This house is no longer for you.” Relatives sided with him. “The law was too slow.” And at 19, Margaret had no one left to fight for her. Within weeks, she was in a one- room apartment with a broken ceiling fan, surviving on little savings and pity from classmates. Food became a daily prayer. Some nights, she went to bed on only water. Some days she walked long distances because she had no transport money. Still, she pushed on.

Her mother’s words echoed in her mind. Finish what you started. You are a nurse in the making. She studied under street lights when Nepa failed. She endured whispers in the neighborhood. See Chief Agu’s daughter from riches to rags. She will end up a house girl. How the mighty have fallen. Worse were Emma’s taunts.

You see, my dear, life humbles everyone. If you had listened to me, things would be different. And his wife joined in with a smirk. And who will marry you now? You better accept your fate. Their words were meant to crush her, but Margaret carried her dignity like a garment she refused to tear. One scorching afternoon, when her body felt ready to break, she saw him. He looked nothing like Hope.

His hair hung in dreadlocks, his shirt was torn, his slippers mismatched. People crossed the street when they saw him. Children pointed and laughed. But when his eyes met hers, they weren’t empty. They were steady, clearer than anyone she had seen in weeks. That was Sylvester, the man everyone called mad.

And though she could not know it yet, the so-called madman would soon become the only ally she had left in the world. The world had already stripped Margaret Bear. Friends had disappeared, relatives turned their backs, and Uncle Emma’s laughter followed her like a curse. She carried her books in one hand and survival in the other, walking through the streets of Abuja with shoulders that refused to bend, even when her belly cried with hunger. It was on one of those afternoons, the sun scorching like punishment, that she saw him again.

A man many avoided. His hair was a wild crown of dreadlocks. His shirt had lost its buttons. His slippers were two different colors, and his eyes seemed lost in places people feared to wander. He shuffled past market stalls, muttering to himself, carrying a bag filled with things no one wanted. Children pointed, women hissed, men laughed, and shook their heads.

CM that mad man don come again one traitor shouted ego better make government carry him go yaba leftft another replied the world called him mad to them he was dirt an eyes sore a man worth less than the dust under their feet but to Margaret something about him was different because every time their eyes met his gaze wasn’t empty it was steady almost piercing that afternoon as she trudged home from class. Margaret heard footsteps behind her.

She turned, ready to fend off trouble, but it was him, the mad man. He stretched out a hand, holding a nylon bag. Inside was bread. Fresh bread. Margaret frowned. For me, he nodded, lips twitching into what might have been a smile. I can’t take this, she whispered. I don’t even know you.

But her stomach betrayed her, growling loudly in the silence. The man pressed the bread into her hand and walked away without a word, leaving her confused, embarrassed, but grateful. That night, as she ate in the dim light of her candle, tears fell into the bread. It was the only food she had seen in two days.

From then on, he appeared often, sometimes with small amounts of money, crumpled notes, handed silently, sometimes with food, sometimes with nothing but a reassuring presence when she felt the weight of the world. But society did not miss the sight.

One evening at the university gate, Margaret waited for a bus while her mad man stood a short distance away, watching protectively. Students noticed. They burst into cruel laughter. Ha. See Chief Agoo’s daughter O. From riding Praau to following a lunatic. She dayd another mocked. Madman picking goes soon madman picking. The words stabbed her heart. Some spat on the ground as they passed. Others laughed so hard they bent over.

Margaret’s face burned with shame. But when she glanced back at him, he wasn’t laughing. He wasn’t broken. He just looked at her with quiet strength. And for some reason, that strength steadied her. From that day, the rumors spread in markets, in her neighborhood, in the university.