EPISODE 9
She was crying. Her eyes were
puffy from the crying she had
done since Bella broke the news
to her. She didn’t trust her so
called friend’s intentions, but it
didn’t change the fact that what she said was true. So that
adorable boy was Damilola’s son,
she pondered. “I should have known, his eyes
are like Damilola’s eyes, the nose
and mouth are all Damilola’s. It
was right in front of me and I
couldn’t see it. Ha Damilola, after
all the love I have shown you right from America, you still go
ahead and got yourself a child
outside our marriage” Tania
pondered. Tania remembered that day at
dinner, Bella had been smiling so
hard like she was in on a secret
joke. She guessed that the joke
was all about her not knowing
that her husband already had a son. When she was done crying,
she wiped her eyes, applied a
little make-up and went
downstairs to watch television, as
the time for her husband to come
home was approaching. After a while, she heard the key turn in
the keyhole, and the door
opened, Damilola came in with a
smile. He always had a smile on
his face for her, Tania had
thought that it was because of their situation and Damilola didn’t
want her to brood, but now it felt
like Damilola was also mocking
her. All these culminated in the
decision she took. Tania: “Welcome home darling,
how was work today?” she
asked, as she took his portfolio. Damilola: “My day was great
because I know it would end up
in me coming home to you” he
replied and brushed a kiss on her
lips. Tania followed him upstairs so he
could freshen up, and she
watched him carefully. She was
looking for telltale signs of his
deception, but she found none. Damilola: “I am so glad I have
succeeded in putting up a
scholarship fund for that boy
Dayo. Children like him deserve all
the encouragement they can get”
he said as he toweled off after his shower. Tania: “Really huh” she replied in
a flat voice. Damilola: “Are you alright?” he
asked, puzzled by her
nonchalance. Tania: “I am alright, I just want my
own child, this house gets lonely”
she said with a frown, then she
lightened up like an idea had
popped into her head, “Why
don’t we invite Dayo to stay with us for a few days, I would find joy
in taking him to school every day.
I am not sure Bella likes his
presence in that house” she said. Damilola: “He is not even related
to us, would Gberan accept?” he
asked, but Tania could see the
excitement in his eyes. Damilola
wanted Dayo to come as his wife
had suggested because he wanted to egt to know the boy
and see what was about him that
brought him memories of the
past. “You wicked, traitor of a
husband” she thought. When Tania told Bella that she
wanted Dayo to come stay with
them for a few days, she was
surprised. She had expected
something different, but now it
seems Tania wanted to play ‘mother’ with her husband’s son. Bella: “But Tania, have you
confronted Damilola?” she asked
acting concerned. Tania: “I can’t, the moment I tell
him, our marriage is over. So I am
going to try to love him, I mean
the boy” she replied with a forced
smile. Bella: “What!” she exclaimed and
Tania almost burst into laughter,
her so called friend really wanted
her to react another way. “Sorry Bella, I am a wise woman. I
can’t throw away my marriage
because of this. The society is not
fair to women who leave their
marriages, no matter the reason”
She thought as she listened to Bella ramble on and on about
how Tania was letting her
husband win. Tania: “Bella, if you are really my
friend, talk to your husband, let
Dayo light up our house for a few
days” she pleaded. Bella: “Alright alright, I will” she
replied and hung up. Bella: “That Tania na ode sha oh.
She is just going to scatter all my
plans. What do I do now?” she
soliloquized. It was that time her husband
came back from the stadium with
Dayo where they had gone to
train, their bond was getting
stronger and soon Gberan would
forget his own son. She stood up abruptly from the chaise where
she was lounging, and went to
her husband with a smile on her
face. Bella: “Oko mi, I just got off the
phone with Tania, she is asking
for Dayo to come and stay with
them a few days or a week. I pity
her, she is such a lonely woman” Gberan: “I wanted to spend time
with Dayo oh” he grimaced. Bella: “Gberan, you make me
laugh oh. You want to spend time
with Dayo, what about your son,
Ken, who is going to spend time
with him” she thundered. Gberan: “It is not my fault that
Ken refuses to do the things that
boys his age love. Perhaps he
could spend time with you
learning makeup and scheming”
he flung at his wife. Dayo watched the ensuing
quarrel and knew that he had to
do something about it, also,
perhaps his mummy Bella was
right, his daddy Gberan needed
to spend time with his real son, Ken. Dayo: “Father, I will like to go to
aunt Tania’s house, I would like
to keep her company for a week,
while you teach Ken the piano, he
has always wanted to learn, I see
the way he looks at it in church” he said. If only he had known
that this one decision would
change his life forever, he would
not have decided to be the bigger
person, he would have stayed
where Gberan could protect him. Gberan: “You such a gem, I love
you for this. Alright I will call
Damilola to come pick you up, if
you get tired at any point, just tell
Damilola you want to speak to
your father” he said, with a smile beaming on his face. He was so
proud to be known as Dayo’s
father. He wondered why his real
father didn’t accept the
pregnancy, if only he knew that
the pregnancy resulted into an amazing child, like Dayo. Bella: “You are not his father, he is
actually going to his father” she
muttered under her breath, her
husband only heard the first part
and didn’t hear the second part. Gberan: “Son, go to your room
and pack a bag” he said and
dismissed Dayo, when he had
gone, he faced his wife, “I really
don’t know what your problem
is, it is high time I called your mother” Bella: “I am not the problem
Gberan, you are. Our Ken is
feeling like his father doesn’t love
him, whereas you shower all your
love on a boy whose father
rejected him” she sneered through clenched teeth. Gberan didn’t say anything, he
only became thoughtful. He
realized that he had become too
besotted with Dayo, and had
neglected his son in the process.
He also realized that Dayo knew this too, that was the reason he
agreed to go to Damilola’s place,
and had even suggested what he
should do with Ken. Dayo was so
easy to love, while Ken was a
hard nut to crack. Gberan: “I am sorry” he said and
that threw Bella off balance, she
had expected a rebuttal, that was
what they did these days, but
Gberan had said ‘sorry’ Bella: “For what?” she asked Gberan: “For neglecting our son, I
will do something about it” he
said. The doorbell rang and Bella went
to usher in Tania and her
husband, Damilola. Bella looked
at her friend with a puzzled
expression. She wondered what
went on in the woman’s head, and how she reached the
decision to bring her husband’s
child into her house. Tania: “Dayo darling, are you
excited in living with us?” she
asked with the brightest smile
that flaunted her small, pearly
teeth. Dayo: “Yes I am, you are good
people” he replied with a smile of
his own. Damilola: “Let’s go Dayo” he said
and held his hand, it never
occurred to him that he was
holding the hand of the boy he
had rejected many years ago. Ken: “Mother, Dayo didn’t pack all
his things, is he going to come
back?” he whispered to his
mother. Bella: “Not if I am right” she
replied watching Tania. She was a
good judge of persons, and she
had watched Tania closely and
seen that beneath all that smiles
and laughter, there was seething anger and pain as she looked at
Dayo. Bella had caught Tania giving
Dayo the stink eye, and there she
had known that she need not do
anything, Tania was going to take
care of the ‘Dayo’ problem for
them. She wondered what she would do, would she poison him,
or take him to an orphanage far
away, where he would never
cross Damilola’s path. “Vicious woman, you are worse
than me Tania” she thought as
she smiled and waved to the
couple as they led Dayo to their
car. “So you are smart Dayo, how
come you don’t know, that you
are being led to the slaughter?”
Bella thought as the car drove out
of their house.
.
.
.
Would Dayo face
danger in Damilola’s house from
Tania or would his father find his
son whom everyone thought was
dead?
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