“I greet you, parents,” he humbly waved at them, adding a smile.

They gave a strange glance that made him nervous.

The woman harshly said, “To you too, son, we greet. How can we help you at this time?”

He smiled again. “I wonder if you could help me with someplace to sleep for tonight only. I will leave first thing in the morning, before dawn. I promise.” He continued, “I even brought some food….”

The man and woman gazed at each other mockingly.

The woman uttered, “Oh!”

“It is well, son, you can sleepover. Give me those.” The old man grasped at the bits of food.

He helped him with his luggage. Lokufa carried his bag of surprises to the room they gave him. He entered the room, putting his bag next to the bed, then fell onto the bed exhaustedly.

“How am I going to tell them the truth? Because, as I thought, they don’t recognise me at all. Shit!” he cursed. “I have no choice but to open up to them first thing in the morning.”

Due to the monotony that vexed him, he looked up at the window at his bedside and got up to observe the outside world. He saw no one. It seemed like people of that area weren’t active at that time of the day. They were sleeping. They had no power; they used wax candles for internal lighting. He blew out his candle and prayed for sleep in silence.

At the other side of the house, the oldies were busy discussing that something about this person represented an affluent being. They were dying of curiosity. They wondered what was inside that bag that lay beside the stranger’s bedside. Why wouldn’t he have placed it on top of another one? This made them more inquisitive about the matter.

“Sir, come up with something, how to get through that bag and see what is inside…” the woman began.

“That bag belongs to someone who purely asked for our help; why would it be necessary to know what it contains? That is absurd, my dear,” the man replied.

The woman proceeded, “What if the boy ends up killing both of us? What would it be? We must be cautious. Who knows…?” she shrugged.

“You precisely think that you are some sort of a connoisseur now, hey. Please.”

“Man, don’t say I didn’t warn you. These things happen nowadays if you haven’t heard. That is why an individual must be careful with that boy there. We don’t know what he is capable of.”

“Well, apparently! Would you stop insinuating that stuff? It is annoying me. Really. Let’s stop talking about this, can we?” the man was repulsed by his woman’s theories.

“OK, I will go then and check that mysterious bag by myself.” She moved up stealthily.

“But dear…” he mumbled.

“No. I am doing it!” she whispered, with anger.

Mr Fakude had no choice left. He had to act like a man and do it.

They tiptoed to Lokufa’s room. They discreetly looked at the bag and were convinced that the boy was asleep. He was. The woman took some soft strides backward and reached the bag. Sweating, she grabbed it abruptly. Having no scruples to stop her, she tiptoed back to the other room. Fakude had a bad feeling about this, but his haggard wife was waiting for him so they could check what the mysterious bag contained.

***

Tell us: Do you think Lokufa will catch his parents snooping around?