The Dreams Of My Mother – Episode 37

Episode 37

Skyby arrived in Oshogbo the same day that Damilola did. They took separate flights and there was no way Damilola would have known that someone had been sent to snuff the life out of Dayo forever. Skyby stayed in the same motel that Bella stayed, when she was in Oshogbo. Damilola however went to his mother’s place.

His first port of call was Gberan’s mother, Madam Lagos. He went to see her to thank her for taking care of Khadijat and taking care of his son. But Madam Lagos was in sorrow over the disappearance of Dayo. Judging from what Khadijat’s mother had narrated, she was sure that Dayo was in trouble, and it hurt her that she had failed at keeping her promise to Khadijat. So, when Damilola came with his vote of thanks, Madam Lagos rebuffed him.

Madam Lagos: “What are you thanking me for, if I took care of Khadijat, where is she? What about Dayo, do you see him here? You impregnated a girl and you left her to face the shame alone, and now, years later, with the girl dead, and the child nowhere to be found, you come to thank me. Keep your thanks to yourself, and look for our Dayo, perhaps then Khadijat will forgive you and her spirit will rest” she said bluntly.

Damilola was short of words, he stood up from the position where he had knelt to thank Madam Lagos, and left the house, with a heavy heart. How could he have thought that she would be nice to him? He wondered. She, who witnessed all Khadijat went through. He made a vow that he would not go back to Lagos until he found Dayo, dead or alive.

Sunlight escaped through the little opening in the curtain and danced on Dayo’s face. He opened his eyes and he looked at the strange surrounding. The bed was a comfortable king size, whereas he was used to sleeping on the hard floor of the uncompleted building. The room was a beautiful, white painted room, and furnished with beautiful furniture.

“This is not the uncompleted building” He thought and bolted up to a sitting position. Then the memories came flooding back. He was not in the uncompleted building because he had chosen life. He had been given two choices; to join a band of assassins c-m armed robbers, or to be killed, and he had chosen to live, even if it meant joining them.

“Mother, what do I do, should I have refused and be killed. I don’t want to die yet, not without fulfilling your dreams. What do I do, mother?” he said to the empty

room. Suddenly, the door of the room was opened and Stone, the leader of the gang walked in, with a smile on his face.

Stone: “I am glad you choose wisely, would have been a pain to have to kill you” he said. Dayo did not reply, he just stared at him. Then he told Dayo to follow him, he took Dayo round the massive mansion where all the members of the gang lived. They ended up in the kitchen where the cook gave Dayo a plate of toast, with scrambled egg, and mayonnaise. Dayo ate with relish because, since leaving the house, he had not eaten good food. However, the calm in the kitchen was broken when one of the gang members rushed into the kitchen and grabbed the television remote. He switched on the flat screen television on the wall of the kitchen, and Dayo’s face filled the screen.

Dayo: “What am I doing on television?” he whispered, even if he had shouted, the occupants of the kitchen wouldn’t have heard, they were engrossed in the words spilling out of the television. The television anchor was saying that Dayo was involved in an accident in Lagos, and somehow is in Oshogbo, working hand in hand with a gang of robbers who were known to always kill their victim. She also said that anyone who found him should report to the nearest police station. The question on everyone’s lips was, ‘How did Dayo run away from the hospital and end up in Oshogbo’.

Stone: “So you are a runaway huh, your people must be looking for you” he said looking at the television screen thoughtfully.

Dayo: “No one is looking for me, my mother is dead, my father rejected us. Madam Lagos probably gave up on looking for me now, after all we are not related” he said, as emotions clogged his throat. He missed the family that was not really his, especially his daddy Gberan. Every day, he tried to visualize what he was doing, now that he was no longer with them