...that keeps giving

XXIII

Since their return to the Crown's mansion six days ago, they have not had any moment to themselves except during sleep. The visitors were trooping in droves. The condolence register setup was almost full. While Sanmi and Abisade were up and about trying to sort out their father's burial with immediate family members, Naomi tried to keep her mother-in-law together. The press was having a field day as usual with the death of a prominent personality and some of them had come up with various possible causes of death. Some even went out of their way to refer to her wedding to the first son of the family as if that had anything to do with the matter on the ground. Despite being new to all these people and processes, she had to be available as a family member and had to go through a lot of introductions especially when the men were around. Her luggage sat in Abisade's room in readiness for her departure which she had procrastinated discussing with anyone within the family. Even though she stayed in the same room with Abisade for propriety's sake, they rarely slept on the bed at the same time. The men surprisingly have been holding up well even though they could be trying to do that because of their mother. Some of Mrs Crown's associates had come to check on her while two friends promised to fly in from the U.K. as soon as they could. Her parents had come to visit the previous day and it had been a bittersweet reunion for her. She made sure she checked the men's blood pressure when they got back home and monitored their stress. It was a necessity because they seemed to be running on adrenaline. Gwen had come to visit and even spent some days with her as soon as she got time off work. Seun was coming in today and will probably stay overnight.

It was heartbreaking to see Mrs Crown at her lowest. She had been inconsolable in the first two days as she maneuvered between shock and the reality that she would never see her husband again her blood pressure spiked a few times in the last few days and she had convinced her to have a late start to each day. All businesses and planned trips were pended for her and even urgent matters had to be directed to the sons or senior management members that could handle such. A woman had called and said she would be arriving the next day to stay with her. Naomi had received the call when Mrs Crown's P. A pleaded to be excused for a few minutes. She was later informed by Abisade that it was Sisi, their housekeeper cum nanny who brought them up.

Mrs Crown looked old and grey. It was difficult to relate this woman to the woman she met when she newly married her husband. Sadness can deal with anyone. The grey hair that was sparse on her head now dominated her crown. She just sat and nodded at intervals when her visitors said anything to her. She had Imade make some white outfits for her for the period of mourning. Two of her siblings had come to check on the day she lost her husband and promised to come back prepared to stay for longer. She was thankful for people who willingly volunteered and took turns to stay with her during the day. Mrs Crown needed people around in this moment of grief.

The husband's family members have left her out of every meeting as insisted by her children due to her state in the first few days of loss. They tried to feed her back but did not bother her with too many details. Sometimes she looked towards the stairs expecting to see the sturdy elderly man come down the stairs arguing with one of his sons or just tease her in his usual manner. It was difficult to believe that all they had of him were memories.

She looked at the clock, it was 7 pm, and she looked to the entrance and saw Sanmi come in with a file. His shirt was rolled up at the sleeve and he was on the phone with someone. The outer living room had served its purpose during this time as most visitors were received there. A canopy had been put outside to accommodate people who were unable to find space inside the house. Sanmi walked toward the inner rooms and she followed him. She needed to discuss her departure because even though she tried to take more time off, they couldn't give her at work so she needed to go see her AI and discuss the possibility of taking time off to mourn her father-in-law properly.

Yeah, talk to you later, Sanmi ended the call.

She walked up to him and hugged him.

How are you doing?

I am good, he responded.

Where is Abisade?

In his car, I think, He drove in just as I entered.

I am going back tomorrow.

Do you have to?

I have tried to take time off but it's not working. I want to go and get permission directly from my A.I.

We can have you redeployed, this is the perfect time to do that.

I will ask my AI about the possibility.

You don't need to ask anything, I will make some calls and we'll have you back home. I wanted the decision to come from you. AB may not say it but I think he needs you now more than ever.

I will talk to Abisade tonight because my flight leaves very early tomorrow morning. The least I can do is go to the hospital and explain the situation of things to them, I lobbied for that position and I don't want to spoil someone else's chance.

It is fine.

What is the latest on the burial?

Can we talk about it later, I need to make some calls right now.

It's fine, I will just look for Abisade.

Thinking about it really, there isn't much she'd do for her husband if she returned to Lagos. She needed to have that conversation with him though. It will be okay to take some time off to be with the family now and return to her PPA later.

She walked past the main door towards the garage, she was hoping to see him walking towards the house but didn't. She looked towards the brightly lit garage but it was empty, even the canopy help vacant chairs. She couldn't walk to the gate so she dialled the gate to confirm if he had gone out. The answer was negative so she strolled towards the garden to clear her head. Coming back to Lagos was never an option for her when she left four weeks ago. She wanted a fresh start away from the constraints at least for a whole year. The plan was to go back to the drawing board and fine-tune her ready-made future. Now confronted with this tragedy, it would likely change her course of action. She needed to think deeply about it to be sure it was a step she wanted.

She looked at the petals Calla lily to her right swaying in the soft evening breeze. Funny how something so colorful and bright during the day could struggle to make its presence felt under the blanket of darkness; life.

She walked toward the bench set before the fountain to catch a glimpse of the flowing liquid but halted her step when she heard a low guttural sound. Her first instinct was to run just in case it was one of the ferocious dogs. Then a sniffing sound followed. She sneaked towards the sound and was shocked when she found the source of the sound sitting on the garden floor bawling his eyes out.