ADDRESS UNKNOWN

Address unknown, not even a trace of you…. A song I can’t seem to shake off and it’s not because of the iconic intro in a Better Call Saul episode but more so the fact that each time the song plays it takes me to a memory that sometimes feels like a dream. A solemn one. Cue the music, address unknown…. and I’m transported to the back seat of my dad’s cream 1060s volkswagon beetle.

Doll in hand as I stared through the window. It felt like life was in slow motion. Saying goodbye to our old neighbourhood. It was a move to our new home. The place I’d end up calling home for a really long time. Everything seemed to move in the slow motion. It was a quiet saturday morning with scanty street hawkers scattered around. The smell of roasted awka and ube (sweet corn and dacryodes edulis) filled the air.

My dad had told us about our new place so naturally we were bursting with excitement. My sister and I would have our own room where we’d get to play. Something we love to do. It didn’t take us long to settle in. We quickly made friends with our neighbours and till this day live next to us. We’ve become more like family.

For some reason I kept dreaming of a treehouse that never panned out. But we had a huge likwi likwi tree. It’s what we called it never finding out it’s true name. We would climb it to get fruits which we sucked on that made our teeth turn yellow, lol. Somedays will just sit on it telling stories. It was an adventure that we looked forward to.

My dad was so into photography and he made sure he documented every moment he could. My mum had a lovely garden with plants in every corner of our front room. On saturdays my dad would chase after us to cut our nails and clean our ears. The latter felt good but cutting off my nails was something I dreaded as I loved growing them. Eventually my dad would give up chasing after me only to wake up the next morning to see that my nails were all gone. It turned out he would eventually cut them when I was deep asleep. I’d remember this for future reference and try to sleep with my hands underneath my pillow convincing myself that I’d know if someone moved me to cut my nails. I was always proven wrong as I awoke with freshly cut nails, lol.

My dad surprised us with a puppy here. Birthday parties and family hangouts would all take place here. I learnt to tie my show laces and packed up for boarding school here. This house would hold most of my childhood and early adulthood memories. My family still lives here and it is still very much my abode. Address unknown… not so much anymore as the journey continues to remain the important part of life’s journey as opposed to the destination.

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