In The World Of 3 Women – Episode 15

In The World Of 3 Women – Episode 15
© Kayode Odusanya

Dapo got to the shopping mall that Kike had asked that they meet in less than 10 minutes. She flagged him down as he approach. “Park behind my car, I want you to see something.” Dapo’s heart skipped a beat. She had told him it was something urgent about his wife, and he wondered what it could be about.

He got out, lost of words from all that had happened so far today. She looked at him for a while, and then turned him to look in the opposite direction. There he saw his lovely wife, Lola, with another man in the front seat of a BENZ 200. And when he looked hærd enough, he found out that the man wasn’t just any man, but was Dupe’s brother, Kole. He couldn’t tell if she was laughing or crying. He quickly looked away, because he couldn’t take it anymore.

“You’ve been neglecting her, now she has a lover. If you had not been running around with that girl, then…”

Dapo’s eyes lit up and his expression made her stop herself in mid-sentence. “Yes, about the girl; how come she has your number on her phone?”

“So she has my number on her phone? She must be a fool. Anyway, she came to meet me some time ago…”

“About what?” Dapo barked out; obviously angry that it seemed like the two ladies had been playing him all the while.

“She said she needed to get you away from your wife, and that she needed my help.”

“What?”.

“Yes. You probably told her all about me, because I wondered how she got to know about my position in your life.”

“No. No.” Dapo said and kept shaking his head. He looked towards where Lola was and saw that they were no longer in the Benz. His eyes wondered and saw that they were standing by Lola’s space wagon now. A closer look showed him that Lola had been crying.

Kike noticed his divided attention and raised her voice. “She was at my place all the time; begging me and telling me how in love she was.”

“And what did you tell her?” Dapo demanded, with a stern look on his face.

“I told her I couldn’t help her. At first, I thought she just wanted a fling with you, but she kept persisting.”

“And why didn’t you tell me?”

“That’s very funny.” Kike said with a little laugh to go with it. “I kept warning you every chance I got, all you would do was to defend her.” she laughed a sinister laugh. “You wouldn’t have believed me if I told you. I’m sure you would have thought I had gone crazy or something.”

“She looks so innocent and young.” Dapo said, with his face to the floor.

“Young? I bet she isn’t as young as she claims to be. So, how old did she say was?”

“That does not really matter right now. I just want to know all she has been up to; every little detail.”

“Okay, let me see. She planned for those photographs to be taken.”

“Wow!”

“She thought she had my trust, so she told me everything to get my own opinion. I had to make her believe she could trust me, so that I could get more information from her.”

“Are you sure of all what you are saying? You wanted my matrimonial home broken as much as you claim she did, so how am I supposed to believe you?”

“I never wanted your home broken; I was just still in love with my lost boyfriend, and…Whatever, I never wanted your home broken, I would never wish that on anybody.”

“So, why didn’t you come direct and tell me what she was up to?”

“As I said earlier, which I guess you didn’t hear, you wouldn’t have believed me. And when I saw the girl was going too far and wanted to inform you, my husband died.”

“So she planned with a photographer?”

“Of course; what did you think? We do not have paparazzi here, just writers that live off rumors. And she isn’t even that big a star in the first place; she was just looking for some cheap publicity.”

“It just doesn’t sound right.”

“There you go again. You so much want her side of the story to be true. Do you even love your wife at all?”

“What are you insinuating?”

“Don’t kid yourself, you don’t sound like a happily married man and you are sure not living like one.”

“I got to go; you’ve started your talk again.” Dapo said and headed to his car.

“Wait.” Kike said and ran after him. She held his hand and looked into his eyes; her facial expression changed from that of a woman in charge to that of a disturbed woman. “Dapo, this is a sign; a sign that we should get back together. We finally have our second chance. You can’t trust anybody around you right now, except me.”

“Please.” he said and wiggled his arm free. He took a despiteful look at her before entering the car.

“No one of these girls can give you the kind of love that I can give you.” she said, leaning on the door of his car. He ignored her and fired up the engine. “I love you; always have, and always will. None of them know you like I do. And we have Anu to cement that love.”

“There you go again, always using your bait to get at me. It won’t work. I’ll give Anu all my love and care, but that is where it stops. Don’t ever dream that I will leave my wife for you.” Dapo said and raved up the engine as he drove off.

___

Dapo kept driving around town with no direction or destination. He didn’t want to go home to his wife because of what he had just seen. What had he seen? He thought to himself. There might just be a logical explanation for it. He wanted there to be an explanation because he loved his wife so much. ‘At least I didn’t see her k-ssing a guy’ he thought to himself.

His phone rang and he didn’t even want to attend to it, because he didn’t want to talk to all the people that he felt might want to call him right now; his wife; his old girlfriend; and Dupe. Then as an afterthought, he decided to answer the call. He looked at the caller ID and it was an unfamiliar number.

“Hello?” he said into the phone.

“Hey! Hi? What’s up?” The person on the other end said. The voice sounded so familiar, but in the midst of all the drama, he couldn’t make himself remember who it was.

“Sorry, who is this?”

“Dapo, you don’t recognize my voice? This is really disappointing. Anyway, it’s me.”

“Who?”

“It’s me, Tosin.”

“Hey! Tosin, what’s going on? You…hey! Are you in Nigeria?”

“No, I’m not. I just got this line that shows Nigerian numbers on the phone screen of the people I call in Nigeria. Of course I am.” Tosin said and laughed.

Tosin had been out of the country for the last 7 years, and Dapo was happy she chose now to return.

“Wow! That’s incredible. Boy do I need someone to talk to right now. Where are you?”

“Okay, that is why I called. I wanted to surprise you and pop up at your place, but my plans messed up. So right now, I’m stranded at the airport.”

“I’m on Badagry Express-Way; I should be there in like 20 minutes or less.”

“You are a life saver; thanks.”

Dapo’s mood changed; at least he had someone neutral to talk to. He got to the airport in fifteen minutes, parked and hurriedly headed to the arrival terminal. He didn’t even think of how he would contact her or how he was going to locate where she was. The phone she used in calling him couldn’t have been hers because she just got in.

He saw her as he approached the arrival gates. She had changed a little; complexion, weight, but the face was still the same. Tosin had practically grown up under his care, and seeing her as an adult gave him a funny feeling. She had on jeans and a white t-shirt, and was talking to another lady. She scre-med as she saw Dapo.

“Ahhh! Big man; you’re looking good.” she said and gave him a hug.

“You’re not looking bad yourself.”

“Yeah, this is Chioma.” Tosin introduced the girl she had been talking to. “Chioma and I were in the same work place before I travelled.”

“Okay and where was that again? Wait, I think I can remember; you were working with that advert company.”

“Yeah. ADFAD.”

“So are you still there?” Dapo directed the question to the yellow beauty that had been staring at him.

“No! I left there a long time ago.” she said shyly

“It was her phone I used in calling you. I was just lucky to run into her” Tosin said.

“So where are you headed?” Dapo asked the girl as he walked up to pick up Tosin’s luggage.

“No problem with me. I’m here with my brothers. I would have given Tosin a lift, but she insisted on seeing you first.”

“Okay.” Dapo said and turned to Tosin. “You look good; I mean really good.”

“Thanks. It’s really been a while. So how is your wife? I hope she is cool?”

“Yeah, she’s cool.”

“Cool, I can’t wait to meet her.”

“So what brings you to Nigeria on such short notice? Or should I say, no notice at all”

“Well…Bambam’s dad is dying; cancer.”

“Oh! Sorry about that.”

“Poor man; He has less than a month to go; at least according to the doctors.”

“So what’s up with ba…”

“Bambam.”

“What is his real name anyway?”

“Bamidele.”

“Okay. Yeah, I remember now.”

“Silly you; how could you forget? You where there when I first met him.”

“Really?”

Yes. And…Wait, what’s with you? There is something wrong.”

“Well…Nothing really. So as I was saying, why isn’t Bambam here?”

“Oh! He’s coming in next week. He couldn’t get a leave so soon.”

“So you would be staying with us, right?”

“Umm! No. I got to be by his pops side, so I’ll be staying at their family house. The driver was actually meant to pick me up, but there was a mix up. They thought I wouldn’t be here till tomorrow.”

“Dapo checked his watch, it was 2.30p.m, just then his phone rang. It was his wife; he put the phone on silent mode and kept walking.

“Why didn’t you pick that call?”

“It is somebody I don’t want to talk to right now. So…do you want to get something to eat?”

“Oh! Yes. Lord, I am starving. I hate eating on planes.”

“Okay, we’ll get to an eatery real quick.” Dapo said and stopped at the rear of his Camry.

“Is this your car? What a coincidence. I drive the same car, but not the same color though.”

Dapo loaded the luggage into the trunk and went over to the windshield to remove a hand bill that was on the wiper. He didn’t bother to read what was on it before crushing it and throwing it away. Tosin was standing in the middle of the car park drive way, looking around like a tourist. “Something has changed here.” she said.

“Yes. The car park used to be on the other side of the road.” Dapo pointed at where the car park used to be. “Now get out of the way before that car runs you over.” There was a black Chrysler 300CC driving up. Tosin got off the drive-way and walked to the passengers’ side of the Camry.

The Chrysler came to a sudden halt as it got in front of their car. The driver said something to the person in the passenger’s seat then got out.

To be continued

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