By Joseph Akahome
A veritable irony, life is. Especially if what we strive to escape from turns out to be the very things we end up with: being alone, with no possessions, and worse, unloved.
As a rule and I’m sure by journalistic ethics, one is not supposed to attach oneself emotionally with one’s subject on the job.
But as I walked past the open casket that ‘black’ Friday morning, I could not help the very strong wave of empathy I felt for the family as well as pity over the completely unrecognisable and ghost-like corpse that inhabited that coffin.
Her head bore what appeared like hurriedly done stitches that snaked a course through her short braids, the hairstyle she had made shortly before her demise. There were streaks of brown in the hair too, although I couldn’t quite guess what made them.
Her face still bore frightening gashes and cuts made by her knife-wielding attacker, which defied the best make up efforts of the mortician. The overall effect of the whitened and mercilessly incised face was overwhelmingly sickening.
Mercifully, we were spared the sight of her upper body by the drab black clothes she was clothed with. I can only wonder how it would have looked like, especially since I heard her blood and guts literally spilled forth in several places shortly after the attack that led to her death.
I dully retraced my steps, dazed, from the lounge to the bush bar of the club she once reigned over, to reflect for a while.
Suzie Q had died ‘poor’, the very fate she had struggled so hard in her 33 years on earth to avoid.
Born into a polygamous family comprising more than 20 siblings, Susan had seen first-hand what deprivation felt like and must have sworn to overcome all odds in order to ‘make it’.
Hers was the rags-to-riches tale that was the stuff of many a fantasy story. The ‘Iron Lady’ as she was dubbed by some, had been quite ‘successful’ at last; she ran a high-end club in the exclusive part of Lagos, lived in a pretty decent apartment in Victoria Island and got to fraternize with top shots in the entertainment industry.
But she had severed ties with her family in her quest to ‘get-rich-or-die-trying’, a quest that had seen her run the whole gamut usually involved in a country to city girl transition.
She died tragically in one of the most gruesome circumstances I would have felt were a bit exaggerated even in a Stephen King thriller. Her life was repeatedly slashed out of her with a bread knife in her own apartment by one who was more than a mere acquaintance, and who himself jumped to his death from the multi-storeyed building.
In the end, she was mourned and buried by the same family she had long distanced herself from. No celebrity friends, no deafening noise, no flashlights, just the barely audible sobs and sighs of the true, ever faithful few family members.
I now realise, as I have often suspected that a loveless life, inspite of whatever achievement garnered, is really no life at all. If you miss this point, you’ve missed everything.
After the whole ceremony, as I still pondered on these things and more, I noticed my photographer, a very animated fellow with not a care in the world, dancing ‘azonto’ to music from his phone. The impact of the event was totally lost on him. His only care now was to get the next intoxicant (in whatever form) in his system.
Obviously, life goes on.
10 comments
wow!!
wow!! again…
hmmmm!! real deep expressions up in here
couldnt recognise her myself from the pics of her open casket. really sad..no matter wat, no one deserves to die like dat.
May God finally give her the peace she had always looked for as she rests forever…
Touching!
The take-home lesson, for me, is found in this paragraph:
“In the end, she was mourned and buried by the same family she had long distanced herself from. No celebrity friends, no deafening noise, no flashlights, just the barely audible sobs and sighs of the true, ever faithful few family members.”
No celebrity Friends, not even D’Prince…
Good nite Susan. Please don’t forget to avenge your death.
You wrote this story like you have a personal vendetta for the Lady and you went on and on only to say very little at the end. this this not a report. this is a brief of your personal feelings towards the lady!
here i am asking myself< why did he kill her, how imagine reading this as a comprehensive passage at WAEC or JAMB,> this is an incomplete report!
interesting, very thought provoking! This article helps to re-align our priorities when we get carried away with the inconsequential. RIP Suzy Q
I profer these living Words of God,whoever that imaginated, master minded,sponsored,executed the dastardly act and that is made of FLESH FROM THE DUST OF THIS EARTH SHALL,WILL,MUST GO BACK TO THE DUST HE SENT SUZY Q.BEFORE THE END OF THIS YEAR,IT IS SO NOT OTHERWISE.THE GOD THAT BREATH LIFE INTO DUST AND CALLED IT MAN HAS CONFIRMED IT.WATCH OUT.FOR THEY SHALL CONFESS IT LIKE SOCERERS AND THE EARTH SHALL HEAR IT AND KNOW THAT JEHOVAH LIVETH.
I wil agree wit d annonymous person abt u sayin little at d end of dis story. Was really expectin more. From d beginnin u were on point but 2ward d end I felt dissapointed. This was suppose 2 b a really great write-up, but is below average. RIP suzyQ
Honest, I get your point and i’m in floods of tears as a result. I can never judge this lady…afterall I am not perfect and we all exist by the grace of God. However, I don’t see your article as a personal attack and thanks for being brave enough to buttress your points thus for the benefit of those of us that still have the gift of life and have the chance to learn the lessons that you have so carefully laid emphasis on. Your critical analysis actually had me soul searching. May her soul RIP. Poor lady, she really didn’t deserve to die like that. Also, i think they should have made more effort to dress her corpse well and even make her up. I don’t think it is right to have covered her in black and left her looking ghostly. There are people trained for this type of job and they can expertly cover up her wounds and make her look nice with lovely make up. She was rich when she was alive, so i am certain that she knew top Make Up Artists who she must have patronised and who also hung out with her at her club. If even one of them truly loved her, they would have arranged for her to be made up by people in their field that are trained to make up corpses. Like you stressed, where are those friends now? Smh. I don’t think it is right to have allowed her body to be publicly viewed if nobody couldn’t make her look presentable. No matter what she had done, there are people that have done worse and are still alive…it’s unfair to humiliate her further in death and present her corpse for everyone to see when they knew it wasn’t presentable. Well, like you said, it’s all over now and life goes on. May she rest in peace. So sad. *sniff*
*if nobody could
Aw this is too sad hey may her soul rest in peace.*tear drop*
Too bad, not all of us are intellectually adept at reading between the lines. You expect a more comprehensive report? The type you get when you owe utility bills, right? Smfh!