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Chapter Eight Little Beginnings – Sandra had gone to the bank to make a complaint about her recent transaction, which went badly. Unknowingly, she was going to meet a man who would change her life forever. While walking courteously with her heels and about to slip, the gentleman offered a helping hand with a generous smile.
She thanked him and located the customer relations section, where she was referred to the bank manager.
The bank manager, who was still beaming with a smile, helped her to the chair. ‘’I am Mr. Ola, the bank manager. ”How may I assist you, ma?” Surprised at his courteousness, which started at the banking hall, she smiled back, neglecting the frown she had worn into the bank after engaging in a hot exchange of words with the bus driver who carried him to CMS.
Also Read CHAPTER SEVEN Little Beginnings
Mr. Ola, who made sure he left a good impression, calmed her and collected her address with a promise to visit her soon. He had played the perfect gentleman until five years ago, when she had their second daughter and later discovered that he was mentally unstable. She had spoken to him several times with no significant outcome.
He became more secretive and temperamental. He would scold the children unnecessarily and sometimes ignore her for no good reason. Not only did he hide things from her, he also hid his actions from his family.
The poor woman had once concluded that he had another wife elsewhere who was responsible for his actions. She believed the strange woman was the sole reason for his misconduct.
She had hoped he would come around with time, but not until she got notified that he had gone to the children’s school to pick them up. He informed them at the school that something urgent came up that required the children’s presence. While hoping that he would bring the children home, his wife slept peacefully until the next morning, when they were nowhere to be found.
The incidence was not publicized due to the family’s decision to keep it internal. Mr. Ola kept moving from one temporary location to another until the police found him at Surulere. He had been abusing his daughters for years but had kept it hidden from his wife. Since the children were no longer with their mother, he inflicted injuries on them. He also posed as someone who went to work frequently, when in reality he wasn’t going anywhere.
When she saw her scarred daughters, the woman couldn’t help but cry. Baba Ibeji had always thought the only popular news in the neighborhood was Temitope studying abroad. Sadly for him, another story is being aired about him being victimized.
‘’No wonder I kept asking why he was not out for a week, but no one answered me.’’ Iya Ibeji kept recounting it to all who cared to listen. This was no time for lamenting. The verdict had been passed on her husband, and he had been found guilty of harboring a criminal. The judge deemed it fit for him to serve six months in jail so as to teach other landlords lessons on conducting proper research before collecting tenants into their homes.
Iya Ibeji felt blamed, even though no one in particular blamed her. If only she had allowed her husband to accept other people instead of Mr. Ola, this awful incident wouldn’t have happened, she thought.
With the news passed across to Temitope, she wrote a letter encouraging her mother, affirming that ‘’A mother’s mistake can be accepted because all a mother can ever do is protect her family.’’ Knowing that her family still loved her and respected her after the incident was enough to comfort her.
The twins took some time off from their studies to come and stay with their mother. The boys suggested Temidun’s place for their mother to stay until their father was back from jail. ‘The business can wait, they told her.’ ‘’What is a flourishing business without your husband?’’ they asked her.
More importantly, compared to when she is in the neighborhood, the rate of gossip would be reduced.
