The lawns surrounding each house in Aja Estate were neatly arranged with the frangipani trees stationed in such a way it cooled the area. Aja Estate was known for her beauty and elegance. Silva had fallen in love with the estate ever since they had moved in there. She had practically begged her mom to let them stay there for as long as the area fascinated her. Her mom had grudgingly agreed to her demand but her grandma never liked the idea.
“This is outrageous Iyaye,” her grandma had told her mom. She smiled when she recalled how her mom had purposefully ignored her rantings and continued typing away into her laptop giving her occasional side glances. Everyone told her mom that she was spoiling her but her mother always ignored them. Many a time she had wanted to punch them and give them reasons as to how wrong they were. Her mother never spoilt her. If only they knew. Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the gate opening. Sawduo, their house help bumped into Silva as she tried to enter the compound.
“What is wrong with you?” shouted Silva, pushing her away and simultaneously noticing how distressed Sawduo was. Her eyes were red, big and swollen.”Oh small maram, it is big maram oh,” she wailed using her headtie to blow her nose. Silva flinched, making a mental note to re-educate her on the issue of cleanliness.
“What happened to my mom and stop this rubbish. You are creating a scene,” she said, dragging Sawduo back into the compound. If they stayed outside longer, her cries and shrieks would alert passersby. She noticed that the car wasn’t there in the garage and her heart skipped a bit. “What happened to my mother?”
“Oh small maram,” Sawduo wailed loudly and threw herself on the floor. “Small maram, big maram collapse yakata on the floor. I serving her food but seeing her on the floor. Oh small maram, I now fear and shout help, help. Big maram mama carries her go inside car zoom off.” She kept on muttering unintelligible words but Silva didn’t seem to grasp everything. Her mom had collapsed on the floor and that made her go into a temporary daze. Sawduo’s loud wailings got her out of the daze she was in and so running into the garage, she took her bicycle and rode out of the compound. She knew where they would be. She didn’t want to alert Matthew for he would become worried and that would make her more worried. Best if he did not know, she thought.
Mr Jude Okigbo was in an important meeting when his secretary Leah barged in panting hard. He clenched his fist in anger as he watched her try to calm herself down. Why in the world would she disrupt his meeting when she knew that it would cost him a lot? He was about to ask her when she blurted out. “Sir, you need to answer this call. It is very urgent.”
“Leah, do you realise,” he calmly said trying hard not to show or release the anger pent up inside. “That I am in the middle of a meeting which you know is very important,” he gritted his teeth.
“I do realise that sir but it is about your wife.”
The mention of his wife immediately calmed him down as his expression changed from that of an angry look to that of a worried one. “What is it?” He answered the call and froze when he heard what the caller had said. Dropping the call, he turned to face his clients smiling.
“Gentlemen, I do wish to apologize for the disruption but there are matters that urgently need my attention. We would reschedule this meeting at short notice. I am sincerely sorry for everything.” He didn’t wait for them to say anything before barging out of his office. He needed to get to the hospital as fast as possible. He hoped that he was not too late.
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