Kenneth smiled a small sly one at his father’s casually asked question.
“She’s a working woman Dad. She can’t come visit you as often as that.”
His father was quiet for a few moments as he tried to turn the page of his newspaper as nonchalantly as possible.
“She can come visit her future father-in-law though.” He mumbled.
Kenneth laughed out loud at that one.
“Really Dad?!” he made his tone as incredulous as possible.
His dad looked up from his newspaper and threw him a sarcastic look that told him he was not impressed by his attempt at making fun of him.
Kenneth chuckled as he adjusted his tie and his grip on his suitcase.
“Not teasing now Dad, I’m glad you like her. I told you, you’d…”
“Like her. I know, I know!” His dad dropped the pretense of reading his newspaper. “I’m glad I was wrong.” He admitted, making his son’s eyes soften at him.
“Good.” Kenneth said as he picked his suitcase off the dining table and began making his way out the door. “I’ll tell her you’re missing her.” he called over his shoulder, the teasing lilt back in his voice. “She’ll be very thrilled. She asks after you all the time now.” He turned back in time to catch the thrilled smile on his father’s lips before he could wipe it off. Kenneth chuckled once more.
“If…nah! Enjoy your day Dad.” He shut the door behind him but not before he could hear his Dad trying to splutter some kind of come back. He chuckled once again.
Life felt really good. He settled into the plush back seat of one of his town cars as he exchanged a greeting with his driver and instructed him to head to the office.
As the car made its way through the gates, he pulled out his cell phone and typed out a quick message to Emily.
‘Dad’s missing you. If I were of a jealous bent, I would be really worried.’
He chuckled again as he put the phone on the seat beside him. It took just a few moments before a ping announced the arrival of a message.
‘Considering that your dad is a whole lot more mature than you are, you should be worried! :-P’
Kenneth guffawed with laughter at that and typed out a response.
‘Nah! You love me the way I am!’ He clicked the send button.
It was just as the message was sent that he reviewed what he had typed out in his head and groaned. What had he been thinking of? Would she think he was fishing for a declaration of love? Was he? He blinked at his phone and there was no response. What was she thinking? What had he been thinking to send that? The phone pinged with a response and he grabbed at it eagerly like it held a miracle cure.
‘Yeah! There is that. Have a great day.”
His breathe began to whoosh out of him in relief and then hitched as his brain kicked in again. Did she…? What did it her message mean? He sighed and tossed the phone on the seat and then picked it up again and replaced it in his jacket.
He would have to have a heart-to-heart with her soon. Till then, there was no use his killing himself or going slowly insane. They would talk and they would place all their cards on the table.
He blew out a breath and settled his suitcase on his knees. Pulling his laptop out of it, he booted it up. He may as well respond to some mails and send a few out himself. If he did not occupy his mind, he just might lose it before his day even started.
Alero woke up with a gasp. She looked around her wildly and then sighed worriedly. It was a dream, again. She threw off the covers from her body and made her way over to the bathroom. She sighed again as she sat on the toilet bowl. Her stomach was churning but she was not certain if it was dread or an actual call of nature so she just sat there with her shoulder slumped.
This time, she had dreamed that she was in some big compound with a building smack in the centre of it. She had been in that building for some reason that she could not now remember when chaos had descended. She was not even certain how it had all began but when next she had looked out the building, large crowds of people had gather and were waiting for some kind of coronation or inauguration thing. She had known that she had wanted no part of it instinctually and when she looked around her, some men dressed in military camouflage were forcing people around her to join the crowd waiting outside. She had taken off running from one exit to another, looking for one that was not so heavily guarded that she could escape through.
Finally, she had opened one that had miraculously been unguarded. As she burst through the door, she began to fathom why it had been unguarded. It was like stepping into a fairy tale world. There were all sorts of playground instruments artistically arranged all around the large plot. Large bouncy castles and slides with what looked like fairy lights were all over the place. On another day when matters were not so pressing, she would have stopped to gawk and exclaim over the place. It would have been any child’s idea of paradise, but she was too panicked to properly appreciate the beauty and artistry of the place. The chant in her head was, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!’
She ran around the playground and caught sight of the main gate into the compound and began pounding towards it. There were shouts by some people standing around and she responded that she had to pick something real quick and that the event was about to start so they should hurry on. Gratefully, they believed her and went on towards the crowd leaving her free to hightail it towards the gate. As she approached, a guard stood to block the gate but emboldened by her previous success in evading detection, she motioned to him to move away panting that she had to pick something very critical to the success of the event. On hearing her panted out words, the guard moved away and threw the gate open for her. As she surged through the gates, she took in a huge gulp of air in relief and kept running. She was safe had been her thought as she ran, but for how long?
Alero shook her head as the memory of the dream receded making her aware of her present state, hunched over the toilet bowl with her stomach releasing its content in a watery rush of diarrhea.
She heard her phone chime the tune she had set for her alarm. It was time to get dressed for work anyway. She leaned back against the toilet cistern and placed a hand on her forehead. It was sweaty and felt slightly sticky. She felt vaguely ill and wondered if she had been working too hard lately. She had been having these dreams every night this week and by morning, she would be so sapped of strength that all she wanted to do was crawl back into bed and pull the covers over her but she had not, not even once. She sighed again. Maybe she needed a break from work. She shook her head. She’d go a little crazy without the distraction of work especially if the dreams continued. Deep in her spirit, she felt she knew that they were not mere symptoms of stress. She had lived through more stressful periods at work before. Truth be told, she thrived on stressful situations at work. They pushed her to produce her best work.
“Ally?!” She heard Gbemi call from her bedroom door.
“Yes Gbemi.” She answered tiredly. She heard the door push open and click shut.
“Where are you?”
“In the loo.” She answered. Gbemi soon appeared at the connecting door.
“Good morning.” She greeted with a sleepy smile.
“Good morning. What are you doing up so early” Alero asked her. “You are supposed to sleep in. You’re on holiday.” She chided as she rolled up some tissue to clean herself up.
“It’s when we usually wake in school. I guess my body has adjusted to it.” Gbemi responded as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.
Alero stood up and flushed the toilet then made her way to the sink to begin her morning routine. When she had washed her hands and pressed some paste on her toothbrush, she turned to Gbemi and raised an eyebrow in question.
“Are you and Banjo Adeniran really like dating?” her sister asked.
Alero sighed and continued brushing her teeth. She took the time to think about her response. By the time she finished b
rushing her teeth, she still had not figured out an answer to that question.
“I don’t know.” She answered.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Gbemi asked in consternation. “You either are or you are not.”
“It’s not as straight forward as that.” Ally shrugged getting testy.
Gbemi thought for awhile and then asked again. “Do you…Does Banjo think you guys are dating? Does he act like it?”
Alero looked at her baby sister in surprise. The question was not something she would have imagined her asking but she supposed that she should not be so surprised. At sixteen, the triplets were not really babies anymore.
Alero sat beside her and blew out a long breathe.
“A week ago, I would have said, yes, yes we’re dating. But now, I don’t know.” Alero explained.
“Why? What happened between then and now?” Gbemi asked.
“It’s…I don’t know! I have been having these really weird dreams and I feel they are a warning of some sort.”
“What are the dreams about? Do you see Banjo in them?”
“No.” Alero shook her head and tried to gather her thoughts. “I see things…like the world is ending, like the rapture has taken place and I’m still here.” She turned to look at Gbemi and saw that her sister was staring at her with something akin to horror on her face.
“Do you think it is a vision?” she asked in a stilting voice that betrayed her alarm.
“I don’t know but I have hardly slept a night this week without dreaming one thing or the other?”
“Have they all been about rapture? Gbemi asked and when Alero nodded, “All of them?” Again Alero nodded. This time it was Gbemi that sighed.
“So what has this got to do with Banjo and you?” she asked.
“I…I don’t know. I think I need some space. From everything. I need to think. And pray. You know, some soul searching. Reorder my priorities.” She looked at Gbemi as if seeking for some understanding of herself in her sister’s suddenly wise eyes.
“Are you scared?” Gbemi asked.
Alero shrugged. “About what?”
“You know…entering into Banjo’s world. The Adenirans…that’s a whole different stratosphere than the one the rest of us live in.”
Alero was silent for a while. “You know, I never really thought of that. I guess it’s just been about me and Banjo for now so I did not…” she stopped abruptly and then shook her head.
“No. Our relationship…I…We haven’t really progressed that far.”
Gbemi eyed her doubtfully. “Those pictures did not say that.” She quipped.
“How did you guys see those pictures in school?” Alero asked in angst.
“Ah ah! Sis, internet functions in our school too o!”
“How did you access it? I thought mobile phones are prohibited at your school.”
“Ehn! Doesn’t mean some people won’t sneak it in though.” Gbemi responded snidely.
“Hah! Secondary school has changed o!” Alero commented dryly.
“Not true! Didn’t you guys sneak in contrabands during your own time?”
“Not mobile phones!”
“But then how many people had mobile phones when you were in school?”
Alero shook her head and conceded that point to her.
“You’ve changed the topic.” Gbemi commented quietly with a wry smile. She got off the edge on which she had been sitting. “It’s getting light out so I guess I’ve delayed you enough.” She made her way out but turned back to her at the last moment.
“You know that God does not intend for your life to be joyless just because you’re serving Him?” she asked her sister. Alero nodded, an amused smile playing on her lips even as her ears perked and her eyes went keen.
“Good. Just bear that in mind whatever you decide.” She slipped out the door and shut it softly behind her.
Alero shook her head with thee smile still on her lips. ‘The young do indeed grow.’ She thought as she continued getting ready for work.