Aduke-Episode 24

ADUKE 
Aduke-Episode 24

©Aderibigbe Ayomide(oko Adesewa)

Notice: This is my real life story  and not a fictional one.
Rated 20+ contains foul languages and sex in writing.

Never give up on someone you can't spend a day not thinking about.

I was standing face to face with a fierce street thug with countless marks of machete cut. ( but mi o foo). His look was deadly and his breath smells bad with alcohol and marijuana. Mercy escaped from his grab and quickly hide herself behind me. She was terrified and trembling.

" I say who you be! Who you be for this town!! " he screamed again and I can smell the air of trouble.

" were you deaf when I said it's non of your fucking business. " I replied confidently and that angered him the more.

" for this town, na me you dey follow talk like that. Your papa, e no go better for you. You get mind ooo. You no know me ni, na me them dey call Ismo, you see me, you see destruction. I go dismantle your face for you in one seconds. Ko ni da fun e" he screamed and that drew the attention of some people around us, within a seconds, I saw two guys running towards our direction, they looks more like him in appearance and I'm sure they are one of his crew members.

" ismo wetin dey sup na. Why u dey shout? " one of them asked just as they join in.

" 'Hayweather' see me see trouble ooo, see how this one dey follow me talk as if na him born me... "
" wetin happen gan self tell us" the second guy cut in

"omo iya mi 'courseform' hear wetin happen oo, I dey follow this my babe talk and I con notice say she dey give me one kind attitude because of this ogbeni ti aye ma to baje yii. I con talk say make I carry the babe go one corner go finish my talk with her, na im this mad man con interfere, he con dey follow me talk rubbish. Person wey I go spoil his fine boy. You no dey look face ni? " he challenged and that got me pretty scared cos it's now two against three and that would be a reckless fight.

I look around me, no one to call, cos everyone seems to fear them. I can't call for help and support cos I'm a stranger in the town. I'm out of jurisdiction. I was confused and a bit scared, that was when I remember the mad woman words " aja le ikoko (the dog chasing hyena) kini be leyin aja ti o le ikoko ( what's behind the dog chasing the hyena?) Which I answered as the hunter, once the dog is out of reach with the hyena and the hunter is far behind, basically the dog is in great danger. That was when I understood her words. And literary, my dog is in danger of three hyenas and there's no where to escape.
" Back off" that came a sudden voice from my behind which I recognize without doubt. Then I began wondering if Franklin is following me around
" who you be? " one of the thugs asked in boastful manner.

" like he said earlier, you wouldn't want to know and if you insist you want to know, then fine, you will. I'm a soldier and he's in the army " franklin said then he removed his expired army ID and show them.

That send a fear through their veins as they look into each other eyes.

" oga sorry oo, we no know say una be soldier. We dey sorry, we no dey fight government. Abeg no vex, we go dey comot like that, we no go disturb una again. No vex" Ismo said then they all left.

That moment I was confused that I didn't know either to thank him or to ask him why he's following me around.

I hold mercy by her hands and the three of us stood silent and began waiting for the person to break the silence.

" are you guys going to stand there and be looking, let leave here I came with a car" franklin broke the silence which got me and mercy looking at each other undecided. the moment we turned our eyes back at him, Mercy quickly voice out before I did
"No! we are not going anywhere with you... "

"It's okay, he's not going to harm you, we can go with him" I cut in.
" what? What about you, he hate you more than his shit, he can harm you " mercy let out with a worried face.

" he might hate me, but if he want to hurt me, he would have " i said and for the very first time, franklin gave a sincere smile.

He drove us to an eatery in the town (item 7) where we ordered for soft drinks. We got into conversation but mercy choose not to join in. She left the table were we are to another table to watch the boring BBC news just to ignore us.

Once again, I was sitting face to face with my number one enemy yet I feel relaxed, which has never been before.

I decided I need to thank him for saving my ass back there cos if not for him, I'd have been badly beaten.

" I know this sounds awkward but thanks for coming to our aid" I appreciated with my eye facing downward.

" it's nothing, i did it for her. " he replied and I shrugged my shoulder in concur.

" yea I know, all thesame thank you " I said calmly then I took a sip from the drinks that I'm drinking.

" I know you will be wondering how I showed up, probably thinking i'm following you around... "

" no I'm done thinking " I cut in " I'm pretty certain you are following me. So I'm gonna ask the question and I need a sincere answer. Why are you following me? " I asked

" well anyway you can say I'm following you or you can say I'm trailing you. Both are my specialty, you know I'm once in the army before the whole issue and I got kicked out. I'm following you because I need an audience with you. Man to man conversation " he answered and that got me amused.

" you had that the last time and it quietly, didn't goes well... "

" that was because of my ego, my foolishness, my jelousy, and my hatred towards you... That was what pushed me. I'm... I'm sorry " he cut in slowly and that came as an out most surprise to me.

I shifted my gaze at mercy and I saw her sleeping with her head bent low.

" she looks beautiful when she sleeps didn't she? " franklin asked and that withdraw my attention back to him.

" yea she always look beautiful " I replied slowly.

" she deserves the best" he said solemnly and I focused my eye back at him.

" yea but you are clearly not the best for her" I replied with a kneel look. He took a deep breath before replying me which caught me off guards.

" yes I'm not. But you ain't the best also, have you ever think of your flaws, you are not even 23 and yet you've been in alot of misery I could barely understand. fine ! maybe you have control of your anger but when you lose it, you make terrible mistake. please Don't take it all personal but if you are to judge someone firstly you need to think closely about yourself. You are no different from any other guy out there... "
" but I'm different from you. Yes! accepted I got flaws but I'm not as heartless as you are. I never rape a lady. You did bad to her, don't try to compare the human in both of us. I may not be the perfect human but I'm a better human than you. " I said boldly with a raised brows and my eyes widen like a hunter lamp.

"Yea I heard you, and that's why i'm here to make amends to my bad deeds. " he said remorseful and I sniffed it out with disgust.

" yea... Good luck with that or should I say gods speed " I said then I release a little chuckle.

" whatever... Yea so I wanna ask you. You are a man of your words right, if the baby is mine, the woman is mine and if the baby is yours the woman is yours.... so I wanna ask you, if luckily the baby is yours. What's your plan for her, the last time I checked, you are still a student and now you wanna raise a family. How convenient will that be, raising a family and being a student " he said solemnly while I took a deep breath before replying him.

" yea I've thought about everything, and telling you is like telling my enemies my plans. You are right about some things, raising a family and being a student... Yea it's won't be easy at first, but first thing we need to survive is love. So far our love remain strong, I believe together we shall overcome every obstacles. Yea... I want to remind you that I won't be a student forever. This is my last year in the institute, I'll be done in some months. I relied not on government works so I learned a handwork while still schooling I just need to establish it to a bigger one. Our child will have the love of our parents at first till we both settle down out of school, like my mama, she can't wait to carry her grandchild, so is Mercy mom too, she can't wait either. Cos both of us are the only child, and you can imagine the love our baby will have from our parents. My plans for mercy after I court her remains hidden in me. I can never tell you that, unless the table switch turn. " I said then we both went into silence as we set our gaze on Mercy to ease our thought.

" so if luckily she's yours, what are your plans for her? " I asked.

" yea I underestimated you at first then you threw me out of my job, I'll never do that again cos you are a clever man... But I see no good in being enemy with you. So I'm gonna take you as a friend even if you don't take me and I'll share you my own part of the story maybe you'll understand better.

It took me pain to win mercy heart and after I won it, I thought she'll be mine forever cos I promised I'm going to do everything for her, even to kill, I'll do it just to please her. Everything was fine and cool, but my flaws are too much, I'm a soldier and I'm not suppose to show softness, but mercy is my weakness, and that was because I love her with everything I got.

When you jumped in into the picture, everything changed, I don't know how you managed to win her heart cos the day I raped her, I didn't planned to rape her. I was in an argument with her and she kept defending you which got me really angry. I lost my anger and I did a terrible thing to her by rapping her. I wish she will forgive me one day. You wanna ask me why I rape her? Because you we're winning the argument, I've lost her totally to you and she was ready to leave me and run back to you. I couldn't contained the pain and the anger... The part that hurt me the most was knowing that I once had her, and then lost her. I foolishly thought I can make her mine by rapping her, but I was wrong, cos I chose the wrong path. Everything I planned for her got swept away that same month I raped her. You got me out of my job and you claimed the woman that I love.
You ever put yourself in the shoe? i know everything happened because of my mistake. Someone said never give up on someone you can't spend a day not thinking about. that's your words in one of your books. Don't blame me for coming back for mercy after all this while, I can't stop having a thought about her, I never leave her and when I heard that she's pregnant, I calculated the months and I see that I might have a chance of winning her back. when I was living as an outcast of love. I use the little money I have in my account to invest in fish farming and that's what I do for a living now. I might not be rich but I'll take care of mercy and the baby with everything i got. That's the only thing I can promise you if the table switch turns " he said and I was speechless for more than ten minutes.

I stood up to take my leave then I stopped and face him.

" The part that hurts me the most, is knowing that you had her once and then you lost her... Never give up on someone you can't spend a day not and without thinking about . Goodbye friend. " I said then I move away from him to wake up the sleeping damsel.

***** ***** ***** ***** **** ***** ****
I returned back to school on Monday morning and while heading to my abode I came in contact with the mad woman. She wasn't looking my side so I approached her even if it's out of good sense to approach a mad woman. I greeted her and she looked in my direction.

"Ekaro ma (good morning ma) " I greeted and she responded slowly like someone that want to cry.

" oseun, mo loruko. Wuraola ni oruko mi ( thank you, I have a name, my name is wuraola) " she replied and that got me surprised.

She remembered her name, and that's very wierd for a mad person to remember.

" Ebi pami. Mi o ti jeun (I'm hungry, I haven't eaten) " she said pitifully. I remembered I brought a bread and titus while coming so I gave it to her to eat.

She collected the bread from me than she thanked me. She cut a piece out of the bread and gave me to eat which I declined but she insisted with pressure, so I dropped my bag and sat beside her. I collected the bread form her I chew it happily with a smile. Within a blink of an eyes people has started looking at us.

It makes me feel uncomfortable seeing people looking at me while I dine with a mad woman. I heard alot of whispering comment, some were saying I'm running mad, some were saying I'm a ritualist, some were saying she's my mother. I kept hearing alot till I got snapped out of it by the mad woman.

" Awon eyan ma sa fun mi, mi o de mo idi ( people do run away from me and I did not know why) " she said then I think to myself.

' she don't even know she's mad'
" se onife itan? ( do you like listening to stories?) " she asked and I nodded in response. so she began...

"once upon a time, Agbegilere is a woodcarver who lives in a small town, he was unarguably the best wood carver in his town and his expertise with wood was second to none. One particular year, as the annual festival approached, the king of the town commissioned Agbegilere to carve out a seven foot high wooden statue of the town’s founder. The king offered him a generous fee for his services and an equally generous bonus if he could finish the statue in time for the festival which would come up two weeks from that time. Agbegilere worked tirelessly on the statue, both day and night, sometimes forgoing food and sleep. At a point he collapsed due to exhaustion. When he was revived, he went back to working on the statue. At last after thirteen days of back breaking, physically and mentally exhausting work, he sent word to the king that the job was done; he would be entitled to a bonus, since he completed the job a day before his deadline. The king’s messengers were already around and were ready to haul the statue away, when Agbegilere suddenly felt he was not satisfied with the neck of the statue, he set to work on it chiseling out bits and pieces, he surveyed it and still did not feel satisfied, so he chiseled and hammered some more. One of his assistants saw the work he was doing as said

“Master, but this work is already perfect,”

“no it’s not” Agbegilere fired back sharply, “it must be the most perfect statue ever seen in this town.” He hammered and chiseled some more. When he stepped back to survey his work, he discovered to his chagrin that he had chiseled the neck of the statue so thin that it could no longer support its large head, and then to his horror and sadness, the neck broke and the head of the statue fell off. He fainted a second time. When he came back to, he discovered his troubles had only just begun, not only had he let himself and the whole town down, he would collect neither his fee nor his bonus, and he would be flogged publicly for disappointing the king. Agbegilere could only blame himself for his misfortune. N go gbe rebete, kikan nii kan. So what did you learn from the story? "

I took a deep breath why I process the proverb she said.

" N go gbe rebete, Kikan nii kan, nothing can be perfect, everything has its flaws, you can only do the best you can do, and hope it would be good enough. " I replied and she smiled.

She park her dirty loads and move away singing one of the ancient old songs .

I got home and baba dudu and school son welcomed me warmly. They began searching my bag for bread but they found nothing edible which got they got them screaming in disappointment.

" Ay na ogun go kill you ooo. Wey the bread you promise say you go buy come? " baba dudu fired out.

" school father why na. If you know the plan wey we don get for the bread lasan" samson added.

" make una no vex, and I remember ooo. Na the bus wey I enter no wait for me to buy am. Se make I give una money make una go buy bread for junction? " I asked.

" you dey mad, you wan compare this radarada Akungba bread with ilorin bread abi. Anyway sha bring the money make we go find better fufu chop for iya godiya shop" baba dudu lamented and that got me laughing.

" alright I know your problem" I said then I gave then the money.

" Aunty mercy nko? Hope she's fine, hope the baby is kicking? " samson asked inqusitively which I nodded in response.

" I wan reach last don and apple boy side. I'll be back in the evening " I said then I took my leave.

On getting to my friends place, I met last don and pappy tino in an argument while doyin and apple boy were playing ludo game.

"Aweedy how far na? You don come back? " pappy tino asked just as he set his eye on me. But he received a savage response from last don.

" ewure (goat) you dey see person like this and you still dey ask if he don come, you go just dey talk like person wey no get sense... "

" fool I follow you talk? " pappy tino cut in. " you will just open your mouth and talk like person dey wey chop hot amala. The person wey I dey follow talk self no talk, na you con dey bark like Togo dog... "

"See this soweto goat ooo" last don cut in. " na me go still kill you. See his mouth like SUB doughnut " last Don retaliated.

" he don do, Wetin dey sup na? no babes ni? " I asked and all of them echoed together in response.

" se you wan give us babes ni. No babes ooo"

" let go out then. Let go catch fun, maybe smoke one or two sticks while drinking one or two bottles " I said and they all began hailing me loudly, while everyone was done pappy tino took the loud speaker to continue the hailing
" Aweedy padimi too much money! The only oko Adesewa for this Akungba , the oko olosho... "
" shut up jor! Oponu" last don cut in. " see how you dey shout like say na motor park you dey. Hear his voice like oshodi conductor. You go dey act like say you get B.Sci for bus conductor. Ewure "
" Togo dog I know say you no get sense, na mouth I dey use shout? .
I don't even get your time self. Aweedy how far na, se make we advance? " pappy Tino asked and then I nodded in agreement.

We head to '2baba' at permanent site in Akungba where we ordered for drinks and pepper soup.

" aweedy how far na, control girls come na" Apple boy said and all of us got into serious laughing which was encouraged by the effect of alcohol we took.

" na pussy go kill you ooo. This early momo wey we suppose dey solo for here dey enjoy our drinks you con dey talk about woman. For Monday morning! Ha! This suppose to be men's gathering to chill out our self" Doyin replied which I know will never go easy with apple boy.

" ogbeni jadanu, ' men's gathering? ' kini men's gathering? se today na father's day ni ? " he didn't finish it before all of us began laughing again.

"Oti fuck up" doyin fired back. " who dey follow you talk about father's day for here now, abi how many father's you see for here now... "

" one father dey ooo" pappy tino cut in " Aweedy go soon be a father ooo"

" gbe enu e soun ( sharap) " last don jumped in. " broda ewure, eduro na oo. (Yoruba proverb) Bi obe egusi ko ba tile dun, se enu panla loye ka ti gbo ni? ( wait ooo, even if the melon soup is not sweet, must we hear it from the dried fish mouth ? "

Apple boy was the first to start laughing like a lunatic then followed by doyin when he realized the laughing tendency of apple boy, I joined in too along with last don that gave the savage response to pappy tino. pappy tino can't really speak Yoruba fluently so he felt defected but apple boy came to his aid.

" last don why na, you know say pappy tino na gentleman. you con dey give him savage e no good na"
" ewo ni tie? ( what's your own) is it because I never get your time abi, na because this goat dey here na, if he don comot, na you I go dey reason.' oye tó kan ará iwó n bo wa kan ará Ede' (Yoruba proverb) " last don replied but apple boy knows how well to handle him.

" Aje wipe osetan ati te , aje wipe ofe kan abukun, ( seems you are prepared to be finished) I won't talk, Alakiisa to n jo lóru ile férè mo. (Yoruba proverb) . apple boy replied using his home town dailet.

"no wahala na, 'ori to ba fe buru, orun ni koko dun won' (Yoruba proverb . a head that's want to be misfortuned begins with a neck pain) and you know say na slow slow I dey do my things ooo, na slow death I go give you. I will castrate you, I will fry you, I will...
"Ogbeni stop making noise. Kini wi? (What is he saying?) Òpòló soro, oni inu òun ko dára, ta ni yoo ri ode re ti ko ni mo bi inu re se ri.(Yoruba proverb. A toad is talking, he said, his inside is very bad, who will see his outside appearance that won't know his inside will be worst. " apple boy countered which made doyin and I to scream " meed!! " cos we understand the proverb.

We shifted our conversation from savages and moved to academic work, we were talking about some of our courses when a lady walk pass besides us, everyone except me looked at her cos she's really gifted with beauty.

" Aweedy you no see that babe ni? " doyin asked in a lusty way.

" yea what about her? " I asked in return.

"Omo that babe set die, her ass na meeed! " pappy hopped in and they all agreed as they murmured enthusiasticall
y.

" guys, you never notice anything about aweedy? " last don draw back their attention towards me.

"what? " they all echoed.

" you never notice say he no dey look at girls the same way we do... "
" that's his own problem na" pappy tino cut in. " wetin con concern us, if he like he look, if he like, make he close his eyes, that's his problem how that one take affect us? "

" fool! Moron! Imbecile, riffraff, Ewure, ode, suberu, you will just open your mouth and talk like say dem use your brain to borrow credit from MTN. better people abeg, you know reason wetin I dey talk, it's normal for a guy to look at lady like that with good or lust interest but I don notice say aweedy no dey do am again, he go just throw-way face like say nothing dey pass" last don said.

" yea that's right, but if he's doing that, he got to have a reason which we can clearly guess of" Doyin supported and last don nodded affirmatively.

" Alright it's nothing wierd, it's personal disclipine and also a choice. i have a lady in my life that have everything and even more in compare to what that lady has, so why should I let myself into a temptation that might ruin my relationship, and besides, I'll be a father soon, so i need to learn how to be responsible and also how to see no one beautiful except my woman. I choose not to look at her cos her beauty is no match to mine's. I mean to say my woman. And besides why will I look at a lady I have no interest in having or I can never have? I got someone much prettier in heart, and that's all I need to have. " I said and that clarifies everything.
" yea that's reminds me, how is it with mercy? How's she feeling? " last don asked and I replied happily.

" she's fine... She's great, lately I've been making friends with some crazy people and I'm learning from them"

" crazy people? What did you mean by crazy people? " last don asked with a curious intention.

"Someone like Franklin is a crazy dude isn't he? We've settled our dispute but... "

"But what? " apple boy cut in "that guy never have any good intention towards you. Are you that daft? He's going to cut you up when you ain't expecting. We should all be planning on how to finish him once and for all"

" yea Taiwo is right, franklin never want anything good for you. He's as evil as a snake, cunning and he can't be trusted. You shouldn't make friends with him. " last don supported.

" you mean I shouldn't settle my dispute with him? " I asked.

" I think they meant you shouldn't be too careless " doyin answered which gave me a deep thought.

" you know my other crazy fellow friend make me understand one thing in this life, it's that people got flaws. And we can never know the other peoples pain unless we choose to hear them out. Let me tell you a story.

A lady tripped off a cliff while walking with her lover. While her lover see her falling he quickly grab her by the arm. Doing this process, he got crushed by a rock but he still held on to the grab. Slowly he was dying but he never gave up the hold. The lady on the other hand didn't know what's happening, she didn't see the rock that is crushing his lover all she could see was his head and his hand that was holding her from falling. The lady couldn't climb up due to a very big snake that is beneath the cliff which is positioned very close to her leg. So she thought " why can't he just pull him a little bit more, i can't climb up, there's a snake beneath the cliff"

The guy was also thinking in pain
" why can't she just help by climbing up the cliff, can't she see that I'm crushed and dying? " now's the moral of the story. We can't see what others are passing through, we can't know the pain others are facing, we can only know ours. Unless we choose to look differently, unless we use to see other's the way they see themselves, unless we choose to hear them out, to hear their stories, to see through their pain. The lady know not of the pain the guy is passing through, the guy know not of her struggle. We can only know our problems, our pain, our griefs, but the person next to you might also be in grief but you will never know, cos they appears fine, unless we choose to look differently.

Franklin told me his story, he's not better than any of us here, he's a victim as well. All of us here make mistake, but we only judge others mistake cos we believed their mistakes defines them. He also have a rough path than any of us here. Maybe I'm too emotional but I know the pain of pains. Whatever you guys gonna say ain't going to change my decision. I choose to settle our dispute and that's my burden to bear, not yours, not any of you. The decision I make yesterday defines my today, and the decision I make today, is what I'll live for in tomorrow. "

******* ****** ****** ****** ****** *****
Days turns to weeks, weeks turns to months. Little by little Aduke months becomes clearer.

My mom have a very mutual relationship with Mercy, most of the times when I can't go to her, my mom will take up the responsibility. She'll visit her with goodies and also stay for some days with her before returning back home.

Mercy always say it, " I received the best of love during my pregnancy. I was so loved "
I visit her whenever I can, and I also sacrifice some classes for her, I got my friends to help me out.
Her month is due so I became consistent with traveling to her place every week.

During my stay with her, I met with someone that made me believed that humans are water.

I met Angelina, nkechi sister . ( the bride I did make up for at her wedding day)

I met her when I followed mercy to the hospital during her antenatal.

She's one of the nurse's attending to mercy and when she saw me, she quickly recognize me even before I did.

" your faces looks farmiler, let me try to remember the name... Oko Adesewa? " she asked with a little doubt which I clarifies with a nod.

" yes! I know it's you. The man that killed man father snake " she let out happily and that was when I remembered her face.

" No fucking way!!! Angelina is this you? You've grew fatter. Oh the man that killed my father snake. Not a good thing to be remembered for... "

" actually we ate the snake together and it was goddamn delicious " she cut in and I smiled happily.

All the while, Mercy was just looking at us, perturb, so she decided to remain quite.

" it's very nice to see you again, never believe I'll see you here in ilorin how's your husband? " I asked and she replied immediately.

" he's doing great! He's the main reason why i'm here. He got transfered here so we had to move from our state back here. And as God may have it, I got a nursing job here too so that's how we became residence of this state. And you too what brings you here? " she asked.

" yea meet mercy, my wife to be, she's the main reason why i'm here. Mercy meet Angelina, an old friend. " I introduce but I was caught with an unexpected reply.

" are you introducing me to my friend? She's my friend and also my nurse. I don't even know she know you " Mercy said and the two of them burst into laughter.

I collected Angelina contact and I asked her to help me give Mercy special treatment.

I was in school when mercy was put to bed. I just finished a very hot test when I received the call from Angelina. When I saw her call, I was so worried that I curiously pick the phone up.

Me : good noon Angelina

Angelina : what's up my pad

Me: I'm fine. this is an unexpected call from you

Angelina : yes ooo. Your wife has been put to bed ooo

Me: really! please tell me the good news

Angelina : Mercy gave birth to a baby girl!!!

Me: really!!! Thank you Jesus!!! How's Mercy and the baby?

Angelina : they are both fine, the mother is healthy and the baby is beautifully fine.

Me: Angelina you don't know how happy I am right now. I'm gonna take the next bus coming to ilorin straight away. Thank you so much.
 I'm so happy.

Angelina : thank God. We will be expecting you.

I hanged up the call then I faced the class, I was too happy that I can't hide my happiness so with my loudest voice I screamed out.

" it's a baby girl!!! " and that fell like a bomb, firstly everyone went silent as they began to process my words and excitement and just like a bomb, last Don rose above everyone and screamed even more louder than I did.

" we have a baby girl !!! " and that's the bomb subordinate, everywhere scattered. i got more than enough congratulations.

I quickly pick my phone and call my mom.

me: hello iya ayo. Mercy ti bimo ooo

Mom: o mean ni e?

Me: I'm fucking serious mom

Mom : okunrin abi obinrin? (a boy or a girl?)

Me: it's a beautiful girl mom!!!

Mom: a ku ori re ooo. Ibo lo wa bayi? ( where are you now)

Me: I'm in school mom, but I'll be on my way to ilorin soon.

Mom: okay, safe journey dear. I'll get in touch too.

I ended the call then I immediately call mercy's dad.

Me: good afternoon sir

Mercy's dad : good afternoon son. How are you?

Me: I'm very fine sir. Mercy has given birth to a baby girl.

Mercy : that's wonderful. How is she and the baby ?

Me: they are both fine sir.

Mercy's dad : that's a very good news where are you right now.?
Me: I'm in the school compound planning to catch the next bus going to ilorin.

Mercy's Dad: Alright that's good. Meet me at the faculty of art. I'm a little bit too stressed to drive and Thank God that you can drive, you'll drive us there. Her mother is in town.

Me: alright sir, I'll meet you there.
Mercy's dad : don't be late, we will be waiting.

I ended the call and quickly head out of school to pack some few things at home. While I was packing my clothes, I have this huge feelings to call franklin, so without hesitating I threw a call at him.

Me: good noon dude.

Franklin : good afternoon, what a surprise.

Me: yes. I have a good news.

Franklin : can't wait.

Me: we have a baby girl

Franklin: Say God

Me: I'll be traveling to see her today.

Franklin : wow God is great, I'm in Abuja right now but I will try my best to come tomorrow.

Me: alright be good.

Franklin : thank you so much. Safe journey ahead.

I drove my in-laws to ilorin where we welcomed the new baby to the world. My happiness knew no bound, every seconds I kept smiling like someone high on weed. But I was high on happiness.

Franklin came, my parents came, everyone was present to bless the new baby with love.

Everything seems great, and I wish it continued like that.

My happiness was brought to a tabular rasa when mercy called my attention the third day after the birth. that was my greatest challenge, the unknown.

" you seems happy all the time, I've beginning to wonder why you are so happy... Ayomi the child can't be named unless we know the true father, I'm happy seeing the child but I'm worried about the circumstances surrounding the baby, I'm scared ain't you? " she asked. For a moment I thought it will continue going happily like that, but her words brought me back to life.

" I chose the path of happiness and whatever comes of it... I shall welcome it with no regret but joy.
 I can only be optimistic dear " I said then I look down at the baby sleeping beside her.

" she's beautiful, she have your beauty " I said as I caress the baby slowly..

" I guess I won after all, it a baby girl" she said and we both smiled.

As proposed and expected, a DNA test was being conducted at UCH ( university college hospital) and all we could do was to wait.

It took a couple of weeks before the result came out. Both families were present and also anxious about the test results.

The doctor called few of us in and the rest remain outside.

" who is Mr Ayo? " he asked and I rapidly signify in response.
" I'm sorry, your blood doesn't match with the baby's blood, it matches with Mr franklin's blood" the doctor said and I felt some clouds of tears forming in my eyes.

I looked at Franklin, I couldn't cry in front of him, so I wear a mask of smile and I hugged him passionately.

" take care of my Aduke " I murmured slowly to his ear then we both disengaged.

I walked out of the hospital with a smile, I was hurt but I held on to my tears. I felt worst.

The worst kind of pain is when you are smiling, to stop the tears from falling.

To be continued...


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