The dreams of a mother (Cry of a dying soul) - Season 1 - Episode 47

6 years ago

The dreams of a mother (Cry of a dying soul) - Season 1 - Episode 47

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The night sky and blanketed with pearly
stars. The air blew hot, and not one cloud
threatened the ground with rain. Dayo
trudged through the quiet street on which their house stood. Fortunately for him, the tree on which he had flung himself was close
to the fence, and from the branches he had made a bridge to the street below. He looked in his pocket and saw that he had a few notes, they would be enough to take him to his destination.

The burden of saving the people in that house la!d squarely on his shoulders. It was his duty to help them, he told himself.

From the street, he walked on to the road
that was very busy at that time of evening.

Dayo flagged down a taxi cab and entered.

He gave the driver the address of the house he was going to, and gave him all the money in his pocket.

Dayo: “Please sir, that is all I have” he said with a note of desperation.

The driver drove to the address, and once again Dayo b@nged on the gate of the house.

The gate man opened the gate and when he recognized Dayo, he grew angry.

Gateman: “dem send you for me? Abi o ya werey?” he asked vehemently.

Dayo: “I don’t know what your problem is with me, but the lives of the people in this house are at stake. I need to talk to someone.

They should leave the house this
evening” he said desperately. He felt like
shoving the man away from the gate.

Gateman: “You think say na by that ur oyinbo? I get pikin for university, so ma whine mi oh” he replied and b@nged the gate in Dayo’s face. Dayo paced in front of the house in confusion. He didn’t know what to do, he thought he could meet privately with the occupants of the house and warn them,
but this gate man was standing as a
stumbling block in his path. He thought of
going to the police but that was going to
endanger his life, if Stone found out, there
was no doubt that he would kill him.

Dayo: “What do I do God?” he asked aloud.

Back home, one of the gang members was
told to go and call Dayo for dinner. Stone
wanted them all to eat together before going for the operation. Every night they went out for an operation, they expected death, it was the reason they ate. Stone’s policy was that,
after pursuing money on earth, a man was
not supposed to die on an empty stomach.

But when the gang member went to Dayo’s bedroom, he found it empty.

He checked the adjoining bathroom, thinking he was having a
shower, but it was also empty. He rushed
downstairs in alarm, and when Stone saw his face, he knew something had gone wrong. He had been having a sense of foreboding since the day dawned, but he attributed it to anxiety before an operation. However, seeing
the face of his gang member, he knew his
feelings were spot on.

Stone: “What happened?” he asked anxiously.

“Robert, Dayo, whatever he is called, is not in his room or anywhere in this house” he said with a ‘I told you so’ look in his eyes.

Stone: “What!” he exclaimed and bounded up the stairs. He bashed into Dayo’s room, and confirmed what the other gang member had said.

His eyes went to the open window and
the branch of tree which looked pulled
towards the window, and then he knew that Dayo had left the house through the window.

“Where would he go by this time, and
why did he leave like a thief. Has he
escaped, would he go to the police” these were the thoughts running around in his head.

He was confused for the first time in a
long while. He could not abort the mission
because commitments have been made. He had to hope that Dayo was not doing
anything that was jeopardizing their safety and freedom.

Stone: “We continue the operation as before”

“We should have just killed that boy, there was no need keeping him. If you needed a son, you could have gotten any girl pregnant”
one of the gang members said.

Stone: “Shut up! Nobody questions my decision, no one!” he shouted, the veins on his neck protruding like they were going to burst out from under the skin, “We all
concentrate on the mission, Robert is my
problem, and after the mission, I will deal
with the problem. Now, let’s have dinner” he concluded and everyone fell silent.

They sat round the dinner table and ate their dinner in silence. Every man praying in his heart to come back from the operation, alive.

At the back of their minds, was also a
nagging feeling that this operation would go wrong.

The fact that Dayo had left the house
secretly was a source of worry to them.
Stone felt Dayo’s disappearance was of no consequence to the operation because he knew nothing about it, or did he?

He bolted out of his seat suddenly as
everything became clear in his mind’s eye.

The day they were discussing the operation,
Dayo had stumbled into the kitchen and he had thought that he was sleepwalking, but was he really sleep walking or eavesdropping
on their conversation. He had also been
seeing Dayo everywhere he turned, like the boy was shadowing him.

“No! it can’t be” He screamed in his heart.

Stone: “We leave immediately, there might be a problem, but we might be able to salvage the situation if we hurry” he said and they
hurried into another room where they kept their ammunitions.

Dayo was sitting on a stone slab in the
street, lurking in the corner and watching the house, he didn’t know yet what he would do, but he knew he would keep watch and not allow Stone to succeed in his mission.

But due to inactivity, he dozed off, leaning his head on his thighs. Because he was sleeping, he did not see a car drive to the gate and Ken come out with Cassandra.

They had gone on a date, and Ken had come to drop Cassandra, but he was pleading with her to let him spend the night at their place, instead of the hotel.

Since he got back from America for his
summer break, he had not gone home, even though his mother had been asking him to come home, as she had missed him. He had been staying in Oshogbo because of Cassandra, in a hotel. Their relationship was falling apart, and Ken was doing all he could to hold it together. He had decided to marry
Cassandra, not just because he loved her, for he loved her, as she was a very beautiful young lady. But, he wanted to marry her because of her father’s estate which had been bequeathed to her.