"The one thing I was ever guilty of was loving Tilda," he began, staring far off into space in reminiscence as his hands fiddled with the hem of his faded T-shirt. I could tell he was nervous.

"You really don't have to tell me if you—"

"I want to, trust me. You deserve to know," he cut me off with his usual muffled voice. I nodded awkwardly in reply.

"My penultimate year in the university was what I'll describe as turbulent. I wasn't exactly the ideal young man back in the day you know? Especially when I had no one to caution me. I was an orphan.

I began attending Lagos University of technology in the late 1990's, 1999 exactly. It was okay at first. Amidst conducting tutorials for course mates, working odd jobs and funds from scholarship grants, I was able to breeze through my first and second year in the university without much hassle. However, along the line, the temptations of the power, money, girls and other frivolous things that wasn't worth the trouble, pushed me into making the biggest mistake of my life. I joined a fraternity."

He paused when he sighted Madam Bee, who had mysteriously disappeared earlier. She was now serving two chilled bottles of nonalcoholic malt drinks on the plastic table, opening the crown corks halfway with a metal opener stringed with keys before disappearing as quickly as she came. My father didn't make an attempt to open his and neither did I.

"Of course fraternity in this country isn't all stickers and roses, simply put, it's a cult group. It was cool at first you know? I could do whatever I wanted and get away with it and I abused that power a lot. From spanking lecturers for hutting on my crushes to crashing parties of rich kids that irritated the likes of me, to brutal street fights that left one participant either dead or gruesomely injured.

I enjoyed the thrill, I loved the adventure. Soon enough, good grades and general studies were being swept under the carpet and a life of crime and terrorizing others was embraced fully."

He gave another heavy sigh that pointed out his deep regrets. Not that I was trying to judge but he'd probably lived a lifestyle he wasn't proud of and it'd led him into being an ex convict. I wondered how mother had come in contact with him to have us.

Did he rape her?

The sound of his voice brought me out of my thoughts;

"I revelled in this new world like an idiot. I basked in the new spotlight that seemed to shine on me when I became the capon's right hand man. The killings of targets became my guilty pleasure, especially the ones that seemed well to do. It was probably because I was jealous of the luxurious life they led while I had survived on nothing but their crumbs and leftovers. It was my slow process of becoming a monster. But that was all until the fateful evening I met Matilda Nnwaneri."

He finally flipped the cork off the drink with and took a large gulp of it, almost finish its entire content in that one gulp while I watched with intense carefulness. I could tell by the fidgety stance that he wasn't comfortable with all he'd said and all that he was going to say next would be much worse, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him to stop because I really wanted to hear every word of what he had to say.

I really wanted to believe every word he had to say.

"Although I attended the party in which she'd disrespected the capon, I fully saw her for the first time through her picture, because she was a target the capon had given me to finish off you know? Capon had eyed her at a party we all attended together and tried to corner her but she, regardless of the fact that she very well knew who he was, kicked him where the sun doesn't shine.

Underneath all the anger for disrespecting someone I looked up to, I low key admired her spunk. It was one of those  basic things that caused my attraction towards her. But there was nothing I could do to prevent her demise that had already been sealed. In no time, I began trailing her.

I didn't exactly know when it happened but along the lines of stalking her to classes, charity events, orphanage homes, church choir practices and even helping to tutor her, that initial attraction grew into something deeper, an emotion that turned out to be my undoing —love. A simple task that would have normally taken three days began to drag out for months. 

Tilda made me realise how much I've derailed from the values I've instilled into myself, she made me want to be a better person for her. She made me regret all the wrong I'd done. Tilda made me want, crave a future with her. A beautiful future she promised to offer."

I was a little bit unnerved when I heard the woman who birthed me being described like she was a goddess of virtue. I knew mother a lot and she wasn't anything in semblance to what this man was describing. It made me want to question the credence of his story, but I stayed myself. 

Maybe it was because of the way he wrapped his hands around the neck of malt's bottle so tightly, that it was a wonder that the bottle hadn't crumbled into specs of dust, but I was able to detect that a painful twist was imminent.

"In the light of all the emotions I was feeling for Tilda, I'd totally forgotten the initial task of finishing her off. I'd forgotten that I was the favorite marksman of the head of a cult group and I was swiftly reminded by the capon himself. And what happened when I grumbled about quitting?"

He paused to give a cold humorless laugh. I already knew what was going to happen without being told. It was always that way with secret cults.

"All hell broke lose." And when he confirmed it with those four words, I could only sigh in sympathy.

"That I was capon's favorite didn't make it any better. After he heard all I had to say, he just told me to run as fast as I could, that he was coming for me and the bitch that made me have a change of heart.

It wasn't until then that I knew no fraternity could replace family, no amount of affection the devil shows is ever real. I was only the favorite because I was easy to use and when I was beginning to prove otherwise, he ordered that my head be brought to him on a platter without batting an eyelid.

All the credit I've gotten from my tireless service to the group couldn't and didn't help me, all the 'brothers' I'd garnered during my short stay turned into mortal enemies that craved my blood. Even Liam, who I'd initially thought as my best friend was part of them that hunted me for my life. Nobody needed to tell me that I'd landed myself in deep, hot soup. 

Matilda really helped in this period. In fact, she stood by my side every step of the way. It was with her aid and connections that we were able to escape campus to a slovenly orphanage far in the east. 

Those few days of safety were pure bliss I tell you. I was convinced that I'd made the right choice even if we survived on nothing but loose change from her purse and poor food that the orphanage offered. I was happy. We were happy…" a sob bubbled up his throat and cut short whatever he wanted to say next.

I instinctively reached out to place my palm on the hand he wrapped around the bottle as if it was going to give him any comfort. He nodded appreciatively and my gesture and placed his other palm over mine. Contrary to my assumption, his hand felt warm and …comforting in a weird kind of way.

 "That was where one thing led to another and we made love for the first time. To be honest, as I looked into her eyes and thru—"

"Too much info dad," I croaked in alarm.

The last thing I wanted to hear was a detailed description of how I was conceived. He seemed to realise his mistake and gave a sheepish smile in apology.

"I think that was how you were conceived Dada. The next morning after …stuff… happened between us, Tilda was gone without as little as a note. I spent the next few days going crazy in worry as to where she was. I searched the nooks and crannies of ogwashi village for Tilda but to no avail. No one had seen her go. The manager of the orphanage didn't know where she could be. Her phones weren't going through. 

I came to the conclusion that they had gotten to her and I needed to get away as fast as possible before they came for me as well. It wasn't until a month after, when I was busy adapting to life in the internally displaced person's camp at Borno, that I was proven otherwise.

I got an unexpected call from an unknown number. How Tilda was able to get my current number I wasn't sure, but I was ecstatic that she was alive and well. Well, not exactly well as she sounded frantic over the phone when she gave me the address of her current location in Lagos and begged me to come save her from a trouble she'd landed herself in. 

She refused to say what happened exactly, she just urged me to come as soon as possible and being the foolish Knight in shining armour that I was, I fled my safety zone immediately and began a road trip to Lagos. That decision ruined my life Dada. Literally."

He paused once again, to take deep breaths this time. His warm palm that covered mine was suddenly retracted to wipe down his face. I held tighter to the second one, which was probably currently short of blood as it was still holding on to the bottle, and braced myself for the big climax.

"Long story short, It turned out that Capon was dead and Tilda was the one who killed him. With her beautiful face smeared with tears, she explained that it was a mistake. They captured her, Capon tried to shoot at her and in an act of self preservation, she unexpectedly charged forward and struggled to get possession of the gun. She somehow eluded all Capon's men and ran to safety afterwards. 

I should have realised the foul play when she requested that I take the blame for her 'mistake' but I was too blind to. I loved her too much to doubt her and yours sincerely Dada, my naivete, my love for her was my one-way road to destruction."

 When I heard the cracking sound, then felt the warm wetness, then saw the startling scarlet, I couldn't help but gasp in shock. I had been so engrossed with what my father was saying that I didn't notice how the neck of the malt bottle was now reduced to the shards embedded to the skin of his folded palm and how swiftly block was seeping through his fingers onto the table.

What was more? He didn't seem to notice and even if he did, he didn't pay attention to it in the least, he continued talking nonetheless;

"I took the blame for her. Got sentenced to eighteen years in prison on the first hearing of the court case only for Capon himself to visit afterwards and inform me that it had all been a setup.

Capon was going to be promoted as the regional head of the fraternity and he had to choose a replacement to fill his current position from his campus. I was the person that would most likely take the position so the second person best to me, Liam, and his girlfriend who surprise surprise! Is Matilda; decided to lower the chances of that. I was nothing but a pawn in their precious little game. I went to jail to save my love from the wrath of the law, but a crime wasn't even committed in the first place."

"Dad!" I interjected, "your hand is bleeding!" I tapped at the palm for emphasis but alas! He still didn't stop staring past me and continued his tale.

"Capon had been injured alright, but he was still alive. Liam just played politics with my life and Capon agreed to the plan because he needed to teach me a lesson for betraying the fraternity. I really thought Tilda loved me, but it was all a lie. Everything was a fucking damn lie!"

His voice was low by the time he finished, but there was no disputing the anger and hurt that oozed out of him. 

As if finally letting himself feel anything, he suddenly flinched from my hold of his palm and hissed in pain.

I found myself running into the main bar to get a bottle of dry gin from Mama Bee before my brain could catch up with my actions. The stingy woman seemed to be in a generous mood as she gave me a small bottle without asking any questions.

When I got back to the gazebo, my father had opened his palm and was working on removing the shards of brown glass from the deep gashes. I felt slightly dizzy at the sight of all the blood. A flash of the bathroom stall suddenly rushed through my mind and and fought hard to keep my balance and focus on the current problem.

"There's a nurse in school, she'll fix it it no time." I offered as I twisted open the metal cap of the gin.

My father smiled in return and shook his head, "they'll never let the likes of me in there. I've already caused a ruckus and do you really think I want to be treated by an overfed nurse that'll look down on me with her nose stuck up in the air? Just pour the gin Dada I'll be fine." 

"No one will dare look down on you!" I replied fiercely, "they wouldn't dare look down on Isabella Adeoti's father!" 

An amused chuckle escaped my dad's lips. Although it was a sonorous sound, I couldn't help but detect slight mockery underlying his amusement. It was that kind of laughter one would give his two-year-old kid for wanting to defend her father from much older people.

"Then that'll be Isabella Aderogba my dear Dada and I really appreciate your kind gesture but I'll be fine, I've been through worse." With that, he took the bottle of gin from my hands and poured a generous amount on the lacerations.

His hisses of pain were muted to my ears 'cause my mind was preoccupied once again.

Aderogba. I was sure I'd seen that somewhere before. It certainly rang a bell.

I placed my index finger to my lower lip in thought, as if the action was going to help me recollect where and when I'd seen the name before.

When I caught the sight of Venom voice walking towards our direction, with a slightly constipated look on her face, something suddenly clicked in my head.

That file back in her room! Micheal Aderogba was the name on the file!

I frantically tapped around my pockets for my phone to check for the an important information but swiftly realised that I'd left it back at my temporary cell. I groaned in irritation. 

"Dad, can you tell what today's date is?" I queried the old, young man currently grimacing in pain. He looked at me with puzzlement and opened his lips.

"Twenty seventh, why?" Venom voice, who had reached us just at that moment beat my father do it.

I froze in realisation. 

Not only because the month was September and the year was 2020, but also because Venom voice's name was Ruby and by the look in her eyes when it fell on the man currently, manually shaking off the excess spirit off his wound, she recognised the man just as much as I did.

After all, wasn't she the one who sniffed around for information about him just last month? She must have seen him once or twice right?

I slowly turned towards Mr. Micheal Aderogba with a small smile.

Because I knew all those narration he'd spent the first few hours after his release to tell me, I knew it was true. 

He really was saying the truth.

Liam sniffing behind his back to suddenly get information about him validated that.

I smiled because the first thing my father had done after his release was seeking me out. He'd fought tooth and nail to see me even if he knew I wouldn't accept him. He'd walked into a place that screamed opulence and class looking like a startled raccoon but that didn't matter to him.

All that mattered was seeing me and even though I might seem overly trusting at the moment, I couldn't help the warm feeling that crawled all over my heart.

"Yes Dad, I'm Isabella Aderogba."

Happy belated father's day to every dad reading this😘😘

I was meant to post this on the exact father's day but a huge row happened within the family and I was feeling too drained and emotionally battered to complete and edit the chapter😖😖

Anyways, that's old news, how are y'all this morning? It's been  forever since I asked this question, I hope y'all are fine☺

This chapter is dedicated to 08_Umm_Waraqah. Her review on this baby of mine is the most extensive, succinct and helpful I've gotten in a while. I hope this pays off little of the debt I owe 🌚🌚

Let's get to Ella's acceptance of her dad😏

•Do y'all think her decision will come back to bite her in the back?
•Do you think Micheal is being real, or is he just a good liar?😐
•Do you think ...erm …Ella's dad is somehow related to the serial killings? Don't get me wrong ooo. I know possibilities of him being the killer is next to none. What I mean is, do you think he's a lead to whoever is behind those killings?

Drop your thoughts people, please let me know what you think😖

And don't forget to indicate if your sight an error anywhere, vote and share this work to your friends. It means a lot to me and I would very much appreciate it if you do just that😐

Till we meet again folks,
I love you❤
✌illusionistic