I switched on the light and looked around the room. My laptop was still on the small desk, along with my phone; my bag lay open on the floor with clothes spilling out and my shoes were lined up neatly against the wall. Maybe one of the women had come in here, since this was where the baby was. Even if I wanted to lock the door, I couldn’t – I had broken it the previous evening. Now it barely even shut properly. Still, nothing had been disturbed. I began to relax – perhaps I had dreamt it after all.
Then there was a scream. Again. It sounded like Aunty Bidemi. I briefly thought about taking Remi with me to find out what was going on, but I risked waking him up. I patted the pillows on either side of him and left the room. Aunty Bidemi was standing in the hallway between the dining room and the living room. She had stopped screaming but I could see that she was trembling.
‘What’s the matter?’
She pointed to the wall. There were uneven streaks of dark red all over the blue-and-white wallpaper, as if smeared on by someone’s hands. It looked like blood, it smelt like blood. I felt woozy.
‘That girl is a witch,’ she hissed. She came towards me, clutching at my vest, but I pushed her off and hung my head between my knees, taking deep, steadying breaths. I didn’t do well around blood.
‘What are we going to do?’ Aunty Bidemi whispered. ‘I don’t feel safe.’
Just then, the power went off. We were in pitch darkness again, with no candles and no lamps.
‘Stay here,’ I said to Aunty Bidemi. I staggered along the corridor, still feeling faint, my hand pressed to the walls to guide me in the dark. I needed to get back to Remi.
When I got to the door, I could just make out the figure of Esohe standing by my bed. She had her back to me.
‘What do you think you are doing?’
She turned slowly to face me. The baby was in her arms. I could not make out her features or expression.
‘I heard all the noise and I came to check on Efosa.’
‘Give him to me.’
‘Relax, I just—’
‘I said, give him to me now.’
She held back, but then she handed him over. She would not have been able to get past me – my whole body filled the doorway.
‘What’s your problem? I was just making sure that he is OK.’
‘You are sick. You are a very sick person. And I don’t want you anywhere near him.’
‘Is this about the chicken again?’
‘Go back to your room.’
‘But—’
‘Now!’
She fixed me with a glare and then pushed past me, her body briefly coming into contact with my own. I followed her, with the baby in my arms, until she got back to her room. ‘It’s you people who are sick,’ she said to me, before taking one last look at Remi and then closing the door in my face.
Aunty Bidemi was still in the hallway. She had several candles and a bucket of water by her feet. She was using a large sponge to scrub the wall. She deserved better than this.
‘I’m sorry,’ I said, coming to stand next to her.
‘You didn’t do this,’ she replied, bending over Remi and giving him a light kiss.
‘No, but … I could have done a better job of telling her off when she started her nonsense.’
‘I’m scared of her, Bambi.’
‘I don’t blame you.’
‘We have to make sure she doesn’t do anything bad to the baby.’
‘Look, take him for now; I’ll … I’ll clean up the rest of the blood.’ She washed her hands in the bucket and dried them on her apron, then lifted the baby from my arms. It took me an hour longer than it probably would have taken her, but I got rid of most of what I guessed was the chicken’s blood. Just as I was finishing up, the power came back on, and the bulbs flooded the corridor with a bright orange light.
Chapter Seventeen
It was Esohe’s turn to have the baby, but I didn’t trust her. I had left him with Aunty Bidemi. For all her flaws, she wasn’t the one painting the old bungalow with blood.
So I wasn’t too surprised when I heard a knock, which was followed by Esohe slipping lightly into my room.
She didn’t look her best. Her braids were loose and brittle, and her face was swollen – from crying, I guessed. But it was hard for me to focus on her face when all she had on was a thin see-through slip.
‘What are you wearing?’
‘Please,’ she said.
She came over to where I was lying on the bed, wearing only boxer shorts. I scrambled away from her to the far side of the bed, but that only seemed to make her more keen to climb in.
‘Esohe!’ I whispered. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Please; I’ll do anything you want.’
‘Aunty Bidemi can come in at any second.’
‘This isn’t about her. This is about you and me.’
She rubbed her hand along my thigh, slipped a finger into the waistband of my boxers. My body could not help but respond. The best I could manage was a feeble: ‘Esohe, stop now.’
‘You weren’t so coy last year.’
I gripped her wrist, holding it in place, and I waited for her to look up at me. ‘I thought you knew that we were never to bring that up.’
‘That’s why I haven’t said anything. You can trust me,’ she said, before nibbling the tip of my ear.
I began to think about it. We could be done in ten minutes. My aunt was busy with the baby. She would have no reason to come in here. I took Esohe’s chin and nudged it towards me, kissing her. Her lips were familiar, soft.
‘You see?’ she moaned. ‘We’re good together, you and I. We shouldn’t fight so much. We should work together.’
I kissed her again, putting my hands on her thighs, edging up the hem of her slip.
‘We could be a family, you know – you, me and the baby.’
The urge left me suddenly. I pushed her back.
‘Is that what this is about?’
She shrugged. I was offended. Who did this woman think I was? I had slept with many women during my life, but they had all been willing. More than willing. I hadn’t needed to beg or bargain with a single one of them. And this woman thought I would give her a baby, whose safety was uncertain, just because she gave me a moment of pleasure?
‘Get out.’
‘But Bambi—’
‘Are you deaf? Or just stupid? I said, get out!’
‘I did not know you were wicked like this,’ she spat as she climbed off the bed.
She slammed the door behind her.
I sat on the edge of the mattress and rubbed my temples. I could feel a headache coming on. Beside me, my phone vibrated. It stopped and then started up again. And again. I gave in and looked at the screen – it was Mide. I felt a little hope. It seemed like a lifetime since I had slept through the night, peaceful and calm in her cool bedroom, her naked body next to mine. Perhaps she was calling to offer me paradise.
‘Hey—’
‘Your wallet,’ she said.
‘What?’
‘You left it here.’
‘Oh.’
My hope died. My dismay was total. How dare she tease me by blowing up my phone? It was true that I hadn’t seen my wallet in days, but I had no use for it at present, and I had thought it would show up sooner or later.
‘What do you want me to do about that now?’ I snapped. ‘You want me to risk getting the virus by going to yours and then heading back here again?’
The tone of my voice must have surprised her because she was quiet for a moment.
‘I’m just letting you know where it is.’
‘OK, thanks.’ I cut the call.
Chapter Eighteen
I needed a cup of coffee, badly, but the old bungalow didn’t offer such treats. A bottle of beer would have to do. On my way to the kitchen I heard rattling and banging coming from Esohe’s room. I kept on walking. She was clearly throwing some kind of tantrum and I didn’t want to get involved. When I got to the kitchen,
I pulled out a bottle from the fridge and opened it against the edge of the counter. I took a deep swig, in the hope that the alcohol would help settle my mood. I looked out of the kitchen window and watched the palms swaying in the breeze. I took another mouthful of beer.
It would have been peaceful, but for the noise coming from Esohe’s room, filling the entire house.
‘Will you stop it?!’ I slammed my hand against her door, on my way back to my room.
‘That old witch locked me in!’ She twisted the handle from her side. I tried for myself. It was true. She was locked in. ‘Help me!’
‘Are you sure you didn’t lock yourself in by mistake?’
‘I don’t have any keys to this damn place!’
‘OK, OK. Just stop shouting. I will go and talk to her.’
Aunty Bidemi was giving Remi a bath. She propped him up with her hand and stroked his skin gently with a cloth. Remi was developing folds. She would have to get in between them. He looked like a sumo warrior. I sat down on the edge of the bath, cupped a little water into my hand and let it fall on Remi’s head. He looked up at me and smiled.
Then I turned to Aunty Bidemi. ‘Did you lock Esohe in her room?’
She didn’t face me. Instead, she flipped Remi onto his stomach and began to wash his back.
‘Yes,’ she finally said. ‘She is dangerous, Bambi.’
‘You can’t just keep her locked up, though.’
‘Is it after she does something to the baby that we will lock her up?’
I opened my mouth to reply and a yawn escaped instead. Besides, what had I planned on saying? I couldn’t dispute Aunty Bidemi’s logic. I thought of the presence I had felt in my room the other night, the one that had woken me up. Maybe it had been a dream, but maybe it hadn’t. Wasn’t it better to be safe than sorry?
‘I should have thrown her out a long time ago. I saw her enter your room. That slut!’
I cleared my throat. ‘We … I … we didn’t.’
‘I know. I waited outside your door. She was only there for a few minutes. You are not like your uncle. You are better than him. You won’t fall for her tricks.’
She dipped the cloth in the water again and stroked Remi’s skin. Her gestures should have been soothing, but her tone was so bitter that I wanted to take him from her arms. She wrapped him in a white towel and planted a kiss on his forehead. My own head was still pounding.
‘I need Panadol or Nurofen or something.’
‘Check the third drawer next to the fridge.’
I headed back to the kitchen. Esohe was quiet, no doubt because she was waiting for me to rescue her. I found the tablets in the fourth drawer, and also a small bottle of my uncle’s whisky on the counter. I took that and the medicine to my room.
Chapter Nineteen
It didn’t take Esohe long to realize that help wasn’t coming.
I was in the living room with Aunty Bidemi and the baby when Esohe started to shout and scream. Aunty Bidemi did not even flinch. I tried to pretend that the sound was not affecting me either. I flipped a page of a magazine I had picked up off the coffee table. Esohe started pounding on the door again. It sounded as though she was kicking it. My aunt drank her tea.
‘Remi looks a lot like you, you know. He has your nose.’
I was beginning to see it. He did have my nose, and I thought the curve of his forehead might be mine. ‘It’s grandpa’s nose,’ I told her.
‘I hear that they have managed to flatten the curve of the virus,’ she said.
‘Hmmm.’
‘Soon life will be back to normal.’
‘Sure. Yes.’ I hadn’t thought it possible, but Esohe’s screams became even louder.
‘How is that girl you are dating? The one with the beauty spot? What was her name again?’ It didn’t matter what her name was. The woman my aunt spoke of was two girlfriends ago.
‘I broke up with her.’
‘Oh? OK. But you should be thinking about settling down soon. Find a nice girl and marry her.’
‘I need to go to the bathroom,’ I said.
The sound of Esohe’s screams was a little more muffled in my room. I slipped my headphones on, but I knew it was still there – the noise, just beyond the music, waiting for me as soon as I turned the music off. I poured myself a finger of whisky, wincing as I swallowed. My headache had only increased. I needed her to stop making so much noise. I didn’t know how Aunty Bidemi could stand it.
I rubbed my eyes. I had lost track of what day and time it was. It felt like I had been at the old bungalow for ever. If the women went on like this, I would grow old beyond my twenty-eight years. Perhaps if I presented Esohe with proof that she wasn’t the mother, she would begin to behave normally.
My sister was no use. She still hadn’t sent the pictures. I called my brother-in-law. We were not fans of one another – I could hardly be friends with someone who supported Arsenal – but I had to do something.
He picked up on the second ring and said, ‘She told you already?’
‘Told me what?’
‘Oh, never mind. What’s up?’ His response to my call threw me for a second, but I was not that curious about the goings-on of my sister’s life. If they wanted me to know whatever it was, I would find out one day. I hoped it wasn’t news that she was pregnant again. Hadn’t they heard of birth control?
‘I need your help, guy.’
‘I’m broke right now, man.’ As if I had ever asked him for money. I took a deep breath and let it out through my nostrils.
‘That’s a real shame. But I’m not broke. I need your help with something else. There is a picture of my cousin on your wife’s phone. And my aunty has been saying she wants to put together a book with all the pictures of him since he was born. She has really been nagging me.’
‘Then ask Bukky.’
‘You know how your wife is – she will agree and then as soon as the kids need something, every other thought goes out of her head.’
‘So you even know. I’m married to her, and I can’t get her attention.’ I rolled my eyes. Since when did grown men begin to see their children as rivals? But this was the man she had chosen. I would never understand it. I mean, he supported Arsenal. It said something about the kind of man he was.
‘I just need you to go through her phone and get a picture for me. That’s it. Just help me – send it.’
He agreed, more to get me off his back than anything else. But I knew he would do it. Of the two of them – my sister and my brother-in-law – he was the more reliable.
An hour later, my phone vibrated. He had sent the pictures. It came through my sister’s WhatsApp, but I knew he had been the one to search her phone and forward them. There were three photos. One was an ultrasound: the baby in the womb. The other two were of the baby as a newborn. His eyes were shut and he was attached to all sorts of machines.
I couldn’t really tell if it was Remi. I had hoped that I would be able to see the yellow birthmark on his belly. But the picture was focused mostly on the baby’s face, and it was also slightly blurry.
Besides, I had never been able to perform that trick people did, where they would look at a baby and tell you who the baby looked like. Babies all looked the same to me. They had eyes that were always closed, no eyebrows, barely any hair. They never looked pleased to be here. They came in different colours, but that was about it. Besides, Remi was big now, he had more flesh.
There was a date on the ultrasound, but I wasn’t sure if this helped me work things out either. Some babies came early, some came late; that much I knew. If I did the maths, then sure, the baby in the scan might be Remi. But it also might not.
Still, the picture might prove useful. If only to scare Esohe straight. Or Aunty Bidemi. I took a final swig from the whisky bottle.
Chapter Twenty
I jerked awake because I heard Remi crying. And there was something wrong with the cry. I went to Aunty Bidemi’s room and hammered on the door. She opened it a minute later
wearing a red silk robe. It was open and I could make out one of her heavily veined breasts. I wished she would cover up properly. The baby was asleep on her shoulder.
‘Is he all right?’
‘Why wouldn’t he be?’
‘He has been crying …’
‘What? No, he hasn’t. He’s asleep, look.’
‘I heard him. I heard him cry.’
‘Are you OK?’ she asked.
‘Yes! Are you sure he wasn’t crying?’
‘Does he look like he is crying to you?’
She showed him to me. He could not have looked more peaceful. And yet, I was still worried.
‘In any case, I am meant to take care of him at night.’
‘Fine. I’m tired anyway.’ She placed him gently in my arms before shutting the door with a slam.
The slam woke Remi up and he began to protest once we entered my room. I walked up and down the room to get him to settle down but he resisted. I was still very tired. I couldn’t remember when I had had a full night’s sleep. He started to cry.
I sang all the nursery rhymes I knew to him till he calmed down, then I lifted his bum to my nose. Yes, there was something unpleasant going on there. Luckily, I now had a supply of nappies in my room.
He was patient with me while I stripped off his babygrow. He grinned at me as I opened his nappy and groaned. All the boy was drinking was milk. I was not expecting so much shit.
Most of him was a deep brown, browning more and more each day. But the blotch of yellow on his stomach stayed the same colour. It looked a little like the map of Africa. I told him it was because he came from kings.
When I returned to the bed with a new nappy, Remi greeted me with an arch of urine. It wet my lips.
‘Thank you,’ I told him. ‘Pee was exactly what was missing from my diet.’
I cleaned us both up with wipes, and managed to powder him and strap him up without getting peed on a second time.
Esohe had started shouting again. I could hear her rattling the door, screaming for us to let her out. We had left her in there for hours. She must have been worn out but she kept up the shouting.
The Baby Is Mine Page 4