Indigo (Shade of a golden heart) - Season 2 - Episode 6

5 years ago

Indigo (Shade of a golden heart) - Season 2 - Episode 6

She hurried towards the door, and inserted one of the keys. Luckily for her, it opened and she found her way out of the devil’s tent, where her disobedience and naivety had landed her.
‘Thank you lord.’ She sighed with relief.

Now, she needed to do two things; confront Annabelle; tell her grandfather everything she had been keeping from him.

The old man couldn’t sleep. Indigo’s outing had taken too long and he had started to worry.
This was the first time Indigo would be leaving the house to go outing with her friend; maybe that was why he was anxious.

Papa’s mind was troubled. He carried a burden that was greater than him. All her life, she had believed that her father was dead, how then would he explain Nkosi’s sudden reappearance after such a long period of time.

He had a good reason for keeping Indigo away from him. He was the most irresponsible father any child could have. And his recklessness had led to the death of his only child, for which he would never forgive.

A tear trickled down his wrinkled face as he wept silently while staring at Indigo’s picture. She was a carbon copy of her mother. As the days passed, so was her beauty increased.

‘I love you child, much more than you can ever imagine.’ His lips moved silently as he stared at her.

He remembered holding her when she was a baby, she had been so fragile and that had scared him at first.

But Papa had trained himself for this bundle of joy, he had been the one to follow his daughter to the hospital while Nkosi was busy philandering with other women. He had been the one to pay the hospital bills, and upon her birth certificate was his name and signature.

‘No.’ Papa shook his head.
He had toiled all night. He had gone through the narrow way with his grandchild, he would be a fool and a weakling to allow Nkosi, take her away from him.

He had plans for Indigo. She was very smart and intelligent. She had eyes for good buildings and he had wanted to send her outside the country to study, but his untimely retirement without benefits ruined all of his plans.

He rubbed his chin gently, on a second thought; he could only allow Nkosi near his daughter if he was willing to put Indigo through school. But seeing Nkosi in a company which was all too familiar dissuaded him.

Nkosi had not changed one bit, not even time could help him mend his broken paths.
The old man concluded in his heart that Indigo was his’ and there was no argument about that. He hoped that Nkosi wouldn’t show up again. He knew the implication his presence would have on his relationship with Indigo.

The girl trusted him with everything. How would Indigo feel if she found out that the man that brought her to this world was still alive?
Fear gripped Papa as he imagined the scenarios that played in his mind.

Indigo could either accept his forgiveness or reject his explanation. He knew how badly she reacted whenever she was angered, and those moments were rare.

He felt guilty that he was the one to bring her this sort of anguish, but he consoled himself, he thought he was doing what was best at the time.
‘Papa! Papa!’ Indigo rapped on the door with the strength she had left.

‘Indi?’ The old man quickly wiped his face, he didn’t want her to see him in tears. He rushed towards the door to welcome her, when he pulled the door apart, he noticed the look on her face and that was enough to tell him that she had just escaped something horrible.

‘Indi? What is wrong? Why are your eyes swollen and reddish? Have you been crying?’
She had wanted to act tough. She thought she could ignore what had just happened to her, but she realized she had no strength in her. She was so delicate and trusting, Ana had preyed on that.
‘Indigo? Where is your friend? What happened?’ The first thing that dropped on the old man’s mind was an accident. He had a feeling the girls had an accident as Ana had not returned with Indigo.

She found it difficult to tell her grandfather about what had taken place. She was greatly ashamed of herself. She wished she had listened to him, that humiliation would have passed over her.
‘Can you please talk to me? Your tears do not have words.’ The old man cut in impatiently.
She had to tell him the truth, somehow, she just had to try.

‘Papa…’ she fell on her knees.
‘Haba Indigo, what is wrong with you? Talk to me.’ Papa’s felt a sharp cut in his heart the moment she dropped on her knees.
‘I am so sorry Papa. I have not been very honest with you. I kept a lot of secrets from you and I swear Papa, I will make up for my mistakes. I should have listened to you.’
He liked that she had stopped crying now, but he was still lost.

‘I don’t understand you.’ He said.
She sighed and drew a breath, ‘It’s Annabel, She is a traitor as you saw. I never knew you meant well for me when you asked me to stop being friends with her. She almost ruined my life, she almost took away my treasure.’ Her voice cracked as the scene of the attack replayed in her mind.

The pain from the betrayal was fresh. It was stinging, it was numbing and she had no power against it.

‘Ana? What happened?’ The man held his breath, hoping that Indigo had not made a mistake that would cost her entire life.
‘She gave me a Hundred Thousand Naira, it was meant for your inhaler Papa. I didn’t want to tell you so you wouldn’t be worried. She told me that her uncle gave her the money, so she was giving me to solve a problem.

After some days she showed up tonight and requested for my presence in her uncle’s house. She reassured me that he was a married man with kids and he wanted nothing from me, but to help me.’ She ran a tongue over her lips and continued.

‘So we left for his home tonight. But on getting there, she came up with a story about her mother being involved in a motor accident. I was so foolish, Annabelle had lured me into a trap and I had been too blind to see it. The man in question is not her uncle, he is an unrepentant rapist.’

‘Indigo! Did he?” The man couldn’t believe his ears.

‘No Papa, I swear to you, he didn’t succeed but he almost did. I promised God that if he rescued me from the hands of that vile man, that I would tell you all the secrets I have kept from you.’

Papa was blown out of his mind with secrets, ‘My child, what did you need a hundred thousand for? I thought you were still working.’
She felt so ashamed of herself. She blamed herself for tonight’s misfortune. She had accepted that money from Annabel out of desperation because if she were still working with Moremi, maybe she could have asked for a raise or a loan.

‘You are not saying anything about your job, talk to me Indigo.’ Her refusal to offer an explanation troubled the man.

He could swear that he knew his granddaughter well, but he couldn’t vouch for her right now.‘I lost the job.’ She murmured.