COMING HOME

Chapter 7

~~Rejoice always.
           1 Thessalonians 5:16(NKJV)~~

As early as four the next morning Tobi got up from bed and stretched. She had to be in class by eight but confronting Caleb was also very important so she went into the bathroom to bath.

She took a long cold shower oblivious to the chilly weather before dressing up in her white and black. By the time she was ready, it was five o'clock. A little too early to confront Caleb but she opened her room door ready to wake him up.

He was leaning on the wall with his hand raised to the door.
Surprised, he smiled weakly. 'Hi Tobi. I was coming to wake you up. You didn't sound like yourself yesterday. Your ready?' He looked from her head to her shoes. She walked passed him and went into the kitchen.

'Yes, I wanted to speak to you before I leave.'

'I'm all ears.'

She filled water in the electric kettle and plugged it before she turned to face him.

'How was your trip?'

He looked at her trying to see if he could get a clue about where she was going with it. 'It was okay. I sealed the deal with the local chief. He's going to sell the land so that we can build...' He stopped talking. 'What's wrong Tobi?'

'I thought you might have decided to see someone on your way.' She left the kettle to whistle and left the kitchen. Caleb walked quickly to the switch to put it off before going after her.

'Why would I?'

'You tell me. Where exactly were you?'

'Nowhere else but Ekpoma. I told you that already. What's wrong Tobi? I don't think my absence should get you mad because you've always known I travel and have in fact always supported me. So what have I done wrong this time?'

'I got a call.' She said and turned to face him quietly. 'I noticed the number had been trying to reach me for a while now but never through with it. At first, I thought it was just children playing pranks but it wasn't. It was a woman, and she had a lot to tell me.' Caleb stood still and refused to say anything.

'She asked to see me and I refused until she told me that you had a child outside us Caleb.' His light brown eyes widened.

'A child?'

'Yes Caleb.'

He stood frozen, his brows and eyes raised. 'What did you say?'

'What do you think I should have said?'

'That it's a lie, that you trust me and the caller should back off because I can't have a child without you knowing.' Diverting his eyes to anywhere was better than watching her expression. He put his hand into his scattered hair and combed it with his fingers.

'Caleb, I saw the child. A girl, about four years, I didn't even need to see a test report to know you fathered that child. You named her Tobi Caleb, how dare you?' Her palms pushed into his chest making him lose his balance.

'Girl?'

'Yes! You have a child and you're still lying to me. Hold on.' Her loud footsteps were enough to wake the whole street. He watched her walk away and his heart started to beat.

He scratched his head again until she came back with several papers.

'You have a daughter Caleb, see the results. Are these not your names?' She was pushing the papers into his face. 'See pictures of the both of you.' She showed him her phone. 'This is a recent picture so you can't lie to me. This was the shirt you wore on Friday.'