He Promised Me Work In Lagos, Na Trap I Enter (EPISODE 4)

EPISODE 4 – My Father Was Alive, But He Was Gone

My father did not die when my mother died.

But something in him left the house that day and never came back.

He still woke up every morning. He still ate. He still went out and returned. But the man who used to talk, laugh, and ask about my day disappeared. What remained was a quiet shadow that moved around the house like he didn’t want to be noticed.

Before my mother’s death, my father used to call me “Nkiruka” with pride. He believed in the meaning of my name. “The future is better,” he would say. After her death, he stopped calling my name altogether.

Sometimes, we would sit in the same room for hours without saying a word. The silence between us was louder than any quarrel.

When I finished secondary school, I waited for him to ask about my plans. He didn’t. So one evening, I gathered courage and asked him myself.

That was the first real conversation we had in a long time.

He told me I should go to Onitsha to learn trading. Apprenticeship. He said it like it was the only option. Like my life had already been decided without my consent.

“Onitsha go teach you sense,” he said. “You no fit just dey here dey look roof.”

I listened quietly, but inside me, something rebelled.

Onitsha was still South East. Still the same eyes. The same whispers. The same people who already decided who I was before knowing me. I didn’t want another place where my name would come before me.

I wanted to disappear. Not to die — just to escape.

I told him I didn’t want to go to Onitsha. I said I wanted to leave the South East entirely. Maybe go far. Somewhere nobody knew my story. Somewhere my past wouldn’t introduce me before I spoke.

That was when he finally looked at me properly.

Not with anger. Not with understanding. Just disappointment.

“You dey too picky,” he said. “Life no get time for your feelings.”

From that day, he stopped asking me anything. And I stopped expecting him to care.

I realized something painful then: having a parent alive does not mean you are not alone.

My father was in the house, but he was emotionally absent. And I knew that if I stayed, I would slowly disappear too.

That was when the thought of leaving became a plan.

Episode 5 Coming Soon
I didn’t know how I would leave. I didn’t know where I would go. But someone out there already had my number — and was watching.