A Couple of Three... Episode 7

She smiled out of the court room. The judgement had been given in favour of her client. She was relieved, and hopeful that the rest of the week would be as exciting as this first day. Her client, a mid-40 year old woman walked up to her as she stepped out of court and thanked her. She was glad that her kids would not be taken away from her by her alcoholic husband. She came with her mother who kept thanking Fikayo for saving them. After a brief discussion, Fikayo excused herself and rushed to the car. She brought out her phone from her bag and saw Sewa and Keffi's missed calls. Sewa called around 10.35am, while Keffi called some two hours after. She felt it was strange for Sewa to call around that time on a Monday, except of course, she wanted to discuss the hang out for Tade. She decided to call her back before starting the car. She gave up after two trials, without Sewa picking up, and drove back to the office.

***

She was now on the floor, with one out of the small picture frames in her hands. She sobbed endlessly.
Tade soon joined her on the rug and tried to console her. As he moved closer towards her, she felt the rage rise up within her. She threw the picture frame towards him, but he missed it by a slim chance.

"Why? Why are you doing this?" She yelled.
"We had an agreement, and...." She tried to continue but the tears overshadowed her words.

"I'm sorry. I can't go one more day without you... I'm going crazy here. Can't you see that?"

Tade was now close to her. He pulled her up from the rug and held her in his arms. He wished there was another way to make Sewa understand that they were meant to be together, and whether or not there was an agreement, he couldn't go one more day without having her all to himself.

She wanted to punch him, hurt him back in the same measure he and his entire family had hurt her several years ago, and push him away as he drew closer, but she found herself doing the exact opposite. She let him hold her, for as long as it took. She gathered the words to say in her head and freed herself from his embrace. She walked to the other side of the room and faced the window. She was suddenly glad that no one had come to her rescue like she wanted. There was a huge mess to be cleared, before anybody found out.

She wiped the tears off her face, cleared her voice and faced him.

"So, what's your plan exactly?"

Tade knew that look. He suddenly became uncomfortable, but he had not come all the way for nothing.

"Errmm. The plan is simple..." He started slowly.

"Just get on with it; I'm listening". Sewa folded her arms, leaned on the wall and looked straight into his eyes.

"We leave together. He needs you; I need you; Mum needs you; We all need..."

"That's enough!" She raised her right hand to stop him.

"You all need me when it suits you, right?..." She began walking towards the other side of the room.

"See, I have done everything your family asked of me; I literally wiped that part of my life out of my memory..."

"But..." Tade tried to cut in.

"And if you think for once, that I will just leave everything I hold dear, and follow you to take care of..." She stopped abruptly.

Tade understood that she had every right to feel the way she did. She had surpassed his expectation all these years, and it made him love her the more. There was no other way to resolve this, he told himself.

"That's it! I've had enough of your whining"

He dipped his hand in his back pocket and tried to bring out something, but changed his mind. He was not going to scare her any further.
He walked straight to her and pulled her by the arm. He picked her hand bag and dragged her out of the house. Once they were outside the main house and in the compound, he held her forcefully by the arm, and without saying a word to the gate man, he left the premises with Sewa.

***

The only time Kunle checked his phone during office hours was around lunch time, because he knew his wife would probably call to make sure he had lunch. His job was demanding, and there were days when he came back home with his lunch untouched. Today was one of such days.
He drove into the compound, took his jacket and lunch pack and walked into the house. The lights were on, the curtains were still pulled out and the door was not locked. He found it very strange that Sewa had left the house opened till that time of the day.

"Honey... I'm home..." He called out as he walked in and locked the door behind him.

The house was unusually quiet. It was always quiet anyway, since it was just two of them. But Kunle felt something was off. He dropped his jacket and lunch pack on the table and ran up the stairs.

"'Desewa..." He called out when he found the bedroom empty.
He rushed towards the bathroom, flung the door open, and found it empty.

He kept calling her name as he searched the two other rooms upstairs, before running down the stairs to continue his search. He rushed out of the house towards the gate man's post.

"Where's Sewa?"

"Madam?" The gate man answered with a question.

"Yes, yes... " He tried to calm himself.

"She never come back (She's not back yet)..." The gate man answered.

"I know that." Kunle hissed and brought out his phone. He began dialing Sewa's number but her phone was switched off.

"But she..." The gate man tried to interrupt his call.

"She what?" Kunle turned towards him.

"Did she say she was going anywhere else after work?" Kunle continued.

"No sir..."

"So, what did you want to say?" Kunle questioned. He was running out of patience.

"Nothing sir. She comot for afternoon, around 12 (She left the house in the afternoon, around 12.00pm)" The gate man said.

Kunle hissed again, and made his way back into the house.

***

"Finally..."

"Hey, what's up?" Fikayo answered, with food in her mouth.

"Where is she?" Kunle blurted out.

He had searched every room in the entire house, and found the guest room scattered. He saw the dresses and shoes scattered on the bed, and found two picture frames and keys in the box.
He picked the picture frame and stared endlessly at the picture of the little child in it. It was the same child in each of the frames; with one of the frames containing a picture of Tade and the child. He noticed that one more picture frame had been thrown across the room. He picked it up and his hands shook. It was then it occurred to him to ask about Sewa's movement from the only other person that lived in the compound with them. He walked back into the house angrily, and made his way back to the guest room. He picked up the picture frame containing a picture of Tade and the child and threw it at the wall.
He decided to call Fikayo. After all, she was the only other mutual friend that Sewa and Tade shared. She must have all the answers, he thought to himself. He dialed her number but she didn't pick at the first two instances. He kept dialing till she picked.

"Who?" Fikayo swallowed her food before answering.

"Where is she?!" Kunle yelled.

"Kunle, calm down. Sewa is not here o. What's the matter? Did something happen to..."

"You tell me..." Kunle cut in. He was about to continue when he heard the door open.

"Hold on..." He brought down the phone from his ears gently, and walked out of the guest room to see who it was...

"Where have you been?" He ignored the fact that she looked like she just got beat up and went straight to demand answers.

"Hey..." Sewa answered weakly, as she walked towards her husband.

"How was work?" She continued, dropping her bag on the floor.

"I asked you a question."  Kunle's hands began to shake.

Sewa had noticed the room where Kunle came out from once she stepped into the house - the guest room. She knew he must have seen the picture frames, and she had to come up with a fast answer. The tears began to form in her eyes. She let them roll down her cheeks, while she thought of an answer to give him.

"'Desewa, where are you coming..."

"The hospital...." Her voice broke. She found one of the dining chairs to collapse into.

Kunle became confused.

"The doctor... said..." Sewa continued.

"Hey... hey... shhhh... calm down... talk to me" Kunle walked towards his wife, pulled her close and patted her on the back.

"I was feeling funny this morning..." Sewa started.

"Okay..." Kunle dropped his phone on the dining table, pulled out a chair for himself and faced his wife.

"So, I went back to bed after you left. This nauseating feeling woke me up and I threw up a couple of times... I managed to take a shower and leave for..."

"Okay... what did the doctor say?"

Kunle was familiar with the experience of his wife waking up with a nauseating feeling, throwing up and feeling dizzy, and visiting the hospital to confirm whether she was pregnant or not. Too many times, his hopes had been dashed but he had to remain strong for his wife, and himself.

"I'm not... pregnant..." Sewa cried loudly. She let herself glide into his arms and prayed that he bought the huge lie she just told.

"It's okay baby... Is that why you switched off your phone and came back this late..."

"I'm sorry, Olukunle... I'm so sorry..." She allowed the tears flow.

Kunle continued with the patting. He knew they would be fine and have their own child soon. But he also knew his wife was keeping something away from him. He still needed an explanation for the scattered guest room with the picture frames.

He let go of his wife and went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water.

"Lord, save me..." Sewa whispered to herself.


***A Couple of Three by FAITH TUNDE-YARA
***Photo credit: www.alamy.com