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Some days after Amadi decided to start washing cars for people, he found a car wash in his neighbourhood and offered to help the owner wash some cars for a commission.
At first, the owner rejected Amadi’s offer because he claimed he had many boys working for him, but when he saw how desperate Amadi was, the man pitied him.
When Amadi started washing cars, he would wash at least 7 cars a day, and for each car he washed, the car wash owner would pay Amadi 500 naira. So, on a very good day, Amadi would make between 3500 to 4000 naira daily.
In the beginning, when Amadi joined the team, the other boys at the car wash did not have a problem with him. However, when they saw that the car wash owner was giving Amadi more cars to wash instead of sharing equally, they became jealous, and they made a plan to get rid of Amadi.
Three weeks after Amadi started working there, the other boys framed Amadi for something he did not do. That day, Amadi’s boss assigned Amadi a car to wash as usual, but since Amadi was already washing another car, he needed to finish up first before going to the other car.
While Amadi was trying to hurry up and clean the first car, he didn’t see that some of his colleagues had snuck into the other car and they did something inside it.
Unluckily for Amadi, it was when he was cleaning the inside of the second car that he saw that something was wrong.
“Ah, Oga, please, you need to come and see this,” Amadi said.
Before Amadi’s Boss could even walk to the scene, the other boys hurried to see what Amadi was talking about, and the next thing they began to yell at him.
“Ah, Amadi, look at what you have done to this customer’s car,” one of the boys said.
“It wasn’t me, I just saw this like that,” Amadi tried to defend himself. While Amadi was still trying to defend himself, his Boss walked to the car, and he was shocked to see the state of things.
“Did you do this?” Amadi’s Boss asked.
“I swear on my late mother’s grave, I did not do anything,” Amadi said.
“Oga, it’s a lie oo. I think he did it, and now he is trying to act innocent,” One of Amadi’s colleagues said.
“If there’s anything I don’t tolerate here, it’s lies. We have been running this car wash for many years, and we have never had an issue with a customer’s car. So I’ll ask you for the last time: Did you do this?” Amadi’s Boss asked.
“No, Oga. Why would I break off the boot handle? That’s how I saw it,” Amadi said.
“You know what? I will tell the car owner to come and confirm whether he came with a broken boot handle or not. For your sake, I hope you’re not lying to me,” Amadi’s Boss said before walking away.
Shortly after Amadi’s boss left, he returned with the man who owned the car, and he asked him a few questions.
“No! No! Don’t tell me that, this was in perfect condition when I brought it here. If one of your boys has broken it, then I’m afraid you will have to fix it, ” the man said angrily.
“I’m so sorry, sir. We will fix it. I just wanted to confirm if the mistake was from our end,” Amadi’s Boss said.
When Amadi heard that he was responsible for the broken boot handle, he began to cry silently in his heart as he continued to wash the car.
After the customer left and Amadi’s Boss settled the man with some money, Amadi believed that his Boss would just deduct the money from all he had earned that day, but that wasn’t all.
“Erhm! Amadi,” Amadi’s Boss called Amadi.
“That thing you broke cost 3000 naira, and you earned just 3000 naira today,” Amadi Boss added.
“Oga, it’s just 3pm, I might still wash some cars today,” Amadi answered.
“No, you won’t,” Amadi’s Boss thundered, ” Only God knows what you will destroy next, and I don’t want to take any chances with you. What if you had destroyed something very expensive, causing me to pay from my pocket?” Amadi’s Boss said.
“I’m sorry, oga. I swear I don’t know how that handle broke,” Amadi said.
“Hmmm, you’re still lying even after the man told us that he brought it in good condition?” one of Amadi’s colleagues interrupted.
“Don’t mind him; he thinks I’m a fool,” Amadi’s Boss said. Look, Amadi, I no longer need your services. I don’t want any trouble. You can go and pick your things and go home,” Amadi’s Boss said.
Immediately after Amadi heard his boss, he went to his knees and began to beg him.
“Oga, please. Don’t do this. I beg you,” Amadi pleaded. He even tried to hold one of his boss’ legs, but his Boss pushed him away.
“There is nothing I can do. You came to me and told me that you wanted to work with me, and I helped you. I had never met you before, but I decided to help you because I was once like you. But right now, it is better for me to be tagged a wicked person than to watch you cause problems in my business,” Amadi’s Boss said.
Amadi spent almost the rest of that day begging his Boss, but his Boss wouldn’t change his mind. At the end of the day, he went home with nothing.
For the first time, Amadi cried bitterly when he went home. Even though he had saved some of his earnings, it was still very little.
Coincidentally, his house rent had expired that month and he had been hoping on his daily pay to save up for his rent. Sadly, two weeks after Amadi stopped working at the car wash, his landlord kicked him out of the house, and Amadi was forced to live under the bridge for that time.
One day, while Amadi was roaming in the sun, trying to beg car owners who were stuck in traffic to let him wash their windscreens for a small fee, he bumped into someone he knew from Usaka village. But because he looked so different, the boy could not recognize him, and this hurt Amadi.
In reality, Amadi was not hurt because the boy did not recognize him but because the boy was driving a big jeep and looked like he was living a good life. This made Amadi very sad because it seemed like everyone was doing great financially except him.
That night, when Amadi returned to the spot where he slept under the bridge, he thought about returning to Usaka village. Since everything seemed to be working against him, and his life was getting worse every day, it made sense for him to return home.
The following day, Amadi returned to his village, and when his father, Obi, saw him, he burst into tears.
“What happened to you? You look so lean and even older than your age,” Obi asked Amadi.
“Papa, it’s a long story. I came back home to rest because I have been through so many ups and downs,” Amadi said.
“Welcome back, my son. This is always your home, and you’re welcome anytime,” Obi said.
Even though Obi hated that his son had not completed the 7 years he was supposed to stay with Eze, he was glad that Amadi had returned to Usaka village.
After Amadi rested for two days, he told his father Obi all that had happened to him in the city.
“You’re the reason all of these things happened to you,” Obi said after Amadi told him everything.
“Are you also saying that I have bad luck?” Amadi asked his father.
“No, Amadi, it’s not bad luck. If it were just bad luck, it wouldn’t be this serious,” Obi said.
“Then what is it, papa? What is it?” Amadi asked in a teary voice, ” I have been insulted and humiliated by many people. I even reduced myself to someone who dumps trash for people just to survive,” Amadi cried.
“The reason you experienced all of these things is because you have refused to accept your responsibility as the guardian of the Sacred River, and the spirits are not pleased with you,” Obi said.
“Ah! Ah! Papa, that cannot be possible. How do the spirits even know where I was?” Amadi asked.
“See, Amadi, you cannot understand spiritual things with an ordinary mind. Even if you travelled to a different country, the same thing would have happened to you,” Obi said.
“So, Papa, you’re telling me that just because I refused to become a guardian, the spirits of the sacred river decided to ruin my life. What If I had died? What if I starved to death?” Amadi asked in a furious tone.
“You cannot die, Amadi; nothing bad would have happened to you. I was constantly pleading with the spirits on your behalf,” Obi said.
“I have never heard that it’s by force to serve something. In this generation, even God will not force you to serve him,” Amadi said.
“Like I told you before, our tradition is different, and unfortunately, it doesn’t leave you with a choice. My son, I do not want you to suffer. Please stop running away from your destiny,” Obi begged Amadi.
“The last thing I want is to spend the rest of my life in this village and serve spirits that have wrecked my life,” Amadi said.
“Hmmm! Amadi, I wish there was another way, but there isn’t. The spirits were only angry with you; it doesn’t mean that if you change your mind, they will not take you back. See, eh? Everything you went to look for in the city is in this village. If you want wealth and you want to open your own business, the spirits can help you,” Obi said in a bid to convince Amadi.
“Papa, let me think about this,” Amadi answered.
Somehow, Amadi believed everything his father had told him. Back in the city, Amadi had suspected that his refusal to serve the sacred river had a hand in all his failures, but he wasn’t sure until his father confirmed it.
Even though the last thing Amadi wanted was to serve the spirits of the sacred river, he had no choice but to do so.
Two days after Amadi had that conversation with his father, he told his father that he was ready to serve the sacred river.
When Obi heard that, he was pleased, and he thanked Amadi for making the right choice. That same day, Obi went to offer some sacrifice to the spirits of the sacred river, and he begged them to forgive Amadi, and they did.
In the days that followed, Obi performed all the rituals that were necessary to initiate Amadi as the new guardian of the sacred river and taught Amadi everything he needed to know about the spirits.
Surprisingly, on the first day Amadi was initiated as the new guardian of the sacred river, the spirits of the river visited him. For the first time in his life, Amadi saw the spirits in a form and talked face-to-face with them. While conversing with the spirits, they revealed a lot of secrets to him, and Amadi also had a vision about his future.
Two days after Amadi began to see the spirits, he realized that being the guardian of the sacred river was not as bad as he thought. In less than 2 days, he had learned more about Usaka village and its history than he had learned in 27 years.
Slowly, Amadi began to adapt to his new role and responsibility, and as time passed, the villagers of Usaka began to recognize his gifts and potential.
The good thing about Amadi’s gifts was that he could see things before they happened, and if something terrible were to happen in Usaka village, he would warn the king about it.
Also, If someone were to die before his or her time, Amadi would Intercede for the person and the spirits of the sacred river would stop the untimely death.
Exactly two years after Amadi accepted his calling as the guardian of the sacred river, his father, Obi, passed away in his sleep. Before Obi died, Amadi had already seen his father’s death in a vision, but there was nothing he could do to stop it because it was his father’s time.
After Obi passed away, Amadi continued to serve as the guardian of the sacred river, and in return, the spirits blessed Amadi with whatever he asked for. In the history of Usaka village, Amadi was the first guardian of the river who had so much wealth, even more than the king of Usaka.
With his wealth, Amadi opened numerous businesses, including an electronics shop in the village of Usaka. He had a lot of cars, and he built beautiful houses around the village.
Years later, he married a pretty woman named Nneka, and she bore him two boys and a girl.
Like Amadi, the spirits of the sacred river chose his first son as the next guardian. Although Amadi served the sacred river until his old age, his first son took over at age 33, a few years before Amadi passed away.
The end
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