05:59 am, October 10.
Very early on Thursday morning, Eartha and Mide happened to be the first couple to pass through any of the roads leading to Enugu State. But that wasn't a feat they were going to sit back and revel in.
As soon as they arrived at Nsukka, they headed for the police station where they were being expected. There the police officers confirmed that, indeed, they were the parents of the lost girl.
Then they were given some forms to fill and then the contact and location of the couple the children were with and told to expect their call anytime soon. Apparently, the couple had been informed since that Monday of their imminent arrival.
Although it wasn't daybreak yet, they still insisted on heading for uptown, where the couple resided, all the while waiting for the their call.
None of them had the energy to drive, they were both terribly washed out and drained of energy from worry and lack of sleep. So they put Mide's car on autodrive and tried to relax at the back.
Eartha didn't know when her nerves started acting in. She just found herself fidgeting out of restlessness as she sat beside her husband at the backseat.
Mide noticed her state and gently picked up her trembling hands, placing a deep kiss to each. She smiled at him but wouldn't stop the nerves.
'We're going to see our baby again!' she finally blurted out, relief and pleasure washing over her features.
'Yes, Raspberry Ripple. He gripped her hands more firmly. 'We're seeing Pea Blossom again.'
Eartha turned and glanced out the rear window, she could barely make out the police car's headlights tailing them in the fog.
She turned forward, sighing. 'I still don't think the escort was needed, they're only drawing attention to ourselves.'
'Well, they did insist.' Mide shrugged and smiled.
The car turned off the lane into the next highway, following the input location and Eartha watched as the red dot on the satnav glided closer towards the blinking green dot that denoted their destination.
They could barely see out in the morning mist save for the car headlights and the white streetlights flooding the whole vicinity. But still everywhere had a close resemblance to late night, with the streets being quiet and all.
She sighed, turning to look at her husband. 'When do you think those people will call? The police said they have given them our numbers, aren't they going to call? Why can't we just call them instead?'
Now she was tapping her fingers on her thigh in anxiety. One could tell she really couldn't wait to see their daughter again.
'Hush, Dandelion Fluff,' Mide said softly, drawing her into him. He held her hands to quell the jitters. 'Do not worry, Lollipop. They should call anytime from now. Besides if they don't, we're just' — he glanced at the satnav — 'nineteen minutes away from them. We'd be there in no time.'
Eartha nuzzled against him like a kitten, her face still holding the slightest nuances of worry.
Just a minute after, a video call came through on Mide's Samsung phone, from an unknown number.
Eartha was the first to snatch the phone up from the front seat.
She held the phone and blinked as a young man's face came into view. By God, she had been expecting an old, friendly couple.
'Hello,' said the guy, 'good morning.'
Before any of them could respond a woman's face appeared into the screen.
Eartha noticed that she still had her night cap on, her husband was also still in pyjamas. They must have been woken up from their sleep by the police's notice.
'Good morning,' the younger lady said. She looked to be seven to nine years younger than Eartha.
'Good morning,' Mide said and Eartha quickly regained herself, mumbling her greetings.
'I'm so excited to finally see you guys, why Eniiyi has been going on and on about you for days!' the woman laughed.
'Same here, ma'am,' said Mide, All the gentleman. 'We appreciate all you've done for us,' he added, looking at the husband.
Eartha found her voice. 'Yeah, thank you soo much!' She felt tears ducts start to open up and quickly tamped it down.
'I'm Somto, Somtochukwu Okenwa, and this is my wife, Chinagorom.' He drew his smiling wife closer to him with one hand.
'It is really nice to meet you, sir and ma'am. I'm Olumide Makanjuola and my wife—'
'Eartha,' said Eartha. She didn't see to all the unnecessary prologues, all she wanted was to see her baby again. Why did people have to be so formal in everything. But she didn't want to seem rude, anyways.
It seemed Chinagorom shared her thoughts too. She rolled her eyes and started to stand up, motioning to her husband. They had been sitting by the foot of the bed.
'When we were informed that you'd been found on Sunday, we had told the kids, but not that you were coming today or this early. We wanted it to be a surprise for Eniiyi,' China said as they continued walking.
'Aww, thanks.' Eartha smiled genuinely at China which the other lady returned.
'We take it you're almost here?' asked Somtochukwu as his wife disappeared from view, probably to open a bedroom door.
Mide glanced at the GPS receiver at the front again. 'Yes. We're sixteen minutes away.'
'Ah! You're almost here then!' he said, entering a room and pulling the door closed.
Then he turned to the screen away from himself. Mide and Eartha could see a small figure curled up under the bedspread, long, thick hair spread out askew.
Their hearts thumped faster in trepidation. It was Adekunbi!
They watched, hearts in mouth, as China climbed unto the bed. 'Wakey wakey!' she sang.
The figure moved slightly and then straightened. 'Mmhmm . . . good morning ma,' the figure mumbled.
Eartha didn't know when a strangled sound escaped from behind her lips. It was her baby! God, she never thought she'd hear that voice anytime soon!
Eniiyi had heard the sound and was already turning towards the source when China and Somto hollered.
'Surprise!'
She almost jumped, her eyes widening in surprise as she looked towards the laptop Somto was turning towards her.
She blinked and rubbed at her eyes because the two figures in the screen looked vaguely familiar.
'Mommy? Daddy?' she mumbled, the cobwebs of sleep instantly shaking off her face.
'My baby!' The tears Eartha had tamped down now surfaced. 'Oh my God!'
Eniiyi flew up from the bed, the bedspread sailing in the air to land to the other side in a crumpled heap. 'Mommy! Daddy!' she screamed.
Somto set the laptop in front of her and hugged his wife.
'Yes, Eniiyi, it's Daddy and Mommy.' The guy and his wife were also moved to tears.
'Mommy! Daddy!' Eniiyi screamed again.
'Adekunbi!' Mide's emotion-filled voice came out scratchy, like it had been graveled?
'Oh my God! My baby!' Eartha sobbed.
'Mommy! Daddy!' Eniiyi screamed for the third time, not quite believing her eyes. She looked up at the couple beside her. 'Mrs Okenwa, am I dreaming?'
China stared fondly at the girl, at her eyes as it went wide in surprise and disbelief. She knew that if she was capable of shedding tears, her ash nightdress would be soaked up by now.
'Of course, not, Eniiyi!' she said, wiping away tears of joy and hugging her husband.
Eniiyi turned back to the screen. 'My mommy! Where have you been? Where are you? Daddy? Are you still in Japan?'
'No, Pea Blossom,' Mide replied, smiling through tears. 'We're in Nsukka, we're less than fifteen minutes away!'
'Really? You're coming back, Daddy?' she continued to stare on in disbelief. 'Mommy? Are you really coming back?'
'Of course, my baby!' Eartha laughed, at the same time crying. Her eyes and nose were red already from crying.
Her husband reached into the kleenex box on the car partition and offered her a tissue paper.
Eartha blew her nose and smiled at Adekunbi.
'Mommy, are you okay?'
'Yes, I am. Yes, I am. I'm just very happy to see you again. Me and your daddy.'
Eniiyi looked at them thoughtfully, her eyes still wide, then blurted, 'Mommy, where have you been? The . . . the village . . they . . . Daddy, they beat me and starved me and grandma watched all of it!'
Mide opened his mouth to speak but no word could come out. God, what could he say? It was his fault Adekunbi had gone through all that.
A slight crease started to form on the little girl's forehead. 'Where were you? The police people looked for you everywhere! Why did you leave me?! I begged you not to!'
Eartha burst into more tears as she remembered the girl's last words that day.
"You'll see, you're going to come back and regret ever leaving me here! . .
. . . Regret ever leaving me here! . .
. . . Regret ever leaving me here! . .
. . . Ever leaving me here! . .
. . . Leaving me here! . .
. . . Leaving me here! . .
. . . Here!
. . . Here!"
The words kept echoing in her ears as she remembered that moment vividly.
'I'm so sorry, my baby!' she cried. 'I really regret ever leaving you there!'
'Adekunbi,' Mide started, getting worried. He drew Eartha closer to him as she drenched his shirt with fresh tears.
'Adekunbi, it's okay now. We're here now. Please, do not make your mother cry the more.' He himself tried to suppress the tears welling up.
At the rate everybody was crying here, they were going to fill up a river. But he wasn't really as worried about that fact as he was about Adekunbi. She looked fierce and angry, which he guessed she deserved to be. But how could she keep a dry eye like that? In the midst of all this? Did she hate them so?
A new thought flashed in his head, making his breath catch.
Or was it what had happened back at the village? What had his poor baby gone through? What had they done to her to break her cords like that?
'Daddy, I'm sorry.' The girl's voice brought him back from his turbulent sea of thoughts. She sniffled expressively and touched the screen, as though she could actually touch them.
'Mommy, do not cry again, I'm sorry.' She looked very sad saying this. She so didn't want her mommy to cry again.
Adekunbi's words only wanted to make a fresh wave of tears hit her, but Eartha knew she had to put a lid on it, considering that the girl wasn't even crying . . . or had she cried and stopped?
Whatever it was, she knew she had to be strong. Had to look strong for her daughter. She accepted a handful of tissue paper from Mide and swiped at her eyes and blew her nose.
'I'm not crying no more, sweetheart. I've just missed you a lot, my baby.'
'Mommy, Daddy, I've missed you a lot too! Lastborn and I . . .' she trailed off suddenly as she realized something.
'Where's Lastborn?'
'Somto has gone to get him already,' China replied from where she was perched wiping her eyes.
As if on cue, the door pushed open and a confused Lastborn entered followed by an excited Somto.
'Eniiyi, what's the—?'
'Lastborn, my Daddy and Mommy are here!'
Lastborn, more confused than ever looked around the room. 'Where—'
'No, no, duh!' Eniiyi laughed happily. 'In the computer!'
'Wow, really?' He ran to join her on the bed, peering into the screen.
'Hello!' Eartha beamed as soon as his face appeared on the screen. She didn't remember meeting the boy before but she was glad he was safe too. Mide had told her that the boy had gone with her daughter when she'd been banished and she was eternally grateful for it.
'Hello!' he greeted back. 'Good morning ma, good morning, sir!'
Mide smiled and greeted the boy back. He hadn't seen his deceased cousin's son since he was three or four, but he did look like his cousin-in-law a lot, so he sure was the one.
'How have you been, son?'
'I've been very good, sir!' Lastborn replied heartily. 'What about you? Where are you? We've been expecting you!'
Mide looked into his wife's eyes and she smiled back.
'We're in Nsukka, we're almost at your place.'
'Really?!' Lastborn squealed. 'I'm so excited!' He looked up and away from the screen. 'Can we not go to school today again, please?'
'Please!' Eniiyi too quickly put in.
'Ya! Of course,' Somto said. 'But you still have to get up from bed and freshen up before your parents arrive.'
'Oh, okay,' Eniiyi said and wiggled her eyebrows at the computer. 'Daddy, we have to go now,' she said, albeit sadly.
'Okay, baby. We'll be there before you're done. And if you are not clean before we reach there, Adekunbi . . .'
'Yes, yes, mommy.' Eniiyi rolled her eyes and started to pack her hair, already getting down from the bed.
Lastborn giggled and Eniiyi snapped her head back to glare at him.
'See you in a few minutes, babies.'
A few minutes later found them pulling into the parking lot of Block X. They had hardly gotten out of the car when a little girl came screaming out of the third house on the block.
'Mommy!'
All Eartha saw was a blur of colours as the figure sprang up unto her. She laughed as she wrapped her arms around her and inhaled her hair deeply. God, she'd missed the touch of this child, her smell, her voice, her laughter.
'Adekunbi,' she whispered. 'Adekunbi.'
'Mommy!' Eniiyi screamed again holding on tighter to her Mommy to the point of suffocation but her mother didn't mind one bit.
Mide walked towards them and hugged her back to Eartha. Eniiyi sprang out of her Mommy's arms with the same intensity into her Daddy's.
'Daddy!'
'Adekunbi,' Mide replied throatily and hugged the girl to himself, not daring to let go, for fear that she'd disappear again.
After what seemed like an hour of the family's reunion they finally let go of each other. Eartha still clutched her daughter to her side, though, she wouldn't let go of her.
Then she noticed a very fairskin boy staring sheepishly at them, feeling left out. Eartha smiled at him as her heart warmed up. Mide had told her that his mother had died when he was just a little boy of two. She understood how he must feel.
So she smiled brighter and spread her arms open.
Lastborn looked skeptical, he hadn't been expecting that. But the skeptism didn't stay on his face for two seconds. He didn't waste time in jumping into the outstretched arms.
Eartha hugged the boy tightly to her chest like he was her own and whispered into his ears. 'Thank you.'
Lastborn grinned from ear to ear at this, feeling mighty proud of himself.
Then the couple came forward and formally introduced themselves.
Eartha took one look at the baby straddling China's waist and fell in love at once. For it had been long she held a baby.
The police men and woman came out of their patrol car and reintroduced themselves and suggested they all go inside.
Many neighbours and dog walkers were already out and they were causing quite some spectacle.