Rekiya’s Perspective
Life has a way of making the thing you hope will not happen be the very thing that occurs.
I struggled to clean the tears from my face and put myself together before going to the door. His reaction told me clearly that my struggle had been in vain. My father was the last person I wanted to see me like this. I mean, I am the one who keeps saying I can take care of myself and hold my shit together, and here I was, a hot mess.
Life has a way of making the thing you hope will not happen be the very thing that occurs.
I struggled to clean the tears from my face and put myself together before going to the door. His reaction told me clearly that my struggle had been in vain. My father was the last person I wanted to see me like this. I mean, I am the one who keeps saying I can take care of myself and hold my shit together, and here I was, a hot mess.
He walked past me into the house and took everything in. for a moment, he looked like he was going to scold me or even say something in the line of being thankful we were finally rid of the baby. I was already preparing my defense, my comeback to whatever he would say, but he simply turned around and hugged me close.
Lord, I have never been more grateful for a hug. I forgot all my thinking about looking strong and all and crumbled into tears in his arms. Daddy rocked me back and forth gently and we just stayed that way for what seemed to be a very long time.
“Doctor Phillips called me and told me everything. I was not in town but I rushed back as soon as he told me and came here straight. I would have called you, but considering how we parted the last time, I thought it better to just come here.”
I just kept sobbing and he gently carried me to the couch. “Sorry my baby, I’m so so sorry. You are all I have left and it breaks my heart to see you hurt this way. And I’m really truly sorry about Ochuko.”
As he mentioned the name, the dams burst and my sobs gave way to fast flowing tears.
“Daddy, I killed him,” I wailed.
“You did no such thing dear, you didn’t. he died in an unfortunate accident,” He responded.
“You don’t understand. He would not have been on that plane if it wasn’t because of things I did. And now he’s dead…” at this point I nearly choked on the tears.
“You could not have known dear, you could not have foreseen anything. Bad things happen and it’s not our fault. I need you to stop blaming yourself for this,” he responded, patting down my unruly hair.
At that moment, there was another knock on the door. My eyes dashed to the wall clock. It was past ten. I stirred like I was getting up, but daddy held me down. “Whoever it is can come back tomorrow,” he said. But the knocking was persistent and it got increasingly louder, until he finally got up out of exasperation and went to answer it. I strained to hear what was being said at the door, but try as I did, I couldn’t. I only had to wait for a few minutes before he returned with a strange women behind him.
“This lady insisted she needs to see you urgently and since she
mentioned something from…” Daddy was saying. As soon as she emerged from behind him, I recognized her.
“Daddy, this woman isn’t my colleague, she is Ochuko’s wife.”
My dad spun around, eyes blazing and growled “how dare you deceive me like that to get into my daughter’s house at this ungodly hour? What if I hadn’t been here? You want to come and do what exactly?”
She calmly spoke with a thick British accent “sir, I only came to see if she was real and to confirm things for myself from her before I decide on going through with the divorce or not.”
“Well, she doesn’t want to talk with you or anyone that has anything to do with that scoundrel of a husband that you were married to,” he responded angrily.
“I am still married to him as we speak sir, so there’s no reason to refer to our marriage in the past tense,” she said in a cold but polite voice.
I stood up from the couch and went around my dad to face her directly.
“Well, Mrs. Except you guys in the UK can be married to dead guys, then your marriage is just what he says it is. Past tense. Over.”
She looked at me incredulously. “What are you saying?”
“Ochuko left Nigeria today to come and see you. And the plane he was travelling in crashed, with no survivors. So madam…”
“What are you saying? I just…” she was saying in response when the door opened. I thought it was Fafa letting herself in, but I almost passed when Ochuko emerged from the doorway, panting. He had obviously been running. Whenever I’m watching Nollywood and they see something like this, and say “you are not dead?” I laugh at them and remark on how silly the question is. But I found myself saying exactly those words right now.
“I can explain Rekiya,” he said, his eyes pleading.
“You had better began to. Because, if you are not dead, I just might make sure you truly die tonight, you this numbskull.”
He turned to his wife and said “Akudo, did you really have to do this? We could have sorted it out between us.”
“Shut the hell up, Ochuko or whatever name you are known by here. I needed to see her for myself. I kept telling myself it could not, was not, should not be true. Until I walked through the door and actually set my eyes on her, I still hoped it was a lie.”
Ochuko gave her the same pleading look he had given me moments earlier and repeated the same words “I can explain…”
Lord, the hatred welled up within me, stronger than it had been before. This man was a despicable charlatan and I had fallen for him and had been grieving for him until moments ago.
“You don’t have to explain anything Ochuko, it’s becoming clear to me,” I began. In spite of the rage welling up inside me, the old, calm and clearheaded me was returning through the haze. I continued “you obviously didn’t get on that plane. You lied to me about travelling, sent me flight details just to keep me off Ochuko. You are a 419er. The question though that I ask myself is why. Why go to such lengths?”
“He didn’t want you meeting me.” Akudo responded before he could.
“Huh?” I said.
“The moment my friend told me about you, I booked to come to Nigeria and told him I was coming. But I lied to him and told him I was coming with a later flight so I could catch him off guard. He simply told you of a flight around when I told him I was coming in. and told you he was travelling to keep you away for as long as I chose to be around.”
“Hmm, I see,” I said. We both sat down, ignoring the men, two women wrapped in our world of hurt over the same man. We were talking like old friends.
“I asked my friends to find out about you the moment I got your details off the blog story. I got your address and asked a cab to bring me here.”
“Well, I’m not really married to him, that was something my friend Farida and I cooked up, as part of our plan to deal with him for lying to me and getting me preggy.” I responded. “Would you like anything to drink?”
“Water would be fine,” she responded.
It was then we heard the crash that brought us both back into the living room. My dad had hit Ochuko who reeled backwards, nursing his jaw.
“Daddy stop it!” I shouted. He seemed to get a hold of himself and he sat down, clenching his fist. It was obvious the punch had hurt his old hands as much as they hurt Ochuko’s jaw.
For a third time that night, my door opened and Farida walked in.
**********+++++++++++**************
Rekiya says: Again, there are bits of the tale that we’ll need to shift to Fafa telling us. So, in Frank Edoho voice, the voice you will hear till the end of the episode will be Fafa’s
**********++++++++***************
FARIDA’S PERSPECTIVE
I was going to let things rest that night, but somehow, it kept floating around in my head and tugging at my mind. Then, like those cartoons, it would seem a light bulb flashed in my head. There’s this toaster I have who works in the phone company. He’s one of the fringe guys who gets only polite attention from me. He would jump off a cliff if I asked him to.
I called him and he picked on the first ring
“To what do I owe this honor,” he said. He obviously found it hard to believe I was the one calling.
“At least say hello, Mr. Deji Aduwa.” I said.
“I’m sorry, so sorry,” he gushed.
“Not to worry Deji, it’s fine. There’s something I need your help on and it’s real urgent”
“Oh, anything for you my darling,” he cooed. See men en, give them an inch, and they take a mile. Which one involves darling in this matter? Because I need him to do something abi? Anyway, I brushed that aside and focused
“I need to find out which numbers talked to a certain number today, and at what time and if there’s any one between three and five PM today, can you let me know their text messages?”
“Ha! What you are asking me to do is illegal o. it requires a police request and… he prattled.
“So you cannot help me?” I said, a threat of never calling or picking his calls looming in the air. The young man considered for a few moments and then said “oh damn! I can’t refuse you anything when you ask like that. what’s the number again? I’ll need about twenty minutes, since I have get someone in the office to get the info for me. And if this gets out in any way, if you mention me, I go deny o.”
“Oh thanks, you’re such a darling” I gushed and pictured his head swelling to fill the room. Worefa, he should sha get what I want.
Twenty minutes later, my performer rang me with a different number.
“I am calling with another number cos we record calls some times. I’ve emailed the only text message to you. The number that sent the text is also the only one he spoke with during that time frame you spoke about. So I was thinking…”
I quickly cut him off before he started telling me about the wonderful date he had planned and checked my email.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed when I saw its contents. I grabbed my keys and headed to the car park. I needed to see Rekiya tonight.
Lord, I have never been more grateful for a hug. I forgot all my thinking about looking strong and all and crumbled into tears in his arms. Daddy rocked me back and forth gently and we just stayed that way for what seemed to be a very long time.
“Doctor Phillips called me and told me everything. I was not in town but I rushed back as soon as he told me and came here straight. I would have called you, but considering how we parted the last time, I thought it better to just come here.”
I just kept sobbing and he gently carried me to the couch. “Sorry my baby, I’m so so sorry. You are all I have left and it breaks my heart to see you hurt this way. And I’m really truly sorry about Ochuko.”
As he mentioned the name, the dams burst and my sobs gave way to fast flowing tears.
“Daddy, I killed him,” I wailed.
“You did no such thing dear, you didn’t. he died in an unfortunate accident,” He responded.
“You don’t understand. He would not have been on that plane if it wasn’t because of things I did. And now he’s dead…” at this point I nearly choked on the tears.
“You could not have known dear, you could not have foreseen anything. Bad things happen and it’s not our fault. I need you to stop blaming yourself for this,” he responded, patting down my unruly hair.
At that moment, there was another knock on the door. My eyes dashed to the wall clock. It was past ten. I stirred like I was getting up, but daddy held me down. “Whoever it is can come back tomorrow,” he said. But the knocking was persistent and it got increasingly louder, until he finally got up out of exasperation and went to answer it. I strained to hear what was being said at the door, but try as I did, I couldn’t. I only had to wait for a few minutes before he returned with a strange women behind him.
“This lady insisted she needs to see you urgently and since she
mentioned something from…” Daddy was saying. As soon as she emerged from behind him, I recognized her.
“Daddy, this woman isn’t my colleague, she is Ochuko’s wife.”
My dad spun around, eyes blazing and growled “how dare you deceive me like that to get into my daughter’s house at this ungodly hour? What if I hadn’t been here? You want to come and do what exactly?”
She calmly spoke with a thick British accent “sir, I only came to see if she was real and to confirm things for myself from her before I decide on going through with the divorce or not.”
“Well, she doesn’t want to talk with you or anyone that has anything to do with that scoundrel of a husband that you were married to,” he responded angrily.
“I am still married to him as we speak sir, so there’s no reason to refer to our marriage in the past tense,” she said in a cold but polite voice.
I stood up from the couch and went around my dad to face her directly.
“Well, Mrs. Except you guys in the UK can be married to dead guys, then your marriage is just what he says it is. Past tense. Over.”
She looked at me incredulously. “What are you saying?”
“Ochuko left Nigeria today to come and see you. And the plane he was travelling in crashed, with no survivors. So madam…”
“What are you saying? I just…” she was saying in response when the door opened. I thought it was Fafa letting herself in, but I almost passed when Ochuko emerged from the doorway, panting. He had obviously been running. Whenever I’m watching Nollywood and they see something like this, and say “you are not dead?” I laugh at them and remark on how silly the question is. But I found myself saying exactly those words right now.
“I can explain Rekiya,” he said, his eyes pleading.
“You had better began to. Because, if you are not dead, I just might make sure you truly die tonight, you this numbskull.”
He turned to his wife and said “Akudo, did you really have to do this? We could have sorted it out between us.”
“Shut the hell up, Ochuko or whatever name you are known by here. I needed to see her for myself. I kept telling myself it could not, was not, should not be true. Until I walked through the door and actually set my eyes on her, I still hoped it was a lie.”
Ochuko gave her the same pleading look he had given me moments earlier and repeated the same words “I can explain…”
Lord, the hatred welled up within me, stronger than it had been before. This man was a despicable charlatan and I had fallen for him and had been grieving for him until moments ago.
“You don’t have to explain anything Ochuko, it’s becoming clear to me,” I began. In spite of the rage welling up inside me, the old, calm and clearheaded me was returning through the haze. I continued “you obviously didn’t get on that plane. You lied to me about travelling, sent me flight details just to keep me off Ochuko. You are a 419er. The question though that I ask myself is why. Why go to such lengths?”
“He didn’t want you meeting me.” Akudo responded before he could.
“Huh?” I said.
“The moment my friend told me about you, I booked to come to Nigeria and told him I was coming. But I lied to him and told him I was coming with a later flight so I could catch him off guard. He simply told you of a flight around when I told him I was coming in. and told you he was travelling to keep you away for as long as I chose to be around.”
“Hmm, I see,” I said. We both sat down, ignoring the men, two women wrapped in our world of hurt over the same man. We were talking like old friends.
“I asked my friends to find out about you the moment I got your details off the blog story. I got your address and asked a cab to bring me here.”
“Well, I’m not really married to him, that was something my friend Farida and I cooked up, as part of our plan to deal with him for lying to me and getting me preggy.” I responded. “Would you like anything to drink?”
“Water would be fine,” she responded.
It was then we heard the crash that brought us both back into the living room. My dad had hit Ochuko who reeled backwards, nursing his jaw.
“Daddy stop it!” I shouted. He seemed to get a hold of himself and he sat down, clenching his fist. It was obvious the punch had hurt his old hands as much as they hurt Ochuko’s jaw.
For a third time that night, my door opened and Farida walked in.
**********+++++++++++**************
Rekiya says: Again, there are bits of the tale that we’ll need to shift to Fafa telling us. So, in Frank Edoho voice, the voice you will hear till the end of the episode will be Fafa’s
**********++++++++***************
FARIDA’S PERSPECTIVE
I was going to let things rest that night, but somehow, it kept floating around in my head and tugging at my mind. Then, like those cartoons, it would seem a light bulb flashed in my head. There’s this toaster I have who works in the phone company. He’s one of the fringe guys who gets only polite attention from me. He would jump off a cliff if I asked him to.
I called him and he picked on the first ring
“To what do I owe this honor,” he said. He obviously found it hard to believe I was the one calling.
“At least say hello, Mr. Deji Aduwa.” I said.
“I’m sorry, so sorry,” he gushed.
“Not to worry Deji, it’s fine. There’s something I need your help on and it’s real urgent”
“Oh, anything for you my darling,” he cooed. See men en, give them an inch, and they take a mile. Which one involves darling in this matter? Because I need him to do something abi? Anyway, I brushed that aside and focused
“I need to find out which numbers talked to a certain number today, and at what time and if there’s any one between three and five PM today, can you let me know their text messages?”
“Ha! What you are asking me to do is illegal o. it requires a police request and… he prattled.
“So you cannot help me?” I said, a threat of never calling or picking his calls looming in the air. The young man considered for a few moments and then said “oh damn! I can’t refuse you anything when you ask like that. what’s the number again? I’ll need about twenty minutes, since I have get someone in the office to get the info for me. And if this gets out in any way, if you mention me, I go deny o.”
“Oh thanks, you’re such a darling” I gushed and pictured his head swelling to fill the room. Worefa, he should sha get what I want.
Twenty minutes later, my performer rang me with a different number.
“I am calling with another number cos we record calls some times. I’ve emailed the only text message to you. The number that sent the text is also the only one he spoke with during that time frame you spoke about. So I was thinking…”
I quickly cut him off before he started telling me about the wonderful date he had planned and checked my email.
“Oh my God!” I exclaimed when I saw its contents. I grabbed my keys and headed to the car park. I needed to see Rekiya tonight.