HAKEEM GOES TO THE CITY

It was difficult for Hakeem to occupy his mind with anything else apart from his desire to go to the city for the first time. He sat all by himself fantasizing how nice it would feel to spend his first night in the city. He thought about the beautiful houses he was going to see in the city, the aesthetic tall buildings and the traffic lights which made the city appealing and attractive. Not forgetting the large crowds of people that never ceased to move and the many cars and trucks that kept hooting and beeping and bumping into each other looking for space move.

And suddenly-He stopped for a moment and thought about something he’d never bothered to think of. He smiled and whispered something to himself as he continued fantasizing. He was thinking about the beautiful girls he was going to meet in the city and maybe have the opportunity to date one or two, or perhaps three.

Hakeem was a nineteen year old young man, chocolate brown in complexion, humorous by nature and of a very cautious character. He lived almost his entire life with his grandmother in the village. From the time his mother had decided to reject and abandon him at his grandmother’s place. He had never seen her again nor ever heard from her. But he had already gotten over it as he had grown to accept the reality and took his grandmother as his only family.

Hakeem was raised to be a very hardworking boy by his grandmother. And before his grandfather had kicked the bucket, he already had taught him how to grow different crops and how to rear a variety of domestic animals like chickens, rabbits and goats on the little farm they owned in the village.

Hakeem also grew a variety of vegetables in his spare time which he sold to the village women, who later resold them at makeshift huts along the road for a small profit. It was from this hand watered farm garden that Hakeem managed to sustain himself, pay his school fees, buy food and bought himself a bicycle for easy transportation and delivery of things to and fro.

Everyone loved Hakeem in the village. He was a morally upright young man who respected elders. He was there to lend a helping hand to those who needed his help. Often times, people hired him to deliver word, money, letters and anything that could be carried on his bicycle as long as it left enough room for him to peddle without fail. Others said people loved him because he was the only young man with a bicycle in the village, and were pleased to send him on distant errands. Of course, he charged them a small fee for the services too so that he could be able to repair and maintain the bicycle.

Hakeem was resting under a tree shed, chewing from a piece of sugarcane when he saw his grandmother approaching. He quickly sat in a polite manner, put away the piece of sugarcane and waited to hear what she wanted to say?

“I want to talk to you before you leave for the city my son” she said as she came to sit next to him.

Hakeem put on a strong stand with scarce nodes here and there, for he had known that a very long oration was about to come his way.

“My son” she began… “I have lived longer than you in this world, and I would like to tell you a few secrets of life, which will bring you favor and good luck as you go to live among strangers in the city.”

Hakeem knew very well that he was not about to take a beating, instead he watched his grandmother turn up the heat and positioned herself to give him a very long speech about life. And he had prepared himself to give a couple of nodes in agreement.

“I will honestly say that I did not expect this to come any time soon, but since you have made a decision. There is nothing I can do except to support you and wish you well in your new journey.” She said. “But as you go to start a new life in the city and among new faces my son, remember to be humble in everything you do, and people will appreciate it more than anything. Never try to understand things that are too hard for you, or want to know things that are beyond your abilities. There will be no excuse for things you will say when you’re angry; and that can have the potential to ruin your reputation among the people around you. Always remember to wait and be patient, and later you will be glad to have done so. Patience pays my son… When you are around people always keep quiet until your right time to speak comes, and you will gain a very good reputation for possessing good sense wherever you go my son”

“My son.” She paused. ”Take advantage to cease every opportunity that comes your way, and always remember to keep away from bad company. Don’t rely on money to find happiness, know what makes you happy and always learn to build relationships with other people. I am telling you, if you follow this advice you will go further in life. Do you understand my son?”

Hakeem was all wrapped up listening and digesting every piece of her advice. He gave her a few nodes and said “Yes mum, I’m listening!”

“Don’t be ashamed to apologize when you’re wrong.” She continued. “It will win you hearts and the trust of new friends you’ll make in the city. And if you’re polite and courteous, you will enjoy the friendship of many people. But remember when you make friends, don’t be too quick to trust them; make sure that they have proved themselves to be worthy of your trust. Some people will be your friends only when it is convenient for them, but they won’t stand by you in times of trouble. Otherwise they will fall out with you over an argument, and then embarrass you by letting everyone know about it. Others will sit at your table as long as things are going well; they will stick to you like your shadow and give you fake smiles, but they will not stand by you in times of trouble. If your situation takes a turn for the worse, they will turn against you, and you won’t be able to find them anywhere.”

“And always remember that if you do no wrong to anyone, no wrong will ever come to you.” She continued. “Do not choose to hurt other people intentionally, because you may reap a bigger harvest of bad luck than you expect…”

Hakeem kept his nerve and listened attentively, but dusk had arrived and he had no choice but to remind his grandmother that it was getting late and evening was approaching and they needed to get inside the house before mosquitoes began to feast on them.

“I know my son” she said. “But I feel like it is my duty to prepare you with a little wisdom as you embark on your journey to face the world alone.”

“Yes grandma” replied Hakeem as they got up to enter their four roomed house, which had two bedrooms, one for Hakeem and the other for his grandmother, a kitchen and a living room. They had no electricity and Hakeem used the living room as a garage for his bicycle, and as store house for other crops that they had harvested from their fields.

They entered the house, took their supper and retired to bed.

“Goodnight my son” she said to him as she retired to bed.

“Goodnight grandma” he replied as he went to his room.

That evening Hakeem was lying on bed and failed to hit the hay. He kept on reciting the feeling of traveling to the city for the first time. He could not resist the urge of wanting to breathe of the city air for the first time. He wanted to taste from the water that city people drunk. The food they ate. And of everything else that made life in the city so different from that in village. He wanted all of it.

The following morning a man arrived early to pick him up and off to the city they drove. Hakeem was heard over heels to have traveled to the city for the very first time.

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