The Dreams Of My Mother – Episode 33

Episode 33

After leaving khadijat’s mother’s house, Dayo had gone back to the market to continue his Alabaru job. When night fell, he went to an uncompleted building where he usually slept, just a few distances from the market. He had slept deeply and was already dreaming of his mother, it was his favourite dream. He always made sure that he thought of his mother alone, as he laid his head on the hard floor of the uncompleted building and stared at the starry night sky.

On this night, after devouring the agidi jollof he bought from the market, he laid to sleep, and as usual was dreaming of his mother when he was startled awake by thud of feet. He got up to a sitting position and tried to see through the darkness, the people intruding his sleeping place. When he could not see anything, he stood up and tiptoed towards the sound of voices, and listened. He heard the voices of men and from their conversation, he could gather that they were planning to rob a house.

“Oh my God, they are armed robbers! If they see me here, they might kill me” he thought as he squatted behind the wall. But he did not squat for long when he tried to adjust and hit a tin lying by the side. The noise of the rolling tin pierced the still night, and the voices stopped. Then Dayo heard someone say that, they were not alone.

“Come out now and I might spare you, remain hidden and when I find you, I shall kill you” he heard a coarse voice say. Dayo was not ready to take chances with his life, so he jumped out and prostrated in front of the gang of thieves.

Dayo: “Please spare my life, I am an orphan” he cried. He was asked to stand up and he stared into the scariest eyes he had ever seen in his eleven years of living. The leader of the robbery gang was called Stone, and this was because no matter how many shots was fired into him, it didn’t penetrate.

Stone: “What did you hear?” he asked, looking at the boy who had disturbed their timeline. They were supposed to be across the street in the lemon painted house where the head of women in the market lived.

Dayo: “I did not hear anything, please spare my life I am an orphan, I have no one in this world, I have nothing other than my mother’s dream. Please don’t kill me, I fled from death in Lagos to Oshogbo, please don’t kill me” he cried.

Stone: “Pitiful. If we don’t kill you, we must take you with us, and to earn your keep, you have to prove your usefulness”

Dayo: “I will do anything you want” he said anxiously, shivering in the plastic boot he scavenged from the dustbin.

Stone: “You see that lemon house” he said pointing to the dimly lit house across the street, “You will go there and bang on the gate until someone comes to the gate. Oya, move” he said and pushed Dayo out of the uncompleted building. They went with him and hid in the shrubs around the house, while Dayo walked with shaky legs to the front gate. He knew what he was about to do was wrong, but he was faced with no other choice. He couldn’t risk that the guns in their hands were filled with bullets.

Tania stayed in the hospital because the doctor said she was over stressing herself and needed to be on bed rest for a week. She had Skyby at her beck and call, but unknown to her, Skyby had recorded the encounter between Bella and Tania, where she confessed to trying to kill Dayo, and wanting to kill Bella. So, she was still on the hospital bed, trying to call her husband, Damilola when policemen walked into her hospital room.

Tania: “Officers, how can I help you?” she asked, her voice shook to register her fear. She quickly hung up on her husband, whom she was about to call.

Police man: “You are under arrest for intentionally endangering the life of a minor, with the intention to kill and the attempted murder of Bella” the police said and read her rights to her.