PROLOGUE
It was getting dark but the man was not in a hurry to get home. The day had not been progressive, he had not been able to get any work and the last thing he wanted to do was to go home to see the hopeful look on the faces of his wife and son and show them empty hands.
But go home he must, so he trudged along the side of the road, as slowly as possible, in a bid to postpone this inevitable fate.
Had he rushed home, one would think he might have been able to save the situation, but even that is not sure.
As he got to his street and walked closer home, he didn’t have an uneasy feeling or any such form of premonition of what was waiting for him at home. All he felt was despair at failing his family. He got to his front door and knocked.
No answer. He knocked again and still no answer. He tried to open the door ad it gave way to him and he called, “Seyi! Where are you, now?”, as he walked in and still there but he didn’t hear his wife’s voice. He walked on to explore his empty little house and as he was about to enter the only room which he shared with his wife and son, he heard someone move in the front door and he quickly turned around and was about to shout when he saw the fat face of his neighbor’s wife.
“I heard movement here and I thought it was you, Baba Dayo. So, I came to tell you what happened”, she said.
“What has happened?”, he asked, as his heart chose now to begin to race.
“Your son is sick, o! Mama Dayo came to the house to ask my husband to help her rush him to the hospital”, she said excitedly.
“Jesus! Which hospital?”, he exclaimed.
“The one at the junction side”, she replied, as Baba Dayo brushed past her, out the door and back into the night.
CHAPTER ONE
Mrs. Oladapo was feeling restless. Her husband was coming home from his trip and she was prepared for him. She couldn’t still believe he could ever cheat on her and she was furious.
“How could he? After everything I’ve done for him. Oho! Now that he is made he thinks he can now run around town sleeping with small small girls. Well, I will show him! It’s not me he will be doing that one with. It must stop today!”
Her head jerked up as she heard the sound of the gate opening and a car driving in. she walked to the window and looked out. It was her husband and she prepared herself for the battle that was about to ensue.
Soon enough, she heard his footsteps at the door and it opened. Chief Oladapo walked in the room with no idea of what had come to her knowledge and when he saw her, he smiled and said, “How are you? I hope dinner is ready”.
Much to her surprise, Mrs. Oladapo heard herself saying, “I made Eba”. And as she turned around she found that she had no zest to fight with him. “This is strange”, she thought to herself. “Just a moment ago, I was ready to burn this house to the ground”.
But by the time they were going to bed later that night, she still hadn’t brought it up. I was not that she was scared, nothing like that. She just found that she wasn’t ready to destroy her marriage. Because that would surely be the final result of the battle.
Her last thought as she closed her eyes beside her snoring husband was, “so, what am I going to do?”
Baba Dayo Rushed into the hospital and headed straight for the reception.
“Please, my son was rushed here, where is he?”
“Oga, do I know your son? How can I know where he is?”, said the nurse with a mouth full of rice and beans who was very annoyed at the rude interruption of her meal.
“My name is Mr. Oladele Johnson. His name is Dayo. Dayo Johnson, he was rushed here for asthma attack”, he replied, exasperated.
He was met with silence; the nurse had gone back to her meal.
“Answer me na!”, he shouted, “What kind of rubbish is this?”
“Mr. Man! Will you stop making noise?”, the nurse shouted back making more noise than him. “This is a hospital not Oshodi Market. Even for Oshodi you no fit dey shout by this time.” She said with disgust. “Go and take a seat. I will attend to you.”
Baba Dayo turned around defeated, he knew he could never win one of these war of words with a Nigerian nurse he was headed for his seat when a figure in the hall way caught his eye. It was Seyi, his wife and she was looking at him with a mixture of fear and relief in her eyes.
He walked quickly towards her and she just let herself enter his arms. He just held her for a while because he knew it is what she needed for now.
“How is he?”, he asked after a while.
“He is not awake yet, the doctor said we should give him some time”, she replied with her voice breaking from tears she was fighting to hold back.
“Can I go and see him?”
“Doctor said no, we should just wait let them watch him”
“Okay”, he said as he guided her to the seats and sat her down.
“They said we need money”, she said, whispering now. “I managed to pay 500 naira for the card and registration. Now we need money for the medical bill when it comes”.
Dele was quiet. There was really nothing to say.
Seyi was quiet too. She knew.