SHORT STORY: Alujonu: The Tale of an African Boy

By Marvellous Olajide

Yinka stared at the little bowl of cereal in front of him, he let out a frustrated sigh, his stomach rumbling beneath the table. He didn’t know whether to start eating or not. Eating little meals without getting satisfied meant more hunger for him but what choice did he have?

He dug into the bowl of cereal thinking about the day before yesterday, when he first got here. The family usually have cereal for breakfast and unlike the way things were in his home, they were allowed to help themselves to meals like cereal. He remembered that yesterday morning, on command, he had happily taken a huge ceramic bowl from the kitchen shelve and poured himself a large quantity of cereal.

It seemed like he was in an all-you-can-eat buffet. Mama almost never allow them to serve themselves, he and his siblings also hadn’t given it much thought, they just felt it was her duty, something she enjoyed doing. But here he was, given the freedom to help himself to a meal. He didn’t know what to make of that, it was the least of the culture shock he had had since he got here. The day he arrived, he saw Jessica making out with a guy on the stairs and they didn’t seem embarrassed when they saw him looking, they just stared at him and he became embarrassed in their stead. He felt like a guilty thief that had just been exposed as he squeezed past them up the stairs, nodding his head in a greeting. He didn’t know why he wasn’t being accompanied in the first place. Back home, he and his siblings were always sternly warned to be on their best behavior whenever they were expecting visitors and Mama always made them help visitors with their luggage while showing them to their room. But here, all he got was “up the stairs, first room on the right” and now two very bad behaved teens on the stairs were laughing behind him, whether or not they laughed at him, the scorning sound of their laughter clung to him as he walked down the hall.

He particularly remembered how Jessica scorned him for pouring himself such a big bowl of cereal that morning. “you’re gonna eat all that?” she asked. Although Yinka didn’t grasp fully what she was trying to say because of her accent, her fingers pointing at the bowl of his cereal coupled with the  look of surprise, mixed with disdain on her face told him all he needed to know. She walked away without waiting for an answer but she made him lose his appetite. The shy smile on his face quickly faded. His head hung in shame. No one had ever shamed him for eating so much. His sisters usually teased him about his ravaging appetite and he would not mind because it sounded like praises to him but this, this was different. He watched Jessica’s sibling, a boy about his age, pour himself some cereal and the quantity he took shamed him the more. Although he was the only one sitting at the table, he felt like he was surrounded by people who stared at his large part.

He shook out from his thought, the shame he felt fresh in his head while he finished the cereal which was getting soggy, he washed his dishes, alongside every dish he found in the sink and made his way to the stairs. At least there weren’t any hormone raging teens on the stairs today, he thought, and he wanted to sigh but the air stopped abruptly in his lungs, his legs next suit. All his hair stood on ends as he looked at the metallic figure walking down the hallway. He quickly forgot about the reason for his shame and screamed. Fright or flight? His brain wondered and it made him rooted to the spot. His mind flashed back to the stories his mother used to tell, about the alujonu. He was a pretty scary being who found delight in tormenting people with his looks. He thought an alujonu had followed him from his town. His brain finally decided and his legs took him as quickly as possible back down the stairs, “Maaaaa!”, he shouted for Jessica’s mother, his eyes desperately searching for any human he found, he found three of them in the living room, Jessica, her brother and his mom. They were startled at his countenance but they soon broke into a laugh as Yinka pointed at the alujonu who was now walking down the stairs in calculated stiff steps. Jessica let out a loud hiss. “He’s scared of the fucking robot” she said in her accent. Yinka only caught the word “robot.” His decade old brain had only seen them in the television, in those cartoons he used to watch on TV. He looked at the metallic figure that had now stepped up to him in awe, “Hi, I’m Linda, nice to meet you” it said as it stretched out its arm for a handshake. Linda repeated the sentence a couple of times before Yinka shut his mouth and took its cold arm for a handshake, the touch sent cold chills down his spine, he looked into the robot’s eyes which looked emotionless although a smile was formed perfectly on its lips. “What’s your name?” it asked while releasing the handshake. “Yinka” he blurted out. “Yinka” the robot repeated, in a perfect Yoruba accent. He was amazed, Jessica and her brother could not even pronounce his name correctly. “Nice to meet you, Yinka” Linda said and walked away to the other side of the room, stopping to pick a box on its way. His drying eyes blinked rapidly to bring the moisture back and he looked around the room. Nobody paid him much attention except for Jessica whose eyes was prying at him from behind her phone. He wiped his wet hands on his shorts as he awkwardly made his way towards the stairs, he quickly changed his mind and he made for a nearby couch instead, he sank into the leathery comfort and sighed, his body was trembling lightly as he tried to calm himself down. He had been repeatedly shocked since his arrival here but this was the height of it. He looked at the robot who walked back in from whatever door it went through. It walked past him, back up the stairs. Yinka had a lot of questions, he couldn’t wait to get out of here, he wanted to tell his sisters and mother everything.

Days had passed and Yinka still didn’t know how to feel about the robot, it had startled him other couple times but it gave him a firm handshake every morning with a smile. He saw Jessica once, telling the robot to get out of her face. He looked at the robot, with its emotionless smile, it apologized for bothering her and said not to hesitate to reach out if she needed help before walking away. “Did it really not have any emotions?” Yinka wondered. He also wondered if it had memories of what happened the day before, and the day before that. He was going to ask Jessica’s mother who was his mother’s relative when she appeared less busy someday but his answers were left unanswered. There was a fire incident. He was asleep in his room and he was dreaming about his African home, his sister was calling his name “Yinka” repeatedly. There was a loud bang and he opened his eyes to see the robot in front of his room door which was now out of the door frame and on the floor. The robot had broken the door down. His eyes widened, there was a fire, He saw the red flames in the hallway behind the robot. The robot quickly darted to him and hurled him on its shoulders while repeating a sentence that Yinka couldn’t pay attention to. As it made its way out of the room, down the hallway and down the stairs, he looked from over the robot’s shoulder as the fire burned fiercely in the house. The robot was saving him. It saved him. This was the most he had ever felt of the robot’s build, this time it wasn’t cold, it was warm, almost hot, the heat from the fire scalded him but most of the fire touched the robot. Its incessant speech had a glitch. He wondered if it felt any pain.

The robot soon dropped him outside safely with the rest of the family, his mother’s sister at once hugged him. “Thank God you’re safe, we forgot all about you.” At this point, he didn’t know whether to be shocked or if he expected it. The words echoed in his head forgot all about you.. They saved themselves when the fire started and forgot all about him. He looked over her arms to the robot who now laid on the floor. His heart stung. Nobody cared about it. It was a command but the robot cared to save him. Now it was lying on the floor, he wondered if it was dead or if it would die, the firefighters shouting over his thoughts as they made effort to quench the fire and once again all his questions were left unanswered as he was on a flight back to his African home with what was left of his luggage the next day, thanking God in his heart for the alujonu.