Last updated on December 16th, 2023 at 10:14 am
I think I saw my father’s mistress—my stepmum. I think I saw her. When mummy mentioned that she came to the hospital to see dad with their first son, it struck me that I may have seen her; I think she was rubbing my dad’s head. The boy—my brother, was on the chair swinging his legs. I entered without knocking and they quickly adjusted. I think I saw her hand leave his head. “Angel, baby.” He had sounded a bit weird. This might just be in my head though. I remembered the woman leaving almost immediately. “Let’s go, Paul.” She had said, practically dragging the boy. I thought my dad was going to say who the woman was, but he just asked how I was and allayed my fears, “I am okay, Angel. Daddy is fine.”
This was almost three years ago. I checked my phone, it was one am. I had been tossing and turning, unable to sleep. After I left my parents in the sitting room, I heard them murmuring—more like a silent argument. Zabby had left messages and called, so I replied to her.
Zab, I’m fine. I slept off as soon as I got home. Just woke up now. I’m sure you are in the dreamland. Talk to you tomorrow, oh! today rather. Xx.
I dropped my phone. Why did my father cheat? Usually, when men cheated they claimed their wives let go or that they did not have time for them. My mum was always around even when her work was stressing her. They always seemed happy. She always looked put together too. I really didn’t know why my dad did that. He had always been a good father and husband; I would never imagine him cheating.
I kept tossing and turning on my bed wishing sleep would just come. I didn’t even have it in me to cry, just plain exhaustion. My phone started ringing. Who could it be? I thought to myself. It was a strange number.
I hesitated a bit then picked.
“Hello.”
“Angela.” Tochi.
“Tochi?”
“Yes.” I sat up and cleared my throat. We had not spoken or chatted in a while, I had been ignoring his messages on WhatsApp. It was too late to end the call.
“Umm, what’s up? How are you? Why did you call, it’s past one.” I replied.
“I just wanted to talk to you.”
“Oh, okay. Are you fine?” I asked.
“I’m good, you? You don’t sound good.”
“Naah, I’m okay.”
“Angel.” Then as if he thought about it, “Angela. You don’t have to hide how you feel.” How did he know me so well? I kept quiet. Then I heard my parents talking again. Why did my dad cheat? Why did my mum feel the need to retaliate? They were so mean to each other, yet none of them wanted to move out of the house. I felt so alone and betrayed.
“Angel? Are you still there?” I was about to answer then I started crying. “Angela did I say something wrong, I’m sorry.”
“No no, it’s not you.” I replied between sobs.
“Oh, thank God. What’s wrong? Talk to me.” Then the tears came heavily. I was tired. You could be going through hell yet have no one to talk to because everybody had enough on their plate. I was tired of holding it in. For more than a minute, Tochi was quiet on the phone. I had to check if he was still on the call. As if on cue, he then talked.
“Angela, I’m sorry I’ve not been there for you.” I knew this was a friendly apology but it sounded like a lover’s apology. Tochi and I, lovers? “I called with a strange number cos you wouldn’t pick up my call.” I expected him to say more; to explain why he ghosted me for weeks and acted like it was nothing. He didn’t say anything.
“It’s fine.” I really wanted to ask him more, but I let it slide. This was his first real apology and I didn’t want to push it.
“What’s wrong? Is it mummy and daddy?”
“Yes,” I replied. After about thirty minutes, I had explained everything that happened earlier to Tochi. He was a good listener. He was quiet as I spoke and only commented a few times. I liked this about him and it hit me how much I missed him.
“I’m sorry about this, Angel.”
“It’s fine. Thank you.” We talked for a bit and ended the call. After the call, I felt light enough to sleep.
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