Near Miss

FIFTEEN

The investigators at the safe house have it on good authority that Kayode is hiding in South Africa at one of his father’s many properties around the world. The delicate nature of the investigation requires that they do not attempt to make a move on him while he is out of the country. The Senator has the resources to make him disappear. The strategy is simple; stay quiet until he feels comfortable enough to return home and grab him at the airport. It was not going to be a long wait; however, they were glad for the time in which Poju could recover and get stronger. Interestingly, he was recovering faster than Saake who had two bullet lodged in him when he was found. For Poju, the events of the past couple of days have been surreal. He feels like he had been trapped in an episode of 24, but with much less finesse. The moment Kayode gets arrested; all the senator’s resources will the harnessed to attempt to kill the case. The police were ready for every possible contingency.

She is ashamed of it and cannot admit it to a soul but she feels a sense of relief, not at Poju’s death but at the reality of not spending the rest of her life married to him. Finally, she is sure that Seyi feels about her the same way she feels about him. Her reaction to his declaration of love was a bit over the top, but what did he expect haven held out on her even when she was certain that she showed her feelings?

Despite the slap Morenike did not expect that he would just leave like that. All eyes were on them and there was no way she could stop him from leaving after such a display. What kind person would her family think she is if she allowed herself to be swept off her feet by another man soon after the death of her husband to be? This seems like a terrible nightmare from which she hoped to awake.

Where will she go from here? How long will she play out the script of the perfect child to her own detriment?

Morenike spends nights thinking about a way out of this quagmire that her life has become. She loves Seyi and he loves her; but she may have just pushed him away in her misery. There are many people around her watching her like a bomb. She cannot betray her feelings and she can certainly not go looking for Seyi. Her phone is not even with her. Surely something will have to give.

It is now safe to say that the time for panic has finally come. Every bill from the crèche, to utilities is due and there is no cash to purchase food, toiletries and other basic necessities for Datare and her baby. She went over all the places she had been and begged for a job, anything. She made endless phone calls and yet, nothing. Through her struggles she had been strong, but tonight she could not hold back her frustration. Hot tears flowed and so did thoughts she had not imagined would cross her mind. Before these thoughts could take root, there was a knock on the door. Datare had no visitors because she did not want the reality of her life to be obvious to any of the neighbors. It was clear that it might be Ken at the door because the nurse had already come. There was no fight left in her. She opened the door gently.

“Hi”. This time he had more colour on his skinny frame.

“Hi”. Was all she said really curious to find out what he wants.

“You have been crying.”

“I have a lot to cry about.”

“Dat, I am so sorry”

“No, you are not.”

“I am and I have gone to get help.”

“Good for you. What do you want Ken?”

“I came to Help.”

That was a surprise to Datare and at that moment could not make light of the prospect of help.

“How is the Baby?”

“Hope. That’s her name.”

“How is Hope?”

“She is fine. Would you like to come in?”

“No, I have to get back to the rehabilitation center to complete my cleansing. I forced my way out of there to get this to you.”He handed her a bunch of rolled hundred dollar bills.

“I borrowed it from a friend. I thought that by now you must have run out of money.” Datare said nothing. She simply collected the money with great relief.

“Take this, go to that address and talk to a guy named Stan. He is the manager of a hotel at down town Manhattan. He owes me a favour and promised to find a job for you. It is just till I recover Dat. When I come home you will not have to work another day”

“Don’t make promises you cannot keep Ken.”

“I’ll sure try. Good bye Dat.” She watched him walk down to the elevator and disappeared behind its doors. One look at the cash in her grasp, she shut door quickly and thanked God profusely.

Seyi endured an evening of dinner and banter at uncle D’s, where his uncle who is unaware of his challenges reminded him that he may be too focused on his modeling to remember that he is getting much older and should make concerted efforts to settle down. Seyi smiled but hurried out of there. As usual there was no time to sulk. Something big was going down at the agency and everyone was summoned to the office. From the corridors of the agency, before Seyi could see the manager, he had already picked up the rumor about overseas job. Before long they were all gathered into the conference room where the rumor was confirmed. For the first time in the history of the agency, their models will be participating in the New York fashion week. The agency and its models have about twenty eight days to prepare for the event that is in a month. They are scheduled to be in New York a few days before the shows kick off as usual to settle in properly and meet with various designers.

The excitement was not enough to bring Seyi out of his murk. He had never stopped kicking himself for that seriously wrong turn of events.

What are the odds that the killer at the ocean view resort just happened to be a person that only he could identify? He could not possibly have kept quiet in the light of his discovery. He decided within himself that he made the right decision to go to the police with his information. The unfortunate thing is Poju’s death and there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation. Despite the undesirable turn of event, Seyi is glad that Morenike will not have to resign herself to a life without love. One good thing that happened when he went to her place is that she admitted that she loved him. He decided to focus on that and give Morenike some time to grieve. He also needs time to recover from his embarrassment and worry before he starts losing hair.

A more relaxed Datare waited at the reception of the hotel to see Stan. She dropped Hope off at the crèche, ran around to pay some bills and put herself in a good frame of mind to make a lasting impression on Stan. She waited for longer than she expected to but eventually she saw a man walk towards her.

“Hello Datare.” He said stretching a hand towards her. Datare almost laugh at the way he called her name.

“Hi, Stan?” she took his hand.

“Yes. Please come with me.” They went into an elevator down into a service area of the Hotel. There was a flurry of activities around which they meandered to arrive at Stan’s office.  

“Ken is an old friend of mine and it is my pleasure to help in any way I can. The position that is available now is within the janitor’s team; however, what I need you to do really is take care of our aesthetic elements. The hotel prides itself in its vast collection of paintings sculptures and pictures. Even though the department has not been created yet, we need someone with experience to care for our art.” Datare listened carefully and nodded appropriately, glad that she will not be scrubbing toilets.

“We actually have a room where old paintings are stored and new works kept. It will be interesting to see what you can do with those. An area will be cleared for you within the room.”

“Thank you.”

“The first thing I will expect is an account of all the works both displayed and stored. We would like to know the actual number of the works that are still good and those that should be discarded.”

They talked for a few more minutes till he could no longer ignore the calls for his attention. He quickly called another young man to take Datare through the hotel to learn her way around. By the time Datare was able to take a breather it was almost the end of the day’s work. Her legs were numb but she was beyond happy. It is doing what she did at their own gallery, only on a massive scale, without the pressure of making sales. Even if ken recovers and comes home, she determined that she will keep this job.