King

The table was calm. The maids set the table and backed away quietly, leaving us to battle with the awkwardness. Gabriel, her husband, was at the head of the table and Mother sat at his right. Uti was beside me, stiff and quiet.

I brought her plate towards me and diced her chicken. She sent me a smile that did funny things to my heart and I gave her knee a squeeze. We would fight. We would fight for our son and we wouldn't stop until Umoh was in prison, where he deserved to be.

"How's work?" Mother asked. I choked on my chicken. Uti rubbed my back till the coughing subsided, then offered me a glass of water. Gabriel's lips stretched into a thin smile. He didn't say anything but gave Mother a wary look. We didn't hate each other but we didn't like each other. I respected him because he kept my mother happy. "Are you okay, Son?"

"Yes, Mother. Thanks." I polished my plate first before turning to her with a smile. Uti lent me strength by smiling. "I quit work."

Mother gasped. She was always over the top and her reaction to the news was the same. Gabriel placed a hand over hers and she stopped whatever she planned to say. I offered him my first smile since our arrival. Other men his age would have thinning hair or empty scalp but he still had a head full of hair.

"I'll start my own company," I told her.

It was my first time of saying it out. The idea never left my head since Junior mentioned it but I didn't have the time to think through it. I knew what I wanted to do. To help people pick a place of their choice. Grow their home and business and many other things.

Uti's nails sank into my knee. I should have discussed this with her first but I didn't know how much I wanted it until now. Until Mother looked at me like I had made a silly decision.

"Are you sure you can handle it?" Mother asked.

"He has us," Gabriel answered on my behalf. A corner of my lips twitched. "Whatever you need, don't hesitate to ask. I know people who know people. Your mother does too." Mother rolled her eyes but managed a smile. I laughed. "You have both of our support."

"Okay, King?" Mother added. She could still read me and it was obvious I had something to say.

"Yeah." Did her support extend to Uti? They had not exchanged a word yet. I sipped from the chill glass of wine. Did their connection extend to police officers and politicians? Men and women in power who could take down decorated men like Umoh's father. I cleared my throat. "Can I ask a favour?"

"What favour?" Uti whispered into my ear as if reading my mind. "I don't want to talk about this with them." Fully turning to her, my lips didn't move but my eyes did. They sent the message to her. "No, please. Not with them. Anyone but them. Your mum already hates me enough. I don't need her on this."

"I can hear you two, you know?" Mother said. She adjusted her pink turban matching her black gown. Her fingers curled around the glass, she took a small sip, then another one. "King Daniels. What is the problem?" Uti and I shared a glance. I couldn't talk if she didn't. "Are you two going to continue staring at each other without telling us the issue? Uti?"

"No, ma," Uti answered. I was surprised Mother still remembered her name. She had made it a point of duty to call her everything but her name. I switched Uti's glass of wine with mine. She was off alcohol. "It's fine."

Mother smoothed the napkin on her table mat. "Is that right, Son? It's fine? You can't even speak for yourself without her? She's now your mouthpiece. Is this the kind of woman you want to bring into this family?"

"Mother!"

Her finger jutted out. "Don't you mother me. I have been waiting for you to get out of this lust-love stage but it's not happening soon." Her lips curled in disdain. Her eyes flashed with every emotion similar to annoyance and disgust when they landed on Uti. "And you, aren't your tired? Can't you find men your age?" She slammed her fists on the table, her elegance shoved to the back as she said, "Leave my son alone. Leave him alone!"

"Sweetheart," Gabriel tried to interrupt but she shook her head. "He's old enough to make his own choices. Stop trying to impose–"

"Impose? I'm his mother," she said in that voice she always used to introduce herself at important gatherings. "I'll impose if he's doing the wrong thing. If this is the woman he wants to end up with, then he's not old enough to make his own choices." I stretched my hand under the table to grab Uti's but she snatched it from my grip. My chest closed in on me at her rejection. I needed Mother to stop talking but I couldn't find the words to shut her up. "King Daniels."

"Stop it," I said. Her mouth dropped open in shock. "Mother, for the last time, stop. It."

As if my words tripped a switch in her brain, she centred her attention on Uti. "And you, you said you have two kids, isn't it? How do you have time to be a mother to them when you're chasing young men my son's age? Does your womb even still work at this age?"

My heart shattered. She came with bazuka, ready for war today. A sound caught in my throat and I looked to Gabriel for help. She was hurting me. If she hurt Uti, she hurt me.

"You're right. I have two kids from another man. No," Uti muttered with a slight shake of her head. "One kid, the other one... my boy, my baby boy is dead now but I was a good mother to him and I am a great mother to Esther." Her eyes closed, when they opened, they were brimming with tears that never fell. She smiled at Mother. "I'm pregnant with your grandkid so you don't have to worry about my womb being ineffective. I'm not barren."

"Uti." I took hold of her hands and she let me. We made a mistake by coming here. Abuja was for relaxing. To forget everything bad that happened in Calabar, not open up new wounds. "You don't have to explain anything to her." Uti's mouth parted and I placed a finger over her lips. "Please. Just ignore her."

"No. Baby daddy, please let me finish." I took in a deep breath and slipped my hand into hers. "Okay?"

I didn't want this for her. We needed peace of mind. She gave my hand a small squeeze and redirected her attention to Mother.

"Maybe I don't show it the way you would like because I have no idea how you expect me to show it. But I love your son. I love King Daniels. It's okay if you dislike me but never you mention my kids again. Not today, not ever." Turning to me, she bopped my nose. I cracked a smile. "Zaddy, I'll be in the room."

Uti walked away, taking with her the little bit of self-control keeping me in check. I glared at Mother. Her lips turned down in a scowl.

"I'm sorry," Gabriel said.

"Maybe you are," I replied. "But she's not." I stacked the plate Uti used to eat onto mine, pushed the empty glasses aside. I didn't mince words when I said, "I love you Mother, very much. But if you put me in a position to pick, I'll pick her and our unborn child over you."

A tear rolled down Mother's cheek. But it didn't affect me. She sat there comfortably and tried to tear apart the woman I loved. My Uti. The woman I knew for sure would never leave me to be with another man. My love. The woman I wanted to spend forever with.

"If you cared about me, if my happiness ever mattered to you, you will do better." I closed my fists and opened them. I was hoping she would be nice. That I would ask for her help in this case. We could start a social media campaign but in the end, we needed the kind of connections only her and Gabriel might have. "We will be leaving and I promise you, Mother, I won't be back here. Not until my woman feels respected enough. Not until you show her the kindness she deserves."

Gabriel spoke up when Mother didn't. "King, it doesn't have to end this way." It already did and she was the only one who could fix it. "She's only trying to look out for you, King."

"If I spoke to your wife like that, would you say this?" His lips disappeared in a thin line. It was always easier to give advice. My heart gave away when my eyes found Mother's teary ones. "For every time you remarried, I supported you. When you shipped me off to boarding school, I understood. I hated some of your husbands but your happiness was more important to me. So don't expect me to take this from you. If she's not welcomed in your home, then I'm also not welcomed here."

I didn't know I had tears in my eyes till they fell. They rolled down my cheeks and I swiped at them. I would be strong for Uti. For her, for Esther, for our little princess or prince that would join us in some months time.

Mother stood. "King."

I held out a finger to stop her. "No, Mother. You have said enough for today." I managed to smile when I told her husband, "Thank you for having us. I hope you talk to your wife. I already proposed to Uti and our wedding will hold, with or without her presence."

Her cries rang out after I left but she didn't try to stop me. I loved my mother with all of my heart. She was the woman who gave life to me. The first woman I had to look up to, my first love until Uti. Hell would freeze over before I let her steal my shot at happiness.

She didn't consult me before marrying those men. I didn't get a say in her life or marriage but every time, I showed up for her. I was happy. My fake smiles were top-notched. 

I knocked once and opened the door to my room. Gabriel reserved one for me. Uti was seated on the bed, eyes closed with her head resting on the headboard. She smiled when I walked in and I strolled over to her side. I used her hand to cup my face, to feel her. If she didn't know, she meant so much to me.

"Uti." Memories from the days I thought I lost her to that accident crashed over me. The hurt and fear I felt when I thought she would never speak again after Emma's death ran through my body. "Uti." Her grey eyes filled with love for me. I was the one for her. She loved me. Even if Mother didn't see it, I saw it and that was more important. She brought her other hand to palm my face. "I'm sorry my mother is that way. You didn't deserve that."

"It's okay." Pressing our foreheads together, she let her nose touch mine. "I'm sorry if I was rude to her. When she talked about Esther and Emma... I was hurt. I was triggered."

Tears trickled down her closed eyelids and my heart did a flip. I didn't wipe them off because I knew it wasn't what she needed. She needed me to listen so she could empty her heart. Tomiwa suggested Uti might need therapy but I wanted her to do it on her own terms. Not everyone needed therapy to heal.

"I know I wasn't the best mother to them, King. Maybe that's why my baby boy is dead but I swear, I tried my best. I did all I could."

I stole the rest of her words with a kiss. She didn't need to say anymore. "You did your best, Uti. Better than any mother could have done," I spoke against her lips. Her eyes shone with tears and I kissed her again. "You did enough, with what was at your disposal."

Uti's hand settled on her flat stomach and she rubbed it in circles. "I'll protect our son."

"And I'll protect you and Esther," I promised her. She pouted and I blessed her with a kiss. "I'll protect all of us, Wifey. I love you."

"I want biscuits," she said. My laughter came out freely. The best part about going through this pregnancy with her was experiencing her cravings. It was an excuse to feed and spoil her. "I love you. I love you. I love you."

"I love you," I said to her. Uti beamed. I wiped the tears drying on her cheeks. "Crackers?"

It was her new favourite biscuits since the cravings kicked in. I was lucky she didn't crave the smell of petrol or crave to eat sand. I had been reading too many women's pregnancy cravings and most of them didn't make sense. Uti giggled like a little girl.

"Yes, crackers. Are we leaving now?"

"Whenever you want, Wifey. Whatever you want, just say it. Your wish is my command."

And I meant every word of that.

* * * * *

I wrote the last chapter of this book today. I can't wait to edit and proofread the remaining chapters. We are still on the matter of low reads o but thank you to everyone that's still here. Grace Daniels (the one and only Mama King) says hi. 😂😂🤣

Q: White or black?