When are you gonna come down?

When are you going to land?

I should have stayed on the farm

I should have listened to my old man…

The living room was filled with the excited voices of Jonny and the Mills-Odoi couple singing out Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’. Akushika was in the dining room, enjoying the performance as usual while breastfeeding Ellen, a soft cloth over the baby to cover her while she fed. Raymond sat near her while Bukky was in the kitchen.

Swaying to the harmony before them, she felt Raymond’s eyes on her. She turned, and sure enough, he was glancing at her, with a little smile. She could not help but feel a flutter in her stomach as she looked back at him.

Obviously, with the arrival of Ellen and the madness with Drill and all, she had been quite occupied, and they rarely had time together, especially with a little human in the mix. There was still no denying, however, that a special connection existed between them. For now, Ellen took center stage, but… as far as Raymond was concerned, she knew something was there.

And she liked it. She liked it a lot. Back at the anniversary party, she had told herself that she’d happily consider going further with him if the opportunity ever arose, and she still felt that way.

She smiled and leaned forward. “Looking forward to Saturday?” she whispered.

He nodded and grinned. Saturday was his birthday, and the Flat Fam had a little party in store for him after his outing with some other friends.

“Grateful for a lot of things, right?” she further pressed.

He nodded. “A lot,” he whispered back. “My family. Flat family. Chance to start over again. A whole lot.”

She nodded and smiled at him. His hand moved slightly as if to reach out to her, but then stilled, the tension between action and inaction palpable. For a moment, they simply kept their eyes and smiles on each other, the moment hanging between them like a delicate thread, waiting to see if it would be pulled or left to drift.

The end of the Elton John classic pulled that thread as Jonny and the couple clapped happily once the song was over. The two then turned their attention to the living room, where Remaliah and Drusilla looked delighted with that trip down memory lane.

“Ahhh, the memories this song evokes!” Drusilla sighed. “Those good old days when Remmy and I would sing this song on our walks together as young folks.”

“Yep. Those were some memorable moments,” Remaliah agreed. “Just enjoying being together and singing our heads off. Especially when that part of the chorus hits. “

“Awww, Sir Remmy and Maa Dru with some romantic vibes!” Jonny gushed.

As the older couple chuckled, Raymond rolled his eyes before glancing at Akushika who placed a finger on her lips. “Please, let Jonny be. You like that.”

Raymond snickered. “But it’s lame, lah! See some azaa awww he’s doing.”

Akushika shook her head. “Is it your awww? Leave him alone.”

Raymond gave a faux groan. “Fine, fine. But only coz you say so. If he and I are alone and he does that, he go collect wotowoto.”

Akushika giggled. “You eh. You’re crazy.”

Raymond smirked and winked at her. “Oh, I know. I know paaa. But I’m still lovable, abi?”

She smiled as she cuddled Ellen close and nodded.

“Yes, Ray. You definitely are. Without a doubt.”

***

“Chale, my money dey finish ooo,” Drill grumbled to himself, sitting in front of the small TV in his lodge room. “If this thing go source, I for do am by Monday, na man no fit dey here over a week.”

A few days had passed, and his frustration levels had not dropped at all. Those foiled attempts to get Akushika were weighing heavy on him, and he knew it was only a matter of time until his granduncle called. It was beyond infuriating how he had been blocked from getting through to her the last time; he had a sneaky feeling that stupid old man had bribed the guards to prevent him from going for his property.

He’d most certainly deal with him later. For now, he had concocted a set of lies to tell the old man when he called. Hopefully, they would be enough to hold him over until he found another way to get Akushika and the baby back.

“Let’s hope the old man is convinced,” he muttered as he picked up his phone to open Snapchat. “Make he no come dey biz-biz plenty questions. Annoying old man. The way Momma no dey like ein matter, right now, I see why. He be sankwas man paaa…”

He was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone, as Emmanuel’s caller ID appeared.

“Speak of the devil.” He sighed as he answered. “Hello, Grandpa.”

“Did you bring the girl and the baby home like I told you?”

Drill rolled his eyes and sat up, trying to sound confident. “Yeah, Grandpa, it’s all taken care of. The baby’s sleeping in the crib I set up. She’s here, too. Exhausted, but, you know, she’s settling in.”

“Oh really?”

Drill nodded. “It wasn’t easy, but I talked some sense into her. Explained what’s best for the kid. You know, the whole father-mother dynamic, them things some. She finally saw reason and followed me.”

Emmanuel was quiet for a moment. Drill nodded as he grinned, taking the silence as a good sign. He decided to keep spinning the tale.

“I even bought her a big meal on the way back. One big KFC bucket. You should have seen how she was so grateful. She actually apologized for making it hard in the first place. So yeah, it’s all done, like you asked me to.”

“Is that so?”

Drill’s smile faltered a bit, displeased by the flat tone of his granduncle. “Yeah. I mean, she knows I’m serious now. That’s all it took.”

Emmanuel snorted in satisfaction. “Good. Switch to video. Let me see them.”

“Uh, sorry, Grandpa, bad timing. Like I said, the baby’s asleep, and she’s, uh… in the shower.”

“Oh, saa? Convenient. Very convenient,” Emmanuel sneered.

Drill got defensive. “Well, wrong timing is wrong timing, Grandpa. What do you want me to do? Wake the kid? Bust in on her? Invade her privacy just like that? What do you want me to do?”

“What I want you to do is watch your damn tone when speaking to me, and to stop lying! You don’t have them around, do you?”

“Yes, I do!” Drill insisted. “I just gave you the details. Why would I lie to you?”

“Because you’re a bloody coward, boy! That’s why! Tell me the truth right now! Do you have them or not? And if you do, switch to video and let me see them! Answer me or show me, fast!”

Drill gritted his teeth, peeved to the uttermost. What an infuriating stubborn old man!

There was no point holding on to this lie. Once the man wanted to see them to be convinced, he had to come clean.

“Alright, fine! Fine. No, I don’t have them,” Drill admitted begrudgingly.

“I knew it! I knew it! From the moment I picked up this phone to call you, I knew you had failed. You can’t even do this one thing. Foolish boy! You’re a disgrace to this family, do you hear me?”

Drill bristled angrily. “Look, Grandpa, it’s not my fault! I tried, okay? The hospital wouldn’t let me in, and she’s got that family swarming around her like some watchdogs bi—”

“Excuses, excuses, excuses! That’s all cowards like you know: excuses. I told you to get them and do what is right, and you failed. That’s it. I’m not waiting any longer. You’re out of the will, young man. I won’t leave a pesewa or a parcel of land to a weak, lying little fool like you.”

Drill’s heart rate suddenly increased. He fell to his knees. “Wait, Grandpa, please! Don’t do this to me! Give me another chance! I’ll fix it, I swear, please—”

“Fix what? Fix what? You can’t even fix yourself. Please, I’ve heard enough. My mind is made up. I’m informing my lawyer right away. Don’t bother calling me again. Next time, you’ll learn how to live your life well. You kids of today and your hopeless ways of living. Mtcheww. Foolish fool.”

The line went dead.

Drill lowered the phone slowly, his face pale with shock.

“Just like that?” he whispered. “The man’s wiped me out of the will just like that? Seriously?”

No mercy had been shown. None at all. One little slip-up, and he had been cut off.

Frozen in place, his mind slowly took it in. As it did, the look on his face darkened with each second.

Suddenly, he exploded in rage, throwing the phone across the room. It crashed into the wall with a loud thud.

“F**k you, you stupid old man! F**k you!” he barked, rubbing his temple ferociously as he paced up and down, now livid over this rejection.

How dare this senile bastard deprive him of what was his! How dare he! Whatever was in that will for him was supposed to be a gift; he wasn’t supposed to work for it!

As he seethed about the room, his anger turned toward the major reason he had just been cast out.

Akushika.

“This is her fault. That useless girl and… and the stupid old people around her! They’re the ones who have cost me! If it wasn’t for her useless self and that stupid baby, I wouldn’t have had these ultimatums in the first place!”

Venom building up in his heart, he dropped back onto the bed, a slow-burning desire for revenge steadily taking form in him. This would not go unpunished. Not by a long shot.

“They think they can take everything from me? My inheritance? My future? They are mad! All of them! Herh, walahi, they’ll pay for this. Every last one of them. I swear my father kanto, they’ll regret this. Fools!”

Uh-oh. What is this boy planning? It’s obviously not good…