More To It

Chapter 8- Plan

Zaynab

“So you want our help?“,Ibrahim asks.

“I guess”,I mumble.

He looks down at mommy who’s staring at the table with so much intensity.

“Mommy, what’s our next move? Should I call my boys in? And Malik can get his?“,he asks her.

She looks at him then her notes.

“No. We’re not going to do anything”,she puts her notes into her bag.

I scoff and shake my head.

“Wow. Is running away from everything just like, your thing?“,I ask her.

“No”,she replies sternly then looks up at me.

“We’re not doing anything. Because he knows he’s being watched. I can feel it. He’s looking around his surrounding each time. Which means we have to be extra careful. Any wrong move could be anyone’s life. Especially yours”.

“Oh”,I mumble.

“How can you tell that?“,Idris asks her.

She looks at him and raises an eyebrow.

“It’s what I do. Am used to it. You get a feeling each time” she replies.

“Is it fun?“,he asks her.

“Why all the questions?“,she asks.

“I think I wanna do what you do. It sounds cool”,he replies.

“Yeah?“.

He nods while smiling with excitement.

“Who’s he?“,Ibrahim whispers to mommy.

“Adelola and your father’s son, Idris”,she replies.

Ibrahim looks st daddy then mommy Adelola. He hums then ruffles his hair before turning around abruptly only to smash into Basha who instantly goes flying backwards but he quickly holds her around her waist catching her before she could hit the ground.

“Am sorry, I didn’t see you there”,he gasps.

Basha’s eyes widens but she doesn’t speak.

“You alright?“,he asks her.

“Mmm”she hums then nods towards her waist.

“Oh my bad”,he quickly moves his hand from her waist and helps her regain her stance.

They both clear their throats then she walks past him quickly and stands beside Aayan who raises an eyebrow as she looks down.

Ooo. I see them. Ooooh. They even look cute sef. But if am just months older than him then he’s like 28 now. Which means he’s about 3 years older than her. That’s cute.

“Mommy, I’ll be back”,he tells her but doesn’t wait for a reply before he rushes out of the room.

Well, anything else you need?“,mommy asks.

“When are we gonna get him back. You said soon, soon is over”,I mumble and groan lowly with my chins rested on my hands.

“I know. But, that was before all that happened two days ago. I lost track of him”.

“So when will I get him?“.

“I can’t say”,she sighs then her phone starts ringing. She looks at it and quickly puts her bag away then answers it.

“Yeah?“.

“What?! Weren’t you ke- no do one thing, wait. I’ll call you in a while”.

She hangs up then looks at Malik.

“Can you shut down any flights for today?“,she asks him.

“It has to be an emergency”.

“Well Abiodun is planning on leaving the country tonight. Is that an emergency?“.

“On it”he nods then he walks out of the house just as Ibrahim enters.

“I think I might know a way to take down Abiodun”,Ibrahim says.

“How so?“mommy asks while typing away on her phone furiously fast.

“I know him”.

Mommy puts down her phone and raises an eyebrow.

“How?“,we both ask him.

“We played ball together. I remember when I went to Detroit for a vacation with you and a few friends, remember”,he looks at mommy who nods.

“Yeah”, mommy nods.

“We were playing street basketball then this guys basically called me out. They said I was playing “bougie” ball. A fight nearly started but then Abiodun stepped in. He literally backed me up. We became sort of, friends since then. But we don’t talk. We know each other though”,he explains.

“Which is weird. The guy was so nice. He was cool to hang with”,he whispers.

“That’s great then. This what we’ll do. We’ll get a few of your men to enact the same scene again at the court close to his home. He always plays at around 7pm with his son. Y’all get there earlier. They’ll try gang up on your I guarantee Abiodun will jump in. He never has any of his men there. Its always him. Start a big scene, I mean screaming, you know what to do. But while all that goes down, one of your men should get his son, put him in the car and drive off. He won’t suspect that it’s tough because you’ll be in the fight too. Then he’s going to need YOUR help because you’re a cop and he knows that”,mommy explains to Ibrahim who smirks.

“And am going to help him, all the way to prison”,he finishes.

Mommy smiles then she throws her phone into her bag.

“You need backup?“,Malik asks her.

“not this time. Buuut we do need a fake license plate. Because Ibrahim is going to have to pretend to take a picture of the plate so Abiodun thinks he’s really on his side”.

“Cool, I’ll get you that in the morning then”,Malik tells Ibrahim who nods.

“Wait. Abiodun has his own private jet”,I let out.

“Are you serious? Why didn’t you say anything before? f**k”,Ibrahim mumbles then he starts typing on his phone.

“I just remembered....my bad”,I whisper.

He doesn’t reply, he just walks to the side and starts speaking.

“Do you know where he keeps it? Have you ever ridden it with him?“,Ibrahim asks me.

“Nah. But i- actually. I don’t know. He never tells me all that”.

Ibrahim mumbles to himself then resumes talking on the phone.

“Well damn then. Grumpy ass”,I mumble to myself and roll my eyes.

“s**t. I wonder where he got that attitude from”,Aayan fake gasps.

“Nigga shut up”,I push him away but he just chuckles along with the rest.

“They can’t cancel airports, passengers have boarded. And its a packed time today. It won’t be possible”,Malik explains to mommy.

“So what now?” I gasp.

I look at mommy who doesn’t say anything.

“Nothing?“,I whisper.

She doesn’t reply.

So am going to lose my baby, again? I might never see him. I want him. I want to hold him in my arms. I want to talk to him, tell him I love him. I want to take care of him. I want to hear him call me mommy. I want to finally name him. I can’t do all this if he’s with Abiodun.

“Zaynab”,Khalid pats my shoulder so I look at him.

“What?“.

“You okay?“.

“No”, I reply.

I walk towards the table and pick up my phone then scroll through my contact list. There it is. Abiodun.

I tap on it and let it ring.

As if expecting the call, he picks up almost immediately.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t Zaynab. I was wondering when you’d call. You don’t seem to care about your son. It’s a shame, isn’t it?”

“Abiodun. Lo-look. Whatever I did-”

“You want to see your son. Is that it?“.

“Can I? Please. Just, just once at least”,I whisper.

“Too bad. Anyways I’ll be kind to you since you did give birth to him. You can video call but that’s the closest you’re getting to him”

“Okay, sure”.

The screen switches on instantly and his face pops up. I put on my camera and sigh.

“Well, hello beautiful. Still looking as good as before”,he smirks.

“If you weren’t such an asshole, I’d take that as a compliment. And yeah, I know I am. You don’t have to tell me”,-Me

He chuckles then I hear a tiny voice from beside him.

“Daddy, is that mommy?“.

“Yeah, it is. She wants to talk to you”.

I breath out slowly as his head shows up next to Abiodun.

“Mommy”,he calls.

“Hey baby”,I smile as he starts waving.

“He knows me?“.

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t tell him did you?“,Abiodun fake gasps.

I smile then look at my son.

“What’s his name?“.

“Yousif”.

“Yousif. I picked that name”,I gasp loudly then look at Abiodun who smiles.

“I know”.

“You gave him a name I chose?“I smile.

“Well, least I could do since you not having him”,he shrugs.

“Hey Yousif”.

“Hi mommy. Are you going to visit soon?“,he asks me.

“I hope so”,I smile.

“Me and daddy are going to Barcelona today. Aren’t we daddy?“.

“We sure are”,Abiodun chuckles.

“You can come if you want”.

“I couldn’t”I whisper.

“You can come... Take the risk with me”,Abiodun smiles.

I tilt my head, suddenly feeling captivated by him again. What the hell is this guy on?

“Yousif. Go play somewhere. I need to talk to your dad”,I tell.him.

“Okay mommy. Love you”,.

I smile and reply.

“I love you too”.

He kisses Abiodun then jumps off his lap before disappearing away from the screen.

“Wassup?“,Abiodun looks at me.

“Can’t we share him? Do you have to completely take him from me?”

“You’re lucky I haven’t done you like I did Abeke and her daughter”.

“You mean, YOUR daughter? How do I even know that you won’t do the same to Yousif when you get mad? You know you can’t control yo s**t. What if you hurt him?“.

“Why the f**k would I hurt someone I’ve been craving for so long? The only reason y’all made me angry was because y’all couldn’t give me what I wanted. But then you, you made me happy. That’s why am sparing your life. But that doesn’t mean its permanent”,he adds.

“But hey. How about this, I’ll let you meet him physically if you can do one thing for me”.

“Which is?“,I ask.

“There’s something about you. I can’t quite place my finger on it...I just knew yo ass was special. And I can see that now. Am almost certain of what the outcome will be so bare me another child”,he leans back in his seat and smiles.

Fawaz and the rest of the boys scoff and shake their heads at his request.

“I can tell you’ve been drinking again”,I shake my head.

“Well, say bye to your son. You’re never meeting him”.

I frown and my jaws instantly drops.

“What kind of a sick request is that? Don’t you want anything else?“.

“Move back in with me as my wife”,he replies.

“God forbid”,I exclaim.

Aayan snickers then Abiodun raises an eyebrow.

“In that case. Goodbye Zaynab”.

“You know that friend of yours”,he starts.

“Which one?“,I ask him.

“Aaleyah is it?“.

I look at Aaleyah who furrows her eyebrows with confusion.

“What about her?“.

“Leave her a message for me will you?“.

“A message? You don’t even know her like that”.

“Yeah, but she’s been searching Dir answers for quite a while. About her father....I suppose?“.

“Her father? what do you know about the accident?“,I ask him.

“Your father should’ve been more observant of where he was going. I don’t wait for nobody. That should teach him a lesson next time”,he winks at me then hangs up.

“Wait. With wait- what?“,Aaleyah stutters.

“Abiodun caused daddy’s accident?“,she lets out.

I look from my phone to her then uncle who sighs.

“Oh, now we definitely have to find him”,she mumbles.

“What are you going to do even if we find him?“.

“I want him behind bars. What else?“,Aaleyah replies.

“Isn’t there anything you can do before he leaves?“,she turns to mommy.

“The only thing we can do is go in on him today itself. As in, now”,mommy replies.

“How dangerous is this?“,I ask her.

“I don’t know. If he isn’t expecting us, it could go smoothly, but considering how he’s always protected, I can’t be so sure”.

I look at her then Ibrahim and sigh.

“Can you do it?“,I whisper feeling guilty for asking her to risk her life for him.

“That’s what you want?“,she raises an eyebrow.

“I know it’s selfish. I just-”

“It’s not. If it’s what you want.... Then it can be done”,she replies.

“Really? You’d do it? For him?“.

“Hey, I’ve learned my lesson already. Risking mine instead isn’t something to be upset about. It’s what I should’ve done from day one. And am happy that I have another chance”,she whispers.

I look at her and frown.

I hug her instantly. I wrap my arms around her and close my eyes as I let her embrace me.

“You shouldn’t have left. You shouldn’t. But I forgive you, its not forgotten but I’d like for us to fix us”,I tell her.

She looks at me then smiles.

“Thank you”,she whispers and caresses my face before giving me a kiss. I smile then glance at Eniola who smiles a little.

“Good luck”,she tells mommy who hums.

“What do you need?“,Ibrahim asks mommy who’s typing on her phone.

“Just get your men ready, Malik, you too. Stay protected. But not too many. Get 2 from each team. Stay hidden and surround his house. He doesn’t know me so I’ll go to his house. We’ll go when his men are gone. In an hour or so”.

“What’s the plan though?“,Ibrahim asks her.

“You’ll introduce me to him. We’ll go for a visit. Am going to take the excuse of going to the bathroom while you talk to him. One of the boys will be outside waiting. Yousif spends his time in the game room so I’ll go there. Am going to have to get him unconscious, get him to one of the men, put inside the car, then go back. Once I give you the signal. We walk out. We can get this done easily and smoothly without him suspecting that it was us. If he doesn’t suspect it’s us then he should still ask you for help. And if he doesn’t and suspects us? Then we’ll deal with that later. But right now, getting Yousif out is our concern. If his son is missing, he ain’t going nowhere. So. Understand?“.

Both Malik and Ibrahim nod.

She picks up her bag and hums. “Keep us updated, yeah?“,I tell her.

“Mmm”,she hums then as she walks towards the door, she starts coughing.

“Hey, sit down”,Ibrahim tells her but she shakes her head.

“Its fine, am fine”,she whispers in a hoarse tone then she walks out of the room.

Ibrahim sighs and shakes his head.

“Is she okay?“,Eniola asks him.

“She’s supposed to be on bed rest. She’s still suffering from an attack”.

“Attack? What attack?“,daddy asks.

“Her last case, she got shot while saving a mother and child from some stalker who had them trapped in his basement. She passed through it but ever since then, she has difficulty breathing and just starts coughing out of nowhere. The doctor told her she was supposed to take a break. That’s what she was doing before y’all called her and assigned her this case. So now her main focus is saving you and your son. I just pray she nothing happens to her”,he whispers the last part to himself then sighs and rubs his face.

“Why didn’t you tell us before?“,I whisper.

“It’s not like y’all can do anything. You need your son. And mommy already feels guilty with y’all, she’ll die sit she has to saving y’all. There’s nobody that can talk her out of it. Believe me, I’ve tried”.

“Did you know about what she did before? Or did you just find out?“,I ask him.

“Nah, mom tells me everything. I already knew. She told me when I turned 13. I’ve known then, I kept asking her why she works so much and risk her life for people she doesn’t even know. That day, was the day she told me everything and why she does what she does. I knew she really regretted it. She’s trying. Just give her a chance”,he tells us then he glances at me, Eniola and daddy before walking out of the house with Malik behind him.

“Wow”,Mommy Adelola whispers.

“Wow, is right”,Eniola and I add.

“Well, she repented, asked for forgiveness. There’s really not much more she can do”,aunt Fatima shrugs.

“I actually like her. She’s a total badass”,Fawaz comments.

“True. I like her attitude too. It’s like of those women that her job well done in TV shows”,Aayan adds.

“Yeah?“.

“When we do have Yousif here...what exactly are you planning on telling him about the whereabouts of his dad? The boy has a solid, good, relationship with his father. So what exactly are you going to tell him?“,Khalid asks with his eyebrows raised.

“We’ll deal with it later”I shrug.

“You realize, there’s a chance that he might resent you for life....right?“.

“Why would he?“,I look at him.

“If he finds out that you’re responsible for his dad being in jail and for him being away from his dad. You’ll just get yourself a hateful son”.

“You know Khalid. It’s actually quite annoying to know that you’re not even the slightest bit happy or relieved that we’re finally getting him back”.

“That’s not what i-”

“No. Let me talk. You’re not, so don’t tell me you are. I’ve noticed that you don’t really seem into the search. Why? Because he’s not your son? Is that it?“,I snap with anger evident in my tone.

“Well he’s NOT my son. But that’s not it. Why wouldn’t I be relieved. Just because a not saying anything doesn’t mean am not”.

“You know what. It’s okay. Feel what you want”,I shrug and roll my eyes.

He doesn’t reply after this, he just sucks his teeth then stands up and walks past me and up the stairs into his room.

“Zaynab”,aunt Ameerah looks at me with a look of disapproval.

“What! He’s been like that”,I fold my arms.

“That was wrong, to just assume he doesn’t care. That’s actually disrespectful. It was wrong”,she tells me with a stern tone .

“But h-“.

“It was wrong”,she adds.

I don’t say anying to that. But I don’t make an attempt to follow Khalid. Basha did though, she runs up the stairs and into Khalid’s room.

“Really?“,Aayan looks at me.

I look away and don’t say anything.

“You’re actually such an ass”,he smacks my head.

“Yeah. So I’ve been told”,I mumble.