Spending Mommy’s Money #4

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Chapter Four – DNA

Tari felt worse than a kept man when it came to Jessica. She was the sweetest thing when she wanted to be, but she enjoyed reminding him that what they had was transactional. Last night, she kept him up with demands that were beyond sex and intimacy. This morning, she wouldn’t let him go to work if he didn’t soak in the tub with her for an hour, listening to Gladys Knight.

“This is a work day, Jessica.”

“So?”

“I have to be at work.”

“But you’re working, honey. I’m the boss you should be pleasing.”

She was bent over the tub in the master bathroom of their apartment of sin, running her fingers through the foamy water to feel the temperature.

“Perfect.” She smiled and looked up at him. She was a petite woman in her fifties, fit and aging elegantly. She reminded him of Jada Pinkett.

“Kiss me, honey.”

Tari kissed her, palming her bum, pulling her to his body, Then, he carried her and lowered her into the tub. He would rather dunk her in and walk away, if he still didn’t need his job. He had applied for better positions in bigger companies, but no one was hiring now. The wise thing to do would be to keep pleasing his meal ticket. Hopefully, her husband would spare his life when he eventually caught them.

The tub and Gladys Knight lasted exactly an hour, and Tari admitted to himself that it wasn’t as bad as he had projected. Jessica dressed him up, as if he were her child, and handed him an envelope, tapping his cheek. “Bye, honey.”

Tari kissed her and left. In his car, he opened the envelope. It contained one thousand pounds, the most she had ever given him. He fired up the car and drove to the office. Didi was at her position behind the front desk. She looked up at him with a smile when he got into the building.

“Why are you smiling like that?” he asked, approaching the desk.

“Because you went for kwanan gida.”

Tari kept a straight face. “Says who?”

“Didn’t you tell me you’d be back in two hours, then you didn’t show up at all? I almost thought they kidnapped you, but I listened to that inner voice of mine that said ‘he’s with woman’.”

Tari’s face broke into a smile. “How’s Ariella?”

“She’s at daycare. I’m trying to get a day off, so that I can go school hunting for her, but I don’t think admin will let me.”

Tari leaned toward the desk, lowering his voice. “Here’s a trick. Start coughing like a mad woman all through today. They’ll be the ones to ask you to take two days off.”

“Oh.”

Tari walked to his office. He shut the door and settled in his chair. He badly needed to sleep, but he had two clients to pursue and a meeting at 2pm.

There was a knock on the door and it opened. Didi walked in with a plastic bag. “I forgot to tell you that I brought you food.”

“Food?”

“I don’t know why you keep eating at the cafeteria when you have all that foodstuff at home.”

“Didi… You don’t have to kiss my ass because—”

“It’s just food, Tari. Enjoy.” She coughed. “Sorry, I have this…” She coughed again on her way out and Tari laughed.

He put the food away and switched on his laptop. Later, he planned to have a serious talk with Didi about their living arrangement. She moved into his house with Ariella on Saturday; and so far, she had done acts of ass-kissing a total of eight times, even though he told her that she didn’t need to. Her responsibilities included doing some of the house chores and contributing a minimum of ten percent to the bills. He wanted her to have a savings plan that would help offset her debts and pay Ariella’s school fees. He didn’t want her making his meals or doing his laundry.

Tari’s phone lit up. He didn’t recognize the number, but he took the call.

“Hello,” the caller said. “Good morning.”

The voice belonged to a man and it had a refined accent.

“Good morning.”

“Is this Atari Abashi?”

“Yes, speaking.”

“Great. My name is Sunday Ogiso. I believe you have insurance policies that I would be interested in.”

“I believe so too. The Insured Place has you covered on all fronts.”

“Great! A friend referred you to me, and I’d like for us to meet and discuss what options you have for individuals and for my company.”

“That would be fantastic.”

“Let’s do lunch at the Pumpkin Leaf?”

“Sheraton?”

“Yeah. 2pm.”

Tari remembered his virtual meeting with a foreign client. “Can we move it to three? I have a meeting at two.”

“Fine. Don’t be late.”

The line went dead and Tari put his phone away. He checked his email for a message he had been expecting. His side hustle as a quality assurance tester for websites and software was the major reason he had little sleep and sometimes wore medicated glasses. He was up until late on many nights, performing manual and automated tests on software and websites, searching for bugs, glitches, and other user experience issues. He wasn’t an expert in the job, as he had just begun a little over a year ago. So, the pay wasn’t great. But the job was time consuming—and being that he was a stickler for perfection, he could only work on one project at a time.

The email he was searching for had not yet dropped, so he consulted Google Maps to see the traffic situation, leading toward the destination of the first client he wanted to see.

“Bad,” he muttered and put away his phone. He went back to his laptop to respond to certain work emails. As he commenced on this, Benson walked in.

“Guy, how far with that Kubra Holdings account?”

Tari looked up. “I thought we had closed on them nau.”

“Nope. They called this morning. Turns out one of the CEO’s is not sold on our offer.”

“I hate when that happens.”

“So, should I follow that up or are you on it?”

Tari fixed his eyes on his laptop. “Go ahead. I have a new client to pursue.”

“Okay. So, em…” Benson moved closer. “You and Didi… Are you guys…?”

Tari looked at him. “Are we what?”

“I don’t know…”

“No.”

“Okay, all right. That means I can make my move, yeah?”

Tari smiled, resting both elbows on his desk. “And what happened to Cami?”

“I’m tired abeg. I need me a woman like Didi. She’s so unproblematic. And those dimples!”

“Knock yourself out, homie.”

“Maybe you could help me water the ground a little before I dive in?”

“Sure. I gat you, man. Em…” He pushed his lunch to him. “Didi made this. You can thank her.”

Benson smiled, taking the meal. “Thanks.”

He left the office. Tari laughed to himself.

xoxoxo

Tari’s 2pm meeting had gone well. The client was a returning one, and they didn’t need to go through the usual introductory phase that came with new clients. The man presented his problem to Tari and they talked about his expectations and the fee. After the call, Tari got into his car and drove to Sheraton. He chose a quiet corner at the Pumpkin Leaf restaurant and ordered a mocktail. It arrived at the same time his potential client did.

Tari assessed the man from the moment he walked in. He was tall, almost as tall as Tari was. He guessed he was about six-one. He had a limp in his stride and depended on a walking stick. It had nothing to do with his age because he looked fit and slim, even with his ginger-tinted beard. He seemed in his fifties and appeared to be wealthy. It was in his outfit and the assured way he walked, despite his limp. Tari thought he recognized him from somewhere.

“Atari Abashi?”

Tari got on his feet. “Yes, sir.”

The man extended his hand for a handshake and Tari took it.

“You’re as tall as I expected,” he said.

“Hm?”

“I looked you up on Facebook. I hope you don’t mind?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m hardly on social media though.”

“I noticed.”

Tari’s companion pulled out a chair and sat. Tari sat as well.

“I hope you have ordered lunch?”

“I haven’t”

“Go ahead, please.”

Mr. Ogiso motioned at a server who hurried over to their table and bowed his head, smiling at the same time.

“How are you, Dele?”

“Fine, sir.”

“Please, my usual. I am famished. My friend here will tell you what he wants.”

Tari had already looked the menu over, so he communicated to the server what he wanted in a low tone. As he spoke, he felt Mr. Ogiso’s eyes on him.

“Is that all?” Dele asked.

“Yes.”

Mr. Ogiso lifted a finger and Dele leaned toward his direction. “Get me my wine. I hope it’s not out of stock?”

“No, sir.”

Dele left the scene and Mr. Ogiso faced Tari.

“I run a tech company, and I would love to buy insurance for our employees. I’d also want the company itself to be insured. Everything insurable, that’s what I want.”

“Okay. Mind I ask that you give me more details about your company?”

“No. I just need you to cold-email me right here, right now. Sell The Insured Place to me.”

Tari rested his hand on a pile of brochures on the table. “I have visual representation here, so that you would easily understand—”

“I don’t need that.”

Tari cleared his throat. “All right.”

This wasn’t an uphill task for him. He could sell corruption to Nigerian politicians. The issue here was that this man didn’t strike him as someone who was out to buy insurance. There was something about him that wasn’t computing. Nonetheless, Tari made his presentation, as convincingly as he could. Toward the end, Dele returned with their orders.

Tari noted that Mr. Ogiso had not changed his posture from the moment he began speaking. He was seated, crossed arms, eyes on him.

“We should eat,” Mr. Ogiso said, after Dele was gone.

Tari had ordered Chinese fried rice with shrimps. He couldn’t figure out what Mr. Ogiso had chosen. It boasted of too many greens and a squishy yellow thing that reminded him of baby poo.

They chatted about the state of the economy while they ate. Mr. Ogiso had several questions for Tari, some of them bordering on the personal. Tari answered as much as he could, skirting the ones that were too intrusive.

Dele brought the wine toward the end of the meal, as instructed by Mr. Ogiso, who asked him to take away their empty dishes.

“So…” He man wiped the sides of his mouth with a napkin and looked at it before settling his eyes on Tari. “I loved your pitch. It was perfect, and I would have bought everything you were selling, if I was actually looking to buy insurance from The Insured Place.”

“Okay?”

“Atari Abashi, my name, as I already told you, is Sunday Ogiso. What I didn’t add is my last name, which is Olumese.”

Tari was lost for a second, until he said all three names out loud in his head. His eyes widened when he recognized the stranger in front of him. “Sunny Olumese?”

The man smiled.

“Shit. You were like the king of marketing in Nigeria! The boss of bosses!”

Sunny Olumese laughed. “You flatter me, young man. As you said, ‘were’. I was. Right now, I’m retired. After a nearly fatal car crash, I had to hang my boots.”

Tari was sure that this was an altered version of Sunny Olumese’s story. What he had heard was that the Olumese family business went bankrupt almost ten years ago, due to Sunny’s elder brother’s wastefulness and bad investments. Despite being a marketing guru then, Sunny couldn’t rescue his family’s name or affluence. He withdrew from the marketing business but he miraculously retained his wealth.  

“Sir, I feel really stupid right now because I should have recognized you.”

“Well…”

“It is an honor, sir.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, Son, and I’ll tell you why, once you’re calm.”

“I am. I’m calm.” Tari sipped his water and nodded. “I’m listening, sir.”

“I’ll just hit the nail straight on the middle of the head. It is going to shock you, so be prepared.”

“Okay, sir.”

“Atari Abashi, you are an Olumese.”

Sunny had said the words slowly, to ensure that Tari didn’t miss anything. Yet, Tari did. The words winged past him and he stared at Sunny vacantly.

“Did you hear me?”

“Sir?”

“Son, your father is Ituah Lucky Olumese.”

Tari still held his blank expression. Sunny didn’t say anything further. He topped his glass of wine and sipped from it slowly, waiting for his words to sink in. When they finally did, Tari asked, “Sorry? What did you say?”

“Boy, your parents had an affair thirty years ago and they had you. Unfortunately, your father was much like many males out there, and he denied paternity, refusing to have anything to do with your mom. So, she bore and raised you on her own, probably lying to you about who your real father was. Well, he is Ituah Olumese, and I am your uncle. Look at me well and you’ll see the resemblance.”

The revelation of what Sunny had just told Tari hit him so hard that he pushed his chair backward and took a few breaths.

“Don’t make a scene, please. I’m very respected here.” Sunny supped his wine and got on his feet. “You’ll need time to process all of this, but don’t take too long. When you’re ready to meet your father and siblings, call me. You have my number already.”

Tari wanted to ask him to stay, but his tongue couldn’t move.

“If you want to order anything else, please go ahead. I have a lifetime tab here.”

With that, he left the restaurant.

xoxoxo

7:00 pm.

Tari pushed his chair backward, away from his worktable, and clicked on a collection of slow afrobeats playlist.

The sound stirred Oscar who had been asleep on a woolen mat by the door. The room was dark, save for the dim reading lamp on the worktable. Light from the hallway filtered in through the door that was left ajar. Tari picked a piece of paper off the floor as he headed out. Oscar whined in annoyance for being disturbed as Tari walked past him, down the hallway, and into the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.

Didi was there, doing the dishes. She was set for bed, wearing boy shorts and a spaghetti top. Tari noticed that her legs were still spotless.

“Ariella asleep?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

He picked a mug and filled it with steaming water from an electric kettle. He looked out the window, into the darkness, searching for forms, anything that would bring memories of his mother’s brighter days to him. His nights had become devastatingly quiet since she passed away. He missed her, but he was a little mad at her about keeping the truth of his paternity from him. She had told him a different story from what Sunny Olumese shared with him. The story was that she had met a man on a trip. They had an affair before he disappeared and never came back. Years later, she stumbled across his obituary on TV. He had died when Tari turned three. She claimed that she forgot the man’s name. Tari had believed her as a child, but as he grew older, something didn’t sit right about her tale. However, he never raised the topic with her, as he suspected that she might have had sexual encounters with more than one man at a time and didn’t know who was responsible for her pregnancy. He didn’t judge her for it because she could do no wrong in his eyes.

But now he wished he had asked questions. Then, he would be ready with his own pieces of information during his next meeting with Sunny. He hated that he had been kept in the dark. Plus, there was the thing of the trajectory of his life soon changing. He was yet to unpack that.

He looked away from the darkness outside and focused on making his cup of black tea. It was without milk and sugar but with a teaspoon of honey.

“I got two days off, with the coughing and all,” Didi said, grinning. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Um… Didi?”

“Yeah?”

“No more ass-kissing. Don’t make lunch for me or do my laundry or any of that shit. Okay?”

Didi turned off the tap and looked at him apologetically. “It would take a little getting used to. But thank you, Tari.”

His eyes lingered in hers out of worry. “Tell me you’ll be fine.”

“I will.”

“Great.”

“Good night.”

He watched her walk away, and he followed her out of the kitchen. Heading to his bedroom, he heard the doorbell ding. Tari sighed. He was not in the mood to speak to his neighbor who had the habit of visiting him late nights to watch Netflix. Yet, he went into the living room, taking a mouthful of tea.

When he opened the door, he found a vaguely familiar person standing outside. He blinked a couple of times before his eyes relayed the message to his brain that Kofo Aboderin was in front of him.

“Atari Abashi,” she called.

He continued to stare at her. She was unnervingly beautiful. He had seen photos and videos of her; and once, he saw her from afar. But being this close to her was confirmation of what they said about her beauty. Tari was taken by eyes that seemed tender one moment but appeared to be gazing rudely into his the next. He tried not to stare at her body, as it would be imprudent of him to do so. She was a smallish woman, smaller than he had seen from afar. Yet she stood before him in such stateliness, he almost bowed.

“My name is Kofo Aboderin. I’m sure you’ve heard about me?”

Tari was silent.

“You’re not going to keep staring at me all night, are you?” Kofo asked.

“No, ma’am. Good evening.”

“May I come in?”

“Y-yes, please.”

He moved away from the door and let her in, noting that a hunky man in a suit was standing guard outside. Tari shut the door in his face.

“Can you switch on the lights, please?”

He flicked the light switch on. Kofo stood, holding on to a shawl, as her eyes scanned his living room. Oscar strolled in lazily and faced off with her. She regarded the dog with indifference before offering Tari a polite smile.

“Do you mind if I sat?”

“Of course not, ma’am.” He pointed to a single couch and she sat, resting her hands on her lap, as if touching anywhere else would stain her.

“You may want to sit too,” she said.

Earlier, after his encounter with Sunny, Tari had gone through his mom’s stuff to see if there were any clues she left as to his paternity, but he saw nothing. Then, he spent a long time online, browsing through photos of the Olumeses, searching for physical resemblances between himself and them. It was obvious that he was related to them in some way. Height-wise, he took after his alleged father whose sons were also tall. Facially too, he saw similarities between him and the old man. He dug for more info on them and discovered, from newspaper archives, that Kofo Aboderin was Ituah Olumese’s ex-wife. Details of their divorce were sketchy, but they pointed to infidelity on Kofo’s side.

 Looking at her now, Tari could tell that she had lived a full life.

“Do you want something to drink?” he asked her.

“No, thanks.”

Tari settled on a three-sitter and Oscar sat with him.

“First of all, I’m sorry for showing up, uninvited. It is not a habit of mine, I assure you. I didn’t know if you’d be home, but my instinct has never failed me. Atari, I don’t know if my being here is as shocking to you as it ought to be. I suspect that your uncle might have already reached out to you to tell you about your father. Has he?”

Tari was cautious with his response. “He has.”

“And did he tell you anything else?”

“I can’t disclose what we discussed.”

“That’s fine. I know you must be curious as to why I am here.”

“I am.”

“Well, I just didn’t find out about you. I…knew your mom.”

“Oh?”

“We were not close or anything of the sort. When you were just five years old, Janet came to tell me about the affair she had with your dad some years before that and how he refused to be responsible for the pregnancy or for you, after you were born. Unfortunately, I could do nothing to help her, as I was a broken woman myself. Ituah had ruined me and all I worked hard for. But Janet pleaded with me to promise to help you if anything happened to her. She was very ill then and thought she’d die. I made the promise and that was the last I saw of her.”

Kofo’s eyes settled on a portrait of his mother on the wall facing her. “She was very gorgeous.”

“Thank you.”

“Atari…” Kofo faced him. “The reason I’m here is to fulfil my promise to your mom. After all, you are family to my children. And I, your stepmother in some way. You’re one of us now.”

“I…don’t know what to say—”

“So, how does a marketing position at Hara Telecoms sound?”

Tari blinked, certain that he hadn’t heard her correctly. “Sorry, could you repeat what you just said?”

“You will become one of our partner marketing managers. Your office will be in Ikoyi. So will your serviced apartment. The job comes with a car and other benefits.”

“I…don’t know what to say.”

“It’s all up to you if you want the job. Think quickly and get back to me before I change my mind.”

Oscar barked as Kofo got on her feet. Tari strode to the door and opened it for her. She offered him a blank smile as she walked away. He shut the door and leaned against it, trying to take in what just happened. Why did a woman so powerful care about him? Was he to call Sunny and let him know about her visit?

He returned to his bedroom, to Joeboy now playing. It seemed like a cool evening to take a walk, just to clear his head. So, he changed into a pair of grey sweatpants and left the house with Oscar. A short walk ended up taking him to his cousin’s lounge where he sometimes bartended. Since it was a Tuesday, the place wasn’t as packed as it would be during the weekend. Tari had time to catch up with his cousin, Henry. He was there until almost midnight. Henry gave him a ride back home and returned to the lounge. Tari spent a good hour thinking about Sunny Olumese and Kofo Aboderin. He eventually gave in to sleep, listening to Kehlani.

He was up before Didi and Ariella in the morning. He made breakfast for them and left for work earlier than usual to beat traffic. Almost two hours later, he pulled up in the parking lot of The Insured Place. He saw a strange but luxurious Benz in his boss’ spot. A man was waiting beside it.

“Atari Abashi?” the man asked as Tari came out of his car.

“Yeah?”

“Uncle Sunny sent me.”

“Uncle Sunny?”

“Olumese.”

“Oh.”

“He said I should pick you up and bring you to him. Check your phone, he left a message.”

Tari checked his messages and realized that Sunny had sent an SMS at 6:00am, informing him that his chauffeur would get him at the office.

“Em… Okay. Let me just…”

He took out his laptop from his car and walked to the Benz. Minutes later, they were headed to Sunny’s destination. It was a private hospital—not for the affluent, but good enough. Sunny was waiting in a ward with a man who bore a resemblance to him but older and sickly. Tari could immediately tell that he was staring at his deadbeat father.

Ituah was sat on his bed with gangly legs hanging down while he held on to the frame on both sides for support. There was a machine in the room that looked complicated to operate, but it wasn’t hooked to him; neither was any IV line.

“Atari,” Sunny called, looking his way. Ituah also looked up. “Come in, Son.”

Tari took slow steps toward them. He stopped at the foot of the bed and didn’t go further.

Sunny said, “I’m sorry that I didn’t give you enough time to digest all I told you before dragging you here. But your father insisted on seeing you.”

Tari didn’t like Ituah. It wasn’t only about what Kofo had shared with him, it was also because of what he saw in his eyes.

There was nothing. They were empty and gone. The shirt he wore looked like it had been hung on a rake. There was a rash on his skin that seemed to have bumps in some places. His hands and feet were swollen. All Tari could see was death. He was familiar with it, having been by his mom’s side until she passed away.

Being here wasn’t something he wanted to do.

“Ituah,” Sunny called, a hand on his brother’s bony shoulder, as he said something to him in Bini.

Ituah looked at Tari, nothingness still in his eyes. “I’m sorry about what happened to your mom,” he said without faltering but with an-almost whispery tone. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to deal with the loss of another parent now. As you can see, I have been discharged. I’m strong.”

Sunny’s patient smile said otherwise.

A shadow appeared at the doorway and Tari turned. Another Olumese walked in. He was an older man as well, but he was younger than Sunny and Ituah. Sunny’s narrowed eyes showed that he wasn’t welcome.

“I asked him to come and see the boy,” Ituah muttered, managing to tap Sunny’s hand on his shoulder.

The younger man stopped only a few inches to Tari and stared at him, from his head to his feet. Tari took in his looks too but not so blatantly. He was wearing faded Ankara clothes and his pam slippers had lived past their usefulness. But he had a happy face and a full beard that was stained with gray hair strands. Then, he released a warm smile for Tari, showing a silver tooth that matched his snake chain necklace.

“This is our son?” he asked.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

“Aaaaahhh!” He spread wide his arms and grabbed Tari without warning, bringing him into a hug. Surprisingly, he smelled good. “Welcome, Son.” He tapped his back. “Welcome.”

He let go and placed heavy hands on Tari’s shoulders. “You are your father’s son! Everything about you is Ituah! Am I lying, Sunny? Look at him nau!”

Sunny smiled. “Tari, meet your uncle, our lastborn, Innocent.”

“That’s Uncle Inno for you!” Innocent declared proudly. He tapped Tari’s cheek. “Me and you, we go run tins for this Lagos and for Benin. You hear me?”

Tari gave him a polite smile, just before Inno drew him in for another hug.

xoxoxo

During dinner, seated with Didi and Ariella in a small restaurant near his house, Tari had his thoughts on his newfound family. Ituah was the asshole they said he was. Tari suspected that he had only wanted to see him as something he had planned to tick off his bucket list. After he had done that, he urged Sunny to take him home. There were no apologies, no telling his own side of the story, no promise to see Tari again.

But Sunny and Innocent had softened the blow with assurances that he was welcomed to the family, although they explained that his siblings were not aware of his existence.

“Do they need to know?” Ituah asked. “Allow the young man go and live his life out there. I’m sure he wants nothing to do with us.”

Sunny scolded him in Bini before saying to Tari, “We will set up a date that is appropriate and you will meet everyone.”

“Hopefully, it’s after I’m dead.”

Subsequently, Sunny took Ituah home, promising to keep in touch with Tari. Left alone with Innocent, Tari was forced to listen to the man tell him everything about the Olumeses. Innocent conveniently missed out the part that Kofo was once married to his Ituah.

Finally, at 2:00pm, Tari was happy to be free of Innocent. Unable to do anything at the office, he returned home. Didi told him that she had found the perfect school for Ariella but expressed sadness that she could not afford it.

“How much is it?” Tari asked.

“Well…”

“I’ll pay half, if that’s fine by you.”

“No, Tari—”

“Please, Didi. I want to do it.”

Didi didn’t speak for a long time. When Tari stared at her, he found her eyes wet with tears.

“Dee?”

Didi left her couch to sit beside him. “Why are you doing this? Do you want us to get back or you want sex in return?”

Tari laughed. “Didi, that plane flew away a long time ago and disappeared into the Bermuda Triangle.”

“Ouch.”

“Seriously, I don’t want anything from you. Okay, see it this way. I’m doing you a favor that you will someday repay, but only if you can.”

Didi wiped the tears on her cheeks before forcing him into a bear hug. He didn’t think he needed one until his body touched hers. He rubbed her back in a brotherly way, but it only got her more emotional. Pulling out of the hug and taking her hand, Tari let her cry it out. She drew her legs up and placed a throw pillow between her thighs. They remained that way for more than an hour.

“There was a whole year I had to drop out of school because my mom couldn’t afford the fees,” Tari told Didi. “She was sick a lot and this made it hard for her to keep a job or business, so she owed people here and there. We couldn’t reach out to relatives because of shame.” Tari stared ahead of him as images of his past haunted him. “I suffered a lot, and it traumatized me. It still does, Didi. Lack and poverty can erase a lot from your life, and I don’t want Ariella to ever suffer that.”

Didi was at a loss for words, and he understood that.

“You don’t have to say anything.”

“What if I take you out for a ‘thank you’ dinner?” she asked.

“Dinner?”

“It’s not a fancy restaurant o.”

“And you won’t ask me to kiss you or do worse after that?”

Didi laughed. “Atari!”

“Now, you see how silly that sounds?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Dinner sounds fun.”

A while later, they were eating fufu and afang soup. Tari thought Ariella was the cutest little child when she was eating. She had a healthy appetite for swallow, and he loved how her little legs swung each time her mom fed her a morsel of the meal. She was aware that her eyes were on him, but as long as she didn’t look at him, she didn’t care that she was being watched.

After dinner, she let him carry her as they strolled home together. Walking past a busy street, Didi reminded Tari about how they used to trek so much back then, not because they were so broke but because it was romantic to go on slow, long walks and be lost to the jarring world around them. Tari only smiled when she recalled the past. He didn’t want to remember it fondly.

 Once they got home, Didi bathed Ariella and put her to bed. Then, she came out with a pack of Sangria wine she found in the kitchen. She poured Tari a glass and one for herself.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Something’s wrong? I didn’t know o.”

Didi smiled. “I know you, Tari. You’re doing that overthinking thing again.”

“I am?”

She nodded.

“I’m good, though.”

“Okay.”

She drank her wine. “Tari, do you have a girlfriend?”

“You want to dash me one?”

“For where?”

“I’m open for business. Strictly women with money, though. I want to land softly on silk sheets. So, get me a sugar mommy.”

Didi laughed.

“She’s not taking me seriously.”

“Abeg joor. No be only sugar mommy.”

Her phone rang. Staring at the screen, she told Tari that it was her friend calling. “It’s going to be a long one.”

“In that case…” Tari got up and picked his wine. “Good night, Didi. Early day tomorrow.”

“Night!”

He disappeared into his bedroom, taking thoughts of the Olumeses along. He was already tired of them, especially now, as he got a message on WhatsApp from Innocent, inviting him for a wedding.

Innocent: It’s EXCLUSIVE!!!

“Uncle, why are you shouting?” Tari smiled at his screen.

Innocent: If you have any blue traditional wear, just come with it. Date is Saturday

“Nope, nope.”

Tari switched off his data and retired early. He had no intention to attend the wedding.

©Sally Kenneth Dadzie @moskedapages