EPISODE 16
Bella pled with Tania for her life
but the latter was determined to
end Bella’s life. Tania: “Yes, I deliberately rammed
the car because I wanted Dayo
dead, and even now I still want
him dead, to pave the way for the
child that I will bear for Dami. But
my annoyance is that, you used me, you manipulated me for your
selfish reason. Still, you are
looking for information to ruin
me, now you have the
information, but you will not live
to recount it” she said and pressed the trigger. Two things
happened; one the gun clicked
empty, and Tania suddenly began
to feel dizzy, the gun dropped
from her hands and she fell to the
floor. Everywhere became dark in her eyes, and she slipped into
unconsciousness. Bella took to her heels, crying and
screaming, she ran alone on the
deserted path. Skyby carried
Tania in his arms, and took her to
the hospital, in his car. So, he was
there when the doctor told Tania, who had been revived, that she
was not sick, but pregnant. Tania: “Doctor, are you for real? I
am really pregnant?” she asked
with excitement. Doctor: “Yes, you are pregnant” Tania: “Dami is going to be very
pleased when I tell him this” she
said to herself, oblivious of Skyby
standing in a corner. Skyby became thoughtful, he had
been having unprotected sex
with Tania, which was against the
rules of engagement, and now
she was pregnant. He couldn’t tell
if the child was his or her husband’s. He was told to
monitor her and get her to
confess to her crimes, not sleep
with her and make babies. It so
happened, that an eye witness at
the scene of the accident had told the police that Tania suddenly
swerved and rammed her car,
even when there was no
oncoming vehicle in her path. The
police concluded that it could
only be intentional, but because they did not have a motive, they
had resorted to a covert
operation to get her to confess. Skyby: “Have you thought of the
fact that this child could be mine?”
he asked suddenly. Tania: “No way in hell, this child
belongs to my husband. I had
plenty copulation with my
husband before I met you. I am
certain that this child is my
husband’s” she said vehemently and turned her face away. When morning came, Dayo left
the church and began to wander
the streets of Oshogbo, asking
people for Madam Lagos. But no
one knew who he was talking
about. The day he left the church, he wandered without eating, but
from the second day, he began to
go to restaurants to wash dishes,
and as a reward, they would give
him food. He left off washing dishes in
restaurants and began to do
‘Alabaru’ in the market, carrying
people’s load for a fee. One fateful
day, Khadijat’s mother came to
the market to buy food stuffs. It was her first time out of the house
since her husband’s death. She
wore a black gown with black
hijab. She had bought all the
things she needed and was
standing in the market when Dayo approached her. Dayo: “Iya wa, let me carry your
load for you for hundred naira”
he said. Khadijat’s mother: “You don’t
look like a street child, what are
you doing here?” she asked, not
knowing that she was talking to
her grandson. Dayo: “I am looking for Madam
Lagos, it was the reason I left
Lagos to come to Oshogbo.” He
replied. Khadijat’s mother: “I don’t know
anybody by that name. But if you
insist on carrying the load, I don’t
mind, but you must promise to
come in when we reach my
destination, so that you can have something to eat and drink” she
said. Dayo: “Thank you ma, I would
appreciate it” he replied with
excitement. Khadijat’s mother: “How old are
you?” she asked as the boy
carried the load on his head. Dayo: “I am eleven years old,
almost twelve” he said as they
went on their way. Khadijat’s
mother thought of her daughter
who died while pregnant, if she
had given birth, the boy would have grown up like this boy.
Whenever she thought of her
daughter, her heart ached. When they got to the house, she
greeted her neighbour, Damilola’s
mother. Over the years, the
women had found succour in
each other, each had been
connected by the grandchild that they thought was never born. Damilola’s mother: “Neighbour I
have news oh, I don’t know
whether it is good news or not.
When you are done, please come
to my apartment. It is about my
son” she said. A cloud came over Khadijat’s mother’s face, Damilola
was the one who put her
daughter in the family way, and
though she had become close
with the mother, she could still
not forgive him for what he caused. She could never forgive
that he deceived her daughter
and abandoned her when she fell
pregnant. Khadijat’s mother: “Neighbour, I
am sorry but I don’t want to hear
about your son” she said and
turned to go. Damilola’s mother: “It is not only
about my son, it is about our
grandson, please come later” she
entreated Khadijat’s mother, and
went into her apartment.
Khadijat’s mother was thoughtful for a while before going into her
own apartment. She brought a
plate of amala and ewedu for
Dayo, and a cold bottle of coke. It
had been a long while that Dayo
had that kind of meal, since he left Lagos. Dayo: “Thank you ma’am, may
God bless you. I will like to be on
my way now” He said after eating,
and Khadijat’s mother brought
out a thousand naira note, which
she gave to him. Dayo: “Iya wa, this is too much,
the money is just one hundred
naira” he said looking at the note
in his hand with wide eyes. Khadijat’s mother: “Take it my
son, you need it” she said and
bade him goodbye, not knowing
that her grandson had come to
her house. After Dayo left, she went to her
neighbour’s house to hear what
she had to say. Damilola’s mother: “My son just
called me. Khadijat did not die in
that accident as we thought, she
gave birth to the child, but died
on the operating table. However,
the child is alive, but something happened and he ran away. He
was staying with the son of the
woman who saved Khadijat, and
Damilola only found out after the
boy ran away. They are still
looking for the boy” she said. Khadijat’s mother sat down
heavily on the chair, she thought
that she was beginning to heal
from the loss of her daughter and
her grandchild, but now the
wound had been ripped open. She began to shiver so much that,
Damilola’s mother had to wrap a
blanket around her. Dayo kept coming back every day
to Khadijat’s mother’s house, to
help her with chores and follow
her to the market. The woman
became fond of him and one day,
after serving him jollof rice and a cold cup of water, she began to
ask him about his parents. Dayo: “I have no parents, my
mother died while giving birth to
me. I don’t know about my father
either.” Khadijat’s mother: “What is your
name?” she inquired. Dayo: “I am Dayo” Khadijat’s mother: “That is a good
name, but don’t you think you
should return to school,
education they say is the best
legacy” Dayo: “I want to go to school
because I want to be a medical
doctor, it is my mother’s dream,
but who is going to send me to
school? That is why I am working
in the market to save money to go to school” he explained. Khadijat’s mother: “It is such a
pity, come back tomorrow I will
have something for you” she said
and encouraged him to be a
good boy. The next day, she wanted to go
to the market and was waiting for
Dayo to come as usual, to escort
her to the market. While she was
waiting, there was a knock on
her door. She went to open it and saw Damilola’s mother with some
other people. Damilola’s mother: “Neighbour,
this is my son, Damilola and he
came with Madam Lagos and the
man who our grandson, Dayo
was living with” she said, with
mixed feelings. She was happy to know that their grandson was
alive and not dead with his
mother as they had thought, but
now they didn’t know where he
was or what he was doing. Khadijat’s mother: “Did you say
Dayo, how does he look?” she
asked, as something told her that
she had been with her grandson
all the while, and had not
recognized him. Damilola began to describe Dayo,
there was tears in his eyes as he
described the boy, whom he had
loved, not knowing he was his
son whom he had rejected. Khadijat’s mother: “Alhamdulilah,
that boy has been with me all
these while, and I didn’t know he
is my grandson. Thank God for
directing his footsteps to me, may
Allah be praised” she said, and told them that they should wait
for Dayo would soon come to
follow her to the market. But they waited for a long time
and Dayo did not come, they
stayed in Oshogbo for a week,
but Dayo did not show up. They
were back to square one.
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