The next couple of weeks witnessed the beginning of a fraternal bond between both boys. Ramon had made such an impression on Osaro. At every opportunity, the boys discussed about each other’s cultures and histories. Osaro had never met an American before, but had an uncle who lived in Texas. “I have an Uncle over there in America; I remember he travelled out when I was a little boy to study at a University. I think he decided to remain there after graduating…uh, I think he lives in Dallas”, said Osaro.
He went further, “He is a twin to my mother, and I know my mother misses him a lot, because they write to each other every month”, Osaro said. Ramon trusted Osaro and he felt he was the only person in his new school and environment he could open up to about his personal family battles. Osaro spoke wonderfully about his caring mother and about how she would bring him back from school and help with his school work. Osaro spoke about the other members of his family and how they would all have dinner together every evening and talk about how their respective days went. It all sounded to Ramon like a very ideal family that he wished he had. But that wasn’t the case with Ramon.
It was Ramon’s turn to talk about his own family, a subject he was very weary and uncomfortable to talk about. He started talking about his mother; he told Osaro that his mother was still living in Miami and may visit him someday. Osaro asked, “But why is your mother in Miami, and you are here in Nigeria with your dad, shouldn’t she be here with you?”
Ramon told Osaro that his parents were going through a messy divorce and that his dad won a custody battle against his mother, leaving her with only visiting rights. What’s a custody battle Osaro asked? Ramon replied, … “Um, a custody battle is a tussle between parents or guardians over who will have the right to look after a bunch of kids in a family, it’s usually decided by uh…..a Judge in court I guess”. “That sounds scary”, muttered Osaro. Thank goodness my parents are not fighting over me; I can’t imagine how devastated my dear mother would feel. I know my poor mother would be heart broken, he wondered in his mind.
The next day, Osaro met up with Ramon during lunch break with another guy, Rajiv, an Indian pupil. His dad was an expatriate engineer for a construction company. Rajiv was the best student in Ramon’s class at school, and had discovered that they were neighbours along Gerard Avenue, Ikoyi. Ramon introduced Osaro to Rajiv and told him that he was the best in their class. Rajiv, was actually that good no kidding.
He was so good with math and science based subjects, that he had won many awards and accolades in a few years. He had been living in Nigeria for five years and went back to Punjab, India for his summer vacations. He was a Sikh and covered his hair at all times. When he first arrived in Nigeria, he was uncomfortable about the constant staring by people, but he eventually got used to it after a while.
Rajiv was the nerd of the lot; he would unconsciously switch the focus of their discussions to something academic, like schooling at Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom or working for NASA. Rajiv’s father’s was saving up for him to go to Eton in the United Kingdom, and would start seating for the examinations. Ramon on the other hand liked to focus their discussions and chats on movies and sports.
He also talked about cars and guns. He said in America, everybody carried a gun. He told them that his dad had a gun in their residence and he had taken him on a trip to shoot deer and birds. “I have never seen a gun before, only in movies” said Osaro. “Have you fired one before?” Rajiv asked…”Yeah, like Sylvester Stallone in RAMBO, sure I have, It’s as easy playing with the fake ones”, said Ramon. Ramon said he would let them play with his daddy’s gun anytime they came for a visit. Osaro said, “No thanks!” The idea of a gun in friend’s house was one idea best imagined and not even mentioned in any discussion with his parents.
Ramon watched a movie every weekend…
[To be continued]
Written by Chineme Uzo
