MY MOTHER'S DREAM
EPISODE 22
Since Halima’s husband died, she
had faced one persecution or the
other, it was the reason she left
Lagos for Oshogbo. But still, they
took her to court every other day,
dragging the wealth her husband had left behind. Most times, she
travelled to Lagos for court
hearings, for this reason she put
Cassandra in a boarding school
and after her secondary
education, she was sent to the United States for her higher
education. Ken had grown to be an upright
child. He lived for his father’s
approval, and did all the things
boys his age did, and even more.
He graduated from secondary
school, top of his class, and was even the captain of his school’s
football team. When his mother
heard Cassandra had been sent
to the United States to further her
education, she also asked Gberan
to send ken to the same school. Ken meets up with Cassandra in
America and they begin to date.
Cassandra, though dating Ken,
kept imagining what Dayo would
look like now. Though everyone
thought Dayo dead, she still believed Dayo was alive
somewhere. She didn’t know
how she came about that
conclusion, but she just felt it in
her heart that he was still alive. So,
subconsciously, she withheld her heart from everyone, including
Ken, waiting for the day that Dayo
would come back into her life. So,
ken always felt like her heart was
not in the relationship and he
always complained about it. Until he pushed Cassandra into having
a relationship with somebody on
the internet. For his 18th birthday, Stone employs a tutor to tutor Dayo at
home. He did this because, after
watching the ground breaking of
the orphanage established by
Damilola, he could see the
longing in Dayo’s eyes, and everyday afterwards, the boy got
restless. Stone was afraid that he
would abscond someday and rat
them out. Also as a gift, he
changed Dayo’s name officially to
Robert with the help of a judge who was once his client. Dayo
passed his examinations in flying
colours and gained admission
into the university of Osun, to
study Medicine. He never forgot
his mother’s dream, and everything he did, he did towards
achieving his goal. Even joining
the gang, was to preserve his life
long enough to achieve his
mother’s dreams. He had passed
his Cambridge examinations and had applied to one of the Ivy
league universities in America.
Due to his high performance, he
had been accepted into UCLA, but
Stone had refused to let him go. Stone: “The only way you can
leave us is through death” he
stated bluntly. Dayo didn’t have any friends
because, Stone did not allow him
associate with anyone, for risk of
being found out. So, Dayo found
succour in the internet. This was a
capital case of having all the things money could buy, and not
being happy still. Stone gave him
anything he wanted that money
could buy, like clothes, phones,
he could even drive any car he
wanted in the compound, but his freedom he could not have. One day, he was on social media
when a girl sent him an instant
message, he opened it and
viewed her picture. He was
shocked, it was Cassandra of his
childhood. She had grown more beautiful and robust, but her face
had not changed one bit. He
made to type a long message to
her, as a friend who had found
his long-lost friend. But he
remembered Stone had warned him about contacting anybody
from his past. So, he refrained
from gushing to her and only
replied ‘hi’. However, that did not
deter Cassandra, as she
continued chatting him up. Soon, they became close friends,
and spent all their waking hours
chatting. Cassandra told him
about a childhood love whom
she lost, and hoped to see again.
But Dayo had no personal stories to tell her. He only told her about
Stone, whom he lied was his
father., and stories about his
school and the course he was
reading. Cassandra: “So, you are going to
be a doctor. I guess you can treat
my mother, she is always sad” Dayo: “Why” he asked,
remembering the nice woman
who rarely smiled, but had good
eyes that reflected a good soul. Cassandra: “Well, my father died,
and willed everything to me and
my mother. But my uncles and
aunties are unhappy with that, it
is the reason they have been after
my mother. She goes to court every other day, it is the reason
she sent me to the States” she
texted back. She was surprised
that she told this stranger, things
she did not tell her boyfriend,
Ken. Dayo: “I am sorry about your
father, he is probably in heaven
smiling down on you” he said Cassandra: “You believe that, are
you a kid?” she teased, but Dayo
didn’t find it funny because, these
were the words of his daddy
Gberan, and he held on to it
through the years, hoping that his mother was in heaven smiling
down on him. Cassandra: “You never told me
your name” she said one day and
Dayo rushed to type his name,
but held himself back when he
remembered he was no longer
Dayo. Dayo: “I am called Robert” Cassandra: “Rob, I am Cassandra” They became so close that Dayo
began to have feelings for
Cassandra, but the fear that he
was living a lie kept him from
entertaining such feelings. What
hope was there for him, when Stone had forbidden him from
meeting with anyone from his
past. How could he love someone
whom he couldn’t even tell his
real name? Dayo kept a journal where he
wrote down all his feelings which
he couldn’t speak out. In the
journal, he wrote about Stone
and their love-hate relationship.
He loved Stone because he had become a big brother figure to
him, and he never involved him in
the crimes they committed, since
after he turned twelve and they
became close. When they went
for their operations, he took Dayo along, but always made him sit in
the car with the driver, and he
would always tell the driver that
whenever there was incidence of
police invasion, the driver should
take Dayo away to a safe house. However, Dayo hated him also
because, he had kept from living
his life, it was like his life was
paused. He had no friends, learnt
nothing other than his school
books and stuffs he found online. Things his age groups did, he
could not do because he was a
prisoner of Stone. Sometimes, he
felt like Stone had grown too
fond of him, that he was afraid of
losing him. He had a tight hold on Dayo, that was choking him. Inside the journal, he also wrote
about meeting Cassandra again
after so many years. He wrote
about his feelings for her and
how he was tempted to run away
back to his family because then he would have a chance to
pursue his feelings for Cassandra.
One day, he had slept off while
writing in the journal, and Stone
had found it. He spent the night
reading about Dayo’s thoughts which he had written in the book.
He took Dayo’s phone and went
to his Facebook messages, he
saw the ones he exchanged with
Cassandra, and then he typed
one final message to Cassandra before blocking her. The message
read “I am sorry but I have no
use for your type, it was boring
chatting with you, all you do is
whine about your boyfriend. Do
you even have a boyfriend, or you just want to make me ask
you out? That is not happening
because I have got a girlfriend
and you are not in her league” The next morning, Stone had the
housekeeper make breakfast for
them and then he called Dayo to
the dining table. It was the first
time they were eating together;
the dining area was rarely used as everyone ate in their rooms.
But today, he had something
important to tell Dayo. Stone: “I saw all you wrote in
your journal” he said and
watched Dayo’s face contort in
anger. Dayo: “That was personal, I do
not invade your privacy, respect
mine” he quipped. Stone: “As long as you are in my
house, you have no privacy” he
said calmly, turning the pancake
in his plate around, with his fork. Dayo: “Then let me go” he fired
back. Stone: “After everything I have
done for you, you have a future
because of me. What chances
would you have had doing
Alabaru?” Dayo: “I am sorry” he said
contritely. Stone: “You violated my
instructions, I told you never to
have contact with anyone from
your past, but you did. Final
warning, I don’t want to find out
you have any contacts with Cassandra or any other person
from your past” he said, this time
his eyes were hard. Dayo: “She did not know it was
me, I am not doing anything to
jeopardize your safety” he
entreated, Cassandra was the
only link to his past and he
needed that, to be sure he had not lost himself. Stone: “Our safety, remember that
you are also a wanted person.
Don’t forget” he replied and
pushed the food away. “The only thing I remember is my
mother’s dream. You forced me, it
was that or my life, I can still
explain to the police. Now more
than ever, I have to attempt an
escape from Stone” He mused as he watched Stone go up the
stairs. Dayo settled down to his food,
and ate slowly, enjoying every
bite. Now, he had decided to
escape, he felt free and peaceful.
He realized that Cassandra had
been the motivation to escape. Tomorrow he would attempt an
escape from Stone. He had saved
up some money, not knowing
why he needed to, but now it
would come handy. For the
moment he left Stone’s grip, he was fleeing to Lagos and to the
arms of his fathers, Gberan and
Damilola. He had forgiven his
father because it was the only
way for him to be happy. He
never judged people for their actions, only God had that right,
his daddy Gberan had told him
so..
.
.
.
Happy weekend friends.....
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