After the storm (10 page)

He
stopped at a red light and drummed his fingers lightly on the
steering wheel as he waited for the lights to change.

All
through their time together, he'd had thoughts of his mother at the
back of his mind. There were times he was almost tempted to tell
Yemi about his family and his mum's expectations about him. But he
didn't want to scare her off, and he wanted her to be so confident
of his love for her that she would not be bothered about how his
family might react to her.

He had
not been surprised that his mother already knew about Yemi even
before the story of his dating her leaked to the press. He knew she
kept close tabs on all his relationships. He had no idea how she
got the information, but somehow she always knew who he was dating,
no matter how discreet he was.

The
light turned green, and Akeem drove on. He did not feel like going
home just yet, so he decided to stop over at his friend, Hasan's
place.

His mind
went back to his mother. He remembered the row he'd had with her
several weeks earlier when he had formally informed her of his
intention to marry Yemi.

"You
can't be serious, Akeem!" she had snapped at him. "Date her? Yes,
but marry her? Certainly not!"

"I've
never been more serious, Mum. I love Yemi, and I want to marry
her."

"Who is
she, and what exactly is she bringing into this family?" his mother
had asked, her lips curling contemptuously.

"That's
not really important to me, Mum. We love each other, and I know
Yemi will create a loving, stable home for us and for our
kids."

"Any
woman can do that," his mother had said sarcastically. "Akeem, you
can't just pick any girl from goodness knows where and say you want
to marry her, not when you have a name and a legacy to protect!
That girl has no place in this family!"

Akeem
had thought that events of the past would have convinced his mother
that she could not force her will on him, but that was obviously
not the case. His mother had been very angry and refused to meet
Yemi. He had kept his distance from her and deliberately avoided
attending family events. Then she had softened up and tried some
emotional blackmail, but his mind was made up. He had expected his
mother to hold out some more and was a little surprised when she
called him to say that she was ready to meet Yemi. He should have
guessed that she would try something else. It was obvious that she
was hoping to scare Yemi off with her attitude. But he was not
going to let that happen.

From the
moment he had set eyes on Yemi in Bluewater, he had just known that
he wanted to be with her. He still didn't know why, and he had
given up trying to figure it out. She was not the first beautiful
woman he had dated. He had dated plenty, but he got easily bored
and went through several relationships knowing almost from the
beginning that they would not last. That was until he met Yemi, and
he had been knocked off his feet.

He
arrived at Hasan's house about fifteen minutes later and waved at
the security guards as he drove through the gates.

"Hey,
stranger. You've been so scarce, I was beginning to think that you
and Hasan had fallen out!" Fayona, Hasan's wife, said as she opened
the door for him. "Even Jayden has been asking about you," she
said, referring to her four-year-old son.

"So
sorry, It's been really busy." He looked at her admiringly. "You
look good as usual." Fayona was a full-time homemaker but always
looked very pretty no matter what time of the day you met her. "I
can see that my friend is taking very good care of you."

She
smiled. "Thanks, I can't complain. How's Yemi doing?"

"She's
good. I'm actually just coming from her place."

At that
moment, Jayden came into the sitting room, saw Akeem, and ran
towards him. He squealed with excitement as Akeem bent down and
lifted him up into the air. He loved it whenever Akeem did
that.

"How
have you been, my little man?" Akeem asked, as he set him down
again. Jayden was his godson, and he was very fond of
him.

"I'm
fine, Uncle Akeem. I've been a good boy all week too, right,
Mummy?"

"Yes,
you've been good, but you also have to keep it up."

Jayden
sighed but nodded solemnly. "I'll try, Mummy."

"You can
start by getting ready to go to bed now. It is way past your
bedtime," his mother added.

"But
it's the holidays, and Daddy said I could stay up a little longer."
He turned to Akeem. "Farah has already gone to bed because she is
only little." He held up one of his fingers for Akeem to see how
old Farah was. "But Daddy said I could stay up a little longer
because I'm older."

His
mother had other ideas. "You are older, but it's time to go to bed
now."

"But,
Mummy…"

"No
buts. Remember, you're trying to maintain your good
record."

"I know.
But Uncle Akeem just got here, and I…"

"Don't
argue with me, young man," Fayona cut in sternly. "I said it is
time to go to bed, full stop."

Akeem
saw the expression on Jayden's face and felt sorry for him. "Not to
worry, Jayden, I'll pop in next week specially to see you,
okay?"

"Yes,
Uncle Akeem," the little boy replied, cheering up a
little.

Fayona
caught Akeem's eye and smiled. "All right, but I still have one
assignment for you before you go. Please take Uncle Akeem to Daddy
in the study for me, will you? That will also give you a little
time to have some man talk with him on the way, okay?"

Jayden
lit up at that idea. "Okay, Mummy."

On the
way to his father's study, Jayden regaled Akeem with stories of the
activities he had been involved in during the holidays and how well
he was taking care of his younger sister. Akeem listened and made
the necessary comments. He loved this little boy. It was amazing
how fast he was growing. He could not wait to have a son of his
own, his and Yemi's little boy. One that he would bring up, just
the way his father had taught and mentored him.

"Hey,
man!" Hasan said as Akeem entered the study with Jayden. "Good to
see you! I was just about to send an SOS to Yemi to kindly allow us
to see you."

Akeem
laughed as he bumped shoulders with him. "I can see you've not
changed. You're holed up in the study at this time of the day
instead of spending time with that lovely lady
downstairs!"

Hasan
smiled ruefully. "I just needed to catch up on some work before the
week starts." He turned and touched Jayden's head. "Still up,
mister?"

"Can I
stay with you a little while, Daddy? Mummy said I had to go to bed,
but I'm not even tired one bit, and there is no school tomorrow,
and…"

Hasan
smiled. "You've said the golden words, 'Mummy said.' If Mummy said,
then Mummy's got to be obeyed. She is the boss around here, you
know." He touched Jayden's head again. "You have to go to bed now,
mister."

"But
what if I promise to wake up early tomorrow morning…" Jayden
continued, but his father was already shaking his head.

"No,
son, it is bedtime now."

Jayden
sighed but seemed to understand that he could not argue anymore.
"All right…good night, Dad," he said in a resigned tone as he
knocked knuckles with him. "Goodnight, Uncle Akeem."

"Goodnight, Jayden." Akeem touched his shoulder as he walked
past him. "Sleep well."

Jayden
turned back as he got to the door. "Don't forget that you said you
would come round to see me next week."

"I won't
forget." Akeem smiled. "See you then."

Both men
looked at each other and burst into laughter after Jayden left the
room.

"He
never gives up." There was an unmistakable note of pride in Hasan's
voice. "Look at him trying to get me to overrule what his mum had
told him."

"Smart
boy. He will be a good negotiator someday." Akeem was still smiling
as he thought of Jayden. "So how've you been, my
friend?"

"Good,
good. Hectic schedule as always, but I'm trying to stay on top of
it. What about you? I heard the privatization of the telecoms
sector is very official now, and the bid will soon be made public.
How are you prepping for that?"

"I'm
doing my best, man. I've put together a team, and they are working
hard on the details." Akeem's voice was excited as he spoke. This
had been a dream of his for a long time. He and his father had
talked about it before his father's death. Then, it had been
nothing more than just mere speculation that the government was
going to privatize the telecoms industry and create a second
national carrier besides Nitel, the government-owned telecoms
company. But even back then, Akeem had known that it was something
he would love to do, and he and his father had agreed that it would
take Kadiri Holdings to dizzying heights.

"Fola
Lawal is heading the team. I pulled him out of Zenith Oil," Akeem
continued, referring to the oil-and-gas sector of Kadiri Holdings.
"We'll send our bid as soon as it is made official."

Hasan
nodded approvingly. "That's a good idea. Fola is an asset to your
company. But didn't he mind being pulled out from
Zenith?"

"Fola
likes challenges, and besides, Zenith Oil is running smoothly. He's
excited about heading the telecoms sector."

"If
anyone else but you had attempted to be the second carrier to
Nitel, I would have told them that they were on a suicide
mission financially, but I have no fears about you at
all."

"Thanks
for the vote of confidence, man. I know it's going to be a huge
project, but I'm prepared to do all I can to make it a
success."

Fayona
came into the room with a tray of drinks. Akeem watched the play of
affection between Hasan and his wife. They had one of the best
marriages he had ever seen. They had gotten married when Fayona was
just twenty and still a student at the university. He remembered
how he had teased Hasan constantly about being a cradle snatcher,
little knowing that he was going to marry someone so much younger
than himself too. He smiled inwardly. There was
something about these women that made a man act
uncharacteristically.

After
Fayona left them, they picked up where they had left off. Hasan was
in the process of chasing some new contracts, and he was all fired
up about it. Akeem smiled as he listened to his friend. He was just
like him, unmoved by challenges so long as he was sure about the
business deal he was about to go into.

"How's
Yemi?" Hasan asked, after they had talked for a while. "Have you
guys fixed a date yet?"

Akeem
shook his head. "Not yet. Her dad is still insisting that she
completes her youth service year. He was even suggesting that we
should wait until after her master's degree programme, but I was
able to go round that one."

Hasan
laughed. "Relax, man! You have the rest of your lives together. I
can't even believe you're so keen on settling down now. I was
beginning to think that you had decided to remain a bachelor for
life!"

"I can't
believe it myself," Akeem admitted.

"Well, I
don't blame you. Yemi is a lovely girl. I guess your mum has met
her?"

Akeem nodded.

Hasan
smiled sympathetically at the expression on Akeem's face. "She's
not happy about it, right?"

"That's
putting it mildly." He told Hasan about Yemi's visit with his
mother the day before.

"Phew!
Poor girl. That couldn't have been a pleasant experience for her."
He looked thoughtfully at Akeem. "You know your mum is not going to
accept her easily, right?"

Akeem
frowned. "I know, but she will just have to deal with it. I'm
definitely not breaking up with Yemi because of her."

"What
about Leila?" Hasan asked.

Akeem's
frown deepened. "A non-issue, man."

Hasan
laughed. "But I'm still thinking of Yemi, though. She is young, and
you know that your mum wields a lot of influence within your
family. She could make things unpleasant for her."

Akeem's
eyes hardened. "She would have to go through me to get to Yemi. For
now, I'm just going to keep their contact as minimal as
possible."

"Fine,
but you've got to have some kind of long-term strategy in place to
shield Yemi from any unpleasantness."

∞∞∞

Yemi
weaved her car through the midday traffic. She wished she could
take an exit route and head back home, but she had made up her mind
she was going to see Teju that day.

Over the
past few months, her life had been "one busy happy," as she
described it to her friends. Akeem had ensured she did her youth
service in Lagos, and she had been lucky to get a placement at
Lavabre, a thriving finance company in Victoria Island. Her job
plus her wedding preparations kept her very occupied. Akeem also
insisted now that she accompany him to most of the social functions
he attended, so she had had very little time to catch up with her
friends.