(Short story)
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
When I heard a knock on our dorm’s room, I got out of my bed in the twinkling of an eye. For the sake of truth, as something was persistently pinching me in the corner of my heart in quick succession, I got a little bit terrified to answer the door at the drop of a hat.
However, when one of my dormmates who goes by the name of Suliman gave me a warning, not to make any kind of noise in the room, I sat up comfortably in my bed. As he was going through quite a lot of research papers intending to enrich his thesis, he did not want his mood to be hijacked for a fraction of a second, even. On the basis thereof, whenever my doormates sought after something, they tiptoed in the left, right, and center of the room.
Studying at Dire Dawa University was awesome. We all loved the university life there despite our passing through many ups and downs, unavoidable ones indeed. On several occasions, we were known for deviating from the normal pattern of university life and making fun of others. It is no hyperbole to say, we loved one another and cared about every Tom, Dick, and Harry residing under the umbrella of the university.
As I passed the night going through various research papers that correlated to my research paper, I was dog-tired. Many things were unremittingly coming in and out of my mind regarding my girlfriend.
Early in the morning, I had a small breakfast in the students’ cafe and went straight to my bed. That same day, when I woke up late, my friends Suliman and Mechal were preparing documents that help them upgrade their research papers.
In a similar vein, Kassu was one of our classmates and a very close friend of all of us. We all loved him with all our hearts. Whenever we encountered a certain problem, he always stood by the side of us. On top of that, he every so often made us shake with laughter. Though he has a sense of humor, he was serious about life issues. Mostly, he showered all of us with excellent pieces of advice.
Besides, he is a kind-hearted man who easily felt pity for each and every one at the stroke of a pen. We spent four solid years in the university despite a number of challenges. Though Kassu was not an outstanding student, he was left with defending his research paper.
One Monday morning, we met early in the morning around the department for thesis defense. I was concerned about the defense. I had a butterfly in my stomach. I did not know what I had to do.
In the fullness of time, in fear and trembling, I embarked on defending my research paper. We have passed through many twists and turns with the object of coming up with fully-fledged research work. The whole thing was worrisome.
When I finished the thesis defense a feeling that I could hardly express in words surrounded me with happiness. I thanked God for blessing me much more than I deserved. I was feeling on top of the world. I felt as if a huge weight has been lifted off my body. My friends were expressing the same feelings. They were feeling over the moon. In doing so, we concluded our four years’ stay at the university.
I gave a call to my girlfriend, Feven, with whom I was madly in love in the shortest possible time. We came to know each other at the university. We loved each other very much. She was everything to me.
I would even go as far as to say, I always breathed in and out her love. My life was incomplete without her.
She responded by saying, “My darling, how did your presentation go? I was really worried about you. I was not feeling myself. Please tell me the truth.” He said proudly, “Thanks to God. Everything has gone well. I was able to receive a standing ovation. While on the subject, I cannot wait to see you. Where shall we meet? “You know darling how much I am so much proud of you, ”she responded.
Feven’s heart was pounding with excitement. She was also one of the graduating students. As she has finished defending her thesis ahead of her boyfriend, she has been waiting for the graduation day to come.
Then we decided to meet in a certain area. The instant we met, we had wonderful and unforgettable time together. We made our day without any exaggeration. We have made up our minds to get married as soon as we got hired and start living under the same roof as husband and wife.
Feven and I were from Adama and Addis Ababa city in that order. We had planned a wide spectrum of issues together to accomplish down the road and take the bull by the horns.
Despondently, Feven did not know her biological father. Whenever she thought about her dad, she cursed her luck and got disappointed almost immediately. As she learned from her mom, Feven’s dad left her mother when he learned that her mother was in a family way.
Feven and I quenched the thirst of our love as we wished for a few days in a hotel. Then, we discussed the dos and don’ts of our future.
As I knew the fact that Feven’s mother would come for the graduation, we made a final decision to have the two meet.
In actual fact, Feven and her mother are secretive. I met with Feven’s mom on phone. Feven’s mother knew my inside out like the back of her hand.
On the eve of graduation, the whole lot was heading in the right direction according to plan. We were excited.
One late afternoon, Feven and I headed straight to a bus terminal to collect Feven’s mother. On our way to the terminal, Feven and I were talking about our plan in the years to come.
In the middle of our talk, Feven came up with an idea. Darling today we are going to meet the parents of each one of us.
“Yes, definitely,” I answered.
“Why don’t we then have your dad and my mother meet,” she said.
I agreed with the idea without any reservation.
Having said this, we exchanged warm greetings and went straight to a café when Feven’s mother arrived at the terminal.
As she was a very friendly person, I did not get worried that much.
I was simply listening to what Feven’s mother was saying, burying my head in my hands.
Meanwhile, somebody gave me a call. When I looked at my cellphone it was my dad.
Feven told me that I should bring him to the cafe.
Though I did not know the reason, I felt something that I couldn’t express in words. But I was feeling irked. When I met my dad, I felt extremely happy.
My dad also turned out to be infinitely happy. He was very proud of me. He gave me a warm hug. I was feeling something inside. My heart was beating faster. When we reached the café, Feven was afraid of looking straight at my dad’s eyes.
When I looked at Feven’s mother, she was nervous. She was shaking in fear. Everything was not clear to me. I was confused. My dad was getting increasingly confused. They knew each other.
After sometime, her mother almost immediately went to the bathroom with teary eyes and her cheeks were soaked into tears. Feven did not know what she had to say. She was confused.
When I heard the news at the end of the day, I could not believe my ears.
The thing was, Feven turned out to be my sister. It was my dad who impregnated Feven’s mother at the time he came to Adama city for vacation.
The Ethiopian Herald August 6/2021
