Chapter 6

Dapo sat beside his mother on the bed, his expression suddenly serious. "Ame? Mother, she is not my type of woman."

Abiola folded her arms across her breasts and looked at her son in a strange way, with her eyebrows raised. "And, who is your type of woman, my son?! Those free women you go about with?! They are simply for the fun of it, if you want to hear the bitter truth! Ladies like Ame are well bred and would add prestige to you!" Abiola told her son in a firm voice. 

Dapo bent his head and shook it slowly. "Ame is not interested in me either, mother," he explained to her. "She always acts elusive too," he complained. He was startled by his mother's laughter.

Abiola tapped her son's shoulder when her laughter subsided. "There is your perfect example of a well-bred lady, my son! The easy going ones are the cheap ones. You have to dig deep to find diamonds, son; you don't find them strewn on the streets or at every corner, my son." She closed her eyes briefly, then opened them as she looked at her son squarely, eyeball to eyeball and declared, "Marriage to Ame is the key to unlocking your father's favour, Dapo Adejare! Take my unsolicited advice and act on it!"

Dapo was quite amazed to hear his mother talk to him so candidly. Marriage to Ame would unlock his father's favour?! Ame was the type of woman you don't toy with. She was like porcelain; fragile and to be handled with care. Yes, they were good friends but Dapo had left it at that after she had pointedly ignored the several innuendos he had dropped her on the several dates they'd had in the past. Truth be told his father had shown a bit of interest in the supposedly budding romance when tabloids had hinted at one between him and Ame Obasogie in the past but when the same tabloids had splashed pictures of him and well known 'loose women', his father had lost interest in his love life, claiming Dapo was a 'son that shames' and threatening to disinherit him if he 'brought shame on the good name of the family'! 

He sighed audibly, making his mother, who sat beside him, watching, give a satisfactory nod as she smiled, knowing that the seed that she had cunningly planted, was taking root deep inside of him. Dapo looked at his mother. "Are you very sure my father will let me head the oil wells when he discovers that I'm serious with Ame?" He wanted to be sure.

Abiola nodded. "Yes, and even more! You just make the move and leave the rest to me. Rosa and I are club members, don't forget!" she answered triumphantly.

Dapo nodded and rose up from the bed. He walked to his study table nearby and placed his hands on it, bending forward. He spoke without turning to his mother. "Go and convince him then. I shall do my own part." He turned to face her.

"So will you eat now?" Abiola asked her son hopefully as she rose up too. "I shall prepare the meal myself," she said eagerly.

"Not now, mother; I'm not in the mood," he replied as he walked towards her. "Right now, I need a loan of two million Naira," he said off handedly.

Abiola gasped in shock. "Two million Naira, Dapo?! Whatever for?!" She turned to him, appalled at his incessant demands, which was rising higher by the day!

Dapo looked at her in irritation. "And how much is two million Naira to the mighty Chief, Mrs Abiola Adejare?!" he asked in derision. He spread out his two hands sideways as he shrugged. "Okay, reduce it to one million so your Shylock of a husband won't become nosy!" he said rudely.

Abiola grew annoyed. "Don't talk of your father in that derisive manner, Dapo!" she shrieked, turning to face him. "I won't give you a kobo!" she screamed at him.

"Wao! Wao! Wao!" Dapo clapped his hands in mockery. "You won't give your only son a kobo, mother?!" he asked in mock incredulity as he put some distance between him and his mother. "Then, pray tell, who you're toiling for?! Other parents put millions of Dollars and Pounds at their children's disposal, yet the only child of the high and mighty Chief and Chief Mrs Adejare has to grovel on his knees to get a paltry one million Naira! Even though I've been considerate enough to reduce it!" He raised his voice. "We're talking about Naira, mother, NAIRA!" he stressed as he balled his arms into fists.

Abiola too was angry now. How dare he! Her husband had always said that she would regret over-indulging Dapo, who had come after a rather long wait for children in their marriage. And she had gone through a life-threatening ordeal to have him. Her husband had been so scared of losing his wife that he had instructed the medical team back then to 'save my wife if it comes to choosing, please.' He was unlike his contemporaries, who valued children above all else in a marriage. 'Otunba' as she fondly called her husband, had loved her with a passion that was still evident, even after three and a half decades of marriage. No one, not even a much cherished child, would take her husband for a fool! "You are nothing but irresponsible, Dapo!" she bristled. "I know you use all these money for gambling! Aside from what you earn working for your father, I also give you a monthly allowance of three hundred thousand Naira! If you are not a wasteful spender, you should have more than enough in your account! The last time I checked, YOUR ACCOUNT WAS IN RED, RED!!!" she bellowed in anger.

"Okay, then," Dapo raised up his hands in a mock surrender. "Don't blame me for 'shaming the family name' when it comes out in the open that the only child of the Adejares is in a huge debt. If I can't bear it, then I'll kill myself, after all, I have nothing to lose, since I'm a nobody!" He shrugged as he began to pick one or two things of his. 

Abiola stopped in her tracks when she heard her son threaten to kill himself. She quickly rushed to him and clutched him close, halting his movement. "What are you talking about, Dapo?! Has it come to this?!" she appealed, tears welling up in her eyes.

Dapo tried to disengage himself from his mother's clutch but she would not let go, so he remained in her arms, resigned. "Please leave me alone, mother," he begged quietly.

Abiola refused to heed his plea. "You know that you're all I have, Dapo..." she began but he cut her short.

"You have your husband, mother. That is all that matters to you!" he replied firmly.

"No, Dapo," his mother disagreed. "You matter to both of us. We love you," she persisted.

Dapo managed to break free of his mother's hold but she tailed him, carefully ensuring he remained in the room as they conversed. 

"Don't worry, mother. I'll be okay. I won't ask you or anyone else for money again," he said as he looked at her evenly. "I'll just pick a few of my necessities and leave for good," he said as he headed to the wardrobe.

Abiola got to the wardrobe before her son and blocked it with her body. "It doesn't have to come to this, my dear," she coaxed, giving him a conciliatory smile which Dapo ignored as he stopped and then turned towards the bed but she followed him. "Where do you want to go now, Dapo?" she asked in concern.

"Don't worry about me, mother," he quipped as he sat down on the bed. His mother walked up to him and sat down beside him, and put her arms around him. "O daa, se tori one million ni? Is it because of a mere one million? I'll give it to you, my son," she said.

Dapo smiled inwardly at his success but outwardly, he continued with his drama. "Don't bother, mother. I'll manage," he insisted. He placed his head in his hands as he bowed forward. Abiola shook her son slightly, fear written all over her.

"What is it now? I said that I'll give you the money! Okay, go and take the fifty thousand in my room and add it as jara," she beseeched. Dapo looked up at her inquisitively and she nodded at him, smiling. A smile broke up on his face and he hugged her tight.

"Thanks, mother," he said and he got up to leave the room but his mother put a restraining arm on him, stopping him. 

Abiola looked up at her son. "Promise me you won't do anything silly," she implored. Dapo smiled boyishly.

"I won't, mother," he assured her.

"And, you will go ahead and propose to Ame," she stated further.

"I'll do my best," he said and he left. 

Abiola rested her head in her palm and closed her eyes as she fell back on her son's bed. Her son's emotional blackmails was reaching unpredictable dimensions. She sent a silent prayer to God to hep her son. 

Hours later, it was the maid, who had made sure that Dapo was well out of the way, and had come to clean up his room, that woke Abiola Adejare up from her slumber with a gentle tap.