There And Back On Time - Season 1 - Episode 36

5 years ago

There And Back On Time - Season 1 - Episode 36

Germany Dilemma

WE got to Brandenburg an der havel at
exactly 4 pm on a cold October evening.
There was no direct train Eissen to
Brandenburg.

We had changed at Berlin Ostbanhof Station,
One of the three largest Stations in Berlin
and the entire East Germany.

My stay with Agnes in the train was awkward.
There was no tangible topic to discuss, so we
just kept quiet and concentrated on
ourselves.

When we got down at Berlin Ostbanhof, we
sat down inside the station and ate peanuts.
Our next train was 30 minutes away.
” Did you really tell that little girl what you
said to me” Agnes asked me.

” No, I did not.” I said.
She looked at me for more explanations.
” She found a used condom on me and
freaked out” I said.

Agnes looked at me and said nothing.
” I had sexxx with a fat German woman
yesterday at her place and forgot to throw
the Damn thing away” I continued.
I begged her to forget what happened but she
refused, so here we are” I said.
” I believe in Destiny Agnes and whatever that will be will surely be” I said again.
She just kept quiet and listened.
I told her that when I first came into the
camp, it was her that stole my heart and
attention, then Melinda surfaced and passed
through. I also told her that Awiti was just
part of my history which I would write
someday (and I am doing that now).

I also told her that destiny was more
interested in keeping me and her together
and it was left for us to work on making it
count.

She said nothing as I led her through wise
sayings and divine jargons etc.

*I was the prophet, Solomon the wise*
When our train arrived, we boarded it and
proceded to Brandenburg an der Havel.

When we got out at the Brandenburg train
station, a bus was standing outside. We
asked the driver if he was going to HEIM..

(HEIM is a permanent base where the asylum
seekers are accommodated until the
Germans certify you good enough to live
among the population. We were in Eastern
Germany where racism was still rampant, so
keeping us together was for our own
security)

The bus driver nodded and we entered the
bus. The ticket we collected from camp did not
cover the bus, so we bought new tickets.
Ten minutes later, we arrived in front of the
heim.

A fat middle aged woman (We later gave her
a nickname; IYI) opened the house door as
we pressed the bell.

We presented our papers to her. She
directed us to the office inside the house
where we were cleared properly.

There were two buildings inside the
compound. One was a two storey building with
many rooms while the smaller one at the
back was a one storey building with self-
contain rooms.

The big one belonged to male while the one at
the back was The female house.

It was different from camp but not much
different.

I was given room 22 which I was supposed to
share with a Cameroun guy until some other
room was furnished for me. Agnes was
taken to the female house and given a self-
contain apartment.

(Please understand that germans dont name
rooms like us. All the rooms on the second
floor naturaly starts with 2. room 22 simple
means room 2 on the second floor)

The monthly allowances for each of us was
199.40 euro. Approximately 200 euros.

We were given a fraction of that amount
since we came in the middle of October.

There were some other Igbo boys in the
same HEIM when we arrived. Johnson from
Abiriba, Jordan from Nnewi, Tony from
Ekwulobia, Chibuzor from Ozubulu and Filas
from Nanka.

Then there were two Esan girls. Jordan was
dating one while the other one hardly stays
in the HEIM.

When I dropped my paper bag and received
my money, I went to the shopping mall called
Eurospar which was 300 meters away.

I saw Johnson and Jordan with some other
Guinea men loitering along the road but didn’t know what they were doing.

I bought a big coca cola bottle and sweet
bread and headed back to the heim.

I went to my room and ate, then I slept for
an hour or so. I woke up and headed to the
female house, it was in the same place and it
took me a minute to enter inside there.

Agnes had told me her room number when
we were collecting our money.

I knocked on room 15 and entered. The female
rooms were very neat and bigger. It had its
own bathroom unlike our house.

I gave her some of the bread I bought but
she refused. We chatted for an hour before I
went back to my room.

There was no restriction whatsoever in the
heim. A man can go to the woman’s house at anytime.

We were finally free or so I thought….