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Episode 24

When they drove into their compound, he was not surprised to see his father sitting alone in his evening wear, listening to the news. With the look of things, his mother had not arrived from her store. She has a big depot for all sorts of drinks, a store that takes up to 6 plots
of land in the city.

“Tokunbo, what a surprise, don’t you think it is quite late”

“Good evening sir.”

“Hello Chinwe, how are you”

“Dad, I need to speak with you in private”

“I hope all is well?”

“We are about to find out”

“Come with me” Chinwe watched as they both walked towards his study and shut the door behind them
“Yes, I am listening”

“The result of the DNA test came in today and when I could not make any sense from the file, I took it to Dr. Kunbi, who told me I am not the father of Clara’s child
.”

“Thank God, I was thinking you would say
.”

Chief Ajayi heaved a sigh of relief as he
patted his son on the shoulder

“That is not all; he said I am related to the father of her child. He said he could be my brother”

“So why are you looking at me that way? Did he say you could be the brother to that young boy? Did he imply I could be the father?” His father asked incredulously, obviously not getting the whole idea.

“No, but that means you have another son aside me dad. So I want to ask, did you have an affair with any woman, that could have resulted to having a child? Who perhaps looks
exactly like me or that has some semblance?

He stared at his father with some hard look beaming with some cold fire.

[b]“Calm your anger right now young man; I am not the object of your fury. Sit down. You know when you left here on Sunday, I went to the hospital to have my DNA included in that test but Kunbi said he would not allow it, that if you wanted me to take, you would have
invited me along“

”What are you trying to say?” Tokunbo said

“I am trying to say that I would like us to take another DNA, just the 2 of us, and if you can keep it our secret, I mean not telling your mother, I would be grateful. But in answer to your question, I do not have any woman aside your mother.

I have been a faithful husband
to her all these years.Yes, I had some ladies before I got married to your mother but none of them got pregnant for me.”

The atmosphere of the study suddenly
changed for Tokunbo, he began to sweat
profusely in his father’s well air conditioned study.

The whole thing just dawned on him.
His father said put in other way meant he
probably is not his son. The pace of his
heartbeat tripled immediately.


The drive back to the house was more tensed than what it was initially; Chinwe could not help but worry at the frown on his face. Could he be angry with her for shutting him out all the while? Clara accused him wrongly.

If he wanted to be angry then he deserved to be but she is used to being married to him and would love it for them to start all over again.

When he parked the car, she followed him
gently into the house and went to their room to change for the night, but decided to still try her luck with trying to get through to him;
what he could he be thinking and what could his next steps be?

Tokunbo was surprised to see her still awake when he entered the room, he had been lost in thoughts that he did not realize it was almost 11 pm.

“What is it?”

“Nothing! I just want us to talk about the result of the DNA test,” she started almost inaudibly

“What else is there to talk about? I did not rape your friend” Tokunbo said as he made to walk to the bathroom.

“I know, but, I also have something to say.

I have wronged you and I am sorry. I should have listened to your own side of the story and given you the benefit of doubt.”

“Yes, you should have” Tokunbo looked her straight in the eyes.

“I will understand if you want to go ahead with a divorce now, I know I have been unfair and would not blame you if
” she continued in a shaky voice, trying to hold back her tears, so as not to make it more difficult than it already was.

“Divorce? You think that is the next thing, well, let’s talk about that later.” He shook his
head and walked to the bathroom this time, leaving Chinwe to almost run after him, to beg him to just forgive her foolishness and if he would give her a chance, she would be the best wife ever.

Chinwe watched as he went into the bathroom and when he came out some minutes later, he was already in his bedclothes. He recognized the fear in her eyes, the guilt and the shame
in her eyes and even if he would like to
punish her for all she had done, he would not be able to, not when she was looking like that.

“I have a brother out there, who I don’t know and who is responsible for Clara’s baby.

Divorce is the last thing on my mind. I know you still want the divorce, so
..”

“No I don’t want it
. I don’t want to divorce you”

“You don’t?” Tokunbo turned to face her fully this time, hoping he heard her right.

“No I don’t, I would like to still stay married, married to you. That is if you still want me”

“I want you and I will always want you, I am not just sure we know each other very well, especially to the point of trusting each other fully,” he said as he held her jaw softly in his hands, cupping her whole face as he
talked.

“I know and I am ready to tell you anything you would like to know”

“Really? Okay, why would you believe I raped Clara, without hearing from me?” he asked her gently, his tone devoid of any trace of anger.

“I was raped when I was 14 by my dad’s cousin”

Tokunbo sat straight in their bed as she
narrated the horrid event to him; he listened without stopping her or interrupting with questions. When she finished the story, she waited to hear him say anything but he simply gathered her in his arms and that was when she finally could cry.

“Stop crying please, but you should have told me or better still know that all men are not the same.”

He rubbed her shoulders and imagined what she could have gone through, at that age especially from someone who should have protected her.

“Does your father know about this?”

“No, I could not tell anyone, Nkem might
know, although I did not tell him, but he
might have guessed”

“That is terrible, you should learn to share your burdens, no wonder you and your father don t see eye to eye”
He continued to rub her shoulders till she fell asleep and he also fell asleep.


The day Chinwe started work, Tokunbo also had to resume back to work after taking 2 weeks off. He offered to drop her off at her new workplace and gave her a congratulatory hand written note for her to stick to her desk.

Chinwe was attached to an administrative
supervisor who would ‘groom’ her for
sometime before she will be made to work
with one of the partners at the law firm. So far the instructions are easy to follow, easy to understand and also to remember, she realized she could get used to this and even be better at it.

A message came in from
Tokunbo before lunch asking how it was
going, she quickly replied him that all was
going on well; she sent another one asking him to focus on his job while he allowed her to do the same.

She called Clara during the lunch break and was worried about her

“Hi Chinwe,”

“Clara, you have not been picking my calls.

Have I done anything to offend you?”

“No, why would you think that? I am just ashamed of myself and I don’t know how to tell you how sorry I am for almost ruining your marriage”

“I am sorry for everything too, but I was
worried that you did not agree with the
interpretation of the test and maybe thought we might have influenced things”

“What? No! Why would I do that? I actually had a second opinion and the interpretation was the same, but I never thought you might have influenced the result anyway. I was just disappointed that I did not find the answer I was looking for, although even if he had
ended up being the father, I would still have forgiven him”

“Hmm.., you don’t know how happy I am to hear you say that”

“I know. I am glad too. Does that mean you 2 are going to stay together?”

“I will and I think he wants to, I just pray he can forgive me truly for all I did, as he said he has”

“He loves you, I’m sure he will or he has”

“I know that now”

“Has he told you about any brother
anywhere?”

“He has not said it yet, but I think he met his father about that on Friday, the meeting was private and I am yet to know what they talked about”

“Okay, please, would you let me know when they see him?”

“I promise. How are Henry, Joseph and
Davis?”

“Davis is in Lagos. His sister and their parents are having a little problem as I heard, Joe and Henry are fine. There is a midterm break and Henry is with him”
“So is he the real deal?”

“I want to believe so, I just hope so my dear. I like him a lot. He adores Henry and Henry is already attached to him too”

“I pray it all works out well”

[b]


Chief Ajayi looked at the doctor in front of
him as he interprets the DNA result to him.
The result had been 0%, he had known what that meant but he just needed to be sure he saw the right thing before concluding.

He had not told Tokunbo he would be coming to the hospital but was sure he got the mail the same time as him. He could not think beyond the paper in his hands and the meaning of the result. He had been fooled for almost 33 years of his life was the only thought ringing in his head, drowning all other thoughts and reasons.

The boy he loves and calls his, is not his. The son, because of whom he had gone into a business deal with Babalola, is not his biological son. The boy he had invested so much love, money, time, and even his emotions. Where will he start from?

When Dr. Kunbi finished speaking, he
personally walked him to the car and told him again and again to take things easy.

As he was being driven home, he stopped the driver on the way and asked him to buy him a bottle of water, he did not know what he needed it for but when the driver handed it to him, him automatically unscrewed the cover
and drank from it, got down from the car and rested against it as he wept softly into the night.

Sola Ajayi could tell something is wrong. Since she returned from her store last week Friday, making it a week today, she has been suspicious of her husband’s calmness.

He has always been cool headed, but he now has taken it to another level that scares her.

Ever since Tokunbo came in to see them with his wife and her friend, her acts of almost 33 years has been keeping her restless, she has been locked up with the consequence of her action in the corner of her mind. She has tried everything possible to be free from the burden whose fresh weight is threatening to
crush her.

As she sits with her phone in her hand before her dresser table, trying to call his phone again, worried that he has not returned from wherever at almost 11pm in the night.

She was startled as he walked into their room and the look on his face, he looked at her and her heart stopped beating in her chest.

“Tola, what is the problem, I have been calling your line but no replies. It is late you know.”

“Sola, for over 30 years, I have loved you, protected you and been faithful to you, but you have repaid me back by giving another man’s child to me. What have I done to deserve that? Well, thank you so much, I just want to ask you this, is Toluwalase mine?”

Tola, please, I don’t know
”

“Answer me! Is Toluwalase mine?”

[b]“Yes, she is. She is your child” she said, shaken by the coldness in his voice and eyes.

She broke down in tears as he walked out of the room, finally her deception and lies of over 30 years have finally caught up with her and her mother who had helped her to bury it this long is no longer alive to help her out of it.

Chinwe got a message from her husband,
informing her that he would be coming late to pick her from work. When he arrived, he apologized for keeping her waiting, explaining he had been locked in a meeting that was 2 weeks late and could not be suspended any longer.

“I think you need to go and get your car from your father’s house, so you could drive yourself sometimes”

“Tired of driving me already?”

“Of course not, I want you to be independent in some ways, you could need to go to the store, drive to church or anywhere, of course, you must always come back home” he said
with his finger pointed at her.

She grabbed his finger and turned it down “of course”

“And talking of church, we have to pick a day for the wedding thanksgiving”

“any date would be fine, but I think we need to settle the issue of your DNA result with your father’s” he could not help but tell her, especially since they both agreed there would be no more secret between them.

[b]“I know. Can you help me turn on my other phone; I had to put it off in the meeting when some messages were coming in.

When they got home, he checked the
messages on the phone , the DNA result was the last thing he looked at. The result
confirmed his greatest fear. he does not need a doctor to interpret this to him, the result is perfectly clear.

He was staring at the phone when Chinwe
walked into the room to invite him to dinner , but he handed the phone to her when she asked him what was wrong.
She understood the result too, she dropped the phone on the bed and sat with him comforting him in the way she understood best, the same way he had comforted her some nights back.

Telling him all would be
well.

They ended up not eating that night as both were too drained for food. The only comfort was that they had each other, which could not be said of Chief Babalola, who was weeping like a baby in his study.


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