Second chances – 21stcenturybelle

The Dice#20a

“Who is she?”

Tade swallowed hard. Clenching and unclenching his fist.

“Who is she, Tade?”

“Who is who mum?” He knew who his mother was referring to but would rather play dumb.

“I hear there is a lady you’ve been seeing.”

He turned around, blowing air through his mouth. Not only was he exasperated, but his patience was also wearing thin. His mother had never approved of any girls he brought home in the past. She made it her life goal to make their lives miserable and scare them away from the Thomas fortune. She all but considered them social climbers and gold diggers. No one was good enough for her son. Sadly, mothers do not marry their sons and either willingly or begrudgingly must accept their sons’ choice. Solape was one tough cookie who stood by him and against his mother’s wish. Their love won, but in the end, he lost her to death. It was as if she had been proved right, and she did not fail to remind him at every opportunity she could.

“When I told you she was not for you, you would not listen. How does a young girl who is not even 30 die from cancer?”

“Mum, cancer is not an age-related sickness. People die from cancer, young, old, middle-aged and even babies.”

Molade Thomas rolled her eyes.

“She was not meant to be in this family. She was bad luck. In our history, people don’t die below 70. My grandmother was 90 when she died, my grandfather was 101, my great grandfather was 98 while his wife choices die at 106. You are the first widower in our lineage.”

“Mother, will you stop?” Did you come here to berate me on a death, we humanly could do nothing about. You should be happy I am healing and moving despite how hard it is. Solape is unforgettable.”

“Tade dear, I can’t hide my displeasure of your marriage to that girl and what her death has caused to our family. Do you know what is being said out there? That we sacrificed her.”

“Mother, why do you waste your time listening to an idle talk from people who have no job? Where do you get the time for gossip with the work you do managing the Thomas fortune?”

“I keep my ears to the ground. Information is power.”

“There was no winning with his mum.”

“So who is this girl? What’s her name, who are her parents? Does she know your family?”

“Mother! Stop!! She is just a friend. When and if it becomes more, you will be the last to know. Don’t for once think I am ignorant of all you did to the ladies before and including Solape. I forbid you from doing anything to make her uncomfortable, or I will disappear from your life, and this time for good. You will never see Toni or me again.”

If there was anything Molade learnt in business was when to retreat in a battle.

She smiled sadly. “All I do is for you. It is hard for people outside our circle to love you, you will be surprised to find out that you are only a means to their dreams – a ticket out of poverty and nothing else.”

Tade tugged at his beard. He’d been so bust lately and could not keep up with his daily shave so gave up and tried the look which Dunni did not mind.

“Not everything is about money. In case you have forgotten people rarely connect me to the Thomas fortune. There is a reason my surname is Braithwaite. I am tired and need a shower. Please let yourself out when you are done.”

Tade stopped midway and turned to look at his mum. There was a time when she meant the whole world to him. Molade Thomas was first his mother before transforming into this monster with no feelings, he could barely recognise. She thought everyone was out to get a piece of the Thomas fortune. No one was good enough for her. Her choice was Made, her best friends daughter, but the girl was a spoiled brat who refused to grow up. He wanted to do life with someone who had a semblance of normal, not some rich kid who could not even hold her toothbrush without being assisted by personal maids.

“Dunni is an architect and a partner at her firm. She is not interested in my money because she has no clue I am the son of the richest Black woman. So don’t go sending your goons to spook her. I have not asked her. However, I intend to and if she says yes. You will respect her and keep your distance if you can not love her like your daughter. I will not allow a repeat of what Solape suffered in your hands. I stayed in Nigeria because Solape kept hoping you will come around and love her. She wanted you to have that time and bond with Toni. That girl was an angel, someone you lost the of the opportunity to know. I hope you won’t make the same mistake with Dunni. Life is beyond money and business connections.”

He sighed and walked away. Dunni had to meet his mother at some point, but that would be long after she agreed to marry him . He was not going to let his mum jeopardise his second chance at love. Dunni was someone special. The bond between her and Toni was one he could only have imagined but never thought possible.

Molade Thomas smiled at Tade retreating figure. He could be in his mid-thirties, Chief Medical Officer at Lekki Consultant hospital, but he was first her child. If she gave in to all the threats thrown at her, she would not be who she is today. Many felt because she was born into the Thomas wealth, she had it all smooth. Life was not a bed of roses. She worked hard to be where she was today. Her father’s wealth and connection may have helped. Still, her doggedness and tenacity put her ahead of the park in the Nigeria and Africa business sphere which was primarily dominated by men.

She would do what she had to do. Every single detail of that’s girls life will be checked. She would be dissected like an insect, and if she didn’t meet the requirements, Tade would be the one to reject her not Molade. She will not lose her only son to a social climber or gold digger.

Solape proved to be a rare gem, but she would never acknowledge that to anyone. She was not only beautiful, which was one of the reasons Tade lost his heart and sense to her, but she was resourceful and knew how to use Thomas fortune to her advantage. Take this house for an instant.

She threw her gaze around the house, refusing to give in to any sentiments recollecting all the girl’s effort to win her approval. She would have preferred someone who was not that weak. Solape wore her heart on her sleeve and thought the whole world will love you if you were nice.

The news of her death broke Molade. She was still angry. How does cancer snuff the life of one so alive? Her hard exterior cracked in the walls of her bedroom the night she was informed of Solape’s demise.

Tade and Solape had announced they were going back to the US for vacation the family had gone during Easter. When she quizzed him, he said they just wanted the time to themselves. It was a rude shock when Tade called to tell her Solape was gone.

That she’d been diagnosed with cervical cancer on their last vacation. They did not want to alarm family members since a mere operation medically advised would solve the problem. According to Tade, initially, Solape did not wake up from the operation but did hours later as the medical team battled to resuscitate her. One day she was recovering from the operation, and the next day she went into cardiac arrest and died. The girl was not sick; she just died.

Molade wiped her silent tears away as she sat in the living room of her son’s house, pulling herself together. This was a part of her the world will never get to see. No one knew that she pulled strings behind the scene to make the girl succeed.

Solape related with her like she was oblivious to Molade’s cold demeanour. So she would visit her every week at the office, same time and same day. Molade cleared her calendar for those visits, and no meeting was scheduled within those hours. She argued she was only polite, but she enjoyed every time spent with that girl in hindsight.

Solape would talk about Toni, her business, the wins, looses who gave her problems, who was friendly, Tade etc. The talk was usually one-sided because Molade will only grunt or blatantly ignore her. Still, surprisingly the girl will be back the next week and the next so while she came to love the girl fiercely in her heart, she refused to show it outside.

She still wondered if the girl knew she was going to die. The last visit before her trip for the operation, she’d come round her desk to give her a hug that was totally out of place.

“I know you love me and thank you for everything,” and she was out of the office like she had never been there.

Tade was wrong. She had the opportunity of knowing the girl and enjoyed those times with Solape.

The Dice#9

Dunni stood up from the sofa to get to her desk when she caught sight of a gorgeous caramel skinned lady dressed in a knee-length navy blue suit. She was about 5 feet, 8 inches tall with long box braids cascading down all the way to her waist.

The fact that the lady was with Moses piqued her interest. She wondered if there something beyond work as she watched their interaction. The way Moses’s eyes lighted up and the grin across his face like he was practically eating from her hands increased her curiosity. Suddenly she remembered an idea to run by Ola.

Moses stopped holding the mystery lady by her arms as he introduced her.

“Becca Williams meet Dunni Adesida, one of the principal partners. Dunni, Becca Williams, MD La Forte Designs. She is the interior designer who handled the Lekki Horizons Estate. I met her yesterday at Akin and Anu’s function. I think it would be nice if she handled the Awoyaya Gardens Project.”

Dunni stretched out her hand to shake Becca warmly and smiled at Moses neither agreeing nor disagreeing with his proposal. She excused herself to Ola’s office, leaving Moses with his guest. There was no way Becca or whatever she was called would handle her project. She already had a reliable designer. Moses could use her for his project but not hers. She fumed still in that state when she got to Ola’s office.

Ola looked up and could not hide his smile when Dunni walked in. He had wondered how long it would take her to barge into his office complaining of the new designer Moses had just recommended.

“I did not know we were shopping for new designers. I thought we were happy with the works of Exquisite Interiors and Bubbles Interior designs.”

“You will have to ask Moses. I don’t think there is any harm in introducing one more designer considering the number of projects we have to execute. He was introduced to her and requested she bring her portfolio. Who knows we may need her soon.”

“She won’t handle any of my projects,” Dunni announced Ola to disagree.

Moses strolled in whistling the song baby, now that I’ve found you by Alison Kraus. She knew the song as it was one of the soundtracks in the list of songs in his car.

Dunni rolled her eyes, shaking her head. “Moses be serious. What have you found, a good designer for our projects or what?”

“She is the one,” Moses replied dreamily clasping his hands together.

Both Ola and Dunni turned to look at Moses like he had grown a horn or something.

“What do you mean she is the one,” Dunni tried to keep her voice regular, she could barely breathe as she waited for Moses to say something.

“I have finally found her. The one I have been looking for,” Moses answered.

Dunni busted out with a peal of forced laughter that sounded strange even to her ears. “See you when you get back from La la land.” She turned to Ola, “talk to him. I will not be there when it all falls like a pack of cards.”

Moses kept whistling with this look on his face Dunni had not seen since he dated Sophie Adams in his third year at university. That was the only serious relationship Moses had been in. She was not privy to why they broke up. His other relationships have been less intense. Moses breaking up with Sophie had led to her break up with Benji. She was spending more time with Moses knowing he was shaken from the break-up and wanted to help.

It was one of the worst moments of his life since they had become friends. Her heart ached for him in that period, and she felt she owed it as a friend to be with him. Benji, for some reason, had always seen Moses as a threat even when he knew Moses was involved with Sophie. She had to keep telling him then that Moses was only a friend and nothing more. Dunni called off the relationship when she could no longer take the badgering. Benji has trust issues, and Dunni could not deal with it. He was one of the few guys that got on with Moses and Ola, but somewhere along the line, he had let jealousy ruin what they had.

Moses and Dunni got closer during that season of their lives. She had not had any relationship after Benji, she still felt stung by his betrayal. It was barely a month after Dunni broke off with Benji he started dating another girl in her dorm. There has been no one after Benji. She just could not find anyone she connected with.

For a weird reason, she found herself comparing all the men that came to Moses. None of them measured to him. She wanted someone who understood her like Moses.

Dunni sat behind her desk, lost in thoughts. She was not sure how she got there. She worried that Moses may get hurt with this new relationship. At a time, she had to reprimand herself not to take Panadol for someone else’s headache as was commonly said. Who knows it may not work out like all his other relationships? Moses was a grown man she could not be worrying for him like she was his mother.

Searching for a drawing pen, she got busy on her project with a little frown on her face. Not sure why she was bothering her head over Moses relationship.

Omowashe Omorishe#26

I dare to hope

second-chance After four weeks in the hospital, I was finally allowed to go home. I had lost a lot of weight, my eyes and cheeks sunken. I gasped as I gazed at my reflection in the mirror while trying to apply a little makeup to my face. A good sign that I was doing much better. Three weeks ago I was too sick to be bothered about my looks. I would spend my energy getting better.

Diabetes type 2! I thought I heard the doctor say that was the kind of diabetes I had. I was asking what were the chances of cure from my doctor when he looked at me quizzically.
“Who told you it’s a type 2?” He asked.

“One of the doctors I guess,” I replied.
I doubt I could have made that up or it the disease affecting my memory too.

“type 1, not 2,” said the doctor correcting me.

“Type 1 or 2 what are my chances of getting better and living a healthy life,” I asked getting infuriated not even the counselling had given me the answers I want. They have all been politically correct in their responses.

“I wish I could tell you what you want to hear but if you keep to your medication, you will be okay.”

What he was saying was what I already knew, but I was hoping there would have been a change after all the weeks in the hospital.I was feeling more like my old self.

“Your drugs and medication would be given to you before you leave. Make sure you adhere strictly to them or else you might be back here again, and it may be more grievous.You need to do all you can to take care of yourself if you want to stay alive,” said Dr Kola gravely.

I wanted to stay alive but not with diabetes. There must be a cure. Science was too advanced for there not to be a cure. There should be a breakthrough in diabetes research. I have to believe I will overcome. The diseases will not waste my body.

I was glad to be out of the hospital. I wished I had not listened to my mother and had rented an apartment of my own. I would have to get a place in the coming weeks. I went home with mum and Uncle Segun. He would not listen to my feeble protest of he did not need to bother with me.

“Auntie, can I come in for dinner? I am tired of eating at my usual restaurant,” asked Uncle Segun.

I looked at him puzzled and forgot my resolve not to talk to him and only answer his questions in monosyllables. I was still upset with him.
However, it was easier said to forgive and let go than done. I thought I had let go, but I was far from it. It did look like I had a long way to go.

“What about Auntie Bimba?” I asked.

“She moved out after I told her you were my daughter. She was shocked I could have hidden such a secret from her all these years, not that I blame her,” he answered sadly.

I was not the only one dealing with Uncle’s Segun’s betrayal. I should be glad he is getting paid back in his coin. Rather I was sad that the two people who made my fantasy of marriage a reality now had cracks in their home, threatening to destroy the fabric of their union.
No secret is worth keeping. There is always a gestation period, and the truth out for everyone. Why does it take people so long to realise that secrets were only a matter of time?

I was speechless and since I did not know what to say. I did the best thing by keeping my mouth shut. Uncle Segun and Auntie Bimba had the wisdom to sort whatever problem they encountered. It was not for me to start giving counsel I did not have.

Uncle Segun came in for a meal of Amala and ewedu soup quickly whipped together by my mum. She asked if I wanted some and apologised when it dawned on her that it was carbohydrate and should not be part of my meal. My lifestyle has become a list of rules and diet that must be abided.

I walked into my old room. The last time I was in the room was the day of the introduction. That day looked like a million years away. I was no longer that girl whose life was a filled with promise and hope of happily ever after. It was a reality of pain, sickness and dream cut short if I allow it.

I dragged myself to the bed and laid down hugging the teddy bear Bode had given me. Drawing comfort that being here today is a sign that although my life would be different from now on, I would live every day to the fullest.

* * * * *
My phone vibrated, and I picked it up to read the message.

Andrew: Are you home?
Me: Yes I am.
Andrew: Up for a visit.
Me: Yes.
Andrew: Will check on you shortly. I am on my way home.

The constant in my life have been my friends and family. They have all found time amidst their busy schedule to check on me more regularly than I would have given credit.
The other day Auntie Bimba had come around to visit. I was excited to see her and hoped I would be able to convince her to go back to Uncle Segun.
I could understand her hurt although it was deeper than mine. I was the child. She was his wife. I wondered if their marriage could ever be the same again. Trust, although broken could be restored with time.

She did not say much to me, although I did ask when she was going back to Uncle Segun. I am yet to come to terms with calling him, father.

My parents were discussing the other day of a possibility of divorce, but I did not think she would. It might take her a longer time to come around forgiving my uncle, but Auntie Bimba did not look like one who would ask for a divorce.

The visits were brief but filled with messages of hope and encouragement except for some tactless people who had gory tales of individuals with diabetes. How do you come to encourage someone and fill them with stories of fear? I have learnt not to dwell on those terrible stories, and I can tell you it’s been hard wiping them out of my memory.

One of my aunts came the other day and was wailing of my inability to get pregnant due to the disease. I had not explored that angle, but my mother was quick to shut her up that the doctor had said I had a chance to live a normal life. Secretly, I wondered if my mum was not being protective and had just made that up, but since I was neither looking for romance nor marriage, they need not bother.

Bode visited me every day that I felt so sorry for the guy.
“You need a break. You have not been able to process what has happened to us and what you want to do. You should take time off work and make plans. Find a nice girl to marry,” I said almost choking on my words.

“Someone like you, cousin,” said Bode always using that endearment for me. Although I felt like it was more a reminder to him that I was his cousin and no longer the girl who held his heart than he was letting us believe.

“I could help you. We could go through a list of my friends,” I offered.

“I am not that desperate,” said Bode crisply.
I took the cue to drop the subject.

“Have you thought of seeing your birth mum?” asked Bode.

“I don’t think of her as my mother,” I answered tonelessly.

I still did not want to have anything to do with her. She and I were strangers, and that was what we would always be. Not asking for more, especially with the circumstance she abandoned me.

“Does she know me?” I asked, for a moment fantasising that she was pining for her abandoned daughter.

“No, I have not told my family that you are her daughter. She still thinks there is a girl somewhere with Uncle Segun.

“Good. Please don’t tell your family,” I begged, and I don’t know why I wanted him to hide the fact that he nearly married his first cousin.

The truth was I could not deal with anyone asking for forgiveness or expecting more from me. I was not hurt just indifferent. I was neither curious nor interested. I preferred not to rock my boat.

****

A soft knock rapped on my door.
Without checking, I knew who it was. It was the way he knocked so gentle that you could barely hear it.

“Come in,” I said softly but loud enough to be heard by the person on the other side of the door.

Andrew came in his presence filling the space as he took his seat on the chair by my bedside.

“How are you doing today, I hope you are not getting lazier by the day? So much work is waiting for you at the office,” he teased in his usual banter that I forget many times he is still my boss at work.

“I can’t wait to be back, up and running.”

My mother came in overhearing my response.

“You need to make sure Lana takes it slowly at work. She will forget all about herself and focus on the job. We cannot afford that right now,” said my mum to Andrew placing a glass cup of orange juice on the table beside his chair and handing me a tray of spicy fish pepper soup.

I adjusted my pillows sitting up properly to take the soup from her.

“Ma, do you think she still needs to be babied? She must be enjoying all the pampering so much that the thought of work must be nonexistence in her plans,” Andrew said to my mother with a grave look on his face yet eyes crinkling with laughter.

“You wish!” I retorted rolling my eyes.

“If it were possible, I would gladly exchange with you. You can have all the pepper soup in the world you want,” I teased back.

I loved Andrew’s visits. They were lively and filled with the usual banter Bode, and I used to share. He was able to look beyond my situation and still see me. It was easy to be my old self and not get weighed down with my present condition.

I would laugh and beg him to stop. I hated when his visits ended, and I had only my thoughts of fear to entertain me. Would I beat this disease? Would I be able to live a normal life?