Chapter 12, Episode 3

Last updated on February 25th, 2024 at 09:08 am

“Guess who called me.” Zabby badged into my room. Such good manners. I smiled and faced her.

“Who?” 

“Tochi, your Tochi.” I cringed when she said ‘your.’

“Abeg, he is not mine o.”

“I know. He can never be yours. He is deranged. He said he wanted to come on your birthday to surprise you.”
“Are you serious?”

“I asked him who he thinks he is. I reminded him of how he blocked my number and insulted me when I told him it was only reasonable that he tried to talk to you even as he processed things. He couldn’t talk. I told him that his presence would be the worst birthday surprise ever.” The nerve I didn’t have, Zabby had double. Sometimes, I wished I could express myself the way that she did. Maybe I wouldn’t be stuck here.

“Wow.”

“Yes. If he wants to see you, he should respect your time and ask for a convenient day.”

“True. You have a point.” I suddenly felt angry after thinking about what Zabby said. He really thought highly of himself to want to surprise me on my birthday. Zabby was right. At the same time, I remembered that my birthday was in just three days and shuddered at the thought of seeing Tochi in Abuja. I had not seen him in over a year. 

***

I was still reeling from yesterday’s excitement. I got home to a birthday surprise. Not Tochi. My parents, Eliam (not like he knew what was happening), Zabby, her partner, and some of my work friends managed to pull off a surprise and it was beautiful. I still didn’t know how they were able to do it without anyone even slipping. It was my 22nd birthday. I was a mother at 22. I didn’t even know if I was doing a good job, I had too much support to be bothered.

Tochi had sent a birthday message and called. I read his message but ignored his calls. I knew I was going to see him. But I was not going to make it easy on him. I also wanted to see him only because of Eliam. I still didn’t know what it was going to be, but I would decide later. 

***

“Jeez, I shouldn’t be saying this but I can’t believe that work starts soon.” I was talking to my mum. We were making dinner and Eliam was struggling to get out of my arms.

“Drop the poor boy biko.” My mum replied. I dropped him and he crawled as fast as he could, which wasn’t fast, considering that he just started to crawl. My lovely smart boy. I felt a sense of pride watching him move around the kitchen, curiously looking everywhere obviously thinking of the next thing to scatter or devour.

“That’s the thing with work. If you are not working, you’d be worried. The moment you start working, it almost never stops. I can’t wait to retire.” My mum continued. My mum had never talked about her work like this. As a matron, I thought she loved her job, but then you could love something and still admit the stress. This made me think of Tochi. If he were to mention us getting back together, what would be my response?

“Mummy, Tochi has been calling.” I blurted it out before I could stop myself. I silently prayed that she didn’t remember who it was. Her actions showed otherwise. She dropped the spoon she was holding and faced me.

“Tochi? Isn’t that supposed to be the father of Eliam?”

“Y yes.” I suddenly started stuttering.

“What did he say?” I spent the remaining time we cooked telling my mum about Tochi and his request. She was silent until I finished talking, until we ate and all went to sleep. If my dad noticed that she was acting weird, he didn’t say.

***

Eliam had a bad night which meant that I had a bad night too. I could have taken him to my parents, but I decided against it. He was my son. He was not that much into being breastfed, which was a major reason my parents could take him, but over the night, that was the only thing that happened to soothe him. He didn’t sleep until the early hours of the morning. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep, so I stalked Tochi’s Instagram page.

I had already dozed off when I heard a knock on the door. It was so soft that I thought I was dreaming. The second knock was followed by the sound of my door opening. Without turning, I knew it was my mum.

“Angela,” She called as if she didn’t want to wake me. I opened my eyes.

“Mummy, good morning. What’s wrong?”

“Talk to him.” I looked at my mum with surprise. Why did everyone want me to talk to him? “Why?”

“I can’t say much because I fear that I haven’t been a great example to you when it comes to relationships. But when I say you should talk to him, it’s to get closure and give Eliam the chance. Eliam is going to grow up one day and ask about his dad. You want to be very sure of the response you’d give him instead of lying or avoiding the question.”

“Hmm.” She had a point and I also felt the same way.

“Don’t get me wrong. I am not saying you should get involved with him again. But have a civil discussion with him, especially about Eliam and what his role will be in the boy’s life.”

“Alright, ma.”

“Keep me updated, okay? I didn’t tell your daddy. Left to Ikenna, he doesn’t want you ever talking to that boy again. But we all know that Ikenna can only be a grandpa to Eliam, not a father.”

***

I eventually agreed to see Tochi at the end of January. Eliam was seven months old now, though I didn’t take him to see his father. I decided to see Tochi alone first before deciding if it was reasonable for him to see my son.

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