18 Memories
Leo!... Leonard Ademide come back here right now! This is your mess and we have to figure out how to clean it before it blows up in all our faces... Don't you dear walk out on me, come back here right now!" His mother who couldn't keep up with his long strides kept on shouting after him incessantly.
'This is my mess now huh!?' Leo thought to himself. How could she still blame me after hearing everything grandpa said!? Leo marveled at how his mom could easily apportion blame to make him feel guilty whenever she wants to manipulate him.
"Mommy, let him go for now. We all live in this mansion together, he will be back!" Tola said assuringly holding back their mother from following Leo any further.
Leo angrily stepped out of the family living room and walked briskly into his car, slamming the door in anger.
''That she-devil!' He mumbled under his breath. He knew she was the one that pitched their mother against him all because of her friend.
If not for Titi his youngest sister who overheard their conversation and immediately informed him about their plan. Fola her friend would have been pregnant for him and her family would be pushing for a wedding by now.
They waited until she was ovulating before they drugged him and, as soon as Titi informed him of their plan, he invited Fola out, asked her to be his girlfriend, and mixed a dose of morning after pills in her drink. He would use her as long as he wants just as she and the she-devil had planned to use him.
Leo was a man who owns his morality. He makes his own decisions and lives by them. Ever since he could remember, he's always had a passion for music and soccer.
At age ten, he strikes a deal with his dad to allow him pursue his dream of playing professional soccer in exchange for good grades in school.
His father agreed for him to have his dream with the condition that Leo would join the Salvadorian empire when he retires from playing football at age thirty.
It was a good deal and a contract was prepared for both parties to sign, after which the father and his son shook hands over the arrangement.
His father later found him one of the best academy programs where professional sporters can combine their career with education.
It was tough! Combining a footballer's rigorous training with a college degree was not easy but he was able to hold up to his end of the bargain. His dad was impressed and very proud of him.
Even his grandfather who had kicked against the idea of him being a soccer player was also impressed. It wasn't easy to impress his grandfather, Leo was very proud of himself too.
Then the unthinkable happened. He was in Spain with his team on a tournament when his coach called him aside and informed him about some family emergency that needed his attention.
He took the next available flight back to Nigeria thinking about the kind of emergency that waranted his presence but not important enough for any of his family to call him.
When he arrived at the airport, none of his family members were there to receive him, It was just his grandfather's stony-faced personal assistance.
They arrived home and there were strange cars parked everywhere. 'Why this many cars?' He wondered to himself as he entered the living room.
The atmosphere in the living room was strange. People were crying, including his mom and two sisters who looked grief-stricken. He looked around the living room and found his grandfather and his dad was nowhere around.
"What's going on here!" he asked no one in particular. He knew somebody died even before he asked that question and he even thought it was his grandfather that died.
Nobody answered his question. His mom took one look at him and let out a louder wail. Titi stood up then from beside his mom, eyes red and swollen with too much cry. She walked slowly towards him.
"What's happening!?" He asked her directly.
"Dad is gone!" She said with voice heavy with tears.
"Dad is gone!? Gone where!?" He asked not wanting to believe what his mind was telling him.
"He died this morning!"
"He died!? How could he die just like that!?" He asked Titi stupendously. It was surreal! He pushed past Titi and ran up the flight of stairs, taking two at once. He entered his Dad's room and locked the door behind him. Everything appeared normal like he just went to work and would be back any moment.
"My dad can't just leave… or did he?" He whispered to himself. Realization set in and his universe shattered when his mom started knocking and begging him to come out.
'So it's true!?' He thought to himself and cried like a baby till it felt like his heart would explode.
During the funeral, Leo held his father's hand from inside the casket and wished he could hold on to it for longer. Even when people started telling him to let go so his dad could be properly buried, he refused till he was forced to.
They were closer to each other than anybody else in the family, so how could he just die suddenly! How could he just leave him without saying goodbye!?
After the funeral, responsibility was suddenly pushed upon him as the only son in the family. Even though his father had a son by the woman he was dating before he married Leo's mother.
The boy who was older than Leo by six months was not counted as part of the family because his mom only made him known to the family a year after he was born. They were giving enough money to set them up for life.
His grandfather took his football career away from him and sent him to a prestigious business college abroad. He started working as his grandfather's assistance immediately after he graduated, learning the ropes of the business from the best.
Leo loves his family but felt used by them. Apart from Titi, the rest all wanted to be able to control him in their own little way as if his life belongs to them to do as they wish.
His grandfather dashed his dream of being a professional player when he pulled him out of the academy, forcing him to take over the reins of many things in the family.
His mom would always manipulate him by shedding crocodile tears when things were not going her way. Tola wants him to marry her friend for reasons best known to her.
He closed his eyes and leaned back on the car sit letting the incredibly vivid memory of the good times he had with his dad washed over him. His face transformed into a smile as he remembered.
"I'm getting married soon, dad... I'm getting married to one of the people that took you away from us." Leo said bitterly in his heart, as he recollected what his grandpa said...
'Whenever you're angry about this, just remember that we would finally know who killed your father and who our hidden enemies are.'
"Dad even though the marriage is just a means to an end, I still hope you'll forgive and not be disappointed in me because there's no other way around it.
But I promised that every one of them will pay for why they did to you.
As for the Delilah, I hope for both our sakes that grandpa finds her first before I do, otherwise, I might just be tempted to kill her and damn all consequences."
