Outside, the driver was already waiting. The SUV was clean, black, and shining under the morning light.
The driver opened the door.
“Good morning, sir,” the driver said.
Mr. Okon only nodded and entered the car.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The driver closed the door and got into his seat. The SUV joined the busy road.
As the car moved, Mr. Okon sat in the back, looking out through the window. But his mind was not in the city.
His thoughts were far away.
He remembered the small house where he had grown up. He remembered his mother, Mrs. Madara. He remembered his younger sister, Chida.
Before he left, life had been very hard. But he had always promised them something.
“I will not forget either of you. I will take care of you,” he had said before leaving the country.
And he did.
But not from the beginning.
For the first three years abroad, Okon struggled terribly. He worked day and night just to survive. There were days when he had almost nothing left after paying rent and feeding himself.
But he never gave up.
Then things finally began to change for him. His work started to grow. He got better opportunities. Slowly, life began to open for him.
That was when he started sending money home.
Month after month.
For about eight or nine years, he never missed it.
Every month, he sent money to his mother through his sister.
His mother was old and did not understand banking or modern phones. She barely knew how modern technology worked. She did not even have a phone.
So Okon always communicated through his sister.
But after some time, things changed.
His sister got married and left the family house. She no longer stayed with their mother.
From that moment, it became harder for Okon to reach his mother directly. At some point, he stopped hearing her voice completely. He only spoke with his sister.
And each time he called, his sister would always say the same thing.
“Don’t worry. Mother is fine. I just visited her not long ago. She also sends her regards.”
Sometimes, Okon would ask her directly, “Please, whenever you go to see her, just call me so I can speak with her myself.”
But his sister would always find an excuse.
“Ah, the network there is very bad. My phone has no signal. Sometimes calls don’t go through in that area.”
At times, she would even say, “I tried to call you while I was there, but it wasn’t connecting.”
And just like that, Okon would have no choice but to believe her.
He believed they were doing well.
He believed they were safe.
He believed they were living in comfort now, since he had been sending money every month.
That belief stayed in his heart all the way until that morning.
