HE SAID NO.
EPISODE 26
“Tobi, hurry up, or I’ll leave you at home,”
“No no, I will follow you,” Tobi stuttered with a mouth stuffed with noodles.
Mrs. Grace Akinwale was trying to tidy up her kitchen before leaving for Gateway radio, where she got a job as a radio presenter. It was her second week of working with them and she had never been happier.
Although her mum had been pestering her to go back to her husband’s house, she refused blatantly and even started avoiding her. If not for the new job she got which made it compulsory for her to drop Tobi at her shop on weekends, her mom wouldn’t have had the privilege of seeing her often.
However, her brother, Daniel, had been super-supportive, morally, and financially. He encouraged her to take a shoot at her long-lost dream of being a presenter after she told him that she was thinking of getting a shop like her mom.
“You can do this sis, please give it a trial. It’s better if they reject you than canceling out yourself on this.” Her brother had said.
“I’ll think about it,” she had answered reluctantly.
She felt like no one would want to try someone who had been out of the show for years when there were more qualified and experienced people.
After a series of unsuccessful applications to different TV stations, which she would have preferred, she decided to try radio stations and Gateway radio finally came through. She was thankful that she gave gateway radio a trial, all thanks to her brother. The pay wasn’t all that much but she felt satisfied knowing that she had the freedom to go out and do her thing.
Daniel supported her with money every now and then and has promised to keep doing so till she finds her feet.
Like she does on weekend, she decided to drop her son off at her mom’s place before heading to work.
It’s been more than three months since she left home. She ruminated on how peaceful her life had been since she left her violent husband and encountered Jesus, although she could not deny the fact that she missed her husband, who of late had been messing with her thoughts.
He had tried to reach her, but she had blocked him off on all corners, both online and offline, refusing to talk to him while rejecting his money gifts. She even made sure that her mum didn’t know where she lived to ensure that her husband does not discover her newly found safe haven. Whenever Grace suggested she forgives him, she would say,
“I have forgiven him, I just want to keep him at arm’s length for now, “
She just didn’t want to have anything to do with him.
However, just the night before, she dreamt and saw her husband jumping into a dark bottomless pit in spite of her shouting and incessant pull-backs, she was scared to her teeth.
Even though she was not ready to go back to him, she didn’t want him dead either, she prayed about him immediately she woke up and she felt a strong nudging in her heart to go and see him, she had been trying to fight it but it got stronger as the clock ticked.
“I don’t want to set my eyes on that man ever again,” she shrugged as she mopped her hands with the kitchen napkin.
“But I have forgiven him,” she comforted herself before heading back to the sitting room to meet her son, who was already done eating.
“Go get your shoes,” she instructed as he ran into the room excitedly.
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Grace had just finished anchoring a program tagged ‘Gateway lunch time out’ when she was notified by one of the staffs that her phone had been ringing non-stop for hours, she apologized profusely for not putting her phone on silent mode before she looked for a quiet corner to sit, so return could return her calls, she had 10 missed calls from up to 3 unsaved numbers,
“Hello…Yes this is Mrs. Akinwale, may I know who I am speaking to” she answered.
“Yes, this is Doctor James and I am calling from Apata General Hospital, your husband was rushed here yesternight after having attempted suicide and he is in a critical state now, “
“Jesus!!” Mrs. Grace screamed as she stood up in an instant, “What happened to my husband, hope he is not dead, can I speak to him. Please doctor, don’t tell me that he is dead, ” she ranted, sounding perturbed and disorganized.
“We are trying our best to make sure that it does not happen but he is currently in the ICU and we would need your attention as…”
“I would be there right away, I’m on my way!” She cut in, as she hurried to her office, which she shared with few other radio presenters. She felt a rush of adrenaline sweep through her veins, she suddenly started to feel pressed while sweating at the same instant.
“Oh God! Oh God! What have I done?” She lamented full of regrets. She headed straight for the office of her senior colleague to seek for permission to leave the station and also to have another person take her place for her evening broadcast. She didn’t meet him on seat and she didn’t have the luxury of time to wait.
She walked out of the radio station like someone who was stepping in hot coals,
“I have killed my husband!” She said the anxiety in her voice was palpable. “I should have gone to see him yesterday! I should have just listened to God! Ah!” She shook, biting her lower lip.
She decided to call Grace, she tried her number a couple of times without response before opting for a text.
As she hopped on a bike, her weaves danced in the wind as her heart raced at the same pace, “Who do I call? Father please have mercy on Wale, have mercy on me! Ah! If anything happens to him, I won’t forgive myself. ”
Written by Sodamade Olamide Tolulope.
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