After the storm (23 page)

The
bedroom door opened, and Akeem came in. He had her things with him.
He placed the ones that needed to be washed in the laundry bag and
then stood awkwardly, looking at her.

"Are you
okay?" he finally asked her. 

"Am I
okay?" Yemi repeated, looking at him. He looked like a
stranger to her. "I guess I must be."

"Is
there something you want me to get for you?" he
asked. 

She
wanted to tell him to start off by giving her back her son. Her
broken trust. "No, thanks."

She felt
so tired and drained. She put on the air conditioner, changed her
clothes, and lay down on the bed.

"I'm
sorry," Akeem said, coming to sit beside her. "I'm so sorry." He
touched her arm lightly.

Yemi
jerked away from his touch as though an electric current had run
through her. "Don't touch me."

"Baby…"

"I want
to sleep, Akeem. Please let me know when Aleena gets
home."

With
that, she closed her eyes and turned towards the wall. Akeem
remained seated on the bed, but she refused to turn around to look
at him.

Her mind
went back over the past few days, and as the memories flooded in
again, pain welled up within her until she felt like it would choke
her up. She knew she would not be able to sleep. She got up and
took some of the sleeping tablets the doctor had prescribed for
her.

Akeem
sat looking at her as she took them. She ignored him and lay
back down. Gradually, the effect of the medication took over her
mind, and she dropped off into a troubled sleep.

∞∞∞

She was
inside the Bluewater shopping mall with Akeem, Aleena, and the
baby. Their son was so cute. He looked just like Akeem and was
gurgling happily at her from his pushchair. Akeem put his arm
around her as they both looked at their beautiful baby.

Suddenly, Akeem turned into a monster. She cried out in fear
and tried to take the baby out of his chair, but the monster was
faster than her. He snatched the baby up, took Aleena, and began to
run away with them. Yemi was filled with fear. She screamed out for
help and ran after the monster, but he was faster than she was. The
distance between them became greater. She ran on after him, her
breath coming in short, labored gasps. She heard Aleena crying out
for her and also heard the baby's cries as they got farther and
farther away.

"Give me
back my children!" she screamed. "Please, give me back my babies!"
She thrashed violently on the bed from side to side.

"Yemi,
Yemi." Akeem tapped her arm gently. "Hush, baby, it's just a
dream," he soothed, trying to hold her as she continued to
struggle.

She
opened her eyes and looked around, half expecting to see the
monster. The shadows cast by the drapes looked sinister in the dim
light of the room, and she shivered. The dream had been so real,
and she could still hear Aleena's frightened screams.

"It was
just a nightmare," Akeem whispered, stroking her back. She shrank
back from his touch, still feeling a little fearful.

"No one
is going to hurt you," he said gently. "It was just a
dream."

She got
out of bed and put on her slippers.

"Where
are you going?" Akeem asked as she headed for the door.

"I want
to check on Aleena." She felt she had to see her daughter right
away and make sure that she was okay.

"Aleena
is fine. I tucked her in bed a few hours ago."

Yemi
continued out of the room. She got to Aleena's room and gently
opened the door. Aleena lay fast asleep, clutching her favorite
soft toy to herself. Yemi adjusted the bedclothes, then sat down in
an armchair in the room. She did not feel like leaving the room.
She just wanted to keep watch over her child.

The door
opened a few minutes later, and Akeem came in quietly.

"Are you
okay?"

She
wished he would stop asking her that. It irritated her to no end.
"I'm fine," she replied shortly.

"It was
just a dream." Akeem tried again to reassure her. "Aleena is fine,
let's go back to bed." 

"I'm
fine here. I'm not feeling sleepy."

He saw
the determined look on her face and dropped into the second
armchair. 

It had
been like this for the past two weeks. She had frequent nightmares
and slept badly. She still refused to talk to Akeem about the
"incident," as she referred to it in her mind, and shut him off
anytime he tried to bring it up. Many nights, she insisted on
sleeping in the second bedroom in their suite. Akeem had begged her
not to the first night she had slept in there, but she had ignored
him.

Aleena
turned slightly on the bed and rolled over. The bedclothes slipped
off her, and Yemi got up to readjust them.

"Baby,
Aleena is fine," Akeem said gently. "You also need to rest. Please,
let's go back to the room."

"I said
I'm okay here," Yemi snapped. "You can go back to the room, I
didn't ask you to follow me."

Akeem
adjusted his position in the chair and remained seated.

She must
have dozed off in the chair because the next thing she knew was
Akeem tapping her gently on the arm.

"Yemi,
wake up," he said gently. "It's morning."

She
looked around, trying to recollect where she was, and then she
caught sight of Aleena still on the bed. The soft yellow light of
the new dawn was just creeping through the half-open
drapes.

She
rubbed her hand across her eyes and got up from the chair. It was
a Saturday morning, so she did not have to wake Aleena up just
yet. Her body ached from sitting in the armchair for several hours,
and her legs felt rubbery when she stood up. She made her way
towards their bedroom with Akeem following close behind her. She
walked towards the second bedroom, but Akeem held her arm and
restrained her gently. 

"Why
don't you stay here?" he said, looking at her. "The bed will be
more comfortable for you."

"I'll be
okay," Yemi replied, tugging her arm free.

She
opened the door to the room and lay down on the bed. Akeem did not
follow her, and moments later she heard the bathroom door open and
knew he had gone in there. She glanced at the clock beside the bed;
it was almost six thirty. Her head still felt muzzy, but she knew
she would find it difficult to sleep.

She got
up and went to her bedside cabinet in the main bedroom and brought
out her sleeping tablets. She was about to take them when Akeem
walked into the room.

"Don't
you think that you are taking too much of those?" he asked quietly.
"Let me get you some warm milk instead, or maybe some
Horlicks?"

Yemi
looked at the tablets in her hand. She knew she was relying more on
them, but that was the only way she had been able to get any decent
amount of sleep.

"Should
I get the drink?" Akeem asked. 

"Thanks," Yemi replied.

Akeem
came back into the room a few minutes later with a glass of warm
milk. She thanked him, took the cup from him, and headed back to
the second bedroom.

∞∞∞

"You
will be a good girl at Grandma's house, won't you?" Yemi asked
Aleena a few hours later. Aleena was so happy that she was
practically hopping with excitement. Eniola, Ayo's youngest child,
was also going to be there, and Yemi knew they would be all over
the place as soon as they saw each other.

"But I'm
always a good girl!" Aleena pouted, looking at her father for
confirmation.

"Sometimes, but not all the time," Yemi replied, looking down
at her daughter's face. "So promise me that you will try to behave
nicely for Grandma."

"I will
try my most best, Mummy," Aleena replied solemnly.

Akeem
was watching the exchange. "Why bother?" he asked. "Kids will be
kids."

"This
particular kid is mine," Yemi replied abruptly. "And I want her to
be well behaved."

"Can I
go now?" Aleena asked impatiently.

"Yes,
you can." Yemi turned towards the driver, who was going to take
Aleena to her parents' place. "Please drive carefully," she told
him as she strapped Aleena into her car seat.

She went
back inside the house after they had gone. Akeem followed closely
behind her.

"Yemi,
please, can we talk?" he asked as they got back to their
room.

She had
her back to him and did not turn around. Just the sight of him
these days was enough to make her angry. "About what?"

"About
what happened that night…"

"We
don't need to talk about it. I saw what happened,
remember?"

"Yemi, I
know you're still mad…" he began.

That did
it. She lost her cool. "Mad does not begin to describe it!" she cut
in angrily, glaring at him. "How long have you known
her?"

"She
means nothing to me."

"She
means nothing to you," Yemi repeated angrily. "Well, you and your
'nothing' killed my son!"

"Yemi,
I'm sorry," Akeem said quietly. "I did not mean to hurt you that
night."

Yemi
glared at him and then shook her head as if trying to comprehend
what he was telling her. "You're unbelievable! You cheat on me and
yet you tell me you didn't mean to hurt me?"

"Baby,
I'm sorry."

"I asked
you, how long you have known her!" She was so angry that for the
first time in her life she actually felt like hitting someone. She
wanted to scream, tear at him with her fingers, and hurt him just
as badly as he had hurt her. She closed her eyes and tried to calm
herself. Violence would not solve anything.

"I met
her some time ago through a business associate of mine," Akeem
began quietly. "And then I met her again in Abuja about ten months
ago."

She
stared at him as he talked. He had encouraged her to be a full-time
homemaker so that she could be available for him, but somehow, he
had found solace in the arms of a strange woman when he was
stressed out. So exactly what was she in his life? Maybe just a
piece of furniture to beautify his house.

"She has
tried to call me several times since then," Akeem continued, "I
made it clear that I had no intention of seeing her again, but she
started calling and texting me again about a month ago. She had
just lost her mother to cancer and was going through some financial
difficulty in her business because of the medical bills that had
accrued. She sounded really depressed, and the tone of her texts
gave me some concern." He inhaled deeply. "She was so highly strung
up, and I wanted to talk her out of doing anything
rash."

Yemi
decided she had heard enough. "As far as I am concerned, you don't
have a single reason for doing what you did, and you have destroyed
my trust in you!"

"My
actions were inexcusable, but I swear to you, I was only meeting up
with her to talk with her this time."

"Well, I
don't believe you. You did it before, and you could very well do it
again." She glared at him. "I trusted you absolutely, and now I
distrust you absolutely!"

"Yemi,
please forgive me. You're the only woman I've ever loved.
Please…forgive me."

Yemi
stared back at him stonily. There was no way she was ever going to
believe him again. "I need a break," she said abruptly. "I want to
go to England."

"No
problem," Akeem replied promptly. "I will try to shift things
around at the office. We should be able to go next
week."

"No, I'm
not going with you. I need some time to myself."

Akeem
took in a deep breath and stared at her. His eyes searched hers.
She knew what he was thinking. The thought had crossed her mind a
few times as well.

"How
long to do you intend to stay?" he finally asked.

"A few
weeks. Aleena's preschool will be breaking up next week, so I'll be
going with her."

He
looked like he wanted to argue with her but changed his mind when
he saw the determined expression on her face. "You'll be staying at
Canary Wharf, won't you?"

"I was
thinking of staying with Tola."

"Why
stay with someone when we have our own place?" he protested. "If
you don't want to stay in London, I can rent a place anywhere else
for you."

"That
won't be necessary," she said shortly. She wasn't actually planning
on staying with Tola. She had just wanted to torment him with the
possibility that she could leave him. She needed some privacy
during her time in England. Tola knew she had lost the baby but did
not know the reason why. If she stayed at her place, she knew she
could find herself telling her more than she wanted to, and she did
not want to be pitied. "I'll stay in Canary Wharf."

He
looked relieved. "I'll ask my secretary to book tickets for you and
Aleena. Just let me know anything else that you need for the
trip."