Three generations episode 70

TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS

WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI

CHAPTER 70

Nwadiuto wasn’t happy with Kasiemobi’s condition. She had also been praying about it. She didn’t know what else to do. She told Josh that she wishes something could be done.

“Naomi is a foreign trained paediatrician. Should I invite her to take a look at him? She is quite good”

“You know she acts funny towards me but I really don’t care. She will still eat my food”

Josh laughed at her comment and said “I will bring her tomorrow”

“She shouldn’t give me attitude when she comes”

The next day, Josh came with Naomi. She went to speak with the doctor in charge.

When she came back, she said “I have asked them to run some tests and they were acting funny. Discharge him from here and bring him to where I work now. I will discuss his case with the head of paediatrics before you arrive. I’m making copies of the file. The doctor on duty is hitting on me and he is hot. Once I get everything, you will request for his discharge”

Nwadiuto discussed with her mother on the phone what Naomi said. She wasn’t thrilled about it. They had used four hospitals including government facilities. Even Nwakaego supported Nwanneka.

Naomi called Nwadiuto. “The head of paediatrics is interested in your brother’s case. He has asked for some tests to be conducted on him. I think we have gotten to the root of the matter but this test will determine it”

When Nwanneka heard there was hope, she quickly discharged her son that Monday morning and took him to the hospital as directed by Naomi. Her son hadn’t stood up for weeks. As he got to this hospital, they took samples for the test. The doctor recommended he should be placed on some medication.

Six hours after taking the medication, Kasiemobi sat up on the bed. It was like a miracle. He stood up to ease himself after they removed the catheter. Everything was gone. He felt stronger before the end of the day.

The head of paediatrics came to check Kasiemobi. He told them, “the test results confirmed he didn’t have cerebral palsy or any infections. I only gave him a wide spectrum of antibiotics and here he is jumping about. I don’t know what happened”

His recovery was a miracle. How it happened, no one could explain. There was rejoicing everywhere. The thanksgiving Nwanneka did in the church showed her heartfelt gratitude. While dancing to the altar surrounded by friends and family, she testified. People listened and praised God.

When they were going home, a woman stopped her. She said to her, “I thank God for your child. I remember the day you came to church to pray on a Monday morning after mass. You visited the Blessed Sacrament and then went to use the toilet. I was standing outside the toilet with two other women. You asked for a tissue and we gave you then you went in. When you came out, even though obviously troubled, you commended us and our service to the church. Madam, you gave us N30,000 to share. One of us, her son needed N5,000 to make an urgent payment in school. She was lamenting to us how she couldn’t raise the money. There you came and gave us N10,000 each. She knelt down and thanked God and told God that whatever brings you here every time to cry to him, may he grant you a miracle just as he has done for her. We all said Amen. Today, you testified of God’s goodness. Your son’s healing will remain permanent”

From that day, Nwanneka gave the Sanitary department of the church N100,000 monthly to take care of their welfare.

Nwanneka stayed with Kasiemobi for another month until she was sure the illness wasn’t coming back again. She didn’t let him out of her sight for that month.

When it was obvious he was so much better, she decided to travel for a weekend. She called her mother to help babysit Kasiemobi so she could travel t Port-Harcourt to see Paul. It had been a long while.

“You are not being fair with Paul. Bring the child to Port-Harcourt with you. Leave him with me here and meet Paul. He will not always be waiting for you when you cut him off. I do not support what you are doing but I like the man. If you want to satisfy your flesh why not do it honourably?”

“How mma?”

“Marry the guy. Make it legal. Let him meet your children and let your children meet him”

“I like the way we are”

“It is the wrong way. I don’t want you to lose this guy. I have explained to him why you couldn’t speak with him during your trying period and he understood. But for how long? It is unfair”

“He hasn’t proposed to me and I am also not in a hurry to remarry. See, Chike’s mother wants to prove to the world I am adulterous. I don’t want wahala”

“You can shut her up by marrying again”

“Mma, I don’t want to experience another heartbreak. I’m scared I might lose Paul like I did Chike”

“God forbid! Affliction will never rise a second time. Come with the child and spend a weekend”

When Paul saw her, he took her in his arms and asked her if she was ok now. She cried in his presence for the first time. She poured her heart out to him. She talked about how afraid she was she would lose her son. She told him how she thought it was her messing with him that caused his illness. She shared her deep-rooted fears concerning their relationsh¡p and mostly her fear of losing him.

“I am not going anywhere soon. I will always be here for you”

“That was what I thought with Chike but he left me”

“I won’t leave you. I love you very much and I want you to be happy. I can’t determine what God has in store for us but I know one thing; he doesn’t have plans to take me any time soon”

“Promise?”

“I promise you, my love”

“I’m sorry I cut you off when I needed most”

“We have to talk seriously. We can’t continue the way we are going with you disappearing and appearing when you wish. You know I love you and I will always be here for you but you take it for granted. I would have come to Lagos to be with you. I would have done anything for you even if it was just to share your pain each day but you blocked me. How long are we going to continue playing this game?”

Nwanneka didn’t have a response. She knew her mother was right and so what Paul. His biggest fear was what people will say. How long ago did Chike die that she had replaced him so fast? His sibling might no longer support her. What was she to do?

“I know you have reservations about our relationsh¡p. I think we should call off the relationsh¡p and remain just friends until you are ready for something serious. I am no longer interested in casual encounters. If I am not worthy to be with you when you are going through a tough time then I am not worthy to share a bed with you”

“I thought you said you loved me and you were going nowhere. Isn’t it what you said to me just a minute ago. Why then are you saying all these? I do love you but it is too soon after Chike death to be in a relationsh¡p and openly display it. I need time to get my act together.”

“How much time do you need?”

“I don’t know”

“I need to know. How much time would make you realise what you are about to lose”

“Paul!”

“I love you and I will stand by you but, I do not want to keep sacrificing my heart and it is only satisfied when you want it to. I feel like I am the only one invested in this relationsh¡p. This is the truth. It is easy for you to come now, we make crazy love and on Sunday or Monday morning you go back until it is convenient again. Then there is another issue and you disappear for another month or two or even three and then come back again. I don’t think you love me as deeply as I do. I think you are comfortable with me and enjoy our escapades but it ends there”

“I love you. I am just afraid of what people will say. I don’t want to be called names because I found love again so soon after Chike’s death. I don’t want it to appear as though my husband wasn’t properly mourned”

“Nikky, it is more than five years since your husband died and we are having this conversation? You didn’t mourn him enough for five years? You are bothered about what people will say? I can’t believe I am hearing this. Make up your mind, woman. Do you want to be with me or not? If you need time to tell everyone, how long do you need”

“I don’t know for now”

“Fine. I give you a month to tell everyone that needs to know.”

“That’s too soon. Why are you trying to be difficult? I came here to have a good time with you but you are making it difficult for me”

“You came here to ease all your tension until you disappear again”

“Do you want me to leave?”

“I don’t want you to leave but I feel like a booty call which hurts. You can stay. I give you a month.”

Josh asked Nwadiuto for her summer plans. He wanted them to go somewhere together to spend the summer holidays. She was excited about it.

“Let’s explore West Africa. Road trip from Nigeria to the Benin Republic, to Togo to Ghana to Cote D’Ivoire. Road trip all the way. One week of fun”

“It sounds stressful”

“It will be fun. We could spend two nights in each country”

“Why don’t we travel abroad; Uk, US, France, Canada, Spain….”

“We can go to those places any time. Let’s do this beautiful road trip. We love travelling together. It will be our adventure”

“This is what you want? We could do it here in Nigeria you know. Road trip from state to state”

“Hmmm. Cross river, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Enugu, Benue,”

“It isn’t safe in some of those areas for a road trip. I would rather do the West Africa trip. Let’s decide on the date”

They agreed on a date that was convenient for both of them. The next problem was convincing her mother she was travelling alone. She decided to confide in her that she was travelling with Josh. She knew the questions that would follow. She had made up her mind to answer them honestly. She couldn’t continue to hide her relationsh¡p with Josh as it was getting serious.

When she told Nwanneka, Nwanneka asked her who she was going on this trip with. She told her it was with Josh.

“What’s going on?”

“We are in a relationsh¡p”

“Isn’t he too old for you? I think you should date someone closer to your age”

“Thanks for the advice mum, I love him and I will be in a relationsh¡p with him.”

“I was just saying”

“I can see how you are moping around looking lost. I know it is because of your lover. I won’t be like you; I will openly enjoy my relationsh¡p and not allow any external influence to affect it. You should do the same. Each time you go back, he takes you back. For how long do you think he will put up with what you do to him”

“How do you know all this?”

“My ears are close to the ground”

“We do not have the same circ-mstances. The guy is much older and he isn’t even Igbo. Why would you want to be with someone like that?”

“Because he is human and I love him just the way he is. Is Paul Igbo?”

“He is not. That’s why I have cold feet. I would have preferred to remarry at Igbo man”

“Paul makes you so happy and your only interest is to marry an Igbo man. You are funny. Look for the Igbo man who will take what you dish out to Paul”

“Are you having s€× with Josh”

“Mum! Respect my privacy. I am travelling with him and that’s it”

“Think about what I said. Igbo men respect our culture and value women. Edo men don’t value women; I have witnessed some of their women’s experiences. Know what you are getting into”

“Josh values me; that’s all that matters”

Nwanneka wasn’t comfortable with the way her conversation with Nwadiuto went. Nwadiuto was still displaying her independence. She spoke back at her since she found out about her father which Nwanneka was no longer finding comfortable. Knowing about Paul didn’t help matters. When she told her mother about it, she replied, “What moral right do you have to tell her not to fornicate when you are neck-deep in it?” It touched a nerve.

Nwanneka had agreed to spend part of the summer holidays with Paul. Her children were travelling with their grandmother to France and she was to join Paul in New Jersey, the United States. Two weeks with her family and two weeks with her lover. It was well planned out.

She begged Paul to give her more time for his ultimatum. She asked that they resolve it after summer. Nwanneka needed to be with Paul. He made her feel loved and appreciated. She never believed she would ever have a second chance at love and now she has a man who loved her more than she could ever love him. She didn’t feel she was betraying Chike anymore. She enjoyed the times she spent with Paul. They hærdly ever had a misunderstanding. They talked things through very maturely. He was a good man that ticked all the boxes. Society was her biggest obstacle. The way society judges widows was very unfair. People might even insinuate she killed Chike with her adultery. She just didn’t want to explain herself to anyone. She didn’t want to hear the gossips that will take place. What she was enjoying in secret was better for her.

They went on the trip to France first and then Nwanneka joined Paul in New Jersey. When he picked her up from the airport, he was pretty excited. He drove her to his apartment complex. When he opened the door to his apartment, she heard a noise in the sitting room.

“I’m home” Paul announced. “She’s here”

A boy who looked so much like Paul and a girl who was the almost splitting image of her mother came out to greet her. They couldn’t be more than seventeen years old.

“Hello, I’m Paul Junior. This is my sister, Pauline”

“Nice to meet you. My name is Nwanneka”

“That’s not the name daddy told us,” the girl said confused.

“That’s her name but she is my Nikky” Paul replied to them. “Welcome to our home. Would you like a home-cooked meal or prefer we go out for dinner”

“Whichever one is fine. Can you show me to the room?” Nwanneka replied.

Paul took her into his bedroom and left her there to join the children for a few minutes. She was uncomfortable. He never told her she was meeting his kids and they would be staying over. She tried to have a conversation in that regard when he came back but instead, Paul spoke first.

“That went better than I thought. They chose to have dinner at home tonight so they could get to know you”

“You should have warned me”

“You would have backed out. They like you. They said you’re hot. They were teasing me about tonight”

“Tonight? What’s happening tonight?”

Paul laughed at her as he came closer to k-ss her. She stopped him. “Nothing is happening in this apartment with them within earshots”

“They don’t care what happens here; they have their lives to live. You are getting worked up for nothing. Come here, I’m so happy you are here”

They had an amazing dinner prepared the Paul and the children. They chatted until late. Nwanneka that had been introverted since the demise of Chike became her bubbling self again. No topic was held sacred during their discussions. The twins were very bright and Nwanneka had a good time talking with them.

They all retired by 2am. Nwanneka laid down with Paul, drew him close to her, k-ssed him and said, “You make me happy”

The two weeks went by so fast. Nwanneka didn’t want to go back home but she had to. These were the best two weeks of her life. Paul and the twins were wonderful. They had fun together and made her feel like a part of their family. Pauline told her she had never seen her father this excited to be with someone. He talked about her every day for two weeks before she came. Paul was the one; she knew it. But then she was still scared of what people will say.

Josh asked Nwadiuto if she would mind if Naomi and her new guy friend would join them on the trip.

“The more the merrier. And we would split bills. I feel we should have another guy on this trip. What do you think?”

“I thought it would be just us. Like a honeymoon”

“The guy has travelled this route several times and can guide us. Please say yes”

“You know my problem? When we are with Naomi and others, you enter into your shell and you don’t look at me or touch me the way you do when we are alone. You have told me you didn’t have anything to do with her but I worry you might be nursing such feelings”

“You should know by now baby girl, that I am not one for open display of affection. She had feelings for me and I can’t disrespect her by being openly affectionate towards you in her presence. She knows something goes down when we are alone in the room thanks to you, but I don’t need to prove that I love you by putting it out there”

“If you feel comfortable with them tagging along, why not?”