STORYTIME
FINDING THE TRUTH
CHAPTER 4
****Flashback continues****
"Ah! Ajibola why did you do this to your mother? Why did you kill yourself?" Mr. Adigun lamented bitterly as he cried over Jibola's now stiff and cold body. We were at the school morgue were Jibola's body was brought to. Mr.Adigun had insisted on seeing his daughter's body. He couldn't believe his daughter committed suicide and wanted to confirm it. Mariam and I had decided to bring him, leaving Rose and Abisola with Jibola's mum at the hospital. It was about a 10 minutes’ drive from Macaulay.
"Hmm" I sighed as I looked at the man shed tears uncontrollably. At this point I couldn't even cry again neither could I console him. I was just to tired and was feeling so numb from the whole pain. I just stood there staring at him. I remembered how hard he was trying to hold himself together at the hospital seeing his wife between life and death, alongside the news of his daughter's death. Seeing his daughter lifeless, with her nose blocked, her eyelids and mouth tightly shut, stiff and cold, her body swollen up, broke the last thread of comportment in him.
I shook my head in bitterness. Talking about comportment, I looked over at Mariam. She was just standing there, emotionless. "Oh God I hope Mariam wouldn't injure herself by not letting it out" I said to myself. I could see her trying to hold herself from breaking down. I moved closer to her to give her a hug ."You can cry Mariam. Stop holding it back" I said pulling her into a tight hug and patting her back at the same time. I felt a sharp sting in my eyes as tears began to well up again.
"Babe, it's okay to cry, please" I told her pleadingly. She isn't doing herself any good by holding it all in. I kept on patting her back. Then I heard a light sniff that later transited into a loud outpour of tears, as Mariam cried. I continued patting her back to console her as I also tear up. This was heart wrenching. She hugged me back as she continued to cry.
*******
"Let me go get you water sir" Mariam said to Mr Adigun.
No my daughter. Don't worry let Bisola go get it. You should all leave now it's late already. It is 15 minutes after 11pm already. I do not want you to be later than this" MrAdigun said.
"You should leave" Bisola forced a smile on. "I would not also want you guys to be later than this. Thank you so much. Thank you for paying the bills. Thank you so much" she said tearing up. Rose moved closer to her, giving her a hug. I did the same then Mariam joined the group hug. We released her from the hug and proceeded to leave.
"Wait. Where's my phone?" Abisola asked searching her bag.
"Your phone? Where did you put it" Mariam asked her
"I left it... Or did I forget it in the toilet? Oh my God I hope it hasn't been stolen" Bisola complained worriedly.
"Calm down let's go and check it" Rose said to Bisola.
"Isn't this your phone?" I said as I found a phone in the lower drawer in the hospital ward.
"Oh. How did it get there?" Bisola asked confused.
"You probably dropped it there when you were filling it up with provisions" Rose told her.
"Oh. That's true. You guys should take your leave now. It's 11:21pm already" Bisola told us.
"Please escort them Bisola. Thank you so much my daughters. God bless you" Mr Adigun said unwillingly smiling at us. He turned
"Hmm" Rose sighed. I looked at her face and her eyes were red and puffy from the whole cry. I couldn't still believe Jibola was dead. I sighed heavily at the thought. It was almost six hours after we found her dead.
"Let's go" Mariam said to us. I held Rose's hands and we exited the ward with Bisola quietly walking behind us, wearing a sad expression. I let go of Rose's hands and moved closer to her.
"We'll be fine" I told her. She forced a smile shaking her head.
"She's dead there's nothing we can do. But I wish we were able to stop her from killing herself." She said, finishing it off with a sigh.
"Yeah" I said. "What of her burial?" I asked.
"I don't even know. But her daddy is most likely going to wait till her mum regains consciousness" Bisola said perplexed.
"That would cost a lot. Do not worry do not hesitate to inform us of any challenge you face hun? We would gladly be of help" I said to her reassuringly.
"I thought the doctor said we shouldn't mention it to her again?" Rose said.
"Do you think that would be easy? We already told her about it and she would definitely ask for her daughter when she regains consciousness. I don't even want to imagine that scene right now. Are we going to tell it was a joke when she wakes up? We were just pulling her legs? Even if we are able to pull that off she would want to see her daughter. I don't want to think about this. I'm starting to get riled up at Jibola. Why would she even do this? Knowing full well mummy's condition? This all just so overwhelming" Abisola broke down in anger and tears.
"Please calm down Bisola" I pulled her into a tight hug. Bisola hugged back crying so much.
"I don't think we can leave her like this" Rose said.
"No. No. Don't worry" she said her voice a bit shaky, as she hurriedly wiped her face. "I called Priscilla already. She should be here soon. She has been busy at the teaching hospital that's why she isn't here yet. You guys should leave. Hun? Or are you done with your projects?" Bisola asked Rose and I.
"No. I'm not. I am to meet my supervisor 8am tomorrow for her final approval and Tofunmi defended hers today" Rose replied and I nodded in confirmation.
Alright. You guys should leave now. I will go on to get Daddy water. She proceeded to leave for the hospital's minimart.
"Abisola" we heard someone call. We turned to look back and we saw Priscilla some steps away from us, right at the large entrance of the hospital. She ran towards Bisola and hugged her.
"I'm so sorry babe. I'm so sorry. I didn't believe your text when I read it. I'm seriously surprised at the news" she emotionally hugged Abisola to empathize with her. She was also sad with news.
"Thank God you are here. Please take care of her. We will leave now" Mariam said as we proceeded to exit the hospital.
****
"I don't know why I keep feeling Jibola did not kill herself" Mariam said breaking the gloomy silence in the room. It was 9:42am in the morning. Rose had left to go meet her supervisor, leaving Mariam and I to unending gloominess.
"Same here. But she did actually" I sighed.
"No. I'm not saying this because I'm finding it difficult to believe. I'm saying this because her committing suicide all of a sudden is so fishy. Jibola is a very strong girl. She wouldn't think of killing herself because of her mother's health condition. Don't you find it unreasonable? Why would she all of a sudden kill herself because her mother has a weak heart? She's a medical student and she definitely knows that there are ways to help a person with a weak heart, live longer than expected. So I find her reason for killing herself so fishy and not Jibola-like" Mariam said.
"Hmm. I've seriously also be thinking about this. However, I just keep coming up with the probability of her being unable to withstand losing another person dear to her because I can't just wrap my head around who Jibola could have offended so much to get killed for if it actually turns out that she was killed. You know Jibola is a good person now. Ehn? I don't want to believe she was murdered but at the same time I don't feel comfortable accepting that she committed suicide. This is seriously draining" I said all numb and tired.
"She could have been killed by someone, then the person staged it as suicide" Mariam said thoughtfully.
"No wonder you decided to study law" I smiled lightly
She smirked with gloominess "A last minute decision"
"You could be right Mariam. I seriously also find Jibola'ssuicide fishy. It just so true to be real or how do they say it. I find it unbelievable. It's really not something Jibolawould even think of doing" I said.
"I think we should carry out some investigation" she said.
"Investigation? And how would we do that? We aren't even sure if she was really killed or not" I asked.
"I don't know. We can start somewhere. I'm also lost here. Maybe it is not as we think. I don't even know. Maybe I was wrong" She said exasperatedly.
"Or could it have been Chidi?" I asked.
"Chidi?" Mariam questioned doubtfully.
"You know they just ended their relationship few days ago and you know it was a serious conflict. Also, another baffling thing is that, on finding Jibola lifeless on the floor, her eyes were wide open like she saw something. That part still confuses me" I said.
"Really? Why would her eyes be wide-open? Could she have seen someone she knew? Mariam asked.
"Maybe Chidi?" I said shrugging my shoulders.
"Jibola didn't even tell us what really happened between them. So, we do not have any valid reason why he could have done this" Mariam said.
"But she once mentioned that she suspects he is into some shady businesses and when they broke up, she said she found out something about him that she wasn't comfortable with but she didn't tell us what it was in particular" I said.
"Yes" Mariam said, nodding her head in affirmation.
"I hope it wasn't that she found out about something that boy did not want anybody to know about and ended up getting her killed" I said worriedly.
"I seriously hope so. Cos if it turns out that this guy killed Jibola because she found out something about him. He is going to rot in jail. He will o. He will. I've never liked the guy in the first place. He particularly gives me some off vibes. I only accepted him because Jibola keep allowing herself to see only the good side of people, ignoring the red lights around them. And I kept warning her about this guy o
"Calm down. These are just mere guesses without valid evidence" I told Mariam.
"More reason why we should start an investigation on him. Let us find out first, why they broke up. I'm really suspecting that guy. To think Jibola supposedly killed herself few days after their separation" Mariam said.
"If this was really a murder, then I would be heartbroken" I said sadly because Jibola had to unfortunately be a victim of an untimely and bad death.
"We will tell Rose immediately she comes back from school. We are starting this ASAP. Hmm. I'm saying it again. Let it just be that, that guy has nothing to do with this heart wrenching event" Mariam said firmly.
to be continued…
Onigbinde Testimony
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