It was 5:15 am.
Another morning at the Fugah household, and Deladem was on his way out for work. He was due to read the sports report that day, and had to get moving pretty quickly. As usual, everyone else was in bed, so he was the only one up and about. And of course, he wasn’t going to disturb anyone; he’d see himself out as usual.
As he exited the living room and quickly opened the gate, he moved to the car when the front door opened.
There stood the ‘baby’ of the house, Delali, with a sleepy look and a concerned frown creasing his brow. He caught Deladem’s attention and approached him tentatively.
“Hey, big bro, can I talk to you for a second?” Delali asked, his voice low but firm.
Deladem nodded, his hand freezing on the door handle. “Uh, sure, Delali. I have to get out of here quickly, though. Abi it won’t take too long?”
Delali shook his head. “No, no, it won’t. it’ll be quick.”
“Alright.” Deladem looked at him intently.
“So, I’ve been noticing something lately, and I can’t just ignore it anymore. I feel I need to talk to you about it.”
Deladem frowned, wondering what this was about. “Umm, okay. What is it about?”
Delali took a deep breath, steeling himself before going in.
“You. You and Delasi. Look, I see how you’ve been giving Delasi the cold shoulder all the time, ever since that her friend came around. Every time you leave for work, every time you come home, every time you have to interact with her… it’s like… it’s like you can’t stand to be around her. Like, you dislike her.”
Deladem’s jaw tightened, his mood instantly switching with those words hitting his ears. He shook his head. “That’s not true, Delali. I’ve just been busy, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong between us.”
Delali also shook his head adamantly. “Don’t lie to me, Dela. I’ve seen the way you look at her, the way you avoid talking to her. It’s very obvious you have something harboured against her.”
Deladem’s defenses rose, his tone defensive. “Bro… I’m serious. There’s nothing wrong. The matter you dey talk about, it’s long gone. It’s not something I’m thinking about.”
Delali’s facial expression remained unconvinced. “Look, big bro, maybe that’s what you might be thinking. But from the outside, let me be honest, it’s as clear as day that things haven’t been cool between you two. Your mood has already changed as I mentioned her. It’s extremely obvious. And I thought it would get better with time, but it’s obvious it hasn’t. You’re still very upset with her. You might have told yourself you’re not, but trust me, you are. Your body language gives you away. And honestly, Dela, to what end?”
Deladem stood by the car, his mood instantly darkened. He was clearly not happy with this early takedown. From his little brother, no less.
“Look, what happened in the past shouldn’t have to linger on like this. Yes, Delasi didn’t force by bringing that strange girl home. We know that. But you know something? As far as I’m concerned, the girl’s intent was to destroy you guys’ relationship. And you’re letting her win! Yes, you are. Because you’ll continue like this saaaa, then there’s no relationship, because you’ve slowly cut her off. I don’t think you’ve taken the time to really talk to her about it, but you have to. Not just for her sake, but yours. Clear the air between you two. Please.”
Deladem remained silent and stiff-faced.
Delali knew he had hit him right where he needed to. “Just think about it, bro. I’m your little brother. I see these things. And I don’t like it. Please, do something about it. That’s all I have to say.”
Deladem nodded stiffly, then opened the car door, got inside, and started up the engine, moving out quickly.
All without a single word to Delali.
Yep, the guy’s ego had been bruised by all that.
A necessary bruising, though.
***
Despite the intense traffic, Bruce was in high spirits that morning as he sat behind the steering wheel, humming to himself happily while the sounds of news reports from Velvet FM blared as always.
One day more, and he’d be out of Sandfeld for real.
Words really could not describe the level of joy that kept growing and growing with each passing day. Lorenzo had really conspired to make his life a living hell by stressing him out the way he did. From subtle undermining of his work to calling him out on the silliest of reasons, it was clear to everyone that Lorenzo had one major mission: a determined mission to make Bruce’s life miserable.
But that was now over. After Friday, it would be nothing but a bad dream he had woken up from. No more enduring Lorenzo’s sneers or enduring his constant attempts to belittle him. No more walking on eggshells, trying to avoid Lorenzo’s wrath. Just normal work, as he sought to feed his family and get by in life.
And frankly, it was quite fun to see Lorenzo lose his cool over his imminent departure. Now the man was on bad terms with the Human Resource Manager because she blatantly refused to heed his orders to reject Bruce’s resignation letter. The man just didn’t want to understand that the laws did not permit it, and was now throwing tantrums very easily, making him quite the reproach among his employees. Everyone was now mocking him, claiming his wizardry was messing with his brain.
A beeping horn snapped him out of his reverie.
He looked to the left, and waved excitedly.
It was Bishop Gordon and his wife, with the children in the backseat.
“Ouuurrrrr bishop!” Bruce called out cheerfully.
Bishop Gordon grinned and waved. “What’s good, my guy?”
“All is well ooo, by God’s grace. Hello, Sister Akpene!”
“Hello, Mr. Aforo,” she responded pleasantly. “Off to work, right?”
“Yes ooo. Just praying this traffic doesn’t keep me here for too long.”
Bishop Gordon shook his head. “If the policemen handling the traffic continue to do the nonsense they are doing over there, you might not be so lucky.”
Bruce sighed. “Ugh. Those policemen kraaa. So they don’t realize they cause us more problems?”
“Say it again,” Akpene agreed. “I used to think they’d make things better. Lai-lai, it’s even worse. They should give us back our traffic lights.”
“Uh-huh. We prefer that kraaa. Anyways, your side is moving small small. I guess I’ll see you later.”
Bishop Gordon nodded. “Yep. Lemme get the tribe to where they have to be. We’ll talk later.”
Akpene waved at him. “Have a blessed day.”
As the Tamakloes’ car moved away, he waved back, then sighed and leaned his head against the headrest.
The sight of the bishop, his beautiful wife and their children in the backseat… such a sweet picture…
“We’ll get there,” Bruce declared to himself, confidence taking over. “The way God is doing things di33, it’s clear it’ll come soon. No need to worry, chale. No need to worry…”
***
It was about 10:30 am, and Velvet’s breakfast show was long over, so Deladem was in one of the offices, working on getting an article for the station’s website complete before it was uploaded. As he typed, though, his mind was filled with the events of that morning’s conversation.
Having replayed the conversation in his mind many times over, he felt the same thing he had always felt.
That Delali was wrong.
Sitting there, he continued to convince himself that he was not harboring any lingering resentment towards his sister. After all, she had apologized, and he had accepted. That was all there was to it, right?
“He’s wrong, chale. Totally wrong. I’m over it. It’s just easier to keep my distance from Delasi, that’s all,” he muttered to himself as he typed on. “After all, if I keep my distance, she won’t have the chance to come and hurt me again with another crazy situation. That’s it. I don’t think that’s wrong. I have to defend myself, abi?”
As Deladem continued to argue with himself internally, a voice suddenly interrupted his thoughts—a voice that felt both familiar and unsettling.
“Dela, you can’t keep lying to yourself. You’re not over it.”
Deladem frowned. That voice was gentle, yet very firm and uncompromising. And he couldn’t lie… it felt… it felt like… like it was speaking the truth…
He then shook his head. Nope, nope, it wasn’t. “I am over it. I just don’t want to deal with her drama,” he stated defiantly.
The voice came back. “You haven’t dealt with what happened with Delasi. It’s very obvious. And those around you know it. Even your girlfriend knows this.“
Deladem shook his head, trying his best to resist the voice. “I’m not holding on to anything,” he muttered. “I’m fine. I’m totally fine.”
“You can try your best to deny it, but it’s true. You’re still angry with her, and avoiding her and telling yourself you’re not won’t make it disappear. It’ll slowly eat away at you and poison your relationships. Deladem, face the fact: you’re not over it. You are not!“
In that moment, as Deladem sat in front of that computer, it was a locked-horns battle between conscience and hubris.
Until his phone vibrated a minute or two later.
He looked at it. The Henry guy was calling.
He quickly answered. “Hello, boss!”
“Yeah, Didayy. Hope you’re good. Chale, I’ve gotten hold of one gentleman bi. He’s called Rakim Yorda, and he owns this microfinance business…”
***
“Asor, this sobolo di33, you must try some ooo! It’s gooooood!”
“Ei, saaa? It’s hitting the spot, eh?”
“It’s hitting the spot ankasa!”
“Oh wow! That serious? Like when me and Bruce-“
“Hey, hey, hey, hey, sister, I know where you’re going. I didn’t ask you to go that far. Yes, it’s papping, please. Let it remain there.”
“Ei. Metallica, now you’re interrupting me when I’m about to say something? You this girl, you don’t respect, eh?”
“No please, sister N1. I have no respect.”
“Wo tiriso N1!”
Becky laughed out loud. It was lunchtime, and she was at her desk, enjoying a bottle of sobolo her boss said she was producing herself. Whatever she had put in the drink was definitely doing wonders, and Becky immediately had to inform her best friend, who was a proud sobolo addict.
And of course, a conversation with Nana Asor wouldn’t be complete without her friend making naughty references to her and Bruce getting freaky, the mention of that stupid nickname, and a hilariously violent reaction to her ‘motorway’ jab.
“I love you too, Asor.”
“You’re a nonsense geh.”
“I know. But I’m still gonna carry your babies.”
Nana Asor sighed on the other end of the line. “Yeah, yeah, you will, you will. You’re having my babies. Anyways, please, make sure you send the… ohh, okay, I see it. Alright! I’ll call her and make some orders. Herh, Becky! In fact, nobody loves me the way you do. It’s serious!”
“Eish, even Bruce?”
“Bruce’s love comes with some extra benefits bi, so his own too is a special type.”
Becky giggled. “Oh Lord, Asor. You won’t kee person, wai.”
“Oh, never. Never at all. Okay, babes, thanks for the contact.”
“Sure thing, my love. I’ll talk to you later.”
Becky hung up, downed the rest of the sobolo in the bottle, and turned to her computer screen. “That went down well,” she commented to herself, feeling pleased with how simple this break was going. A nice drink, a good talk with one of her favourite human beings… yep, this was good.
A minute or two later, and her phone buzzed.
She reached for it and checked. It was a message.
Her content expression suddenly turned into a scowl.
“Maayaa, why have you not called me? Don’t you care that your father is not well? What kind of heartlessness is this?”
No prizes for guessing who that was; the answer was in the text itself.
She sneered at the message, the bitterness rising within her. “Look at some rubbish,” she spat. “Heartlessness. Nonsense! When you ran away and left your sick wife, that wasn’t heartlessness? This man should not come and annoy me. I’m in a good mood.”
She immediately deleted the message. Before she could put it down, though, it began vibrating with a call.
Yep, Mr. Victor was calling her.
Without a second thought, she ended the call, and immediately placed it on the block list.
“The audacity,” she sneered to herself. “The motherf**king audacity. You walk out on us, and you return and expect we should be all over you like some superhero bi. Mtchew! Me di3, I want nothing to do with him. Nothing at all. He should leave me alone. If he’s too big to see how wrong he was, then he and I have no business. Bulls**t!”
Hmmm, Becky’s father certainly doesn’t want to see reason, does he? And Didayy too has his rancour to deal with…
