EPISODE 6
Dayo refused to eat or drink, until
he was told about his roots. He
locked himself up in his room and
refused seeing anyone, unless
they were ready to tell him the
truth. Dayo: “You lied to me, dad. I
never thought you would ever lie.
Anyways, you are not my dad” he
had said to Gberan when he tried
to placate him, after he heard the
banter between him and his wife, Bella. Gberan was forced to call his
mother, to come and salvage the
situation, as it had gone beyond
him. Madam Lagos: “So you agree that
you couldn’t do something as
simple as taking care of a child”
she said sarcastically. Gberan: “I tried my best. If he had
not heard me and Bella arguing, it
wouldn’t have come to this” Madam Lagos: “I will be there
tomorrow” she said. When Madam Lagos came, she
found out that Dayo had not
eaten for two days straight. She
felt pained and felt like she had
failed Khadijat. She rushed to his
room and banged on the door. Madam Lagos: “My son, Dayo.
Please open the door, I want to
talk with you” she said in a
broken voice. Dayo: “Who are you, I don’t want
to talk to anyone but my real
parents” he said in a voice too
strong for someone who had not
eaten for days. Madam Lagos: “I want to tell you
about your real parents” she said
and heard the door click open.
The door opened slowly to reveal
a stricken Dayo, his eyes were
puffy from crying. Her heart broke at this sight. She rushed
forward and enveloped him in an
embrace. Madam Lagos: “I am so sorry my
son, we should have told you the
truth from the beginning” she
said into his hair. Dayo: “Is it true my mother is
dead?” Madam Lagos led him into his
room and shut the door behind
her. They sat on his bed as she
told him about Khadijat, and how
she had died. Dayo: “You mean my real father
did not want me?” he asked, tears
already gathering in his eyes. Madam Lagos: “He was just being
irresponsible, and it is his loss.
Gberan is my son and he loves
you just as if you were his son. It
is to your advantage that you stay
here. Oshogbo is a backwater town, and you will not get the
opportunities you have here” She
said and then pulled Dayo closer,
“Your mother made me promise
that, I would help you in any way
I can, so you would be all that she couldn’t be. Do you know she
wanted to be a doctor?” she said
conspiratorially. Dayo: “Really?” he asked with
wide eyes, just as he made a
promise in his heart to be a
doctor just to honor his mother. Madam Lagos: “Yes, she already
had an admission into school to
study medicine before you came
on the scene. She was very smart,
and lovable. You have her
personality. she smiled even when things were not bright” she
told him, with a faraway look in
her eyes and a sad smile on her
lips. She missed Khadijat, and told
herself that if she was her
daughter, no matter the shame brought about by teenage
pregnancy, she would never
have pushed her away. Dayo: “I want to fulfill all my
mother’s dreams. I want to be a
doctor for her” he said
enthusiastically. Madam Lagos: “That is my boy.
There is nothing you set your
heart to, that you cannot achieve.
So even when life gets tough, just
hold on, and remember your
mother’s dreams” she admonished and kissed his fore-
head. Dayo: “Can I call your grandma?” Madam Lagos: “Of course son, I
think I have earned the right,
don’t you think?” she asked
rhetorically. After Madam Lagos’ visit, Dayo
turned back to the happy child
that he was, and apologized to
Ken. The latter did not care much
for his apology because, nothing
had changed. Cassandra still had a crush on Dayo, and his father
was still very much besotted with
him. Ken: “Mother, I want Dayo out of
this house. If he really is not my
father’s son, why do I have to
compete with him for my father’s
love?” he cried, complaining to
his mother. Bella sat down hard and stared into nothingness. “Gberan loves that boy, there is
no way I can take him out of this
house, without arousing
suspicions. What do I do?” she
thought, tuning out her son’s
hysterical cries. Ken: “Mother, I am talking to you”
he said stomping his feet, and
shoving his mother. Bella shoved
him away angrily, for he was
disturbing her train of thoughts.
Ken cried the more and ran out of his parents’ room. Bella shook her head at his
tantrums, she couldn’t
understand why her son could
not be like Dayo. At ten years old,
he cried like a baby, and was the
dullest in his class. “Guess I spoilt him too much, or
perhaps it is the fault of that Dayo,
he makes my son cry too much
and he overshadows my son.
Truly, he has to go” she thought
and stood up abruptly. Bella went to her son’s room and
knocked on the door. Ken: “Go away, I don’t want to
see you. You don’t care about me,
just like everyone else” he
shouted from inside the room.
Bella heard the voice and her
heart broke. Bella: “I am sorry my son, who
else would I love, if not my only
son. Open the door for your
mom” she said, and waited. The
door clicked open and her son
stood there with his puffy face. Bella: “I promise you son, Dayo
will leave this house very soon”
she said and stroked his head.
Ken gave her a smile amidst his
tears. That Sunday, Bella arranged a
family lunch, a friend of hers was
coming with her husband to visit.,
even Dayo was going to eat with
them because, her husband
would be home. She prepared assorted dishes, she even made
housekeepers come to revamp
the house because, she wanted
to show off to her friend. She had
always competed with Tania since
they were course mates in America. It was in America that
Tania had met her husband. The
three were friends but he had
fallen in love with Tania, even
though Bella had been showing
him all the signs. Coming back to Nigeria, Bella had quickly killed
her crush when she met Gberan.
But the three had remained
friends, but that rivalry had
remained between Bella and
Tania. Dayo was dressed in a cute denim
top and trousers which Gberan
had bought for him, to the
consternation of Ken, even
though he had gotten a clothe
gift too. But he felt that Dayo’s was superior to his. When he
came to the table, ken gave him a
stink eye, he was vexed at the
mere sight of Dayo wearing the
cloth his father had bought. “That should be mine” He
thought, but consoled himself
with the promise his mother had
made him. The visitors came and Bella
rushed to embrace Tania. The
women air kissed like they had
really missed each other, but their
eyes were roaming each other’s
body to see who the better woman was. Bella still had her
trim shape, despite the birth of
her son, and for the occasion, she
was garbed in an exotic velvet
dress, which was embellished
with little diamond studs on one side of the bodice. Tania, after
trying and failing for so long to
give her husband a child, she was
beginning to let go, she had
gained a birth of weight around
her midsection. However, this was gracefully hidden in the empire
waist purple gown she worn. The
sleek fabric told of dollars spent,
and her skin told of her
husband’s care. Bella: “You look good” she said
with a sly grin. Tania: “You look good too” she
said as she looked up and
touched Bella’s hair, “ Is this hair
human hair? It looks synthetic”
she said with a frown creasing
her smooth fore-head. Bella: “God forbid that I should
wear synthetic hair, this is
Peruvian hair, which I got for a
whooping sum of 500,000
naira”, “You look really great,
except for that pouch in your midsection, and you haven’t even
been pregnant before. I will
recommend a tea for you” she
said and beckoned to them to
come in. The husbands shook
their head, Tania’s husband was not surprised, he was used to
them, they often gave each insults
laced with pleasantries. While they ate, Bella watched
Tania and her husband, she
wondered why he was still with
her , after many years of
marriage, Tania still had not given
him a child. She was still studying them when something struck her,
it was the way the man was
looking at Dayo. She dismissed it
as the usual admiration the boy
got from everyone because of his
good looks. But just before she turned away, it struck her that
Dayo was just as handsome as
Tania’s husband. Damilola: “Little boy, what is your
name?” he asked as he watched
Dayo with a smile on his face. Dayo: “I am Dayo sir, dare I say,
you have a beautiful wife” he said
with his favorite smile, which was
his mouth turned up to the side,
with a dimple on his cheek. Tania: “Such a charmer, aren’t
you?” she said, already taken by
the boy, who was already such a
sweet talker at a young age. Damilola: “You are a bright child,
will talk to your dad about giving
you a scholarship” he said, as his
heart constricted. “Perhaps God will forgive me, and
smile on me with a child” He
thought, he was pulled out of his
thoughts by an outburst. Ken: “He is not my father’s son,
and he will never be” he
exclaimed and ran out of the
dinning. Gberan: “Don’t pay him any heed,
that boy is full of tantrums” he
said and looked curiously at his
wife who had not said a word,
but had a devious smile on his
face. “I think I have found the solution
to all my problems” she thought
wickedly.
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Dedicated to you reading this yes you
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