12 12 THE TRANSPLAN

My dad had put up a happy face that night in front of Morenike's house in order to hide the deep sadness that was inside him. The joy of us finally finding a match for Eghe Boom Boom wasn't enough to hide the fact that my dad didn't have enough money to pay for the transplant in London and also to pay the volunteering fees, if ever there was something like that, to Morenike's parents.

That night, when we got home, Eghe Boom Boom, Kompa and I were asleep in the backseat of the car. Kompa and I woke up when we pulled into our compound and got out of the car by ourselves, but Eghe Boom Boom had to be carried by my dad into the house.

We were too tired to bathe, so it was straight to bed for all of us, but, somehow, I couldn't sleep. I lay there on my bed thinking of how life would change for us all when Eghe Boom Boom is free of the disease. I would finally have two friends that were my sister and my brother to play with at the same time: Eghe Boom Boom, and Kompa. No one to tell us not to play rough, not to shout too loud, not to run too fast, not to stay out of the house too long, not to jump on the bed too high, and not to do anything fun too much.

I lay there restless in my bedroom for a long time, then I stood up, stepped out of the room, and walked across the corridor to Eghe Boom Boom's room. She was fast asleep on the bed and Kompa was curled next to her. He was also sleeping. I walked down the corridor to my dad's room. The door was ajar and he was kneeling by the bed, praying silently with both hands clasped together.

I stood there watching him for a short while, and then I felt something pulling me to him.

I walked into the room and knelt down beside him. My dad stopped, opened his eyes and turned to me. There was first a look of surprise as he saw me kneeling there, but the look quickly changed to a warm smile. Then I clasped my hands in front of me, closed my eyes and waited. It felt just the way it did when I did the same thing with my mum. Only that this time, I had chosen to pray with him, unlike then when it was her who wanted me to pray with her.

My dad was very different from my mum when it came to matters of prayers, the church, and the Bible. He kept all of that to himself, even if he joined my mum in them. He would say countless times when they had visitors over and somehow their conversations went to church, prayers and the Bible.

"I believe your relationship with God should be personal. Like a friendship between two people. Just you and Him. Father and son or Father and daughter. You don't need any third parties involved. All you have to do is speak with Him privately and quietly. No need for all that loud prayers in front of the world as if you want to prove to them that you know God."

And when my mum or one of the visitors countered with an argument that you must go to church, or the mosque, or the temple or anywhere to worship God, my dad would respond with laughter in his voice, "Yes, you can go to the church, or the mosque, or the temple or anywhere you believe you will find Him, but it is for fellowship with people like you who believe the same way. But as for worshipping God, you should know that He is always by you and He is always ready to listen to you."

My mum would say, "That is your own, as for me and our children, we will go to church and worship the Lord."

And my dad would say with a bright smile, "Yes, love, that is good, but it is also good too, to teach them to learn to worship Him privately, just they and Him together, so that when there is no church, they won't be lost."

Because of that, Eghe Boom Boom and I were taken to church on Sundays. And twice every day, when we woke up in the morning and when we went to sleep at night, my mum made sure we prayed, short prayers.Some other times, she made me pray with her. Long prayers that made me fall asleep. But as I knelt by my dad that night, I knew I was not going to fall asleep.

He prayed silently for a short while, and then I said to him without opening my eyes, "Dad, can you pray aloud? I need to know what you are praying for so that I can pray for the same thing too."

My dad said, calmly, "Pray that God will give us the money for the transplant and the money to pay Morenike's parents."

It was then I remembered the phone call my dad had that day in the living room, where he spoke angrily to the person at the other end of the call. I realised that the person somehow hadn't done what he was supposed to do, and now my dad had no money. I suddenly felt fear creep into my body. I knew that without money, Eghe Boom Boom couldn't be freed from the prison of the disease.

So I clasped my hand tighter, and unlike my dad, I did like my mum used to do and prayed loudly. And even as I prayed loudly, I told myself in my mind that the next night, I would go out to talk to my mum in the sky and ask her to help us find the money to cure Eghe Boom Boom.

My prayers went louder and louder and only stopped when I felt something brush against my bare arm. I opened my eyes and turned towards it and I saw Eghe Boom Boom in her pink pyjamas, kneeling by me, her hands clasped in front of her, her face in a smile, as she prayed silently like my dad. But what brought a wide smile to my face wasn't her but Kompa, he was sitting on his haunches by her side, both of his paws raised in front of him and brought together, and his eyes were also closed.

The fear went and love came, and courage also came, and a strong belief that everything would be just fine.

The night after that, I walked alone to the back of the house and stared up at the night sky. It was a starry night, and it didn't take me too long to see the star that winked down at me. Mum. I stood there silently staring at it. I didn't know what to say. The last time I was there, Kompa had behaved strangely, and his strange behaviour had led us to Morenike. Eghe Boom Boom had also heard my mum's voice speak to her, so also did I. As I stared up at the sky, I felt tongue-tied because somehow, I felt that my mum knew everything and could speak to anyone at any time, so there truly was no need asking her to do anything. But then I remembered that she had asked me to always ask, so even though I felt I shouldn't ask, I still surrendered to the constant desire I had to talk to her.

So I simply said to her, "Mum, it's me Osaik. Thanks for the other day. I feel I shouldn't ask you for help since I know that you know that we need help, but please, can you help dad get some money? We really need it to make Eghe Boom Boom's transplant happen. Please. Okay, that is it. I know that you have seen all that has happened since you went up there, so I don't need to tell you, but I want you to know that I am doing my best to make you proud of me."

I fell silent for a while, before I said, "I miss you so much, Mum," then I went silent and stood there staring up at the sky remembering all the fun times I had with my mum.

Although my dad didn't have the money for Morenike's parents yet, he still asked them to bring Morenike to the foundation for the sample test. I didn't go with him to their home to see how they reacted but when he got home, all he said after I jumped up from the couch where I was watching television and asked him in apprehension about what had happened was, "They will bring her."

After which he went to his room and shut the door behind him.

I went to the door and pressed my ear to it and waited. There was no sound apart from the laughter of Eghe Boom Boom playing with Kompa in her room. I took in a deep breath and knocked. There was no response. I knocked again. No response. Then I turned the doorknob and opened the door. When I looked into the room, my dad was on his knees beside the bed. This time I didn't go into the room, instead, I shut the door and walked over to Eghe Boom Boom's room, taking with me all the heaviness and unhappiness that had filled me.

Eghe Boom Boom looked at me once and instantly stopped the catch me game she had been playing with Kompa.

"What happened?" she asked.

I hesitated for a minute, not sure if I should share my worries with her, but then she asked again, this time louder.

"Osaik, what happened? Why are you looking sad?"

"Dad is very sad. I think something bad happened at Morenike's."

"She doesn't want to be the match?" Eghe Boom Boom asked as she walked to me.

"Dad said she will give her sample for the test."

"So why are you sad?"

"Dad is sad, so I am sad."

"Should I be sad too?"

"No. Two people sad is enough."

"Okay, fine. Do you want to play with me?"

I looked down at Kompa, he was staring up at me, his tongue lapping and his tail wagging, then he whined and said, "Come on, let's play. You don't want to make her sad."

"I don't want to make her sad, but I want Dad to be happy," I explained to him.

"Don't worry, Dad will be fine."

"Promise?" I asked him.

"Yeah."

I cheered up and joined them in playing catch.

The afternoon Morenike was to give samples for the bone marrow transplant test, my dad, Eghe Boom Boom and I waited in the lobby of the medical building that was built by the foundation.

We had been waiting for two hours before my dad placed a call to Morenike's father. He didn't pick up the phone. My dad then placed another call to New Face, and he also didn't pick up the phone.

Eghe Boom Boom and I stared at my dad from the chairs we were sitting on as he walked back and forth in the lobby. There was a big vein on his forehead. It was bulging. I knew that vein. It was my dad's worry vein. It came out only when he was very worried about something and disappeared once the thing that caused his worry no longer existed.

I wanted to stand up, walk up to him, hold his hand and tell him not to worry because as Kompa said, everything will be fine. I wanted to tell him that I had spoken to my mum and although she hadn't responded to me yet, I knew that she was taking care of everything. I wanted to explain to him that it might be the traffic that was delaying Morenike. I wanted to tell him to sit down and be calm so that he doesn't upset Eghe Boom Boom. I wanted to tell him so many things but instead, I sat there quietly, staring up at him, with palms that were sweaty even though the air-conditioning in the lobby was on.

"Are they here yet?" Eghe Boom Boom asked loudly.

"They will be here soon," I whispered.

"How do you know?" she turned towards me as she asked the question.

"I just know."

"But you are not on the phone with them, Daddy is," she continued.

"Lower your voice."

"My voice is not high."

"It is. Look, everyone is looking at you."

Eghe Boom Boom looked at the other people who were in the lobby with us. Some were sitting; others were walking in and out of the lobby.Then she turned back to me.

"No, they are not," she said with a bit of annoyance in her voice.

"They would soon, if you keep speaking loudly."

"You are just being naughty," she said dismissively as she stood up and walked over to my dad.

"Boom Boom, come back," I called out to her in a slightly raised whisper.

She ignored me, got to my dad and held his hand, before she said to him when he looked down at her, "Daddy, when are they coming?"

My dad smiled down at her, and said to her in a gentle, loving voice, "Soon my love, soon. Now go sit quietly by Osaik."

Just then the door to the lobby opened and Morenike and her mum walked in. They were both sweating and were out of breath.

My dad's face lit up once he saw them and hurried to them with a smiling Eghe Boom Boom in tow. I stood up too and happily walked towards them. When we got to them, my dad gushed, "Thank God you made it."

"The traffic was bad," Morenike's mother said as she tried catching her breath.

"I knew it!" I exclaimed loudly.

"Lower your voice, Osaik," Eghe Boom Boom said sternly.

I went silent. Eghe Boom Boom turned back to Morenike and smiled, then said in a more charming voice.

"Hi."

"Hi," Morenike responded.

"Thank you for coming."

"My mummy and my daddy were arguing because they wanted the money first before they…"

"Morenike!" Her mother shouted at her.

Her voice was very loud and angry, and it made everybody in the room go silent and turn towards her. Morenike looked down at her feet, while Eghe Boom Boom looked up at Morenike's mother with a frown on her face.My dad quickly spoke as he gently led Morenike's mother to the front desk behind which a woman was sitting.

"It is okay. Let's go and register."

They both walked towards the desk while Eghe Boom Boom, Morenike and I followed.

"Will it be painful?" Morenike's mother asked with a frown.

"The registration?" my dad asked.

Morenike's mother smiled and before she could say anything, Morenike said to my dad as we walked behind them, "Boom Boom said that you told her not to answer a question with a question."

My dad turned back and smiled at her, before he responded, "Yes, you shouldn't. I apologise."

Then he looked back at Morenike's mother and corrected himself, "The registration will not be painful, neither will the sample taking. Osaik did his here and it wasn't painful."

He turned to me and asked, "Osaik, was the sample taking painful?"

"No, it wasn't. Just a prick, that is all. Like a tiny mosquito bite. They will also put a swab in your mouth with a stick and roll it around. It tastes like nothing, after that they will let you go."

My dad smiled as they registered Morenike and a nurse came and led us all to the room where the sample was to be taken. It was the same room where mine was taken, and it was the same woman who took my sample that was there to take Morenike's sample.

Just like she did when she took my sample, she looked up at all of us as we walked into the room and said with a bright smile, "Now, who do we have here?"

"Good afternoon," my dad greeted her.

"Good afternoon, sir. Nice seeing you again," she responded before she looked over at Morenike's mother who was looking around the room in something that looked like fear but was not.

It was what my mum called apprehension. She used to say that was the look I gave when I watched her prepare vegetables. Just like Eghe Boom Boom, I didn't like vegetables.

"Good afternoon, ma'am," the woman said to Morenike's mother.

"Mummy, she is saying hello," Morenike said to her mother.

Her mother turned back and smiled at the woman. "I am sorry. Good afternoon. All this is new to me."

"Exactly what some people say when they first come in here. But let me tell you something; people who volunteer to save other people, without asking for anything in return, are angels that walk on this earth, and God will bless them incredibly," the woman said in a sing-song voice that rose and fell with a joyous ring to it as she spoke.

Morenike's mother didn't say anything back to the woman. She just smiled. It was an uncomfortable smile. The kind of smile you give when you feel guilty even though no one had asked you if you were guilty or not.

The woman turned back to Eghe Boom Boom, Morenike and I and said, "I know you, young man, but I don't know these two beautiful ladies here. Can I meet them?"

Eghe Boom Boom was the first to speak. Her words were filled with excitement.

"I am Eghe Boom Boom. I am the one who needs the transplant."

"Oh, there you are! I thought I would not get to see you. Pleased to meet you, beautiful one."

"Pleased to meet you too, beautiful aunty," Eghe Boom Boom said with a bright smile.

"Oh, thank you. Aren't you charming?" the woman said to Eghe Boom Boom.

She turned to Morenike and said, "And I take it you are the lovely and courageous lady who is giving us a sample today, right?"

"Yes," Morenike said, looking at the instruments the woman was sorting out on the table in front of her.

There was the same apprehension on her face as was on her mother's. The woman noticed it and said again in a cheerful tone.

"Don't be scared of these things. They won't hurt you. I will be gentle and quick and before you know it, the samples will be taken and you will be free to go. Okay?"

Morenike nodded.

"Now you go sit there and make yourself comfortable, while I get all these ready for you." She pointed at the same seat I had sat in when I gave my own samples.

Morenike headed towards the seat and sat down. Her mother stood on one side of her and Eghe Boom Boom walked to the other side. She looked at Morenike and said, "Atasweswe, can I hold your hand while you give the sample?"

Morenike nodded and Eghe Boom Boom slipped her left hand into Morenike's right hand before she said in a very calm voice, "Don't be afraid, I am here with you."

My dad glanced over at Morenike's mother who was staring down at Eghe Boom Boom and Morenike. It was as if she was seeing them for the very first time. I watched her and watched my dad, and I could see that they were both thinking of something. And even though I wanted to know what it was they were thinking of, I knew there was no way I could sneak into their heads and take a peak. So I just stood there staring at each person as the woman walked towards Morenike and said with her bright cheerful smile still on.

"So, I take it your name is Atasweswe?"

"It is my nickname."

"And what is your real name?" the woman said as she placed her instruments on the side table that jutted out of the chair.

"Morenike."

"That is a beautiful name. Do you know what it means?" she took Morenike's arm and stretched it out before her.

"Yes."

"Can you tell me?"

"It means I have got one to pamper."

"Ah, I see. So, you love being pampered?"

"Yes."

"Now let me find that vein and pamper you. Is that okay?"

"Yes."

She found the vein, injected it, and Morenike didn't flinch. The woman took the samples, did the mouth swabs and in less than fifteen minutes, we were out of the room, under the loud laughter of Eghe Boom Boom and Morenike as they walked hand in hand in front of us.

When the results of the tests came back, like mine, I was at school. During the ride home, with Eghe Boom Boom and I at the back seat, my dad said to us solemnly while looking at us through the rear-view mirror with a smile hidden in his eyes.

"Morenike is a match."

"Yes!" I shouted, pumping the air with my fist, then I looked over at Eghe Boom Boom and continued in the same high pitch. "Boom Boom, you are going to be healed! No more sickle cell!"

She giggled as she watched me. Then she started mimicking and shouting and pumping the air with her tiny fist. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

When we got home, I ran out of the car, up the stairs, opened the front door and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Kompa, Morenike is a match!"

Kompa raced out to me and began running around me over and over again barking happily.The minute Eghe Boom Boom walked up the stairs and entered the house; Kompa jumped on her and begin licking her face excitedly as he whined.

The happiness lasted all through that afternoon and into the evening, dying only when I asked my dad about the money for the transplant. "Dad, do we now have the money for the transplant?"

He fell silent and the unhappy mood that had followed him for days returned.

The mood lasted for days. Eghe Boom Boom and I would sit on the couch alongside Kompa and watch my dad make call after call to people we did not know, as he begged them to loan him money. When the response was good, we would see him smile and then hurriedly write the name of the person and then some figures beside it, but when the response was bad, we would see his shoulders slump and his head hang down in sadness.

Then Eghe Boom Boom would jump off the couch, run to him and hug his leg as she looked up at him and said, "You are the best daddy in the whole world, please don't be sad. Remember what you always tell Osaik that 'Delay is not denial'. So don't give up, Daddy. Keep trying."

My dad would smile and look down at her or he would slowly stroke her hair after which he would begin his calls again and Eghe Boom Boom would rush back to the couch, sit down on it, slide her hand in mine and resume watching my dad speak to people over the phone.

One day, after I came from school and we all sat down around the table in the kitchen having lunch, Kompa began to bark and whine. My dad looked down at him in concern and said, "Kompa, are you okay?"

I responded, "Yes, he is. He said he could do tricks for people and they will give some money after they watch him perform."

My dad smiled and said, to Kompa, "That is so thoughtful of you, Kompa. Thank you."

Kompa growled, barked once and then whined.

I immediately translated it, "He says you are welcome. He also wants to know when we can start."

My dad hesitated for a while, then he said, "I think it is a good idea, but I am not sure it is something I want him to do."

"But Dad, why? We need the money," Eghe Boom Boom said from her side of the table. Her lips were covered with ketchup.

"I just don't like the idea of you standing outside in public begging."

Kompa barked four times, whined, and I quickly translated it to my dad. "No, Kompa said it is not begging; it's fundraising."

"Ahhh, I see, fundraising," my dad said as though he was rolling the word 'fundraising' in his mouth to see how it tasted.

"And I can colour up signs on cardboard paper saying what the fundraising is for."

"And I can make cold lemonade for people to buy and drink," Eghe Boom Boom said excitedly.

"Even if I said yes, you won't join them out in the sun Boom Boom," my dad said to her.

"Why?" she responded near tears.

"Because it will be too hot for you."

"I can use an umbrella and wear light clothes," she pouted.

"Sorry, my love, but we can't expose you to stress."

"Dad, I will have a little chair, and a little table, and an umbrella, and all the lemonade will be on the table. People will walk to me and buy from me. I will not walk to them. See, Dad, there is absolutely no stress in that," Eghe Boom Boom said in a dramatic fashion while pronouncing "absolutely" as "abtotutety".

I laughed but didn't correct her, instead, I spoke to my dad, "Dad, it is a great idea. If we do it after school every week, we can make a lot of money."

"It is not that easy."

"But you said we should always try things and if they don't work out then at least we can beat our chest and say we tried," I said to him.

He kept quiet for a while as we all watched him, then he sighed and said, "Okay, you win. But my rules: I will be in the car watching, and we will do it only twice a week. That is once during the week and once during the weekend. I will choose the spot and we will be outside for only two hours on each of these days. Deal?"

"Yes, deal," I hurriedly said.

"Will I be selling my lemonade too?" Eghe Boom Boom asked.

"I am sorry, you…"

"But dad, it is not fair. I said I will be under the umbrella. I will not stress myself. You will be there and we are just there for two hours. I want to help you, Dad. Why don't you want me to?" she said in a teary voice with her misty eyes opening wider and wider until she looked so funny, my dad and I burst out laughing.

And when my dad finished laughing, he said, "Okay, you will join us."

The misty eyes immediately cleared and there was no teary voice any more when Eghe Boom Boom promptly said, "Thank you, Dad. Now I will eat my vegetables."

She started eating all the vegetables she had earlier pushed to one side of her plate as she ate her rice, fish stew, and fried plantain.

Two days after that, we had our first public fundraiser.

The first time we had the fundraiser was after school. It happened at the playing field in the estate within which our house was. It was a very big field. One part of it had weights which men lifted to get fit, another part had a smaller football field where young boys played football, and then there was a sandy place that had a saucer, hammock, and normal swings. There was also the comet spinner which Eghe Boom Boom liked to play on during the few times my mum brought her to the playfield.

There were the Orbit, Pod walks, Pad climbers and the Pegasus, which I absolutely loved playing on.

Beyond all this, occupying most of the playfield was the big football field where the adults played football. It was fenced away from the rest of the playfield and had two goalposts and very green grass. The adults came there all through the day, even when it was dark and the floodlights came on. They played and they played and they played.

We didn't go there at night but in the late afternoon, when the sun was still up. My dad set us up close to the football field so that the adults could see Kompa perform. Eghe Boom Boom set up her little desk, little chair, umbrella, cooler of lemonade bottles in ice, plastic cups, and a pouring jug a short distance away from where Kompa was to perform.

I had a big open glass jar on which was written on a piece of paper stuck to it, "DONATIONS" in addition to three cardboards on which were written:

"HELP MY SISTER PAY FOR HER TRANSPLANT"

"DONATE FOR BOOM BOOM'S SURGERY"

"WE ARE RAISING MONEY TO SAVE MY SISTER'S LIFE"

The signs were very colourful. I had used different colour markers for each one and drew the heart sign all over the cardboards. Dauda had helped me attach them to wooden sticks and when we got to the playfield; my dad had driven them into the ground before he walked a short distance away and sat down on one of the wooden benches to watch us.

Kompa had a football, three tennis balls, a bowl of sausages, skipping ropes, a drum and a boom box, which was operated by batteries.

We started with playing the music loudly. They were all Michael Jackson's songs. I loved his music and Kompa loved them too. We used to practice with them a lot and I knew all the dance moves that went with them.

I actually missed the performances we used to have at home when my friends came over. But my friends had stopped visiting since my mother went up to the sky to become a star. They all came the morning after it happened. They also came for the funeral, right from the house where my mum's casket had laid open for people to see, up to the church for the service and then to the cemetery for the burial. Every time they came, they were with their parents.

They had come because they all loved my mum. She was the favourite mum amongst all the mums. The mum that always had a small gift to give. The mum that always had a good word to say in your defence. The mum that always joined in the games we all played when she was around. The mum who never got angry. The mum who called you my son or my daughter with such sincerity and love that you instantly believed she was your mum even when you knew she wasn't your mum.

She was the mum who would bail you out of trouble with your mum. They all loved my mum but stopped coming after we buried her. Some of them were my friends who went to the same school as I did, others were friends I had made in the neighbourhood. They were friends I still ran into and played with. But now, their eyes were always sad when they looked at me and unlike before, they had begun to ask after Eghe Boom Boom.

Some would say to me in a whisper as we played, "How is Boom Boom?"

And I would respond, "She is fine."

They would look at me with furrowed brows and ask again, "Are you sure?"

And I would look at them with the same furrowed brows and say, "Of course, I am sure. But why should she not be fine?"

Then they would look away, afraid that I would challenge them before they would murmur, "You know."

With my brows still furrowed, I would ask in rising chagrin, "I know what?"

Once I said that, they would shrug their shoulders and walk away while saying, "Don't worry, I just wanted to know how she is doing, that's all."

I knew that they all knew that like my mum, Eghe Boom Boom had sickle cell anaemia. I knew that they were afraid that she would fall into the forever sleep and go up to the sky and become a star like my mum had done. I totally understood that they were concerned about my sister. And it made me love them even more, but what I could not understand was why they stopped coming to my house to play with Kompa and me, and why when they saw Eghe Boom Boom, they refused to touch her or play with her. It always looked like they were afraid of her. It felt like someone had told them that if they touched her or played with her they would get infected with the sickle cell anaemia. One of them once asked me if I had sickle cell anaemia too and when I told him that I didn't, he looked at me with a confused face and said, "But you live with her."

It was then I knew that they thought sickle cell anaemia was something you caught by touching someone, like chickenpox, and not something you got from your parents. I tried to explain to them but they looked at me with bored faces and before I went too far, they just changed the topic. I didn't blame them because I knew that, unlike me, not everyone loved big words that rolled around in your mouth like Chin Chin and big ideas that lit your head up like a bulb.

I know I am special and not proud or stuck up because my mum had made sure I didn't become arrogant by always saying, "Don't take your being special to mean that you are better than others, if not you will become self-conceited."

I loved the word "conceited" and I used it to bamboozle my friends until they learnt the meaning of the word too.

When I had told my dad what my friends were asking and what they were also thinking, he looked at me with a smile and said, "People will know what they should know when the time is right for them to know and not before, so be patient with them. Do not allow their lack of knowledge annoy you because you must remember that you were once like them. Gently share with them what you know when they are willing to listen, but if they stop listening, stop sharing and wait for the next time that they seem ready to listen. If you continue like this, one day, they will open up their minds and their hearts and learn from you what you have learnt, but for now, let us both agree that they have stopped coming to play with you out of respect for your late mum. They are just honouring her memory."

I accepted what my dad said as the reason my friends no longer came to play with Kompa, Eghe Boom Boom, and I; even though I didn't believe it.

By the time the field filled up to about half the capacity, the sun had not begun to set.

Kompa was impatient as he trudged up and down. He ran over to Eghe Boom Boom, she gently rubbed his head, then he ran over to my dad, got another head rub before he came to me after looking at the people who were playing their own personal games.

Kompa said, with two barks, "Start the music."

I started the music and the loud boom from the speaker made people look towards us. I had the ball in my hands, and Kompa looked over at me, barked thrice and said, "Let's get the party started."

I threw the ball up in the air, Kompa looked up at it as it came swooshing down. When it got to the level of his head, he bowed his head and brought it back up quickly so that it hit the ball and sent it flying back up again towards me. We did it thrice before someone shouted, "See a dog playing football o!"

Kompa barked thrice as he hit the ball again towards me, I said to the man who had spoken.

"He said he is playing volleyball, not football."

"Who is he?"

"Kompa," I said pointing to Kompa before I hit the ball high up in the air again.

"Your dog can talk?"

"My brother, not my dog," I responded as Kompa hit the ball back to me.

"A dog is your brother?" the man asked again, bewildered.

"He is my brother, not a dog!" I said loudly.

"Well, he is a dog to me," the man said dismissively.

I looked at him with irritation and continued playing volleyball with Kompa. The man stood there watching Kompa hit the ball again. He was smiling. People started to gather.They were watching us. Kompa barked thrice and then whined as he watched the ball hurtling towards him.

I turned to the people who were watching and translated, "He said you should read the signs." I said, pointing over to the cardboard signs that were nailed on the wooden sticks and stuck in the ground.

They turned towards the signs and read them. Kompa and I kept on playing volleyball. People were walking towards the gathering crowd.

Then a lady called out to me, "Where is your sister?"

I caught the ball and pointed to Eghe Boom Boom where she sat under her umbrella with her lemonade set up all around her.

"That is my sister, she has sickle cell anaemia and she needs money for the bone marrow transplant to save her."

"How old are you?" another man called out.

"I am eight years old," I replied.

"You speak very intelligently," he continued.

"Thank you. But my sister speaks more intelligently than me and she is only five years old."

They looked towards Eghe Boom Boom. Some waved at her, and she waved back. Kompa barked twice again.

I quickly translated, "He wants you to go buy lemonade from her."

"Your dog talks?" a younger lady asked.

"My brother talks."

"Of course, your brother should know how to talk, but I am asking you about your dog," she said, pointing to Kompa.

"He is my brother, not my dog; and yes, he talks as intelligently as me too."

Kompa immediately sat on his haunches, raised up his two front paws, barked twice and began hitting the paws together.

I laughed and quickly translated, "He said you should all clap for him."

The crowd looked at him for a moment before they started laughing and clapping alongside Kompa.

I smiled happily and began speaking again.

"Please, we need your support. Can you put whatever money you have in that glass jar?" I pointed to the open glass jar that was a short distance away from me, then I continued, "Please do this if you like what Kompa and I are doing, and if you believe that my sister deserves to live a healthy life."

Some people walked towards the glass jar and began to put money into it. I was excited and I continued speaking.

"Please don't forget to buy lemonade from my sister too. We need all the money we can get."

"Okay, we will give you money. But can your dog…"

Kompa barked and growled loudly at the man. The crowd began to laugh. The man laughed too and then said.

"I am sorry. Can your brother do any more tricks?"

"Yes, he can," I replied smiling. "Now watch this," I said and walked over to the record player and changed the music to another of Michael Jackson's songs.Then I walked over to Kompa, stood by his side and we began a dance we had choreographed a long time ago. Step by step, move for move, until we moved effortlessly together. I was on my two feet and Kompa was on his hind legs.

The crowd watched in awe and exploded into rapturous applause when we both began to do the backslide. It was a dance that involved you pulling one foot backwards and then the other, over and over again, in a way that made it look like you were gliding, smoothly and slowly on the ground.

As our tricks continued, the crowd grew and the money flowed, both into the glass jar at my side and the glass jar in front of Eghe Boom Boom who was smiling, laughing and talking to the people that were milling around her while my dad watched us with pride from the bench where he was sitting.

When we got home that evening, we emptied the money that was in the two jars on the big table in the dining room. Eghe Boom Boom, Kompa and I sat silently around the table and watched Dad count the money.

My dad sat silently for a moment when he was done counting the money. He wasn't smiling or frowning, he just stared at the money as they lay in neat stacks on the table. We waited for him to say something and when he didn't, Eghe Boom Boom asked him:

"Did we raise enough money?"

My dad looked at her and smiled, before he spoke in a very low tone, "Not yet, my darling."

"How much is left?" she asked again.

"A lot."

"How much, tell me?"

"Sometimes if you think about all that is left for you to get, you will get discouraged and stop trying to get what you can, so let's just keep trying to raise more money and when we get enough money, we will stop. Is that okay?"

Eghe Boom Boom turned to me and her brow was furrowed, then she looked down at Kompa who was sitting on the floor. He looked back at her with dour eyes. Then she turned back to my dad.

"I don't understand. Osaik and Kompa don't understand too. How can you run a race if you don't know where the end is?"

I turned to Eghe Boom Boom, totally surprised by how smart her question was. She always shocked you with the intelligent things she said. It just came out of the blue. Totally unexpected. I had to remind myself that even as I was growing and becoming smarter, Eghe Boom Boom was growing and getting smart too.

"I know there is an end to every race but let us try and run this race without knowing where it ends. Just look at it as an adventure. Imagine it is a journey to the end of the world," Dad said.

"But the world is a ball, it has no end, you just go round and round and round. Mummy told me that."

"Okay, let us look at it as journeying to the end of space?"

Eghe Boom Boom turned to me; her brow was still furrowed as she asked again, "Osaik, does space have an end?"

I hesitated before I answered, but when I did, it was honest, "I don't know." Then I turned to Kompa and asked him.

"Kompa, does space have an end?"

He barked thrice and lay down his head on the floor.

Eghe Boom Boom asked me earnestly, "What did he say?"

"He said we should leave him out of it. All he wants is to raise enough money to get you well, and if not knowing the total amount will help us raise the money, then we shouldn't bother about the total amount and just raise as much money as we can, bit by bit, like Dad says."

"Kompa! I thought you are my friend."

Kompa promptly stood up and ran over to Eghe Boom Boom, he began to whine as he rubbed his head on her leg.

I translated. "He said he will always be your friend, no matter what happens."

"Awwww, Kompa you are so cute. I will always be your friend too," she said as she bent down and hugged him.

"So now that we have agreed to keep raising the funds, what about we do our next fundraiser on Saturday?" my dad said.

"Saturday?" I asked.

"Yes."

"There would be a lot of people at the park."

"Exactly why we should do it on that day."

Eghe Boom Boom stopped hugging Kompa and turned to us, "We will have to buy more lemonade powder for the drinks."

"Yes, we will. But the question is for you, Osaik, 'Will you and Kompa have enough tricks to entertain the crowd?"

Kompa sprang to his feet, wagged his tail, barked once and whined. I quickly translated. "He says that he was born ready."

My dad laughed first, and Eghe Boom Boom and I joined him. At that moment we were all filled with hope.

The crowd at the playfield was large that Saturday.It was usually full on Saturdays but that day was different. There were lots of people. It seemed as if they came and came like waves at the beach. I don't know if it was because people were telling people, who were telling other people what the people before had told them about the dog and the boy who could perform incredible routines, and the girl selling cups of cold lemonade to raise money for her bone marrow transplant.

But they came in droves and clapped as I called out volunteers to hold one end of the skipping rope so that Kompa could jump as the rope rotated over and underneath him. And they cheered when Kompa, wearing sunglasses, propped himself up on his haunches as he beat a rhythm on the drum that sat on the ground before him. They screamed in delight as Kompa played a game of hopscotch and laughed loudly as he played a game of musical chairs with me, with a volunteer starting and stopping the music from the sound player.

Then they let out a collective gasp of shock when Kompa took off from the game of freeze we were playing when a scream exploded from the place Eghe Boom Boom was selling her lemonade.

It was a woman who was screaming. I looked towards the lemonade stand and the first thing I saw was Eghe Boom Boom lying on the floor, the woman standing over her screaming, the other people around the stand staring in shock, Kompa running towards the stand from one direction and my dad running from another direction. Before I realised it, I was running too.

In no time, I was at the stand. Panting. Out of breath. Falling to my knees by my dad and Eghe Boom Boom as Kompa, who was whining in misery, ran around us.

The crowd watched silently as my dad shouted, "Eghosa! Eghosa! Can you hear me?"

There was no response from Eghe Boom Boom. I could see my dad's hands shaking as he gently shook her. I knew it was serious because my dad only called you by your full name and not your nickname when he was very angry or when he was very scared.

"Eghosa! Eghosa! Please wake up." His voice sounded like he was about to cry.

Eghe Boom Boom lay there. She was not moving. Her eyes were closed and her body moved like a rag doll anytime my dad shook her.

A woman ran to the cooler of ice and water that was by the chair on which Eghe Boom Boom had been sitting. She opened it, lifted it up, rushed over to her and shouted at my dad.

"Please move, sir."

My dad moved just in time to dodge the cold water that the woman poured on Eghe Boom Boom's head.

There was no movement from her as she lay on the ground.

My dad screamed at Eghe Boom Boom again, "Eghosa! It is me! Daddy! Wake up!"

Nothing again. Not even the slightest movement.

A man shouted from the crowd that was growing around us, "Take her to the hospital!"

It was as though his voice jolted my dad into action. He quickly lifted Eghe Boom Boom from the ground and began to run towards the car. Kompa and I ran after him. And as I ran I couldn't feel anything except my heartbeat and it was beating so loudly I could hear it in my ears.

We stayed at the hospital for five days during which time Eghe Boom Boom didn't open her eyes or move any part of her body. She was in the ward called an ICU, which means Intensive Care Unit, and had tubes which connected her body to some machines. There was a mask over her mouth and nose. My dad had said it was helping her to breath.

My dad stayed by her bedside all through the period. Kompa and I stayed for the first three days, then my aunty and uncle, who had moved back in, took us home. While I was there, I stood by her bed, held her hand and told her a lot of stories.

They were stories about the fun and happy days when my mum was still with us. I stared at her hoping to see if she heard me, but there was no movement. Just the whirring sound of the machines and the beeping sound that came with it.Before we left with my aunty and uncle, I overheard the doctor telling both my dad and my uncle what was wrong with Eghe Boom Boom.

His voice was deep and solemn as he spoke, "She has suffered two things. First, a sequestration crisis."

My uncle cut him short with a question. "What is that?"

The doctor explained, "Some of her organs, especially her spleen has pulled up all the blood that is meant to circulate around her body and this has caused her severe anaemia."

My uncle asked again, "And what is the second one?"

The doctor lowered his voice once again, "She has suffered a massive stroke."

"But she is just five years old," my uncle sounded alarmed.

"Sickle cell anaemia sufferers, even as young as two years old, are known to suffer strokes."

My dad was silent as he listened.

"But shouldn't there have been a sign?" my uncle asked before he continued speaking. "This is the first time this is happening to her."

"I shouldn't have taken them to that field," my dad said.

"Please, sir, do not blame yourself for this…"

"It is my fault. The stress was too much. She was under the sun. She was concerned about the money for the transplant. I should have protected her from all that."

"No, sir, it is not what you think. These things can come up suddenly. She could have suffered the same thing if you kept her locked away in her room."

"Is she in a coma now?" my uncle asked as if he wasn't listening to what my dad and the doctor had been saying. From his tone, it sounded as though he blamed my dad for what had happened to Eghe Boom Boom.

"Yes, she is in a coma," the doctor responded.

I knew that a coma is what happens to you when you fall asleep but can't wake up, even though you have not yet died. So I was comforted by the fact that Eghe Boom Boom, unlike my mom, could still wake up.

"What are the chances of her waking up from this coma?"

"I can't say that at the moment. There are some tests we still need to run but we will have to move her to a different hospital to run those. We don't have the equipment here, and we need to first stabilise her before we move her."

"So you have no idea if she will live or die?" my uncle asked again.

"Be careful, sir. She might be in a coma but she may still be able to hear you. You do not want to cause her any emotional stress."

"You think she hears us?"

Before the doctor could respond, my uncle noticed Kompa and I standing in the hospital room.

"Hey, you two, leave the room!" He sounded irritated by our presence.

I looked at my dad, and he nodded his head sadly. So Kompa and I walked out of the room and gently shut the door behind us. We were both angry at my uncle and sad that we had left Eghe Boom Boom's side.

When we got home that evening, I waited in my room until night fell. There was no homework to do as I hadn't been to school since Eghe Boom Boom collapsed on the field. So when my aunty had slept and my uncle had returned to the hospital to spend the night with Eghe Boom Boom and my dad, Kompa and I walked quietly out of the house, to the back of the house as Dauda watched us, and once there, I looked up at the sky to find my mum.

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She winked down at me but I had nothing to say to her because at that moment, I was filled with so much sadness and fear that Eghe Boom Boom was going to leave us like my mum did and become a star up in the sky too. So instead of saying anything to my mum, all I did was fall on my knees and cry.

Kompa lay down his head on my lap and looked up at me and there were tears rolling out of his eyes too.

The next morning, it was the clamour that was taking place outside that woke me up. When I sat up on my bed, Kompa was sitting on his haunches looking up at me.

He barked twice and whined as he said, "Morenike and her mother are outside. Aunty is giving them hell."

I jumped off the bed, quickly wore my slippers and raced out of the room, Kompa in tow.

When I opened the front door and ran down the staircase, my aunty was ordering Dauda to push Morenike and her mother out of the compound and Morenike's mother was trying vainly to explain to her why she had come to our house.

"Madam, we have not come to cause trouble. It is because of Morenike who won't allow us to sleep that we are here. For five days now, she has been crying that she wants to see Eghe Boom Boom. She said something is wrong with her…"

"Where will Eghe Boom Boom know people like you?" my aunty asked with disdain.

Although my aunty wasn't rich, she had a snobbish attitude. She always judged people by their appearances and didn't care too much about the kind of character they had; unlike my mum, who never cared how you looked but was more concerned about how you behaved and if you lived up to the things you said.

Once Morenike saw me, she ran past my aunty and Dauda. She was sobbing as she screamed out my name, "Osaik!" and jumped into my arms.

I hugged her for a moment before I let go.

Then she asked me, "Where is Boom Boom?"

"She is in the hospital," I responded.

Morenike turned to her mother and said, "I told you. I told you that I dreamt she was very sick and she needed me to help her."

My aunty instantly fell silent and stared at Morenike.

Her mother walked towards me and Dauda didn't stop her.

"How bad is she?" she asked me in deep concern.

"She has not woken up for six days now," I said.

"Jesu Kristi!" Morenike's mother shouted in Yoruba as she put her hands on her head, fell silent for a moment, and then sighed loudly before she continued, "Please my son, take us to her."

I turned to my aunty and said, "Please, aunty can you take us to the hospital?"

My aunty looked at me for a moment and then at Morenike and her mother before she said as she turned and began walking towards the house, "Go and change, you can't go to the hospital in your pyjamas."

I watched as she walked away to get her car keys. I knew my aunty very well. She would never apologise but would instead do what you want.

I turned to Morenike and her mother and smiled.

Kompa barked once, and said, "Stop smiling. Go and change!"

I turned to him and said laughing, "It's okay, I am going."

There was something about seeing Morenike and her mother that made me happy.Kompa left with us and when we drove out of the house, my aunty, who had been frowning, was smiling.

When we arrived at the hospital, it took the intervention of my dad for the nurses to allow us all enter the ICU.

One of the nurses had gone in to call him, and he had been shocked when he walked out of the ICU and saw us all.

He looked confused as he asked Morenike's mother, "What are you doing here?"

"They said Boom Boom is sick," she answered.

"Who came to tell you?" my dad asked.

"Her daughter dreamt that Eghe Boom Boom asked her to come see her," my aunty answered.

"What?" my dad was even more confused.

"This is not the time for questions. Please, tell them to allow us in," my aunty continued as Morenike's mother and the rest of us watched on.

My dad, still looking confused, spoke quietly with the nurses and they finally let us in.

When we got into Eghe Boom Boom's room at the ICU, my uncle was sitting on the couch, fast asleep. His breath rose and fell noisily in a loud snore. We ignored him as we gathered around the bed upon which Eghe Boom Boom lay. There was a quiet moment as we all watched her. She didn't move, blink or even fart. All we saw was her not moving and what we heard was silence.

Morenike reached out and gently held her hand before she whispered, "Boom Boom, I am here."

We stood there watching. Nothing happened, then Morenike said once again.

"You told me to come in my dream, I have come. What do you want me to do?"

Nothing happened.

"Boom Boom, it is me, Morenike. Wake up," she said to her in a slightly louder voice.

My uncle grunted as he adjusted his position on the chair and continued snoring. Eghe Boom Boom didn't stir.

Morenike's mother began to cry. It was low at first, and then it became louder. My dad quietly comforted her. Kompa and I watched them. Morenike stared at Eghe Boom Boom. My uncle kept on snoring.

"What can we do to help her?" Morenike's mother asked between sobs.

"We are hoping that she wakes up and then we will take things from there."

"But what of right now? What can we do?"

"Just pray that she wakes up and when she does, that we have enough money to not only pay you but also pay for the transplant."

"How much do you have now to pay us?" Morenike's mother snivelled as she asked the question.

"Nothing I am afraid. We have already spent what we first raised, and then we lost all the money we raised the second time we had the fundraiser."

"Fundraiser?"

"Yes, we've been trying to raise money.When Boom Boom collapsed we had to run here without packing up all the money we had raised. We even lost everything we used for the fundraiser."

"So there is no hope of paying for the transplant when she wakes up, even if we tell you not to pay us for Morenike to donate to her?"

"There is always hope."

"Give me a minute," Morenike's mother said, and she left the room.

We stood there staring at Eghe Boom Boom and waiting for Morenike's mother.My dad had an apprehensive look as he rubbed his hands together.

A few minutes later, Morenike's mother returned to the room.

My dad, Kompa, my aunty, and I turned to her.

"I have spoken to my husband, and we have agreed to cancel our request for the money."

I smiled even before I realised it. My dad also smiled broadly before he spoke.

"Thank you so much. May God bless you. You don't even know how relieved I am."

"I am a mother. God knows I cannot be asking for money while your daughter suffers like this."

"We truly appreciate your change of heart."

"You are welcome. Let us pray that she wakes up, that is what is most important now." Morenike's mother's voice was heavy, like she was afraid.

Even as they talked, Morenike kept looking at Eghe Boom Boom with misty eyes. She was rubbing Eghe Boom Boom's hand affectionately and didn't turn to us as her mother spoke.

"How can we raise the money for the transplant?"

"We?" my dad asked in surprise.

"Yes. This is too much for one person to handle. You need help."

Just then Kompa began to bark. It was low as he walked over to Eghe Boom Boom's bed, raised himself on his hind legs and placed his paws on the bed.

"What is Kompa saying?" my dad asked.

"The dog is not saying anything, he is just barking. Please, we are not children." My aunty was irritated.

Kompa barked again, and my dad ignored my aunty and asked again, "What is Kompa saying?"

I had been listening attentively and honestly responded to my dad, "I have no idea."

"No idea?" my dad was surprised.

"It is just him barking, Dad. He is not saying anything."

"But…" my dad started speaking but Morenike's shout cut him short.

"Boom Boom!" Then she turned to us and said excitedly, "She is awake."

For a moment no one moved. It was like we didn't understand what she said. Morenike, seeing that we weren't responding, pointed to Eghe Boom Boom as Kompa kept barking and said, "Look, her eyes are open."

We slowly walked to the bed and there, with her eyes open was Eghe Boom Boom, and before we could say anything, she raised her hand to her face and took off the oxygen mask.

Kompa stopped barking, and we stared at Eghe Boom Boom in disbelief as she took in a deep breath and let it out slowly.

"I saw Mummy and she said that I will be okay." Her voice was weak.

Before anyone could understand what she had said and respond to it, Morenike's mother's cell phone began to ring. She took it out of her bag, looked at the caller display, turned to my dad and said shyly but happily, "My husband. Please, let me take the call."

She walked towards the door as she began to speak to Morenike's father. Just at the door, she stopped and said in shock, "What?!"

She listened for a moment and then said again, "All of it?"

Another period of silence passed before she whispered, "Oh my God." Then she turned to us and said, "My husband's boss has offered to pay for the bone marrow transplant."

My aunty immediately screamed, "Glory!"

I felt an overwhelming joy seize me and it took me a moment to realise that the voice screaming alongside those of my dad, my aunty, and Morenike's mother was mine.

And it was the chorus of screams that startled my uncle. He sat up, his hands in front of his face in self-defence as he asked in confusion, "What happened?"

My dad responded in joy, "We have the money and Boom Boom is awake!"

And my uncle shouted, "Osanobua!"

Then he jumped up, clicked his feet together and began a funny dance as he sang a song in our native language, Edo. It was a song I had never heard before, but it was so emotional that although I was still mad at my uncle for sending us out of the room earlier, I found myself laughing at his dance and moving to the harmonious rhythm of the song.

His happiness had infected us all and even Eghe Boom Boom was laughing on the bed when my dad and my aunty joined my uncle in the funny dance. The nurse and doctor entered the room and excitedly began attending to Eghe Boom Boom as she propped up herself on the bed.

It took Eghe Boom Boom a week to be discharged from the hospital and three more weeks for all the visas to be ready and air tickets to be bought. The visas and tickets were for my dad, Eghe Boom Boom, Morenike, and her mother; and it was paid for by New Face.

It was Morenike's father who had walked up to New Face and told him of our predicament. It happened after Morenike's mother made the phone call to him from the hospital and asked that they cancel their request for payment for Morenike to become Eghe Boom Boom's donor. And without hesitation, New Face had offered to pay for it all.

Even while Eghe Boom Boom was recovering at the hospital, she had told us about all the adventures she had gone on with our mum while she was in the coma. They were wonderful and exciting stories, filled with warmth and love and hope and strength. When I went behind the house at night to speak with my mum after Eghe Boom Boom woke from the coma, I told her about all that happened at the park and the hospital. I knew she knew since she was watching over us, but I still told her with happiness. It was like telling your friend of a cartoon that you knew they had watched but you still felt they needed to relive it again from your own perspective. So I went on and on describing it all, laughing and thanking my mum for making it all work out. And for ensuring that even though there were times of fear and pain and tears, she had carried us safely from one joyful moment to another.

The day they left for London, I stood at the departure lounge of the airport in Lagos and found myself sweating. I knew the sweat. It was the sweat that came from the fear that something bad was going to happen. It was because of something I had overheard the doctor at the foundation say to my dad as we walked along the corridor that led from his office to another office.

"What you don't want is for Boom Boom's body to reject the cells taken from the donor. That can really be bad and can happen at any time after the transplant has been done. That is why we insist that the patient stay back for at least three months after the transplant so we can monitor their progress while we administer the drugs that will make the body have a better chance of accepting the donor's cells. The truth is that death is a high possibility if these things are not managed well."

Those words lingered in my mind and weighed on my heart, and no matter how I tried to shake it free, it didn't. So I allowed it wash over me and it grew and grew and grew until it had nowhere else to grow other than to completely disappear. It was a weird way of resolving the issue of fear, a strategy I had stumbled upon by chance, but as long as it worked, then nothing else mattered.

We all exchanged hugs. New Face, Morenike's father, her brothers and her baby sister laughed loudly as the rising excitement of Morenike and her mother entering an aeroplane for the first time became the butt of jokes even though apart from New Face, my dad, Eghe Boom Boom and I, none of the others had entered an aeroplane or travelled out of Nigeria before. So even though they were making fun of Morenike and her mother, I knew they were actually envious of them.

When they were leaving, my dad told me to be obedient to my aunty and uncle who were going to stay with me at the house. Eghe Boom Boom hugged me close and whispered to me, "Tell Kompa I love him very much and please don't be afraid, nothing bad is going to happen to me. But if anything happens to me, don't be sad and don't cry, I will be up in the sky with Mum looking after you, Daddy, and Kompa."

Tears instantly filled my eyes as I said back to her, "Please, don't speak like that, Boom Boom. Nothing bad will happen to you."

"Just saying, that's all," she quipped.

"Remember what Mum used to say about saying only positive things so that only positive things happen to you because what you say is what you attract."

"Yes, I remember."

"She called it a self-fulfilling prophecy. So say that nothing will happen to you and that you will come back to me without any of that sickle cell anaemia in you."

"Okay, Osaik, nothing bad will happen to me during the transplant and I will come back totally cured."

"Thank you."

"I love you, Osaik."

"I love you too, Boom Boom."

When my dad, Morenike's mother, Eghe Boom Boom, and Morenike walked away from us, hand in hand with their backpacks and hand luggage towards the restricted area of the airport which was meant only for travellers, the hot tears that had pooled in my eyes started flowing down my cheeks and for the first time, I understood what my mum truly meant and felt when she said to me times without number, the three magical words: "I love you."