CHAPTER 11 – THIS FAMILY CALLED MINE: COLOUR US UP

© Opeyemi Akintunde
As Inspired by the LIVING WORD.

As we sat there, tears streaming like fountains and inhaling the dust from the cars that had left, we heard the sound of a car returning into the compound. The hum of the engine was faint at first, but it grew louder, irritating our broken spirits.

Setemi was up like a vicious lion, ready to pounce on whoever dared return.

It could be the lawyer…or Tobe coming back to mock us further. But it was neither.

It was Morayo.

Setemi slowed her pace but her anger tripled.

“What are you back to do?” Setemi spat, her voice heightened and raw. “You always run away when things get hot. You never defend us when there is a need. Did you know Tobe molested Mololuwa all those years they were on the gallery roster? It has left her broken! That animal gave her vaginismus!”

“Vaginismus?” Morayo’s face twisted in confusion and horror. “What are you saying? What happened here? I saw Tobe and the others driving off. For your information, I didn’t leave. I parked my vehicle at the bend. I couldn’t stand being in the same house with them, plus I didn’t want you seeing me as a threat.”

“So what was the plan?” Setemi asked, her voice thick with accusation.

“To drive back when it’s late and your temper would have gone down,” Morayo replied softly, her eyes heavy with regret.

“Well, you were not here when we needed you to cut off Tobe’s sick manhood. Now, he’s gone. I am sure he is going to call his lawyer father-in-law and manipulate the Will. If we had the slightest hope that our father left us something, we had better dead that thought.”

Tears streamed down Setemi’s face. The woman who had always been our rock, our fierce protector, was reduced to brokenness. Her body trembled as she wailed like a child. It was the saddest thing I had ever seen.

Morayo stepped forward, her tough exterior melting away. She reached out and hugged Setemi tightly.

“I am sorry,” Morayo whispered, her own tears falling freely. “Forgive me, Setemi. I am not your enemy. I have never been. If it ever seemed like I was trying to outshine you, that was never the intention. All I wanted was to fight for you, to speak for you. Please, don’t see me as your enemy.”

Pamilerin and I watched the reunion unfold. A moment we had silently prayed for all these years.

“There is something I want to show you…” I said, my voice shaky. “Come, sisters.”

They looked at each other before turning to me. I reached into my blouse, my fingers trembling. But something was wrong.

The Diary…

It was gone.

My heartbeat quickened. My chest tightened.

How?

How could it be gone?

I ran back into the house, my eyes darting around the floor as I moved. Nothing.

I ran into the Studio. They followed.

“Mololuwa! What’s wrong?” Setemi asked, alarmed by my sudden panic.

“The Diary!” I screamed.

“Which Diary?” The three of them asked, their faces twisted in confusion.

“Daddy’s Diary! That’s what I came here to get before Tobe walked in.”

“Wait…the Clients’ Diary?” Setemi asked, her eyes narrowing.

“What do you need it for?” Pamilerin’s voice was cautious.

“I… I… was planning to reach out to them,” I stammered. My mind was a scattered mess, my thoughts jumbled like broken glass.

“To beg for money?” Setemi asked incredulously.

Morayo remained quiet, observing me.

“No…not to beg…but to sell.” I rushed towards the cupboard. I paused before opening it, a knot of dread tightening in my stomach.

Before opening it, I needed to explain.

“Daddy had some of his expensive paintings here… paintings worth millions of naira. If we can get about ten of them, each of us can have at least twenty million naira each… or even more.”

Morayo pushed me aside and swung the cupboard doors open.

My heart stopped.

Empty.

Completely empty.

The shock of it made my knees buckle. I staggered backward, grabbing onto the table for support.

“How?” I screamed, my voice echoing through the studio, tears pouring from my eyes.

Everything was gone.

Every painting I had planned to secure for our future… gone.

And suddenly, the painful reality hit me.

While we were busy screaming at each other, someone else had been one step ahead of us.

Someone had taken everything.

My breath hitched. My chest tightened painfully. The grief, the betrayal, the hopelessness, the reality of not going through with my surrogacy plans… it was too much.

The room spun. I was drowning in despair.

“They took it all,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “Everything… they took it all.”

“What do you mean?” Morayo asked, her eyes wide with fear.

“Daddy’s valuable paintings… they were here… I saw them with my own eyes…”

“Who could have taken them?” Pamilerin asked, panic seeping into her voice.

Tears rolled down my face as I stared blankly at the empty cupboard.

“Was it Tobe?” Morayo asked, her voice trembling.

It couldn’t have been Tobe, or Uche or Chizzy or my brothers…we were all together. Morayo didn’t know this fact because she wasn’t with us…

“Or someone else…” I whispered. That was the only thing that made sense.

It felt like the ground beneath me was caving in.

The very thing I had risked everything for was gone. I had revealed my best kept secret to make the painting ours, but the painting was gone.

And with it, all hope.

To be continued…

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