Chapter 2: The Memorial

"Nene, we're here," Onome says softly as he observes the 8 year old reading a storybook through his rearview mirror.

His daughter's eyes meet his and she grins brightly, dimples displayed. "Does that mean I can finally see mummy today?"

His breath catches in his throat. "...no Sugar, but she'll see you." He forces a smile.

"But daddy, why? Why doesn't she want me to see her? Doesn't she love me anymore?" Nene adopts the look of a kicked puppy, tears welling up in her eyes.

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Sugar," Onome rushes to pacify her, then sighs. "You'll understand when you're older, I promise."

Nene scowls, but takes his word for it. "Let's go in," she says quietly.

Father and daughter exited the car and stepped into the church, hand in hand.

It was the 3rd anniversary of his wife's death. She'd lost her fight against cervical cancer. He could still remember the dreadful day like it was yesterday. Her last words, "Always take care of our baby..." replayed in his head all the time.

"I will," he says to himself.

Nene either doesn't hear him or pays him no mind. At this point, he thinks, bemused, she must be used to me randomly talking to myself.

"Guy, na wa for you o! See when you dey show for your wife memorial!" His best friend, Chijioke, scolds him.

A number of family members, friends and well wishers had been waiting for quite some time.

"Make una no vex biko, I took Nene to buy ice cream, naim make," Onome apologizes.

"To think, you were once a SARS commandant," his older brother, Kelechi, mocks him. "Please you guys should take your seats, let the service begin."

"Nene, come, let's sit down before your uncles chew me raw," he says with an awkward smile.

Nene has never liked his family or his friends. It's something that has slipped past him ever since, but now as he watches her eagerly slip into the front row, far from any of them, he begins to wonder why.

The service ends rather quickly, and afterwards Onome exchanges pleasantries with friends and well wishers.

"Nene looks so much like Ihuoma," his elder sister, Barbara, tells him, and then laughs. "I pity whoever will want to marry her sha."

"Not just any guy will come for my Sugar's hand," Onome says offhandedly.

"I trust you na, the world's most overprotective father," she mocks with a smile.

"I promised Ihuoma I'd protect her, and I will. She's all I have left," Onome replies.

Barbara's smile fades, and understanding shines in her eyes. "It will all end in praise."

"I know, I know, everything will be alright in the end."

"That's my boy," she grins. "Well I have to get going now. I'll see you later, alright?"

"Have a safe trip," Onome waves. " And greet George and the kids for me."

"Will do," she smiles cheekily. "Now let me rush home and cook for them before they swear for me."

"Nene!" She yells just as she gets in the car. " I'm going o!"

"Bye, auntie!" Nene waves with a bright smile.

Alright. She likes Barbara.

He stares after her as she leaves in her white Mercedes-Benz, until he feels a huge tap on his shoulder.

"O-boy, how're you holding up?" Chijioke asks.

"I'm fine, guy. What else can I be?"

"Have you told her?" His friend continues, not beating about the bush. "It's been three years. Don't you think she deserves to know what happened to her mother?"

"Guy, she's 8 years old. How do you expect me to break the news?!"

"Wouldn't it be better to know her mum is dead, than to believe she's alive and doesn't want to see her?" Chijioke counters with a raised eyebrow.

"Alright, fine," Onome sighs. "I'll do it."

"Better!" His friend claps him on the back. "I'll be heading back now. The kids are waiting to go and swim."

Onome chuckles. "Okay na. I fit drop by tomorrow sha."

"No shaking, I dey wait you," Chijioke says before he leaves in his Ford.

Onome smiles to himself. They went way back, the two men, from high school, to university, to the police academy.

Honestly, what would I do without him?

He bends down to his daughter's height. "Sugar, it's time to go and see mummy."

"Oh, yay!" She races towards the car. "Do you think she bought me new dolls?"

"We're going to find out now, won't we?" Her father laughs.

"Yippee! I can't wait to see her again!"

Oh Lord, please give me the strength to break this news.

They arrived at the cemetery sooner than expected.

Time sure flies when you're anxious

"Daddy... what are we doing here?" Nene says softly, subdued by the silence of the place.

"Patience, Sugar, patience," he assures her.

Father and daughter strolled through, until they came to a tombstone which read

IHUOMA CHRISTINE AMADI (1980 -2016)

"We're here," he sighs.

"I don't understand," his daughter says bluntly, eyeing the stone.

He squats down in front of her. "Well... Sugar, your mother died three years ago and... I'm afraid we may never actually see her again."

"But... mummy was a good person, right?"

"Oh yes, mummy was the sweetest person I ever met."

"They taught us in Sunday school that if a person is good, they'll go to Heaven when they die. And if we're good, we'll can meet them when we die. So don't be sad, daddy, we'll see her again," Nene says with a bright smile.

He smirks. "Okay, Sugar, I promise to stop being sad." He pauses. "Now who wants pizza?"

"Last one to the car is a rotten egg!" She yells and darts for the car.

"Oh you're on!" He yells back as he watches her scurry away.

Onome turns to his wife's tombstone. "She's growing up."

"Promise you'll protect her…"

I will. Always.