More To It

Chapter 15- Don't Worry

Zaynab

“Everything okay?“,daddy asks me as I take a seat beside Aaleyah who’s feeding Amir some milk.

“Yeah, the babies are healthy. Said I might experience labour around 37 weeks instead of the full 40 weeks because am carrying twins. Or it could be earlier. But they’re okay though”.

“Ah Alhamdulilah, that’s good”,he whispers.

“Yeah”.

“And Abiodun?“.

“He came, he was even early sef. I met him there”,I chuckle.

“Yeah?“.

“Yeah, he’s happy.... He even started planning on the baby rooms already. But obviously am not staying with him so he’s thinking of paying for all the decorations and set up for their rooms. Since there’s not much room at home and I can’t live with Khalid anymore because of the divorce, he wants to get me my own place. Said he wants to pay for it and everything else. He wouldn’t even take no for an answer so I ended up agreeing”.

“Mmm I pray that he really is changing for the better”,Daddy whispers.

“Yeah....me too”.

“And Khalid? Have you spoken to him?“,uncle Yaqub asks me.

“Uh, not really. Whenever he comes home, he just goes straight into the guest room and locks himself there. He doesn’t even eat anything I make, I think he eats out then”.

“Everything will work itself out InshAllah”.

I nod then look towards Aamanee who’s patting Aamil’s butt so he could go to sleep.

“So you’re moving out?“,Fawaz looks at me.

“Well I have to. B-“.

My phone starts ringing cutting me off what I was going to say. I pick it up and Abiodun’s name flashes repeatedly so I accept the call.

Phone conversation

Me: hey, wassup?

Him: quick question, would you mind if I dropped by like randomly to meet my kids though? Or do I have to always call?

Me: bruh, they ain’t even here yet....calmmmmm

Him: STILL. Oh and am outside with the kids, can someone open up?

Me: oh okay, I’ll tell Aremu to come open up. Don’t press the bell, Aamanee is trying to put Aamil to sleep

Him: wasn’t gonna anyways, why you think I called you

Me: yeah, yeah. Don’t try to be smart

Him: *chuckles* hard to NOT with you

Me: you’re actually such an ass like. What is this? Insult Zaynab month?

Him: that should totally be an holiday, ya feel meeee

Me: you’re stupid. Just come in, Aremu already went to open up

Him: yeah, am literally at the door

He hangs up just as the door opens revealing Aremu, Salma, and Abiodun who has a Yousif in his arms.

“How was your outing?“,Aamanee asks Salma who smiles with excitement.

“I had fun, am tired. I want to go to bed”,she yawns.

“Aw that’s nice”,everyone smiles as she gets on her tippy toes to kiss Abiodun who had to bend low for it.

He smiles and ruffles her hair as she runs up the stairs.

“Daddy, are you staying?“,Yousif asks him.

“Nah, got work. You go to bed, yo ass been complaining the entire ride here”,Abiodun puts Yousif down.

“Why not stay over? The rest will be here soon, we’re having dinner together”,aunt Fatima tells Abiodun who looks at her then raises an eyebrow with confusion.

“Me?“.

“Yes you! I hope you fancy some jollof rice because that’s what we cooked”,she tells him.

“Ummm”,Abiodun trails off and looks at me with confusion written all over his face.

“Why are you being nice to me? I cripples your husband”,he tells her.

“Yeah, I know. You’re trying to be better. That’s all that matters, and I can see, you’re doing a good job at it too”,she says.

“I am?“.

Aunt smiles and nods. Abiodun looks away but I swear I saw a smile.

“Stay”,I tell him.

“Yeah, I can’t. I got a surgery in like 30 minutes”,he says checking his watch.

“A what?“,Aaleyah leans back in her chair with confusion.

“A surgery. You know, cutting people open and fixing their s**t?“,Abiodun says slowly for her.

“I know what a surgery is. But I didn’t know you were a doctor. I thought you faked the whole optician thing?“.

“I did. Am not an optician. Am a surgeon”,Abiodun shrugs as if the lie wasn’t just an expensive one. The f**k is wrong with this dude like.

“You? A surgeon?“,Fawaz adds.

“I know. Am shocked too. But the hospital seem to not want to let me to. It happens, when you’re just too good in your work. Ya’know”,he winks at Fawaz who rolls his eyes.

“Oh my God. Can I like, tell you something?“,Aaleyah asks him.

“I don’t trust you. Of all people here. I think you want me dead the most”,Abiodun replies which just made everyone laugh while Aaleyah rolls her eyes.

“Come”,she tells him.

He sighs then bends down a lil towards her. She pulls him further towards her and whispers in his ear.

The f**k is she telling him? He looks calm so it must be something important? Well it has to be if she doesn’t want the rest of us to hear it.

She moves away from him and smiles a little.

“I don’t know. Am quite surprised, you think you can trust me to do it. What of I kill him right at the surgery table?“,he asks her.

“I know you won’t. I don’t like you forreal forreal. But I trust you not to”,she tells him.

He stares at her for a few seconds then titls his head and looks at uncle Usman.

“What?“.

“Well if he wants, you have my number. The table is available at any time”,he tells her.

“Really?“,she smiles.

“I did cause it. And also did sabotage the last surgery he had soooo-”

“What do you mean by sabotage?“,uncle asks him.

“Well, the surgery could’ve worked, who knows, but I was asked to step in. I knew it was y’all, sooooo, last minute. I ain’t show up, they had to use someone else who *scoffs* clearly didn’t know what he was doing. Which I knew beforehand. That’s why I canceled last minute”

“Why would you do such a thing? Do you know how expensive that surgery was?“,Aaleyah raises an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, um I sucked so that’s one reason. And second reason is, you had 20 percent chance of it actually working which means you would’ve been in immense pain for months for no damn reason. The hospital just tells patients that they have a 90 percent chance so that they’d agree to the operation but none of it has actually worked. So in a way, I saved you from months of pain. But then again, I caused the pain in the first place. So if you’re up for taking the risk, I’ll perform your surgery. Whenever you’re ready”,he tells uncle.

“Why would you do that?“,aunt Fatima asks him with a small gasp escaping her lips.

“Well honestly at first I felt bad. But then I didn’t care but then you asked me to have dinner with you and I was like, you’re actually not that bad so I felt bad all over again. So yeah. Bottom line, I feel bad”.

“You surprise me, EVERYTIME”,Fawaz whispers.

“Am surprising myself too with all these nice s**t”,Abiodun groans lowly.

“But what’s the chances that he’ll be able to actually walk again?“,uncle Yaqub asks Abiodun.

“If am to lie to you then I’d say 90 percent chance. And if am to tell you the truth then I’d say you have about 60 percent chance of walking again. But that’s only because am not actually sure what else they did to you on that table. So I’ll have to do a check up first, after that, we can try the surgery”.

“And the expenses? How much would it be?“,aunt asks him.

He looks at her and hums.

“It’s ight. Free of charge”,he says.

My eyes literally bulge out at his reply.

“Free of charge?“,Aaleyah gasps.

“I don’t need the money. I feel bad so it won’t help me if I take your money now will it? Plus if am doing a good job at being good, then this just makes me amazing. Eh?“.

I chuckle and nod which made him smile a little.

“Just come by tomorrow morning for the check up and we’ll go from there”,he tells uncle who nods slowly.

“I don’t think there’s any point. It’s okay”,uncle sighs.

“What? Dad? There’s a chance that it could work”,Aaleyah tells him.

“Yeah, A CHANCE. It’s what I’ve heard from the 1st, 2nd and 5th surgeon. All I gain is extra pain each time”,he shakes his head.

“But dad”,Aaleyah frowns.

I look at Abiodun who checks his watch.

“Have you heard of Merrion Road?“.

“The best surgery in Ireland? Yeah, but that place is MAD EXPENSIVE. We’d have to be EXTREMELY lucky to even get one of the surgeons to look at our case”,Aaleyah nods.

“Yeah? And you’ve heard of Dr Hakeem?“,he asks.

“The surgeon that performed the spine-cord stimulation for a 91 year old patient who ended up walking again? Yeah? Obviously. Who doesn’t. He’s weird though, there’s not one single picture of him on their site”,Aamanee nods.

“Yeah that’s because he hates pictures”,he says.

“Yeah, like you’d ever know about him”,Aaleyah scoffs.

Abiodun turns to her with an amused smile.

“I don’t have to know about him. s**t, I know everything about him. From his birth to where he is now”,he chuckles.

“Aren’t you a creep”,I scoff.

“Yeah, big creep. Considering that I AM DR HAKEEM”,he says loud enough for us to hear.

“What?“,Aaleyah who was walking towards the kitchen stumbles back and holds her chest.

“Come again?“,aunt Fatima raises an eyebrow at Abiodun who hums.

“Hakeem is my first name. My full name is Hakeem Abiodun Adebisi. But I use Hakeem for professional s**t. Abiodun for other s**t”

“Abiodun, you’d be the biggest asshole ever if you tell us you’re lying”,Aaleyah whispers.

“Am not lying. Look”,he sticks his hand into his shirt then takes out his certified surgeon card with his name and face on it.

“Why didn’t you say anything?“,Aayan and Fawaz gasp.

“I don’t mix professional life with personal life. Nobody knows what my professional life is....well except y’all now”,he shrugs.

“You some dumb ass nigga. Who would’ve thought that you had a decent job”,Fawaz shakes his head which made Abiodun chuckle lightly.

“Your case is to do with your spine. Right? You developed a spinal cord injury after the accident. I’ve had many similar cases before. And you can check the hospital site, 8 of 10 of my patients are now back to their regular self. So, if you’re not scared that I could kill you under the knife, I think it’s safe to say. You have a high chance of walking again. That’s if you want it”,he tells uncle Usman who sucks in some air then releases it.

“What time?“,he asks Abiodun.

“10. You should be able to go home the same day”,Abiodun tells him.

“Yeah? What about the after surgery effect?“,uncle asks him.

“Am not gonna lie, you’re gonna be in pain for the first month or so. But you’ll have to be going physio to help with the pain. In less than 6 months, you should be walking. But after the surgery, don’t use the wheelchair. Most patients get too attached to it and find themselves giving up easily because they’re no longer used to being on their feet. But if you want a fast result, you have to throw that wheelchair away and walk. If you go with the physio like you should, it shouldn’t take even 3 months”.

“Wow. Okay”,uncle whispers.

“I don’t know Malik leave me alone”,Khalid pushes a laughing Malik into the room then chuckles himself but that soon disappears when he sees Abiodun.

“Sup man”,Malik nods at Abiodun who hums.

“Abiodun is actually a surgeon”,Fawaz tells the boys.

“You’re messing right?“,Khalid raises an eyebrow and sits beside Aayan.

“Nah. He’s going to perform uncle Usman’s surgery tomorrow. He has about 90 percent chance of walking again”,Fawaz nods.

“Really? That’s awesome”,Malik smiles.

“Just don’t kill him”,Khalid mumbles to himself but we all heard.

“Salty much?“,Abiodun smirks.

Khalid rolls his eyes then resumes talking to Aayan.

“Okay, am late. Go-“.

The doorbell starts ringing loudly and repeatedly cutting him off.

“Who the actual heck is that now”,Idris groans loudly and stands up. He walks out of the room just as Yousif runs back into the room and clings onto Abiodun who smiles and picks him up.

“I gotta go lil man but I’ll see you tomorrow”,he tells Yousif who smiles and nods.

“Okay. I love you daddy”.

“I lo-“.

The door bursts open and two cops rush in aiming their guns at Abiodun.

“Abiodun Adebisi?“,officer.... Jackson asks.

“Yeah? Wassup?“,Abiodun raises an eyebrow.

“What did he do?“,I ask the cops and stand up along with everyone else.

“What did you do abiodun?“,I whisper yell at him as the cops push him against the wall.

“I didn’t do nothing. Well not since I left the hospital”,Abiodun replies.

“Wait, wait. Officer. What’s going on?“,dad asks the cops.

“We got a call from a hidden source that this man is responsible for the deaths of Zara, Abeke and Abisola Adebisi. There’s a legitimate proof that proves this statement correct”,officer Parkinson replies.

“What?“,I gasp.

“Okay. Wait. Just chill. Am not even struggling”,Abiodun tells the cops.

“Don’t say anything. Whatever you have to say can be said at the station. So think carefully because whatever you DO or SAY will be held against you in court”,officer Jackson tells him.

“LEAVE DADDY ALONE”,Yousif cries and tries to get to Abiodun but the officer moves back causing Yousif to hit the floor.

“Hey”I pick him up instantly and hug him close to my chest.

“Did you just push my son?“,Abiodun turns to officer Parkinson.

“Abiodun. Don’t do anything please”,I tell him.

“No. No. Did you just push him?“,Abiodun pushes officer Jackson off him then slams officer Parkinson into the wall.

“I WILL SHOOT!“,officer Jackson screams with his gun aimed at Abiodun’s head.

“Take a shot”,Abiodun tells him.

“Look, am sure there’s a misunderstanding. Where did you get such a call from?“,Malik asks the officers.

“As I mentioned beforehand, it was from an unknown source. A CD was delivered to us, showing him confessing to his crimes and also beating up his ex wife, while his son watched”,officer Jackson tells Malik.

“What?“,I look around at everyone. It doesn’t make sense. We were the only one to have that CD. So who could’ve reported?

My gaze lands on Khalid who’s staring at the scene then he looks out the window and let’s out what seems like a sigh of relief. He couldn’t have.....Khalid wouldn’t do that. Abiodun was just getting better. He was being a good father to BOTH his kids. He was getting better.

“I ain’t struggling. Nigga calm. Let’s go but don’t pull me, I ain’t with that type of s**t”,Abiodun warns the officers. They loosen their hold on him and he looks down at Yousif and frowns then looks away as the cops drag him out of the house.

“What the f**k was that? I swear we was the only one that had that CD. Or did he give it to anyone else besides us?“,Malik whispers.

“No”,I answer with an edge to my tone.

“Did YOU report?“,Fawaz looks at me.

“Course not. If I wanted to do that, I would’ve done it ages ago. But I think I might know WHO”.

I turn around and face Khalid who looks over and raises an eyebrow.

“Khalid? You?“,everyone gasps loudly.

“You reported? Khalid why? He was just changing. He was getting better. Why did you have to report”,his mom asks him.

“He was changing? Really? Was he?“,Khalid mumbles.

“You bastard”,I throw my phone right at him smacking him right on his forehead.

“What the f**k!“,he yells and holds his face with pain.

“HE WAS CHANGING KHALID. HE WAS JUST STARTING TO GET WHAT BEING A SANS PERSON WAS. HE WAS DOING GOOD. HE WAS SPENDING TIME WITH NOT JUST YOUSIF BUT ALSO SALMA TOO. SHE WAS HAPPY. THEY WERE HAPPY. I WAS HAPPY. WHY WOULD YOU f**k THIS UP BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID EGO? YOU LEFT AND STILL HAD THE AUDACITY TO f**k SOMETHING ELSE UP?“,I scream at him with tears sliding down my cheeks.

He doesn’t say anything but by the look on his face, I could tell he regretted it but his stupid ego won’t let him apologize. And honestly, I don’t need his pathetic apology.

“He was happy Khalid. It doesn’t matter what he’d done in the past. He was starting to get what a loving family was. He really was. I seen how happy he’s been lately. He was actually being a good person. And you go and ruin it? For what exactly? Because am not carrying your child? Is that it? Or what exactly? Because right now am trying to get some sense of what the reason is. I don’t even know who’s more worse anymore. Him and you. After this? You win the prize. FIRST f*****g PLACE”,I throw his stupid wedding ring at him then storm out of the room. I make my way out of the house and get in my car. I start the car and pull off instantly.