Skip to content Part 2
The next morning, Tunde walked into Okafor Meridian Tower wearing a clean but cheap blue shirt, trousers that did not quite fit, and sandals scrubbed so hard they still carried the tired marks of the street. Receptionists stared. Security blocked him until Victoria’s assistant, Bisi, came down from the executive floor with a face full of doubt. Upstairs, Naya was waiting near the glass wall of Victoria’s office, clutching yesterday’s paper bird as if it were a living thing. When she saw Tunde, she did not run, but her eyes brightened. That was enough for Victoria. The first session happened on the carpet of the executive lounge while Musa, Bisi, and Victoria watched from a distance. Tunde brought no toys, no tablet, no sweet bribes. He brought paper, crayons, and quiet patience. He drew a yellow danfo bus with 3 crooked tyres and said nothing until Naya corrected him with a tiny smile. He drew a goat wearing sunglasses. He drew a bird with one leg longer than the other. Naya slowly picked up a purple crayon and added clouds. By the end of 1 hour, she had spoken 6 small sentences. By the end of the week, she had laughed 4 times. But inside the Okafor family, peace was turning into war. Mama Ebere told relatives that Victoria had lost respect for her dead husband. Dipo warned board members that grief had made Victoria reckless. He claimed that a woman who allowed a homeless stranger near her daughter could not be trusted with a multibillion-naira company. Victoria ignored him until Sunday afternoon, when he arrived at her mansion with Mama Ebere and 2 family elders, demanding that Tunde be banned from Naya’s life. They accused Victoria of replacing Chinedu, of embarrassing the family, of inviting danger into the bloodline. Naya hid behind the staircase, shaking. Tunde, who had come only to drop off a folder of drawings, heard everything from the entrance hall. He did not defend himself. He simply placed the drawings on a side table and prepared to leave. That was when Naya ran down, grabbed his hand, and refused to let go. The room went silent. Mama Ebere looked horrified, as if the child had betrayed the dead. Dipo stepped forward too quickly, and Naya screamed for the first time since the accident. It was not a normal scream. It was raw, terrified, and old. Later that night, Victoria sat on Naya’s bedroom floor while the little girl drew with shaking hands. The picture showed a black SUV, rain, broken glass, and Chinedu standing beside a man in a white senator cap. In the corner, Naya drew a red leather folder. Victoria felt the air leave her body because Chinedu had owned exactly one red leather folder, and it had disappeared after his death. She gently asked who the man in the white cap was. Naya did not answer with words. She walked to the family photo on the wall and pressed her purple crayon directly over Dipo’s smiling face.
