Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 29

Episode 4 years ago

Tarasha - Season 4 - Episode 29

‘I thought you would have gotten the news before I did,’ Dakolo said as he drove down the road with Dave by his side. He had called Dave earlier to ask if he had gotten any report about the accident that occurred that day and Dave had surprised him by responding negative. Then he called on Dave to join him for an investigation, hoping to use Dave to get into places he couldn’t get to.
‘Where exactly are we going to now?’ Dave asked.

‘To the transport service whose vehicle had the accident,’ Dakolo replied.
‘Don’t you think going to the accident scene would be better?’
‘The place would have been cleaned a long time ago, so I don’t think you’ll find anything useful there and it’s even very far from here.’

‘Okay but why is it necessary to visit the transport service when none of the victims died and none of them are even public figures?’
‘Are victims who aren’t public figures not worth investigating?’
‘Inspector Dakolo, if we’re to investigate anything, it should be the cause of the accident and I’m sure several other journalists are there already,’ Dave complained with a frown.
‘Yea, Dave I know.’ Dakolo replied wryly.
‘And I thought you said this stuff involves Samantha Osman.’
‘Yes, it does. I got information from a reliable source that the mother of Henry E.G was in that vehicle.’
‘Huh?’
‘Yes.’
‘They never told us when she was leaving,’ Dave sounded surprised.
‘Yes, to protect her, they say.’
‘But how come her presence in the vehicle is only known by you and the reliable source?’



‘I believe the officers in charge of the case are trying to hide it from reaching the news, the Inspector General wouldn’t be glad if he found out.’
‘Now, I get you.’

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‘I can’t stop thinking about you all the time, everytime you leave, I’m always scared you won’t return anymore.’ Tinuke said to her daughter. Both seated side by side on a two seater sofa, the daughter’s head resting on the mother’s chest and their fingers curled around each others.
For Tinuke, she saw her daughter as no different from the same little girl she used to hold and cuddle in her arms several years ago even though the size was now a lot different.

‘But I’ve told you to stop being scared, I’m not going to leave you, I’ll always be here for you.’
‘I can’t pretend, I’m scared.’ Tinuke said as she rubbed her baby’s ears. Stephanie raised her head gently and both of them stared at each other in the eyes for a brief moment. ‘What if this thing that comes to me finally comes permanently?’ Tinuke continued to voice out her fears. ‘What if it makes you hate me? What if it makes you not want to see me again?’
‘Hey! Mum, stop it!’ Stephanie scolded, getting up from the seat. ‘Why do you keep thinking negatively, I’ve told you to stop talking like this,’ she added, forming an angry face.
‘But I can’t help myself.’
Tears rolled down Tinuke’s eyes and she loosened her wrapper to wipe her face dry but the tears kept coming.
‘Mum, stop doing this to yourself.’ Stephanie sat back on the chair and dragged her mum closer to herself. It was her turn to cuddle her mum like a baby. She could feel the woman’s weight against her body and could tell that she had not stopped loosing weight even though the keepers always claimed that she was taking the right diet. Stephanie had no reason to doubt them because they had been the same people there for so many years, other women like her mum who were there showed signs of proper nutrition and good health.
Her mum was a shadow of what she used to be years back, Stephanie could not remember how she looked then but could see from the pictures and compare. Many including madam Henrietta still believed that her mum would not be able to survive the predicament but Stephanie believed that her mum would leave the place safe and sound one day.
The home was a home for disabled people. Stephanie’s mum was paralyzed from her waist down to the soles of her feet. An accident which took the lives of some other people had affected her Central nervous system, but not only her spine was affected, the brain was affected also. Lack of proper medical care immediately after the accident had contributed to the worsened condition. They finally got medical redress when they sought for one and instead of her whole body paralyzed, she was able to use her hands and move her head and also other parts of her body above the waist. After two months of being in her normal state of mind, those around began to observe her act occasionally in an awkward manner and as time grew on it became worse and more frequent. She could be in her normal state one minute and then the other minute become so violent and dangerous to those around her at that moment. What made her case so difficult was that the doctors were not able to certify those things that triggers the state in her, they made several suggestions but the triggers seemed to keep increasing in number everyday.


‘Listen mum, I’ve told you that all these things are just a phase of life and it’ll pass away very soon.’
‘How long will it be? I can’t even remember how long I’ve been year, by now it should be close to fifteen years or even more, when will it end?” The woman continued to cry louder.
Mum, it all depends on us. But as long as we keep thinking the wrong things and vocalizing the wrong thoughts, we might just keep going in circles.’ Stephanie tried to encourage her mum but she ended up also trying to fight back tears. They sat in each other’s embrace in silence.
‘Please go away from me,’ Tinuke said after some minutes in a low but strict tone.
‘No mum, I will never go away from you.’ Stephanie answered back with a teary voice, not suspecting anything.


‘I said go away from me, you devil!’ Tinuke suddenly shouted in a loud aggressive tone and pushed her daughter to the floor.
‘Mum?’ Stephanie called as she landed heavily with her butt on the floor.
Her mum had gone wild again and was shining her eyes at her like a demon ready to pounce on its prey.
‘Go away!’ the woman shouted again in loud and fierce tone. At that point, she wasn’t seeing her daughter anymore but was seeing an enemy who had taken her family from her. That was the major characteristics of her display whenever the attack comes, she was always fighting the nearest person and accusing the person of her woes and was always ready for a physical fight with the person only that her paralyzed legs would never allow get up.
Two of the keepers came to Stephanie’s rescue, one of them helped pull Stephanie up while the other moved her mum into the wheelchair.

‘You have to leave now,’ the keepers who helped Stephanie up said to her.
Stephanie wiped her face dry and watched as they wheeled her mum out of the place with the woman still looking at her with angry eyes.
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