THE DEAL – EPISODE SIX

From the hospital balcony where Kolade stood, he listened distractedly to his sister, who’d been talking for some minutes. It was the day after his arrival. Although he was present with Sewa physically, his thoughts were still with his mother who was sleeping peacefully in her ward. The doctor had said that the worst was past, and she would be discharged in a couple of days. She’d also called his mother lucky, and strong. She was right, his mother was a fighter, everyone who knew her would agree to this. And despite being unmoving on a hospital bed, she’d still tried to encourage him.

‘Oko mi,’ she’d called him fondly, ‘I’ve made my peace with this world, so don’t worry about me. You have yourself and your sister to take care of, so do just that. If this is my time to go, I’ve made my peace with it.’ His mother had meant to be reassuring, but her frail voice only worsened his worries. She and Sewa were all he had in this world, and he wasn’t ready to make peace with losing either of them. Holding her delicate hands in his had almost broken him. He felt like a failure watching her suffer right before his eyes, helpless to do anything about it. She’d always been strong, from his teenage years when they’d lost their father, raising her kids single-handedly, while suffering in the hands of his father’s family who took everything he’d owned away from them.

‘Bro Kola,’ Sewa’s call jolted him, ‘mummy would be okay,’ he looked up at her when she placed her hand on his shoulder. ‘You shouldn’t feel guilty about any of this,’ she continued. ‘Don’t beat yourself into a knot, we all know that you’re working hard, if that’s what’s troubling you.’

Kolade looked at his sister briefly, then pulled her into a long hug.

‘Hey!’ a male voice boomed from somewhere behind them, and he jumped. Sewa also withdrew sharply from his arms, immediately looking around for the source of the shout.

‘Bros!’ the man shouted again, ‘please I need help’. His eyes were desperate. This man wasn’t a threat, Kolade surmised before running towards him.

‘Bros please help me get my mother out of the car.’ He pointed at an elderly unhealthily obese woman sitting on one of the seats and staring into space. A wheelchair was beside the car. Kolade nodded at the man, who went in through the other side of the car. After a few minutes, they lifted her into the wheelchair. The man thanked Kolade profusely before wheeling his mother away. Kolade turned to look at the balcony with his hands raised in a thumbs up at his sister, but she wasn’t there.

‘Sewa?’ he called, before looking around. He didn’t see any sign of her, so he jogged into the hospital to check the reception.

‘Sewa!’ He shouted louder this time, his mind racing with morbid thoughts.

‘Bro Kola?’

Her voice called from behind. He turned around and sighed with relief.

‘Where did you go?’

‘Not far, I only went to get some snacks,’ she replied.

‘Okay, but please let me know before you disappear like that again.’

She nodded, and they walked to the balcony again.

‘I haven’t asked about your job search because I didn’t want to stress you, but have you heard back from any of the companies you interviewed with? Sewa asked.

Kolade checked his phone instinctively before responding.

‘No, I haven’t, no call, text or email yet. Turns out the paper used to wrap boli on the street is more important than my certificate.

‘Ah ahn, bro Kola, don’t talk like that. I’m sure it’s only a matter of time.’

He shrugged but stayed silent. His phone beeped with a notification, but he still didn’t move.

‘Do you want to check that?’ Sewa asked.

He reluctantly raised his hand and swiped at the phone screen. He froze for a moment before slowly falling to his knees.

‘Bro Kola! What’s wrong?’

He waved the phone at her speechless. Sewa collected it, read the message displayed and squealed.

‘You just got a return interview invite! Congratulations!!’

She hugged him as he stood. Squealing again, she re-read the message.

‘It’s tomorrow, by 8am!’ she exclaimed.

Kolade snatched the phone from her.

‘Tomorrow 8am! That can’t be right!’ But Sewa was right, and his heart crashed.

This meant that he had to leave today, he had to leave his mother behind.

As if she’d read his thoughts, Sewa spoke.

‘Bro Kola, mummy is fine. She’s only under watch and would be released in a few days. Uncle Sunbo already settled the bills so we are fine for now. Please don’t pass this chance. It may be the break you’ve been looking for.’

After many more words, Sewa finally convinced him to leave. His mother was still asleep, so he’d left a written note for her. He planned to come back in two days. His trip to Lagos didn’t differ much from his first trip. Hours later, at about 8pm at night, he stepped into his compound. This time when he got to his door, he first turned the knob, before slotting in the key. It didn’t give way until he turned the key, easing his palpitating heart that his visitors hadn’t returned.

But his ease was short lived as the rest of his night was spent in fitful sleep. He woke up twice, jolted awake by nightmares of Ugo standing over him with a gun. He eventually stood up by 4am, sweating with fright. He had his bath, wore his trademark suit, picked his documents file and stepped out of the house an hour later. Just before leaving, he went over to his landlord’s apartment to retrieve Ugo’s bag, and put it in a black nylon. Today, after his interview, he would fulfil his end of the bargain he made with Ugo.

As he resumed his trek down the street, he sensed someone watching and following him. He looked back a couple of times but didn’t see anyone in the lifting darkness. He hastened his steps till he got to the main road. There were a few other people moving around already which gave him some comfort, so he slowed down. A few minutes passed, and just as he made to hail an Okada, a firm hand grabbed him by the shoulder.