RESOLVE

Chapter Thirty Two

~Author's POV~

The flight to Enugu was accompanied by silence that lingered between the girls and their grandmother.

They were on the road now to the village, and Grandma spoke to the girls about meeting with their maternal grandmother to bring the skeletal remains of their mother.

Homa curled herself in the back passenger seat of the sienna, watching the fast views loom and wane out of her sight as the Uber car sped past plantations of palm trees and dust-pelted buildings.

Grandma, on the other side of the back passenger seat, seemed to be doused in some kind of awakening sleep. No one could tell if she was asleep or awake. Because even though her eyes seemed closed, she was still very responsive to the little conscious conversations that prompted her at each interval.

Somi sat in the middle of the back seat between Mama and Homa; she had fallen deeply asleep from her raging thoughts. She had thought about Adams' involvement in helping her family get the justice they deserved, even though she had persisted that her family could handle it without his help.

Sarima seemed to be the only person who still managed to keep her sanity uptight as she sat beside the driver navigating up and down the hilly roads that raised a concerning amount of red dust at every turn.

The long and tiresome journey finally rewarded them with the sight of their maternal home. The small bungalow was nestled amidst several other compounds.

The man drove into the compound with no fence or gate barricading guidance over the place.

When they finally alighted from the car, they were welcomed into their maternal grandmother's home with Nnò-s and daalü. Although her demeanour depicted a cheerful and welcoming mother, the girls could see the traces of melancholy beneath the mask of her delighted expression. She looked so old and frail, That Somi was thankful that her paternal grandma, who was actually older in age, looked way healthier and, although old, not as much as this.

Calista's mother's caregiver ushered them in after exchanging warm pleasantries with Grandma, who had asked for the presence of Oby. The young girl helped Mama welcome them to a table of okpa she had made, and while they were there, they discussed plans for the abrupt burial.

They conversed in Igbo, and the girls listened in as they weren't that good in speaking their mother's language, periodically adding their piece and mixing it up with English.

And just while they talked about how Calista's mom had preserved the rest of Calista's bone, Oby came into the scene as she was back from Lagos to the village already. Adams had arranged for her movements.

"Ndeewo," She greeted everyone as she walked into the tiny living room that smelled of snuff and old hollandis wrapper. Sarima and Somi got on their feet to take her hands into a handshake.

"We are very grateful, Aunty. For your bravery and for speaking out loud."

"Inukwa, Please, I should have spoken up earlier." The woman laughed.

"Well, we wouldn't have discovered our imposter mother and daughter-in-law if you had not spoken at all," Mama said in Igbo. She was quite good with the language too.

"So we owe you a lot of gratitude. This means so much to us," Somi added.

"That troublemaker of a Caroline. I hope she reaps what she sows. And I pray the judge doesn't spare her the bits of the crime she committed," Oby said.

"That devil? Wherever she is right now, I'm sure she knows she has the slimmest chance of winning. In fact, she cannot win it all," Homa was seething; it was very evident she hated the woman to her bones.