The Nostalgia Diaries

Road to bar beach

Clinton ran to Aisha as she stood still staring at him. He handed her a bottle of water like he was her guardian or caretaker.

Aisha finished the water in the bottle in less than a minute. She glared at Clinton, wondering why he had helped her. "I want to go home" She mumbled, crying.

"This place is far from wherever your home is" Clinton replied as he returned his sword in it sheath.

"I don't care. I just want to go back home. I never asked for any of these. I-I almost got raped. I almost got raped" Aisha repeated.

Clinton lowered his head and stared at his boots as he thought of what to do. He also had plans of leaving the camp and leaving everything behind. He wanted to move to a new city and start a new life. "I'll take you home" He finally said.

Aisha looked at Clinton.

"You know where your home is, right?"

"Lagos"

Clinton took Aisha to a nearby site where the other kidnappers parked their rovers. Aisha had never been to before. He poured Alcohol on the cut on her forearm to stop the bleeding before leaving her to wash herself in an oasis nearby.

Aisha tightened her lips as Clinton dressed the cut on her forearm with a band aid.

"What happens now? Can you drive back to Lagos?" She asked.

Clinton sighed and took off his brown jacket and wore on Aisha's shoulder.

Aisha took a deep breath as she felt the warmth from the jacket. She followed Clinton to one of the rovers without saying a word and sat in the front sit with him. Aisha summoned courage to ask Clinton for the strange black object he wore around his neck. "Can I have that?" She asked softly.
Clinton stopped checking the engine of the Rover and stared at Aisha "What? This?" He touched the pendant as he asked.

"The thing around your neck" She affirmed.

Clinton didn't care to ask why she wanted it. He removed it and gave to her.

The headlights of the Rover came on and he began to drive with full speed, pressing the accelerator pad like he was being chased.

Clinton turned and faced Aisha as he put on his seat belt. He saw Aisha's face clearly for the first time because the sun was starting to rise. "I don't know your name" He said to her as he drove through the desert.

Aisha's arms were folded and her legs were leaned on the door. She was wearing Clinton's sunglasses so sand wouldn't get in her eyes.

"Huh?" Clinton said.

"You never asked"

"What's your name?"

"Aisha"

"I'm Clinton Alvarez"

Aisha looked at Clinton surprised to know that he was Brazilian.

Clinton smiled at Aisha when he saw the look of surprise on her face.

Aisha stared at the dressing on her wound. She unwrapped it a little and pressed her index finger inside the wound on the skin of her forearm. She dressed the wound properly then looked at Clinton and said to him. "I'm tired, Clint. Why must life be this hard?"

Clinton laughed inside and cried "Dear Aisha, life punches us in the face when we least expect it"

The duo spent hours on the road as they headed back to Lagos. Aisha didn't care which road Clinton used. She trusted him. Clinton drove into a small remote town in the middle of the desert. The people who lived in the town looked like Ghanaians.
"I'm hungry" Aisha said to herself. She stared at the small buildings and wooden shops by the side of the road. She took Clinton's red cap on the dash board to protect her face from the sun. It seemed the sunshade she wore wasn't enough for her.