Endings

4

I decided to follow my dad to the ER for someone unknown reason. Well not necessarily unknown, I almost killed a woman, another living being so the least I could do was to go pay her homage. How would I ever explain to my dad or my family the severity of what I had done? I over stepped my boundaries and decided to take things into my own hands not putting into consideration what the repercussions might be. I had no idea why and how Funke still had some type of hold on my dad. Here was the man that swore never to contact or have any sort of relations with Funke running mental over his beloved "booty-call". I was utterly disgusted. My mother was unmitigatedly devistated by all that was happening. She had been trying her absolute best to over look all that my father had done and she seemed to be succeeding but now that Funke had been brought back into the picture she had no choice but to contemplate where she stood in the relationship. Was she going to continue living a life where she shared her first love with a revolting mistress or was she going to pick up her bags and leave? She was saddened by the whole situation, I felt so bad for her.

We arrived at the hospital where Funke had been admitted. My dad was frantically running through the halls like a mad man searching for what seemed to be his second wife. The respect I had for my dad wilted away day by day because I couldn't wrap my head around how a grown man with a wife and kids could be so mesmerized by such a waste of skin and bones. She must have used her Funke balogun juju on him, presumably (juju: spiritual powers). We had finally found Funke's hospital room and my dad froze at the sight of her limp and bruised up body. Gauze was wrapped around her head and I could see some blood seeping through it and that made me gag a bit. His mouth dropped to the floor with shock. He was absolutely stunned by what he saw. I couldn't help but feel empathy for her but I also felt hatred and anger. She tore my family apart and she still managed to go unharmed, it was unacceptable.
My dad rushed over to her side and sat right next to her placing the hydrangeas he had bought for her on our way to the hospital. Hydrangeas coincidentally happened to be my mum's and Funke's favorite flower, it was uncanny to be honest. He held on to her hand and I he started sobbing, i was sincerity baffled by what I was seeing. My dad was clutching on to Funke's hand with tears in his eyes as if she actually mattered. I didn't care anymore, Funke deserved what happened to her, after all I didn't force her to drive the car. She saw the slashed tyres and insisted that she drove the car as is. I had made peace with all that I had done and I wasn't phased by my actions anymore.

"Dont worry dad, she'll be okay" I coyly said. He nodded and wipped his tears.

* * *
My dad had gone to the hospital cafeteria to get a bottle of water. All that crying had made him parched I assumed. I waited in the room with Funke. She looked lifeless, she hadn't moved for hours now. She was more or less a corpse. Despite her condition she still managed to be dressed to the nines. She even had an outfit change, foolish girl. Looks will fade but who you are, your personality shall remain the same and Funke would always remain a relentless home wrecker. My dad was on the phone with my mum, I could hear the hostility in his voice. After pouring all she had into their marriage he decides that she isn't enough anymore and then he cheats. Infidelity is such a turn off. Once a cheater always a cheater.
Jamila had finally called and she assured me that all was well with her and mum and that they were even bonding. I was happy that all was well but Jamila's pregnancy was still a topic that I had to tackle. Very soon a baby bump would start showing and I don't know how she intends on keeping that a secret.
I was snooping through Funke's bag when I heard her let out a moan.

"Why is this thing making noise now?!" I said

I walked away from the bag and then she gestured me to come closer. She could barely move her hands, sad. She coughed and handed me a piece of paper that was folded. I was reluctant to collect it because Funke and her juju were pretty strong so I didn't want to take any chances. I took the paper from her hand and when I opened it up I almost fainted right there and then.

"So you thought that you could slash my tyres and go free right? You're not as smart as you look Ali. Even with your cancer you still manage to be moving up and down looking for God knows what. You need to learn how to mind your business baby boy. Well all that is aside the point. If you don't want the police to get the video of you slashing my tyres and then driving off as if you did nothing then you'll have to pay. I knew faking my accident would yield loads of benefits and your dad crawling back to me is just one. I'll be expecting $30,000 in 3 months from you or else your family and the police shall find out about what you've done. Kisses, Funke."

I didn't know what to think. Dealing with the excruciating pain of my brain cancer coupled with the uncertainty of how to approach my sister's secret pregnancy and now this. I couldn't fathom how Funke managed to fool not only me but also my dad and most especially the doctors. She must have been in cahoots with the doctors because this didn't make sense. Her story didn't ring true with me.

"I don't know what kind of BS you're trying to pull but it's not going to work with me"

"Oh really?..." - she could talk just fine, she was a skilled pretender.

''Oh really? I guess you want this video to get leaked, don't you?" She said in a thick Yoruba accent
"You're not smart Funke nor will you ever be. You might be thinking that you've won but it's not over.

I didn't wait for her to get another word in so I just took my dad's car keys and left that place as fast as I could. How did that dropout pull one over my eyes? I'm still speechless, she was a good deceiver. Deceiving people was probably her day job. Now I had a lot to think about. Do I tell my dad in order to spare his feelings since he clearly still loved her? I think I even did him a solid because now he gets to spend the night with her, like he usually did. Do I tell my mum? She was going through a lot and I didn't want to overburden her. It was either going to be Jamila or my best friend Khalil and I was certain that Khalil would be of more help compared to Jamila who was hormonal and pregnant. It was settled, I was going to tell Khalil about everything that I had done and that had happened in the past few weeks. I was nervous as hell but I trusted Khalil, he was a stand up guy.

*calling Khalil*
[Goes to voicemail]
"Yo khalil what's good? I've been meaning to talk to you so why don't we hang out tomorrow. You can come over to my place whenever..safe bro"

I got out of the car and walked over to the porch and sat down for a while. I was thinking about quite a number of things. I had to reevaluate my whole life at this point. Do I lay on my bed all day and give in to this disease or do I push through and cause havoc while I do so? The choice was left to me. As I opened the door I could see my mums hand placed right on Jamila's stomach. I was shocked, had she known this whole time?

"Erhm what are you doing ?" I asked

I pretended as if I hadn't found out that Jamila was pregnant.

"Ali I know this might be hard for you to take in especially now that our lives are as crazy as can be but we've come to the conclusion that you need to know."

I already knew but I still played along.

"Know what??" I asked with a puzzled look on my face

"I'm pregnant Ali" Jamila replied

I didn't want to cause anymore problems so I just acted as if I wasn't in the know. I put on a performance that was Meryl Streep worthy if I do say so myself.

"What?? What?? Wow! That's erhm..good? I don't know what to say. Just wow!"

They were clueless, I was good at this.

"So who's the dad?" I asked

I didn't get a reply

"I said..who's the dad Jamila?"

She was hesistant but then she said..

"It's Khalil. Khalil is the dad Ali."