Every Man to His Own
It was the middle of September in 1978 and Ugo was just nineteen years old. Ugo arrived at the Stapleton International Airport from Nigeria. They said that the airport was built in 1929, but everything seemed in excellent conditions. He took in the seeming gigantic size of everything as the first gust of cold breeze hit him in his face, the first thought that came to him was, "I thought this was summer". The temperature was about nine degrees Celsius or forty-eight degree Fahrenheit, and Ugo had never experienced anything below twenty degrees Celsius in his home country. Not too far away from where he stood, his uncle Pete was waving frantically at Ugo for him to come over to the waiting area. Ugo walked over to his uncle whom he had not seen since he was about eight years old. They wrapped each other in a warm embrace. Ugo needed that warmth. They both walked over to where Pete had parked his small station wagon.
As Uncle Pete drove out of them out of the airport to his home, they talked about the people back home: his father, his mother(Uncle Pete's sister) and Ugo's siblings. But Ugo was more interested in watching the scenery. He had not still gotten over the big size of everything he saw. The malls towered high, the buildings were large, and even parking spaces were so large that, two games of soccer could go on in them simultaneously. Then there were the cars. They drove at alarming speeds on the paved road, each one the size of a bus. Gradually, the traffic dwindled as Uncle Pete drove to his home and night fell almost at once.
Ugo had gained admission to study Building Technology at University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming USA. He would stay a couple of days in his uncle's home before they would both drive down to Laramie for Ugo to begin his studies. The two days he spent with his uncle, his wife and two kids flew past like a few seconds and it was time for him to begin his journey. As soon his uncle drove out from home with him on the passenger seat, Ugo fell asleep for maybe ten minutes or twenty minutes. When he woke up, they were on a freeway. After another one hour, they saw the direction announcing Welcome to Laramie. In his estimation, the whole journey took about two hours, though it could have been three.
Uncle Pete manoeuvred the car through the winding roads to the campus. It was around 4:30 PM when they arrived at the university. The popular opinion when he asked around was for Ugo to rent a room at the Dollarwise Motel close to the school campus. By the time Ugo had made arrangements for his motel room and settled in, it past five PM. Ugo was excited to be finally in the university, but something worried him: the fact that he had never seen any other person who looked like him or someone whose skin tone even remotely resembled his. But he was not alone in thoughts.
As Uncle Pete was about leaving, he turned around and said, very sternly, "If by tomorrow morning you do not see any black person, give me a collect call, and I will be back here instantly to pick you up. This place presently looks like the kind of place where a person could be lynched."
When he woke up the next morning, however, Ugo was met with many people who not only looked like him but talked like him, and some of them were even from Nigeria and spoke the same language with him. As soon as he sat down to eat in a nearby restaurant, he heard a voice from behind him, "Nwanne, ino ebe a?, My brother, are you here?." He swung around with such alacrity that he nearly toppled the table at which he sat to eat. He could not imagine anyone knowing him well enough to address his in his native Igbo language because even back in Nigeria where he lived in Lagos, he hardly spoke the language except at home with his parents and siblings.
"Hello, I am Victor Nwagbara," he said without any accent from the language which he spoke just a few moments before. He pulled up a seat and sat down smiling, revealing a set of beautiful teeth. It was love at first sight. When Ugo finally recovered from his surprise, he introduced himself too, and that was the beginning of their friendship. He took a closer look at Victor with his afro hairstyle, purple shirt, green pants and red shoes and realised there was something strange about him but he was about to find out what. Victor did not appear like a student. He looked more like a pimp so out of curiosity Ugo asked and discovered that Victor was studying Interpersonal Communication at the same university as Ugo. As they sat there, another black guy walked past, and Victor casually called out, "Hello, brother?"
That seemed to piss the guy off more than it should have, "F*#k, s&!t. I ain't your brother!" he spat out and hurried away. Ugo was surprised, but he soon learned that the guy was a black American and he did not recognise Victor's accent as one of his own. The whole classification of people from different geographical locations confused him, but he said nothing about it. The new friends finished their breakfast which Victor asked Ugo to allow him to pay and he did. After both agreed to meet up at Dollarwise Motel by 6:00 PM, they both went their different ways.
It was a few minutes past six when Victor pulled up in front of the motel with a big, impressive Cadillac Sedan Deville and Ugo walked out immediately from his room having seen Victor from behind the blinds.
"Come on man," he said. "Let us get out of here now. They do lynch people around here, but it is in the night that they do that s#!t."
"They don't lynch people where we're going?" Ugo asked.
"Oh no! We are going to Everybody Club," he said. Ugo thought that he was joking, but they did go to a club named Everybody. As soon as they walked in, a guy whose name they later discovered was Duke, approached them and offered them a six-pack. They were about halfway through the pack when Duke brought another pack of drinks. Victor just kept pulling out the beers and pouring them down his throat but Ugo was curious about why Duke was so nice, and he asked Duke.
"Well, I came to town a few days ago, and the place was like a ghost town to me. But when I saw your friend dressed like that with his big Cadillac, I said to myself, 'I gotta follow that Ni%%a because wherever he goes, is where the Ni%%as go'. So I tailed you and him in my car. Now here I am drinking beer with you colourful people.Not that I mind drinking with the less pigmented folks but I think they mind drinking with me," he said laughing drunkenly.
Victor never returned to his accommodation after that night except to pick up a few of his belongings there. He became roommates with Ugo even though it was Ugo who paid the bills. A few days later, Ugo came back and saw Louise, a beautiful middle-aged Mexican in his room. At first, he did not know what was going on. It soon dawned on him that she was Victor's girlfriend. With time, the relationship became a source of stress in Ugo's life that had to ask Victor to find his place or let the woman go. He was surprised when Victor broke it off with Louise and remained his roommate.
Ugo often wondered how Victor studied because he never seemed to have time for any academic work. Instead, he was always getting himself into trouble after another. A few days after Victor broke up with Louise, he ran back to the motel room breathing heavily. He could not speak when Ugo wanted to know what the problem was. After he caught his breath, he narrated his ordeal with hoodlums. Some drug peddlers saw him cruising in his big Cadillac, looking every bit a wealthy young American pimp. One of them said, "You look like you got some cash. Why don't you follow us back to our crib and we promise to give you top quality stuff."
Sure as hell, Victor followed them home and parked in front of the block. When the drugs were displayed on top of the table with other paraphernalia that went with it, including loaded guns, "Excuse me one moment," Victor said. "I gotta pee." They let him walk into the toilet, and as he tried to figure out how to escape the situation he had involved himself in, he looked up at the ceiling and found a Beretta trained on him. He went back to the room hurriedly and said, "Hey, guys. I gotta go to the car and bring some cash to ensure that what I gat matches with the goods you've gat so there would be no misunderstanding."
As soon he reached the car, he started the engine and roared away making a screeching sound on the pavement. He kept driving until he reached the motel, breathing heavily. In his words, he had narrowly escaped death. But that did not stop him from getting into trouble once in a while. What Ugo admired about him was the ease with which he got himself out of every mess he ever involved himself. It did not take long before Victor started throwing big parties in the motel.
He would make posters and post all over the University: "Party! Party! Party! Music is Free. Come With Your Beer." He had excellent people skills. His party soon became the rave of the moment. People felt he was being very generous with hosting those parties. But, he gained a lot from them because the students usually come with more beer than they could take so as the party was going on, Victor would walk around and gather as many bottles of drinks as he could carry and stash them away in the basement then return to repeat the same thing. Victor soon started selling beers, and his business was doing well before Ugo graduated from the University and left Laramie.
Twenty years later Ugo saw Victor again in the city of Port Harcourt Nigeria in the company of an older wealthy woman. He called his old friend aside and asked, "Another Louise?" They both laughed and continued their conversation. Ugo recently celebrated his sixty-five years birthday, is a retired building engineer and married with two grown-up children. Victor is still Victor even after all these years. He has quit smoking and drinking and was recently married to a twenty-five-year-old nurse and owns a five-star hotel in the city of Port Harcourt.
As he sat down sipping a cold beer from a glass cup, Ugo reflected on how well Victor turned out but then, the guy was always good with people, parties and entertainment, and he never tried to be anything else but himself.
Authored by @churchboy
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This is the feeling every minority people have by minority you can take it being a black. Being poor, being a Muslim, being an African, also being an asain. The sense of fear is there always in your heart when you visit a totally different place. People move to places just to fulfill their dreams some of them are of their parents, just to see their kids get educated, become more mature and also get the luxuries of life. But hardly they know world has changed so much that colour of skin matters, their religion belief matters. It's so painful to see in my own country where a man getss lynched for simply transporting a cow, getting lynched in the name of religion. We sure have led our ancestors down by the greedy acts of certain class who want their supremacy in the immortal world where they themselves are mortal
You're completely right. Discrimination is everywhere. The colour of our skin, religion or where we are from should not matter as much as the content of our character but it did matter in many places in the past and it still matters in some places these days. There isn't much a single person can do except to ensure that they are not part of the problem. We must each decide to be more tolerant and accommodating with people who appear different from us.
I really appreciate you for having taken the time to read our story and leaving an insightful comment. Thank you.
A Call on Professor Wu
Sad indeed, think it's time we take an in depth look at ourselves
You're completely right. Discrimination is everywhere. The colour of our skin, religion or where we are from should not matter as much as the content of our character but it did matter in many places in the past and it still matters in some places these days. There isn't much a single person can do except to ensure that they are not part of the problem. We must each decide to be more tolerant and accommodating with people who appear different from us.
I really appreciate you for having taken the time to read our story and leaving an insightful comment. Thank you.
Yes I felt so connected with your story that I wanted to share my view. This is the horrific truth we all face but lastly we aren't losing any hope for a better world
No, we must not lose hope. As Obama likes to say, "What binds us together is greater than what drives us apart." Once we realize that we have a stake in each other and the elimination of one diminishes the other, all the hate and discrimination would die a natural death. I am so happy that you connected to my story. Thank you.
Yea brother exactly. I am not losing hope till the time i end up meeting people like you. It only strengthens our courage just to move on. Together we stand talk and divided fall. Its been great to be sharing a forum with you
It is great to meet you, Bro.
I Love My kind Mother
I had concluded in my mind that 'Victor' would turn out to be a failure because of his frivolous attitude to his academics. But then, 'who knows tomorrow'? No one! Not even me 😂
However, this last line is laced with a huge lesson for everyone;
That line is indeed a clarion call for all of us to get to know 'ourselves' very well so that we can do a better job of being 'ourselves'.
You are spot on in your comment. Many people get into trouble because they are trying to be someone else. If we are being ourselves and it gets us into trouble, then we would have the skillset or inherent ability to get ourselves out of it. But if we get into trouble for being someone else, that trouble may be enough to jeopardise our chances of future happiness. Thank you for reading through and for your meaningful comment.
You're welcome.
Thanks for not just writing this but also being kind enough to share it. God bless you real good @churchboy.
I'll keep a tab on your blog for further posts.
Meanwhile, I think I really enjoyed the story because you sprinkled it with some 'Nigerian elements'. I dunno if you understand my point.
I enjoyed it 'more' coz I'm a Nigerian.
Yes, I truly understand what you mean. The story holds more value for me because of that reason. I simply do not know how to write a story without giving myself away. My parents are Nigerians. I was born in Nigeria and I have not lived anywhere else but in Nigeria. Everywhere else I write about are places I have been in my imagination of simply visited.
Therefore, if I do not 'sprinkle' Nigeria into my stories, then the story would not ring 'true' to me. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply me again. I am following you now. With time we shall get to enjoy each other's friendship. We are awesome people...well people are awesome but I speak of the ones I know. Thanks bro.
Interesting.
Sprinkling your stories with Nigeria 🇳🇬 is your strength 💪. See it that way and it would propel you to the skies and even beyond...
Which part of Nigeria are you from? Or would you mind if I guess?
Boss, thanks for 'following' small me 😂. I look forward to basking in the positive lessons that comes with friendship.
Thanks again @churchboy
You already know. I am glad I met you.
To protect the forest
Wow! Wow!! Wow!!!. What a great story by @Churchboy. Thank you for sharing this with us, @adsactly. It is true that we all have our different ways to life, thoughts, things, and actions. It shows in our attitudes and choices that we make. Obviously, there were many missing pieces in this four year story, and obviously, Ugo left Victor behind in the University. He probably did not even graduate. In the end, it appears to be a good story because it appears to have ended "well" for the two friends. What we must realize, therefore, is that we cannot live other people's lives for them, even if we are related to them. People will make their own mistakes, and must learn from them, or not. Every Man to His Own. Thanks again for the lesson we can learn from this short story. Cheers.
Well said
Thanks a lot. I did not want to create more than one story out of this, therefore there are so many missing parts. I appreciate you taking the time to read through.
Doing Shopping in a Supermarket
You are right on target in your remark. Numerous individuals cause harm since they are endeavoring to be another person. On the off chance that we are acting naturally and it gets us into inconvenience, at that point we would have the range of abilities or innate capacity to receive ourselves in return. Be that as it may, in the event that we cause harm for being another person, that inconvenience might be sufficient to endanger our odds of future joy. Much thanks to you for perusing and for your important remark.@alirazaamjad
Beautiful story...
I could so relate because I'm from Nigeria
I liked it
Thank you @adsactly
Yeah, I know right
Thank you.
@aerick. I felt the same way when I read it
Nice job @churchboy
You have a very powerful writing skill, its really a fun reading you post
Thank you.
I voted in a very nice.adsactly post post and commented and followed you and shared the post so that everyone can see this post and vote in this post.Hello friends.i am Bangladeshi have been there for the last few days join steemit family.steemit is a great platfram for us.ihope everyone support mefor success.....@steemitraj
Welcome to steemit, hope you have fun and success here
Thanks a lot. Your support is appreciated.
Oh, I love happy endings :) GG Victor!
Happy endings are the best ain't they?
An incredible story, especially the small details that make all the difference. I could actually see the characters. Bravo!!!!!@upvoted and resteemed
Yeah, someone was visualizing as you read through.
Exactly the same feelings here.
Thank you. We are glad you liked it.
Spectacular! I love your creative reasoning. You inspire
Bundle of creativity in display.
I am so happy that you read the story. Thank you for visiting our blog.
I really do enjoy the story line .it's an awesome one and very interesting
Great Post i like it.
Good work,very nic post.
Very interesting story, very inspirational and educative. Thanks for sharing
Thanks for reading too am sure @adsactly appreciates
We appreciate your comment and support. Thank you for stopping by.
Thanks for sharing. Upvotes and resteem
Thank you
Your welcome
Pls is there a next chapter for this short story? @adsactly .Oh please just tell me there is a chapter 2,. P.s: die hard story reader in the building🙌
I don't think so unfortunately, every good thing has an end
Great Job! very interesting!
Yea quite interesting
Very interesting story, very inspirational and educative. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for stopping by too
Thanks too! @justiceweje
Interesting and lengthy story wish it never came to an end... Sure will be a part 2 of it
Lol, unfortunately every good tale has an ending
😀 it had to end somewhere. Thank you for reading.
Nice
Yeah it is
What an interesting story. I thought Victor was a bad boy that would lead Ugo astray, but the story proved to be unpredictable. Thank God they got successful in the end. I love the story. Btw i have a high school mate called Victor Nwagbara.
You certainly from Nigeria, that surname is unique with Nigerians
Yea sure.
Hahahaha. You caught me there. Well, I don't know any person named Victor Nwagbara even though it is people from my part of Nigeria that bear Nwagbara. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment.
This story is so charming. It said so much about Nigeria and since I'm one I've taken my time to read it through. Hard work pays. Play when you should play and work when you should work. Just like what I told my kids today at school that their future is in their hands so they shouldn't blame anyone when they refuse to work it out and it results to failure. I've learnt from Ugo and Victor's story.
Thanks
Well said, sure your kids would turn out alright and make you proud. Thanks for reading
Thank you for reading and for your thoughtful comment. It seems we are many here. It is nice to meet you.
Ugo life story was very creative, actually this is a common life story all of us. It may be different situation, country, religion but we have to know the unknown world from childhood. In this aspect all readers may think their life like this story.
Well thought comment
Thank you for visiting our blog. Yes life everywhere is the same in that we all face similar challenges. Your comment is appreciated.
This was a beautiful story, Ugo fill at home when he heard someone spoke his dialect Igbo language he was so surprised, he later realized people's with the same complexion and came from Nigeria was also there. Thank you for this interesting story is a good work.
Yea, glad you enjoyed it
Thank you for visiting our blog. Glad you liked it.
@churchboy you've earned my follow. Your stories are always unique and display our Nigerian setting.
Keep sharing... I'll keep reading.
I am @desmonddesk
Thank you, hope @adsactly drops more thrilling stories
Oh, thank you Des. I really appreciate the support. Hopefully, I will not disappoint.
I’m surprised Ugo didn’t have any suspicion before following these drug people who wanted to sell things to him.
Interesting and fairytale ending story.
Good ending
I'm sure he did have suspicion but he lived recklessly and did not much think it through. Thanks for reading.
Its a cool story, sometimes if don't have people of your origin around you, you feel abandon, so i guest that was what uncle Ugo was trying to avoid but it was a good turn, he found a friend at the end. Thanks for this post.
Thanks for reading, you sound Nigerian
Yea, i am nigeria and hope u r too?
He has quit smoking and drinking and was recently married to a twenty-five-year-old nurse and owns a five-star hotel in the city of Port Harcourt.
very inspiring
Guess you enjoyed it
That was an amazing story, truly a good read. Thank you for sharing !
Thanks for stopping by
I really appreciate how you are able to develop the characters. That can be one of the biggest challenges of short stories. Finding away for true character dev kooment in such a short timeline. You were able to bring us into Ugo’s mind and let us see the world from his perspective. We felt his emotions and in turn became connected with his story. Thanks for posting. A pleasure to read.
Thank you
Nice piece of work. I enjoyed the flow from the beginning to the very last letter...
I hope to see more soon
You are a great writer sir, i doff my hat
well lade out on page A+ for effort
I like your status, he said very good
Educative............nice one
I well told story. Thanks.
quality writing
nice and very nice
Thank, good post
Nice one
Incredible story, I love your creativity and your quality content
Thank you
Thank you
great contribution, congratulations for another great theme shared in the community
Thank you.
nice piece of work adsactly.
Lovely story that ended well.
Thank you.
hi my friend how to strengthen my confidence.
a very interesting and motivated story. I really like it, it's human will be independent when he is able to control himself.
This is a very beautiful story @churchboy.
It's quite amazing though how you summarized a complete life happening into something so short cause we both know that there are many missing parts enough to probably turn the story into a Novel.
Also I admire the twist of events in the ending of the story. It's customary for such stories to end with one partner failing in life or finally dragging the other person to his bad ways but this case is different. Nice job
You made my morning glow
@j-stark.
Yeah, it's in accordance with convention for one party to fail (woefully), so you can imagine my surprise mixed with happiness when both of them turned out to be successful.
Yeah... An unexpected twist of events
Meanwhile, your name reminds me of ARYA STARK of Game of Thrones
@j-stark
Haha.. Thanks
I loved her character in the Game of throne movie and to be honest, her dad was my role model.
I'm glad I remind you of something
it's quite a story. Happy Val guys. I'm new here.