From Grass to Grace

                  From Grass to Grace

                      (a short story)

                       By Lene Ododomu

Many people advised Mr. Okeke to do family planning but he refused. He is known for Mr no job and a grown up man that beg for a living. He has seven children but yet he is still not satisfied by  impregnating his wife to produce more children. Obinna, the third son who is just 12 years old joined his brothers in the streets to struggle for survival. The careless mother, Nneka, who enjoys the love making with her husband to get pregnancies on every  touch in the night, advised Obinna to go to Onisha market to push wheelbarrow. 

By agreeing to do the work because he had no choice due to the state of the family, he earns sometimes N2,000 and above in a day but they all go to the account of his irresponsible parents to provide for the family. Sadly, Obiora, Obinna's immediate elder died in the course of alcer.

Many of the children could not wait for the death of hunger to visit them, so some of them travel out of the village for far places to struggle on their own for survival and the kids who have not grown enough wing to fly stay with the parents, including Obinna. But one day Mr. Okeke and his wife made up their minds by putting Obinna on a public transport to Benin to struggle by himself to survive. He was transferred from Umuofia village in Anambra and doesn't understand English due to the fact that he was not given the opportunity to go to school.

To live in land that he has not even smell before since they born him, it becomes very difficult for him to settle down because he knows nobody there.

Obinna luckily found  accommodation on a very lonely place and it is a school building which people only visit during school hours. Mr. Fosa, the principal of the school became so sock when it was discovered that Obinna stays in one of the class rooms which is even abandoned. He had no option than to give permission to Obinna to stay there for the mean time. And Obinna assured him that he will be a good boy and relocate as soon as he makes little more to pay for house rent.

Obinna goes to the market to push wheelbarrow as he was already familiar with the work in the village. He finds himself in a very difficult situation but he always had the hope of becoming a breadwinner.  He cries sometimes when remember his siblings whom some are no where to be found and others staying with his irresponsible parents who decline people's advice by bringing them to the world to suffer for not having plans for them on earth. He passes some nights without taking his bath because the area he lives was like a desert. So some people started avoiding in the market to carry their foods because of his body odour. Their thought is that he might be infected with some mysterious deseases due to his situation of not taking care of himself. Because of this he was being chased out in some places in the market. 

It becomes more difficult for Obinna to survive in Benin. He had the thought of calling his parents but the more he has the thought, the more he becomes more depressed. But Obinna always had the belief that since he has life then there is hope for him.

Luckily for Obinna, Odion visits him because he always sees him in the school environment and he is a content creator. He interviews Obinna and was told of the sad story behind his purpose of living in that school environment. Odion became so sad