Ila's Burden (13)

Ila


I save the document, close it and right click on the sleek black cordless mouse beside the computer to create a new folder. I transfer the document to the folder and lean back in my chair. I look around my desk at the neatly arranged small heap of papers at the end of the table. There was nothing more to do. I sigh and pick up the iPod from the table where the rays from the noon day sun have drawn short streaks of yellow on the white case.

"So much for wanting to move up to this place. I am just going to get lazy and fat," I sigh to myself as I plug my ear piece into the iPod and find my way into the music library with the click wheel.

I browse through the list in the drop down menu and click on my playlist. I find the song I am looking for in minutes. It's an old song. One I downloaded recently in a fit of nostalgia. I press down the center button of the click wheel and begin to nod to the song. I am halfway through the song when the door opens and he strolls in with a smile. My lips turn upwards automatically in response. I pull out the ear piece and return the iPod to the table as he turns the swivel chair with a slight movement of hand towards him.

"Hi."

I tilt my head upwards to receive his kiss. Hands gripping the arm rests of my chair, he turns sideways to look at my table.

"Finished with work for today?"

"Yes."

"Hmm...okay."

"You?"

"Almost," he says, straightening up and pushing his hands into his navy blue trousers. "So...you are listening to music?"

I offer him the earpiece and the iPod. He collects them and pushes the earpiece into his ears. His eyes light with a smile immediately.

"Interesting…"

"I downloaded it yesterday. It used to be one of your best songs then."

"Yeah," he says with a nod. "I am surprised you still remember."

"I was thinking yesterday...and then the song came back to me."

SOS Kidney Failure

Hello readers of this blog, I got a message from a friend of mine who happens to know Adebukola and I was touched by her story. Please let's do all we can to save her life. Below is her story...

"An indigene of Lagos State (from the Oluwa family) Adebukola Adeyemi is a young woman who has been through a lot in her life. She lost her father at the young age of 15. Lost her mother a few years back too.

She's a graduate of Mathematics from the University of Lagos and a National Diploma holder in Estate Managment from Yaba College of Technology

. She worked all through school doing night shifts at factories to support herself and her siblings as she is the first child.

She has been diagnosed with Acute Kidney/Renal failure and Urgently requires a kidney transplant procedure worth 8Million Naira. Presently she undergoes dialyses twice every week at Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) just to survive and the need for the transplant has been regarded as top priority for her chance to survive.

We call on well meaning Nigerians, NGOs, religious institutions to please come to her aid and help this young African woman with so much dreams to fulfill and a lot more to impact on the society.

Bukky stays at 28 Maroko Rd, Fadeyi, Lagos State. In LUTH, she is in female ward A3. 

Please and please, let's save a soul. God bless you. Kindly Re-broadcast as well.


Bukky stays at 28 Maroko Rd, Fadeyi, Lagos State. In LUTH, she is in female ward A3. 

Account Details
No: 3061412656,
Name: Adeyemi Adebukola, First Bank Plc

 
For further details, please contact ADEYEMI ADEMOLA RAZAK (brother), ADEYEMI MOBOLAJI OLAYINKA on any of the following:
BBM 2600e997
08038511623, 08023591538, 08033440913 http://m.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10151677402116412

Ila's Burden 12

Amir


I look outside the window at the cars crawling on the road beside the open compound where the car is parked. The eight inches thick windows of the SUV do little to shut out the honking coming from the cars on the road. I watch several pedestrians walk on the barely visible curb, their faces reflecting the white hot light from sun. Others stand by the road flagging down the yellow taxis with their stripes of black in the middle. Further down the street, a short light skinned traffic warden marches to the middle of the road where a Toyota is trying to overrun the stop signal and slaps down his left palm on the bonnet, the forefinger of his right hand shaking at the driver of the car in warning. I turn away from the road and settle back into the leather seats of the SUV.

I shake my head and reach to loosen my tie. The heat was getting to me in spite of the relatively cool air in the car.

“Crazy traffic everywhere.”

I look up to see Jacob smiling in the rear view mirror.

“True sir, but the governor is working. Lagos will soon be like America.”

Ila's Burden (11)

Ila



I grab the black linen dress off the bed and hold it in front of me. The door opens and he walks in holding something in his right hand. He pauses in his steps, eyes narrowing at me.

“Sorry.”

I nod and continue to hold my dress up. There is an awkward silence and I shift from foot to foot. Why is he not leaving?

“I wanted your opinion on this,” he says, thrusting his right hand forward. I look down and see a dark gray tie with thick diagonal lines of a lighter gray colour running from the beginning to the end of the tie. I look back at him.

“Okay?”

“What do you think…will it fit the shirt?”

His shirt is a silky and in the same shade of gray like the lines in the tie. It is a perfect combination. I tell him so, in with less exuberance. A small downward movement of my head.

“Great…thank you.”

Lowering the hand with the tie, he looks at the dress in my hand. In response I hold it higher.

Ila's Burden (10)

Ila



The office is quiet but my mind is buzzing with thoughts. I think about that morning, reliving the moment I woke up from sleep to find him on the sofa opposite the bed as well the calmness in his voice as he read my entries out.

“I should have been more careful,” I sigh to myself.

I relive the other moments – of leaving the bed and dragging the sheets with me to the bathroom as he stood waiting for my answer. It was only when I heard the bedroom door close that I had left the safety of the bathroom. Afterwards, he had been gone for the whole weekend. His absence had helped me recover from the surprise of being discovered, but the thought of facing him again still gave me cramps. I am afraid what my reaction will be if he forces me to face the past. Yet deep inside me, I know I have to be prepared for another confrontation with him.

“It is inevitable.”

The light blinking on the intercom distracts me for a second and I pick up the receiver. It is my secretary and she is calling to remind me about a meeting with Mr. Gbajamila and members of the Acquisitions and Mergers department in thirty minutes.

“Thank you Grace.”

I find my shoes under my desk and prepare for the meeting. There are notes to memorize. The memo from Mr. Gbajamila’s office had talked about restructuring Onyx. Hope is my friend this morning. I hope to impress Mr. Gbajamila with my ideas. I hope to provide answers to whatever questions are raised about the ideas I worked so hard to conceive. And I hope he is not there.

Ila's Burden (9)

Ila


I walk away from the window, my legs beginning to ache from the strain of supporting my weight for the past thirty minutes. The day had sped by and evening was already approaching. There was nothing more to do. I had finished my work for the day since two o’ clock.

“Not like there is much to do on this floor anyway,” I grumble to my computer, hitting a series of keys and bringing it back to life. “I was supposed to be playing a major role in the Onyx case and advising Gbajamila, until….”

I pause as the picture of his face comes up in my mind. I scowl and continue confiding in my computer.

“As if having him here is not enough, he has to start a friendship with Jane.”

Cupping my chin in my hands, I open a browser page and indulge in fifteen minutes of aimless internet surfing. Finally, I look away from the computer screen and reach for the receiver of the phone on my desk. I dial Chika's number but the phone rings without an answer. I abandon the intercom and pick up my blackberry. I am in luck this time.

"Hey, Ila."

"Called your office now, but you didn't pick."

"I left a few minutes ago."

"You left early. Do you have an appointment somewhere?"

"No, I want to rush back home and fix Dayo something before he gets back."

"Oh..."

"Did you want something?"

"No. I was just bored and looking for someone to talk to."

"Come to the house."

"I am not sure I can handle seeing Dayo."

"What? You think you might lose it and beat him up?" Chika asks in the middle of laughter.

I laugh with her, amused by the picture her words conjured.

"No. It might be awkward seeing him there and trying to like him again, after spending this long resenting him -"

"And every other man," Chika adds, laughing some more. "I appreciate your looking out for me sweetie, but I have got this. So just come to the house, and if he happens to come back home to meet you, you know what to do."

"Hiss, grab my bag and storm out?"

"No dear. You smile and act the same way you used to before he left. Friendly."

"If I am not?"

"I will throw you out love. Husband first."

I grin widely. "Traitor."

"Yes I know. Love you too...okay police ahead. Got to go now."

Ila's Burden (8)

Ila



I close the door and approach my desk. Dropping my bag beside my chair, I kick off my shoes and massage my feet, one after the other. The trip down to Ikeja had been a wasted one. Tijani Ademola had not brought any useful information with him for our meeting. To make matters worse, he spent time staring at my chest instead of providing answers to the questions I asked him. The only opportunity to dig up useful information on Onyx industries had been taken away. The only thing left to do was to wait.

“Maybe he’ll slip somehow.”

Dragging my chair forward, I reach for the intercom on the table and call Chika’s office.

“Hi.”

“Are you free?”

“In a meeting now. I will call you back in fifteen minutes.”

Fifteen minutes, the intercom rings, and Chika is free. I slip into my shoes again and head for her office. Chika is all sunshine and smiles when I close the door to her office, but the dark shadows form crescents under her eyes.

“Someone is not getting enough sleep.”

Chika brings out her MAC compact powder from her bag and peers at her face in the mirror.

“Ugh..being light complexioned is not fun,” she groans, her lips pulling down at the corners. “Insomnia for one night and I look like a character straight out of a horror movie.”

I let the doubt show on my face to let her know I am not falling for her story.

“Is it Dayo?”

Sighing and pushing the compact back into the bag on her table, Chika nods.

“There is a small issue.”

I learn what the issue is, and I am stare open mouthed at her.

“He has a child?”

“Allegedly.”

I draw back from the table and let my arms hang on the arm rest of the chair.

“You are going to stand with him in this, aren’t you?”

Chika shrugs and her shoulders hunch defensively.


“I have thought and prayed about this, and made the decision to stand by him.”

Ila's Burden (7)

Ila


The letters on the document blur from my hard staring and I lean away from the document with an angry sigh.

Why am I finding it hard to concentrate?

The answer to my question swirled in the deep recesses of my mind and annoyed me greatly.

"So he didn't come yesterday...so what? Why do I even care?"

Because he has an arrangement with you.

"So?"

The door opens and Chika steps into the office.

"Hi," she greets, a smile on her face as she walks towards me in black pants and a short sleeved chiffon top with a waist sash.

Happy to get a temporary respite from my thoughts, I beam at her.

"Hey..."

Pulling back the chair opposite, Chika makes herself comfortable, and then looks up at me with a puzzled expression.

"I thought you were on the phone."

I shake my head. "No."

"So who were you talking to?"

"Me."

Chika laughs and then leans forward with her elbows on the table.

"So what is bothering you?"

"Him."

"Your husband?"

I shrug at the half smile on Chika's face.

"I guess you can call him that."

"There is no guessing. You have a ring as evidence..." Chika pauses to tug gently at my left hand as it rests on the table. "You are not wearing your ring."

Ila's Burden (6)

Chika


I yawn and roll to the edge of the bed, wondering why my driver is already at the door as the bell continues to ring. Pushing myself up with a sigh, I pick up the wrap draped on the sofa beside the bed and push my arms into the sleeves. There is a numbness in my right arm as I work it into my sleeve. I groan and massage the arm.

“I must have slept on it,” I whisper to myself, drawing to my feet and walking out of the room. I am in the living room when the doorbell gives another loud ring.

“Hold on, I am coming,” I say loudly, miffed at the impatient ringing. I slip the chain out of its hook and turn the key in the lock, ready to lecture my driver on doorbell etiquette.

“Samuel just ring once nex –“

The words freeze in my mouth when I see who it is.

“Hi.”

His voice is soft and almost hesitant. I struggle to return his greeting, but my tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth.

“I know I shouldn’t be here…”

After several minutes of staring at him, I inhale deeply and move slowly to the side. He looks into my eyes as if unsure about my invitation, and then nods at me.

“Thank you.”

Nodding back, I rub my arms, feeling suddenly cold as a small shiver courses through my body. I can’t tell if my reaction is from the cold draft of air rushing into the living room in that instant or if it is from the shock of seeing him here. He reaches back for the suitcases behind him, and I follow his gaze to count four of them. Pulling them one after the other into the house, he thanks me again.

I close the door and walk past him before turning to face him again. We stand a few inches apart and I try to give him a welcoming smile, but my effort only produces a small grimace. I give up on the smile and drink in every detail of the man standing before me.

I want to tell him how little he has changed apart from the small scar at the edge of his left eyebrow. I want to touch the slightly bulky biceps peeking from the sleeve of his T-shirt as he stands jacket draped over one arm. I want to touch him to be sure that he is really flesh and bone, and not a figment of my imagination. All these I want to do, but yet I am frozen in time and space, suspended between fantasy and reality. In the end, I hug myself and wait for him.

Ila's Burden (5)

Chika


The hands round my neck continue to squeeze and I gasp for the much needed air. I push feebly against Aunty Biola’s shoulders but it feels like she is made from granite.

“Jesus!”

My voice is only a low croak and and Aunty Biola throws back her head and laughs. It is an evil maniacal sound.

“Jesus,” she mimicks, her face changing to that of a bird and to human again.

I claw desperately at her hands now, my chest heaving as I fight to live.

“Please.”

Aunty Biola’s eyes are full of scorn even as she squeezes.

“So you can beg now, ehn?”

I summon my strength and raise my head high enough to bite her arm, but her skin stretches like rubber. Her amusement rings loud and clear in the laughter that follows my action. I fall back on the bed, the darkness beginning to fall over my eyes as the pressure on my neck worsens. I let my hands fall to my side, prepared to give in to the darkness. As the darkness draws close, I see Dayo’s face in the middle of it. It is sad and full of sorrow. My eyelids flutter open.

“Jesus…Jesus Christ..in the..”

The hold on my neck loosens and Aunty Biola stumbles backward, confusion in her eyes. I sit up from the bed, coughing and rubbing my neck. At the corner of the room, Aunty Biola gathers herself and begins to approach the bed again while I push to the edge of the bed, my strength returning with each deeply drawn breath.

“I call upon Michael and the host of heaven to fight against you.”

There is a loud rumble in the sky. The sound brings panic to Aunty Biola’s eyes as she looks up at the thatched roof, mouth open in fear. Drawing courage from the look on her face, I jump down from the bed, and begin to stalk her.