I heard the short buzz of my phone vibrating. It was a WhatsApp notification.
“We’re on our way now”. A message from Zola.
I smiled as I read it. I couldn’t wait to see them.
With the smile still on my face, I imagined her and Anu in the car, arguing over which playlist will make it through the drive.
The ordinary chaos of my favourite people.
I text her back “I’m excited”.
It was 6.53pm, I estimated the time it’d take for them to get to my office to be about forty minutes.
I decided to use that time to go through a clients note and review my itinerary for the next day.
My phone buzzed. This time it was a continuous buzz and pause that followed a rhythm when it was a phone call notification.
Without looking at the screen, I smiled and reached out to the shelf to my right to grab my office bag and hurriedly packed my things together.
I assumed it was Zola calling to tell me they were outside.
I closed my laptop and picked up my phone, it was still buzzing. I paused, it was an unfamiliar number.
I dropped my bag and looked at the number again. I answered the call.
“Hello?”
“Good evening. Am I speaking to Mr Olayiwola Aderiokun?”
“Yes please, who’s this?”
There was a pause and then the caller cleared his throat.
“Er, sir. I’d need you to come to St Patrick’s hospital on Okanlawon street, it’s the street opposite the Bisabi filling station.” He paused.
“There was an accident involving a woman and a young girl… We found your contact details on her phone”
My fingers tightened around my phone.
Everything inside me went still. I hung up and dialled Zola’s number, no response.
I called Anu, there was no answer too.
I picked up the remote control to my car and made my way to the door. My knees nearly gave way.
I called out to Jarret. He must have seen how flustered I was.
“What’s wrong Layi? Why do you look…”
“My wife and Anu were in an accident…” My voice trailed off.
He took my bag from me. I handed the car control to him and gave him the name of the hospital. I repeated the direction the caller gave me.
The drive to the hospital felt both impossibly long and frighteningly short.
I continued to call both Zola and Anu’s numbers, still no answer.
“Please, God, please.” I shut my eyes tightly.
Jarret was driving as fast as he could. Finally, we turned into the street and found the hospital.
The emergency entrance was chaos. People were moving around quickly. Gurneys were being pushed from ambulances into the hospital.
I didn’t wait for the car to stop before I opened the door and rushed out.
I ran to the reception desk.
“My wife…” I was breathing heavily.
The receptionist was writing in what looked like a register. She looked up.
“What’s her name?”
“Zola Ade…”
She typed on the keyboard and looked into the screen of the computer.
“My daughter too. Anuoluwapo. They were brought in after a car accident.”
Her fingers stopped. She looked at me.
“Are you Mr Olayiwola?”
“Yes.”
“Please sir take a seat.” She pointed in the direction of the metal seats that lined the wall of the reception.
“No, thank you. I’d just wait here.”
She stood up and came out of her space.
“Sir, please, just take a seat.”
“Where is my wife?” I was getting impatient
A nurse approached us from the door that led to the hospital wards, just as Jarret walked in from outside the hospital.
“Mr Layi?” The nurse walked towards me.
“Yes.”
“I’m one of the nurses looking after your wife,” she said with a smile
“Where is she?” I asked with more hope than the receptionist had given me.
“She’s stable. She’s being assessed by the doctors.”
Under my breath, I said a quick
“Thank You Jesus”
“Can I see her?”
“Not yet.”
“How about my daughter, how’s she?”
The nurse hesitated, her smile disappeared slowly.
I turned to face her and took a step towards her.
She stepped back.
“Where is my daughter?”
She looked at the receptionist, looked at Jarret and then back at me.
My throat went completely dry, my head felt light.
“Mr Layi, I’m going to ask you to sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down. Where the fuck is my daughter?” I grabbed her arm.
“Take me to my daughter now.” I yelled at her.
The nurse’s expression changed. She attempted to get out of my grip as Jarret also pulled me away from her.
I kept staring at her as she struggled to string words together and I saw the truth hiding behind her eyes.
“No.” It came out quietly.
Jarret held me tight.
“No.” This time more loudly.
I stepped backwards.
“Mr Layi, I’m so sorry,” I heard the nurse say.
I held my head. It no longer felt light, it was heavy and I feared it would fall off, so I held it.
“Your daughter didn’t survive the…” The nurse continued.
I slumped into one of the seats. Jarret sat beside me, still holding me.
I looked around observing everything and everyone.
There was a nurse walking closely behind a doctor who was giving her instructions while she scribbled in a notepad.
In one corner, a woman was crying, looking into an A4 sheet of paper she was holding.
A cleaner pushed a trolley filled with cleaning supplies across the room, with a blank expression on his face.
A patient still in her hospital gown was been led out by a man carrying a bag.
Everyone and everything around me kept moving. Nothing had stopped.
Life was supposed to stand still and everyone was supposed to come to my aid, to help me make sense of what was happening to me.
I looked at the big clock above the reception desk. It was ticking. The fucking clock was ticking. Time, so callous and unsympathetic.
I turned to Jarret and brought out my phone. My hands trembled as I struggled to unlock it.
“They must have the wrong information.”
“Layi…” He started to say.
“Look,” I said and held my phone to his face.
“She sent me a selfie while I was waiting for them at the office.”
Jarret took my phone and put it in his pocket.
I laughed hysterically and then it felt like something inside me broke.
I don’t remember anything that happened after that. I woke up in the passenger seat of my car with a throbbing headache. Jarret was in the driver’s seat.
He told me I had broken down in tears and asked to be taken to the car where I slept off.
I asked him if that night had really happened.
“Yes,” he whispered.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
I felt a very sharp pain in my head as I opened my eyes. I winced in pain trying to make out the faces around me.
I realised I was in a hospital bed. Suddenly, the memories came rushing back.
I remember how thrilled I was when I got my test results from the hospital. I had done a pregnancy test following the symptoms I was experiencing in the past two weeks.
It was positive. I was nine weeks pregnant. I couldn’t wait to share the news with Layi and Anu. But I wanted to make it special.
So I made a table reservation at one of our favorite restaurants and called Layi to let him know I’d pick him up from the office.
I called Anu too and asked her to get dressed. I was super excited. I went home and freshened up quickly before I set out again with Anu.
I sent a text to Layi to let him know we were on our way.
After our routine back and forth on what we’d listen to on the drive, Anu and I settled for our favorite Drake’s playlist.
Everything happened in a flash. One minute we were singing along to Drake’s ‘God’s Plan’, next minute there’s a truck running through the traffic light at the cross junction, the screeching sound of tires around me. I swerved to the right and slammed on my brakes and then darkness.
“Your wife is awake.”
I attempted to sit up but every part of my body screamed with pain.
“Hey baby, I’m here”
I felt the relief wash over me as I heard Layi’s voice.
“You were in an accident but you’d be fine, okay?”
He kissed my head and held my hand.
“Where’s Anu?” I asked.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
“Help me, please Jesus” I repeated prayerfully as the nurse led me into the hospital room where Zola was.
Every step felt like I wading through water. The nurse’s voice sounded like it was coming from a distant place.
“She’s sustained a dislocated shoulder and some other injuries.”
“Does she know about our daughter?” I stopped to ask.
The nurse turned to look at me.
“Not yet.”
My throat closed.
“I’ll tell her.”
“Mr Layi…”
“I’ll tell her.” I repeated firmly.
I had just taken up the task to destroy Zola’s world, but I couldn’t let anyone else break the news to her.
I walked into the room and took in the image of my wife lying on the bed.
Her left shoulder was heavily bandaged, there was a small cut above her eyebrow and a bruise had formed along her cheekbone.
I bent over to kiss her head and held her hand gently.
Her eyes opened and I saw the relief wash over her.
“Where’s Anu?” She asked
I froze.
“Where’s Anu?” She asked again, making an attempt to get up.
I sat beside her.
“Zee…”
“Where is she?” Her eyes searched mine
“Why aren’t you answering me?”
I couldn’t speak.
“Layi, where is my daughter?”
I squeezed her hand.
“Zee…”
Her face changed. She tried to pull her hand away.
“Where is my baby?” She asked again
“She’s gone,” I whispered.
She stared at me in confusion.
“If she’s gone, go and get her,” she said calmly
I closed my eyes.
“Zola, please…”
“Go and get my daughter Layi.” She screamed.
“Go and get…” She choked on her words and broke down in tears.
We both cried uncontrollably, holding on to each other.
I don’t know how long we stayed like that until a doctor came in.
He spoke quietly. I could hear words like shock, trauma, observation, surgery, but I wasn’t listening.
Then he said something that made Zola and I lift our heads.
“Mr and Mrs Aderiokun…”
He paused.
“There is something else you need to know.”
Zola looked at him. I tightened my grip around her hand. The doctor glanced at me.
“Your wife was approximately nine weeks pregnant.”
I looked at him and looked at Zola. He continued gently as my gaze fell back on him.
“The accident caused significant trauma.”
“No,” she whispered, her voice barely audible.
“The pregnancy…”
He stopped.
“I am very sorry,” he said.
I felt Zola’s fingers tighten around mine. The doctor lowered his eyes.
“You’ve lost the pregnancy.”
I heard the clock ticking loudly. It was the only sound that filled my head.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
Cracks in the Glass – ALERO
Part Three : Fatal Desire
When I returned from the restroom, there was a small tray on the coffee table with assorted biscuits, mini cupcakes and pastries, a small pitcher of orange juice and a jar of water.
Layi looked up from his iPad and smiled as I settled back into the couch.
I smiled faintly in return.
There was what seemed to be a calculated silence, then he spoke.
“So…When did Kunmi stop being Tolani’s son and become Kunmi to you?”
The question caught me off guard.
“I’ve never thought about it that way.”
“I know.”
He picked up a glass half filled with juice and took a sip.
“Think about it now.” He set the glass back down.
I took a deep breath and relaxed into the couch.
“The next time I saw Kunmi after his thirteenth birthday was when he was 20.
He came to Nigeria for the Christmas holiday with his mum. It was his first time here.”
I recalled how he and Tolani argued constantly. I smiled at the memory of seeing them together.
They were more like siblings than mother and son, and you’d think there was a rivalry between them.
“But underneath all the arguments, you could tell they adored each other.” I finished with a smile.
I slid to the edge of the couch to get closer to the coffee table and filled up a tumbler halfway with some orange juice.
I relaxed into the couch and drank some of the juice.
“You know, it was impossible not to like Kunmi. He is intelligent, curious, knowledgeable about almost everything, and has an incredible sense of humour, the sarcasm we shared…” I paused.
“…It was so easy to forget he was in his 20s and my best friend’s son.”
Layi nodded.
“Why do you think he was attracted to you?”
My brows furrowed slightly.
“I don’t know.”
“I think you do, think about it.”
I swirled what was left of the juice in my glass around as I tried to think.
“Maybe it was the fact that I agreed with a lot of his opinions and ideas. We had similar thought processes to the annoyance of his mother.” My voice dropped a pitch and trailed off.
“She would say I was enabling him,” I said quietly.
“There was a way he took an interest in me. He wanted to know about my work, my hobbies, my ideal life. He made me feel… interesting.”
There was a moment of silence, and Layi allowed it to linger.
“When was the last time someone made you feel that way?”
The question landed somewhere deep. I searched my memory.
“I don’t remember.”
“I had forgotten what it felt like to be seen.”
Layi typed on his iPad.
“When did it become established that you were attracted to each other?”
I smiled sadly.
I recounted how Kunmi eventually moved to Nigeria following his business idea to set up a film production company with two of his friends.
It had been difficult for him to get Tolani to agree to his move. She didn’t think he had the grit to run a business in Nigeria.
She wanted him to stay back in London to build his career in investment banking.
She had just been appointed a marketing consultant at one of the high-end fashion brands in London.
It caused a huge rift between them. I got involved and promised her I’d be part of setting up the company and support them till they were well grounded.
My position as head of investor relations gave me access to a number of clients we could pitch investment proposals to.
I worked with him and his business partners as a team. I enjoyed seeing him manifest his vision.
Strategy meetings slowly became late-night conversations that led to dinners and dropping me off at home.
To celebrate the success of their first production, a documentary series that featured music artists from the early 80s, he took me out to dinner at my favourite restaurant.
The first kiss happened at the car park. It was spontaneous. I didn’t stop it. I got home and blamed it on the wine.
The following morning, I was still revelling in the pleasure of how good the kiss felt.
I had given him an opening. That day, he sent me flowers and a bottle of the perfume I was wearing the night before with a note that said,
“I want to smell this on you every time I come close to you.”
I didn’t return it; instead, I had butterflies in my stomach. I stopped myself from thinking. I knew it wasn’t right. Every sane part of me screamed at me, but I ignored the reprimanding.
“Did you think of Tolani at any point?”
“Many times. It was a constant battle in my head. But what I felt… how Kunmi made me feel won every single time.
I enjoyed being desired, the way he looked at me like I was magic.” I looked at my watch and finished my drink.
“We still have a few more minutes,” Layi said.
“So you both agreed to keep it a secret” He said, as a matter of fact.
“Yes.”
“Did you love him?”
“Yes Layi, I did, genuinely. I cared deeply about him. I still do.” I felt the tears forming in my eyes.
The answer hurt more than I expected.
“And if Tolani never walked through that door that morning?”
“We’d still be together. Even with how things are now, Kunmi is ready to damn all the consequences to keep our relationship going.” The tears streamed down my face.
There was another lingering silence.
“If you could continue with just one relationship, who would you choose? Tolani or Kunmi?”
I laughed with the tears still in my eyes. With no hesitation or confusion, I answered,
“Tolani. I didn’t realise how important our friendship is to me, Layi.” I paused and sighed deeply.
“It goes beyond the guilt of my betrayal; I literally don’t know how to live without her.”
Layi dropped his iPad. Our time was up.
“I’d like to give you something to do before we meet again.”
I nodded.
“I want you to write Tolani a letter.”
I frowned in confusion. “But she’s not respo…”
“You’re not going to send it.” He cut me mid sentence.
“I want you to write about the betrayal, the guilt you carry, your apology, the memories of your friendship, and the gratitude you have. Everything you think of her and would want to say to her in and out of this situation.”
He paused and looked at me.
“You’d write another one to yourself.”
I stared at him.
“What would it be about?”
“I don’t know; that will be up to you to find out.”
His voice remained calm.
“But I think you need to find out.”
He stood up, I picked up my bag and stood too. He led me towards the door and let his hand rest on the door handle.
“When you’ve written both letters, read them again and ask yourself how honest you’ve been.”
I stood there for a long moment and for the first time, I wasn’t thinking about if Tolani will ever respond or my relationship status with Kunmi or how the world would judge me.
I had a different question. One I wasn’t sure I was ready to answer.
“Who am I really?”
I walked to my car and sat there for almost ten minutes my mind wandering, not staying on any particular thought.
I picked up my phone and opened my sent messages.
Tolani’s name stared back at me. Thirty-seven unanswered messages. I started to send another message.
My thumb hovered over the keyboard, unsure.
‘Tolani…
I typed, then stopped.
…For whatever it’s worth, I’m in therapy”
I hit the send button, put my phone on the passenger seat and drove home to write two letters.
*********************************************************************************************************************************************
The characters are
Layi – The therapist at Room 88
Zola AKA Zee – Layi’s Wife
Anuoluwa – Layi and Zola’s daughter
Jarret – Layi’s Personal Assistant
Alero – Layi’s Client
Tolani – Alero’s Best friend
Kunmi – Tolani’s Son
Alero has a task to write two letters.
What does Layi intend to achieve with this task?
I’d be sharing Layi’s notes as an add on at the end of every therapy session to give you an insight into how he analyses each clients situation.
How do you think things will play out with Alero and Tolani?
Thank you for reading to this point.
I would love to read your comments and thoughts.
Please share with everyone you know would enjoy reading this work of fiction.
It’s your favourite Story teller
Olujare
No comment