Against The Tide

Chapter 1

The ray of light was streaming in; the curtain having absorbed a quantum part of it,
illuminating the room lightly. On the outside the hawkers are prepping up; puff-puff
and egg rolls are being fried, and retailers are dusting and cleaning their
containers. Judging from the gentle breeze and the little lightning of the dawn, it
should be about 6:00am, early enough for the young teenager to be happy. After
rolling in bed for most of the night, singing quietly as she recites the numbering of
the ceilings, she was happy when she saw the reflection of light through the curtains.
"It's morning" she thought, grateful to have escaped the terror of the night. All she
needed to do is, take each day as it comes then she can pretend everything is fine
and avoid the painful words while putting up a brave front. If only they could all
leave her alone, if they could let her be, just on her own. Had it been words would
be left out and shoulders offered for solace, it would have been soothing... Enough
of the thought, she decided, got off the bed, opened the windows and peeped out to
see the neighbourhood. It was still dark, the security light from the neighbouring
houses provided enough illumination to see through a bit. The room from where she
stood was on the upper floor of a duplex, providing a beautiful view through the
windows and the balcony.
There was a knock on the door which brought her back to reality. "Who is there?"
she asked.
"It's Peju" her sister replied "Mum asked me to call you for prayers"
Sarah Adams laughed quietly. It seemed ridiculous to her that her mom still
want to keep up with the charade of daily devotion, even after everything that
happened.
"Okay, I will join you in five minutes" Sarah answered Peju who was still at the door.
Not that she needed the five minutes but is just a little defiance on her part which she
had been showing lately. There was this urge to be rude to everyone. She answered
as she pleases and did as she deemed fit without any consideration for anyone's feelings. "Maybe the evil in me is emerging" she thought, having read quite a few of
John Saul's horror novels. It didn't help her situation now. She picked up her bible
from the bedside table, opened her wardrobe pick a scarf and head out to her
mother's room thinking 'Another day has started'.
She walked along the passage to her mother room. It is on the farther end of
the passage close to the living room, far from Sarah's room. The door was left ajar
with her mum and sister singing worship songs. She walked in quietly and joined
them.
"And for this new day, the bright blue sky we live to see, we say thank you, Lord.
Despite all our..." she gently subdued the sob that gripped her throat. "In spite of all
our troubles, we give you thanks. And so as we start the day, we ask that your
strength carries us through and that your love keeps us together. All these, we ask
Thee in Christ name"
"Amen!" chorused the girls.
"Good morning, ma" Peju was the first to greet their mom
"Morning, my dear" her mother smiled
"Morning, mom" Sarah finally greeted
"Sarah, how are you? Did u sleep well?" her mother replied
"I rested well enough, thanks" Sarah grumbled. She couldn't seem to help herself
these days, even though she knew the last person to take the anger out on is her own
family, still she couldn't help snapping at her mom.
"Alright girls, let's have the house cleaned, we should be having visitors by 8 or 9
this morning, if we are lucky enough no one will come before then. So please Peju
join your sister in making small chops for the visitors and also breakfast for us" she
paused "though I think I will be fasting today"
Sarah almost laughed out in sarcasm. For the past five days her mom had not been
eating and when she finally decides to eat, she ate only fruits. But breakfast they
keep making even if it's only Peju that eats it, she barely eats herselfCan't we be left alone without having to entertain any visitors?" Sarah asked, at that
moment Peju left the room. It seemed to her that her mum and Sarah always argue of
recent.
"Sarah, it is too early to start your tantrum, so please just do as you are told, alright?"
"Yes, m'am" she mumbled. There is no point arguing with her mother, she will just
allow the activity to carry her through the day till she can return back to her bed.
With these thought she left her mother's presence.
Sade Adams exhaled. Being a mother to two daughters and of recent a
widowed in her late thirties had her hands full and her heart filled with sorrow and
pain. The last thing she wanted to deal with was a teenage girl's trouble. It would
have been easier if another adult could share in the handling but then it seemed fate
had it sealed for her now. Fresh tears brimmed at her eyes as she remembered the
sweet moment, the happy moment of not too long ago...
"I told you I'm not doing this with you." Sade said
"I'm not asking you to, I only asked my wife to dance with me" Tayo replied
immediately looking her straight in the eyes.
"You don't understand me, do you?" she retorted "I'm so pissed, right now. What I
want is to be left alone"
"That I will do after you have this dance with me. Remember you made me learn this
dance o" he held her hand looking down at her pretending to be hurt "it is not even
our cultural dance. God knows how wide your fantasy runs!" he smiled which made
his wife chuckle
"Oh God! This man sha!" she went into his arm as he pressed 'play' on the remote,
the sound of Lady Antebellum filled the air as they swayed gently to the music
'never alone' in each other's arm in a waltz.
"I'm sorry for snapping at you" Sade said, relaxing finally.
"Don't sweat it out. You are being punished right now" he smiled and she sensed it
though she couldn't see his face as her head was on his chest. They were both barefooted, Sade in a yellow gown she had changed to when she returned from work
while Tayo was in the outfit he had worn to the office. Only his shoes and tie are off
and the tie was already lying on the bed. They were totally at ease with each other.
"...that 24KV inverter we supplied for Bacados Company at Lekki, the installation
was done last week. Only for Mr Sanusi to charge in today and accuse us of being
fraudulent because the battery we sold together with inverter got...."she made to
disengage from Tayo but he held fast to her.
"So it was a bad day at work today" he chipped in, silently praying that she'd calm
down.
"Like that was not enough, Sarah demanded to go for a birthday party
unchaperoned. When questioned thoroughly, she told me the celebrant parent
would not be home at the time of the party" she gave a sarcastic laugh "Can you
imagine that?"
"She is a teenager, I would be surprise if she wasn't acting her age" he said gently
not wanting to upset Sade the more. "She needs to be carefully handled so as not to
scare her off to her peer who knows next to nothing. And we can't afford to over
indulge her but please be careful, I don't want this to cause a rift between you two.
She needs her mom at this stage"
Sade smiled she couldn't think of any good thing she had done to deserve such an
understanding husband. "Thank you" she said.
"For?"
"The dance" she smiled "I'm much better now, the frustration is gone"
"Happy to hear that" he smiled back
"I love you Tayo, you know?"
"I love you more, honey pie"
She wiped the tears brimming in her eyes. No one to help her now, she has to
be strong for her girls and herself. Tayo would want her to be...wouldn't he? She went into the bathroom. The day had started already, all she wanted was for the day
to wear off so she could sleep and pretend it was all a bad dream.
********************************************
Jedidiah Durojaiye was so immersed in the book he was reading that he didn't
notice when, Mr Saheed entered the classroom. It wasn't until the class stood to
greet that he jumped to his feet and joined the chorus "Good morning, Sir". Mr
Saheed was their Literature teacher for the session. He had told them to read up a
book 'Triumph of the Water Lily' by Stella Ify Osammor. They were to do an
assessment on it that morning. This had been what had got Jed occupied all
weekend. The last thing he wanted was to score low again and the constant and
almost permanent frown on his dad's face was the last he needed to see, right now.
Everyone knew his dad as a vibrant lawyer, a descendant of Gani Fawehinmi in law.
Having such a brilliant lawyer as a father, could be a bonus and at the same time it
could also be a burden. Jed thought. Being the second son to Durojaiye's family with
an elder brother who is very intelligent does put immense pressure on him. His
brother was already following the foot-step of their father; being a first year law
student in the University of Ilorin. This pleased their dad so much and he would
always brag about his first son at every chance he gets. Not that Jed was jealous of
Nicholas, his brother, in fact he loved him very much and he was so proud of him,
only that he seemed to set a high standard for him, which makes him feel
inadequate. Though the two brothers were both art student in college, the Nicholas
performance was exceptional, his record had not been beaten even after two year
since he left High School. Their similar line of study made it easy to compare the
brothers. And though their parents tried not to compare, still Jed often feels their
parents wished he was more like his brother. Now he is already in S.S3, the final
year in high school, hopefully he would gain admission into University next year. 'I
must really do my best in this test' he said to himself.
"Hello class" Mr Saheed greeted
"Good morning Sir" chorused the class'Triumph of the Water Lily' is a book that showed the courage of a woman who had
strong faith and great love. A lady with virtue that overcame so many obstacles" he
paused "and the character I've been describing is?" He asked the class
"Sir" Desmond, one of the students raised his hand.
"Yes, let's hear you" Mr Saheed pointed to Desmond
"Nkem, the compassionate friend of Effua" Desmond responded
"Good. But next time, answer with a more appropriate word. For instance, you can
simply say 'Nkem is Effua's friend or best friend' don't go and implicate yourself
using 'compassionate'. She is compassionate alright, but if you go with that, you
would be setting more questions for yourself. I hope you all get that, class?"
"Yes sir" chorused the class
"Alright, that is enough summary for a start, let's take our test" he flipped the pages
of the novel he had brought with him till he saw the sheet of paper in which he had
written the test question. He smiled and looked up.
"Listen carefully, it is important that you know that Literature is an art that is to be
treated with optimum respect. Having said that I would like you to consider your
words with great care, the impression you will be making with your choice of words
should be such that is befitting to the heart of literature." He wore his eye-glasses
"all books put away, write down the question as I dictate. This exercise is for thirtyfive minutes. The question is; Describe the character named Effua? Your time starts
now!"
Jed sighed. He had read it well, if he could just present it the way Mr Saheed would
appreciate, all would be well. He began to write.
After thirty minutes, the warning notice was given and five minutes later the scripts
were collected.
"So with this we can call it a day. For our next class, we'll be studying 'Purple
Hibiscus' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Do well to read it before the next class"
the teacher said while the students murmured. "Don't worry, we are not writing atest on it, at least not yet however, a good student would do well to read ahead of
class" on that final note Mr Saheed left the class.
Jed released the breath he had been holding. He had described 'Effua' as an
individual, he had also related her role in her family, he described her relationship
with Norman and he concluded his write up describing her friendship with Nkem.
He only hoped it was what Mr Saheed was looking for. He needed to have a better
grade this term, he thought.
"Simple! And at the same time tough!" Edward snapped him back to the present.
"What did you say?" Jed asked
"I mean the test. It's simple but tricky" Edward answered. Edward is Jed's sitting
partner and his best friend. Both boys were boarding-house students. Edward was
tall for a boy of sixteen years, fair skinned with a prominent Adam's apple that easily
gives his emotions away. Jed on the other hand is of average height 5feet 5inches,
dark skinned with high cheek bones and a dimple on the side of his cheeks. He has
clear, white eyeballs that feels as if they can almost see through the soul.
The two boys have been close since their first year in Triumph High School. This is
their final year in school and both are planning to attend the same university if fate
permits, though for different courses of study. Jed wants to study Mass
Communication while Edward wants to be a lawyer. For Jedidiah, two lawyers were
enough in the family he would rather be a communicator and Tabitha, his younger
sister already has her eye out for Medicine. Let his dad and brother, Nick defend the
law.
"Yes, it was but I just did what I could. How was the test for you?" Jed asked
"Not bad. I can't just boast of the score till the results are out" Edward shrugged.
"Really?" feigning surprise Jed teased his friend "Scholar Eddy is not sure of an A+!
Wow! That's a good thing, we should have more of this" he chuckled while Edward
rolled a paper into a ball and aimed at his head. The next teacher came in just then
and they adjusted and got ready for the lesson.
**********************************************
Morakinyo Durojaiye stood pacing in the court premises just next to the courtroom
itself. He is in the middle of a delicate case. It is a must win for Akin and not only
because of the money involved but because of the prestige and the fame it would
bring eventually. Initially he had no idea the case will turn out to be big, one that
would eventually alert the press and create publicity, until last weekend when the
prosecuting counsel brought in a celebrity as a witness. This had all the newsmen
dashing to the court. Still as the defending attorney, he believed the case was in his
favour, though sensitive, he had aligned his arguments well enough with the exhibit
on ground. His client should be off the hook in a matter of weeks. He stopped in his
pace and thought in his mind 'forty-three year old barrister wins the case despite
the appearance of Jacob Badmus, a prominent actor in the movie industry in the
country. He smiled. Of course the headlines will do more than just that.
At forty-three, married to Kikelomo, his childhood sweetheart, who bore him two
boys and a girl, all who are now grown, and with a booming career, Morakinyo
couldn't ask for more. The tall husky fair complexion lawyer has an eighteen year
old son following in his foot-step, studying law in University of Ilorin, another 16
year old son in his final year in high school and a teenage daughter who is in senior
class at age fourteen. His daughter's education is the fastest and she is the jewel of
his heart. His family is everything to him. Kikelomo had been his heartthrob since
their college days and they had gotten married immediately he finished from law
school. The following year after their wedding, they had their first son, Nickolas and
Akin couldn't ask for more. Two years after he had another son, Jedidah, a sweet
little boy that had taken everyone's breathing away at the hospital.
His mother had been very thrilled at how fast their family was growing, insisting that
it was because he married a young wife. He had married Kikelomo when she was
twenty-one. She had just finished her NCE which qualifies her to be a teacher, at that
time. However, not until their daughter came two years after, did he begin to see
reason and agree with his mother. He loves his family so much. He always work hard
to earn a decent living to take proper care of his family and also to advance in status
and position, his kids can be proud of. Now, here is another opportunity that can influence his position and status in the
society. The case at hand happens to be very crucial and that is why he had
sacrificed his sleep for three nights now and he had prayed and fasted for the trial.
He smiled as he thought of how hard he had worked for this case. He really needs to
nail this case. His client was the victim of a rare coincidence. It was a case of
attempted rape. His client is a young man who tutors students at home after school.
He was referred by one of the lawyers in his firm, a nephew of a lawyer in the firm to
be precise. Akin had taken the case up with all his passion because the uncle is a
person he admires and more because they are both from the same village in Ogun
state. According to his client, the teenage girl he was tutoring made several
advances at him during the course of tutoring which he declined till the fateful day
when her lust deepened and she made another attempt at him. He gave her some
work to do and before he came back she was half dressed, he couldn't believe what
he was seeing. The girl was in senior class, preparing to sit for GCE. Her parents
were not at home initially but when they came back they came in on them and the
little wench began to cry and accuse his client of attempting to rape her. Her parent
believed her and lo, they filed a law suit against the tutor and hence the hearing in
court.
They were in the middle of the proceedings when the uncle of the Claimant came in
as a witness and the case suddenly became a sensation in the newspapers. It
wouldn't have raised a dust if her uncle had not been the famous actor, Jacob
Badmus. The actor appeared in court to testify on the supposed good character of
his niece. Not to worry dear Jacob, we have evidence that you visit your niece only
once in every three to six months and only for some hours of the day and she had not
gone on vacation with him since she was twelve years of age, precisely five years
back. Let's see how you will be taken as a good judge of character. Morakinyo
thought. They had managed to get one of the girl's classmates to testify against her
and discredit her allegations, and another male teacher who had being harassed by
her, had volunteered to serve as a witness at the trial. In addition to this, he and his
legal team had gotten facts on the lives and involvement of the girl's parent. Akin
and his team, were able gather evidence to show that the father is a busy business
man and the mother a banker, with these they could argue a case of poorupbringing and lack of affection on the girl, leading to a rebellious and unruly act
on the part of the young teenager.
He was still deep in thought when a member of his team came to call him. "Sir, the
hearing is about to start, the judge enters in about fifteen minutes."
"Okay then, let's go. We are set." He took another glance at all the stacks of papers
with him. "Do we have all the witnesses in court?"
"Yes sir"
"What about the exhibits, the document I asked you to print?"
"They are all in place, sir. We are ready."
"Good. Let's go" they headed to the court room.
***********************************************
Right into the heart of Ibadan, close to the Federal Secretariat is a bungalow
building which was artistically built to the extent of attracting the sight of every
onlooker. It was evident that an architect or someone of profound knowledge in
architecture must have owned the house. It was properly sculptured, the arcs used
in the designing of the house and it had garden that could be seen from outside
because of the low fence and gate. Though it's a small house but very impressive
with every detail exquisite even to the little sign in front of the house 'Adam's Villa'
the font of the lettering was tasteful. In one of the rooms in the pretty bungalow,
Sarah Adams packed her books from her bedside table. She had been packing for
two hours now and she didn't mind the stress rather it had been worth it after her
mom had miraculously agreed that she return to the hostel. At first her mother had
been so set against it, saying the family needs to be together and give each other
support, but Sarah had countered her, telling her, she needed to go back to the
hostel to be able to study well. It's her final year in school and she reminded her
mom that the school management had even made it compulsory that all the final
year student to live in the hostel to be able to concentrate and prepare for the West
African Examination Council (WAEC). I can't possibly be the odd one out. 'I cannot read without distraction in this house.' She argued when her mother volunteered to
talk to the principal to give her exemption.
It wasn't that she was selfish in her decision; running away when they wanted
her around, but that it was her final year in college and she dare not fail her exams
because her success will be a tribute to her father. Besides Peju is a day- student,
she will always be at home with their mom and her mom is resuming work next
week too. It will do her a lot of good. Sarah had encouraged her mom to go back to
work, it will make people stop visiting them so they can move on and treasure the
memory of their father, more so Peju will be home every day to keep her company
when she returns from work. She will get to see Peju at school so she can find out if
she is needed at home, she can easily go home then and her mum can visit her on
visiting days but for now, she need the solace of the school hostel to hide from the
reality at home.
It would be depressing for her if she had to move from the boarding house,
though everyone would understand but the pitiful look would be too much for Sarah
to handle. It had only been two weeks ago that they had been happy. Two weeks
before, her dad had been alive, drawing in his study, talking to her about her
responsibility as the elder child. Her dad was a talented architect, he had drawn the
plan of their house. There was so many good memories that she can't afford to think
about them now. She blinked back the tears that were gathering in her eyes, the
pain was still very raw. With that she zipped up her travelling bag, picked it up with
her bag pack and headed towards the living room where her mother and Peju sat
watching a T.V series, she doubt if her mother was really watching.
"Hi mom, am set and it's 4'o clock already" Sarah broke the silence.
"Is that so?" Sade replied while checking her wrist watch at the same time. "Wow!
How time flies... we better get going now." She turned to Peju "do you want to come
with us, dear" the ten year old nodded, still focused on what she was watching on
the Television "then off you go to your room. Little miss, you have only ten minutes
to get dressed. Is that clear?"Crystal clear, mom" Peju replied as she ran to her room and her mother smiled.
The Schools are sure doing a good job, both the elementary and the college where
she is presently. The girl does speak well and it impresses Sade a lot. It's actually
expected since the girl reads novels a lot even though she prefers her books to be
not more than 150 pages. The thought further made her smile again which was a rare
thing for her in the past few days.
"Come on girls, we head out now."
"Yes ma" the two girls chorused."
They left for school in the big ash coloured Camry Toyota sport car which was
her birthday present given to her by Tayo, earlier in the year. Although they never
personalised their car as being "dad or mum's car" they use their cars
spontaneously as they please and the repair is often taken care of together. Tayo
had always wanted a fairy-tale family life. He always said if it's not a fairy-tale life at
least it should be close to it. This had made her skeptical about him while they were
courting. Hardly will you see a guy think the way he did, he is often associated with
ladies. At first she thought he would be the type looking for a perfect wife so she had
avoided him but he was persistent. Sade smiled sadly at the memory. Their life
together was good, almost perfect but maybe that was why it didn't last. She
wondered. There is this saying of 'too good to be true' she shook off the thought. She
needs to be strong for her girls and she will try her hardest to be there for them just
as Tayo would want her to be. It is a good thing they are all resuming their normal
daily routine; she would be going back to work, Peju would be going to school and
Sarah was already on her way. She wants to leave the house today, a Friday, ideally
she would have gone on a Sunday and start class on Monday but Sade knew her
reason. The house constantly reminds all of them of the absence of the man they so
dearly love. Though Sarah tried to hide her tears while putting on a strong face but
her mother always hear her when she cry though their rooms are far apart, often
time Sade just wander around the house at night and that is when she hear her
daughter crying. She always wanted to reach out to her but her own grief had her
immobile. So she just stayed at her door for hours, quietly crying on her own, she
cried herself to sleep most of the time. In fact that is why she declined Peju's request to sleep in the room with her. Peju was frightened all through the first week, so
instead of sleeping with her mother, Sade stayed with her in her room till she slept
off.
The first week was the toughest; having to greet people, listen to them say
things she would prefer not to hear, some would start highlighting the good things
Tayo had done in his lifetime, things she wasn't ready to listen to just yet. The most
potent blow comes when someone drops a comment like 'I know how you are
feeling' because no one does. Even if it had happened to someone before, it was still
not the same feeling. Tayo is a complete good man, the man she happens to love
and he has died leaving her alone in this world. How could he have died that early,
at forty-one, why? A tear spilled onto to her cheek and she quickly wipe it and blink
back the tears but not before Sarah saw her. Sarah looked away, lost in her own
misery. She felt more guilt leaving her mom at this time but she knew she had to go.
She can see that her mother is trying her best to make them feel better but it will
take time for any of them to feel close to that. Even Peju cried sometimes when she
walks into her dad's study with something to report to him, forgetting he is no more.
She did cry and Sarah will make her milk. Her mom even drove her to school in 'Big
Camry' the car she loved the most, so it might cheer her up but now it is not the car
she wanted now, it was her dad. She couldn't care less who sees her coming off the
car in school. Because now it will be different, they must have heard about her dad
and everyone will be gracious and cautious with her and there is no way of avoiding
them especially knowing that she is a prefect, a health prefect for that matter. 'I
guess I have to grow a thicker skin and handle them as best as I can' she thought.
"Mom, pleases when we get to school, let's just act normal; no crying and long talk
please. You can say things to me now that we are in the car and if I do need
something I'll send Peju to you" she paused, looking at her mom for response when
there was none, she continued "I will come see you too, I will ask for pass from my
housemistress"
"It's okay my dear" Sade smiled at her elder daughter "no awkwardness I promise."
By that time they were already in Triumph High School. It is a two storey
building, painted with different stripes of wine and cream colours. The school is located in Bodija, right there in Ibadan. The buildings are about three similar
storeys more like triple building, and then it has bungalow buildings; the
laboratories, the dormitories for male and the female boarders, the dining hall, the
kitchen, the library, the mini mart for the students' break. The school is well
organised and the standard made suitable for secondary school education which
they provide including field for sport, football and basketball inclusive, and so is
their tuition fee. The school is privately owned by a group of conglomerates known
with other assets such as micro finance banks, hotels, etc. It had made the school
attractive and highly competitive to students across the country more because it has
conducive hostels facilities. Tayo had insisted their girls attend the school, now that
he's gone Sade will have to foot the bill. Thank God her job pays well, she thought.
At the moment Sarah wore a wine checked gown; short sleeved, plain to the
waist and pleated downward, which reached her knee and not longer. She used a
wine bow for her hair which was weaved in the local 'Suku' style. The fifteen year
old teenager is a beauty with dark oily skin, full hair with teddy along her face, long
eyelashes and with a height of 5.6ft, making her tall enough for a girl of her age.
What made her more adorable is the fact that she is unaware of her natural beauty.
They drove in through a tall black gate, down a straight lane; they drove past
the main administrative building, past the class area, and then took a right turn to
the hostel dormitory and parked at the front of the hostel. They entered, and
approach the reception stand, got Sarah registered. The two sisters brought out the
luggage and bags while their mother chat with the house master and mistress on
duty. The normal pleasantries were exchanged then condolence was extended to
her. Sarah's bags were checked for contrabands and the noodles she brought were
given back to her mother. The school authority does not want students cooking in
the hostel or going to the kitchen to disturb the cooks. Sarah kissed and hugged her
mom and sister as she left while she carried her things to the hostel with the help of
some of her juniors. Dinner is in one hour, she has to quickly unpack and arrange.
She doesn't really want to eat but attendance in the dining hall is compulsory. She
set to unpack as she sat on her bunk. She's staying on the lower bunk while a junior
is staying on the upper bunk.An hour later in the dining hall, Durojaiye, the food prefect was the one
controlling the dinning. She smiled. Somehow she had missed her school mates. She
sat down quiet with her mates. Their food was brought in by the juniors. Usually the
school chef and her team do the cooking and pack every student's food in their
plates. It is a covered plate, stashed at the controlling arena from there, student are
asked to come pick their food according to their classes but for the final year
student, year one student or year two, are assigned to take it to their table. The
whole process is controlled by the food prefect unless the food prefect designates it
to another prefect. Sarah was in no mood to eat but when her class mates began to
talk to her and extend their condolences, she began to eat so as to avoid the
question, anything to divert her attention.
'Why can't everyone leave her alone and pretend nothing happened or just shut up'
Sarah thought to herself. "Sarah, would you join me in controlling the dining hall?
Jed asked
"Yeah, of course" she stood and walk down the aisle of the dining hall to join the
food prefect.
It's been ten minute since the dinning started and he had noticed her walk
quietly to her seat. It had been more unlike her. Jed had no particular interest in her,
he only liked her principles and because she's well behaved, in fact everyone
openly or secretly respects Sarah. So when he realise the condolences and the
sympathies of her classmate was making her uncomfortable, he called her to join
him to control the dinning. He would have wanted the same thing if he were to be in
her shoes. Edward should at least be grateful, he had been the one bent and head
over heels in-love with the 'beautiful Sarah' as he secretly call her.
"The last class to be called for their food is SSS2, so please call them and ask them
line up as they collect their food. I will see to the table-water provided" he was
looking intently at her "can you do that, Sarah?"
"Of course, I can help" Sarah replied with a faint smile
"Alright then" he turned away from her, and called out the JSS2 boys to follow him
collect the table-water for everyoneThe whole dining process was over in forty-five minutes; Sarah had blessed
the meal and she and Jed had parade the hall to ensure every student was eating
that no one is being maltreated for food, as it is against the school rules. The food
prefect and the person controlling usually eat after the dinning is over; just before
the night prep
"Miss, let's eat now, prep is in 15 minutes and I will like to read so I want to be early
for prep" Jed said
"Alright let's eat but you can leave the hall once you are through with your food''
Sarah replied. They began to eat. Jed kept stealing glances at her, her pain was still
fresh, he wanted to help but she was acting strong and he did not want to be too
forward as not to be misunderstood that he only cared and felt sorry, nothing more.
Edward would have trade anything to seat and eat alone with Sarah. Too bad he had
to go home this weekend but he should be back on Sunday after church.
"So you came back today" he started the conversation.
"Yes" Sarah replied uncommitted
"Your mom dropped you off?"
"Yeah"
"Wow! That is so cool, my mom can drive too but she is always scared and would
only drive short distance" Sarah smiled at his reply, she felt happy at the line of
conversation. She had thought he would start with the 'am sorry for your loss line of
conversation'
"I see... my mum love driving and she speeds a lot. I always use the seat belt when
she's driving even if I'm sitting at the back seat" she grinned.
"Oh really? That is totally cool'' Jed laughed, not really because what she said was
hilarious, but because she was truly smiling and here he was thinking and racking
his brain on what to ease her mind off the sorrow.
"Ok miss, am off, I will see you at the prep class. Don't be late" with that he stood
up"Yes sir'' feigning a straight face
Jed smiled and left the hall thinking at least she smiled. It is a good thing she
decided to come back to the hostel.
Kikelomo Durojaiye was just adding the finishing touch on the dinner. It's 7:30
though it still looks bright outside because the weather had been such that days are
longer and nights are shorter. Her husband just came in fifteen minutes ago, he had
gone to shower. He will come down for his food in no time to eat his supper. She
cleaned her hand on the apron she wore over a 'Jalamia' linen gown that had
embroidery around the neck down in front to the under-bust. It had been the gown
she wore to school in the morning, she intend to wash it later on that was why she
decided to wear it through the day. At 39years she still looks younger than her age,
she is 5.6 tall, dark skinned, with a long shinning black hair which she had packed
now in knot at the back of her head with a cream bow, complimenting the cream
jalamia she had on. She had cooked specially tonight because her son is back for
weekend and she want to feed him well before he returns. The house had been
lonely with the two children; Jedidah and Tabitha off in college as boarding
students, and her first son in Ilorin studying Law at the University of Ilorin. He
manage to come back to Lagos once in a month if time allows him just as he had
come today for weekend by Sunday he will be returning. Nicholas had been a bright
boy since he started school and he had been that way till now. He had decided to
follow in his dad's foot step to read Law. Now in his first year at the university, she is
so proud of her son. He is cool, calm and collected, also very caring. She had been
looking forward to this weekend since Wednesday that he had confirmed on phone,
he will be home on Friday. Now setting the dining table she called her son,
"Nicholas, call your daddy for me, you both should come eat. The food is ready."
The dining room is painted cream same colour as the living room. The
dinning set consists of seats for six with a common oval glass table. The leather of the chair is blue-black complementing the blue-black curtains on the window. This
together gives the room a cosy feeling and makes it comfortable for family dinner.
After some minutes Nicholas entered, wearing black fluffy Dunlop slippers, a
black combat shorts and an 'AON' jersey. His eyes still glitters from the water he just
bathed with. His face break out in wide grin immediately he saw the table set before
him.
"Mom, it is really good to be home, you know." Nick said giving off a soft whistle.
His mother smiled. Morakinyo later join them on the table casually dressed in brown
short and white T-shirt. Kikelomo began to dish the food. She had made fried rice,
she fried plantain and roasted some chicken but because Akin does not like
chicken, she had included beef while roasting the meats. She dished the rice and
added chicken to Nicholas and hers while she served Akin the roasted beef instead.
Nicholas offered to serve the pineapple juice and water and they start to eat.
"This is delicious, honey" Akin complimented his wife.
"Oh! Thanks'' Kikelomo replied with a smile while Nicholas chuckled with a
spoonful of rice in his mouth.
"Nicholas, how is school? Lectures must have started in full force after the whole
matriculation ceremony"
"Yes sir, in fact we are due for exams in a month's time''
"How did you celebrate your matriculation, I wanted to come but...'' Kikelomo
chipped in and Nick smiled
"See I understand mum, convocation is still there, you can attend my 'Call to Bar'
ceremony." He replied. "You would have been bored, if you came. We just took an
oath, there were so many of us, I finally got my matric number later. I actually went
out with three of my friends whose parents were not around too'' he smiled
extending his hand across the table to hold his mother's hand. They were sitting
opposite to each other while Akin sat at the rear end. "I had fun, don't worry we'll
celebrate the Call to Bar'' ceremony together"It is you and your mother that has wahala. I already knew there is nothing special
about matriculation, to travel down to Ilorin for, it is just beyond reasoning" he
frowned
"Mom, how is Jed and Tabitha?" Nick chipped in wanting to change the subject. He
understood his parents are busy still he detest what his dad said about the
matriculation. After all some parents had deemed it fit to attend in bid to thank God
and support their children's admission into the University in a very competitive era.
"They are doing fine, dear. I went to their school last weekend, it was their visiting
day. Jedidah was preparing for a literature test while Tabitha was playing 'Miss
Independent' for her brother'' she let out a short laugh. Akin and Nick join her in
laughing.
"That young girl is something else'' Akin admitted
"She is trouble...I actually missed her'' Nick added. It was obvious that their dad
love her the most than the three of them. This did not displease Nick at all, Tabitha is
a special breed, everyone loves her, she is very special to him, and she is his only
sister. He always fuss over her, call it over protective, he doesn't seem to care.
There had been one time, Hassan one of his friends was flirting with his sister,
staring at her and sweet talking her, he did send her on a quick errand out of the
living room after which he had punch his friend. To give him a clear message that
she is only fourteen and that she is off the chase for him. He smiled at the memory.
He had been very furious that day. He loved Jedidah too. His siblings are very
important but Tabitha is the only female in the family except for their mother. She is
the one who ensure he portray a gentleman to the letter. The only time she pushes
too far is when she starts to compare him with the movie actor, that's when he pulls
out. Tabitha generally is a good sport. Although there are times when she really is a
pain in the neck, teasing him mercilessly about the girls he liked and the ones with
green light for him.
"Am sure you are still studying preliminary things in year one by the time you get to
year two you will begin to study law in full force'' his dad snapped him off the
memory lane."Ah...yes" Nick replied
"Should I tell you about this recent case I worked on?'' he continued without waiting
for reply. "It is a case of an alleged abuse. My client was accused of and charged
with sexual assault" he went on to describe in detail the whole case while his wife
and Nick listened with interest. "The most interesting part was when that actor of a
celebrity came to testify and you know how it is, the press got a wind of it and fed on
him faster than you can possibly imagine''
"Wow! Dad, that's great. I actually saw it on Thursday Punch newspapers" Nick
chipped in.
"Of course it was much to the advantage of the press, we won the case against the so
called Celeb'' Akin grinned. "The papers could not pray for a better turn out''
"Dad, your name was mentioned in the papers, you were described as a 'vibrant
lawyer'" Nick added with a smile. It had pleased him so much when he saw it on the
pages of newspaper. Some of his friends had commented and had been envious of
him.
"Yes dear, your dad did what he could" he replied smiling obviously pleased with
himself.
''I will bring the fruits in, to aid digestion'' Kikelomo said and with that she stood up
and went into the kitchen.

###Actually guys this is my very first book, please bear with any errors,promise to do better in the next chapter,dont forget to also like and comment after reading😁😁###