The Aqua Prince

It was a very hot noon, just like a vendetta, the scorching sun raged down on earth with strong, harsh, and aggressive rays which it rained upon earth's way, causing all living things to run for shelter, even the trees wished they had a means of running for a cover. Even the breeze which blew was almost as hot as the steam blown out of volcanic rock. This was the kind of weather that can cause the blood in one's bloodstream to boil like water in a cooker and can also cause the hair in one's back to stand up and tangle. Under the hot illuminating atmosphere was a young teenage boy who ran helter-skelter like someone on a life-saving mission. Yes, that teenage boy was me, aha... He "was" me because I have transformed into something different right now. I am Demian, yes, Demian, what a name right? Well, I guess mom gave me that name basically because she felt it rhymes with the name "demon". Why will mom search for a name that rhymes with "demon" to name her only child? Well, you will soon find out. I was actually what you will describe as handsome, and tall, with a complexion that somehow looked like a fine mixture of milk, honey, and cocoa, I somehow Look like a Latino. I had this straight short gold-coloured hair which almost made me look like a pure white boy and those blue-coloured eyes of mine which many guys found intimidating. Many of my unfriendly colleagues had always said or tried to convince themselves that I had my hair tinted.

 "It is not possible for a Nigerian boy to have gold-coloured hair and husky blue eyes."

 "He is even wearing a contact, that boy can't cease to amaze me." 

So they often said.

Ok, why did mom give me a name that rhymed with a demon? Well, this is because I was the result of the encounter between She and a mysterious waterman from Elegushi beach. Mom had tried all means to get rid of me, which she called an abomination, but all efforts resulted in null until she was left with no other option but to keep me, the demon hybrid. It all started weeks after the dreadful experience, the picture and fear were still fresh in her mind when she started feeling strangely weak and then vomiting followed. At first, mom thought she had contracted a deadly disease from the waterman, she was so scared that she thought every night would be her last. As if it wasn't bad enough that she mated with a "devil" as she prefers to call dad... She took in for him. "What have I done to myself?" So she asked herself. Mom fell into deep trauma she tried different drugs for abortion but the little bump paid attention to no drugs, stubbornly, right? She later decided that death was the answer. 

"How can I bring to Earth such a demon?" 

So she said to herself.

She mixed up some rodenticide which she got from a popular dealer known as "E dey worry you?" Instead of mom dying, or even losing the creepy little me to the mixture, she only suffered severe pain as a punishment for her action. She later decided to keep the pregnancy and leave Lagos. 

"I must leave Lagos, I must go far away, far from Elegushi, far from that Devil! He must not know about my baby. I will raise it,  no matter what it turned out to be." 

That was what she said as she packed her bags and all her belongings and fled from Lagos where her trouble resides. She had to leave, she has to go far away from where the water demon can smell no aura of hers.

 

Hmm... I think I know you guys will be wondering who or what this mysterious waterman is, well, I guess I should take you guys on a little dive into the past, and let you have an idea of how it all began.

Well, it all started one less blessed evening. It was sunset, the sky was the sea of Elegushi as the stars and the moon reflected on the body of water. Calm and peaceful was the beach, cold and embracing breeze hovering around the surface like a wandering spirit. Through the coconut trees and the serene seashore of Elegushi was a soft melodious cry of a lady, my mother. She was laying on the sandy shore facing up staring at the magnificent sky which was decorated with stars that twinkled in the silvery night. Mother was a beauty to behold, a definition of Ebony beauty. Her skin was infused with rich melanin, shining and glittering under the half-moon, and her plumpy lips echoed a sweet melodious cry, which almost sounded like a sweet a cappella song, the span of her hip was so wide, you can see the blueprint as she lay on the sandy surface. Her name was Jennifer.

 "Why Matthew? Why?" 

She cried in a soft tone, sniffing like a crybaby.

 "How can you do this to me? Why must u break my heart to this extent?"

Matthew was her boyfriend, or maybe I should use the word ex, or ex-fiancee as she prefers to refer to him. His name was Matthew, but sometimes he preferred being called by the Name Mark. They were been in a relationship for quite a long time. They met each other in college during their fourth semester. Matthew did Business Administration and Management, while she studied Accountancy. They usually met when they have some combined courses. They dated all their remaining days in school, and their mutual friends especially aunty Rachael called them love birds. They dated after school, and they kept the energy going, although distance became a threat to their relationship, Matthew had to go to Abuja where his family home was, while she went to Lagos.

"Distance is never a barrier" 

So she always told her friends. During the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), they often visited each other.

Even after service mom still kept her love for Matthew strong. It was three years after school, and the love birds are already working class when Mark wrecked and jumped out of the ship into another leaving mom in the wrecked ship unwarned. He doesn't love her anymore, he was going to marry someone else the next month December.

He called her while she was at the office to give her the heart-disturbing news, she never believed him, she thought he was only playing his usual prank. 

"Call me back when you have something to say." 

So she said to him.

It finally became apparent to her that he was serious after she saw his post on F******k where he was publicly inviting friends, both old and new to his wedding by December. It was no one else but her best friend parrot of a friend, aunty Rachael, who asked her to go online and see what Mark posted.

She cried, grabbing and squeezing sand from the shore, gnashing her teeth, giving the look of a venomous viper. Love had just kicked her in the face: Mark had taken his leave, his umbrella, and her heart with him. 

"To the extent of posting the invitation of your wedding with another girl on F******k, even before officially breaking up with me."

She wept as she scrubs her feet against the sandy shore.

 "You hurt me, Mark, you did, and I'll never forgive you." 

She said as a tributary of tears ran down to the sandy ground through her eyes and down her ears.

As the horizon closes: the breeze increased, and wave and current also did. The sea washed the bank, softly climbing towards her feet. The wave echoed, almost like it said a word, the water caressed her legs like to say: 'the water had hands'. The sea now appeared like it began where the cloud drifted, enfolding the hills with thick moisture, the water ran wild dancing like an excited child. The vibration from the waves was like the wild dreams of a prisoner longing for freedom. The wave was so close to her that as they broke, drops of spray ran down her face.

 "Go ahead! Wash me down, take me with you, I've got no reason to stay alive, the man I love just left me for a new girl who he will soon be calling his wife, so feel free, feel free to wash me down with you, I'm so tired of life, I don't want to continue like this, I can't do this no more, so please take me with you."

 So she said to the wild running wave which threatened to wash her down by washing up her leg position. In no time the wild running wave, the current, the breeze, and the splashing all became calm. The current, the pulse, the flow, now so slow, soft and mild, speaking to her emotions, whispering things only love could comprehend, she found herself cuddling with the gentle caressing sea breeze.