"What do you mean someone came here to pick her up? Did I instruct you to hand her over to someone else?" Yetunde yelled.
Olumide propped his elbow on his lap and placed his head in the centre of his palm while he watched the drama between Yetunde and the security man. He'd waited for over an hour before she arrived in the red Toyota Yaris that his father had gifted her when she finished her drug therapy.
He'd felt it was a little too excessive of a gift for her to stop what she needed to for the good of those around her. But he didn't say anything to the man. In a way, he felt like his father was compensating for the loss of Muyiwa.
He turned to Modupe who sat beside him as she licked the last scoop of ice cream off the white plastic spoon. "Are you done?"
"Yes." She nodded and crumped the oily paper that the fried potatoes had come in. She threw the paper into the mini-ice cream cup and placed it on the bench. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." He beamed at her.
Even the food delivery man had arrived faster than Yetunde. At the time, he'd been too worried to eat his own food and now he was sure that the ice cream had melted by now. He was tempted to bring it out of the nylon and eat it while Yetunde screamed off her head.
"Ma, it's your brother that asked me to let Modupe go." The security man yelled.
"Which brother?" Yetunde screamed, pointing her long nails in the man's face. "Is it the one that is in Venice? How would he know who came to pick her?"
"Can we go and meet aunty Yetti now?" Modupe asked.
"No. Just wait." He said.
Modupe swung her legs back and forth as her feet did not quite reach the grass. "Are you mad at her?"
He dropped his palm. "Why would I be?"
She shrugged. "That's what she told mummy yesterday."
Olumide released air from his lungs as he tried to check whatever anger he was exhibiting that the child could pick up on. "No, I'm not mad at her. I'm mad at myself."
"I swear, I'll kill you today. How can you tell me Olumide came here? Do you know who he is? Do you know how busy he is?"
"Miss—"
Yetunde cut off the man as her hands grabbed his shirt. She cried, as she stomped. "You've given my child to kidnappers oh!"
"I asked him the magic question your brother gave. I—"
"Let's go now." Olumide grabbed Modupe's hand and led the way back to the school gate. She skipped beside him, touching the tall grass with the tips fingers and smiling as they went along.
He cleared his throat as he stood behind Yetunde. "Why are you just arriving?"
She dropped her hands from the security man's shirt and spun around, her eyes wide with hot shock. "Olu... Olumide. What are you doing here?"
"I told you I wanted to talk." He caught the security man's wary face and nodded at the man. "Sorry for that. I'll take it from here."
"Take what from here? Didn't I tell you I would come and pick Modupe up myself?"
"And where were you for the past two hours? Most students have gone home, eaten lunch and are resting now."
"Whatever." She flipped her braids as she knelt on the concrete floor and drew Modupe closer to her. She hugged the girl and spoke with a stern voice. "Next time, if someone else comes to pick you, even if I'm late, don't go with them."
Modupe pursed her lower lips. "What if it's uncle Olumide?"
Yetunde eyed him, before staring into the girl's eyes, and answering with a harsh voice. "Especially, if it is Uncle Olumide. Do NOT go with him, understand?"
Modupe's hand's tightened around his.
Yetunde held the girl's shoulder and shook her. "Do you understand?"
"Yes. Yes."
"Good." Yetunde stood tall. "Let's go home."
"No." Olumide yanked Modupe away and placed her behind him. "You are not leaving this place until I get what I want."
"What do you want?" Yetunde propped a hand on her hips and eyed him. "Have you suddenly come back to your senses?"
"Yes."
"Well. Whatever it is, we can talk about it in my house. I made porridge. I'm sure you'll love it." She walked past them towards her car. Seven feet away, she stopped and turned to him. "You're not coming?"
"Coming where? I'm not leaving until we talk.
"What's wrong with my house? Or do you want to talk about our private business in front of all these ears."
There were mostly children around. Most of them were in the school, some of them in the playground. A few parents hung around their kids and the security guard had returned to his space. Maybe this wasn't the best place to discuss such confidential matters but her house was not a better place. It was her territory and she knew the little tricks that she could play to bend him to her will. She was not an enemy he would underestimate.
"It's already a public matter. We can go to the playground."
"Modupe needs to go home and eat."
The girl peeked out from behind him. "I've eaten."
Yetunde's brows furrowed. "Who gave you food?"
"I did. Seeing, how long you made us wait."
"Why are you so stupid?" Yetunde yelled at him. "Don't you know you're not supposed to feed her? Now, she won't want to do her homework."
Her stalling bored him. The anger he struggled to check swirled closer to the surface. "Maybe something is really wrong with you for you to deprive Modupe of something so essential as food for her to do her homework."
"Don't blame me for your inability to understand. When we get home, she'll start saying she's too tired and she'll sleep. You'll see."
"If you picked her up and got her home on time, you wouldn't have this problem."
"This is Modupe. I know how to take care of her better than you."
"I've seen enough. Is this how you will take care of my children too? Leaving them to starve in school?"
"It's not called starving. It's discipline."
Olumide's voice rose. "How about I discipline you?"
"Can you even discipline yourself? I don't get it. You are supposed to wear the trousers in this relationship. Yet, I have to push you for everything." She fixated a glare at the child. "Modupe, enter this car now."
Modupe started to walk out from behind him but he tightened his hand around her and held her back.
Yetunde's face blended anger with surprise. "So, you'll hold my own sister hostage against me?"
"All I want is a simple conversation which we can have as mature adults. When you're ready to talk, I'll be at the bench."
As he walked towards the playground, Modupe made a show of resisting him, even though there was no effort in her digging her heels in the ground. She turned back to Yetunde. "See, aunty Yetti, he is the one dragging me oh. Don't go and tell mommy that I don't want to come home."
Once they got to the playground, Olumide let her go and she sat on the bench.
She lifted his food. "Can I eat it?"
"It's cold. You wouldn't enjoy it."
"I like it like that."
She tore open the paper wrapping and began to eat the chips. So much for her resistance. He almost laughed at the comical way she ate the chips until it was dragged out of her mouth.
"Ehehn, you are still eating. See, this how you'll be growing fat. Read, you will not read. Yet, when it is time to eat, you'll open your mouth and swallow somebody's destiny." Yetunde threw the rest of the food on the grass.
Olumide rose. "What's wrong with you? I gave her that."
"You don't understand. She'll eat this one and still eat the one at home. See how fat her cheeks are becoming; I don't understand where she got that from."
"It doesn't matter. She's hungry."
"If she's hungry. There is food at home. And you," Yetunde faced him. "Why are we wasting time here? What is so important that you could not ask me on the phone?"
Here it was. The opportunity to ask Yetunde the question that bugged him but she was already incensed. He did not know how to raise the question without making her angrier.
"Well?" She urged.
"I... I... You—"
She smirked, flipping her hair. "Please, don't tell me I'm making you speechless."
That did it. He bent down and stared at the mess Yetunde had made. There was no salvaging that food. "You shouldn't talk to her like that."
"How am I talking to her?" Yetunde folded her arms.
"You're rude and condescending. Even to me."
"Stop being such a softie." She smacked his chest. "I'm only telling the truth."
"There are better ways to handle truth. Besides, I didn't come here to argue about Modupe."
"Are you sure, 'cause it seems like that's all we've been doing."
"I wanted to talk about..." His gaze strayed to Modupe; she was watching them with her big round eyes, soaking up every word. How much of it would she repeat to Yetunde's mother? He wasn't sure but he wouldn't take any chances. "Modupe, you said you wanted to play on the swing, right?"
She nodded. She'd asked him soon after they arrived at the playground the first time but he refused her on the grounds that Yetunde might come at any moment.
"Alright, go and play."
"Go and play where?" Yetunde asked.
"Let her go." Olumide tugged Yetunde down to sit beside him as Modupe slipped out of the chair. "What I want to discuss is between you and I. It is meant for no other ears. Not your mom. Not my sister and certainly not Modupe's. Just you and I, got that?"
Yetunde nodded, twisting her head as she watched Yetunde join other children queuing by the see saw behind the swing. "Don't play too far, okay? We'll be leaving soon."
"Yetunde." He called, holding her jaw and turning her face to his. "I need you to be honest with me."
She pulled his hand away from her jaw. "I've always been honest with you."
"I know that and I need more of that same honesty right now. I'm not asking this question to annoy you. I just want the truth. I have heavy doubts and I don't want to believe them but I can't proceed with our relationship while they weigh on my mind."
"Get to the point." Yetunde smacked her mouth, her eyes straying towards Modupe's location. She yelled, "Stay away from that see-saw. It's sharp."
Olumide held her chin again, until her eyes found his. "Focus on me, Yetunde."
"I'm focused."
"Did you post Romola's nudes online?"
She sat still, her eyes growing wider. Her neck twisting at an odd angle. "Me? Post Romola's nudes? Are you not confused? Her nudes were everywhere."
"I know that." Olumide yelled, as his voice picked up speed. He unlocked his phone and opened his photos app before placing it in front of her. "See this? I took this picture and somehow it ended up online. Someone stole them from my phone and posted them."
"Are you mad, Mide?" She placed a finger to her temple. "Are you seriously accusing me of spreading Romola's nudes? Do you know what you are saying?"
"It's a simple question. Just answer, yes or no."
She stood up, eyeing him like he was the scum of the earth, before slapping her chest. "No. NOOO. Why would I do that? Why are you accusing me, Yetunde Adeiga, of such a vile thing?"
"Well," Olumide shrugged. "You used my phone without my permission."
"That's why you think I did it? Someone cannot be romantic in peace. Is this how we're going to live together, when you keep accusing me of every wicked thing?"
"I didn't accuse you of anything."
She spoke over his voice. "First, you said I was starving Modupe. Now, you're claiming that I distributed Romola nudes... that were on YOUR phone. How now? Why now?"
"You were pretty mad at her during that time?"
"Mad at her? Of course, I was. Everybody was. She was a liar. A thief. Have you asked her? Maybe she disturbed it herself for attention's sake. She loves attention."
"She didn't strike me as that kind of girl."
"A prostitute for goodness's sake. She lived on attention. Wasn't she the same person who begged for more money in exchange for nudes? She must've done it herself."
"Yetunde, keep your voice down. There are children in this place."
"How can you expect me to keep my voice down when you're practically yelling at me? Did you yell at her when you asked her this question?"
He stared at his sneakers in the grass. "I haven't asked her yet."
"Good. And you shouldn't because she'll just lie to you again." She sat at his side and sidled close to him. "Tell me Olumide, what is it about this girl that makes her your obsession?"
Romola's fierce loyalty to Yetunde had been the first nonphysical thing that had captured him. Yetunde, here, was the exact opposite. Not that there was any reason to be loyal to Romola.
Yetunde turned again. "Modupe, if you don't go away from that dead see saw, you'll sit in the car until we're ready to go."
"I don't think Romola did it."
Her head twisted in his direction. "You say?"
"Even if she had possession of the photos, which I doubt because I never gave her my phone—"
"Did you leave your phone around her"
"Yes but—"
"So, why do you still think she is innocent?"
He glared at her. "I could say the same thing about you. One thing is, Romola hated the beach picture. Second is the nudes were posted from my twitter account. From my own phone. At the time they were posted, she didn't have access to my phone."
"Where was she?"
"I don't know. All I know is, that day you and I were the only one in my house."
Yetunde twisted her lips. "Maybe you posted it."
"Why would I post it?"
"Because, you were mad at her. Now, you're trying to pin this on me? Did she send you? Have you been seeing her behind my back?"
Olumide had no words. He just stared at Yetunde and shrugged. "If I were seeing her, I wouldn't be engaged to you."
"Great, because I forbid you from seeing her."
"You can't tell me who I can and who I cannot see. And as soon as I leave here, I am going to ask Romola the same questions I asked you."
Yetunde's shoulder fell and her face lost its anger. She took his next decision much calmer than he would expect. Maybe she was telling the truth but how, he couldn't comprehend why Romola would send her own pictures online. Just as he could not understand why she would want to monetize them.
"Olumide, I'm begging you. For the love of God, stop chasing this woman. She will ruin you."
"Let her."
"Can you hear yourself? Do you think your parents would want you with that rat?"
"If I cared what my parents thought, I wouldn't have proposed to you." He stood and shoved his hands into his pocket. "I came here for the truth, but it's obvious you don't want to tell it as it is."
"You want me to lie and claim responsibility? So, you would rather she be innocent and I, guilty?"
"Yes."
"Do you know how twisted that sounds?"
"Either way, it's still sick. It's either you were a very bad friend or she was a completely rotten witch."
"It's the later." Yetunde hissed. "What makes you so sure that I am the prime suspect? Aren't we innocent until we are proven guilty?"
"Yetunde, on the evening that her nudes started to spread, there was nobody else in my house. Dami wasn't living with me. I had not set eyes on Romola since the housewarming disaster and you came by to visit."
"That doesn't mean anything."
"Oh, yes it does. I remember that while Dami was supposed to come pick you up, you complained that Romola got caught cheating on a test. I left you downstairs and when I returned, my phone was blowing up with twitter notifications."
"That doesn't mean anything, Olumide. Romola could have hacked your twitter account or something to create more drama about herself."
"Maybe," Olumide shrugged. "Or maybe, like the records show, someone airdropped the pictures to my phone while you were waiting for Dami to arrive. Someone who uses an Iphone. Someone like you."
"I didn't do it." She screamed. "Why would I intentionally post another girl's nudes? Do you know what that is? Romola could've—"
"Romola could not have done anything. The phone technician was very clear that the photo was sent from my house."
"But the airdrop—"
"She used a Samsung." Olumide rose. "I'm only going to ask once more and if you lie, I promise you, I won't only break our engagement. I'll ruin you. Did you or did you not put Romola's photos on my phone, create a twitter group and share her pictures?
Yetunde kept her lips tightly shut and turned away from him. He stuck his hand into his pocket to draw his keys when one of the parents on the further end of the playground, close to the rusty equipment, shouted. "You two, stop that. This is dangerous."
"But he started it." Modupe nudged the boy near her. "I'm supposed to go next on the swing."
She stood near the rusty see saw that had a sharp serrated metal edge behind while the boy stood behind an active swing.
He nudged her back. "No, it's my turn."
She shoved him. "But I got here first."
Olumide walked towards them. He would drag Modupe away because if the determined look on both their faces was anything to go by, none of them would surrender first.
The boy set out his hand to nudge again as the swing moved backwards. The swing hit him and he collapsed on Modupe, his elbow digging into her and his weight compressing her as she fell sideways along the flat metal rusty edge of the seesaw.