After dinner, most of the family members sat in the living room. They were dispersed on the Italian chairs, deep into conversation as they examined the lace material that circulated around. Their laughter filled the sweet scent of the living room. The material will be is for a wedding coming up the following Saturday which the Kola-Daisi's are invited to. Aunty Dammy skimmed her eyes through everyone in the room. They seem so busy and happy. Their laughter reached their eyes. The joy they felt could be sensed in their voices. But is she happy? Does she feel as carefree as they all are at the moment? No one have a perfect life. Everyone got a problem they are battling with personally but they still have a reason to laugh. She can't even find anything funny in what they are saying. The past few days of her life have been grief-stricken. There was nothing to laugh about.

"I want to say something" Aunty Dammy announced. That got everyone's attention especially her mother's. Rebecca who was in a deep conversation with her second son, Aaron, looked at her only daughter. She saw her take in deep air and exhale. She understood and her nerves tensed. Her daughter does that only when whatever she wants to say will make all hell break loose. "I am getting a divorce"

Just the way she expected. Rebecca threw hand. "What?" Rebecca asked, frozen with shock. She lowered the great grandchild in hand to the seat next to her.

The people who looked at Aunty were frozen with numbness. She saw the surprise that dropped their jaws. It's meant to shock them. She can imagine the thoughts circulating their head. Why does she want to end her marriage of fifteen years? Aunty Dammy shifted her eyes to her mother. The woman gritted and had her hand closed tight on her lap, her eyes hard and displeased. "You heard me, mum. I am getting a divorce. I am ending my marriage to Leke" As much as those words break her, she held herself together.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"No. I am okay and in my right senses"

"I doubt it. Listen to yourself, Damilola" Rebecca stood up. "You are getting a divorce. A divorce? You are ending your marriage to Leke" She said like she can't believe her daughter is going to do such thing.

"And nothing you do or say will make me stay in that marriage"

"You are not ending that marriage"

"You have no right to tell me that" She fired at her mother.

"I am your mother"

"And that does not give you the right to tell me if I am to stay in my marriage or not. It's mine and not yours" Frustrated, she threw a hand. "God mum! Are you sure you are a mother? I have been in that marriage for fifteen year, fifteen long years and nothing came out of it. Leke has lost interest. He is living a happy life with his baby mama. He does not care about me again. He does not even come home. I barely see him. I informed him about the dinner and his excuse was he can't leave a pregnant woman for some useless family dinner. Why do you think he's not here? He does not care about you, about me, about anything that has to do with me. It all happened because I can't give him a child" Emotions welled up in her nearly making her gag.

"Then you should have also gotten pregnant" Rebecca fired at her.

Few members of the family cringed at such sensitive words especially Cynthia. The old woman is a terrible mother in law and mother. She's a failure at both. She scoffed inwardly.

"And you think I did not try to?" Aunty Dammy rumbled, aggravated and riled. Tears filtered from her eyes. Her mother's sensitive words cut her like a knife. "Do you know what I am going to and what I had to go through? Do you know how it feels to have hope and then have that hope shattered? I thought I was pregnant but I was not. Of what help have you been?" She cried. Now, she stood face to face with her mother, pouring out her emotions. "You did not support me physically or emotionally. Those days I cried, I could not cry to you because you don't give a damn about me. It's my fault that I can't give my husband a child. Those were your words. Every time I called and cried to you, you always make one painful remark or the other. I had only Tanwa to cry to. She has been there. She is doing what you, my mother, should be doing. I have asked myself thousand times if you are my mother. Are you? You don't act like one. You don't give a shit about me that's because you are selfish. Leke has given up on having a child with me but that will not make me give up on having my own child because I am going to adopt a child"

"You won't do such silly thing"

"I will and you will not stop me. I am going to adopt a baby. Someone I will raise to be my own offspring. I will love him or her like I have never loved before. I will give that child a good life and I do not need your help in doing any of that"

"You will not bring that outsider into my family. Adoption? Are you crazy? Listen to your daughter, Damijo" Damijo shrugged. "Oh, you got nothing to say"

"I stand with my princess" He spoke.

"You have also lost your mind" Rebecca spat at her husband, her body shaking from rage.

"Mum, nothing you say will make me change my mind. I am forty and old enough to make decisions. I have the right to be happy without your consent and this is the way I choose my happiness"

"I have finally given up on you, Dammy"

"Good thing you did" She turned on her heels and stormed away.

Meanwhile, at the backyard, Lola sat at the edge of the pool with Lolu next to her. They had their legs in the cool pool of colourless liquid, enjoying the feeling of frostiness against their skin. Lola swayed her legs while Lolu's legs stayed motionless in the water. They had been seated outside for as long as they could remember, talking and comparing their feet.

"There is no moon nor a star tonight" Lola raised her head to the sky, the auburn plaits cascading down her back like climber growing down a wall.

"Are you fighting him?" Lolu asked.

"Who?"

"Your husband"

Lola rolled her eyes as she swings her legs inside the water. She had Lolu's blazer draped over her body. The dress she had on could barely give her warmth from the chilly night.

"He is just pissing me off" She looked into the water. The water was a reflection of the night. The starless and moonless sky above could be seen in the dancing surface of colourless liquid. Rays of lights spluttered over the water. As she sways her legs, her image danced making her laugh a bit.

"Why?"

"I don't know. He is just annoying" She gave a careless shrug.

"I have known you for as long as I can remember and I know when you are lying" She lifted her head up. Lolu gave her a smug smile. "What's actually the problem?"

"Nothing" Her brows puckered.

"When did we begin to hide things from one another?"

How will she tell him? How will she tell him what she did not say to anyone? She is holding so much in. Since she arrived at the dinner, Anthony's call had been coming in, a reason she had to silence her phone. She knows Anthony would be angry but she can't blow what she is trying to cover.

"What is your relationship with him like?"

"I don't know"

"Don't give me that reply. Has it progressed?"

"It did"

"It did?"

"Yes and I pushed him away"

"Why? Why, Lola? Listen pretty" He held her face in between his hands, his eyes bore into hers. Those eyes, the way they looked into his, he felt like they could read his mind. "I don't know what that guy feels for you but you have to know something if you want your marriage to work out, you have to let go of whatever is holding you back. The guy likes you, Lola. He wants you. Do you see the way he looks at you? And the way he throws daggers at me when you give your entire attention to me, it could kill. He is jealous. And if a man can be that jealous, it means one thing. He likes you not just like you. He likes you a lot"

Lola laughed quietly, taking her face away from his hold. "It is surprising to hear it from the lips of a man who has feelings for me" She said looking away. Her words, like unforeseen tolling waves, slapped against Lolu harder than a rock would. She gazed back at Lolu. "You think I did not see it?" The edges of her lips went up a bit. "You think I did not know?" She raised an eyebrow. Waves of heat rushed through Lolu that he felt like his shirt has become an oven. "I pretended not to because I did not want to complicate things between us"

Too speechless, too knocked for six, Lolu's lips moved but no word came out. So she knew all these while? All the time he thought he hid his feelings well, she saw everything? Jesus!

"Babe" A feminine voice called. Lolu puffed out air as he felt relieve. Just the perfect time. He got out of the water to meet his girlfriend.

"Did you find a restroom?" He took her into his arms.

"Yes. This house is big. It is a palace"

"I know" They turned to Lola. "I want to introduce you to someone" Lolu's hand shook at his side. He tried as much as possible to stay till and composed. When his eyes met Lola's intimidating brown eyes, he looked at his girlfriend. Lola tried not to scoff. Of all women in the world, he chose some....her eyes skimmed through the girl. She does not know what to say. She's speechless. The girl seem to be from a lower class than Lolu and herself. She can tell from everything on her. Why will Lolu choose some low life hoe? She tried not to scoff. Well, she's beautiful but not as beautiful as she is. Lola Kola-Daisi got an extraordinary beauty no one can deny. She lifted her head. "Lola, meet my girlfriend, Ejaita" Lolu did not miss the way Lola grimaced at the name. "Short form Jaita"

"Where are you from?" She moved her eyes to Jaita. Her voice was quiet yet firm. Jaita shifted on her feet which Lola did not miss. "That name sounds new to me" Brows puckered, her neutral facial expression did not flinch except the blinking of her eyes which did not leave Jaita's eyes.

Jaita looked down. "I am Delta state" She managed not to stutter.

"I see" The words rolled out with gentle smugness. "Well" There was a pause. One slow movement of her eyes perused Jaita. She nearly smiled. The lady feels intimidated. Just what she wanted her to feel. "It's nice meeting you, Jenta"

"It's Jaita" Jaita corrected. Lola already had her back to them.

"I know" She smiled over her shoulder.

When she walked farther away, two pair of eyes stayed on her. Lola smirked. She loved the way she made the girl feel. She made her feel low and somewhat nervous.

"She's as proud as they say" She heard Jaita speak.

"You will love her if you get to know her" Lolu assured.

Well, that's so sad because there is no way she's going to meet Jaita again. Lola looked at her phone. Just like she expected, a call was coming in and there had been many missed calls before that. Like two naked wires coming together and causing a spark, her anger sparked within her.

"What?" She answered the call.

"Where did you keep your phone? Are you intentionally refusing to pick my calls?"

"Can you get one thing straight, Anthony?" She grinded her teeth, her hand fastening harder around the strap of her sandals. "You can't be calling me as if I ran away. Understood? You are already a thorn on my skin so stop bothering me with calls"

"So calling my girlfriend is a bother?"

"Girlfriend?" She huffed. "You are doing enough by making my life more miserable than it is so just stop making it harder for me. You have no right or whatsoever to be tailing my movement. You have done enough by allowing me to cheat on my husband. You wanted me in your bed. You had me and you want more? You will have me but do not dream that we are anything but two people who just get pleasure from one another. No strings attached. Like I said, I will give you a call. Stop frustrating me!" She screamed and ended the call.

Blood rushed to her head. She gripped her head. People want to drive her crazy. Anthony want to make her mad. God! He won't succeed. She spun around. He heart lurched in her chest, eyes went wide as every muscle in her body became stiff at the person standing right in front of her.

"Hmmm.....hmmm....Joshua?" She called.

She slammed her head against an imaginary wall. Joshua stood, his eyes narrowed as he looked her. The frown on his face, hardness of his eyes showed he was angry. How long has he been there? Lola felt doom finally looming over her. She has been caught red handed but it's not what he thinks. She got a grip of her shaken self then spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Came her rude and cold question.

"I see you are getting pleasure from tossing me aside like a used rag"

"Excuse me?"

"For God's sake Lola, what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing. You are just pissing me off. The same thing you are doing right now"

"What do you even think you are putting on?" He pointed at her clothes.

"A dress. Any problem?" She asked bending to the side which accentuated her hips.

"Really? This is a dress?" He asked quite frustrated. He wanted to hold his head and just shout. His frustration was piling up and he does not know how long he would hold it in.

"Yes and I asked any problem?"

"You won't kill me before my time"

"I can't see myself holding a knife and aiming it at you" She fired.

"Do you have to be extremely savage with your replies?" He sighed. "As much as I love what I see right now, I hate it when other men have to see it"

"So you are here to play husband duties?" Lola eyebrows came together. Her anger intensified with fire blazing in her brown eyes. "Or what bullshit are you trying to say?" she took a step closer to her husband.

"Lola please" Joshua begged lifting a hand up.

Lola's nose flared. "Are you a goat Joshua? Don't you understand body language?" She barked. "Don't you understand when I does not want to talk to you?"

The beseeching expression on Joshua's face began to change into a frown. His bushy eyebrows came together. The lines on his forehead deepened. A scowl formed over his perfectly shaped lips. "You won't talk to me that way. Watch your tone" His voice turned icy.

For a woman who does not learn from past mistakes, Lola became infuriated. What a tone to use on her? Just because he had once put her in her place does not mean he will keep doing that. She is up for a challenge today.

"And what will happen?" She jammed her hands over her waist. It was a dare. Her eye were challenging as if telling do what you want and let's see where that gets you.

"Lola, we........"

"Look here Joshua, I am having headache right now and your crap is the least I want to listen to. Please" She hissed and whizzed past him.

"I was a cultist" He revealed causing her feet to stop abruptly. Lola froze as she moved to take another step, her eyes going wide with shock. No! She did not hear well. "I used to be a cultist" Came Joshua's clear and loud voice. He said it louder for her to hear him clearly. "I was the Don of The Blades and Lolu is someone I know from UNILAG. You can say I made life miserable for him"

Cold chills washed through Lola's body as if she had been bathed with freezing water. The gravity of his words could cause her to turn and look at him but she stood motionless, disbelief holding every part of her, every sense of thinking and her voice. Oh God! She breathe harder. Her chest heaved up and down. Jesus Christ! She thought but could not get the exclamatory words out of her lips. A cultist? Joshua? She exhaled hard.

On wobbly legs, Lola walked away. A cultist? The word cultist rang in her head. Joshua used to be a cultist? That means, he had killed people. Cultism in UNILAG meant killing people and creating terror in the school. Her head pounded. He was the don. The leader. The one controlling a group of crazy and wild boys. Did she hear him clearly? You did.

That's the reason behind his tattoos and scars. She felt light headed as she ambled into the living room where everyone was. Her husband was a killer. Oh Jesus! She halted, closed her eyes to calm down her jittering nerves. A headache was knocking to be freed. She lifted a hand and pressed it on her forehead. When she opened her eyes, the sight before her had straightening. Joshua rushed in behind her but paused when he saw and sensed what was going on in the living room. He scanned everyone's face, from Damijo's angry face to Josephine's confused look. His expression was the same look on Josephine's face, confused and lost until they fell on a particular figure. His eyes grew wide. He felt his heart skipping from his chest to his throat. His breathing seized. Oh no! Jesus! He groaned mentally.

"Loretta?" Lola and Joshua voiced out.

-----

Haseenah paced the living room, her eyes constantly going to the antique wall clock. She had to wait. She needed to wait for him even though he won't appreciate. Her heart won't be at peace knowing Ahmad was still out there late at night. Haseenah sat, crossed her legs and rested her back against the high back of the sofa. What drifted across the room was the soft scent of her soaps and body creams, a mixture seductive and alluring.

There was a slight headache knocking at the back of her head. She exhaled, shutting her eyes. Her creamy skin was purple at her elbow and below her eyes. These scars had appeared two days ago after Ahmad had lost it over a simple question and thrown his tantrum by slamming her against the wall and sending a blow against her eye. Luckily, the blow had landed on her cheek.

She fought back tears, tears she refused to spill. She knew there were reasons to such hatred from her husband. She knew them vividly but chose to ignore them. There was no use crying over a spilled milk. Only if Fatimah had not died. But if Fatimah had lived, would she be able to take the pain, the negligence and the fact that abundance love would be granted to Fatimah and not her but at least, she won't be living under a roof like a slave and continue to receive beating that were not meant to be given.

As she buried herself in her thoughts, she moved a leg. A tear slipped and she had not chosen to wipe it away. She allowed it to flow. She knew there was no hope. There is no way out. Leaving meant ruining the relationship her father and Ahmad's father had. Her father would not want to do anything that would ruin his political career. She remembered the day Ahmad had hit her for the first time. She had called. She had wept on phone and what her father said was it was a misunderstanding between them and they should solve it. Her mother said she had to bear. For God's sake, Ahmad had hit her. He had slapped her and that's what her parents could tell her.

Haseenah rose her head upon hearing the honking of a car. It was familiar. The sound of a car driving into the compound led her to her feet. She glanced at the clock. The long hand had just clock ten and the short hand pointed at eleven. What kind of responsible man comes home eleven fifty in the night? She wiped away her tears.

"Welcome" She greeted collecting his bag. Ahmad had barely granted her a look. He breezed past her to take a seat on the sofa she had gotten up from. Haseenah sighed before shutting the door. She turned the lock and pulled the silky curtains together.