JamesKudooski:
FRESH EPISODES LOADING...

No qualms

EPISODE 14
(CHAPTER NINE)


Four Weeks Later.

SIMISOLA STARED INTO SPACE with wet eyes and hands clasped together under her chin. Her vacant stare was a lens to the grief within. She brought out a piece of tissue paper and dabbed her eyes. She drew back the phlegm that was about to drop from her nostrils. Staring down at her hands, her eyes caught the overlong fingernails and it dawned on her that she had been letting go of herself all this while. A look at the wall clock showed it was 12.20 a.m. and Yemi was not yet back again. This had been the trend since she returned from the hospital three weeks ago.

Yemi had been keeping late nights and whenever he came back home, he just walked to the room and slept off without as much as a word. His eyes found sleep so easily while Simisola’s begged for it every night. He hardly stayed at home even on weekends and whenever he did he picked up fights at the slightest provocation.

When it was 1.00 a.m., she got tired of waiting and went upstairs. Her eyes were puffy; a wash would help. She went into the bathroom to wash her face. As the water trickled down her face, She raised her head to pick the towel hanging by the wall mirror. Then she saw her reflection in the mirror. The hollows above her chest caught her attention. She put her fingers into them as if to measure their depth and was shocked by how much she had emaciated. She now understood Ngozi’s concerns when she called her attention to it earlier. She could not take her eyes off the reflection that was now only a shadow of her real self. She wondered where it all went wrong. The thought was cut short by Kayla’s sudden cry. She rushed into the room. That was how it had been since Yemi started misbehaving. Kayla too hardly slept. She would whine and cry out from her sleep at short intervals like a child held in the claws of measles. It wasn’t only Simisola that was feeling the brunt of Yemi’s behaviour; even Kayla too.

“Oh-oh, my angel, you couldn’t sleep too?” Simisola lifted her from her cot and held her close to her face. She sat on the bed.

The baby’s big round eyes were fully opened now. She looked into her mother’s eyes and gurgled softly. Simisola understood her.

“It’s your daddy again. He’s not back yet and his recent actions are tearing me apart.” She smiled but the smile was forced and riddled with pain. “But don’t worry, I will be fine, my angel.” She sniffed as she tried to hold back tears.

Little Kayla somehow saw beneath the fake smile. Her expression changed as if she understood what her mother said. Her little face became filled with pity. She raised her hand and rubbed her mother’s cheeks gently and babbled. She seemed to be reassuring her mother that everything would be fine. The little hand felt tender on her cheeks but Simisola felt more than the tenderness. She felt the emotion—the love—behind the touch and her heart ripped apart. How could such heavy responsibility fall on the shoulders of a fourteen-month-old baby? That singular gesture let loose the floodgate of her eyes. As the tears streamed down her cheeks, little Kayla rubbed them off with her fluffy hands. After a while, she too began to cry.

“Ah, it’s okay, dear. Don’t cry, please.” Simisola bounced the baby on her lap. “See, mummy has stopped crying.” She wiped off her own tears and then Kayla's. She sniffed, “You too stop crying, please.”

She laid on her back and put Kayla on her chest. She patted her bum gently and sang lullabies to her. Before long, the baby’s cry subsided, her eyes began to flutter, and she soon slept off. Simisola stared blankly at the ceiling. She couldn’t think of where she got it wrong. Yemi had not mentioned what she did wrong and neither could she place her fingers on anything. She wondered if it had anything to do with the visit of Sharon but it seemed unlikely. For weeks after she showed up, nothing changed. Yemi remained the loving husband and caring daddy he had always been. Moreover, that was the only time she ever saw Sharon or heard anything about her. All she knew was that everything started since she came back from the hospital.

As she lingered on these thoughts, nature overpowered her. Her eyes fluttered a few times and finally closed. The next time they opened, it was 4.30 a.m. She looked beside her and Yemi’s space was empty. She felt something heavy on her chest and realised that Kayla was still sleeping on her chest so she got up and placed her in her cot. She knelt by her bed and said her prayer after which she laid on the bed and slept off.


* * *


When Yemi came home in the morning, Simiola just finished dressing Kayla up. She looked at the time and it was fifteen past seven. Yemi’s jacket was folded over his arm. The first two buttons of his shirt were loose and his tie was slightly drawn down. He held some office files with the other hand. His eyes were heavy with exhaustion but not too weary to shroud the disgust in them.

Simisola, with Kayla in hand, rushed to welcome him.
“Welcome honey, you didn’t come home last night. Hope you are alright?”

Yemi said nothing. However, what his mouth refused to say his eye said for him and instead of answering the question, they threw daggers at her.

She lowered her eyes and drew back. ,“Well, since you refused to talk to me again, I—”

Yemi walked past her and headed for the stairs.

“Kayla didn’t sleep last night,” she said in a bland voice as she watched him walk away. “She wept for you.” The agony in her voice could not be missed in spite of her effort to conceal it.

Those words struck him like bullets. He stopped in his tracks abruptly. His heart stopped beating for some seconds. Those words and the agony that conveyed them ripped his heart into shreds. He shut his eyes tightly and bit his lips so hard that they bled but he didn’t notice until he tasted blood in his mouth. He felt a strong urge to run to them, to hug his wife and tenderly kiss his daughter but he had to be strong! He turned back. His gaze settled first on Simisola and darted to Kayla. Kayla stretched her hands towards him with eyes longing for her father’s touch. That almost broke him, so he turned his face away quickly and continued walking.

“Yemi, why are you doing this?!” Simisola shrilled. “At least, if you don’t longer care about me, what about your daughter?”

Not a word from Yemi neither did he stop. Simisola ran after him.

“Honey, please talk to me. What have we done to deserve all this?” There was still no answer. “It’s not fair!” she screamed.

Yemi ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. Simisola came after him. He got into the room and dropped the files and his jacket on the bed. He took off his clothes and went into the bathroom. Simisola sat on the bed, waiting for him to come out. Kayla sat on her lap, sucking on her knuckles and blabbing. Soon Yemi came out with a white towel wrapped around his waist. His eyes met Simisola’s and he could tell she was now boiling with anger.

“Yemi, all this has to stop!” she fired. “You’ve been acting funny since I came back from the hospital. You keep late nights which has now graduated to all nights out. You have practically abandoned me and your daughter. I have begged and tried everything within my power to resolve this but you wouldn’t even talk to me. Why? What have I done that you wouldn’t even tell me what it was?” She put Kayla on the bed and stood up, spreading her arms. “Look at me, Yemi. Take a good look at me. Can you see what I have become?”

Yemi’s gaze hovered over every part of her body for some seconds and for the first time since his madness started, he saw what his actions had actually done to her. Her eyes had gone in and her skin had gone ashen. The hollows above her collar bones were deep enough to hold water in them. She was nothing but a shadow of herself. What Yemi saw wrenched a bout of pains through him. Again, he suppressed his emotion before it became evident on his face.

“Really?” he asked utterly unconcerned.

“Yemi, I can’t take this anymore. I can’t. All this has to stop!” Simisola yelled.

“Good!” Yemi yelled back. “In fact, perfect! So perfect that you brought this up. And since you can’t take it anymore, I will make it easy for you.” He reached for the files on the bed.

Simisola suddenly became quiet. Her eyes followed the movement of his hands as he opened one of the files and started flipping through the documents in it. What was he searching for? Her heartbeat picked up pace after each beat until she could hear the thudding sound loud and clear in her ears. Yemi found the document.

“That should help.” He flung it across the bed at her.

Simisola picked up the document with trembling hands. Her eyes grew bigger and bigger as the first set of words sank in. ,“Divorce papers?!”

“If that’s what it looks like, then it is!”

“Ah!”

“You asked for it.”

“Ye ... Yemi,” she stuttered, “No, please, that’s not what I meant. I didn’t mean I wanted a divorce, please.” She dropped on her knees.

Little Kayla watched on.

“Well, you don’t have to want it. It’s what I want. I am sick and tired of this marriage. I don’t even know what I’m doing in it. I want out!” He opened the wardrobe and brought out his clothes—a well-starched shirt, a tie, and a two-piece suit. “Wait a minute! How did I get into this marriage in the first place? Did you cast a spell on me or something?”

“How could you say that, Yemi? How could you? Please don’t do this. You know what it did to me once. Please, Yemi.” She was now crying. She reached for his leg.

Yemi drew the leg away. “Don’t!” He wagged his finger in front of her. “Don’t even try.”

Kayla sat on the bed and watched both patents as though she was trying to understand what was happening. Simisola turned to her.

“Kayla, please help me beg your daddy. Tell him I will die if he leaves me again. Please beg him, Kayla.” The tears stung her eyes and blurred her vision.

Kayla, as if she understood her mother’s pleas, stretched her hands towards Yemi and called out, “Dada.” Then she began to cry.

Yemi’s heart skipped a few beats. Kayla just said her first word and it was calling him ‘dada’. What a bad circumstance to say her first word! Ordinarily, he would have celebrated the occasion and would have used it as an opportunity to tease Simisola that Kayla’s first word was ‘dada’ and not ‘mama’, but not under this circumstance! He looked at the little angel and then Simisola. Both mother and daughter were now crying. Kayla’s hands were still outstretched towards him and she kept calling, “Dada ... dada ... dada.”

This time around, he couldn’t suppress the emotion that gushed through him. The pain sliced through him like a double-edged sword. He felt wetness in his eyes. He hurried to the bed, picked up his clothes and ran out of the room. Immediately, Kayla started crawling after him until she got to the edge of the bed. Simisola rushed over and carried her before she fell off and clutched her to her chest. The cry of mother and daughter ripped through the air.

Their weeping echoed after Yemi as he ran towards another room. The towel still clung around his waist and his clothes to his hands. Kayla’s tiny voice and her first word reverberated in his head. He locked himself up in the room, crashed to the floor, and wept like a baby.



To be continued ... Watch Out for the Next Episode!

NB: The book is NOW AVAILABLE on online stores. For those who don't want to wait for each episode to be released, get the book here:

1. OKADABOOKS: https://okadabooks.com/book/about/jewel_from_the_ghetto_2_the_return_of_shakirah/26442

2. SMASHWORDS: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/930731


Àdùkẹ́!
...My Story, My World.

Like my Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/adukestories/
Website: https://okoosiqudus.wixsite.com/author

Well done OP

OP, please what is going on? Divorce kwa!!!!!

JamesKudooski:


Ewawumi, I quite appreciate your concern about how I would feel about sharing the book.

Really the free copy was meant for you and you alone. Please DO NOT SHARE.

Please let those who are interested in the complete book purchase their own copies or wait for the episode by episode here on Nairaland.

Thank you for respecting my copyright.

Thanks @JamesKudooski, I am a writer too (though I never blow like you) so I understand

ewawumi:

Thanks @JamesKudooski, I am a writer too (though I never blow like you) so I understand

Woooooooow!!!! You don't say!
That's very interesting! I will love to read your works oooo.

Blow like me ke? I never blow ooooo. I'm still learning the ropes too ooo.

But seriously, i will love to read your works.

Ann2012:
Well done OP

Thanks, Ann2012.

Lilly4endu:
OP, please what is going on? Divorce kwa!!!!!

Lilly4endu, na so we see am oooo.

JamesKudooski:


Lilly4endu, na so we see am oooo.

Two things are involved he is either trying to protect his wife from Nicole and her evil Mother or from Sharon

Thanks for the update sir bt y is Yemi behaving that way na

please is there any other means of purchasing the book apart from the two ways you mentioned?
please ooooo

Thanks so much for dis lovely sequel,ave bin a ghost since d days of the part one,naw am glad I can comment on dis platform to applaud u for dis wonderful piece,buh u look familiar from way back to 2005,pls do u attend bloom height tutorial at bashorun Ibadan??pls jes to satisfy my curiosity, nd congrats on ur baby girl,I pray she live to fulfil her destiny insha allah.once again thanks for did lovely piece

Divorce document just like that May God help this generation

Thanks for the update

JamesKudooski:



Woooooooow!!!! You don't say!
That's very interesting! I will love to read your works oooo.

Blow like me ke? I never blow ooooo. I'm still learning the ropes too ooo.

But seriously, i will love to read your works.

I am still gathering courage to share my fictions with the public. Care to grant me an interview for a writing website?

This story is taking a new turn


Nice update boss!!

genius43:


Two things are involved he is either trying to protect his wife from Nicole and her evil Mother or from Sharon

Genius43, I sight you. It's been a long while. Hope you are doing good?.

Nice line of thought you've got up there.

JamesKudooski:



Genius43, I sight you. It's been a long while. Hope you are doing good?.

Nice line of thought you've got up there.

Am good. Good work so far

toyhin123:
Thanks for the update sir bt y is Yemi behaving that way na

Abeg ask am oooo!

Asco9ty5:
please is there any other means of purchasing the book apart from the two ways you mentioned?
please ooooo

Hello Asco9ty5, thank you for your interest in the book. Yes, there are other means. Please, check post below:

JamesKudooski:



Lyoncrescent, I'm so happy that you enjoyed the part one. And I must say that was nothing compared to what lies ahead in part 2.

As for other payment options, you can do direct payment into the account below. The recharge card option also sounded good. I never thought of that before. So, I'm going to include that too (thanks for the idea).

Account Name: Qudus Adeyemi Oko-Osi
Account No: 2832013934
Bank: Ecobank

Or

Send Airtel Recharge Card to 08028460247.

Price: N500.

Thereafter, please send a mail to okoosiqudus@gmail.com:

Thank you for your interest in the book.

Temmuizza:
Thanks so much for dis lovely sequel,ave bin a ghost since d days of the part one,naw am glad I can comment on dis platform to applaud u for dis wonderful piece,buh u look familiar from way back to 2005,pls do u attend bloom height tutorial at bashorun Ibadan??pls jes to satisfy my curiosity, nd congrats on ur baby girl,I pray she live to fulfil her destiny insha allah.once again thanks for did lovely piece

Thank you for switching off your GHOST MODE, Temmuizza

I appreciate the compliments and the goodwill on the birth of my baby girl.

Ibadan, 2005? No, that's wasn't me. It must have been a look-alike. I've spent all my life in Lagos.

izaray:
Divorce document just like that May God help this generation

Thanks for the update

Hmmmmmm.....

ewawumi:

I am still gathering courage to share my fictions with the public. Care to grant me an interview for a writing website?

There's no big deal about it. Just push them out and you will see it's lot easier than you thought.

As for the interview, no problem. Just lemme know when you are ready.

ewawumi:

I am still gathering courage to share my fictions with the public. Care to grant me an interview for a writing website?

There's no big deal about it. Just push them out and you will see it's lot easier than you thought.

As for the interview, no problem. Just lemme know when you are ready.

genius43:


Am good. Good work so far

Wow, good to hear that you're good.

Kudos To you Mr James... I am enjoying every bits of this story.. keep it up man.

JamesKudooski:



There's no big deal about it. Just push them out and you will see it's lot easier than you thought.

As for the interview, no problem. Just lemme know when you are ready.

Oh! Thanks for the honor! Please let me av your contacts, mine is 08171602230

Who put yemi in this tight corner. He should have open up to her than this treatment. Thanks for the update

I've been a ghost reader from book one and I most say ur stories are exceptional. But I feel like beating yemi blue and black. If he can't open up to his wife at least he can talk to yinka.

YoungBruzzy:
Kudos To you Mr James... I am enjoying every bits of this story.. keep it up man.

Thanks, bro. And I am glad you are enjoying the story.

ewawumi:

Oh! Thanks for the honor! Please let me av your contacts, mine is 08171602230

08028460247

aprilwise:
Who put yemi in this tight corner. He should have open up to her than this treatment. Thanks for the update

Hmmmmm.... But how are we sure it's not what he really wanted?