Experiencing love and being loved in return is nothing short of a miracle.
“What about Becca?” Dunni asked, her voice filled with uncertainty.
“What about Becca?” Moses responded, more confused than ever.
“I thought you were into her. I thought she was the one you were proposing to,” Dunni replied, attempting a small laugh as she wiped away the tears streaming down her face. Moses sighed with relief, finally feeling like he was getting through to her.
However, his relief was short-lived when Dunni asked brokenly, “Why now?”
“It’s not now; it has been forever,” Moses said, taking her hands in his, never breaking eye contact. He felt at a loss, unsure of how to convince her. “I have been telling you all my life, but you never took me seriously. Our story should be written into a book and made into a film. I bet it could win the Oscars.”
“Because you were not,” she screamed, hitting his chest with her small fists, crying uncontrollably.
Moses gazed at her with increasing worry. Dunni was becoming more distressed by the moment.
“Tade proposed last night, and I said yes,” she said, lifting her left hand to show him the sparkling solitaire diamond engagement ring adorning her index finger. However, she realised that the ring was not there. She left it on her dressing table. “The ring is upstairs,” she said lamely, not accustomed to wearing it.
Moses felt a pain in his heart unlike anything he had ever experienced. His heart momentarily stopped as he struggled to breathe. “The guy you met about six months ago?” Moses asked, disbelief evident in his voice. “Please tell me this is a joke,” he pleaded.
Dunni shook her head, tears falling involuntarily.
“Is that what you want?” he croaked, tears welling up in his eyes, his voice breaking with emotion as he swallowed hard. How had they reached this point? Was the universe playing tricks on him? Dunni was his world from the moment she entered his life. It had always been her and no one else. He had tried two other relationships, but they couldn’t compare to Dunni. And now, what? He ran his hands over his head and across his face. This couldn’t be happening. He needed to do something. He stared at her, unaware that the tears on her face mirrored his own.
Pulling her into a fierce embrace, he felt her offer little resistance. “If Tade will make you happy…” he began but couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. He wasn’t ready to let her go. How could he ever survive without her? She was his breath, his oxygen, and this was not just a cliché or words from a romance book. This was his reality. He had no life outside of her. The house he built had her input because he had always envisioned their future together. He had insisted on bringing her on as a partner in their firm to ensure she wouldn’t be lured away by another company.
Dunni is an exceptionally gifted architect, and while her hard work had earned her a leadership position in the firm they had built together, it was her beauty, personality, drive and sense of humor that had captured and won his heart. It had always been Dunni, his entire life. His heart felt torn apart. The thought of her marrying someone else was unbearable. There had to be something he could do. He had to convince her to give them a chance. She couldn’t simply jump into a relationship with a guy she had only recently met and discard someone she had known almost her entire life. There must be something in her heart for him.
Moses stepped back, lifting her chin with his fingers, looking deeply into her eyes, silently willing her to give their love a chance. He was devastated when she looked away. That was the answer he needed. If she couldn’t meet his gaze, she wasn’t ready to fight for them. He kissed her forehead, defeated, stood up and let himself out. His heart hurt so badly, and he struggled to breathe.
Time will always tell, but it is the patience we all lack.
Moses was growing anxious. He had attempted to contact Dunni multiple times but was consistently unsuccessful. He decided he would have to drop by her house unexpectedly to retrieve his keys. Though exhausted from his long flight and craving the comfort of his bed, the anticipation of seeing Dunni outweighed his fatigue. The route from the mainland to the island was surprisingly clear on this Saturday morning, a relief after spending hours confined to an airplane.
As he felt the ring in his pocket, a smile tugged at his lips. Regardless of the odds and Dunni’s seeming obliviousness to their mutual attraction, he was determined to propose to her today. He no longer wished to postpone this moment. His prolonged absence had affirmed his deep-seated feelings for her, and he couldn’t imagine life without her. Their dance of ambiguous relationship status spanning over the years would end today. Moses planned to make his love known, breaking free from the “best friend” label that had concealed his true emotions.
Settling back into the cab seat, he closed his eyes, a vision of Dunni’s warm smile filling his mind. Today would mark the beginning of the rest of his life with the only woman he could ever truly love, the woman for whom he would willingly sacrifice everything. In this life and any others to come, he would do anything for Dunni.
The cab pulled up in front of Dunni’s gate, and he stepped out, paying the fare and dialing Dunni’s number one more time. The gatekeeper was already outside, ready to assist with his luggage. “Oga welcome, e don tey we see you for here. I bin think say you and madam don fight, I no know say you travel fa” Meaning it had been long he saw Moses and thought Dunni and he had a fall out.
Moses chuckled quietly to himself, keeping his thoughts private. He could always rely on Musa to say the most outrageous things while still managing to be amusing. He never ceased to be amazed by the man’s unfiltered audacity and wondered how Dunni, known for her short patience, managed to put up with him.
**************
Dunni awoke, her vision blurred, struggling to discern whether the relentless throb in her head was a symptom of a migraine or the persistent knocking at her door. For a fleeting moment, her surroundings were unfamiliar. But soon, the memories of the previous night engulfed her. The dinner, the proposal, camera flashes, and Tade hurriedly leaving her at her doorstep with a promise to see her the following day.
Reflecting on the proposal gone awry, Dunni found herself with a barrage of unanswered questions. Tade, as always, had adeptly sidestepped her inquiries. The mystery that now shrouded her engagement seemed to cast a larger shadow than her initial excitement. She had believed she knew Tade well, but the enormity of her acceptance of his proposal has raised a lot of questions, perhaps she had been misled. Maybe she only knew as much as Tade had permitted.
She was in the dark about his friends, had never met his family, and the closest connection was a family friend she had encountered at the restaurant the previous night. With a goal to research the woman online, she tried to remember the name. It seemed it was time for her to seek out answers on the internet if they were not forthcoming from Tade himself.
Still half-asleep, Dunni fumbled under her pillow for her phone. The cold metal against her skin caused her to wince. The weather was still mild for the time of year, yet her air conditioner had the room feeling like mid-winter, requiring her to slip deeper under her warm duvet.
Blinking her eyes open, she gasped at the time displayed on her phone. It was 10:36 AM on Saturday and she had 22 missed calls! The constant banging was not in her head but from the door downstairs. She grumbled, reaching for her housecoat draped over the edge of the bed. Slipping into her house slippers, she shuffled her way downstairs. Moses was the only one audacious enough to barge into her home so early on a Saturday, but he was in China. Or was he due back this week? she pondered.
Peering through the peephole, Dunni squealed, realising who was at the door. She swung it open and launched herself at Moses with the force of a cannonball.
“Wow!” Moses chuckled. “Had I known I would receive such a welcome, I would’ve donned full body armor.” He pulled away to look at her. She appeared to have lost weight and seemed utterly exhausted. He could tell she was still overworking herself in her typical fashion, and he felt a pang of guilt for his extended absence and lack of support on their ongoing projects.
“You’ve been working yourself to the bone, haven’t you?” he observed.
“Says who?” Dunni retorted. “I’ve been slacking off and falling behind on all my deadlines.”
“You mean your self-imposed deadlines that are always a month ahead of the actual ones.”
“They’re still deadlines,” she argued.
“Can I sit down? I just got back from the airport and dropped by to pick up my keys,” Moses requested.
“I am so sorry,” she apologised leading the way to her living room.
“Why didn’t you tell me when you were coming? I could have had someone clean your place before your arrival. It was tidied up about two weeks ago and I sure the dust has built up again and not to mention the stale air.”
“That should be fine,” Moses responded nonchalantly, sinking into the sofa while Dunni looked on at him, realizing how much she had missed him and excited to share her engagement news.
“Why are you looking at me that way?” he asked Dunni.
“What way?” Dunni countered, grappling with whether to disclose her engagement news now. She would have preferred to, but he had just returned from a long journey and had numerous things to sort out after being away for six months.
“You have that look, when you’re about to burst with information and struggling to contain it. Your twitching right eye and pursed lips always give you away,” he pointed out.
Dunni chuckled. “You know me too well, but whatever I have to say can wait. I’ll call the cleaner to pick up the keys for your place while I whip up a quick breakfast for you. You still have some clothes in the guest room. You don’t need to go to your place yet, rest here and I’ll drop you off later.” She rattled in one breath.
Moses smiled, wondering how long it would take for Dunni to realize that they were meant for each other.
Hours later, they sat comfortably, engrossed in conversation. “I have something to say, and I think you do too. So, you go first,” Moses proposed, a serious expression shadowing his face that made Dunni raise her eyebrows in curiosity. “If you have something to say, you better go ahead. I’m sure your news will overshadow whatever I have to share.” She had a suspicion that Moses was going to announce that he had met someone and was thrilled that they both had good news to share.
“I think you should go first,” he insisted.
“Nope, you go first. Let’s give the man who just returned from the moon the honors,” Dunni joked. “You mean China?”
“It might as well have been the moon. We barely communicated while you were there. It felt like you were swallowed up by their world.”
“The word ‘busy’ doesn’t even begin to describe the work out there. We complain about work in Naija, but those guys are like slave drivers, putting in 14 hours and more like it’s nothing. Being a proud Nigerian, I had to show them that we’re up to the task. It nearly killed me, but my pride wouldn’t let me back down.”
“You were about to work yourself to death for nothing. Can you drop this national pride? After all, we’re all realizing that we’ve been scammed, and our dreams shattered by each new leadership.”
“Naija for life, and Naija to the world,” Moses chanted.
Dunni flung a pillow at him. “Says the man who’s been out of the country for nearly half the year.”
Molade’s digging into Dunni’s background leads her on a journey of her past.
Jamiu had been her driver since she turned sixteen and stayed with her all through the years; He was more like family to her. She had built a house for him and sent all his children to school. They were all graduates of the prestigious University of Lagos.
She also helped secure jobs in their different disciplines across her companies. Jamiu was more than a driver. He was a father to her too. And while he was her driver for the world, she held him in high esteem and accorded him the respect of an elder. Her friends’ marvelled that he’s been with her for over three decades and think he is lucky to still have a job. Molade considered herself the lucky one that he was still with her; she could not trust anyone like the way she trusted Jamiu. The man will take a bullet for her, which was no exaggeration.
“No, thank you. I will do this on my own.”
Molade came down from the car and walked towards the hospital entrance to join the long queue of patients waiting to see the Doctor.
“Madam, seti gba card? A woman with a toddler resting on her hips asked and began directing her where she had to get the card, explaining that she won’t be attended to without one. Molade saw her personal physician every month by appointment and was not familiar with such protocols. She graciously accepted the kind woman’s direction and went to register for a card.
When asked for her address, Molade had to rattle her brain to give an Ibadan address as she did not want to give her actual address. She also registered under a pseudonym, Bimpe Jimoh, which sounded like a regular enough name.
The young lady at the registration looked at her and asked what she wanted to see the Doctor for. She stated that she did not look like someone was sick, and the Doctor was very busy and only attended to sick people. Molade grimaced and swallowed the nasty comment she wanted to belt out. They do have a lot of people with unsolicited opinions in this place. She nodded in understanding, not trusting herself enough not to say something that would make the girl decline to issue her card or stop her from seeing the Doctor. After all, she had no idea who was standing before her. Lagos shook at Molade’s presence, and this mouthy little know-it-all ordered her like she was her errand girl.
Molade sat in the waiting room for over four hours until it was finally her turn to see Dr Braithwaite.
Coming here was not the best of ideas, but she needed his immediate family to know he had left behind two children. The question they would be asking is, why now? It was finally time to let her kids know who their father’s family was; if she was accepted by the family, she would let the children meet their uncle. Lekan was the sensible one of the lot. Thirty-four years was too long, but it was better late than never. She recalled the last time she saw her three-month-old husband, Lanre when he walked out on her.
It was no news that Molade’s family had not approved of Lanre and even accused him of being a gold digger. So when Lanre requested a loan to build a hospital, she panicked and blatantly refused to loan Lanre the money. It was her way of protecting him and preventing her family from saying, ‘I told you so.‘
It was her way of pushing him to succeed on his own merit without assistance from her or her family. Molade needed him to do that so she could return to her father and be the one to say, ‘I told you so.‘
She did, but she lost him in the end. She lost him before she finally lost him forever, and death was faster than her forgiveness.
Bimpe Jimoh! Bimpe Jimoh!! Bimpe Jimoh!!! It took her a fraction of a minute to realise she was the Bimpe Jimoh being called. She picked up her bag and stood up to go into the Doctor’s office. It was now or never. It was not that she had not tried to reach the Lanre before. The first was when she realised she was pregnant after he left. She was told he had travelled out of the country, the next time was over 25 years ago, but she was told he was dead. Yes, that was what her father told her when she insisted they reach out to him to let him know of the children. He had the right to know he had two kids; she argued until her dad gave in and returned with the news that shattered her completely. She picked the pieces of her life and faced her business and her children.
Molade convinced herself she was doing the right thing. She owed her children the opportunity of meeting and get to know their father’s family. Dr Lekan will be the bridge to making that happen. She let herself in, and nothing prepared her for the sight she encountered on entering the office. Molade stared in shock and disbelief, unable to utter any word.
The flow of questions fluttered in her head, she could hear the screams in her head, but silence in the space she shared with this stranger who looked so familiar. Was she hallucinating? Was she going mad, or was she dead? Molade felt suddenly tired as she succumbed to the darkness that enveloped her.
Although a work of fiction, Fear to Fall is didactic, as it tells of how unpredictable and brutal life can sometimes be; throwing you curveballs
— Read on blog.okadabooks.com/fear-to-fall-book-review/
I recall the first day I met JK. It was the summer holidays, and I had gone to a party with my cousins who were friends of JK. I was introduced to him and got blown away by this handsome bloke. He had Denzel Washington oozing from his being. I was tongue-tied and unable to say any intelligible word except a hello that was so low I was not sure if I had voiced it out or it was in my head. The warmth in his smile that lit up his eyes and the surge of electricity in his handshake shocking me to reality was all I could think about after our meeting. Thankfully, I was saved from further embarrassment when Abdul, my cousin, pulled me to come to meet another friend.
All through the party, my eyes kept going back to have another look at this Adonis. At the end of the party, although we never spoke, I was swooning that I had found my prince charming. JK was the boy for me. I declined all advances from other guys saving myself for JK, convinced without any doubt that the universe will cause our parts to cross again. Then he will profess his undying love for me.
A year later. Our parts did cross, and he professed his undying love but not to me. JK was a social butterfly. Once I had that information. I was at as many parties on campus, but he never acknowledged my presence. It was like we had never met. I was crushed but never gave up that he would come around and suddenly realise I was the yin to his yang.
Tired of going to these parties. I had practically dragged Meena who was nose into a novel she was reading to a party. My heart somersaulted in ecstasy as JK walked his way towards us. Finally, he recognised me and would profess his love for me.
The shame and disappointment I felt as he walked over to Meena. I watched him as he took the book away from her telling her she was at a party and not the library. The humiliation of choosing my friend he only met seconds ago over me was one I could not easily forget. He smiled at me and nodded his head as he pulled her to follow him to the dance floor while she gazed at me helplessly to come to her rescue. I did what any girl would do and smiled back while holding the tears that threatened to fall, pushing Meena towards him playfully.
I left Meena at the party that night heartbroken. She came back furious I had left her at the party and how she looked everywhere for me. JK had walked her back to campus. He had come every day to our room chasing Meena who was not interested.
They finally started going out in our her third year on campus. By then, I had come to the sad reality that JK was oblivious to my existence and only knew me as Meena’s friend.
The day they started dating was the day; my hatred and dislike for him began. Meena could not understand it despite much prodding.
I told her I was not sure he wouldn’t hurt her and I did not want to see her hurt.
How could I tell my friend that I loved the man she was dating? I learnt to live with it. Gave in to the first guy that asked me out and married the first guy who proposed marriage. My heart was devoid of love. It could only love one guy that I could not have.
That was all in history, and I have the power to write my future. I was not going to sit back as I did many years ago. I was going to take destiny into my hands and do what I should have done long ago.
Meena has left him, and I would help him pick the pieces of his broken heart. My love alone will be enough for both of us.
I picked my phone and was surprised to see 20 missed calls. The calls were from JK and Sa’a.
I am surprised and filled with dread simultaneously but placed a quick call to Sa’a who picked the call on the first ring.
“Where have you been?” more an accusation than a question.
“Meena has gone missing. JK is all over the place frantic with calls. He thinks we know something and we are not talking. I have never felt sorrier for him than today. He seems to be losing it.”
“Have you tried calling her?”
“Yes, phone switched off.”
“What about the office?”
“She resigned last week.”
That was news to us. Meena never told us she was resigning. The situation definitely had alarm bells ringing in my head.
“We should call her mum. She might know something we don’t,” I suggested.
“I think we should not be hasty in asking her mum.” Sa’a refuted.
“What if the poor woman does not know and causes a heart attack or something worse. We don’t want to be held accountable for an old woman’s death.”
The lawyer brain of mine was going on overdrive.
“Do you know if JK has told her the findings of the private investigator and the result of the DNA test. She probably took off on another Parisian shopping spree.”
“JK has not told her,” Sa’a replied quietly. The full implication of what we were dealing with beginning to unfold.
I felt an instant headache as a result of the dread that engulfed my being. Meena not knowing the real story had probably left town.
“Where are the kids? the questions came so sharply as I tried woefully to hide my rising panic.
“Gone with her, I think because JK mentioned they were not at their grandma’s place.”
I sigh. I must have aged in the last ten minutes of our discussion.
“She is gone. Sa’a. I know it, and I feel it in my bones.”
I am taken back in time to a discussion we had when we were mere teenagers.
It was one of those silly soap opera we watched where a man was unfaithful to his wife. I recollect Meena being so distraught about the way the woman stayed back in the marriage for what was a repeated action.
“You make the mistake of infidelity. I take a walk. It’s like a man lifting his hand on you the first time, and it becomes a pattern where you become his punching bag and perhaps die in the process. He cheats the first time, he will do it again.” I could hear the words of many years ago in my head like she was saying them sitting across me in the room this minute.
“I do remember too, but that was just her view on the TV programme,” Sa’a argued feebly.
“Sadly, It now gives us an insight that it was not just her view, but what she firmly believed in and now in that same position, she is doing what she said at that time. Walk far away. How far? Is what we should be trying to find out.
I closed my eyes and refused to a shed a year. Meena walked away from all her friends and family for nothing, and she would never know unless she came back. I could be one hell of a hard lawyer, but this situation was doing a number on me. I had to keep my head in the right place for everyone all of us. This was going to be a long, long walk.
“Rayuwa!!!! I am off to see JK. We might have to use the same private investigator to find out where she had gone. Talk to you later Sa’a,” I rushed on the phone not before hearing her say, ” I ‘ll meet you there.”
I sat on the floor of Sa’as posh living room, enjoying my drink of Sorghum popularly called Kunu Zaki. Sa’a makes the best Kunu on this side of the world. It’s a good thing one can’t get drunk on it. I had devoured the snack, Alkaki and was literally begging for more. “You are in one serious happy mood. It’s good to have the old Meena back,” Hauwau commented with her usual lovely smile. “I could not agree more,” chimed in Sa’a in her sing-song voice.
“I am happier to get myself back. It’s been too long,” I grimaced at my blatant lie. They will hate when they found out the truth.
“How’s your relationship with JK?” Hauwa whispered than asked, afraid to ask the question, but too curious to hold back.
“Fine as can be after the storm,” I responded carefreely but refused to give more details. Carefree was the right word to describe my state of mind. I have let go of all the pain and hurt and forging ahead with my life. At least I think I have. What I did not tell my friends was that this was one of our last times together before I got out of town.
I had kept this information way from them knowing that they would talk me out of it. I did not want anyone to change my mind.
We laughed and caught up with what was happening in our lives. I knew this was what I had missed in my months of wallowing in self-pity and this was what I was going to lose when I moved away. A girl got to do what she has to do.
There were times, I felt my friends were in conspiracy with JK, but I was not able to put my fingers as to what or why I felt that way.
The other day, JK had said something similar to what Hauwau had said to me earlier in the day, and that could not be a coincidence, but I had not dwelled on it too much. It is possible these friends of mine were putting pressure on JK, but I was past caring whether he made it right or not. He was free to live his life the way he wanted it. When I was all settled, we will discuss visiting and holiday rights for the girls.
After hours of gisting. I told my friends I had to call it a day. I had a date with JK when I got home. To be honest, the man has bent over backward for me in the last couple of months, but the sad truth was it did not get to me. The scary part was my ability to pretend I was receptive to all his guilt and peace offering while my mind was already made up.
For my last night, I was going to make him remember what we shared and hoped he recalled for the rest of his life what he willingly threw away for a moment of carelessness.
I ordered food from his favourite Chinese restaurant. I went all out to look for a bottle of wine I know he’ll love and had our favourite movie; one of the Fast and Furious in the DVD.
Tomorrow, I ‘ll be gone like the wind lost into thin air.
Oladele Peters, Moses Akale and Dunni Adesida were all classmates at the prestigious Federal University of Technology, Minna, where they studied Architecture. They met as pre-degree students, Ola and Moses were 18 years at the time while Dunni was 16, all fresh from college but with one thing in common; a passion for designing houses.
Ola was the only one who knew from day one that he wanted to study Architecture, Dunni was more of Interior design, but since they did not have the course at the university, she felt the closest to it was Architecture. Moses had no clue.
They had met during their first year on campus and bonded fast although from different parts of the country but from the same western region.
On this fateful day, while they were filling their forms for their course of study after the pre-degree program, Moses brought out a dice from his pocket – one for Estate Management, three for Quantity Survey, and five for Architecture. Those were some of the courses in the School of Environmental Studies. Two, four and six will point me to the School of Science, two for Computer Science, four for Geology and six for he was scratching his head and Ola shouted, “back to your village!”
“Nah,” Dunni joined in cheekily. “We’ll send him to biochemistry or microbiology. He could help with research in the cure for cancer. His gambling dice could help him there.” Dunni brought out a coin and started tossing it up and trying to catch while laughing hysterically.
Dunni and Ola never thought Moses was that serious, until the dice fell on five, and he settled to fill his form. They both were looking at him like he had grown horns out of his ears. “You serious about this dice thing man?” Ola asked shielding his eyes from the hot scorching sun while trying to look at Moses with disbelief. “I have used it for every major decision, and it is yet to fail me,” He explained shrugging his shoulders.
“For my senior school leaving certificate, I asked how many A’s. I threw the dice and gave me five. I got five when the result came out.”
“It gave you five for architecture now, maybe the dice just falls on five every time and you know it that’s why you put architecture on five,” Dunni argued.
She challenged him to change the numbers and throw again. He put architecture on one this time, and the dice fell on one.
“Unbelievable!” Exclaimed Ola. “We should be using this dice more often,” Dunni joked. “Who would you marry? How many children will you have,” Dunni chanted one of the folklore songs she used to sing as a child while pretending to skip with an imaginary rope.
“Wouldn’t life be so easy if all decisions I made were from the toss of a dice?” “Should I eat or not?” Dunni laughed so hard she failed to see the look of anger on Moses’ face. “That’s enough Dunni,” Ola called out nodding at Moses. “I am out of here,” Moses hissed. You know where to find me when you are all done making fun.” Dunni ran off to pull him back which did nothing to his 6.2 inches lanky frame. “I am sorry,” she apologised, stifling the laughter threatening to erupt out of her as she replaced it with a smile that inflicted pains to her cheek muscles. “You can use your dice for all you want just ignore us when we joke about it,” Ola nodded at him when he came back. A nod that said it all. Dunni looked at them both and shook her head. “I wonder why I am still hanging out with you guys when you start all this your secret code languages.” “You are better off with us that all the other hungry sharks out there wishing to devour you. We are here to protect you,” Moses boasted, a little smile tugging at his mouth with crinkles around his eyes.
“Let’s fill these forms and get on with our registration,” commanded Dunni. She hated it when they went big brother on her. She had had enough of being babied at home. She was a big girl away from home in the university and on her own, making all the decisions and able to protect herself. No one will boss her out here.
Thirteen years after, they have remained not only close friends but Partners in Architex Designs. A company they formed and ran together. It was a scary venture for them but after working in other Architecture firms and kept feeling there was something more they could offer. They decided to put money together and set up the firm.
In the early days, they face rejection after rejection that they contemplated shutting down the company. Suddenly, things turned around for them after they designed a house for one of the city’s top Bank Managing Director in Victoria Garden City.
They had only gotten the job because Moses uncle decided to take a chance on them. He gave them the job after much pestering from Moses. He got more than he bargained for as his house became a cynosure on the Island. His friends wanted him to connect them to his Architects.
He was so pleased with their work that he asked them to design the Commercial Bank’s new head office in Victoria Island. From that moment, they have received more contracts than they could handle having to expand from a team of three Architects to twenty, all in the space of two years.
Five years after they started the business, running a small architectural firm raking in billions of dollars across the country and continent. They recently got a bid to be the exclusive architect for a project in London handled by one of the world’s top construction company with head office in Beijing.
Moses despised dice back at college was still being used by him much to their chagrin. However, they had come to accept the place of the dice as the fourth partner in the company but not without Dunni and Ola’s objection.
Dunni smiled out of her reverie as she was tugged at by one of her young charges. It was hilarious to see her mum struggling with trying so hard not to mention the issue of marriage. Mrs Adesida had received a call from one of their distant cousins to inform her he was getting married and would be bringing his fiancée to see her. As soon as she dropped the phone, she sighed. “That was Moji’s son he is twenty-six and is getting married.” Dunni scowled ready to put up as much resistance she could muster should her mother go into her usual “marriage talk” again. However, she shrugged noncommittally. “Good for him.”
“ Is that all you are going to say?” Mrs Adesida asked with a huge disappointment evident on her face. “Mother what do you want me to say?” Dunni asked exasperatedly. Mrs Adesida sighed again, heaved and broke into a song and dance as she gave Dunni a hug. “Your visit means a lot to me. I won’t overshadow our time with a quarrel. However, do know that not talking about it does not make it go away.”
Another tug and this time she could hear from a far away distance “Auntie Dunni Auntie Dunni, see my drawing” the young child announced proudly.
Dunni gathered her thoughts together and chided herself was woolgathering while working.
Dunni Adesida volunteered with a young achiever club in the city where she took the ages 7-10 drawing lessons for one hour every Wednesday. The time with the children was one of the things she looked forward to every week. They were all a delight to work. She never seemed to be more amazed at the kind of work they turned it. Raw talents that need direction and guidance and the world would not know what hit them when the next Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci resurfaces.
Once all the kids had left, Dunni spent the few minutes she had to arrange the room used and out away all the pencils, paintbrushes used .she was so engrossed that she did not hear when her colleague came behind her. She squealed in fright. ” I did not hear you come in.” “Sorry I scared you,” Amanda apologised and went on in one breath. “I came by to let you know that Tooni lost her mum to cancer .” Tooni was a seven-year-old girl in her class. “Aww, that is so sad,” said Dunni trying to imagine what her life would have been should she had lost her mother. But she had lost her father at a tender age. She remembered the heaviness and loss that hung around the family like a cloak. She could not wish a loss of a loved one on her enemies, but this was one of the harsh realities of life that even children could not be shielded.
“I never noticed. Tooni has carried on with the same demeanour as she always has. Very excited and enthusiastic about her drawings and the class. She is so friendly with all the other children,” Dunni shared her observation with her colleague.
However, Amanda had a different reason for sharing the loss of the girl’s mother.
“what I am trying to say to you is that you might need to speak a few words of condolence to her dad.”
“ Why?” asked Dunni puzzled. “I rarely see the parents when they come to pick children. You should inform them at the reception.”
“I was thinking it would be a good avenue for you to meet the man. He is a widower, and this might be an opportunity.” Dunni’s eyes went round as this bizarre scene playing before her. She closed her eyes and shook her head from side to side. Trying to calm the seething anger welling inside of her.
“How callous can you be. Should I be dumb enough to go with your advice, would it to a man who is mourning the loss of his dear wife? Or do I look like someone on a manhunt, husband hunt or whatever hunt you all think I should embark?”
“No Dunni, you do not look like it, but your life oozes it even if you think you hide it well.”
Tooni did not think she heard Amanda well.
“Amanda, what you have said is not only mean, but it shows that you have never been and cannot be my friend. I am on no manhunt, that I am not married is not a design of mine, that I hope to be married someday might be my mothers wish, but mine is to live my life and enjoy it married or not. So if you think my life oozes manhunt. You have better check again as you sure are receiving wrong signals which might be a reflection of what you are feeling. I thought you were my friend. But now I know better”
“I am your friend Dunni, which is the reason I am concerned. I might be approaching it in a wrong manner and that I apologise”
“I have not asked for your help and please stay away from me,” Dunni responed angrily.
“I am sorry,” Amanda raised her hand in mock defence as Dunni walked away from her without a backward glance.
***** The birds were chirping away a lovely soprano on a beautiful sunny Saturday morning. Dunni sat out in the garden enjoying the morning sunshine just lazing with a book. How to meet date and marry a guy in 21 days. She bought the book out of curiosity and found the book not only hilarious but crazy.
She still would not accept she was on a manhunt, but sometimes she could not deny the thought of what her life would be like if she were married and had a family.
“I was not going to push any buttons like go look for any man, but there might be some information that could be helpful in this book,” she reasoned.
“Good morning Madam,” Sule the security man cum gardener called out.
Sule has been with Dunni ever since she moved into the area. He joined her as a single man, got married and went on to have five children that often left Dunni in wonder how he coped with living expenses on his meager salary.
Good morning Sule,” Dunni responded, curious about the smile on his face. “Sule you look so happy today, what can I do for you?”
“Ha Madam, I been happy wai! I get Amarya coming to me. He responded in his poor English mixed with his local Hausa language. ‘Amarya,” Dunni called out, with a questioning look and a frown on her brows and eyes mirroring her confusion. “Yes Oga Madam, Amarya. My second wife.” The book Toke was holding felt from her hands as she gazed at the man in bewilderment. “Sule, you are getting married again?” she croaked in disbelief.
“Yes, Oga madam. My Amarya is a beautiful young girl and from my village. She would come and help Uwargida with all the housework and children.”
“But Sule, you have five children, and you are barely coping financially. Another wife means more children. How do you intend to take care of them?”
Sule smiled so stupidly, Dunni felt like slapping the smile off his face. What illiteracy could do to a man transcends beyond his generation? He was building a village without any means of giving those children a means to prepare for the future
“Allah will take care of the children. Oga madam. Do not worry.”
Too dumbfounded for words, Dunni went back to reading her book but the sanctity of the moment had been broken. She found herself on the same page for ten minutes as her mind kept processing what Sule had told her.
She was shocked when she looked up, and he was still there.
“Sule?”
“Oga Madam I’d been wan tell you that our neighbour,” he paused pointing to the walled house on her right.
Dunni recalled the walls were not always this high when she first moved in ten years ago. You could literally have a conversation with your number over the fence but as the years when by, the walls got taller and taller. You had neighbours, you had no clue what they looked like even if you met in the shopping mall. Lowering his voice as if he was aware of someone one on the other side was listening to their conversation. “His wife have died.“ “His wife died,” Dunni corrected wondering why she bothered. “His wife died,” he repeated proudly.
She shook her head. The man never ceases to amaze her. Somedays, he would speak impeccable English, and some other days she would cringe as he mixed both present and past tenses interjecting the wrong verbs or adjectives. “I been say you suppose to greet him. As his wife died, if he wants to marry, he go marry you.”
She cursed on her breath with the little Hausa words she had been able to garner from her security “shege danbanza dan buro uba,”
“Oga Madam,” Dunni was shocked he still dared to stand there like he had dementia. If it was in the office, the man was as good as fired. She fumed under her breath. “Sule, Please leave now before I do what both of us would regret,” she gritted her teeth as she picked her glass cup of orange juice, book and walked back to the house leaving behind a shattered serenity. Her world is being thrown into a topsy-turvy.
The one moment her mother was struggling to stop the pressure, her friends and gardener took over the baton. She did not know which was worse but that of the gardener sucked more.
21stcenturybelle 