Tanure forever episode 19

💞TANURE, FOREVER💞

CHAPTER 19

AUTHOR PAMELA

Very early the next morning, the
weather was cold and rain was drizzling,
Richærd made his way to see his wife,he
got to her house and jumped across the
short fence.
He knocked on the door but no one
answered.
“Tanure, please talk to me, just give
me a few minutes to explain everything to
you, please”
Mr Ojaide who was in the living room
dropped the newspaper in his hands,he
grabbed his walking stick and headed for
the door.
“Iyawo mi, I need to……..”
“Shut your mouth and get out of my
compound!”Mr Ojaide ordered.
“Eka……”
“Keep your stupid greeting to
yourself.You think you can always hurt my
daughter and I’ll always remain quiet?”
“I’m sorry, I can fix this… I can…”
“You are not fixing anything,as long
as I’m alive,you will never see my daughter
again”
Richærd swallowed,this had gotten much
worse than he imagined.
“Baba.. please,let me talk to her for
just a few minutes”
“Oh! I think you don’t understand what
I said.Leave my house now else you
wouldn’t like what I’ll do to you”Mr Ojaide
threatened.
Richærd ignored him,he started
shouting.
“Tanure, please….”
Mr Ojaide hit him hærd on the back
with his walking stick knowing fully well
that Richærd wouldn’t dare retaliate.
The rain started falling heavily.
“You’re lucky.If you like wait here till
tomorrow, I won’t allow my daughter to
see you again”With that,he walked into his
house leaving Richærd in the rain.
Richærd just stood there feeling like a
hundred years old.

***************
Bisi stared at Remi and saw boys
supporting a drunk Richærd into the
compound.
“What happened to him?”She asked
alarmed on seeing the bruises on his arms
and face.
“I found him at the pub, I was told
that after drinking to stupor,he fought with
Gbenga and his crew”
Bisi sighed sadly,those were the area
boys who no one dares to mess with.She
thanked the boys while she and Remi took
him in,side his bedroom.
He laid down flat on his stomach,Bisi
managed to take off his shirt and saw a
long reddish mark on his back.
“Did those area boys beat him up
with sticks?”
“No, I heard they dealt blows on him”
Bisi gulped,he had told her that he was
going to see Tanure, Ojaide must have
done this,the situation keeps getting
worse.
“Go heat up some water,Remi”She
instructed.
Remi nodded and walked away.
Minutes later,he walked in with a
bowl of water,Bisi dipped a towel in,side
the bowl, she squeezed it and started
m-ssaging his bruises.
He gro-ned, and started muttering
something inaudible then he laughed
weakly, and slowly his breath became
deep and even.

***************
Richærd slowly opened his eyes,it
was as if his head was going to fall off.He
brought a hand to it and sat up.
Bisi walked in.
“Ekaaro Maami”He greeted reaching
out for his shirt.
“Where are you going to?”Bisi asked.
He stood up and a surge of dizziness
made him sit right back.
“Tanure didn’t talk to me yesterday, I
have to….”
“Richærd, you can barely move, Ojaide
would add to your injuries, you’re not
leaving this house!”Bisi declared.
“What should I do, Maami?”He
asked, sadly.
“You’re really sure that child isn’t…..”
Richærd held her hands.
“You know I can’t lie to you,
Maami.No one believes me.You have to
believe me, please. I didn’t cheat on
Tanure, I love her so much”He said with
tears filled eyes.
Bisi hugged him.She knew this son of
hers more than anyone else and right
now,he was telling the truth.

***************
“Leave my house, woman.My
daughter would never associate with any
single person from your family!”Mr Ojaide
yelled at Bisi.
Tanure quickly hurried out of her
bedroom,Bisi didn’t do anything wrong so
she didn’t deserve to be yelled at.
“Baba, please let me talk to her”She
pleaded.
Mr Ojaide stared at her then walked
off.
Bisi and Tanure sat on a chair in
the living room.
Tanure sighed, she couldn’t tell
anyone what Christine did,not even her
father,she didn’t want anyone to hate him
and she hated herself more for covering
up for him.
Bisi stared at the forlorn look on her
face,she immediately lost the courage to
beg on Richærd’s behalf.
“I don’t know what to say,My
dear”She confessed.
She held Tanure’s hands and stared at
her closely.Christ!Was she…..
“Are you pregnant?”
Tanure knew she couldn’t hide it from her
even if she wanted to.
“Yes”
“Kayo doesn’t know about this,does
he?”
“No. I was going to tell him but he
has a child already”
“And you believe that, right?”Bisi
asked, seriously.
“Maami, you won’t understand…..”
“I know.But I’m sure of one thing,he
loves you alot.This time, I won’t force you
two into anything, I won’t make you feel
that you two must be together. I just want
you to know that love recognizes no
barriers,it jumps hurdles, leaps
fences,penetrates walls to arrive at its
destination full of hope”She moved closer
and stroked Tanure’s hair tenderly.
“Whatever your decision would be,I’ll
respect it wh0leheartedly.”She assured
and placed her hand on Tanure’s flat
stomach.
“No matter what happens, I must be
a part of this child’s life”
Tanure smiled sadly and nodded.

**************
Bisi walked into Richærd’s room,he
rushed towards her.
“Maami,is she okay? What did she
say?”He asked, almost at the same time.
“Tanure is pregnant”Bisi
announced.
Richærd slowly retraced his steps and sat
down.He had totally forgotten that she
had gone to see a doctor that day.He
pictured how it’d have been to receive the
news if only Christine hadn’t ruined that
day.
“What did she say?”He asked again,
anxiously.
“I don’t want to raise your hopes up,
Kayo, she’s so sad and If you can do
anything to make her feel better, please
do.But don’t expect things to be okay
again.Even if she might want to come
back to you someday, Ojaide wouldn’t
agree to it”
Richærd bit his lower lip hærd,there was
only one thing he could do to lessen her
pain.

**************
Christine was startled by the
person in front of her,this wasn’t the
handsome Richærd she knew,he looked
pale with a bruises on his face and
hand.He walked in and sat on a couch.She
was home alone.
“Richærd”She called shocked beyond
words.
“I really underestimated you,
Christine”He began.
“If only you had…..”
“If only I hadn’t be such a coward
before,if only I had realized that Tanure
and I had something so beautiful together,
I wouldn’t have led you into her life.I
wouldn’t have hurt her this much”He said,
remorsefully and for the first time, that
remorse tore at Christine.
He stood up and walked over to the
baby’s crib.
“Who’s the father of your child,
Christine?”He asked, nonchalantly.
She was quiet.
“You think you can just force
another man’s child on me and I’ll accept
you?Or you think I’ll be terrified of your
father.Nothing that would lead to the birth
of this child happened between us and
you know that very well!”He thundered.
“We can be happy, Richærd, that
woman doesn’t love you as much as I do”
At that moment, Richærd almost
believed her.He knew he did the wrong
thing keeping what Christine did a
secret.But after proving and proving to
Tanure over and over again that he
couldn’t be with anyone else,she still was
so quick to believe that he was the father
of Christine’s child.
He quickly shook his head trying to
focus on his reason for being here.He
carried the baby in his arms.
“Who does she look like?you or her
father?”He asked staring straight at
Christine who was starting to feel
tortured.
He headed towards the door.
“Richærd, where are you going with
my baby?”She asked, alarmed.
“You said the child is mine,
remember.So it’s baby’s day out”Richærd
said and hurriedly walked away.
Defeat washed over Christine as she
slumped on a chair.

Hours later, Richærd texted Christine
the address of where he was with the
baby.
Christine walked into the hospital and
found him at the lobby.
Wordlessly,she sat beside him.
“I had a DNA conducted, I’ll get the
medical report in five days but you and I
already know the result”
She sighed.”I knew that was what you
were up to”
Richærd frowned.”Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Cause I just realized that I have
been fighting a lost battle”She replied,
frustratedly.Richærd handed the baby to
her.
“I saw on your baby’s crib,her
name’s Patra.You’ve got a beautiful baby,
Christine.You ruined my first chance of
being a father.And now, the second too. I
have no idea if I’ll ever have a close
relationsh¡p with my child”He said,wearily.
“I have HIV”She confessed.
Richærd frozed.
“I cheated on you when I traveled to
Paris. I thought you would always want
me because of my money, and I thought
when I’d come home, you’ll propose to me
so I wanted to have a taste of other men
before settling down as your wife. I had so
many casual hook-ups.When I got back
and met Tanure already carrying your
child,I was angry and disappointed, and
when you said the only thing holding you
two together was the child, I thought you
still loved me a lot so I made her lost the
child.”She sniffed and continued.
“After that,you started avoiding me
like a plague, I got so furious and
frustrated, I got drunk in a bar and I slept
with the bartender. I hærdly remember that
night, but just three months after that, I
was feeling so sick and I went to a
hospital and it was discovered that I was
three months pregnant,and there was
more, I tested positive to HIV too. I didn’t
know what to do,my dad would kill me, I
didn’t even know how to tell him about
this,I didn’t want to blame myself for all
this so I blamed you for it.Since my
pregnancy wasn’t conspicuous then, I had
my dad talk to the CEO of your company
so that I could be close to you, I wanted to
have you wrap around my fingers but it
was impossible and I realized it when you
rejected me in London.”
Richærd sighed deeply.And he thought he
had seen everything.Who was this
woman?
“I took a leave before people starts
noticing my pregnancy, I traveled to the US so
that I could deliver safely without infecting
the baby with the virus, I don’t know how
my dad found out, I couldn’t tell him a
bartender was responsible and I couldn’t
tell him about my illness so I decided to
use it against you ….. I decided to try just
one last time if I could make you love me
again.But no one can get away from
karma.Nemesis is catching up with
me,this is the price I have to pay for all my
deeds”
Silence fell between them.Richærd just
sat there for some time highly
dumbfounded.He clearly didn’t have any
protection with him that night, assuming
he had slept with Christine…….Christ!
His love for Tanure had saved him.
He went down on his knees, tears
sliding down his cheeks.
“Please… please Christine, I’m
begging you, you’ve done more than
enough already, now please let me spend
the rest of my life waiting and hoping for a
miracle to bring her back to me”He
begged, tearfully.
Christine broke into tears feeling like a
demon…..a demon who wanted to change.
“I’m sorry, Richærd… I’m so sorry”She
apologized, sincerely and kept on crying
and apologizing even when he stood up..

******************
Mr Boyowa read the medical
report,he slowly placed it on the table.
“I’m sorry for doubting you,Kayo, it
was because you love women too
much”He teased.
“I love one woman now”Richærd
replied and gave the papers to Bisi.
“Maami, can you help me give these
to her today?”He requested.
Bisi smiled and took the papers from him.
When she got to Tanure’s house,Mr
Ojaide refused to let her in.Bisi gave the
papers to him.
“Please give it to her”With that, she
walked away.
Richærd paced to and fro in front of
his house, the ache in his chest increased
seeing his mother coming towards the
house alone,he had told himself not to
expect her to come back to him, but he
couldn’t stop himself from being hopeful
that she might.
Bisi patted him on the shoulder.
As he took a step forward,she held
his arm.
“Ojaide didn’t allow me to even see
her so don’t think you have a chance to
talk to her”

“I curse the day I met you”

Her words ran through his head.
“Should I give up,Maami?”
Bisi looked away.
Richærd shut his eyes.He never thought
that they would end up this way.

***************
Tanure sat on her bed, feeling so
lonely,she hærdly did anything in the
house,her father wouldn’t allow her
to,Maami Funmi had distant herself from
her to avoid getting into trouble with her
husband.
As hærd as it was to admit, she
missed Richærd.Her father had dropped
her cellphone into a bowl of water though
he said it wasn’t purposely but she knew it
wasn’t a mistake when he threw the sim
card away along with the damaged phone.
She didn’t have the energy then to
quarrel with him but now, she wished she
did, even if nothing good would come out
of it.She shook her head, berating herself
mentally for wanting to hear his voice
right now.
Mr Ojaide walked in.
“Bisi came here,she wanted you to
have this”He said giving her the papers.He
had been at war with himself whether to
give her or not, but then it dawned on him
that it might make her stop crying herself
to sleep.
He stared at her,this was against
his religion but he had been a terrible
father and this was the time to make it up
to her.
“Richærd left”He announced.
“He left”She repeated, faintly.
“Yes, I saw him leaving the village
myself”He moved closer to her and held
her shoulders.
“He’s going to move on with his life
and you should do the same.Don’t
worry,my dear. I can take care of you and
your child.It might seem hærd now but
soon, you’ll forget about him”He assured.
Tanure wished it’d be that easy.Mr Ojaide
smiled encouragingly at her and walked
away.
Tanure opened the medical report
and skipped most of the details then read
the bottom.
“Patra Ekure and Richærd Boyowa are
99% unrelated”
She swallowed hærd,a piece of paper
fell off,she picked it up and realized that it
was a letter,she could see many traces of
teardrops on the paper and as she started
reading,hers joined his too.

“Iyawo mi,

I’d really love to hear your voice
right now but your phone is switched off, I
won’t stop calling till the day it rings. I just
wanted to lessen the pain you’re feeling
right now by proving to you that
Christine’s child isn’t mine though it pains
me so much that you still doubted my
fidelity after everything.
What Christine did to you is
unforgivable and I’ll keep blaming myself
for not realizing soon enough that you
were made for me.
I don’t know what to ask for right
now because I know I don’t deserve
anything from you but at least when you
go to bed, don’t cry, I can’t erase those sad
moments but I want you to think of the
happy ones.When it was just me and you,
Richærd and Tanure. I want you to think of
when I was your shark and you were my
dolphin. I want you to think of the times
when I would do anything you want,the
smiles,the laughs,the piggyback,the
games.When the sun goes down each day,
I’ll think of the times when I’d hurry home
to see my Orente.
I’m sorry Tanure, I’m so sorry for
ruining everything, I’m so sorry for hurting
you.I’m so sorry for all the times I made
you cry. I wish I could erase everything. I
don’t regret loving you this much though it
hurts that I can’t stop. I don’t regret all the
times I spent with you,they were priceless.
Even if we can’t be together at the
end, I’m still glad that you were part of my
life.

TBC

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