The Dreams Of A Mother

Episode 18

Bella: “Oko mi, I just got off the phone with Tania, she is asking for Dayo to come and stay with them a few days or a week. I pity her, she is such a lonely woman”

Gberan: “I wanted to spend time with Dayo oh” he grimaced.

Bella: “Gberan, you make me laugh oh. You want to spend time with Dayo, what about your son, Ken, who is going to spend time with him” she thundered.

Gberan: “It is not my fault that Ken refuses to do the things that boys his age love. Perhaps he could spend time with you learning makeup and scheming” he flung at his wife.

Dayo watched the ensuing quarrel and knew that he had to do something about it, also, perhaps his mummy Bella was right, his daddy Gberan needed to spend time with his real son, Ken.

Dayo: “Father, I will like to go to aunt Tania’s house, I would like to keep her company for a week, while you teach Ken the piano, he has always wanted to learn, I see the way he looks at it in church” he said. If only he had known that this one decision would change his life forever, he would not have decided to be the bigger person, he would have stayed where Gberan could protect him.

Gberan: “You such a gem, I love you for this. Alright I will call Damilola to come pick you up, if you get tired at any point, just tell Damilola you want to speak to your father” he said, with a smile beaming on his face. He was so proud to be known as Dayo’s father. He wondered why his real father didn’t accept the pregnancy, if only he knew that the pregnancy resulted into an amazing child, like Dayo.

Bella: “You are not his father, he is actually going to his father” she muttered under her breath, her husband only heard the first part and didn’t hear the second part.

Gberan: “Son, go to your room and pack a bag” he said and dismissed Dayo, when he had gone, he faced his wife, “I really don’t know what your problem is, it is high time I called your mother”

Bella: “I am not the problem Gberan, you are. Our Ken is feeling like his father doesn’t love him, whereas you shower all your love on a boy whose father rejected him” she sneered through clenched teeth.

Gberan didn’t say anything, he only became thoughtful. He realized that he had become too besotted with Dayo, and had neglected his son in the process. He also realized that Dayo knew this too, that was the reason he agreed to go to Damilola’s place, and had even suggested what he should do with Ken. Dayo was so easy to love, while Ken was a hard nut to crack.

Gberan: “I am sorry” he said and that threw Bella off balance, she had expected a rebuttal, that was what they did these days, but Gberan had said ‘sorry’

Bella: “For what?” she asked

Gberan: “For neglecting our son, I will do something about it” he said

.
The doorbell rang and Bella went to usher in Tania and her husband, Damilola. Bella looked at her friend with a puzzled expression. She wondered what went on in the woman’s head, and how she reached the decision to bring her husband’s child into her house.

Tania:[b]☆☆☆☆☆
She was crying. Her eyes were puffy from the crying she had done since Bella broke the news to her. She didn’t trust her so called friend’s intentions, but it didn’t change the fact that what she said was true. So that adorable boy was Damilola’s son, she pondered.

“I should have known, his eyes are like Damilola’s eyes, the nose and mouth are all Damilola’s. It was right in front of me and I couldn’t see it. Ha Damilola, after all the love I have shown you right from America, you still go ahead and got yourself a child outside our marriage” Tania pondered.

Tania remembered that day at dinner, Bella had been smiling so hard like she was in on a secret joke. She guessed that the joke was all about her not knowing that her husband already had a son. When she was done crying, she wiped her eyes, applied a little make-up and went downstairs to watch television, as the time for her husband to come home was approaching. After a while, she heard the key turn in the keyhole, and the door opened, Damilola came in with a smile. He always had a smile on his face for her, Tania had thought that it was because of their situation and Damilola didn’t want her to brood, but now it felt like Damilola was also mocking her. All these culminated in the decision she took.

Tania: “Welcome home darling, how was work today?” she asked, as she took his portfolio.

Damilola: “My day was great because I know it would end up in me coming home to you” he replied and brushed a kiss on her lips.

Tania followed him upstairs so he could freshen up, and she watched him carefully. She was looking for telltale signs of his deception, but she found none.

Damilola: “I am so glad I have succeeded in putting up a scholarship fund for that boy Dayo. Children like him deserve all the encouragement they can get” he said as he toweled off after his shower.

Tania: “Really huh” she replied in a flat voice.

Damilola: “Are you alright?” he asked, puzzled by her nonchalance.

Tania: “I am alright, I just want my own child, this house gets lonely” she said with a frown, then she lightened up like an idea had popped into her head, “Why don’t we invite Dayo to stay with us for a few days, I would find joy in taking him to school every day. I am not sure Bella likes his presence in that house” she said.

Damilola: “He is not even related to us, would Gberan accept?” he asked, but Tania could see the excitement in his eyes. Damilola wanted Dayo to come as his wife had suggested because he wanted to egt to know the boy and see what was about him that brought him memories of the past.

“You wicked, traitor of a husband” she thought.

When Tania told Bella that she wanted Dayo to come stay with them for a few days, she was surprised. She had expected something different, but now it seems Tania wanted to play ‘mother’ with her husband’s son.

Bella: “But Tania, have you confronted Damilola?” she asked acting concerned.

Tania: “I can’t, the moment I tell him, our marriage is over. So I am going to try to love him, I mean the boy” she replied with a forced smile.

Bella: “What!” she exclaimed and Tania almost burst into laughter, her so called friend really wanted her to react another way.

“Sorry Bella, I am a wise woman. I can’t throw away my marriage because of this. The society is not fair to women who leave their marriages, no matter the reason” She thought as she listened to Bella ramble on and on about how Tania was letting her husband win.

Tania: “Bella, if you are really my friend, talk to your husband, let Dayo light up our house for a few days” she pleaded.

Bella: “Alright alright, I will” she replied and hung up.

Bella: “That Tania na ode sha oh. She is just going to scatter all my plans. What do I do now?” she soliloquized.
It was that time her husband came back from the stadium with Dayo where they had gone to train, their bond was getting stronger and soon Gberan would forget his own son. She stood up abruptly from the chaise where she was lounging, and went to her husband with a smile on her face.
“Dayo darling, are you excited in living with us?” she asked with the brightest smile that flaunted her small, pearly teeth.

Dayo: “Yes I am, you are good people” he replied with a smile of his own.

Damilola: “Let’s go Dayo” he said and held his hand, it never occurred to him that he was holding the hand of the boy he had rejected many years ago.

Ken: “Mother, Dayo didn’t pack all his things, is he going to come back?” he whispered to his mother.

Bella: “Not if I am right” she replied watching Tania. She was a good judge of persons, and she had watched Tania closely and seen that beneath all that smiles and laughter, there was seething anger and pain as she looked at Dayo.

Bella had caught Tania giving Dayo the stink eye, and there she had known that she need not do anything, Tania was going to take care of the ‘Dayo’ problem for them. She wondered what she would do, would she poison him, or take him to an orphanage far away, where he would never cross Damilola’s path.

“Vicious woman, you are worse than me Tania” she thought as she smiled and waved to the couple as they led Dayo to their car.

“So you are smart Dayo, how come you don’t know, that you are being led to the slaughter?” Bella thought as the car drove out of their house.

Question: Would Dayo face danger in Damilola’s house from Tania or would his father find his son whom everyone thought was dead?