Landscape in Lagos
There was a big house in the corner. It was very old. The streets were also very old. I would sit in the verandah. The people in the street were always quarrelling. The servants in our home were also quarrelling and they did not behave in a decent way. After two months, I was in a new house. Jebrail, the guard, used to sit outside and count prayer beads. He always wore long colourful clothing. The women also wore colourful clothing and they wrapped scarves on their heads. The new house was large, modern and surrounded with huge glass doors. It was February 1968. There was a large room with very little furniture. I drew pictures and read a few books, the Jungle Book and there is a book made of cloth and it was about the story of Merlin the wizard. I didn't watch television because it was mostly in African language. I listened to the music of the Beatles, Audrey Hepburn, Julie Andrews, Nat King Cole and the Supremes. The house, the room and the verandah gave me a sense of freedom and open space. There were birds in a cage and I set them free. The room was beautiful and spacious. I left the door open to the verandah. What I was afraid of the most were these strange creatures: the lizards. There were green ones roaming around. The ones with black bodies and orange heads were called bloodsuckers. The people in Lagos said that these lizards really lived on human blood. They reminded me of greedy people. Everything looked beautiful, the free and wide open spaces. Except for these creatures. I sat in the room, my imagination created ideas of the lizards turning into gigantic dinosaurs. The main area where these lizards dwelt was on the side of the wall outside. Hundreds of them. I would bend my head on the corner of the verandah and observe this terrifying sight. It's a jungle out there, and it's full of these lizards. I thought, is this the land of lizards? I sat alone in the room and sometimes a bright green lizard came into the verandah, raised its head high like a person, and stared at me. I jumped and it ran. Lizards all over with patterns and designs on their bodies. I went to the beach and saw the beautiful waters. But at night I would have nightmares about lizards. Someday I've got to get away from them. One day I left, and I did get away from them.
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