Must Read: Taking Chances

7 years ago

Must Read: Taking Chances

‘reality check little Miss American! we don’t have cops here, we call them police and they handle rude things like you just perfectly’ Jide said and stopped in his track, happy that his scare had turned her on her heels and gotten through her thick rude skin. He would have loved to teach her a lesson or two, too bad he wasn’t a woman beater, and he wasn’t planning on becoming one because of some ill-mannered female.
‘All mouth and no strength’ he added.
Just then Daisy walked in, almost colliding with Brenda at the hallway. She had heard their voices in her room, but hadn’t cared for She had problems of her own. Then knowing Brenda too well, she would be up to no
good.
‘What’s going on here?’ she asked, looking from one to the other.
‘I can’t believe you’ve been staying with this animal!’ Brenda shouted.
‘and if you don’t watch your tongue, am gonna teach you some’
‘you can’t do me nothing!’
‘will you guys both quit this!’ Daisy shouted.
Everyone turned calm.
‘can we leave now? Am ready’ she addressed Brenda.
‘About time too! And what’s that you’re putting on? A simple top and jean, what happened to them s*xy** clothes? it’s months since you last saw PETER! No way you’re going to see HIM dressed like that!’ Brenda said, adding more than required emphasis on the words ‘Peter’ and ‘him’ whilst
eyeing Jide.
Jide just shook his head.
‘quit tripping and lets go, there’s nothing wrong with what am wearing and Pete’s isn’t new to us’ Daisy replied drily and headed for the door, Brenda following closely behind.
‘So what? You finally appear from your room since morning and now you’re just going to head out?’ Jide called after them. ‘I suggest you make your choices carefully Daisy’ he shouted addressing Daisy.
Daisy didn’t act like she was the one been spoken to.
‘duh, she has and its not with you, loser!’ Brenda replied him, then
stuck her tongue at him before banging the door after her.

Jide stood there a while staring blankly at the door. It was definitely time to involve the parents, he concluded and made for his study.
Jide now in his study was getting dressed in preparation to visit his family home. He had resolved to talk with his father about the issues plaguing his marriage. They had to be something he could learn from the oldman since he had been married himself, he was afterall a part of the situation and had in league with his grandmother gotten him settled with Daisy. So it was high time they called her to order or else he would damn every consequences and take drastic measures to put his mind at rest. Marriage wasn’t a do or die affair afterall.
‘not atall, it isn’t’ Jide said to himself and rose from where he had sat tying the lace of his shoes. Casting a final look around his study, he headed out.

Out in the hallway, his pace slowed as he walked past Daisy’s room. He stood a few step away from the door, an irritated twitch on his face.
‘Daisy’s bloody hideout’ he spat bitterly. But before he could give another thought, he found himself walking towards her door and pushing at the door handle.
‘and as usual, it is locked!’ he cursed and stepped back, wondering what he was even doing trying to enter her room when he should have atleast been on his way out of the compound.

But his treacherous feet didn’t carry him away from the door, instead a naughty grin played up on his face and he found himself heading back to his study.
As soon as he entered his study, Jide went into action, searching frantically at every nook and cranny of the drawers in his study.
‘am sure I kept them somewhere here’ he said to himself minutes later as he now stood glancing around the room. He headed towards the rack containing his books to continue his search in between the books.
Yet no luck.
Jide knew the futility of his impromptu search, but he didn’t feel like relenting, few minutes later he was yet to meet with success.
‘this is ridiculous’ he said in defeat and felt foolish, he decided to head out for good this time, but that was when his eyes caught the object he had been searching for, hiding unpreturbed amongst his paper-studded desk.
With a broad grin, he walked towards the table and picked up a bunch of identical keys.
‘the beauty of duplicates’ he said and walked out of his study, smiling.

*****

‘let’s see what pretty Mrs Daisy has been hiding’ Jide said as he pushed open the door to Daisy’s room.
Before him was a slightly untidy room, a pile of cloths was heaped at a corner of the bed, Jide recognized the pink dress Daisy had worn to the awards among the pile, the wardrobe door was also wide open.
The only thing that fascinated Jide was the wallpaper above the bed that called out to him.
‘Daisies of the morning’ he read quietly as he made his way into the room, wondering what he was doing there. It wasn’t like there was any state of the art decoration that had been added, besides all the female knick knacks, it still looked the same to him: same colour, same curtains, the mirror still stood where it had, the bathroom hadn’t moved, the wardrobe was still resting on the wall, and infact, it was as untidy as he had ever seen it! Why then had he left the important place he was going, just to search for a damn key and open a room that didn’t presently add value to him.

However, he knew deep in his heart that curiosity had led him here. If Daisy guarded this room tenaciously and kept it under lock and keys when she wasn’t around, meant they had to be somethings she was hiding. Maybe discovering whatever it was would spite her and give him a chance to get back at her for the way she was making him feel these past days.
Now seated on the bed, Jide glanced around the room, still contemplating the foolisness of this action when his eyes caught a brown object amongst the pile of cloth on the bed.
He drew it closer and opened it to discover that it was his wedding album which he never knew existed.
Daisy must have been going through it before Brenda came calling, he concluded as he flipped through its pages.

For the next minutes, Jide scanned the pictures, paying more than required attention to each photo as he relived the experiences of his marriage of months ago.
He saw through the smiles plastered on the faces of his family and even Daisy as they posed for the pictures, realisation struck him then, that he had been the cause of it all. But inspite of his present state of remorse, he smiled at his poses in the pictures he appeared in. He had not smiled, hadn’t try to pretend, instead he looked like a trapped bird seeking means of escape. The only time he had seen himself smiling was in the picture where he had danced with Grace while Daisy stood at a spot. He cursed the photographer for not just taking the shot but also compiling it in the album! If it hadn’t been somehow printed directly into the album, he would have torn it out from the bunch.