EPISODE 17
After leaving khadijat’s mother’s
house, Dayo had gone back to
the market to continue his
Alabaru job. When night fell, he
went to an uncompleted building
where he usually slept, just a few distances from the market. He had
slept deeply and was already
dreaming of his mother, it was his
favourite dream. He always made
sure that he thought of his
mother alone, as he laid his head on the hard floor of the
uncompleted building and stared
at the starry night sky. On this night, after devouring the
agidi jollof he bought from the
market, he laid to sleep, and as
usual was dreaming of his mother
when he was startled awake by
thud of feet. He got up to a sitting position and tried to see through
the darkness, the people
intruding his sleeping place.
When he could not see anything,
he stood up and tiptoed towards
the sound of voices, and listened. He heard the voices of men and
from their conversation, he could
gather that they were planning to
rob a house. “Oh my God, they are armed
robbers! If they see me here, they
might kill me” he thought as he
squatted behind the wall. But he
did not squat for long when he
tried to adjust and hit a tin lying by the side. The noise of the
rolling tin pierced the still night,
and the voices stopped. Then
Dayo heard someone say that,
they were not alone. “Come out now and I might spare
you, remain hidden and when I
find you, I shall kill you” he heard
a coarse voice say. Dayo was not
ready to take chances with his
life, so he jumped out and prostrated in front of the gang of
thieves. Dayo: “Please spare my life, I am
an orphan” he cried. He was
asked to stand up and he stared
into the scariest eyes he had ever
seen in his eleven years of living.
The leader of the robbery gang was called Stone, and this was
because no matter how many
shots was fired into him, it didn’t
penetrate. Stone: “What did you hear?” he
asked, looking at the boy who
had disturbed their timeline. They
were supposed to be across the
street in the lemon painted house
where the head of women in the market lived. Dayo: “I did not hear anything,
please spare my life I am an
orphan, I have no one in this
world, I have nothing other than
my mother’s dream. Please don’t
kill me, I fled from death in Lagos to Oshogbo, please don’t kill me”
he cried. Stone: “Pitiful. If we don’t kill you,
we must take you with us, and to
earn your keep, you have to
prove your usefulness” Dayo: “I will do anything you
want” he said anxiously,
shivering in the plastic boot he
scavenged from the dustbin. Stone: “You see that lemon
house” he said pointing to the
dimly lit house across the street,
“You will go there and bang on
the gate until someone comes to
the gate. Oya, move” he said and pushed Dayo out of the
uncompleted building. They went
with him and hid in the shrubs
around the house, while Dayo
walked with shaky legs to the
front gate. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but he
was faced with no other choice.
He couldn’t risk that the guns in
their hands were filled with
bullets. Tania stayed in the hospital
because the doctor said she was
over stressing herself and needed
to be on bed rest for a week. She
had Skyby at her beck and call,
but unknown to her, Skyby had recorded the encounter between
Bella and Tania, where she
confessed to trying to kill Dayo,
and wanting to kill Bella. So, she
was still on the hospital bed,
trying to call her husband, Damilola when policemen walked
into her hospital room. Tania: “Officers, how can I help
you?” she asked, her voice shook
to register her fear. She quickly
hung up on her husband, whom
she was about to call. Police man: “You are under arrest
for intentionally endangering the
life of a minor, with the intention
to kill and the attempted murder
of Bella” the police said and read
her rights to her. Tania: “I don’t understand a word
you are saying. Did Bella tell you
all these, you must know that she
is a pathological liar and has been
jealous of me for a long while”
she said, thinking words would get her out of the conundrum she
has found herself. Police man: “Whatever you have
to say, you will say it at the police
station. Now quietly follow us or
we will be forced to apply force”
he replied. Then it dawned on Tania that she
was done for, if her husband
heard any of this, he would have
doubts and no matter how hard
she tried to clear her name, he
would always have doubts. Tania: “Please, how much do you
want. I just found out that I am
expecting a baby, my husband
will be overjoyed, and this is just
going to ruin the news. Please,
any amount I will pay” she pled as she was led out of the hospital,
with the doctors and patients
gawking at her being handcuffed
and taken away. Police man: “You are wasting
your time, and even
compounding your crimes. As we
speak, your husband is being
informed as we found that the
boy in question is his son” the police man replied her brashly. Tania: “This is Bella’s handiwork,
no doubt. Are you going to listen
to that bitch?” she exclaimed, but
the policemen did not reply her
anymore. Damilola was confused and
distraught. He had been happy
when he found out that Dayo was
his son. It meant he still had a
chance to redeem his past
mistakes, but having waited for a week without Dayo showing his
face, he was convinced that
something had happened to the
boy. It hurt him to find out that
Dayo did ‘alabaru’ when his
father had plenty. Damilola: “Forgive me Lord, I was
foolish. Forgive me Khadijat, I
didn’t know better. My friends
had their girlfriends abort babies,
I didn’t understand why you
were adamant about doing same, I thought it was the norm. Please
forgive me” he sat and cried in a
corner of his mother’s apartment.
He felt a hand on his shoulder
and when he looked up, it was
his mother. Damilola’s mother: “How long are
you going to beat yourself up
about this. I think no matter the
lives that was lost because of the
decision you and Khadijat, bless
her soul, made, it is time to forgive yourself and move on. Thank
God, your son is still alive, pick
yourself up and go look for your
son” she admonished. When she
was done talking, she told him
that his phone was ringing, it was the reason she came. He thanked
her and checked his phone, he
had a missed call from his wife
and another strange number. He
thought that perhaps Tania
wanted to nag about him abandoning his life and searching
for Dayo, if Gberan could do it,
why couldn’t he? He didn’t
understand why Tania was
nonchalant about Dayo’s plight,
didn’t she love him? If she didn’t why did she take him out? His
doubts about the accident arose
again, but he pushed them aside
and called back the strange
number. The first words he heard
shattered his world. Damilola: “Hello, Damilola here,
who am I speaking with?” he
asked. Police man: “Your attention is
needed urgently, your wife has
been arrested for a number of
charges, among which is the
deliberate ploy to harm a minor
by name, Dayo” the policeman on the other side of the phone said.
Damilola was stunned, he allowed
the phone drop from his hand
and shatter on the ground. Damilola’s mother: “What is it,
omo mi” She held his hand, but
Damilola did not say a word, tear
drops just fell from his eyes like
dominoes. The mother’s shouts
brought Gberan from the other room, and he joined in asking
Damilola, what had happened. Damilola: “My own wife tried to
kill my son” he said, with glazed
eyes that stared into space. Gberan: “I don’t understand you,
what do you mean?” he asked. Damilola: “What don’t you
understand, don’t you
understand or do you shy away
from the possibility? Tania my
wife tried to kill Dayo! The
accident was a deliberate incidence. The police just called,
she has already been arrested”
he said hysterically. Gberan: “I can’t believe this” he
said, but he felt relieved, because
he had thought that Bella had
something to do with the
accident. It was no news that
Bella didn’t like Dayo. Damilola: “This must be God’s way
of punishing me” he said and
began to cry. Gberan felt piteous
towards him, he had never seen a
man look so broken. In prison, Tania was allowed only
one phone call, it was expected
that she would call her husband
or her lawyer, but she called none
of them. She called Skyby...
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