Familiar Foe √

20. Mask Off

     I could finally understand Dr. Eteng's excitement as I walked through the front doors of the Coker house with my partner Charles Bankole. My heartbeat was steady but my legs, not so much, they were as eager as my tongue was to get to the sisters.

Funmi was wheeling herself to the living room where Sade sat with her head leaned against the seat. Vera was still receiving treatments at the hospital and Tamara was with her. Sade sat a little straighter as we approached her and I took a sit on the sofa beside her.

"Detective Bankole said Theo was arrested." She said and I nodded.

I has asked Charles to make the call, I could see it made her vulnerable.

"Yes. He is currently at the station."

"Why? What did he do?" She was confused.

"Sade, there are a lot of things your fiance didn't tell you."

"What are you talking about?" Her eyes were tired but mildly concerned.

"Sade. Theo conspired to kill your mom." Her reaction was an instant scoff.

"That is not even possible, he loved her."

This was going to be easier than I anticipated.

"As a mother." She added but even she knew she had missed her window.

"Yeah, sure. But he loved her a little more, didn't he?"

There was hardly any love in all of these but if it was what they had chosen to call it, I could humor them.

"You are usually more straightforward detective."

Her patience was wearing out but I had time and for the first time in a long while, I was in a mood to play.

"I am talking about how he was sleeping with her."

Her eyes widened a fraction. This woman really underestimated our investigative skills.

"What?" Her surprise was poorly concealed by her false confusion.

"I know you've known this for a while." I tried to make my voice soft. "I know it was the betrayal from not just Theo but your mom too that instigated your miscarriage. I will never understand how much that hurt, no one deserves that."

She soaked up the show of sympathy, bowing her head as if to conceal the pain.

"How did you find out? I know Theodore is hardly as subtle as he thinks he is but your mom, she couldn't hide guilt."

"They were barely hiding it." She tried to mask it as hurt but the anger shone through.

"Initially, I didn't want to believe it, I convinced myself it was just my mind playing tricks on me, that Theo had an endless supply of girls to play with and no way would he go for my mother but the signs were glaring. My mother didn't feel any guilt, detective, because it was me involved. She had no plans of stopping until I lost the baby."

From all indications, that had been the greatest loss of her life.

"I am so sorry, Sade. How come they never realized that you knew?"

"I didn't want them to but I think my mom noticed. After the miscarriage, I could finally feel her trying to make up for something, like she did with Funmi. You see detective, my mother was the master of unspoken apologies. Special dishes, unexplained gifts, spontaneous shopping sprees and unwanted bonding time. She tried so hard to convince me she was sorry without having to mention what for and with time, I felt I could forgive her."

"But you didn't, your mind was already set."

The hard stare she gave me was enough to tell she was catching on.