Chapter XIII
XIII
She started to pack for the UK that same night. She was beginning to feel claustrophobic in the house, and she needed to be as far from Zubby as was possible. She didn’t think she could remain in the country without capitulating, assuming he would even want her back.
—
Her mother and grandmother, Sango and Osagie—Oba—stood awkwardly at the gate. Her mother had offered to drive her to the airport, but she had insisted on taking an Uber. She gave them all a hug. And planted a kiss on Sango’s head.
“I’ll tell you guys when I get to the airport.”
“I’ll be praying for you.”
“Thank you, Grandma. I’ll miss you.”
“Don’t forget about little old me,” joined Osagie, laughing.
Her mother looked her in the eye and took a hand in hers. “I am sorry things turned out the way they did. I hope this next chapter of your life is everything you want it to be. I’ll miss you, Eniiyi. Come back and visit us.”
She wiped the tears from her eyes and gave her mother another hug.
She looked back at the house. It would be years before she returned home, but she couldn’t know that yet.
Or that twenty-four hours after she left Nigeria, Sango the Immortal would die peacefully in his sleep.
She couldn’t know that Oba would propose and her mother would say yes.
Or that Ebun would move out, taking Grandma East with her.
All that would remain of the Falodun house were the ghosts.
And she couldn’t know that one day, seven years from now, she’d walk into a restaurant in Lagos and lock eyes with Zubby. Neither of them able to look away.