The Dreams Of A Mother

Episode 11

Dayo refused to eat or drink, until he was told about his roots. He locked himself up in his room and refused seeing anyone, unless they were ready to tell him the truth.

Dayo: “You lied to me, dad. I never thought you would ever lie.
Anyways, you are not my dad” he had said to Gberan when he tried to placate him, after he heard the banter between him and his wife, Bella.

Gberan was forced to call his mother, to come and salvage the situation, as it had gone beyond him.

Madam Lagos: “So you agree that you couldn’t do something as simple as taking care of a child” she said sarcastically.

Gberan: “I tried my best. If he had not heard me and Bella arguing, it wouldn’t have come to this”

Madam Lagos: “I will be there tomorrow” she said.

When Madam Lagos came, she found out that Dayo had not eaten for two days straight. She felt pained and felt like she had failed Khadijat. She rushed to his room and b@nged on the door.

Madam Lagos: “My son, Dayo. Please open the door, I want to talk with you” she said in a broken voice.

Dayo: “Who are you, I don’t want to talk to anyone but my real parents” he said in a voice too strong for someone who had not eaten for days.

Madam Lagos: “I want to tell you about your real parents” she said and heard the door click open. The door opened slowly to reveal a stricken Dayo, his eyes were puffy from crying. Her heart broke at this sight. She rushed forward and enveloped him in an embrace.

Madam Lagos: “I am so sorry my son, we should have told you the truth from the beginning” she said into his hair.

Dayo: “Is it true my mother is dead?”

Madam Lagos led him into his room and shut the door behind her. They sat on his bed as she told him about Khadijat, and how she had died.

Dayo: “You mean my real father did not want me?” he asked, tears already gathering in his eyes.

Madam Lagos: “He was just being irresponsible, and it is his loss. Gberan is my son and he loves you just as if you were his son. It is to your advantage that you stay here. Oshogbo is a backwater town, and you will not get the opportunities you have here” She said and then pulled Dayo closer, “Your mother made me promise that, I would help you in any way I can, so you would be all that she couldn’t be. Do you know she wanted to be a doctor?” she said conspiratorially.

Dayo: “Really?” he asked with wide eyes, just as he made a promise in his heart to be a doctor just to honor his mother.

Madam Lagos: “Yes, she already had an admission into school to study medicine before you came on the scene.
She was very smart, and lovable. You have her personality. she smiled even when things were not bright” she told him, with a faraway look in her eyes and a sad smile on her lips. She missed Khadijat, and told herself that if she was her daughter, no matter the shame brought about by teenage pregnancy, she would never have pushed her away.

Dayo: “I want to fulfill all my mother’s dreams. I want to be a doctor for her” he said enthusiastically.

Madam Lagos: “That is my boy.
There is nothing you set your heart to, that you cannot achieve. So even when life gets tough, just hold on, and remember your mother’s dreams” she admonished and kissed his fore-head.

Dayo: “Can I call your grandma?”

Madam Lagos: “Of course son, I think I have earned the right, don’t you think?” she asked rhetorically.

After Madam Lagos’ visit, Dayo turned back to the happy child that he was, and apologized to Ken. The latter did not care much for his apology because, nothing had changed. Cassandra still had a crush on Dayo, and his father was still very much besotted with him.

Ken: “Mother, I want Dayo out of this house. If he really is not my father’s son, why do I have to compete with him for my father’s love?” he cried, complaining to his mother. Bella sat down hard and stared into nothingness.

“Gberan loves that boy, there is no way I can take him out of this house, without arousing suspicions. What do I do?” she thought, tuning out her son’s hysterical cries.

Question: did Mama lagos took the right decision for Dayo?telling him to stay in lagos