Hushed Echoes

Fred looked at him once more and the empathy he discerned from his face compelled him to speak.

” Am i complaining about that? ” Fred asked laconically.

“No! But the fact remains that i have to start something, even if it means supplementing my little income by doing some mental jobs. It would pay me a little instead of having to depend on you absolutely for a three square meal daily”.

“Cmon Marco, relax yourself, I quite understand your plight, but you must at the same time take into consideration that i invited you here. Therefore, I have to be responsible for your needs until you can stand on your own, You don’t have to feel sad just because you have not gotten a job, rome was not built in a day, you will surely get a job someday. Besides, it would not be advisable for you to go out at all in your present situation, Please stay indoor until you recover fully, take this money and buy yourself breakfast, there is still some rice in the pot, you can have that for lunch” Fred told him.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Marco sat back on the bed after Fred had left for work, he rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling, ‘what a nice guy’ he thought, then all of a sudden a tear slipped down his left cheek, and slipped to the side of his face, but he quickly wiped it off.

The wave of despair shuddered through his body and made him absolutely dejected, he could neither think or act as a resulof the overwhelming interest Fred had shown in him, they were not in anyway biologically related, the only attachment between them was that they had grown up together in the same neighborhood.

Marco could remember the first day Fred’s parents moved into their neighborhood, some neighbors objected to it because according to the them the place was reserved for some dignitaries, but Fred’s parent’s are not influential and it was very obvious that they would not be able to secure accomodation there.

Even if they did, it was meant to be a temporal stay, until somebody from a wealthy place would come to rent the place.

Fred’s parents were so desperate to obtain the place, to the extent that they contacted Marco’s mother to assist them in appealing to the owner, despite the fact that Marco’s mother understood quite well that these people have no regard for people who are not well off, she sincere assured Fred’s parents that she would try her best.

Indeed she appealed profusely to the owner on their behalf and made them understand that a help to someone today, attracts a reward to itself tomorrow, the owner summon a meeting to deliberate on the issue, after series of meetings and consultations, he decided to acknowledge Marco’s mother request.

Therefore as a result to Marco’s mother please, they allowed Fred’s parents rent the apartment and free access to the neighborhood.

They all lived happily together in the neighborhood until when Fred’s parents decided to move to Accra after Fred had dutifully completed his secondary school education, that was how they literally lost all communication, until that fateful day he met Fred while coming back from his job hunt.

Even though Fred had not been to a higher institution like himself, Marco still held vehemently to the reality that fred had been able to lay a very solid foundation for himself, suffice it to say that he was married and was living in a studio Apartment at least.

With that alone, Marco knew there were still rooms and strong indications for better and brighter opportunities to come his way in due course.

Marco caught a glimpse of something flickering and glinting through the window, he craned just in time to see a car flashing it’s headlamp, trying to make a reverse outside the compound, as if it was not enough, a white bird descended suddenly and perched on the window-ledge outside the room.