After the storm (38 page)

She
remembered the row she'd had with Aleena two days earlier. Akeem
had requested that she go with him for an impromptu holiday to
America, and Yemi had declined. If he wanted to go on holidays with
Aleena, then he needed to tell her in advance.

"It's
Amanda's birthday. Plus, I'm taking you and Eniola to LegoLand
during your half term too," she told Aleena. "Remember, we planned
this some time ago?"

"But I
want to go with Daddy and Auntie Lois," Aleena had insisted. "Daddy
said that Auntie Lois is planning lots of fun outings…"

"Well,
you can't go with them!" she had cut in abruptly. "That would have
to be another time," she added in a gentler tone, feeling sorry
that she had snapped at her.

Aleena
had stared at her, her eyes filling with tears before she had run
upstairs to her bedroom. Great, Yemi had thought to herself. What
kind of a mother was she? Even her own daughter preferred another
woman to her. Her already-bad mood dipped even further.

"Just a
little more, and your face will touch the floor." Sesan's voice
startled her from her thoughts.

"Huh?"
She looked at him, a little nonplussed, unable to process what he
had just said.

He
smiled. "Your very long and gloomy face," he said as he pulled up a
chair and sat beside her. "You look like the weight of the world is
resting on your shoulders."

"Maybe
it is," she muttered.

"Care to
share? A problem shared is a problem half solved,
remember?"

"Spoken
like the wise sage that you are, but thanks, I'm okay." She was
tired of constantly having issues to deal with and needing a
shoulder to cry on. Her friends were not complaining, but she
wanted to be problem free. She wanted to be the gay and laughing
Yemi she had been before the advent of Akeem Kadiri into her
life.

A text
came in, and she glanced at it. It was Deji asking her if they
could meet up later that evening. She texted him back and declined.
She thought of Akeem again, a frown playing around her brows. That
was how he had been all over her before he married her and yet, he
had still treated her shabbily.

"It
takes less effort to smile than to frown," Sesan said, still
looking at her face.

"You are
brimming with advice this afternoon, aren't you?" she asked
sarcastically.

"I can't
help being so wise," he quipped. "It just comes naturally to
me."

She made
a face at him. She heard her name and turned around to see Teju
coming towards them.

"Hey,
Yemi, can you hold Jed for me?" Teju said, handing her thirteen
month-old son over to her. "I need to supervise the
caterers."

"No
worries," Yemi said, taking the child. She smiled, and he mirrored
it. He looked so sweet, and she held him close, breathing in his
fresh baby smell.

"Shez,
give me a hand, will you?" Teju called out to him as she went into
the house.

"See you
in a bit, Yemi," Sesan said as he followed his sister.

Jed
babbled some words as if he was answering his uncle, and Yemi
smiled. His hand went for her earrings.

"You
like my earrings?" Yemi asked him. "But you're a boy. I'd share
with you if you were a girl like me."

She
moved her head slightly away as he reached out to touch her
earrings again. She rubbed her forehead on his, and he giggled. She
looked at his laughing face, and it tugged at her heartstrings. He
was Teju's third child. All her close friends had at least two
children. Some had three. She had gotten married before all of them
and here she was, almost divorced.

The
reverend of the church where she had grown up was fond of saying
that the race was not for the swift, and now she knew the reason
why. She had always been ahead of most of her classmates
academically and had married before all of them. Allowing herself
to fall for an attractive player from an evil family had stalled
her life, and she didn't know if she would ever recover from the
scars.

∞∞∞

Aleena
stood up from the footstool she had been sitting on while Yemi did
her hair and looked into the mirror with delight.

"It's so
pretty, Mummy," she said, touching the braids. "Can you do it all
the time for me now?"

"We'll
see how that goes, honey, but if I'm not busy, why not?" Yemi told
her. "Now let's go have some lunch. Your dad's driver should be
around soon."

Aleena
told her about her sleepover at Eniola's the previous night while
they ate. She'd had a wonderful time and was in a chatty mood about
it. Chloe had also been at the sleepover. Yemi could just imagine
the racket that the three of them would have gotten up to at
Eniola's house.

"You
know what, Mummy?" she said, looking at Yemi with a serious
expression on her face. "Eniola, Chloe, and I have agreed to be
sisters."

"Good
for you," Yemi replied just as solemnly. Aleena looked happy that
her mother had taken her statement seriously.

"But you
know that they already have their sisters?" she continued, and Yemi
nodded. "So I'm going to be their second sister and they will be my
second and third sister." She paused. "But do you think I'll have
my own first sister one day, Mummy?"

"Um…"
Yemi murmured.

That
seemed to satisfy Aleena, and since she still had more to tell
Yemi, she continued her chatter.

Yemi's
mind went to the last hormonal assay she'd had done a while back.
Her FSH was still high, according to the specialist, but the
results varied each month, and she had just stopped doing them.
What was the point, anyway?

They
finished their lunch, and Yemi got Aleena changed and ready for
Akeem's driver. She had just finished packing Aleena's case when
she heard the doorbell. She looked down at her blue chino shorts
and cropped flowery top and tried to wipe off some whitish stains
from the shorts. It didn't go off. She shrugged and let it be. It
would just be Akeem's driver at the door anyway. It would only take
a couple of minutes, and they would be on their way.

"Hello,
Yemi," Akeem said when she opened the door. He smirked at her
surprised expression. His eyes swept over her. "I thought I'd come
pick Aleena up myself."

She
stared at him suspiciously. He had never come to pick Aleena up by
himself in the past. If anything, he always acted like he wanted to
avoid coming to her house

"Aleena
is all ready to go," she said shortly, looking over her shoulder
into the sitting room. "Alee, your dad's here to pick
you."

"Daddy!"
Aleena squealed, coming towards the door. "You came
yourself!"

Yemi
stood aside reluctantly as Aleena launched herself at Akeem. He
crouched to return her hug and lifted her up. She giggled up at him
in excitement.

"How's
my princess doing?" he asked as he lowered her back on the
ground.

"All
good! Been having so much fun!" She began to describe her sleepover
to her dad, who followed her into the sitting room. Yemi saw him
glance around the room quickly, as if expecting to see someone
else. He caught her looking at him and smiled maddeningly at her.
He had probably been expecting Deji to be there.

"I'm
glad you've been having fun, Alee," he said, turning his attention
back to Aleena.

"Daddy,
you've never seen my room!" Aleena was blissfully unaware of the
undercurrents of tension between her parents. "You have to see it.
Mummy's done it up really pretty!"

"That
would be nice." He looked towards Yemi again. "That is, if your mum
doesn't mind."

She
wished she could say no, but she had no reason not to allow him see
his daughter's room. "That's okay," she said, shooting daggers at
him with her eyes.

He
looked amused at her obvious reluctance. "Thanks…nice place you
have here," he said as he followed Aleena upstairs.

Yemi
said nothing. She eyed his Levi's jeans and snugly fitted blue Hugo
Boss polo shirt. So what if he looked good? What was the use of an
attractive player to any woman?

She
remained downstairs while they went upstairs. She was almost
seething with annoyance. She felt like her personal space was being
invaded.

"Daddy
likes my room, Mummy!" Aleena said when they finally came back
downstairs. "I wanted to show him yours too. I told him about your
big teddy. Daddy said he would have to ask you first before going
in, but I know you would not mind."

Akeem's
eyes gleamed with mischief as they met hers. "I'd have loved to see
the teddy. What's it's name? Or is it a he?"

Yemi
ignored him. "Alee, I'm sure your dad will like to be on his way
now, so let's not hold him up."

"Oh, but
he said he is not in a hurry. Didn't you say so, Daddy?" Her father
nodded. "Because I told him about the nice roast that we had for
lunch and that we still have some leftover." Aleena was obviously
still very excited to see her precious father in her "other home"
as she called it. "Daddy hasn't eaten yet. He can have some, can't
he, Mummy?"

Yemi
frowned. She glanced at Akeem, expecting him to decline, but he
seemed to be enjoying her discomfort. "I'm sure your dad has plans
for dinner…"

"I don't
have anything planned, and yes, it would be nice to stay to
dinner," he replied smoothly.

She
stared at him, and he looked back at her innocently. She inhaled
deeply. She looked towards Aleena, who was now distracted by the
cartoon on the TV.

Did the
Bible not say something about doing good to nasty people, and that
by so doing you heap coals of fire on their heads? A small, wicked
smile touched her lips as she looked at him.

"All
right then," she said, moving towards the kitchen. "Give me a few
minutes."

She
dished out some of the food on a plate and popped it into the
microwave. She could just imagine the coals of fire landing on
Akeem's head. That would help to wipe that annoying smirk off his
face. As she turned to get some juice out of the fridge, she was
startled to see him lounging by the kitchen door.

"Is
there anything you wanted?" she asked him coldly.

He
pretended to peer around the kitchen. "I didn't understand that
look on your face a few minutes ago, so I was just checking to see
that there are no poisonous substances lying around."

"As
tempting as the thought may be, I still have to consider Aleena,"
she retorted, bringing the plate of food out of the microwave. She
reached for a tray to place the plate on.

"Would
you really like to poison me, Yemi?" he whispered softly in her
ear. She jerked around. She didn't know when he had gotten so
close. She glared at him.

"Leave
my kitchen!" she said to him furiously, trying to keep her voice
down.

"Will
your boyfriend object to my being in here? You're still my
wife."

"I can
hardly wait to undo that mistake," she said, creating more distance
between them.

His eyes
hardened as he stared at her. "Well, it's a pity you'll never be
able to wipe off the years we spent together."

"The
memories get more blurred each day!"

"Maybe
you need a reminder, then," he said in a dangerously calm voice as
he took a step towards her.

She
backed away from him, but he moved closer still. "Keep away from
me!" she said shakily. Her eyes darted around, trying to see if she
could move past him, but he was blocking her path.

His eyes
narrowed as he looked at her. "Is that really fear I see you in
your eyes, or something else?"

"It's
disgust!" she said through gritted teeth.

"Really?" His eyes flickered over her face and lingered on
her lips. "Shall we test that out, my lovely wife?" He moved closer
still.

"Don't
you dare touch me, you filthy player!" she hissed.

He
stopped and stared at her. A nerve clenched in his jaw, and she
knew she had made him angry. "I've got no interest in doing so," he
said to her tersely "You hold no appeal whatsoever to me anymore."
He turned on his heel. "Don't bother about the food, I've lost my
appetite."

She was
still fuming after they left. How dare he attempt to touch her with
the same hands that he had used to touch Lois, or whatever her name
was. She felt his coming to her house had something to do with the
divorce. His lawyer had probably advised him to start gathering
evidence to prove what a caring dad he was. Maybe he even had some
recording device somewhere, capturing every moment of him coming to
pick Aleena up. Well, he was not going to succeed. It didn't matter
how rich or connected he was, he was going to have to kill her
before she would allow him to take her daughter from
her.

Chapter
21

It was
about midday on a Saturday, and the sun was shining gloriously
outside. Yemi hummed softly as she put finishing touches to
the food she was cooking. She had woken up feeling refreshed and in
a much more cheerful mood than she had been experiencing
lately.