DIARIES. (ENTRY#4)

MUMMY DUTY

Dear Diary,

The last two days have just been crazy! On Monday night I put Oladunni to bed at 7pm as usual and just as I was settling in to catch up on the latest episode of “The Fixer” I heard her scream through the baby monitor. I practically flew up the stairs to her room and found her crying and touching her tummy saying “Mummy see” I was so scared. I grabbed my phone and called TK, by now Rosemary had heard the screams also and run upstairs.

Without being told, Rosemary started packing Oladunni’s baby bag (what would I do without that girl). TK said he was in a meeting in VI and even though I heard music in the background I chose not to make an issue of it, the only thing on my mind was getting my baby to the hospital. Rosemary and I rushed to the car and Akpan was nowhere to be found. I was so upset he probably thought I had retired for the night and had decided to go off without telling me. I asked her to get me the first set of car keys she could find. She came back with the key to TK’s convertible Audi. It’s the one car I’m forbidden to drive but at that point I didn’t care. That car was TK’s midlife crisis gift to himself. He looks so ridiculous driving it and I am tired of telling him so.

An hour later, Doctor Johnson the family pediatrician had diagnosed Oladunni with a stomach bug. Nothing too harmful but according to him she must have picked something off the floor and put in her mouth. I am definitely changing her school; I wonder what they were doing when my daughter was eating off the floor! To think we pay over a million naira per annum only to have her come home with stomach bugs. TK arrived shortly after, Oladunni was already asleep and the doctor had suggested keeping her overnight to monitor the situation. After speaking with the doctor and signing the admission papers, he said to me “Anjola thank you”. TK is only that courteous when he is feeling guilty so I knew he was not coming from a meeting and he was also reeking of cigarettes.

“Tokunboh, you assured me you had stopped smoking. Will you not take the doctor’s warnings seriously? I don’t want to raise this child on my own please”. I scolded him. He asked to take me home but I declined and he had the nurses set up the other bed in Oladunni’s room for me. I asked Rosemary to go home with him but she refused and insisted on sleeping in the visitor’s chair beside Oladunni’s bed instead. Tk left us at about 11pm and an hour later, I was tempted to call Adamu the gateman to ask if TK was home indeed but I resisted the urge and eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, Oladunni was feeling much better and the doctor had just informed me that he had decided he would release us at noon when a reminder on my phone went off…my doctor’s appointment with TK’s mum! Thankfully it was in a different hospital in Ikoyi. I promptly went to the doctor’s office and convinced him to keep Oladunni for another night because I was worried about a relapse. He agreed…Dear Diary, please don’t judge me I didn’t know what else to do to get out of that “date with trouble”. The duchess came at about 8am with a giant teddy bear and pink balloons for Oladunni. She stayed for an hour, assured me she would reschedule the appointment with Doctor Adebayo and left. I sent Rosemary home to get me change of clothes and my laptop shortly afterwards, I desperately needed the distraction.
Apparently, TK had spoken to Afolabi my older brother in America and had told him that Oladunni and I were at the hospital, so he called to check on us as well. Funsho and Linda (my fellow Lekki wives and only real friends) also came by. We ended up having lunch in Oladunni’s room while Linda entertained us with all the drama in her house. I can’t even imagine being married to a man as powerful as Senator Okonkwo and having to go through all that she does. Funsho on the other hand, just wanted to get away from her evil boss at work and kept texting long tales to say she was stuck in traffic. What crazy friends I have!
Eventually at about 6pm, TK called and insisted we were not spending another night at the hospital. He asked Doctor Johnson to give us a nurse for the night just in case, so we headed home. As soon as we got home, I set up the inflatable bed in Oladunni’s room for the nurse and went back downstairs to watch TV and catch up on all the latest gossip on the blogs. I kept postponing my bedtime because I was afraid to go upstairs and confirm my worst fears. Eventually, at about 10pm, I climbed up the stairs and went to check on Oladunni she was soundly asleep and so was the nurse and then I went to our bedroom. As I stepped in a wave of sadness hit me. The bed was laid just as I had left it. My suspicions were confirmed, TK had not spent the night at home.