my father's thriller

the rejection

*CHAPTER 3: THE REJECTION*

I went inside my room and took my birth certificate and lazed down to sleep. Of course, that's what my dad wants us to be doing. Doing nothing. Just staying inside, sleeping, waking up to eat, and sleeping again.

I'm totally tired of begging him to allow me to go to university, even if it is polytechnic. I am 19 years old. First son of a rich, wealthy and famous trader, yet I am in my room holding my birth certificate like it is the only thing that proves I have a future.

I am tired. My mouth is tired of saying "Baba please." My knees are tired of kneeling. My heart is tired of hoping.

I slept off with my thought for a good three hours. It was not a sweet sleep. It was the kind of sleep where you are not really sleeping. You are just closing your eyes because you don't want to see the world again. My thoughts were too loud. School, shop, Baba, Rae, Ogo, everything was inside my head, turning around.

Then I woke up at the sound of a voice I knew. It was my sister. She was having a reckless argument with someone downstairs. Her voice was loud, angry. I have never heard her shout like that before. My sister is usually very quiet, very calm.

I looked at my time and it's about three hours I slept off. My body was still heavy. My eyes were still red. But I quickly stood up. I remembered my father's shop.

He assigned me to always look at his shop for him every hot afternoon. That time is when the market will be booming, especially as he's not there now. If I don't go, he will say I am disrespectful. He will say I am a useless son.

I went out to start going to my father's shop, when mommy called me for lunch.

"Akin! Come and eat!"

I was hungry. I have not eaten since morning. But I could not eat. If I eat now, I will be late to the shop. And if I am late, my father will have another reason to hate me.

"Mommy, I'll be right back," I told her. "I don't want daddy, my father to say I'm disrespecting him."

My mommy looked at me. She did not say anything. Her eyes were just sad. That kind of sadness that mothers have when they cannot protect their son. She nodded small and went inside.

I left the house and walked fast to the market. The Abuja sun was too hot. It was burning my head. My slippers were slapping the ground. People were looking at me as I was running. I did not care.

When I got there, I saw something that stopped my heart.

I saw Rae with the book I normally used to record. The big black ledger book. The one my father gave to me to write all the sales, all the customers, everything. It was always in my hand. It was the only proof that I am still his son, that I am still useful.

Rae was sitting on my chair. In my shop. Holding my book.

I rushed to her and said, "Olu, sorry I was late, thank you for helping me."

I thought she was just helping me because I was late. I thought she was being kind.

She just smiled at me. It was not a kind smile. It was a pity smile. That smile people give you when they know something you don't know.

Then she said, "Ogo called and said I should be doing it from today, not you or anyone anymore."

The world stopped.

I looked at her and asked, "My father?"

"Yes," she replied.

Her "yes" was very soft, but it hit me like a stone.

What did I do wrong? What have I done this time around again? I was asking myself, but my mouth was saying it out loud.

"Why Rae? Is everything going well with my dad and Rae? Why is she my dad's..."

I could not complete the sentence. My throat closed. My legs were shaking.

Why Rae? Of all people, why Rae? Rae does not even know how to record. Rae does not know the customers. Rae is just... Rae is my father's new girl? Is that it?

I stood there in front of the shop, in the hot sun, looking like a fool. Customers were passing. They were looking at me. Some of them knew me. "Ah, Alhaji's son," they used to say. Now they were looking at me with pity.

Rae stood up and closed the book. She said, "Akin, Oga said you should not come to the shop again for now. He said you should stay at home."

Stay at home. The same home where I was lazing down to sleep. The same home where there is no future.

That was the rejection. Not shouting. Not beating. Just one sentence: "You should not come to the shop again for now."

For now means forever. I know my . The sun was still hot, but I was not feeling it anymore. I was feeling cold inside.

My mommy saw me come back so early. She was still holding the plate of food.father.

I turned back. I did not argue with Rae. What can I argue? She is just doing what Ogo, my father, told her.

I walked back home slowly. Very slowly

"You are back?" she asked.

I did not answer. I went inside my room again. I took my birth certificate again. I looked at it. My name is there. Akin. 19 years old.

I am 19 years old and my father has removed me from his shop. He has removed me from his life. He wants me to be doing nothing. He wants me to just laze down and sleep.

But I will not sleep. Not again.

If he does not want me in his shop, I will find my own shop. If he does not want me in his house, I will find my own house. And if he does not allow me to go to university, I will sponsor myself.

This is the rejection, but this is also the beginning.