Battered Wife

17

"Mrs. Popoola, why are you here?"

I looked up to stare skeptically at my daughter's class teacher who was asking me why I had come over to pick my daughter. I barely restrained myself from giving her a sarcastic response even though I was in an awfully bad mood after seeing the monster I'd seen on my computer screen.

"I'm here to pick up my daughter." I replied after a few seconds pause.

"But her father already came to pick her up, didn't he tell you?" She asked.

I stood there, speechless for a few seconds, as my mind rewound back to the moment a few days ago when Remi told me that I wouldn't like what he would make me regret proposing to divorce him.

If it were possible, my hair would have been standing on it's ends because of the amount of fear that was coursing through my veins. Would Remi hurt Adesewa to punish me?

Goose bumps slid up my arm and I started shaking as several scenarios flashed through my head in an uncontrollable way.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Popoola?" Adesewa's class teacher asked.

I tamped down the fear I was feeling by breathing in and out while reminding myself that even if Remi didn't really like Adesewa, he wouldn't hurt her because she was his flesh and blood.

I leaned down and pressed my hand to the wall beside me for support before meeting the gaze of Adesewa's concerned teacher. "I'm sorry, I'm not feeling very well."

"Well, I thought as much. This is the first time Mr. Popoola would ever come to pick Adesewa. If I didn't see her birth certificate and his driver's license, I wouldn't have believed he was her father. He must have been trying to relieve your workload so please take it easy ma."

I forced a smile. "Alright, thank you very much."

Now, that I was somewhat in control of myself, I got in my car and started calling Remi over and over as I drove home to see if my daughter was there.

Unfortunately, Ali at the gate told me that Remi had not brought my daughter home and he wasn't picking his calls.

So I drove straight to his office since he wouldn't pick his calls.

When I got there, I didn't bother speaking to his secretary, I just walked into his office and pushed the door open.

"Madam...Madam, you can't just walk in there!" His secretary who was surprisingly a male secretary tried to persuade me.

What met my gaze when I opened the door to Remi's office were two men standing in front of his desk and explaining something to him.

I walked straight into his office, ignoring everyone in the room and sat on the chair in front of his desk, staring at him quietly.

He sighed and said to the men. "We'll continue this later. Please let me speak to my wife."

As soon as the two men walked out and closed the door behind them, I sat up and clasped my shaking hands together. "Where's my daughter?"

He stared at me without speaking.

"Where the hell is my daughter?!" I yelled, finally losing all composure as I stood up and glared down at him where he was seated.

He glared at me back and whispered, "Keep your voice down!"

"Keep my voice down?" I asked, staring at him like he was speaking greek. "You should be glad that I'm not yelling up the roof of your office building. I'll ask again. Where is my daughter?"

"She's not just your daughter. She is also my daughter."

I pressed my hands to my throbbing temples. "Where is she?"