After a few more minutes with Kemi, I decided to leave as I had to meet my father at the office. I got up and told her I was going to meet my dad. She accompanied me to the door and embraced me. A sudden cold gripped me as we embraced.
"Please, Tola take care of yourself." She said.
"Kemi? I hope it's not going to be the last time I will see you." I asked a little worried.
We broke off from embracing each other and looking at me, she gave out a faint smile.
"No, it won't. My only problem is..., " she paused.
"Go on say whatever you want to say." I told her.
"Okay, look I may not be the friend I used to be after everything that happened. I mean, I just wish you can forgive me."
"Kemi, as a matter of fact I don't even know who to blame in all of this mix-up. I can only blame myself for not knowing enough before I married him. I don't know how your life will be like now. As for me, I have more time to go out and distract myself."
"I know. In that case we can meet with old friends. You know, Alhaji Sule and his friend Alhaji Kuti."
"How are they by the way?" I asked
"They're okay. Kuti keeps asking after you. I'm not sure why." She looked at me like she was telling me to get along with him and perhaps hook up.
"I'm not over with one man's problem yet. And here is another man with, who knows how many wives? "
"Oh well, It's just the normal getting together, nothing serious. I mean if you don't want anything serious." I sighed as I knew she wanted us to be like we used to be before.
"That shouldn't be a problem." I said. But I had a feeling things wouldn't be the same between us anymore. Ola's death was about to change so many things. I didn't know what awaited me.
But whatever it was, it was perhaps going to affect my relationship with her. How, is what I couldn't tell. After I left her house, I was about to get into my car when Kemi's bodyguard walked up to me. Seeing him, I clutched my bag with both hands.
"What do you want from me again?" I asked
"Nothing, I just wanted to apologize for what happened back there. I mean, perhaps I should have asked your friend first." He forced a smile which didn't impress me. But I accepted his apology.
"Hope I didn't injure you?" He asked
"No, and anyway, she told me you take care of her...,"
"We are not into any relationship if that is what she told you back there." He interrupted.
"I have no problem with you going out with her. I mean, we have known each other right from secondary school."
"I'm not into anyone at the moment, not even her. I don't have that much free time." he said with a smile.
"Okay, I think I better be leaving if you don't mind." I told him.
"Sure." he said, holding out his hand to shake me. "Peace?" he asked. I sighed and held out my hand.
"Jerry Kolawale or Jerry Kole as friends call me."
"What? Are you related to Kemi, I mean like are you brothers?"
Our fathers are born of the same parents."
"Oh, okay she never told me." I said
"When it comes to family Kemi is extremely protective."
"Anyway I better go, I have an appointment." I told him, forcing a smile. With that he put his hand into his pocket and brought out a card.
"Here, I also run a restaurant. I mean, should you want to eat out and can't decide where to go." He handed me the card. I read what was written on it. Jerry Kole- The Savage Restaurant.
"Okay, I will call my friend so we will come over one of these days." I got into my car and was about to start it when he asked me my name. For a moment I felt like he was asking too much from me, but I decided to tell him.
"Olutola, friends call me Tola." I replied.
"Well Tola, it was nice meeting you." He stepped aside and watched as I drove off. Finally free from his menace, I heaved a sigh of relief. I drove down to my father's Company and went in. The receptionist seeing me come in, quickly called my dad to tell him I was around. She then told me I could go up and see him.
I got to his office and knocked on the door. He told me to come in and when I went in, he was busy looking into some documents.
"What took you so long to come?" He asked me.
"Nothing, I just thought you might be very busy. So I didn't want to disturb you." He looked at me as I sat down opposite him.
"Is everything alright?" He asked me.
"I'm struggling to stay strong, if that's what you mean."
"I know. It's not that easy especially at this young age." He sighed, as he flipped through the documents.
"Less I forget, the documents you need to sign are here with me."
"What documents, dad?"
"The one with the offer from your husband's family." I was surprised.
"So soon?" I asked trying to understand why the hurry.
"Well you have to go through it first, and with the help of my lawyer, we can discuss it in details." I was able to relax after he said that.
"Okay, I thought it was something immediate." He looked at me and frowned.
"Who signs documents without knowing what they are signing? And besides my lawyer and the family lawyer of your husband will be there when you sign."
"So why are they offering me so much, dad?"
"What do you mean?" he asked looking at me.
"I mean all that package that you mentioned at home?"
"Well I guess you have a right to what perhaps was your husband's share of properties and money."
"Just like that?" I asked still trying to understand what this offer meant.
"I mean, if you are thinking that there is an underlying reason why they are doing it, that I don't know."
"Considering, no one has told me if he has been buried or not."
"Tola, why do you want to torment yourself so much with past issues?"Â He asked
"Dad I'm still struggling with the loss, and a lot of things do not make sense."
"Look sometimes in life some situations are beyond ordinary comprehension. I mean things happen and people don't understand why they happen."
"So are you saying you don't understand anything?" I asked.
"And what kind of a question is that?"
"I'm trying to understand why it is difficult for anyone to tell me what is going on or what really happened." A little silence followed and then my father looked up from what he was reading and leaned back on his chair.
"Tola I know what you want, and probably you are thinking that perhaps your mother and I took the wrong decision in allowing you marry that young man."
"Dad, I haven't denied the fact that both of you wanted the best for me." I remarked
" Your husband's father and I were old school friends. We later became business partners. What we wanted was continuity and we saw that through the two of you."
"Are you saying you only accepted because of that?"
"But even if I didn't, could I have made you change your mind? No. I mean you were in love with him. It's what you really wanted."
My father was right. I really wanted a life with Ola. But things moved so fast I didn't have the chance to decide against being with him.
" I know I wanted to be with him. But I saw the dangers even before we got married."
"The dream you mean?" He asked. I nodded.
"You and mum didn't take it seriously, did you?"Â With that my father laughed.
"Tola where did you get that crazy idea from?" I kept quiet as I really didn't know what to say.
"Look when your mother told me about it, we had to go to the village. You knew we went, didn't you?" I nodded.
"Well our going there was only to make life easy for you."
"What?"
"We only made you pass through the problem without being hurt." I shook my head as I still couldn't understand what he meant by making life easy for me.
"Look Tola, perhaps you won't understand what I am telling you right now. But with time you will."
"No dad, I want to know what you and mum knew before you decided to quickly fix the wedding." My father sighed as I guess he knew I wouldn't give up so easily.
"Look as parents your life matters to us a lot. And we make sure you never lack anything-not even our protection. The wedding was fixed like any other normal wedding would have been fixed. And besides, your mother was in a haste."
"And why was she in such a hurry?"
"You know mothers, they want to have grandchildren as soon as possible. And she was hoping it would happen soon. At least within the first few years of the marriage. But it never happened that way."Â I had expected to here my father tell me something different.
But I got very little useful information from him. I had to ask my mother, but I was apprehensive in doing so. I knew, she could quickly turn the discussion into a quarrel.
I had to avoid that from happening. I went home after leaving my dad and found her in the sitting room. After I greeted her, I went briefly to my room and then came out and sat down beside her. I must have this conversation with her, I told myself.
At least before my dad comes home. But sitting next to her, I really didn't know how to bring up the topic. I sat down thinking for a while, and then came up with an idea.