THE CHICKEN CONDO COMMISSION

Growing up, I had several embarrassing moments and most of them were caused by my disobedience or what ever was deemed disobedient in my father’s eyes. From a tender age, I have loved everything chicken. Grandma being so good, promised to give me some day old chicks to rear. Oh and wasn’t I pleased! When a message came that she was coming with the chicks, I couldn’t catch any sleep that night. I was too happy to sit still so I planted myself by the road in anticipation of her arrival. All calls for me to come inside the house slipped off my ears. Not even a storm could have uprooted me from my spot. I stretched my neck anytime a Benz bus stopped and browsed the seats to check if I could catch a glimpse of Grandma.

After sitting there for almost a year(well, it was actually two hours, but hey, it felt like a year) a green stripped Benz Bus stopped and and the mate( conductor) started offloading some sacks. I screamed and rushed to the vehicle, not caring if any other vehicles were coming. “Witch”, a taxi driver shouted, as he brought his car to a halt. He rained insults on me as he drove away but I didn’t mind the insults; neither did I care that I was almost knocked down by the taxi.

Upon reaching the bus, I realized Grandma was not even part of the passengers. This broke the last shred of hope I had. I went home almost in tears and my family did nothing but mock my plight. Their jesting was cut short when one of the boys who played with my brothers entered the house with a covered basket, with my Grandma right at his heels. After bringing all her luggage in, she opened the basket for me to see my babies. In there were six chicks, a cock and a hen. My joy went through the roof at the sight. My father then took up the building of a coop to house the fowls. He constructed a fully furnished coop for them and I’m pretty sure the fowls bragged about their abode to other fowls in the neighbourhood.

My responsibility was to feed them, change their water and sweep the coop every morning before school. One day, I forgot to clean the ‘condo’ and left for school. I was in class getting ready to write a Math test when my father walked into the classroom to seek permission to take me home. I was elated to leave that hell of a test to go home. Leaving my bag, I hopped behind him as we went home. Along the way he started knocking me for not sweeping the coop. I had jumped from frying pan into fire. I was made to sweep the coop with my school uniform and socks on. That day, I went to school smelling like regrets. My whole body wreaked of chicken droppings and people held their noses when I passed them at school. For days on end, I was a laughing stock. After painstakingly taking care of my poultry, most of them were stolen and the few eggs left too were reared in people’s stomach at night. In the end, I was left with a coop, some cane marks, bad memories and no fowls.