Scars (Romola 2)

70: Uncle Olumide

Olumide's car keys swung around his fingers as he walked away from his Chevron car towards the playground. He told Yetunde to meet him in a public place as he didn't want a repeat of what happened the last time they were alone. She claimed that she didn't have time to see him because she had to pick Modupe from school.

But that was an obvious lie. If he had promised her marriage in a month, she would've dropped everything and sped to his side. There would be no escape for her today. He crossed over the curb that separated the playground from the main tarred street. The square playground was triple the size of his office with two large trees at each diagonal end of the playground, from where he stood.

A couple of benches backed the schools behind him, while different brightly coloured play rides stood in various places. Each ride fully occupied its own space with enough distance from the others. The rides that stood towards the far end of the playground clustered closer and closer together, with their faded colours and rusty bodies, until some abandoned rides formed a big pile of rusted and abandoned machines.

He sat down on one of the benches as he watched a few pupils play around. The younger children were not clothed in school uniforms but most of the older ones wore pink striped shirt with dark blue bottoms and knees high socks. A few students wore cream shirts with green bottoms.

Olumide slung one hand around the backrest of the bench as he watched the pupils. He only had one question to ask Yetunde and all he hoped for was that she would tell him the truth. He was counting on her to do so, since she was always ready to paint the truth of Romola' life to him.

The school bell rang behind him and some of the parents around him, stood and walked into the school. Some of them waited on the benches and their wards came to them. He watched the school gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of Yetunde's blue braids before she whisked Modupe out of the school. After several minutes, there was no Yetunde, even as the pupils pouring out of the gates to rush home, reduced. He dialled her number but she did not pick? Had she already picked Modupe up? But she didn't know he was coming here? Unless, she wasn't the one coming to pick up Modupe?

He rose and walked out of the public playground before heading to Modupe's school. He stood at the gate and stared into the concrete driveway that led to a roundabout. Round that place, several buildings overlooked the driveway. Pupils flocked around the building pulling their bags closer to their chests. Olumide walked into the building. Only to have the gate slam shut in his face.

He turned to the security man standing at the door. "What is this?"

"Who are you here for?"

"I want to pick up my niece?"

"And what's her name?"

"Modupe. Modupe Adeiga." Olumide replied.

"Which class is she?"

"Primary 3."

"Primary three what?"

"What?" Olumide' hand tightened around the bar of the gate. "Would you just let me get to my niece?"

"I don't recognize you. What class is she?"

"I told you, Primary 3."

"Primary three what? What colour?"

Olumide thought hard. Colour? What did colour have to do with a class? Maybe the man asked about Modupe's favourite colour. But did the man know her favourite colour? Did he know the favourite colour of all the children in the school? "Blue."

"We don't have that colour in this school."

"Will you just let me get to my niece. I'm supposed to pick her up."

"Her parents did not indicate that someone else was coming to pick her up. Her sister would've told me."

"Here, take my phone. Call her sister. She will not pick because she's busy. She asked me to pick her up."

"Identify yourself."

Olumide stuck his hand in his pocket to pull out his work ID. His hands met an empty pocket. He'd left it at home this morning. "I don't have my work ID. But my name is Olumide Joseph Makinde. I work at Pillard Nigeria as the COO. I'm a friend of the family."

"I thought you said you were her uncle."

"I am. Her brother is married to my sister." Well, Vicky wasn't his sister but the security man wouldn't know that detail.

The man entered the small security outpost. Olumide watched the man from the windowless square space in the wall. The man put his phone to his ear as he flipped open the page of a book. His fingers traced vertically on a page before the man dialled some numbers on the landline. He waited for a few minutes before dialling anther number. After a short conversation, the man placed the phone in its cradle and returned to the gate.

"What was Mr. Dami's first job?"

"What kind of question is that?" Was this man intentionally trying to frustrate him.

'If you don't know it, then you are not who you say you are."

"Fine. He was a bike driver."

"Wrong."

Olumide thought hard. He'd loaned Dami the money to buy a bike for the first delivery job. Not that he wanted to loan his friend money for something he could easily have afforded but Dami had insisted. When Dami paid him back, he added some more to it and bought a better bike as a birthday gift for his friend. Before that, Dami had refused all offers from Olumide's father to find him a job and after countless failed interviews, Dami had resorted to a delivery driving job. He had no job before that. Unless...

"He was a tutor."

"Where did—"

"At his university and with some private families. Now, can I see my niece?"

The man nodded. He turned back and whistled through his teeth. A lanky boy with protruding upper teeth ran to the man. "Go and get Modupde from Primary 3 Silver. Tell her someone is here to pick her up."

Olumide's mouth dropped. "But silver is not a colour."

The man shrugged and returned to the security post. Soon, a little girl, with black braids packed in two pigtails and ending in a burst of colourful beads, came running towards the gate. Modupe wore a bright and cheerful look. For a moment, it felt like it was his own child running to him. Deep emotions swirled in him as he realized that if he married Yetunde, Modupe would be his. Along with any other children she bore. The security man rose from his seat and intercepted her.

"What is your problem?" Olumide yelled at the man.

The security man held Modupe back by holding her bag and pointing to him. "Do you know that man?"

"Yes, he's my uncle."

"What is his name?"

"Uncle Olumide." She beamed at him. "He's uncle Dami's friend."

The security man let her go and opened the gate. She ran into his hands and he lifted her up. She hugged him tight, her soft strawberry scent permeating his nose. Even though she was much bigger than he remembered, he kept her in his arms as he walked away from the gate.

She turned to man and waved. "Bye Bye, Mr. Andrew."

"Bye." The man waved back, then nodded at Olumide. "I was just doing my job sir, there's been a lot of kidnappings lately."

Olumide understood the rational but what he did not understand was how the question that the security man had asked was most likely something that originated from Dami. Not Yetunde.

"Dupe, who was supposed to pick you up today?"

"Aunty Yetti."

"Why is she not here yet?"

"She usually comes later than this."

Olumide changed his path from his car to the playground. This same Yetunde who claimed that she was too busy to meet him because of Modupe was nowhere to be found. The whole thing felt fishy. But he would get to the bottom of this too, along with all the other thing.

He took her to the bench and dropped her beside him as he took a seat. "We'll wait for aunty Yetti."