It was around four in the night when Tamilore was awoken by the cries of her new born baby. He wanted food, she knew, as this was the time when she usually fed him. He was still a new born baby so he ate eight times daily.

She rose up and yawned, stretching her limbs. She carried him with his cot. She looked at her husband, who was still sleeping. She then left the room with her baby.

She made for the living room, turned the lights on, and put the cot on a sofa. She decided to eat some cereal, although she wasn't hungry but she knew breast feeding her son would drain some of her energy. She contemplated calling Titi to come and bring the box of Weetabix, milk and sugar to her but she decided not to disturb the sleeping girl.

She went to the kitchen and put some water to boil. Few minutes later she made her cereal, ate it, then went to feed her baby. When she finished, he stopped crying and even gave a smile, flashing his toothless gum.

He was so cute and Tamilore was thankful for him.

Suddenly, his smile morphed into a frown and he began crying again. Tamilore was confused, he just ate, what was he crying for? She started to panic until she felt his diapers and felt faeces.

Oh.

And then, it started to smell. Baby's faeces smelled so bad. Tamilore decided to clean him up in one of the other bathrooms instead of the one in their room because of the smell.

She would change her clothes, because she didn't want to mistakenly stain herself. She left him in the living room and walked towards her room, but just as she stopped at the door, she heard Dipo talking to someone on the phone.

"---I will bring him the day after his naming ceremony. I swear I will." He paused, and when he talked again, his voice was hoarse, like he was on the verge of tears.

"I'm not crying. I'm...I'm just emotional. I'm a human being and I am already getting attached to him."

"Damn, you're heartless. Were you this cold when you were using your own daughter too?"

"No, I'm not like that. It's not easy for me to use my son for...for mo-money rituals. I'm not heartless like you."

Tamilore's eyes nearly fell out of her sockets.

She started to hyperventilate, begging herself to calm down. She was rooted to a spot and couldn't move. Move. Move. She urged herself, but she couldn't.

And then Dipo went silent.

Oh God. He had heard her. Tamilore felt as though her heart would jump out of its cage any second from now.

"Damn, network."

Oh. She let herself breathe when she realised that he didn't hear her.

And then, as silently as possible, she walked away and went back to the living room.

There, her baby had stopped crying. She lifted him up and held him against her chest while she rested her back against the backrest of the sofa. And then she started crying.

Her lips quivered as she wept silently, fear coursing through her whole body. She thought back to what she heard. Could it even be real? Dipo. Her Dipo, the Dipo she knew and loved wanted to use her baby for...for money rituals? What?

She looked around the living room. They were very well-to-do, although Tamilore was a housewife and Dipo made all the money. She snickered. Did he even work?

She gasped. So all of this was blood money? So many thoughts ran through her mind.

Dipo said he was going to bring their baby the day after his naming ceremony. Tamilore's mouth fell open as she realised that her baby's naming ceremony was in two days.

* * *

That night, Tamilore couldn't sleep. Her mind was a whirlwind, giving her no rest and offering no rest to itself too. She wiped her tears and cleaned her eyes, then went to clean her baby up when he started crying again. She looked at him, wondering if this would be one of the last few days she would have with him.

She sat there in the guest bathroom, staring at him. He still had pink skin, and he looked the way new born babies usually did. She didn't know when a tear rolled down her face.

Dipo was very influential and wealthy. She was nothing against him, despite being his wife. People with money in this country could get away with virtually anything. And apart from that, if truly---it was too bitter to think about---Dipo was in a cult group, from what Tamilore had heard, you don't rebel against cult groups as a normal human being. If he wanted to use this baby, she was no match against him.

She whimpered. She didn't want to die yet.

She felt lost, hopeless. She didn't know what to do. What could she do? She wondered if she should call her mother, Alhaja or call one of her sisters.

But what would they do?

Tamilore looked at her baby and knew he would have started to feel cold. She removed her buba and covered him with it. She would have gone inside the room to dress him up, but she was scared. Scared of what she just heard from Dipo.

And then she remembered Chioma. Chioma was a detective. Surely, she could help Tamilore get Dipo arrested? A new surge of hope sprang up in her heart. She would call Chioma tomorrow and present her case to her.

"Tamilore?" She heard Dipo calling her from the hallway.

Oh my God, she thought. She quickly splashed water on her face, clean up the area, wear her buba back and carried her baby.

"Yes?" She said, as she made her way out of the bathroom and the room. "I'm coming." For her sake and that of her son's, she hoped she looked as normal as possible. She left the room and met him in the hallway.

"Your son shat. The two of you are the same thing. Your shit can smell ehn," she said in an attempt to make a joke.

She looked at him. He looked a little sullen. A lump rose in her throat.

"Ah okay. I was looking for you when I woke up."

"Aw," she said, turning her back to him because she didn't think she could keep the pretence up anymore and she had to.

* * *

The next day was a Thursday. Dipo went out around twelve, claiming he was going to his place of work. Tamilore sniggered when he wasn't looking. She didn't even believe him anymore.

The whole night, she guarded her baby fiercely. She made sure he slept in his cot and placed him near the wall, and she was immediately beside him. She couldn't sleep, as she kept checking inside the cot so many times throughout the night. As soon as day broke, she stood up and carried her baby away from the bed her and her husband shared, taking him into the bathroom to bathe for him.

Later, much to her displeasure she had to leave her baby in the room as she went to make breakfast with Titi. Dipo came out to eat, dressed up. Once he was sat, Tamilore raced into the room to check on her baby. He was fine.

She went back to the living room and sat with Dipo at the table, making sure to act completely normal. Dipo informed her that the chairs and canopies for the naming ceremony tomorrow would be brought to the house this afternoon, and asked about the cooks. Tamilore told him that they would be here today and start cooking very early tomorrow morning. They finalised plans and soon, Dipo left.

She could finally breathe.

Immediately she went to her room and picked up her phone, dialling Chioma's number. After a few rings, she picked up.

"Hello?" Tamilore's tone was frantic.

"Hello Tamilore! How are you?" Chioma's cheery voice went.

"I'm fine. Look---"

"You sound stressed. Are you okay?"

Tamilore imagined that a frown would be on her face.

"I'm---see, I'm not okay. I need to see you, urgently."

"Ah," Chioma said. "Okay. I'll close from the office at three today, so I guess we could meet somewhere after that."

Tamilore groaned. She had to wait for three more hours?

"Alright."

"Where should we meet? There's a restaurant..."

"No please. Let me come and see you in your house."

"Hm okay," Chioma agreed. Tamilore thanked her and hung up. Now, she had to wait.

* * *

Exactly three hours later, Tamilore was dressed up and ready to go and see Chioma, her friend. She brought out her Ankara print cot and placed her baby in it. She called her friend, and Chioma said she was almost home.

Tamilore carried her purse and her phone, then contemplated asking the driver to drive her there. She decided against it, feeling paranoid. She couldn't allow anything to go wrong. Nobody in this house could know what she was planning to do.

She carried her cot, and then stepped outside of the room. She met Titi cleaning the glass dining table and told her to take care of the house, and then she left.

Twenty minutes deep into her journey, Tamilore's mind began to wander. She sighed, feeling her eyes pool with tears. If Chioma could help her get...get Dipo arrested, she would forever be grateful to her.

She remembered how she knew Chioma. She had met her at a poetry reading, when Ijeoma Umebinyuo read some of her poems at Kofo Abayomi in Victoria Island, the last time she came to Nigeria. They had clicked instantly, and they decided to continue being in touch. From there, a friendship was born.

After what seemed like hours, she finally arrived at Chioma's house. The gate keeper opened the gate and she drove in, parked her car, carried her baby and then went to knock on the door. Chioma came out and opened the door and they greeted each other.

They walked inside the living room together.

"This baby is too small to be carrying about oh, Tam Tam. I didn't know you were bringing him. But oh my God, he's so cute," she gushed.

Tamilore gave a lazy smile. "Thank you," she said. She knew Chioma liked babies, but ironically she said she didn't want to have any. She was a single, beautiful woman and she said she wanted to remain that way for as long as she could.

They went to sit on her sofas. Tamilore complimented her, "Your hair looks so good. I'm tempted to cut my own hair too."

"Thank you oh, Tam Tam," she smiled.

Tamilore set her baby on the three sitter.

"Let me turn off the AC and turn on the fan instead," Chioma said, standing up.

"Thank you."

"So," Chioma said, "What brings you here?"

Tamilore let out a long sigh in response.

"I don't even know how to start," Tamilore confessed.

"Start anywhere," Chioma urged. "I'll listen."

Tamilore sighed again, letting her hands fall to her laps. "I...God, I don't even know. Yesterday, I overheard my husband saying something." She bowed her head.

Silence hung in the air, and Chioma stared at her. "What did you hear?" She asked.

When she raised her head, a tear each rolled down both her cheeks. "He was telling somebody that he will bring my son for money rituals a day after his naming!"

Chioma's mouth dropped open. "What?"

Tamilore looked in confusion, "I heard him."

"Wait wait. Are you sure?"

Tamilore's voice was teary, "Yes!" And tears rolled down her cheeks again. She sniffled and wiped her face, staring at her friend.

"Wow. Wow. So this thing is real?" Chioma asked rhetorically. "Did you say anything to him?"

"How can I? Of course not!"

"Ah better oh, please don't let him know you know. It can be very dangerous to you," Chioma advised.

"Exactly. That's...that's why I'm hoping you can maybe...arrest him or something," Tamilore pleaded.

"Woah...how do you expect me to do that?"

"You can't help me?"

"I mean..." Chioma sighed, "To make a police report, you have to have evidence. And I'm sure you don't, or do you?"

Tamilore bit her lip. "How can I get evidence..." she thought aloud. To Chioma, she said, "Should I go and find a way to collect evidence, maybe voice recording or something and come back?"

Chioma laughed. "When? What time do you have to do all that? From what you told me, your husband said he was going to bring your son for money rituals the day after his naming ceremony. Isn't that tomorrow?"

Tamilore flinched at her words. She sighed, "What do I do then? I...I don't want to lose my baby."

Chioma sighed too. "Tamilore," she went and held her hands. "The government does not recognise or acknowledge the existence of witchcraft or whatever, so arresting him is an invalid option. I think...I think I have an idea."

Tamilore wiped her tears, "What idea?"

"What if...what if you pretend your baby is missing. Like...let's say the morning after his naming ceremony he's nowhere to be found."

Tamilore snapped her fingers over her head.

"Of course not really na. Listen to me first. So, you pretend he's missing for a while. Dipo can't use him for anything if he's missing, right?"

"But...even if I do this, for how long? For how long will I pretend?"

Chioma thought for a while, "Hm. I know that for these kind of fetish people, if they don't pay their pledge for a particular period of time...something bad will happen to them," Chioma said.

"I guess...I guess it'd be until the time something happens to him."

Tamilore sighed.

"This is our only alternative, Tamilore. He'll be with me. He won't suck breast, but at least he'll live."

"This is all too much. Can I go and think about it?"

"With which time? What time do you have?" Chioma raised her voice. "Okay na, go and think about it. Spend one month thinking."

Tamilore let out a puff of breath in determination. "Alright, let's do this."

_____________

And that's it! The final end of BABY TUNMISE. Once again, thank you so much to every single person that read this story. And to those that voted, commented, shared or did all or any combination of these, you have ALL my love. ♡

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