that, he could have given mom money to do better business but he did more than we expected, he is our angel man…I don’t even know why I’m telling you so much but I feel so comfortable talking with you, and I always shed few tears anytime I’m telling this story, even my parents too, you could imagine the turn around, the miracle, new change of status, my mom now own a supermarket where she employed staffs, look around you, my mother owns it, I can’t even explain my joy, I feel very comfortable with you, because we are now friends…and probably because you look so much like mom when she was young, do you know that my mum had a child for that angel man, I was eavesdropping on them, I know I don’t suppose to eavesdrop on peoples conversation but I couldn’t help it, when mom was crying in our sitting room that day and dad was trying to console her, the man was telling them about the child, the baby was a girl, I couldn’t hear everything they were saying though, I would have love to have an elder sister, I wish is true, I have being trying to get mom and dad to talk about the past maybe they will mention the girl and what happen but I think mom also did something bad to the baby and she sometime cries about it, maybe mom felt her sin are unforgivable and can’t face the girl, even dad too…I wish I have more details, but I could have had an elder sister if mom has kept the baby, so it was this man that got mom pregnant then…he also....
“Felicia, Felicia…I have being looking everywhere for you, so you are at this corner…talkative, what are you talking about now, when you should be working, there’s a lot of things to scan to the system, what are you doing since…you shouldn’t be spending so much time talking, there are things to do around here…finish with the customer and go and display those can beans and sweet corn inside carton on the shelf…hurry up..
“Mom she’s my friend… her name is…is..Melin..I was giving her details of what we have…I wasn’t really talking much, and she also look like you when you were young…this is her first time here..i try to make her feel welcome…that is also part of my job mom…
I was frozen as I stand listening to Felicia, I was almost shaking when she mentioned her mom having a child for their angel man, who was a girl, she was talking so much but I was shock at every word from her mouth which makes me wonder within, could it be what I’m already thinking…oh my God, then just as she was still talking her mother came, I was backing the woman, she was standing behind me as she speaks to her daughter, I couldn’t look back and Felicia who I have not given my name have to lie to the mother to avoid being scolded, I stood there as I hard the woman voice but I refuse to turn, I was shock and just when I wanted to go I saw my dad coming in, I sighted him from the cctv that was above me, I walked like a robot to another section, leaving Felicia and her mother standing, still backing the woman, I was seriously shaking inside, the woman was coming to say hello to me and to see her daughter friend’s face but I walked so fast as my leg could carry me, I went from one section to another, I held my mouth, I just hope I’m not over reacting right now, I waited to see their reaction as my dad approach, if what I’m thinking is true then…then, I’m definitely going to faint, do dad drove all the way down and stopped at this supermarket, asking me to go inside and get a drink first, could it be that my dad wanted me to meet the woman that bears my mom’s name who is probably my mother and I was fortunate to meet the talkative daughter, who really wanted to be a friend, I guess there was more things I’m going to find out today…could it be what I’m thinking already…my head is spinning I held the shelf, and i saw a staff coming towards where I was, I looked and it was Lano again, I quickly turned my face, she didn’t recognized me, which was very good, she stopped to ask me if I needed help, I just shaked my head,
I heard noise and walked from shelf to shelf, until I was close to where I can see clearly, Felicia ran and hugged my dad, and I saw the woman’s face was filled with smile, as she talk with my dad, my dad was looking round, guess he was looking for me, so my dad was the angel man, oh my God, which means…which ,means Felicia’s mother was my mother....was this the surprise he got for me…was it all planed without me knowing, I looked at the woman’s face again, still shock, she was slender and not too tall, an average height, she wore an embodied material gown, my dad towered over her, one can tell she was very beautiful when she was young, she was filled with smile as she speaks to my dad who was still looking round, Felicia said something
“mommy do you know I was telling that my friend…Melin…I think she has gone to the drink section…I was telling her about our angel man before you came to call me, I did not even know that he was coming over, sir you are truly an angel…because I just spoke of you few seconds ago to my friend… I couldn’t keep quiet, I just needed to broadcast to everyone that cares to listen that angels do exist, they live and walk among us…mommy, do you see that my friend Melin…I don’t even know where she entered…she said she was going to somewhere with her dad who was waiting for her outside…she needed to buy drinks…probably she has left…I pray she comes back next time…she speaks like Americano… hahahaha…and she’s also beautiful…she kind of look like you when you were young…is just that she is taller, do you see her face…all those your old picture that you use to show us, she look similar to them, my friend look like a model…I think she is a model…
This Felicia talks too much, my dad was smiling, and her mom look at my dad with a sudden sadden face and ask him while my dad was still looking around…
“Did she come with you?...is she here…is she right here…?
“Yeah…I brought her like I promised…I sent her to get drinks, I didn’t even know what I was thinking, I just wanted her to get in first and when she returns back I will be able to tell her while we drove all the way down and who owns the supermarket she got the drink from, so if she want to see you it will be easy, if not then it will be next time, but she has being gone for long and has not return, i didn’t thought of how she will take this heavy news, but her name is not Melin…maybe your daughter is talking about another person…
“Felicia right….i came with my daughter…I don’t know if you have seen her…but she fits your description of your friend…did your friend mention her name to you…is your friend’s name really Melin…if so then is not my daughter…my daughter’s name is Pia…what was your friend putting on..
“PIA…PEAR…PIA… that sound alike…Well…no..i didn’t get to ask her name…I forgot… my friend wore a flowered trouser with a peplume red top, I just gave her the name Melin because there is an American super model, who models both African and international, we usually watch her on television her name was Melin… I’m not sure I met your daughter because the person I met earlier was tall, beautiful but not huge like you…if she is your daughter then when did you give birth to her…is it when you were still very very young… the person I call Melin is not a small girl, she is a big girl…
I don’t know if I should cry or laugh…I was actually seeing my mother for the first time in my life, how do I react, scream, jump, cry, run out of here to the car or just laugh out loud, but I don’t feel like doing anything right now, I just wanted to stare at her, I just wanted to look at the woman that bore me, who I never get to know, my dad was coming towards my direction with Felicia who kept talking and obviously my dad wasn’t paying attention to her he was looking out at everywhere and everyone,
as he tried to call my line, I silent it, I guess, Felicia’s mother went to check the surveillance camera to know exactly where I was…
oh my God, my hands are cold, I have to face reality, I have looked and hope for this day to come, now is finally here, and I’m scared, I wanted to disappear, I was never prepared for this surprise, seeing my mother for the first time, I never thought it could be soon, the woman that gave me up, and never looked back if I survived or not, Helen, but even with many reasons to hate her, all I can feel is this inner joy of having a mother, and seeing her for the first time, joy that I have actually found her,
I understand why the supermarket is HELLEN PEAR, it must her being her idea, she didn’t want to use my actual name, or probably she didn’t remember what my actual name was,
I quietly came out of where I was so I can be easily seen as my dad got close, Helen was also coming, it was time, let’s do this…it time to meet the woman that bore me, I will think of Lano and Midi working here later, it will be easy to locate June now,
The way God works, unimaginable, is time to meet my mother and to let her know I have long time forgiven her, I hold no grudge against her for abandoning me, and she will always be my mother, and also my talkative sister, Felicia.
