Cracked Sources – B02E09

Anna still couldn’t believe her eyes – She had wiped them twice and he
was still here – it truly was Mark before her. She opened her arms for a hug,
though she remained skeptic over the reality of this setting, a figment of her
hyper-imagination thought he still wasn’t real. All such thoughts rolled away
the instant his skin touched hers – Reality just dawned on her. Mark was really
here with her.

Mark didn’t want to waste another moment here; to leave with his
pregnant woman was what matter most, even if the law would frown at it. But, he
didn’t care for the law, he cared only for Anna, and if she wanted same he
would do it in a heartbeat.

“What do you
think?” He asked for her opinion, her next words would be life defining for
the both of them.

Anna was all for that, but she felt skipping town this early in the
day without any form of good bye to their lives as they’ve known it wasn’t
something she was sure she wanted to live regretting years to come. “Let
me think it over at work,” she pleaded, her eyes sent a thousand other
messages her mouth couldn’t. Mark get the messages; they’d discuss the matter
when she got back from work – It was a Friday and the assurance of a blissful weekend
gave them both the much-needed strength to carry on.

***

Mark’s words kept ringing in her head from the moment she stepped her
feet into the firm; the thought that today could possibly be her last day in
the firm kept ringing inside her head. “Thank God,” she said, when she saw
Patricia, someone familiar to take away the hard-hitting thoughts off her mind.

Patricia wore a gloomy face, which was very unusual for her; the mode
and manner with which she replied Anna told the latter that something serious
was up. “Mr. Sanni is dead.”
Patricia finally said. Anna felt bad, and agreed to attend his funeral as plans
for an official goodbye were already made.

***

Almost everyone from the firm had dark shades on: One would have
thought it was a Law-thing, save for the few enlightened members of The Late
Sanni’s family who graced the ceremony wearing theirs too.

There was a little argument before the funeral was finally able to
proceed. The bereaved family refused to bow to pressure from the firm to defile
the corpse of their loved one by dressing him in his Barrister regalia; “Twenty-first century or not, we would
not throw away the core values of our belief,” they maintained, till
the firm backed-off. Those who choose to not align themselves with the funeral
rite as termed barbaric strayed away from the site, till it was time for
festivities.

The entire funeral rite didn’t take long, roughly an hour, give or
take; Sanni’s corpse was cremated just as he had always advocated for during
his lifetime; this he always said was to protect human lives from the pollution
his decaying corpse would cause, and the degradation that accumulated corpse
caused the earth. “The dead is
dead,” his first son quoted him during his eulogy, he had a lot of pleasant
things to say about the man many including Andrew learnt to call Father. Andrew
himself had a lot to say about the late Sanni in his eulogy; he was a man of
honor, integrity, and uncompromising; he was the father Andrew never had.

It was Anna’s first time in Ogun state; here would go down as the one
state she’d give anything to visit again in the near future; she loved
everything she saw about the state, especially the infamous Olumo rock close to
the late Sanni’s hometown. In her entire reason for excitement she remained at
Patricia’s side – The fear of getting lost was far greater than whatever
excitement she felt.

***

Andrew strolled alongside Mother – They both welcomed the familiar
scenery of unpolluted air, open field, and chirping insects. It was a while
since they both loosened their guard to enjoy nature at its fullest, the more
reason the limited time they had to spend here ached their hearts; this place
offered them the little opportunity to bond without worry or scheming as had
become their norm.

“Do you
still remember the way you used to run each time your father wanted to beat you
for dancing in the rain with the neighbors?” Mother asked. He
turned to face her, his hands swung lazily as he did, he finally rested them on
the mini statue that separated them, that way they were positioned closer.
“How could I forget,” he placed his hands on his buttocks to augment
his reminiscing of the many lashes he received at that age.

Mother smiled but for a moment, memories of her late husband had begun
to surface. she exchanged awkward eye-contact with her son when she tried to
look away. He mistook it for weakness and tried to console her: He was caught
up in their moment.

“Your father
was a horrible man,” Mother responded to his show of affections, with a smirk; joy
returned to her heart as she swiftly took control of her dampened emotions and
of the moment; she observed as he rose to the defense of a father he couldn’t
remember anymore. It made her mad that he thought it easy to forgive a man who
was horrible to them.

“Forgiveness makes
you weak Son.”

Andrew always knew the connection they felt here was too good to last
long. As the days went since her return, communication with his birth mother
got more difficult than a cripple trying to qualify for the Miss World beauty
pageant. Now was the opportunity to ask a question that had been bugging him
for a while now: He needed clarity on how his father died.

His question was rated 3, on a scale of 1 to 5. With the way, the
conversation had been headed Mother knew it was a matter of time before Andrew
wanted a reminder on what killed his father. He always had doubts about the
popular recap of Larry’s death – He died in his sleep. Mother knew she couldn’t
tell him the truth, he wasn’t ready for it yet, it needed to remain in the
past; the true fact that Larry died in an accident needed to remain with her,
it was a burden she had resolved to carry alone to protect him from his
memories. She remained silent.

***

Patricia had waited patiently in the distance for Mother to leave
Andrew before she approached him. Agnes provided the perfect distraction for
her Anna problem, to give her the opportunity to talk to him, but he still
didn’t want to see her. He feigned tired, and blamed her wrong timing. All
these excuses he gave without turning to face her. He walked out on her in
silence.

Patricia felt she didn’t deserve the treatment she was getting, he was
taking things too extreme and personal. She wondered what his obsession with
Anna was, and hoped that his wallet she just stole contained something to
answer that question. How could annoying, self-righteous Anna entice him so
much that he’d risk sacrificing her?

***

All eyes turned towards the latest visitors to pay their condolences
at the register: It was Ramon and Malik – They entered with a bang, to make a
statement. They walked in together, dressed in all black and dark shades like
most others. The thing that made them stand out was the large black bouquet
Ramon had in her possession. She boldly brandished it as she blushed to
whatever Malik whispered to her: They obviously didn’t care they were at a
funeral.