Mummy's Boy

She found scant evidence of his betrayal; an invoice slip here_ for a pair of Dior slip-on’s she never got, a strand of hair that definitely wasn’t hers plucked from his favourite silver cuff_ the one she got him for his birthday.

A lot of little things didn't add up. But she had nothing concrete

yet. However, Lisa knew in her gut, the way a woman just knows, that Lanre was cheating.

It started when he moved from the house in Ibadan to Lagos because he wanted to be closer to his "business associate". The calls came less and less frequently_ he would go days, sometimes weeks, without checking in. He even started sleeping in his own room when he came back home on some weekends, and when she crept into his room, he would complain about fatigue.

That's why she had called in sick at work and driven down to Lagos. It's why she had gone straight to his apartment even when she knew he would be at work. Getting access to the house had been easy, Lanre still kept his keys in his favourite hiding spot_ some things never changed.

Lisa headed straight for the bedroom. It was bigger than she remembered. Then it hit her. The walls were bare. He had taken down her pictures.

With her heart pounding in her ears, Lisa rifled through his drawers, wardrobe. Nothing.

It was when she moved her search to his nightstand, she hit the jackpot. In the lowest compartment, she found what she was looking for.

Lisa felt her world shift and begin to crumble. All her fears becoming solid, living beings squeezing the life out of her. The truth, a vile thing piercing her reality and making her scream in rage.

She was seated in the parlour when he came home from work. The picture she had found in his drawer torn to tiny pieces lying around her feet. Her make-up was ruined. She had been crying.

Lanre came in, a confused look on his face, probably wondering if he hadn't locked up in the morning before he left. He froze when he saw her, like a toad in the presence of a snake.

The traitor couldn't even say anything, she thought bitterly, rising to her feet.

"How could you?" Her voice was a low croak. "After all I have done for you? You betray me like this?"

Lanre just stood there, staring at her.

"After all I have sacrificed for you, this is how you repay me?"

Something shifted in his eyes. With a heavy sigh, Lanre sank into the chair beside her. He took her hands gingerly like they were made of glass.

For a long minute, nothing was said, just the sounds of their breathing coming like a fatigued symphony. Then Lanre finally raised his eyes to hers…and they were brimming with tears.

“Mummy” he said “ We need to talk”

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