Make It Rain

THIRTY-ONE

Slowly driving into her garage and parking her van beside Samuel's bike, Mrs. Akande took a quick look to her side at the bike as a flash of memory came to her from her conversation with Ezekiel.

'How do I manage to keep everything from Samuel?'

Knowing fully well the kind of person Samuel was, Mrs. Akande didn't want to risk giving him all the information that she had gotten about Shola from Ezekiel. He was a very sporadic person and she couldn't predict how he would react, especially now that he was depressed. So she had to keep the investigation secret.

She took a deep breath before she clunk the car door open, and stepped out, making her way to the living room.

Greeting her with an embrace and a plate of food in her hand, her friend, Esther collected her bag, "How was it? What did Ezekiel discover?"

Shaking her head from side to side without saying anything, Mrs. Akande sat on a sofa.

"What is it òré mí?" she worried, "Ehn my friend, what is it?" She became even more worried by Mrs. Akande's demeanor.

"I have been a fool." Mrs. Akande answered, covering her eyes.

"Ehn?"

"Fine, Samuel being around Shola is very dangerous for him at the moment but the way I treated Shola for something she knew nothing about was horrible."

"Bunmi look, you are not making any sense to me oo."

Looking up to her friend with teary eyes, Mrs. Akande answered, "Ezekiel discovered that Shola has never been related to a case like my son's death before, and that whoever told me was trying to cover up a trail."

Esther's eyes tore open with a gasp, "The inspector?!"

Mrs. Akande nodded her head in agreement.

"Is the food for Samuel?" She said before getting up.

"Yes... I have been trying to make him eat all day but to no success." Esther handed the plate to her friend.

Samuel's state was deteriorating. He had lost interest in everything around him, food, sports, the gym and even his bike. Staying all day in his room and not talking to anyone was bothering enough for his mother, but his recent lack of interest in food made her scared for him.

He sat in his room, head bent with his full attention on the book in front of him. A trait that often showed his depression.

With a gentle knock on the ajar door, Mrs. Akande took a second before walking in.

"I didn't say you could enter." His voice was shallow.

"It's your mother."

Did it make much difference to Samuel at the moment, who it was?

Not really.

Mrs. Akande walked in, moving closer to his reading table, where he was stationed. "What are you reading?"

"Aurora's Scroll..." He curt, sounding very uninterested in a conversation.

"Oh I remember." Mrs. Akande poked her head to see, "But you seem to be on the same page since I last saw." trying to draw a casual conversation with her son.

"Mom, what do you want?"

"Samuel I am worried for you." She dropped his plate on the table.

"I am fine mom."

"Samuel you are not!" She knew him too well, denial wasn't unusual of him. "You haven't been eating for days now, please talk to me."

With a gloomy tone, he turned to his mother, "You were right mom," He sniffed, "She was just using me to have fun."