A Very Painful Experience

I wish I knew, I would have stayed back or lied that I was not feeling too well.
Missing out was a big and one-time great mistake I made.

My dad had a visitor from the city. In my locality, there is a way we entertain visitors. We would buy two full chickens and a keg of palm wine. To worsen things, the only day we had to eat rice would be during the festive period and most, especially during the Christmas and Easter periods. During these two periods, we would not miss out on eating rice and chicken. We also do enjoy ourselves to the fullest without thinking twice or thinking about tomorrow.

The men came to visit, and my dad had to send me to the market to buy two full-life chickens, which I did. I was so happy that, at last, I would taste chicken after four months of celebrating Easter. My happiness had no grade as well as my younger brother.

My brother and I went to the market to buy the chicken, and we bought the hefty ones. The ones that we knew could satisfy our guests as well as my brother and me. I never cared that my dad and mum were going to eat out of it.

Chait Goli
We started the preparations while my younger brother went to the nearby shop to get some cups of rice. Before he left, I asked my dad how many cups did he want us to buy? He said the one that can serve the visitors alone. I started getting a hunch about the food. He later changed his mind that we should buy seven cups of rice. At least, this would serve everyone in the house.

I slaughtered the two chickens and started the preparations. My mum fried the chicken and in fact, the aroma alone was mind-blowing. Everyone had started asking if we were celebrating something. My mind was as sweet as ever before.

My mum prepared the stew and cooked the rice. After a few hours, I saw a man enter with two other men as well as a lady, making a total of four guests. I started calculating how the chicken was going to be shared. According to my calculations, the visitors would take one full chicken, while the remaining one would be for us. “I think I still have hope of tasting out of the Chicken and rice, at least”, I said to myself. My younger brother had done the same calculations as I did. He rushed to me and said, “Hmm, big bro. Are you sure we are going to taste this chicken?” He was not done talking before two other visitors arrived.

I told him, “Even though we have two more, we would still eat out of this chicken”.

We were at one end planning while my dad was planning something that would spoil our day.

My dad had to call the two of us and said, “I want you to go to the bank to make a transaction for me. You will also withdraw some amount from my account. You must complete the transactions and withdrawal before you come, or else, don't come home”. He gave me his ATM card. My brother and I gazed at each other. This was a killer mission. We must not say NO, as no one dared disobey his or her father.

We left and behold, the queue we met was as long as the ant lines. Likewise, we had no choice other than to wait. I even tried to use a little influence to get to the front, but it was to no avail. When it was finally our turn, the network went out of service. What!!!? I shouted while people in the queue began to laugh at my statement. They never knew the reason that made me shout.

The network finally showed up, and I was so fast just to meet. I made the transactions and wanted to withdraw cash before the unexpected finally took its place. The ATM swallowed the card. We were not in a position to collect the card from the bank except for my dad himself. We had no choice other than to go home.

When we got home, guess what we saw? Empty plates. I immediately went straight to the pot to search if there were still rice and chicken left in the pots, but to my surprise, we saw the pots empty.
Maybe Mum would have hidden our portions somewhere.* We waited for her and my dad to come back as they had let the visitors out. After a few minutes, they finally arrived. My younger brother was smiling, but I was not happy, as I was just having a hunch that we had missed this chicken.

“Mum, where is our chicken?” I asked and to my surprise, my mum went in to bring empty pots.

It's not a good story to tell….. We missed the chicken as well as the rice. Hmm… we need to wait for Christmas and Easter.