The night sky and blanketed with pearly stars. The air blew hot, and not one cloud threatened the ground with rain. Dayo trudged through the quiet street on which their house stood. Fortunately for him, the tree on which he had flung himself was close to the fence, and from the branches he had made a bridge to the street below. He looked in his pocket and saw that he had a few notes, they would be enough to take him to his destination. The burden of saving the people in that house laid squarely on his shoulders. It was his duty to help them, he told himself.
From the street, he walked on to the road that was very busy at that time of evening. Dayo flagged down a taxi cab and entered. He gave the driver the address of the house he was going to, and gave him all the money in his pocket.
Dayo: “Please sir, that is all I have” he said with a note of desperation. The driver drove to the address, and once again Dayo banged on the gate of the house. The gate man opened the gate and when he recognized Dayo, he grew angry.
Gateman: “dem send you for me? Abi o ya werey?” he asked vehemently.
Dayo: “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but the lives of the people in this house are at stake. I need to talk to someone. They should leave the house this evening” he said desperately. He felt like shoving the man away from the gate.
Gateman: “You think say na by that ur oyinbo? I get pikin for university, so ma whine mi oh” he replied and banged the gate in Dayo’s face. Dayo paced in front of the house in confusion. He didn’t know what to do, he thought he could meet privately with the occupants of the house and warn them, but this gate man was standing as a stumbling block in his path. He thought of going to the police but that was going to endanger his life, if Stone found out, there was no doubt that he would kill him.
Dayo: “What do I do God?” he asked aloud.
Back home, one of the gang members was told to go and call Dayo for dinner. Stone wanted them all to eat together before going for the operation. Every night they went out for an operation, they expected death, it was the reason they ate. Stone’s policy was that, after pursuing money on earth, a man was not supposed to die on an empty stomach. But when the gang member went to Dayo’s bedroom, he found it empty. He checked the adjoining bathroom, thinking he was having a shower, but it was also empty. He rushed downstairs in alarm, and when Stone saw his face, he knew something had gone wrong. He had been having a sense of foreboding since the day dawned, but he attributed it to anxiety before an operation. However, seeing the face of his gang member, he knew his feelings were spot on.
Stone: “What happened?” he asked anxiously.
“Robert, Dayo, whatever he is called, is not in his room or anywhere in this house” he said with a ‘I told you so’ look in his eyes.
Stone: “What!” he exclaimed and bounded up the stairs. He bashed into Dayo’s room, and confirmed what the other gang member had said. His eyes went to the open window and the branch of tree which looked pulled towards the window, and then he knew that Dayo had left the house through the window.
“ Where would he go by this time, and why did he leave like a thief. Has he escaped, would he go to the police” these were the thoughts running around in his head. He was confused for the first time in a long while. He could not abort the mission because commitments have been made. He had to hope that Dayo was not doing anything that was jeopardizing their safety and freedom.
Stone: “We continue the operation as before”
“We should have just killed that boy, there was no need keeping him. If you needed a son, you could have gotten any girl pregnant” one of the gang members said.
Stone: “Shut up! Nobody questions my decision, no one!” he shouted, the veins on his neck protruding like they were going to burst out from under the skin, “We all concentrate on the mission, Robert is my problem, and after the mission, I will deal with the problem. Now, let’s have dinner” he concluded and everyone fell silent.
They sat round the dinner table and ate their dinner in silence. Every man praying in his heart to come back from the operation, alive. At the back of their minds, was also a nagging feeling that this operation would go wrong. The fact that Dayo had left the house secretly was a source of worry to them. Stone felt Dayo’s disappearance was of no consequence to the operation because he knew nothing about it, or did he?
He bolted out of his seat suddenly as everything became clear in his mind’s eye. The day they were discussing the operation, Dayo had stumbled into the kitchen and he had thought that he was sleepwalking, but was he really sleep walking or eavesdropping on their conversation. He had also been seeing Dayo everywhere he turned, like the boy was shadowing him.
“No! it can’t be” He screamed in his heart.
Stone: “We leave immediately, there might be a problem, but we might be able to salvage the situation if we hurry” he said and they hurried into another room where they kept their ammunitions.
Dayo was sitting on a stone slab in the street, lurking in the corner and watching the house, he didn’t know yet what he would do, but he knew he would keep watch and not allow Stone to succeed in his mission. But due to inactivity, he dozed off, leaning his head on his thighs. Because he was sleeping, he did not see a car drive to the gate and Ken come out with Cassandra. They had gone on a date, and Ken had come to drop Cassandra, but he was pleading with her to let him spend the night at their place, instead of the hotel.
Since he got back from America for his summer break, he had not gone home, even though his mother had been asking him to come home, as she had missed him. He had been staying in Oshogbo because of Cassandra, in a hotel. Their relationship was falling apart, and Ken was doing all he could to hold it together. He had decided to marry Cassandra, not just because he loved her, for he loved her, as she was a very beautiful young lady. But, he wanted to marry her because of her father’s estate which had been bequeathed to her.
Ken: “Please Cassie, I am tired of the lonely nights in that motel. I am in Oshogbo because of you” he said
Cassandra: “And I didn’t ask you to stay. I came home to be with my mother, can’t you just go to Lagos, your mother must miss you” she said. She wanted to end the relationship, but was afraid of hurting Ken, as the relationship went beyond them, but to their families.
Ken: “Just tonight, I won’t ask you for this again”
Cassandra: “No touching, understood?” she said and Ken nodded. The gate had the gate opened, waiting for them to drive in, and he hated the delay. He stamped his foot to register his displeasure. Ken hurried Cassandra into the car and drove into the house.
Dayo was startled awake by the bleating of a goat passing by with her kids. He wiped his face and looked around him. He jumped up from the slab when he remembered what was on ground. He looked at his led lit wrist watch and saw that it was almost 8pm. Everywhere was dark and silent. He looked towards the house and saw that it was lit, the curtains were drawn and the occupants of the house probably felt safe, not knowing about the terror that was about to be visited on them. He had barely finished the thought when he saw a pair of headlights in the distance. He instinctively knew that it was Stone and his gang. There was no time, he ran towards the house, shouting and screaming on top of his voice.
Dayo: “They are coming! Call the police, they are going to kill you. Somebody help!” he screamed. All thoughts of self-preservation had fled his mind, all he thought about was warning the people in that house. He didn’t need another death on his conscience. He remembered when he was eleven, when he met Stone for the first time. They had killed a woman, he had for the first time, witnessed dying.
He had reached the gate now, but the headlights were closer and he could see the distinct shape of Stone’s van. He banged on the gate, but the gate man did not reply. However, the balcony light came on, and he saw a young lady in the balcony. He felt a sense of déjà vu, it was his dream all over again. He continued screaming and then he really looked at the lady on the balcony, she was illuminated by the balcony lights, and she looked frantic.
“ Oh my God, it is Cassandra” he thought with panic.
Dayo: “Cassnadra, it is me Dayo, you all are about to be killed. Call the police now, don’t die Cassandra” he screamed, his voice piercing the still night. Two shots rang out, the sound ricocheted in still night, and the bullets tore through the frail body of Dayo. He didn’t feel the pain yet, he was still shouting, and more shots rang out.
The pain tore through him, as he fell to the ground. Lights went on in other houses, and dogs began to bark. The thought that went through Dayo’s mind as his world turned to darkness, was that, people were aware, the mission would be aborted.
The van turned around in a hurry and zoomed off away from the house. But Dayo did not see this because the blackness had already enveloped him, and the last thing he saw was his mother smiling down on him. It was like she was saying, ‘Well done my boy’. Dayo had a smile on his lips when people came out to him.
It was like the earth was mourning the flow of blood, as the sky opened its bowels and poured out rain. The rain washed the blood that flowed from Dayo’s body and soaked the earth.
Cassandra had to fight her mother and the gateman to come out of the compound. She was sure she had heard correctly, the voice that rang out in the night. It was the voice of Robert, the one she had heard on countless calls across the Atlantic, when they talked on phone through the night. But the voice had called himself Dayo, her Dayo from her childhood. She had seen the men dressed in black shooting at the young boy, and she had known then, that Dayo had come back for her and had saved her life and that of her mother.
Cassandra: “Mother, call emergency, Dayo is probably dying, he took the bullets that was meant for us.” She said and pushed her mother aside. She ran out the small gate and rushed to Dayo. She knelt by his side and unbuttoned his shirt as she had been taught in her First Aid class in Red Cross society. Then she saw the pockmark by his belly, it was the same that her Dayo had when they were little. She needed no other confirmation that this was Dayo and he was also Robert. There was no time to think of how things had come to this, she cradled his head in her thighs and began to coo to him.
Cassandra: “Dayo, I know you are in so much pain right now but you have to hold on. I have looked in every face searching for you, and now that I have found you, I don’t want to lose you. Please don’t die, I need you, your mother still needs you to fulfil her dreams. Please Dayo” she cried and began to sing a song for him in Yoruba. She was still singing when the ambulance came and carried Dayo away. Halima and her daughter followed the ambulance to the hospital. She had heard about Dayo’s roots when he went missing. She had also met Damilola and known that Dayo was her friend’s son. She felt responsible for him. She had not been a good friend to Khadijat when she was alive, and now she swore to be a good friend to her in death.
In Lagos, Bella was preparing dinner for her husband, who would soon be back from work when she felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen, like something was pressing on her bladder. The pain was so much that she fainted. She was lying on the kitchen floor when her husband came back from work. He had called for her and when she did not respond, he walked to the kitchen from where he was perceiving a burning smell. He saw that the sauce on the frying pan was burning and so catching fire. He switched off the gas, and then he saw his wife lying on the floor.
Gberan: “Bella! Bella!” he shook her. In alarm, he swung her on his shoulders and carried her to his car.
At the hospital, Bella had been revived, she thought that the doctor would tell her she was having a late pregnancy. She had been hoping that God would give her a child in her mid- age to keep her company, as Ken had outgrown her. Instead the doctor had a shocking news for her. The doctor told her she had stage 4 uterine cancer, and her chances of survival was slim, but he could have chemotherapy if she chose. However, without chemotherapy, she had six months to live.
Bella: “ Mo gbe! God this is too much oh. Is this punishment for what I did to Dayo” she cried, to the consternation of the doctor. Gberan just held his head in his hands. He was confounded, how could Bella have cancer? He was still thinking of the dilemma they had found themselves when he saw a call from Halima. Since his boss died, Halima had not contacted him, so, he was surprised when he saw her call. But he received it anyway.
Back in Oshogbo, Dayo had undergone surgery to remove the bullets, the surgery had been complicated because of the massive loss of blood and his rare blood group, he was Rhesus positive, like his father Damilola. Halima called Gberan to tell him about Dayo and the condition he was in.
Halima: “You need to let Damilola know, he is the only one who can give blood to Dayo. His life is on the balance” she cried and Gberan could tell she had been crying, even him was crying. He had mixed feelings, joy at finding Dayo again, and sadness at the condition he was in.
Gberan hung up and called Damilola immediately. He appraised him of the situation and it was Damilola would go mad with fear. He got the address of the hospital and got on the next flight to Oshogbo. Gberan also called his mother and told him about Dayo. She did not hesitate to call her driver, to take her to the hospital.
Damilola got to the hospital and donated blood for his son, the surgery was successful, but Dayo refused to come out of coma. His family converged at the hospital, even his two grandmothers, but Dayo’s eyes were shut tight, and his pulse got lower and lower. The doctor’s prognosis was bad, “He might not make it” the doctor said. The news was met with crying from everyone who had come for Dayo. Even patients in the hospital forgot their illnesses and joined in the crying when they heard the story of Khadijat and Dayo.
Ken had been jealous when he heard Dayo announce himself, and when Cassandra rushed to him without hesitation, saying things to him and singing to him. But seeing Dayo lying so helpless, with different machines connected to him, and a breathing mask strapped to his nose, he felt piteous towards him.
While others stayed in the hospital’s lounge, Cassandra refused to leave Dayo’s side, she stayed by him day and night. For three days, Dayo as in coma, and on the fourth day he went into crisis. The doctors worked tirelessly, trying to resuscitate him. But at 11:59, the doctors pronounced him dead.
While everyone was wailing the death of Dayo, Madam Lagos called her pastor on the phone, and told him to rush to the hospital.
Madam Lagos: “I believe that if we join our faith with yours, that God can bring our son back to life” she said into the phone sobbing.
The pastor came with some other pastors in the church. They began to intercede, raising their voices to heaven in a loud cry, asking that the soul of Dayo be returned. While they prayed, the body of Dayo was being prepared to be taken to the mortuary.
Stone wanted to be sure that Dayo was dead, so he came to the hospital, and from the lobby heard the news of the boy who was shot and had just died. He left the hospital, satisfied. They had lost the contract with their client because they could not carry out the operation but he was happy that the boy who betrayed them and caused them all that trouble had left the land of the living.
But the God with the longest hand that stretches forth from heaven to wrought wonders among men, heard the cry of the saints. Even Khadijat’s mother who was a Muslim was shouting the loudest ‘Amen’ to the prayers of the pastors. God heard their cry and just before Dayo was deposited in the refrigerator, he coughed. The people bearing him, flung him away and ran for their lives. How could a dead person cough, it definitely was the work of evil people, they thought.
Dayo opened his eyes and saw that he was naked, he looked around and he could feel the stench of death around the mortuary. He ran out of the mortuary and in the hallway, he saw a green surgical garb. He quickly donned it and began to walk away from the mortuary.
The people who ran away peeped and saw him walking, they stared at him in amazement. The news spread like wildfire, and got to his family who were still praying in the lounge. They hurried to meet him, and Dayo could not believe his eyes. The last thing he remembered was falling because he had been shot, but now he was seeing his family and even the woman whom he always escorted to the market, Khadijat’s mother. He touched his hand, to be sure he was alive. It was his father who rushed and embraced him first.
Damilola: “Oh my son, oh my son” he was too stunned for words, he kept crying and mumbling. Gberan joined the hug, he had forgotten about his wife who had just been diagnosed with cancer.
After the doctor had certified him alright, his family gathered around him and began to tell stories of their lives after he disappeared.
Dayo: “So this is my grandmother?” he asked looking at Khadijat’s mother. He could not believe that he had been so close to his roots and had not known. He embraced her.
Damilola’s mother: “I am your grandmother too, I gave birth to your father” she said and everyone laughed. Then they asked him to tell them what happened. He told them everything about the look he saw in Tania’s house before she swerved the car. That he ran away because he was afraid of Tania. He told them about coming to Oshogbo to look for Madam Lagos and falling into the hands of a ritualist. As he talked, they oohed and aahed. They could not believe all the trauma he had gone through right from when he ran away.
Damilola: “Tania is dead however” he announced and everyone fell silent to respect the dead.
Damilola called the police and after hours of drilling, under the supervision of the doctors, they got the whole facts and knew that Dayo was forced into the gang. Cassandra and Halima also gave their testimonies of how Dayo warned them, even at the expense of his life. Dayo told the police that Stone and his gang were not armed robbers but assassins who robbed to cover their true intentions.
The news of Dayo being brought back from the dead spread all over Oshogbo and even the country. Reporters travelled far and wide to see the boy, and many who did not believe on God and his saving power were converted. There was a great revival in the country, as many were led to the Lord through the miracle of Dayo.
However, Stone was determined to finish what he started, he had heard that Dayo had been brought back from the dead, so he watched him. The police, with Dayo’s permission, used him as a bait. He went to the park with his father, Damilola. His father, did like he was going to get something and went away. Stone who had been lurking in the shadows came out and stared menacingly at Dayo.
Stone: “I treated you well, but you betrayed me. The price of betrayal is death and this time you will stay dead” he said and pointed the gun at Dayo. Dayo had been kitted with a bulletproof vest, but he was still shaking in his shoes. He was staring death in the face. However, before Stone could pull the trigger, he was fired from behind, he fell and groaned, and immediately, police men sprang out from bushes and captured him.
Bella underwent chemotherapy, her skin became pale, and all the hair on her head fell off. She looked like a scare crow as a result of the chemotherapy, but yet, the cancer did not go into remission. She had three months to live. The cancer had become worse and now she was bedridden. She asked to see Dayo, and Damilola brought Dayo to Gberan’s house.
When Dayo stepped into Bella’s bedroom, he knew immediately that she was going to die that night. He could smell death before he had been touched by the hands of deaths and could recognize its cold, dark, presence.
Dayo: “I forgive you, I hold no grudges” he said to the frail, sickly woman on the bed.
Bella: “Thank you my son. It shall be well with you” she said.
Dayo went back home with his father, and that night, a call came, Bella had left the land of the living.
Ken had lost his mother and the love of Cassandra because she was now so besotted with Dayo, it was like Dayo did not leave. But he was comforted with the support of his family and friends. Three families were joined as one because of Dayo. Before Bella died, she had admonished his son to be a good man, even when it was not easy to be good, and so Ken heeded his mother’s words and lived amicably with Dayo.
After the burial of Bella, Ken and Cassandra went back to school in the States, and Damilola processed his son’s papers and sent him to the United States to study Medicine and Surgery at UCLA.
The hands of God are not short, that he cannot touch whatsoever is the ache in your life. He says call on me in the time of trouble, and I will deliver you. Strive to be good, even when it is not often easy to be good. Forgive all those who hurt you and never scheme evil against your fellow human, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Embrace light and flee from evil.
I have learned a lot writing the story of Khadijat and Dayo, and I know you have learned too. Share your lessons and thoughts with us, as we will like to read your feelings about this story. Cheers!

MY MOTHER'S DREAM
(semi final)
EPISODE 23
He was running as fast as his legs
could carry him, the house was
just ahead. He could see the lights
of the house, the curtains were
drawn, and the inhabitants of the
house were probably asleep, unaware of the terror about to be
visited on them. He could get in
front of the ivory painted gate
now, and he began shouting on
the top of his voice. “Help, Help, wake up” he yelled at
the top of his voice. But a shot
rang out, and he was still gazing
at the lit balcony of the house,
when he felt a pain rip through
him, he held his throat as blood spurted out of it. Before he fell to
the ground, he saw a young
woman come out to the balcony,
he wanted to warn her, but the
darkness enveloped him, and the
world blacked out… Dayo bolted up from sleep like he
was yanked out of the dream. He
was sweating profusely and he
felt a cold chill in his heart. “What sort of dream is this?” he
pondered. He got out of bed and
held his head, there was pain in
his head, he thought perhaps it
was the speed he used in waking
up from sleep. He went downstairs to the kitchen to get a
glass of milk. He always had a
glass of milk before he slept, but
last night he had forgotten, so, he
attributed the nightmare to the
lack of milk before bed. But when he got close to the kitchen, he
heard whisperings and he
stopped. He heard Stone’s voice
as clear as day. Stone: “This operation is very
important, there must be no
mistakes” he said in his usual
coarse voice. His voice was
because of too much smoking of
weed. “If you don’t want mistakes, then
you must keep that protégé of
yours, at home. I have a bad
feeling he is going to spoil things
for us one of these days.” One of
the gang members retorted. “What is the essence of bringing
him along, if he is going to sit in
the car and not join the
operation” another quipped. Stone: “Silence, you are forgetting
the real issues, which is the
operation, not Robert” he
thundered, and everywhere
became silent. They didn’t talk,
neither did they move. Then Stone began to speak in the
silence, detailing the operation
and the timeline. He quickly jotted
down the address of the house in
his head and would have
lingered to hear more, but someone came out of the kitchen. Dayo dived into the alcove
adjacent the kitchen entrance.
The alcove which was a small inlet
in the wall, house supplies like
cleaning agents, garden tools and
other equipment. Luckily it had a door, and Dayo closed it quietly
and from a little hole, he watched
the gang member climb up the
stairs. Dayo rushed out of the
alcove and entered the kitchen
yawning and walking like he was sleepwalking. Stone smiled at this
and rushed to hold him thinking
he would fall. Stone: “When will you outgrow
sleepwalking?” he said fondly. He
opened the refrigerator and
brought out milk because he
rightly assumed that it was milk
that brought Dayo to the kitchen. As he poured the milk into a
glass, Dayo looked at the people
in the kitchen from under his
eyelashes. Dayo: “Thank you” he said
sleepily and walked back
upstairs. In his room, the glass of milk was
forgotten on the table, he was
worried about what he had heard
and the dream. Was the dream
trying to tell him something? He
wondered to himself. Cassandra did not understand
why she couldn’t Robert(Dayo)
on Facebook again, and the last
message he had sent to her,
sounded like something that
couldn’t come from him. She was broken hearted over the easy
way he had discarded her. While
she laid in her dorm room,
nursing her broken heart, her
real-life boyfriend, Ken, called her
and invited her out for dinner. She wanted to turn him down,
but she saw the dinner date, as
an avenue to forget about Robert,
so she obliged him. She dressed in a little black dress
(LBD) and strand of pearly
necklace. At the restaurant where
Ken had invited her to, she still
could not concentrate, a young
man in his twenties that had walked in, reminded her of
Robert. Ken: “Were you even listening to
anything I said?” he asked and
followed the direction of her eyes
to the young man who had
entered the restaurant, “Really
Cassandra?” he asked incredulously, not believing for a
moment that he was sitting with a
girl and she was checking out
another man. Cassandra: “Sorry Ken, I have a
lot on my mind” she said, trying
to cover up with a smile. Ken: “I can see that” he said flatly,
and with a hint of sarcasm.
Cassandra raised her head up
from the plate of spaghetti she
was eating, at the sarcasm she
had heard in his voice. and saw Ken looking at the young man
with anger in his eyes. She
chuckled. Ken: “I was asking if you would
be going for the summer break”
he said Cassandra: “Of course, I have
missed my mother” she replied. Ken: “Then I am going too” he
replied. Cassandra shook her head at this,
it repulsed her that Ken always
did anything she did, even
though he was not pleased with
it. He did it to be close to her
always. She wished that she could reciprocate his feelings, but she
couldn’t. No matter how she tried
to have some sort of connection
with the opposite sex, she
couldn’t because they were not
Dayo. It baffled her though that Robert was the only one aside
Dayo who caught her fancy. She
felt nostalgic towards her
impending trip home. Whenever
she was in Nigeria, she was
always considering people’s faces, checking if she would see
Dayo. The next day Stone asked to
drive Dayo to the University for
his clearance. He wished that he
could keep Dayo at home forever,
but it was not possible. He had
discussed online learning with Dayo but he refused saying he
couldn’t do any other course
other than medicine, and
Medicine could not be taken
online. Stone: “Remember all I told you,
measure your words and don’t
answer questions that are too
personal. Keep everyone at arms-
length, and call me when you are
ready to come home, I will come and pick you” he admonished
before unlocking the door. Dayo exhaled as he stepped out
of the 4matic car and walked
towards the school gate. It was
like the school was inviting him
with open arms, he felt happy
because he was closer to achieving his mother’s dreams. He
rushed through his clearances
because he had some other
assignment to do. The address
was still in his head and he
wanted to check it out. He was certain that the occupants of the
house would be visited by Stone
and his gang soonest and he was
wondering how e could help. It
felt like he was meant to help
them because he had been shown a dream. But he was also
afraid because he had been shot
in the dream. Any attempt to go
against Stone would be met with
death, he knew, but he didn’t
know how to turn a blind eye, he had stumbled on their meeting
for a reason. When he got to the address
which he had heard from Stone,
he knocked on the gate for a
while before the gateman opened
the small entrance gate a peep. Gate man: “Eh, eh, wetin you dey
find?” he barked aggressively. Dayo: “Please can I see the owner
of the house?” he asked Gate man: “Why, shebi you be
one of those boys wey never
chop belleful, wey dey come
disturb my small madam anytime
she come back from school abi,
dey vamoose for here now before I comot your teeth” he
said in pidgin. Dayo: “It is important I see
someone from this house,
something bad is going to
happen if I don’t warn them” he
said with urgency, but the gate
man was the least bit concerned. Gate man: “That one na new
format? Go think again, this one
no follow. If I close my eye open
am, and you still dey here, you go
blame yourself for anything wey
happen to you” he said closed his eyes. Dayo shook his head sadly
and walked away. He went back
to the University and then called
Stone. Two days later, Dayo began to
shadow his guardian, Stone, he
needed more details about the
operation, to inform his next
action. He noticed they only had
meetings when they were sure he would not stumble into their
conversation, so he pretended to
be asleep. Stone came to his
bedroom to check on him and
when he saw Dayo was asleep,
he went away. Dayo waited a few more minutes and then he tiptoed
to the kitchen. He heard voices and he listened.
They were loud this time because
they were having an argument. Stone: “The daughter complicates
everything. We will have to
eliminate both of them” “There is no need to do that, she
is just a teenager” one of the
members replied. Stone: “The client wants both of
them dead, and we always do
what the client wants. Our hearts
have never been the thing we
think with in this business. We
won’t start now. We kill both of them. We leave the house by
8pm, operation ETA is five
minutes. Remember when we are
out there, we think about our
individuality, if the police happen
on the operation, run, and don’t get caught” he said with finality. Dayo could still hear murmurs
among them but Stone’s words
were final. He was shaken to his
bones by what he had heard.
They were going to kill a woman,
and her daughter. He remembered the gate man he had
met at the address, and his
words. He had talked about a
small madam, that could be the
daughter they wanted to kill, he
thought. His decision was already made, he was going to run away
and save that family. He crept
back up to his room and dressed
in black sweatshirt and
sweatpants. He opened his
bedroom window, and climbed on to the window sill. From there,
he stretched his hand and held
on to the branch of a tree
growing in the backyard. With the
support of the tree he swung off
the window sill and on to the tree.
.
.
.
.
Will Dayo succeed in
warning the occupants of the
house or will he be shot like in
the dream? Also do you think the
occupants of the house are
related to Dayo in any way?

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.....

MY MOTHER'S DREAM
EPISODE 21
Bella still had the disc in the DVD
player when her husband
knocked, she rushed to open the
door. It was the first time since
she confessed that he was
knocking on her door. She forgot to pause the video and it was still
playing when Gberan entered. He
had come to talk to Bella about
living separately and gradually
divorcing because of Ken. But
when his eyes fell on the television, he was stunned. This
was evidence to nail Tania and his
wife had it. Gberan: “How did you get this?”
he asked. Bella looked at the
television and covered his mouth
with his hands. She ran to cover
the television but it was too late.
She began to stutter, then she stopped. Bella: “I stole it from Tania, she
was working with a man I
suspect to be a police man, he
gave it to her” she explained,
deciding to come clean. Gberan: “So why haven’t you
given it to the police. I can’t
believe that after everything you
have done, you still find it hard to
do the right thing” he lamented. Bella: “I know I have made
mistakes but I did them from a
place of love. I was scared, she
tried to kill me once” “But you weren’t scared of
stealing it from her” he mused but
he didn’t tell her that, instead he
made a deal with her. Gberan: “It is going to be hard to
rebuild our marriage after
everything, as the day passes
without Dayo, the more I resent
you. But if you can help put the
woman who did all these behind bars, it would help towards
forgiving you” he said, and Bella
rushed to hold him. Bella: “If that is what it would take
for you to forgive me, I will do it. I
still love you, and everything I did
was for the love of family, and I
regret it” she replied and
removed the disc from the DVD, then handed it over to Gberan. Gberan: “We are going to the
police station right now. Perhaps
if Dayo knows she is behind bars,
he would find his way back to us”
he said. “I hope not” Bella thought within
her. Tania was frantic, she couldn’t
hand herself over to the police
and she knew Damilola would tell
the police when the time elapsed.
She typed a text message and
sent to him. The text read; “I am sorry my love, all I did was
because of a misunderstanding.
You loved Dayo even before you
knew he was your son, I saw that
you didn’t care anymore whether
we had a child together or not. I felt cheated and I acted out of
fear of losing you. Is it a crime to
love, because the only crime I
committed was loving you. If you
do not care about me, what about
our child?” She waited for a reply but got
none. She decided to activate plan
B, which was running away. She
ran up to her room, the disc,
momentarily forgotten, and
began to pack a few important things into her suitcase, including
the certificate of occupancy of the
house, and some other important
documents that pertained to
Damilola’s properties. She would
sell the properties, and with the proceeds get a new life where no
one would find her. “But as for you, Damilola, I will
never forget how you
abandoned me, and when it is
right, I will come for you and your
son, Dayo” she thought within as
she looked around the room where she had spent so many
years loving Damilola. A single
tear trickled from her eyelid, and
she whisked it away. “This is no time for crying, it is
time to act” she thought and left
her room. But as she hurried down the
stairs, she missed a step in her
hurry, and tumbled down the
stairs. At the base of the staircase,
she laid in a pool of blood,
unconscious. Gberan drove his wife to the
police station where she narrated
her ordeal and everything she
knew about Tania and Dayo. The
police told her that they could not
arrest Tania based on her words alone, that they needed proof. Gberan: “We have proof” he said
and brought out the disc. The
detective in charge was the same
who had put Skyby on the covert
operation. He was stunned when
he saw the disc, it was identical with the corrupted one Skyby
had given to them, but he
instinctively knew that the one
Gberan was holding, was not
corrupted. Detective: “How did you get this?”
he asked, yanking the disc from
Gberan’s hand. Bella: “A man, who I suspect to be
one of yours, gave it to Tania. I
stole it from her” she replied, and
went further to describe the man
as the same person who lured
her to the warehouse, so that Tania could kill her. The detective
immediately knew that Skyby was
the one Bella talked of, and it
occurred to him that Skyby had
been compromised. But before he
could give the word to have Skyby arrested, another dirty cop
close to Skyby informed him, and
the latter absconded from town. After playing the disc, the
detective was sure his instincts
had paid off and finally he had
Tania. He mobilized his men and
they went to Tania’s house to
arrest her. When they got to the house however, they met Tania in
the pool of her own blood. Detective: “Call the ambulance
immediately” he said, and went to
touch her neck, to feel for a pulse.
He shook his head sadly. Bella: “Officer, she is still alive,
right?” she asked, as fear gripped
her heart. She clutched the hand
of her husband because, even
before the officer replied, she
already knew the answer. Detective: “She is dead, she
probably fell a long time and no
help came. It is a pity” he said
shaking his head. Bella: “Oh no, she was pregnant.
It was her first pregnancy” she
cried. The force of Tania’s death
hit her so strong, she broke
down and began to cry. Bella: “What is life, that we should
live it unfairly in pursuit of love,
family or fulfilment, not caring
who we hurt or tread on. Life is
fragile and can be snuffed out just
like that” she snapped her fingers. Then she turned to her
husband and began to beg for
forgiveness, this time she was
truly repentant., shaken to her
core by Tania’s death. Seven Years Later It has been seven years since
Tania died, Damilola never
remarried. He had lost hope of
seeing Dayo again, and had gone
back to Lagos, where he gave all
his time to caring for people as a doctor. He established an
orphanage home, where
abandoned babies could call
home. He always said Dayo was
his inspiration and he always
wanted to put smiles on peoples’ faces as Dayo did. The day of the ground breaking,
Dayo watched it all on television.
He saw Damilola recount his affair
with Khadijat and how he had
fled to India to pursue his
education while the woman he had impregnated suffered the
shame alone. He talked about
how he had his son close and
never knew it was his son until he
left. There was a lot of crying, as
people listened to the sad story of a love gone sour by the
occurrence of pregnancy. Damilola: “Dayo, wherever you
are, if you are still alive, please
forgive me. I wish I could ask for
another chance to make things
right, but I don’t know if I
deserve such luxury” he said to the camera. His face filled the
television screen and Dayo could
see the unshed tears shimmering
in his eyes. Suddenly, the screen
went black, Dayo turned and saw
Stone holding the television remote control. Stone: “Remember, you are no
longer Dayo, you are Robert” he
said angrily. Dayo: “Robert or whatever, I am
still the one that man is referring
to” he said, and his mind went
back to the past, that he had tried
to move away from. Damilola had been nice to him, he
even set up a trust fund for him.
He remembered the moments
they shared and he wondered if
his life would have turned out
better if his father had not abandoned his mother. He also
remembered Tania, the woman
had probably found out about
him being her husband’s son,
that would explain why she
wanted to kill him. He remembered the look in her eyes
just before she swerved the car
and hit the bridge. He also
thought of what his life would
have been like, if he had not run
away, perhaps his daddy Gberan would have protected him. “Daddy? He is not your daddy; do
you see him looking for you?” a
voice said within him. Stone: “You are a fugitive as Dayo,
you cannot go back. Robert
offers you a new chance, and a
new slate. You already passed
your exams, you can go to any
school in Nigeria” he said, intruding into Dayo’s thoughts. Over the years, he had become
close to Stone, and though he
had advised the man to quit the
business he was in, his advice
was always met with a deaf ear.
Stone was greedy, he had come from extreme poverty, and after
his University days, with no job, a
politician had hired him to
assassinate an opponent. The
operation was successful and he
was paid in millions. That was how he got into the crime
business, and now he didn’t want
to leave. However, he had protected Dayo
as much as he could, but he never
let Dayo go, as he felt Dayo would
rat them out. But every day, he
saw the loath in the boy’s eyes.
Even though the boy saw him as an elder brother, and probably
loved him, there was no denying
it that the young boy loathed
what he did for a living..
.
.
.
.
If i don't get much like and comment here, i will knw u guys dnt like the story so i will start an other one....

MY MOTHER'S DREAM
EPISODE 20
Skyby flew back to Lagos for his
meeting with Tania as scheduled.
He chose a quiet bar tucked in the
coastal shores of Ikoyi, there was
no chance of running into
someone he knew here. He sat closest to the waterfront terrace
of Ember creek, and ordered a
glass of cocktail. It was not long
after he was settled, Tania
strutted in, wearing a fitted denim
trousers with an Ankara kimono over it. Skyby wondered how a
woman so beautiful as Tania,
could be so deadly. He imagined
that somewhere in the recesses of
her mind, she felt she was doing
the right thing because she was doing it for love and her
marriage. Skyby: “Leave the boy alone, he is
not going to hurt you because he
doesn’t plan to come back to
Lagos” he said the moment Tania
sat down. Tania: “What is this, did you
suddenly have an epiphany?” she
asked sarcastically. Skyby: “You have done enough
harm to the boy, Dayo is now a
member of a notorious gang
which we have known for a long
time, people think they are armed
robbers, but actually they are assassins. It is only a matter of
time before Dayo meets his death,
don’t make it faster” he said
emphatically. Tania: “Really, you thought you
could just call me and start telling
me what to do. Are you forgetting
I hold the chips?” Skyby: “No, I hold the chips
because I have the original copy
of the video where you confessed
to Bella and almost killed her. I
also know you have no record of
our debauchery, and even if you do, you cherish your marriage,
that is the reason you want Dayo
dead. So, yes Tania, I had an
epiphany” he said with a sly grin,
and brought out a disc plate.
Tania made to grab for it, but he took it out of her reach. Tania: “So what exactly is the deal
you want to make?” she asked,
with desperation in her eyes. Skyby: “I will give you this disc, in
exchange, you will leave Dayo
alone, and you will never call me
to do any of your dirty works. I
am a police officer, not your
henchman” he said emphatically. Tania looked at him for a short
while, then she nodded her head
and agreed to the deal. But when
Skyby handed the disc to her, she
smiled wickedly. Tania: “And now that I have this
in my hand, what would make me
keep to my end of the bargain?”
she asked, with a devious glint in
her eyes. Skyby: “You will keep to your end
of the bargain because, your
word is your bond, but most
importantly because, there is
more where that came from.” He
replied and walked away from the bar. Tania looked after him
with anger in her eyes. Unknown to Tania however, Bella
had turned into a private
investigator overnight, and had
decided to find evidence to nail
Tania. She felt that the only way
she could really be safe was with Tania behind bars. So, she
followed Tania everywhere. She
had seen Tania meet with Skyby
and had remembered Skyby from
the warehouse, he was the one
who had lied to her that he had secrets about Tania. “They are working together,
what are they planning now?”
she mused, as she watched them.
Then, she saw Skyby give a disc
to Tania, and she determined in
her heart to get the disc and find out if it was evidence to nail Tania.
She took another route out of
Ikoyi, straight to Lekki phase 1
where Tania resided with her
husband. The gate man allowed
her inside because she was a friend of the family. When she
was escorted into the large living
room, she was served juice by the
housekeeper. Not long after,
Tania came in, she was shocked
seeing Bella. When she saw the car outside, she thought it was
Gberan that had come to visit, it
never occurred to her that Bella
would have the guts to come to
her house. What did she have up
her sleeves, she wondered. Tania: “What the hell do you want
in my house?” she asked angrily. Bella: “I am really sorry, I agree I
used you, that Dayo was a thorn
in my flesh, and I wanted him out.
But I didn’t have the guts you
have, so I devised a means to get
you involved. Please, ore mi atata, forgive me” she said and knelt
down. Tania considered her eyes
and she saw tears shimmering in
it, she believed her and stretched
her hand out to raise her up. Tania: “I forgive you. I
understand, more than anyone,
what we do for the ones we love”
she said with a hint of regret in
her tone. Bella: “Thank you for
understanding me” she rushed
and hugged her. Tania: “It is alright, I am glad we
are friends again, even though
you still carry fake Hermes Birkin
bags” she teased and the two
women burst into laughter. Bella: “I miss your dodorishi , you
never got around to teaching me
how you make it” she quipped.
Tania had totally forgotten about
the disc, in her conversation with
Bella. She rushed to the kitchen to instruct the cook on making a
quick dodorishi. Immediately she
left, Bella’s smile wiped off her
face and she looked towards
Tania’s bag lying on the couch.
She saw the tip of the disc envelope peeking out of Tania’s
bag. She walked to it, looking left
and right, and quickly slipped the
disc into her bag. When Tania
came out again, she saw Bella
standing with her bag, ready to leave. Bella: “Sorry dear, ken just called,
he needs me. One would think
with Dayo gone, Ken would begin
to act like a boy, not a wimpy
child tied to his mother’s clothes”
she said trying to gain sympathy from Tania. Tania: “Oh dear, I understand
perfectly. But give him time, he
will come around” she said and
kissed the air behind Bella’s ears. Tania was too excited over
having Bella on her side and one
less person to get rid of, that she
did not notice the haste with
which Bella jumped into her car
and zoomed off. Even if she noticed, she probably thought it
was usual with having a needy
child such as Ken. Bella drove straight home, and
went to her bedroom; since Dayo
disappeared, she stopped
sharing a bedroom with Gberan
because all he did was complain
when they were together. He blamed Bella for everything that
happened even before she
confessed to him. Now that he
knew her part in it all, he stopped
eating her food and cooked his
food by himself. She locked the door and slotted the disc in her
DVD player. The scene where
Tania had confessed to her while
pointing a gun at her played on
the television screen. “So that man was videotaping it
all. Wonderful” she mused. She
had planned to find evidence to
put Tania in prison, but now that
she had the disc in her hand, she
was thinking of many ways to blackmail Tania, and gain power
over her. While she was locked in her
room, her husband Gberan had
called Damilola, who was faraway
in Oshogbo. Gberan: “Ore mi, there is fire on
the mountain. I have been
thinking of how best to tell you
this.” He said and paused. Damilola: “Tell me, what is going
on, is it about Dayo?” he
demanded. Gberan: “Yes, Bella told me that
your wife deliberately tried to
harm Dayo, and she even tried to
kill her. But she became dizzy and
fell. It was also Bella’s fault, she
made Tania believe that you knew about Dayo long ago, and
kept him secret from her. The
police vindicated for reasons best
known to them, but she really did
it” Damilola: “I don’t believe what
you are saying” he said. Where he
was, he was grabbing his head. It
was like his brain could not
process what his ears were
hearing. He had suspected but when the police didn’t have
evidence, Tania had convinced
him that there was nothing. Now,
finding out that there was
something, was throwing him
into a state of confusion. Gberan: “I wouldn’t lie to you,
and Bella wouldn’t lie because
she was implicated in it, I saw fear
in her eyes when she talked. I am
contemplating divorce, but I am
thinking of my son, we have only just begun to bond. I don’t know
what a divorce would do to him”
he was saying but Damilola was
no longer listening, the phone
had fallen from his hand. Gberan: “Are you there, Dami” he
called into the phone, but the call
had been disconnected. Back in Oshogbo, Damilola’s
mother was just coming back
from the market when she saw
the phone fall out of Damilola’s
hand, she dumped the sack bag
on the floor and rushed to her son. Damilola’s mother: “omo mi, what
is going on? I know Dayo will
come back to us, don’t give up
yet” Damilola: “My wife, Tania, was the
reason Dayo ran away. She tried
to kill him in that accident” he said
flatly, his eyes were deep, black
bulbs, that stared listlessly. He
didn’t mind the shock on his mother’s face, he picked up his
phone and dialled Tania. Tania had just remembered the
disc in her bag, so she hurried
from her bedroom upstairs to the
living room below. But before she
could go to her bag, her phone
began to read, she saw it was her husband and hurriedly picked it
up. Tania: “Hello, honey. How is
mother and Oshogbo?” she
asked with glee. Damilola: “You murderer, what
did that little boy ever do to you?”
he said in a guttural voice. Tania: “Hello, this must be a
wrong number” she said, not
believing that those words had
come from Damilola. Damilola: “Shut up you wicked
woman. I am giving you twenty-
four hours to surrender to the
police, this is my final gift to you
as a wife. I will have my lawyer
contact you to sign the divorce papers. Mind you, I am not giving
you a penny” he said, wishing he
could hurt her with his words
because what he really felt like
doing was squeezing the life out
of her, with his bare hands. Tania dropped the phone on the
glass table in the centre and sank
into a couch. She held her head in
her hands and cried. Tania: “I am finished. Mo ku oh”
she cried..

MY MOTHER'S DREAM
EPISODE 19
Skyby arrived in Oshogbo the
same day that Damilola did. They
took separate flights and there
was no way Damilola would have
known that someone had been
sent to snuff the life out of Dayo forever. Skyby stayed in the same
motel that Bella stayed, when she
was in Oshogbo. Damilola
however went to his mother’s
place. His first port of call was Gberan’s
mother, Madam Lagos. He went to
see her to thank her for taking
care of Khadijat and taking care
of his son. But Madam Lagos was
in sorrow over the disappearance of Dayo. Judging from what
Khadijat’s mother had narrated,
she was sure that Dayo was in
trouble, and it hurt her that she
had failed at keeping her promise
to Khadijat. So, when Damilola came with his vote of thanks,
Madam Lagos rebuffed him. Madam Lagos: “What are you
thanking me for, if I took care of
Khadijat, where is she? What
about Dayo, do you see him here?
You impregnated a girl and you
left her to face the shame alone, and now, years later, with the girl
dead, and the child nowhere to
be found, you come to thank me.
Keep your thanks to yourself, and
look for our Dayo, perhaps then
Khadijat will forgive you and her spirit will rest” she said bluntly. Damilola was short of words, he
stood up from the position where
he had knelt to thank Madam
Lagos, and left the house, with a
heavy heart. How could he have
thought that she would be nice to him? He wondered. She, who
witnessed all Khadijat went
through. He made a vow that he
would not go back to Lagos until
he found Dayo, dead or alive. Sunlight escaped through the
little opening in the curtain and
danced on Dayo’s face. He
opened his eyes and he looked at
the strange surrounding. The bed
was a comfortable king size, whereas he was used to sleeping
on the hard floor of the
uncompleted building. The room
was a beautiful, white painted
room, and furnished with
beautiful furniture. “This is not the uncompleted
building” He thought and bolted
up to a sitting position. Then the
memories came flooding back. He
was not in the uncompleted
building because he had chosen life. He had been given two
choices; to join a band of
assassins cum armed robbers, or
to be killed, and he had chosen to
live, even if it meant joining them. “Mother, what do I do, should I
have refused and be killed. I
don’t want to die yet, not without
fulfilling your dreams. What do I
do, mother?” he said to the empty
room. Suddenly, the door of the room was opened and Stone, the
leader of the gang walked in,
with a smile on his face. Stone: “I am glad you choose
wisely, would have been a pain to
have to kill you” he said. Dayo did
not reply, he just stared at him.
Then he told Dayo to follow him,
he took Dayo round the massive mansion where all the members
of the gang lived. They ended up
in the kitchen where the cook
gave Dayo a plate of toast, with
scrambled egg, and mayonnaise.
Dayo ate with relish because, since leaving the house, he had
not eaten good food. However,
the calm in the kitchen was
broken when one of the gang
members rushed into the kitchen
and grabbed the television remote. He switched on the flat
screen television on the wall of
the kitchen, and Dayo’s face filled
the screen. Dayo: “What am I doing on
television?” he whispered, even if
he had shouted, the occupants of
the kitchen wouldn’t have heard,
they were engrossed in the
words spilling out of the television. The television anchor
was saying that Dayo was
involved in an accident in Lagos,
and somehow is in Oshogbo,
working hand in hand with a
gang of robbers who were known to always kill their victim.
She also said that anyone who
found him should report to the
nearest police station. The
question on everyone’s lips was,
‘How did Dayo run away from the hospital and end up in Oshogbo’. Stone: “So you are a runaway
huh, your people must be
looking for you” he said looking
at the television screen
thoughtfully. Dayo: “No one is looking for me,
my mother is dead, my father
rejected us. Madam Lagos
probably gave up on looking for
me now, after all we are not
related” he said, as emotions clogged his throat. He missed the
family that was not really his,
especially his daddy Gberan.
Every day, he tried to visualize
what he was doing, now that he
was no longer with them. “He has a son, remember, and
now that you are gone, he is
focusing on his son” the voice
inside would say, and it would
bring tears, he would wish that
his absence had created a vacuum in their lives, but in his
heart, he believed that no one
cared that much for him. If only he knew, that not only
was Gberan looking for him, but
his grandmothers and his
biological father had paused their
life looking for the son that
Khadijat gave birth to. It happened that, the gateman
while talking to Dayo had seen
his face when he pointed a torch
in his face, while talking to him.
So, he had described Dayo to the
police and the police artist had sketched Dayo’s face. It wasn’t
long that someone recognized
Dayo as the boy who was in an
accident and ran away from the
hospital, throwing his family into
confusion. Skyby had also seen the news
and had gone to the place of the
robbery, he combed the area
around the place, but there was
no sign of Dayo. He saw the
uncompleted building opposite the lemon coloured house where
the robbery had taken place, and
went there, hoping that he would
find Dayo. He found signs of
inhabitation, but didn’t see Dayo.
There was no way he could have found Dayo because he did not
come out in the day, and only
came out at night, and only on
nights when the gang had an
assignment. He was always
cooped up in the house, with the gang. Skyby began to hunt the places
where the gang struck. He stayed
close to his television set, and
whenever he heard that the gang
had struck a place, he would rush
there, but he never found any clues. One day he sat down and
asked himself why he was
chasing after Dayo, did he plan to
kill the boy when he found him,
just because Tania asked him to? “Are you really going to be a child
killer because you want to save
your reputation?” he questioned
himself. It is time to pull out of
Tania’s web, he told himself. But
still Skyby was not ready to have his career ruined so he made a
gamble. He called Tania and
offered her a deal. Bella, since her encounter with
Tania had been living in fear. She
decided to reveal everything to
her husband, in a bid to get
protected. She hoped that her
husband would forgive her part in the disaster, and protect her,
for the sake of their son. So, she
asked to talk to her husband, one
evening, after dinner. Since Dayo
went missing, Gberan had
become less of a happy man, but however, he became closer to his
son, Ken. Ken reciprocated the
attention, by doing everything to
please his father. He loved all the
sports his father loved and learnt
all the skills his father was good in. He even decided to study
engineering, like his father had
done. Seeing the way Ken had
turned out, Bella did not regret
her actions. After all, they pushed
Dayo out of the house, and gave Ken room to be all he wanted to
be, without sharing the affection
of his father. Bella: “Gberan, Tania is a killer,
she tried to kill me” she dropped
the bombshell. Gberan bolted out
of the reclining seat where he
was, lounging on the patio. Gberan: “I know you did not
have any liquor this evening, so,
what nonsense is this you are
saying? Are you trying to tarnish
the image of your friend? This is a
new low, even for you” he said vehemently. Bella: “Will you just keep quiet
and let me talk. She tried to kill
me, and if she had not fainted
then, you would have seen my
dead body somewhere. When
she thought I was going to die, she confessed to me that the
accident was deliberate, she had
meant to kill Dayo because I told
her Dayo is Damilola’s son” she
said and watched as her
husband’s eyes got darker and darker. Gberan: “You told her that Dayo is
Damilola’s son, how did you
know that? Even Damilola didn’t
know that, until after the
accident” he said unbelievably. Bella: “Remember when I told
you I was going to see my
mother, I actually went to
Oshogbo. I watched Dayo and
Damilola together at the lunch we
had, and noticed similarities in their looks. I was not sure so I
went to Oshogbo. Khadijat’s
father had just died…” she
explained to her husband, whose
eyebrow shot up the more she
talked. Gberan: “I am scared of you,
Bella. I cannot believe that you
would go this far to fight against
an innocent boy whom life had
dealt enough blows. My mother
was right, I should never have married you” he said. He walked
back and forth, thinking hard.
The more he thought about it, the
more he could not believe that
Bella could do all she did. Then he
thought of Tania, the innocent faced woman was even deadlier
than Bella..

MY MOTHER'S DREAM
EPISODE 18
Tania had thought that Bella was
responsible for her present
predicament because Bella was
the one she confessed to at the
point where she was about to kill
her. But then she had fainted and in the excitement over the
pregnancy news, she had
forgotten that Bella was still
among the living and had the
ammunitions to send her to jail.
So, she had thought she would call a lawyer and it would be her
word against hers. But then she
had overheard the conversation
between two police officers just
outside the door of the
interrogation room. They were in a confused state, like they were
waiting for something or
someone. They had been
whispering but she had heard
every word. One of the police officer was
telling the other that their hands
were tied until Skyby brought the
incriminating evidence. This
information had stunned her and
had hurt her, not because Skyby had used her for his personal
reasons, but because she had
been gullible and careless.
Therefore, when it was time for
her to make the call she was
entitled to, she called no one else but Skyby. Skyby was also thinking about
Tania, he realized that he had put
himself in a delicate position
when he slept with Tania. He had
been given an important
assignment of nailing Tania, he had done that but his
extracurricular activity was going
to jeopardize their case. If Tania
found out that he was
responsible for her arrest, there
was no telling what she would do. He had barely finished the
thought when his phone rang. He
thought it was his supervisor and
rushed to receive the call, but the
voice he heard on the other end
chilled him to the bones. Tania: “Did you really think I
would not find out?” she asked in
a cold and calm voice, that was
devoid of any emotions. Skyby: “I don’t know what you
are talking about” he replied. Tania: “You created this problem
for me, so fix it because if I do, I
will do it with you disgraced and
ruined. I can tell the world you
slept with me, I can even say that
you are responsible for my pregnancy, I can spin any tale I
want. Fix this now!” she ordered. Skyby: “Would you really
jeopardize your marriage?” he
asked playing any card to get him
off the hook. Tania: “I would do anything to
get out of this, my marriage is
over anyways. If my husband
finds out about this, he would
never trust me, so Skyby, I have
nothing to lose. Fix this or else you would have yourself to
blame” she retorted and hung up. Skyby flung his phone at the wall.
He hated himself for shooting
himself in the leg. If only she had
not been so irresistible and
daring, more than any woman he
had met, perhaps he would have managed to zip up his pants. Now
there was only one thing to do,
he had to fix the problem before
it fixed him for good. When Tania dropped the
telephone, she beckoned to the
officer standing guard outside
and asked to speak with the
officer in charge. Tania: “You guys have got to
charge me now or else I would
sue your asses. Show me what
you have got against me or let me
go” she shouted. The guard hurried to call the
detective in charge, he was the
same man who had designed the
plan, which involved Skyby, to
entrap Tania. He came in after
trying to call Skyby. He had barely spoken when Skyby walked in
with an envelope in his hand.
Tania looked at him wide eyed,
with mouth agape. She realized
that he had called off her bluff
and went ahead to submit the evidence. The detective snatched
the envelope and smiled wickedly
at Tania, who still had unbelief
written all over her face. But
when the detective slotted the
DVD into a player, his face contorted into fury. The file had
been corrupted and was showing
green and blue lines. He looked
up at Skyby and asked for an
explanation. Skyby: “I cannot understand this
sir, the file has obviously been
corrupted” he said, and caught
Tania’s smirk just before it
disappeared from her face. He
looked towards the window and saw the reason her smirk had
disappeared, her husband,
Damilola had come. Damilola: “Tania, what did you
do? Did you try to kill my son?” he
asked, staring wildly at her. Tania: “What are you even
yapping about, Dayo is your
son?” she asked, feigning
ignorance. Damilola: “You didn’t know” he
said incredulously like he didn’t
believe she didn’t know. Actually,
he thought she found out, that
was the reason she wanted to get
rid of Dayo, “if you didn’t know, then why did you try to kill him?”
he asked puzzled. Tania: “I should be asking you. I
have no reason to hurt Dayo, that
boy loved me, he is the reason I
wanted us to try for children
again, and guess what, it paid off”
she said, holding on to him desperately. Damilola: “What do you mean?”
he quizzed. Tania: “We are pregnant, and
these policemen don’t know
what they are saying because
they seem not to have any
evidence to prove their
allegations” she retorted, “Why would anyone think I would
deliberately jeopardize my life
and that of a little boy, for what?”
she emphasized. Damilola held his head wearily,
the news was met with mixed
feelings. He didn’t know what to
think, the police couldn’t have
arrested Tania unless they were
sure they had something concrete to nail her. Detective: “In absence of
evidence, you are free of all
charges” he said grudgingly. Tania: “And make sure this
doesn’t repeat itself or I will not
be so lenient” she said and
walked out of the interrogation
room, with Damilola on her heels.
She was walking so fast because she was afraid to face Damilola,
but he held her and spun her
around. Damilola: “What just happened
here? Why do they think you tried
to kill my son?” he demanded. Tania: “I was the one driving the
car, they probably think the
accident was deliberate. We
should be talking about our
baby” Damilola: “I am taking a leave
from work, I am going to
Oshogbo to stay with my mother
for a little while” he said, walking
away. It was Tania’s turn to run
after him. Tania: “Did you understand when
I said I am pregnant? What are
you even going to Oshogbo to
do, did your mother send for you,
isn’t that where you are coming
from?” she asked, holding on to him desperately. Damilola: “So many questions
Tania, I can’t deal with this right
now. Dayo was last seen in
Oshogbo, I need to look for him
before something bad happens
to him” Tania: “You are so worried about
Dayo, what about your unborn
child, do you even care what
happens to him or her?” Damilola: “That child is safe in
your womb, he or she has got
you, but Dayo has no one, he is
probably in danger as we speak.
I have to go look for him, this is
my redemption” he replied as they entered his car. Throughout the drive home,
Tania kept thinking of all Damilola
had said, it was obvious to her
that Dayo would always be
Damilola’s favourite child. Since he
found out about Dayo, he didn’t even care about having a child,
and now that she was pregnant,
Damilola didn’t care because he
had a son already. “Perhaps, I should finish what I
started. It is the only way to
ensure my child’s place in
Damilola’s heart” She pondered.
She brought out her phone and
typed a text which she sent to Skyby. Skyby fought his conscience over
what he did. He allowed a bad
woman go scot free of the law
just because he wanted to save
his reputation and career. He was
still thinking of his guilt when a text message buzzed in his
phone. He read it and he felt a
chill creep up his body. The text
was from Tania and she said; “I need your services in Oshogbo,
find Dayo and finish what I
started. You cannot refuse me, if
you do or announce my plans to
anyone, I will deny it and I will
make sure you lose everything you hold dear. I have proof of
our escapades” Her text read. Dayo had banged on the door of
the lemon painted house as he
was told, and when the security
man asked who it was, Dayo
responded in a frail voice asking
for help. He had to infuse emotion into his voice because his life
depended on the gate man
opening the door, if he didn’t, the
robbers would just kill him. Luck
was on his side because the gate
man was a compassionate person. When he heard the voice,
he knew it was that of a young
boy, and it sounded like the boy
needed help. He quickly opened
the gate and began to ask Dayo
what was wrong with him. He was too engrossed in asking
Dayo questions to which the boy
responded with nods and shakes
of his head, that he did not see
the robbers crouching in the
semi- darkness. Before he realized that he was in trouble, a
gun was pointing in his face. He looked at the boy and saw
guilt in his eyes, and then he
realized that the boy was part of
them. One after the other, the
boys trooped into the compound,
the leader, Stone had one hand on the trigger and the other hand
held Dayo by his shirt neck. They
used the gateman and entered
the main house where they
assassinated the woman of the
house and carted away millions of naira stashed in the house, and
jewelleries. Dayo: “Did you have to kill her,
you took away her valuables,
why take his life too” he cried,
hitting the leader of the gang. Stone: “Look here boy, we are
assassins under the guise of
robbers, we get contracts to kill
people and we cart away their
valuables to make it look like a
robbery gone bad. You helped us get into that house, you are as
guilty as we are” he said holding
his gaze. Dayo: “You forced me, you were
going to kill me” he cried Stone: “Stop this tantrum, you are
not a baby. When I was your age,
I was already on the streets
making money” Dayo: “I am already making
money, I like what I do, it is
honest and does not offend God”
he replied, wiping tears from his
eyes. He could see that tears were
not going to solve anything, these were hardened criminals,
who were not moved by tears. Stone: “How much do you make
in a day? With us, you can make
so much money and do whatever
you want to do with it. I heard
you talking to that gateman, you
sounded so real, you have got talent that we can use. Join us
and make good money” he said
and stretched forth his hand. Dayo: “Why can’t you just let me
go, I won’t cause you any
trouble” he begged, his pleas fell
on deaf ears. Stone: “Letting you go is not an
option, it is either you join us, or
we kill you. We cannot risk you
exposing us” he said, this time
with more menace. Dayo stared at him in confusion,
with tears beaming in his eyes. He
wished he could turn back the
hands of time, so that he would
avoid sleeping in that
uncompleted building, then he wouldn’t have come across these
destiny destroyers. He wanted to
be a doctor, not an armed robber
or an assassin.
.
.

MY MOTHER'S DREAM...
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...