Bedtime Story-Episode Four

After the surprise party, later at night Christiana sat still on her bed staring at the painting Bayo made some years ago. The painting was beautiful and she knew it would have won the heart of so many people if only Bayo had the opportunity to exhibit such a beautiful artwork. His choice of colours was outstanding and the moral of the painting was thoughtful. The painting was about an old woman with many busy hands. She knew the painting was about his grandmother who worked round the clock just because of him. Tears filled her eyes as she remembered how hard Bayo's grandmother had worked just to give him a good life. She wondered, why had he chosen such a horrible lifestyle? She wished she could ask him why he ran away when her parents told him that she was pregnant. He should have stayed. If only he had stayed with her parents, he would have had a good life.

Without knocking her mother burst into the room smiling. Quickly, she put Bayo’s painting underneath her pillow. She had kept it safe from her parents’ wrath. She knew if they laid their eyes on it, they would destroy it instantly.

“Long life and prosperity to the beautiful and gorgeous daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Coker,” she said before she gave her a well wrapped gift. “This is from your Dad and I. We had a headache making a decision as we talked about what to give our darling daughter, one blessed with many things already,” she said as she watched Christiana unwrap her birthday present.

Christiana didn’t look surprised or excited as she stared at diamond earrings glittering from the jewellery box. Christiana’s mother was disappointed as she watched her daughter looking at the diamond earrings like they were nothing. She wished she could tell her that it was far more expensive than she could ever imagine. But she kept mute.

“Thanks mom,” she said after a brief silence. “I appreciate it a lot,” she said quickly when she took note of her mother’s dissatisfied look. “They are very beautiful and lovely,” she added and her mother wore a weak smile.

“How would you appreciate those earrings when on your finger is a more expensive diamond?” she said jokingly but Christiana didn’t smile. “You are such a lucky girl. You are fortunate to have very lovely parents, a lovely daughter and a charming fiancé. Dear, Tunde made your friends so envious of you by presenting you a car worth 20 million Naira. You need to see how your friends looked so jealous. If I wasn’t your mother, I would have been so jealous. In fact, I would have cried.” She laughed heartily, but her daughter kept a gloomy face.

“Mom, thanks for everything, the jewelries and the secret birthday party.”

“The secret birthday party was Tunde’s idea not ours,” she said quickly. “You should have showed more appreciation to him. You just kept a blank face throughout the party.” Christiana's mother looked very angry. She waited a while for Christiana to talk, but when she refused to talk she said, “What is wrong with you? What is your problem? You should be the happiest person on earth because you have everything before you even ask for them.”

“Mommy, I have not stopped thinking about him ever since I met him again,” she sighed. Christiana's mother looked irritated as she watched tears streaming down her flawless skin.

 “Him?” Christiana's mother pretended like she didn’t know who she was referring to. Christiana had told her about how she met Bayo again. Quickly, she told Christiana to forget Bayo and she said she wasn’t surprised that he grew up to be a thug.

“Bayo” Christiana replied and her mother hissed. She hissed again when Christiana mentioned his name again.

“You are such a silly girl,” she shrieked. “Yes!” She yelled when Christiana looked at her angrily. “After all he did to you, so you can still think about that useless thing. What is wrong with you?”

“Mom, you talk like he raped me. He is Honey’s father,” Christiana said quickly and her mother hissed again. “Regardless of who he has become, he is still her father.”

“Keep quiet!” Christiana's mother snapped. “You are such a stupid girl. If your father was here listening to you, he would have slapped you. Were you not the one that told me that he is now an area father of thugs? How would you call that wretched boy my baby’s father?”

“That hasn’t changed the fact that he is her biological father,” Christiana said candidly and her mother was short of words. She had no word to describe her daughter any longer. Her way of thinking was always too odd for her to comprehend. “We can help him get back the good life he threw away. If his grandmother was alive, he wouldn’t have become a street urchin.”

“Why do you so love to throw away any opportunity smiling at you?” she asked after a short-lived silence. “Sometimes I find it hard to believe that you are my daughter. How would you think about that boy without a future? You should be jumping on your feet at the golden opportunity that you have. Despite having a child outside wedlock, Tunde wants to marry you. Do you know there are so many men out there who would never marry a woman who has a child outside wedlock? Dear, don’t push away such bright prospect staring at your face.

“Mom, Bayo deserves to know that he has a child,” Christiana said softly.

“Keep quiet!”

Christiana started crying, this time, more profusely and her mother couldn’t just stand watching her baby cry, she had to loosen up her angry face. She rubbed her hands over Christiana’s round shoulders as she tried to pet her. “I know you love that boy, but he is of no good to you and our little girl. My love, sometimes we have to learn not to be controlled by our feelings. Love sometimes leads us astray and makes us take a very stupid decision. Love is not enough in this situation. You have to consider that wonderful girl that we have. Think about how she would feel if she realises that her father is a thug. I am very sure Bayo has been taking drugs for years. He might even be an ex-convict. He will never be a good father and our daughter deserves one. Remember that Tunde loves Honey so much and he had made a promise to love her like he is her father.”

“It will be very unfair to Bayo if we don’t tell him about Honey. I feel telling him would change his lifestyle,” Christiana said softly.

“Let me ask you a question. If you wake up one day and realise that your father isn’t your biological father, but instead, your father happens to be a poor, dirty and wretched man, in fact an ex-convict. Would you love me again? Eh? Would you want to leave all these fortune provided by your father for poverty?" There was an awkward silence for a moment, then words burst from her. "Would you love such a poor and wretched man? Answer me?”

 “Mommy, please stop that!” she said in between sobs.

“You’re crying, right? I am glad you now understand what your little girl would feel like when she realises she was fathered by a terrible and dirty man. So keep that precious girl away from that bastard. What he would bring upon her is just bad luck and abject poverty. He is bad luck. He is-”

“Alright!” She interjected. “Peradventure, there is a poor man out there who happens to be my father; I would love to know him.” A heavy and brooding silence crept into the room. The silence lingered for a while before it was interrupted by a slam of the room's door. After Christiana's mother left, Christiana felt a cloud of confusion settling on her head. She moped round her room as she played back every word her mother said. She was right to some extent. Honey wouldn’t feel good if she was ever told about Bayo. Tired of moping, she decided to go give her daughter a good night kiss, but to her surprise she found Honey staring into space.

.............................To be continued