Battered Wife

17

I released him and reached for his phone, checking his gps activity with an app I'd introduced him to which was linked to Google map.

The last place he went to around 1pm when he went to get Adesewa was about 45 minutes away from his office. Holding his phone and ignoring his calls for me to come back, I ran to my car and retraced his steps to the previous location using the app's direction.

It took everything in me to tamp down my anxiety, fear and nausea as I drove to pick up Adesewa. On the trip there, I imagined all kind of things that Remi's mother could have done to her and even just the thought of the verbal bashing she would have had to endure felt like someone was squeezing my heart in my chest.

When I got there, I didn't need to do much of a search because I could hear my daughter crying from outside the gate.

"I want my mumy!"

"Se omo yi o ti ya were bayii? I said you should enter the house! Is it because your father said I shouldn't beat you that you think I won't beat you? Asake, get me the koboko, I'll teach this cursed girl a lesson today. Listen, you will never see your mother again without my permission." I heard Remi's mother curse as I pushed the gate open and walked into the compound.

As soon as I stepped into the compound, Remi's mother raised her face and stared at me. I pretended not to see the flicker of fear that flashed past her face. Instead, I walked to my daughter who was standing with her backpack on her back with her fair face scrunched up as she cried and kept asking for her mother.

I kneeled beside her and cupped her face. Her eyes were swollen and her nose was red and it broke my heart to see her that way.

"Mummy is here, oya stop crying." I said, forcing a smile on my face as I pulled her to her feet and into my arms, patting her back as her body started shaking back and forth with the force of her tears.

I turned to walk out of the gate with my daughter.

"Hey Omolola, where are you going with that child?! That's my son's child!" Remi's mother yelled.

I ignored her and took my daughter to my car, stopping to warn to her only once. "Titilayo Popoola, you and your son have better be careful. Don't let me see you around my daughter again ooo."

She must have seen something in my dark gaze because she didn't speak anymore. She just pursed her lips and watched me walk out of her gate with my daughter.

I sat in my car for a few minutes with Adesewa cradled in my arms while wondering what I wanted to do next. I considered taking her to my parent's house but it was already evening and we were both too exhausted to travel. It also didn't make sense for me to take her there and leave her there after the scare she just had.

My ringing phone interrupted my thought process.

"Hello." I answered, after confirming that Bisi was the caller. After all, Bisi was the only one I had informed that Remi had taken Adesewa away without my permission.

"Lola, have you found her?! I've been calling since but you stopped picking your calls after you went to Remi's office." Bisi asked and I smiled when I heard the anxiety in her voice.

Over and over again, Bisi always proved that she was the best friend anyone could have because my problems were always her problems.

"I'm sorry. I forgot to call you after I got the address from Remi. I just picked her up from one of Remi's houses in Ogun State." I said as I put Adesewa in the passenger's seat beside me.

"Oh, thank God. What happened exactly gangan. Why did Remi go and pick her up from school when he has never done that before?" She asked.

I connected my phone to my ear piece and plopped it in my ear as I answered her. "He wanted me to sign a divorce agreement giving him full custody of Adesewa."

"Ehn ehn. This guy is a bastard o. If we had known that time in school, we would have used broom to chase him out of the hostel."

Her words made me chuckle and shake my head at the same time as I started my car and started driving out of Iroko Town. "We're driving back to town now. I'll probably get a room at the hotel near continental. We'll sleep there and I'll bring Adesewa to stay with you in the morning. After work, I'll come and pick her up and go and check the place in Magodo."

"Alright now. Oya just go and rest. Both of you should take a bath, eat and sleep well. Won't you go and get clothes at your house?" she asked.

"No, I put a box of clothes and necessities for both of us in my boot since the day Remi said he will make me regret choosing to divorce him."

"Alright, then you'll be fine. Call me after you guys are done bathing and have started eating." she said.

"No problem," I agreed with a smile and ended the call thanking her for being my friend. "Ose gan ore mi."

"What are friends for?" She asked before cutting the call.