The Blue House S04 E07

“I’m so sorry.” Ada cried beside Kunle who stopped crying after a while. “What can be done? Can you appeal or something?”

“Yeah, I can. I plan to. The good thing is that she doesn’t have permanent custody. It’s temporary.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Kunle laughed. “I don’t know, I doubt that there’s anything you can do to help.” He saw the look on Ada’s face.  “I know you don’t like me romantically and that’s fine, I appreciate all you’ve done for me and Teni already.”

Ada looked away, she couldn’t exactly say that she didn’t like him romantically. “Okay, if you need me I’m a door away!” she said as cheerfully as she could.

“Thanks.” Kunle said wearily.

Ada walked out of the house and thought about what had just happened. In the twinkling of an eye she had lost Teni, not that she was ever truly hers, but now she realized how precious the girl had become to her. She had felt responsible for her in a way that she couldn’t explain and now that she had been taken away she felt an ache in her heart that was so heavy it made her cry. Would she ever see her again? Would she be alright with Banke? She thought about all this as she entered her house and saw Helen and Obiora sitting and talking.

“Sorry dear.” Helen said to her knowing how close she had been to the girl.

“Yeah, I miss her already. How will she cope in a strange place? She didn’t even want to go with her mother, why couldn’t the woman just leave her alone?”

Helen smiled. “She’s her mother, she believes the girl is better off with her than with anyone else.”

“What if she’s wrong and Teni is better here with us?

“Well we’ll have to find that out. How’s Kunle doing?”

“He’s shattered. I think he just wants to be left alone. I’m going in.” she stood up and left.

“Helen what’s going on between my sister and Kunle? Are they dating or something?”

“No they’re not. Why did you ask?”

“Why did Ada go into his house, and what’s with the closeness between her and Teni?”

“She must have gone to comfort him and I believe she just really loves the girl, no strings attached. Even if there are, Ada is not a little girl. She knows what she’d doing.”

“Kunle is Yoruba, separated, and with a kid. Is she prepared to handle that? Is that what a young girl like her really wants?”

“They can always work those issues out.”

“Really? So now you’re the matchmaker?”

“No…I’m not, I’m just saying if she likes him she’s mature enough to know what she wants and how to handle their differences.”

“Really? You would advise your own sister to have an inter-tribal marriage with a divorcee?”

“Obi you forget how close Ada and I are to each other. She’s more than an in-law to me, she’s my sister, my younger sister and I look out for her.”

Obiora was silent for a while. “Has Kunle said anything to her?”

“Not that I know of. Look Obi there’s nothing to be worried about. Ada is old enough to know what she’s doing.”

“I don’t like it.” Obiora said pensively.

**********

Olayinka sat in Effiong’s arms watching TV with the twins looking sad.

“What is it?” Effiong said into her ears.

“What happened today would have happened to us. We could have been fighting for the custody of our kids. What would I have done?”

“Don’t think about it. We’re fine, let’s be grateful or what we have, imperfect as it is.”

Olayinka leaned more into Effiong. “I’m sorry about everything.”

“Me too. I started it.” There were quiet for a while and watched the kids dance and sing along to the theme song of a cartoon.

“What’s going to happen to that girl now?” Olayinka asked.

“I doubt that Kunle would let her go, he probably intends to fight for her.”

“I hope he wins, I really do because Banke doesn’t deserve that girl.”

“She had everything going for her, I don’t understand you women!”

“Sometimes we’re just blind, so blind to reality. We forget that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I had you, I had the kids but I believed I could equal what you did. After all what a man can do a woman can do better!” She laughed humorlessly. “I had money, more money than I knew what to do with and it got into my head. I was master and lord over all, especially my husband. In my eyes I was living free, I never considered what the consequences would be.”

“But you’ve regained your senses now.”

“Oh yes I have, painfully.”

**********

“Are you sure you don’t want something to eat?”

“Maybe later. I’ve come to talk to you.” Sister Funso said to Banke, setting her bag aside.

“What’s the problem?”

“I’ve come to talk to you heart to heart. I’m not here to judge you, I just want to hear you out. I’ve known you for years and the Sister Ronke I know doesn’t disrespect her husband or do something controversial unless something has happened. Please talk to me and I assure you that it will stay between us. I just want to understand you.”

Ronke smiled. “Did the pastor send you here?”

‘No, not at all. I told no one I was coming here, I’m here because I want to talk to you. What is going on?”

Ronke leaned back on the chair and sighed. “Something happened Sister Funso. One day I woke up and I realized that I’d been living for everybody especially my husband. Dapo provides what I need, he’s done well in that area. But the man disrespects me in ways I could never have thought possible and he’s confident enough to do it in front of our children. It was so bad that I began to see that my daughter had lost her respect for me. Whatever Dapo says is what we do, I can’t make any contributions that he’ll listen to. There’s nothing I do that’s good enough for him, he lowered my self-esteem so much and I didn’t realize how much until the day I gave birth to my baby. Do you know that Dapo pushed me to the ground and it was then I fell into premature labour?”

At this Sister Funso gasped. “What?”

“After that event where I could have lost my life and my baby I decided to take my own life in my hands. I will do whatsoever I please and not take any nonsense from that man any longer. If Dapo continues to disrespect me I will disrespect him even more. If he’s rude to me in front of the children I will do the same.  There are some things I can’t tell you but Dapo has turned this family upside down much more than he knows.”

“Hmmn... this is serious. I never knew you were going through this.”

“I have been through a lot.” Ronke’s voice was thick emotion.  

“Still, two wrongs don’t make a right. Both of you can’t be at war with each other, how will your children handle it? They will be torn between who to respect and who not to…”

“Well it won’t be me they’ll disrespect.”

“What about Joke, what example do you think you’re setting for her? There had to be a way around this such that both of you respect each other and there’s peace in the home.”

“Well, until we find that way I’ll do it my way.” Sister Funso sighed. “Will you eat something now?”

“No.” She replied distractedly wondering whether she should tell her friend about the vision she saw and told Dapo about some time ago. “There’s something I have to tell you.”

**********

“So they said Daddy and Mummy must give them twenty thousand naira otherwise they’ll tell the police?”

“Yes they did.” Joke said arms akimbo staring straight at her brother.

“What?” Ayodele asked confused.

“You have to tell them.”

“Tell them what?” Ayodele asked his brain still foggy with sleep and then he realized what she was talking about.

“You have to tell them who got Peace pregnant.”

“I don’t know who got Peace pregnant”

“You’re lying and I don’t know why! These people will collect all our money if you don’t speak up!”

“Nobody would believe me, they’ll think I’m just trying to blame someone else.”

“Tell me what happened.”

“No, you’re too young to know.”

“Excuse me? I’m going to be an aunt some months from now if you don’t speak up so please tell me what’s going on.”

“You’re too young to know.”

“Alright then, tell Daddy or Mummy or both of them! Do you want us to be poor?”

‘Nobody will believe me.” He said again, his head in his hands.

“Try telling the truth first. Please…”

“Okay…” Ayodele said grudgingly, walking out of Joke’s room.