The Blue House S04 E01

Everyday on the way from school Ayodele was on the lookout for Peace; his mother hadn’t listened to him and his only hope was to appeal to Peace. He had even tried to talk to Brother Tunji but that hadn't gone well at all. The man had chased him away and warned him never to come back, how dare he accuse him of such a thing? He had grown lean and had become even more introverted. As usual he lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling pondering how to get out of the mess he was in.
As usual, Joke burst into his room again.
"Ayo!"
Ayodele shook his head, his sister could never change and he had grown used to her ways. Ironically, Joke had proven to be his only friend in this whole mess.
"What do you want?"
"Why are you lying here alone?" Joke flopped on to the bed beside him.
"I want to be alone."

"No you don't. Ayo you have to forget about that girl and move on with your life."
"That's easy for you to say, I’m going to be a father some months from now..."
"And that'll make me an aunt. Wow!" Joke said suddenly rising up in realization. She sighed and flopped back on the bed. "What do you want to call it... her, him?" Ayodele shot her an unbelieving look. "Do you want a boy or a girl?"
"Joke." Ayodele said simply, not sure of how to respond to his sister’s line of thought.
"You have to start thinking of a name. I have thought of two- Edward if it's a boy and Clarissa if it's a girl." Joke said with a huge smile on her face.
In spite of himself, Ayodele laughed hard- it was the first time in a long time. "Joke!" he said again and burst into another round of laughter.
"So you like it abi?"
"Joke that baby is not mine."
"So whose is it?"
"I don't know..." Ayodele said as non-chalantly as possible but Joke caught the look on his face.
"What is going on? Do you know who got Peace pregnant?"
"How can I know that?" Ayodele attempted feebly to defend himself.
"You're hiding something! Tell me what it is."
"Joke you really have to learn to mind your own business, if you have any questions you should ask Peace." Ayodele snapped at her half-heartedly.
"So you know who got her pregnant and you're covering for him. Are you stupid?!"
"Oh my God!" Ayodele closed his eyes in frustration, why hadn’t he kept quiet? "Joke..."
"Adejoke!" their mother called from the kitchen.
"That woman should leave me alone!" Joke groaned.
"You better answer her quickly!" Ayodele said grateful for the distraction.
**********
"You need to let me see my daughter..." Banke said again clutching her phone tightly.
"Why, so you can take her away from me?"
"She's my daughter..."
"Yes but she's mine too."
"Kunle you don't know the first thing about taking care of a child, why are you holding on to her just to spite me?"
"You're right, I didn't know the first thing about taking care of a child but I have learned. Besides, I’ve had help..."
"Yeah, from your girlfriend who's been picking up my child!"
"My girlfriend... what are you talking about?" Kunle stopped swinging in his chair and pressed the phone more closely to his ear.
"Oh please don't pretend that you don't know what I’m talking about!" Banke rolled her eyes, irritated that Kunle was trying to deny her suspicions.
"Banke I don't have time for games, if you have something to say then say it."
"Alright then let me refresh your memory. I'm talking about the fair girl that drives Helen's car..."
"Ada? You're talking about Ada?" Kunle laughed half amused.
"I'm glad you find that funny. So George was right after all, you do have a sidechick..."
"Wait, wait wait... who on earth is George? And what makes you think I’m sleeping with Ada?" Banke was quiet. "Oh I see..." Kunle said suddenly remembering who George was. "You're talking about the fool I met at your house the other day. Is that what he’s telling you so he can sleep with you?"
"Kunle how dare you?"
"No, how dare you accuse me of adultery? Painful as it is I have moved on but not into another woman’s bed. Now back to the matter, since you've been monitoring Teni's movements so well you see her often enough. She doesn’t need to be reminded of the mother who left her..."
"You threw me out."
"Goodbye Banke."
"This conversation is not over, I'm getting my daughter back."
**********
Helen was tired again, after a long day at work she had come home to see that Onyebuchi was feverish- he was showing the familiar symptoms of malaria. Now Onyebuchi was a difficult patient, he wouldn’t eat or drink anything and had refused to take his medication. Eventually Helen had had to threaten him with a cane before he reluctantly had a few spoons of rice and took his medicine. He was fast asleep in bed while she helped Chijioke with his homework.
“Read the passage again and stop asking me stupid questions!” she snapped at the already terrified boy, His mother was not at all in a good mood and he could feel her disapproving looks as his foggy brain attempted to make sense of the passage.
Helen slumped back on the couch trying to keep her temper in check. She knew she was making Chijioke nervous and it affected his ability to comprehend what he was reading but she wasn’t ready to be patient with him today of all days. To add insult to injury she and Obiora had had a disagreement over the fact that she needed more money. She had under-estimated how much she would need for the upkeep of the home and unexpected bills had come up such as the money the estate contributed for a new transformer. Obiora had subtly accused her of mismanaging the funds and putting undue pressure on him, she on the other hand felt insulted by his suggestion that she was not being judicious.
“What’s his problem? He has more money, why can’t he send it? Does he think it’s easy to take care of these children all by myself?” She thought to herself.
“Mummy, I’ve finished it.” Chijioke pointed vaguely to his book, terrified that his mother would find something wrong with his work. She did.
“Ah ah Chijioke can you read?” Helen asked furious. The boy nodded anxiously, inching away from his mother.
“I don’t think you can. How many times are you going to read this passage? What is your problem?” Helen screamed at the boy whose head was now bowed, his eyes stung with tears. “Go inside before I slap your head!” Helen was barely keeping it together, the boy had read the passage seven times yet he still couldn’t figure out why the king had banished the chief from the village.
“I need a lesson teacher before I kill these children!” she said to herself rubbing her eyes and feeling very inadequate.
In the room, Chijioke wept, he sorely missed his father. Things had not been the same since he left, Mummy had turned into an evil witch, and nothing could please her.