Paid in full

Part 11

   Tanoma had driven like a mad woman for two nights_only stopping at small motels to sleep and refresh herself and allow Hana to stretch her legs and sleep on a proper bed.

   It was already late evening and she was finally yards from her father's house in kazaure, Kano State.

Many things had changed in this colorful market like town, thought Tanoma to herself as she observed from behind a massive Dongoyaro tree that faced her parents compound, well.,many things except the flies, as she waved several away from her daughter who stood very close to her.

  New buildings and and even a lovely red brick hotel, had sprouted where once stood two neighbors' houses .
She had even noticed more banks and supermarkets as she entered the town's borders.

"What are we doing here mummy?," Hana sighed patiently, waving two houseflies away from her face and hoping they would soon go into the house her mother kept spying at.

Still her mother said nothing,

Tanoma glanced lovingly at her only child. She hoped desperately that her parents would welcome her back, ..or at least Hana.

  Mama would welcome them with open arms but her father was another matter all together.They both had the same temperament, they were both stubborn and strong willed.

Ever since she met Olumide and introduced him to both her parents, father and daughter began to quarrel with each other.
   Neither backing down for the other. Especially her marriage to a Yoruba, which had finally broken the camel's back.

They had parted ways badly, but she still loved him dearly and had missed him and Mama terribly. And now, she needed them more than ever.
        *****

     Anger and Malice gleefully played with the woman's mind, digging their horrendous talons into her head.They were trying their best to steer her away from any source of help.

It would be better if they could have her to themselves in a lonely hotel somewhere_feeling sorry for herself.
  Maybe if they twisted her mind deeper, who knows.., she might even want to end it all.

Their Lord, Bar-muel,  would be so proud of them. But then the two evil spirits knew they had the two angels behind them to contend with.

Instinctively, Tanoma grabbed her daughter's hand and made her way towards the truck she had parked in front of an old Mortgage bank barely thirty yards from her old home.

Two minutes later,Tanoma sat in the back seat of the truck with her Hana out of breath from trying to match her mother's quick steps foot for foot.

The girl was worn out from the mystery going on. And now, her mother was crying softly.

"Don't worry mummy, daddy will come and look for us", Hana said soothingly, as she placed her small hands around her mother.

Tanoma smiled sadly as she hugging her daughter back . If only this innocent lovely child knew her father didn't want her and thought her a bastard.

Suddenly there was a soft rapping on the glass window beside Hana's door, which made both of them jump.

Hana could make out an old man's slightly bent frame, standing outside the car. Funny thing was, he looked so much like mummy,..especially the eyes .

"Wow mummy! the man outside kinda looks like you" Hana said, as she glanced back at her mother who sat with her mouth agape in total shock.

How did he know she was here, ..when did he even see her ?