Chasing Shadows (Episode 5)

“If there is anyone that knows any reason why these two people, Afolasade Esther and Sijuade David, should not be lawfully joined together in holy matrimony, do speak now or forever hold your peace…”

The silence was deafening. Sade bowed her head, raised it, and then bowed it again. She was nervous. Siju just kept his cool. He had a plastered smile to his face. Sade could see the way her mother turned stylishly to see if anyone would object to her daughter’s joining. In split seconds, she was back to her usual composed self, adjusting her glasses and reading through the wedding programme. It was at that point Sade smiled. She could not believe her mum was also nervous. She had programmed her mind and eyes not to look at her father. It was a testimony that he agreed to and actually showed up at her wedding.

She was brought back to consciousness by the Pastor’s insistent announcement.

“Anyone? Anyone has anything to say? Okay… Let’s proceed” The pastor continued.

He flipped to the next page of the wedding programme and was about to read the prayers preceding the “what God has joined together, let no man put asunder” declaration, when a man walked into the church auditorium, and headed straight for the altar where the couple was standing.

Sade’s heart began to race. She tried to figure out who the man was but there was an awkward brightness in the auditorium that stopped her from seeing properly. She moved closer to Siju and tried to whisper something to him. She could not believe he was still calm. She wondered why the pastor paused. They still had other programmes lined up for the day, he should just get this phase over with – she thought to herself.

The man moved closer to the couple and whispered something in the Pastor’s ears. The man was Supo. 

She was weak after the Pastor announced that the wedding could not go on. She wished she could faint instantly, but none of the things she had watched in the movies was happening to her. Her legs were suddenly stuck to the ground, and tears were streaming down her cheeks uncontrollably. The two brothers seemed to have it all figured out. They just watched her as she cried.

***

The tears kept rolling down her cheeks and she began to sniff. She wiped the tear off her face, and turned to the other side of the car. She sniffed some more before waking up. She sat up properly at the back seat of the car where she had been lying. She checked her watch for the time but couldn’t make sense of the numbers on her digital watch. The car was moving slowly. She looked around once again just to be sure of where she was.

Then it dawned on her. She had been dreaming, she was in the car sent by her mum to pick her from Ibadan to Opic, the location where they were to meet up. She had collected the driver’s number from her mum, called him and instructed him to pick her up at a branch of First Bank at Challenge, instead of coming to Siju’s house to pick her.

She had tiptoed out of the house before the brothers woke up, after dropping a note that she needed to clear her head. The driver arrived later than she expected and she had filled several deposit slips with unknown names and nonexistent figures, torn them and filled some more just to engage herself in something before the driver arrived. She remembered laughing at herself as she filled the unnecessary deposit slips.

The driver arrived at 8.35am, and explained that the traffic on the way to Ibadan was terrible. She just smiled and nodded as he spoke. She sat at the back of the Toyota Corolla, stretched her legs and didn’t even know when she slept off.

“Where have we gotten to?” She finally said, after regaining full consciousness of her environment.

“Mowe. We’re almost there.” The driver answered politely.

“What’s the time, please?”

“It’s 5 past 10 ma” The driver looked back as he gave the answer.

“We’ve been stuck here for some time. Should I increase the AC?”

Sade did not even realize the AC was on. She had been sweating profusely despite the AC.

“No, don’t worry. I’ll just wind down the glass”

She needed fresh air. She seemed to be choking from inside. Maybe her mum was right about her exaggerating. Maybe she was actually blowing this issue out of proportion and imagining things. That must have been the reason why she had a dream about Supo disrupting her wedding. Maybe she was only being paranoid from having a stranger stay in their house. Maybe it was the experience she had with the overbearing sister that once overstayed her welcome when she came for her JAMB examination that was responsible for the feeling. Maybe Supo was only being himself; open and friendly. It had nothing to do with Siju’s attitude to keep things away from her. Maybe Siju had been traumatized by the loss of his sister during the fire incidence and the memory lingered till now, just like the memory of her own brother lingered. Maybe their father was actually no more, and ‘no more’ did not have any other meaning than what everyone understood it as.

She brought out her phone from her bag and began opening each unread notification and messages. She was careful not to open the messages Siju had sent on whatsapp and BBM.

The traffic miraculously eased out and they were back on the breezy ride to Opic. She plugged her earpiece to her ears and nodded to Asa’s Jailer.

***

“What do you mean you don’t know when she left?” Siju asked in the coldest of tones.

He had woken up to prepare for work as usual. He went to the second room to check on Sade but she was not there. Then he hurried to the sitting room and saw Supo, still sleeping on the sofa. The house was not bigger than normal, so it felt awkward to begin checking other areas of the house for his fiancé. But he did anyway. He was about to call Mosun to ask if Sade was at her place when he stumbled on the note she dropped on the coffee table, and that was where he lost it.

He hit his brother who was still snoring and changing positions on the sofa. Supo woke up with his eyes red from the long sleep. He squinted as he let his eyes adjust to the ray of light in the sitting room.

“What is it? Don’t you have work to go to?” Supo was displeased at the way his younger brother woke him up.

Siju showed him the note Sade dropped and began demanding answers.

“See, I don’t know what’s going on between you two. As you can see, I’m just waking up. I don’t know when she left” Supo hissed as he got up from the sofa to make his way to the conveniences.

Siju pulled his brother back with his right hand.

“You will tell me about that conversation that never happened, right here and now.” Siju continued.

“Guy, e be like say you don high this morning, shey?”  Supo released his hold from his brother’s hand in annoyance and walked away.

Siju immediately called his supervisor and apologized in advance for his possible delay or absence from site that day. He claimed to be down with terrible headache and body pains. He said he couldn’t explain the cause but was on his way to the hospital for treatment. He explained weakly and his supervisor told him to take the day off, since he had been working so hard on the site lately. That was exactly what he needed – the day off.

He now had the whole day to sort out the mess his brother had caused.

The argument between the brothers continued after Supo came out from the bathroom. He insisted that he only told Sade about Shola’s death, and nothing more.

“I don’t believe you. You must have mentioned daddy. I don’t know why you always do this…” Siju slammed the door to his room behind him. He had to speak with his mum immediately and get her to intervene in the issue, and probably help Supo clean up the mess he assumed had already been created.

“Do what?” Supo followed Siju into the room.

“Track my life, brother. It’s almost as if you’ve placed a tracking device on my life. Just when everything seems to be working for me, you show up and mess it all up; like you’ve always done.” Siju faced the window of his room.

“You better watch your tone when talking to me. I wonder why you didn’t tell her yourself, or why you never tell all these ladies you date. What if she finds out about dad elsewhere, what will you do then?” Supo continued.

“She won’t find out, ‘cause no one, including you, will say a word about dad. Understood?” Siju faced his brother, and gave the directive in the most serious tone he could muster.

He picked his wallet and phone, and began making his way out of the room.

“Please be gone by the time I’m back.” Siju said sternly as he made his way out of the room, and out of the house to sort out the mess.

 *** CHASING SHADOWS by Faith Tunde-Yara

*** Photo credit: www.gettyimages.com