Too precious episode 2

TITLE: TOO PRECIOUS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 2
That evening, Chief called PB. He introduced the driver to her and told him to take her wherever she wanted to go without hesitation. Titilayo was in the sitting room when he announced it. “He is at your beck and call.” He turned to the driver and said, “I don’t want to see any other person in that car except this child and her mother. They can’t even send you to buy anything for them. Remember what I told you when I employed you”

Titilayo spoke up, “But Chief, aren’t you spoiling her? What does she need a car for? You have other grandchildren, did you do the same for them? Why this favouritism?”

Chief asked the driver to leave before he answered his wife. “My other grandchildren have responsible parents who were raised by their responsible mother. But a bad mother wouldn’t understand what a child goes through psychologically when she watches her father beat up her mother and take everything she has with the connivance of his mother.”

“What do you mean by that? Are you calling me a bad mother?”

“How did Gbenga know you paid salaries on the day you did? Tell me. It was a surprise but he was informed.”

“I didn’t tell him anything; I am being accused falsely”

“So, you never spoke with Gbenga?”

“I didn’t; I haven’t spoken with Gbenga for like forever, I don’t even have his number”

“This is your phone log since the beginning of this year. Let’s check on that date you paid salaries, who are the people you called? There it is, you called this number. You called in the morning and spoke for twenty minutes and called again at 5 pm and spoke for 5 minutes. The person called you back a few minutes later. I called the number. Guess who has the number?”

PB could see fear in her grandmother’s eyes. Titilayo found it difficult to swallow as she looked away from her husband. She never thought he would go this far.

“Titi, what do you have to say?” Titi didn’t respond. “Since you took the money from her through Gbenga, you will pay her back her salary. Until you do that, this house wouldn’t contain us anymore. The little money I gave Precious to have some fun this holiday is what her mother has used to buy her provisions for school before your son lands and takes that one too. You are a useless mother. Your grievance isn’t with Seun or Precious but you must make them suffer thinking it is affecting who you have issues with. Unfortunately, the person doesn’t care”

“Rotimi, you of all people is calling me a bad mother. Ko buru. I don’t have anything else to say. The four children I trained after their mother died are they not useful? My son’s case is manipulation from evil forces. One day he will be delivered”

“You want him to have deliverance meanwhile you use him against his wife? Anyday he succeeds in taking money from his wife, you will refund her the money. He is your son and has a responsibility towards her and their daughter together. He is not even sound enough in mind to have another child by her”

“He has tried but she claims she hasn’t gotten pregnant. I wonder how that is possible when he only comes to meet her when she is ovulating and yet no child. I have told him not to bother and try outside for a child; I am willing to take care of the child”

“What have you done for Precious that lives with you? My dear, if you intend to give Seun additional burden, you have failed. No child from that nonentity you call a son will be allowed to reside here. You can move out and live with him and his child. You heard what I said, I expect a refund of her salary to her account. When next you allow your son in here to collect her money, you will start paying times two.”

Titilayo didn’t have a response to her husband. She was already frustrated with him finding out she had been in communication with Gbenga. How did he know all this? “Seun, for going to tell Rotimi, I will deal with you,” she said out loud.

“Grandma, it wasn’t my mum that told grandpa; I was the one. My mum told me to tell grandpa I didn’t want the car; she will drive me to my friend so she doesn’t get into trouble. I told grandpa about dad coming here when I came back from school and taking mummy’s money because I didn’t want him to get the car for me”

“Do you want me to curse you? Do you want me to treat you like I treat your mother? Never you discuss anything about your father and me with your mother or grandfather. Do you hear me?”

PB nodded. She could see her grandmother was very angry and she didn’t want to add to the annoyance with the questions bothering her mind.

“Now, I have to pay her another salary. How do I get the money back from her? This man will monitor the money. She will have to take over her daughter’s responsibility. I will no longer pay her school fees. Seun! Seun! Where is that useless girl?”

Seun came downstairs oblivious of what had transpired. She wondered why she was being called like that and knew there was trouble.

“Yes, ma”

“Your daughter here told Chief your husband took your salary. Chief has mandated me to return the salary to you”

“No ma, please don’t return it. I will manage as I have always done”

“Shut up! Do you think I don’t know you sent her? Well, as from now onwards, you will pay Precious school fees. I can’t afford to pay you twice for your salary and then pay your daughter’s fees. I sent her to that secondary school to give her an edge and now, I am withdrawing my support. You can do whatever you want with her”

They heard claps and saw Chief walking into the sitting room. “Well done Titilayo. I scolded you for what you did and you decided to do more. No problem o. I will pay Precious school fees until she finishes that school even until her Master’s degree. You, on the other hand, will have to vacate my property. The land and the building the school is on belongs to me and I want it back. The school belongs to me.”

Seun fell on her knees in front of Chief begging him. “Please don’t do this sir. I will change her school to a school I can afford. I plan on getting additional work to enable me to take care of my child. Please Chief, I don’t want to be in your debt. I beg you to allow me to be a mother”

“You don’t want to be in my debt? You are in my debt already. But, you don’t need to pay this back. I will do it because Precious has made me proud. I will pay her fees until she finishes. Tomorrow I will open a trust fund for her tertiary and Masters. Nobody will threaten her because she has a useless father”

Precious was overwhelmed with joy. She ran to her grandfather held him tight and said, “Grandfather, I will always make you proud”

Chief replied, “I know my dear. I don’t want you to be timid like your mother; I am going to teach you how to be bold and confident. You would not allow anyone to trample on your pride”. He turned to Titi and said, “I give you three months to vacate my land. You will experience wickedness as you have never experienced it before. Anything you do to Seun and Precious, I will return it a hundred times. Nobody has the monopoly of wickedness.”

Seun fell on the floor in tears. “Aye mi ti baje (My life has spoilt)” was what she said as she cried uncontrollably.

Two days after, PB went to visit her best friend. Luckily, Hope, PY’s mother was off duty that day. The two girls squealed in excitement when they saw each other. PB admired PY well-furnished home. This was new money with modern furnishing compared to her grandfather’s furnishing.

PY took her to her room. PB was dumbstruck when she saw it. It was beautiful. PY had always loved pink and her room depicted her favourite colour on almost everything. She even had a laptop. Her bed was covered with a pink duvet.

“This is beautiful,” PB said to her best friend, “my room is so bland and stuffy; mother can’t afford to do it do for me”

“What of your father? My father handled the design and decorations. He followed my desire”

“My father doesn’t live with us; I live with my grandparents and my mum”

“Your grandparents? They must spoil you a lot”

“My grandfather does. He bought that car for me and hired a driver. He dashes me money in wads. He is very rich and I am his favourite grandchild.”

“That’s nice. My grandparents on both sides adore me as my parents only daughter. I love them so much. I get gifts from them each time I visit”

“You are lucky. I don’t know my mother’s family, she never says anything about them. I wonder if they don’t miss her or they are happy with what she is going through.”

“Maybe you should ask her”

“The last time I did, she wasn’t happy about it. I will ask her again but it will be when she is in a very good mood”

“Good idea. I’m so happy you are here. My elder brother went to summer school. We will be travelling on the 20th of August for the summer holiday.”

“That’s nice. Are all of you travelling?”

“No, my father will be back from his holiday next week. We will travel with my mother”

“Why didn’t he wait for you to get back and you all travel together?”

“It was when he was granted leave and to be honest, we have always travelled with just my mother”

“Travelling abroad alone is enough fun. I will be in Nigeria. Maybe I should learn a skill during this break instead of sitting idle at home getting fat. The atmosphere at home isn’t even conducive”

“I think it is a brilliant idea. Maybe you should consider computer lessons or would you want to learn how to sew or bake?”

“My mum might not be able to afford computer classes and she wouldn’t want me to ask grandfather. I love your laptop, I wish I could get one”

“It will help you learn faster too. I think my brother is back, let’s have lunch together with him. Elvis should be back too, he went for swimming classes. He is my favourite brother”

The first time PB laid her eyes on Allen, PY’s elder brother, she fell in love with him. She was almost drooling. He was tall and lanky. He spoke well and looked very cool and confident in himself.

PY introduced them but he mouthed a ‘hello’ and then moved on. They all had lunch together. Allen hærdly spoke except to his mother. He included a beautiful smile when he spoke to her. PB could see they had a bond.PY and Elvis had a special bond too.

As they ate lunch, there was a car at the gate horning. The car drove in and they all wondered who it was. Then a man stepped into the sitting room announcing his presence.

PY and Elvis jumped up from their seats and ran to him. They jumped on him in excitement scre-ming “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!”. Their father had come home. Hope, PY’s mother didn’t stand up from where she was eating, likewise Allen.

When the excitement died down, Allen greeted his father with a handshake while Collin’s placed a peck on his wife’s forehead. She planted an artificial smile on her face. She said to her husband

“We weren’t expecting you this soon. I thought you were coming back next week”

“I was recalled from the office. I wanted to spend at least two days with Precious before she goes back to school”

“That is fair. Welcome back. You didn’t tell me you were coming so I didn’t prepare your favourite for you. I still have ofe onugbu in the freezer. I could quickly whisk up something for you”

“Don’t bother. I am going to the club with the boys. Precious, I will see you when I get back”

“Dad, meet my friend. Her name is also Precious. She is called Precious Black PB for short while I am called Precious Yellow PY for short”

“Isn’t that nice? You came with the Toyota Avalon parked outside?” he asked PB.

“Yes sir”

“Good. I’m happy my daughter understands maintaining friendsh¡p within the same status. Anyway, once you can afford to attend her school you should be on the same level”

“Collins! Please don’t start that here. Don’t embarrass her, please. You can go upstairs and get ready for your outing”

Immediately PY’s father went upstairs, Hope apologized on his behalf which PB accepted. But, she didn’t forget what was said. It wasn’t the first time she was hearing it. Her grandmother had mentioned status several times. She had said her father married below his status and he married a wayward girl who trapped him with pregnancy. Unfortunately, they couldn’t deny the pregnancy as PB took their family’s body stature and her father and grandfather’s handsome face. She didn’t take anything from her mother, not even her timidity.

As PY’s father made to leave, he apologized to PB and gave her a small bag that contained bars of chocolate and a body mist. PB thanked him.

“By the way, who is your father?”

“My father is Gbenga Adeoye”

“The name sounds familiar”

“You must know my grandfather Chief Rotimi Adeoye”

“Are you Chief’s granddaughter? That explains the Avalon; Chief likes Toyota brand cars. You know he was the sole importer of Toyota cars in Africa for many years. He broke the monopoly himself. His first son just opened an oil and gas company and made him the chairman. What does your father do?”

PY kicked PB under the table. Of course, PB understood what that meant. She replied him saying, “my father works with my grandfather”

“That’s good. Tell him you met Engineer Collins Okoli. It was nice meeting you”

“Same here sir”

Allen turned to his mother and said, “Why does he always talk shit like that?”

“Mind your language” his mother replied.

They finished lunch and then PY and PB went back upstairs to the room.

“Always give my father the impression you are from a rich home. He wants me to intEr×¢t with friends that live certain lifestyles. He wants me to marry into wealth; not just me but my brothers too. He said wealth marries wealth. He wants his status in society to keep climbing. I understand him. My mother and brother don’t seem to agree with him. Allen doesn’t bring any friends home especially if dad is around. He seems ashamed or would I say disappointed in dad. Dad loves me so much that I can’t complain. I get whatever I want. He has said I would marry an engineer like him. He wants to matchmake me with his friend’s son. The friend is from a very wealthy. My father isn’t from a rich family but my mother is. That improved his status and he wants it to be better as his children get married into wealth. He said we must marry from families wealthier than ours.”

“What about love? Won’t you marry for love?”

“Love grows after. My parents didn’t marry for love or rather my father didn’t marry for love. My mother was the one in love with him and she was able to capture him with her status. He loved her because she was from a very wealthy family. Even more, she was the Ada, first daughter, of her father. He discouraged her from marrying my father but she was adamant about marrying him. They’ve been together ever since”

“But, did your father even love her?”

“He takes good care of her; what else does she want?”

PB was baffled at PY’s utterances. She could see she had been brainwashed by her father. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She had questions that needed answers; honest answers and the only person she knew that could talk to her honestly without sentiments was her grandfather. They had been having interesting and deep conversations of late. She would wait up for him tonight.