CHAPTER 12 – THIS FAMILY CALLED MINE: COLOUR US UP

© Opeyemi Akintunde
As Inspired by the LIVING WORD.

I couldn’t place how it all happened…

We were all outside. The only strangers who didn’t leave with the family were the two friends my brother came with. But they had left earlier when Morayo showed them the stuff she was made of.

Who then could have taken the paintings?

Was there a ghost in the house?

Then, we heard a sound…

We all turned in the direction of the noise, our hearts pounding.

The sound continued, but more quietly this time…like something or someone trying to make a stealthy escape.

“Did you hear that?” I asked, my lips trembling.

They each nodded, their eyes wide with fear. The thought of something evil lurking in the house plagued all of us. Our eyes met, terror shared between us, and instinctively we moved closer together.

“Where is the sound coming from?” Morayo asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

“It’s like it’s coming from the backyard,” Pamilerin said, her eyes darting toward the open kitchen door that led to the back gate.

“Let’s go check it out,” Morayo said with an air of bravado.

We all looked at her like she had just suggested jumping off a cliff.

“Are you guys going to stay here and let whatever it is come in and kill us? Let’s go out and find out what it is. What if it’s the person who stole the paintings?” Morayo snapped.

At the mention of the paintings, my legs took off before I could even process the danger. My life, my marital joy depended on getting those paintings back.

We followed the sound, and it led us to the back gate of my father’s large compound. As a creative person, my father always wanted to live close to nature. When he started making money in the early days, he bought all the lands surrounding his house and refused to build on them.

The back gate led to thick bushland.

And it was open.

Someone had definitely come through there…

“It’s only someone familiar with the house that would know this exit,” Setemi whispered.

“Are you sure it’s not a cleaner or someone that knew their way around?” Morayo asked.

She didn’t wait for an answer. She dashed out of the gate into the bush. We followed her, desperation guiding our steps.

The sound of rustling leaves and broken twigs reached our ears. Someone was trying to run away… with our inheritance.

We ran, our legs crashing through the undergrowth. And then we saw her.

Sister Bolade.

My father’s nurse.

She was the thief.

“You?” I screamed, my voice a mixture of disbelief and rage.

Bolade froze. She looked like a thief caught in the headlights, her hands shaking as she carried about fifteen paintings.

My sisters surged forward like a pack of wolves, collecting it from her.

“You’re the wicked soul!” I screamed. “No wonder you told me not to take a pin! You wanted it all for yourself.”

“You are the wicked ones!” Bolade shouted back, tears streaming down her face. “You left your father to die alone. I took care of him for five years. What was supposed to be my gain?”

“Are you mad? See the craze woman taking trash ” the street in Morayo was surfacing…

” What would be my gain?” She asked again

” My God! See entitlement mentality sha? Were you not paid for taking care of him?” Pamilerin asked

” I was paid, but won’t my son get anything from his father?”

The next few seconds felt like hours and days as we each took time to understand what she was trying to say.

I remembered the last time I visited my father years ago, she told me she was pregnant and I didn’t ask who the father was, she was a grown woman… but was it possible she was pregnant for my father? Was it a case of the Nurse warming the bed of her old rich patient.

” Which son? What’s our business with your son?” Setemi asked

” My son deserves his inheritance too and seeing how I met you all this morning- very desperate , I knew I had to claim what I could claim for my son fast…” She explained more

“Can someone explain to me what this woman is saying?” Morayo asked

We were all quiet for lack of words…

“Let me be plain ..I have a son for your father….Your father found out that Adeori wasn’t his biological son after your stepmother died.” Bolade continued.

“He begged me to give him a son. And I did. My son is your brother…and he deserves his share of the inheritance.”

Hot tears dropped from my eyes…

The revelation hit us like a thunderclap. My knees buckled, and I nearly collapsed to the ground.

“What kind of father does this to his children?” I screamed, my voice cracking under the weight of betrayal.

Hot tears burned down my cheeks, the betrayal slicing through me like glass.

Pamilerin fell to the ground, her shoulders heaving as she sobbed uncontrollably.

“I’m done! I’m done!” Morayo shouted, turning her back on us. “I can’t take any more of this. Everything about this family is rotten.”

“If you dare move an inch, I swear I will kill you.”

Pamilerin’s voice cut through the air like a knife.

We all turned to look at her. The anger in her eyes was something I had never seen before.

“What did you say?” Morayo asked, her voice tight.

“I said if you dare move, I will kill you,” Pamilerin repeated, her voice trembling with fury. “What kind of person are you? At the sight of trouble, you run off without thinking about the rest of us. We are in this mess together. We have to sort it out.”

Morayo laughed bitterly. “Oh, look at you. The cub has become a lioness. I’m proud of you, Pamilerin. But don’t act like you know my pain. You don’t. You have no idea what I’ve gone through.”

“Then tell us!” Pamilerin shouted, her fists clenched. “What is it that makes you run away every time? What is it you’re hiding?”

Morayo’s laughter died on her lips. Her eyes grew dark, hollow.

“You want to know?” Morayo asked, her voice shaking. “You really want to know?”

“Yes!” Pamilerin screamed. “We deserve to know!”

Morayo closed her eyes, her chest rising and falling with rapid breaths.

“Your father…our father…my father…. molested me. Repeatedly. For three years before I finally ran away.”

Her confession shattered the air. The pain in her voice was a living, breathing thing. It was raw. Horrifying. Real.

I felt the earth give way beneath me. Everything I believed about our father…everything I had tried to bury…it all came rushing back.

“What?” I whispered, my voice breaking.

“Yes.” Morayo said, her tears flowing freely. “I ran away because it was the only way to survive. But the pain…it’s never left me. It’s why I became who I am. Because he broke me…and I didn’t know how to be whole again.”

My heart shattered. All of us stood there in stunned silence, tears streaming down our faces.

But for the first time…the truth was finally out.

And nothing would ever be the same again.

To be continued…

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