The funny thing about truth is how close we get to it without ever really getting a hold of it.
Larry has been so close to the truth for months it’s amazing he never made any connection till now. His beloved Gina’s killers, and for a time her remains, were on the very street where he knew she was last seen. He moved there just to find them, and yet all his clues never led anywhere. Now that he has Deji at gun point, he gets to hear the whole truth at last, and the fight goes out of him.
We already knew that Deji was a man to be feared, and had tons of secrets, but who would have thought that his greatest secret was a murder his wife committed? The adult woman in the box was murdered by Rume, not Deji.
Remember Agnes Bassey said they treated a drug addict together? Well, that patient was Larry’s old girlfriend Gina. Fifteen years ago, when she was Lillian Bello, Rume’s days were monotonous and hollow until Gina (Uzor Osimkpa) showed up at her home with her ten-month-old baby, Ify. Penniless, addicted to drugs and badly in need of a fix, she offered to sell Ify to Deji and Lillian. Although Deji wasn’t keen, it was an offer Rume couldn’t refuse, since they were unable to have kids of their own…and Gina knew this.
The Bellos bought the baby, left Jos for Lagos, and moved into their new house on Hibiscus Lane as Deji, Rume and Akin. They were truly one happy family until one day 2 years later when a drug-free Gina showed up, ungrateful and saucy, demanding her baby. It was inconceivable for Deji and Rume to give up their son, but she was insistent. When Gina hit Deji with a plate and he collapsed, Rume stabbed her. That’s how she ended up chopped into a box and buried in the garden. Tragic.
Kiki has come around and agreed to help get Chuka out of jail, but she has her terms. When the baby cries in the middle of the night, Chuka will pick it up. On top of this, he will be the one to make the baby’s formula, and wash and sterilize the bottles. “Kiki, are we not breastfeeding?” She laughed him to scorn, but she wasn’t laughing hours later when Tai walked into the police station just as Chuka was about to be released and told him he was responsible for Kiki’s pregnancy. “Exercise is not only good for the body, it’s also good for the heart. Let’s just say I’ve been working Mrs. Obi inside and out.” Choooooi! Chuka attacks Tai right there in station and has to be restrained by the officers. Life as Kiki knows it is over.
Agnes Bassey also bit off more than she could chew. When Akin got tired of waiting for his dad to return, she told him his dad lied and was never coming back. He attacked her with a tennis racket, hitting her over and over, “What did you do to my dad? Tell me!” It’s so easy to understand Akin now that we know his birth mother was on narcotics all through her pregnancy. While Agnes is taken away in an ambulance and Rhetta goes from door to door warning the neighbours of the attack, Akin is at Larry’s house with a gun in Tari’s face. What does he want? Agnes told him Mr. Izama took his dad away to kill him, so he’s here to kill Mr. Izama. He is still there when Larry returns, having left Deji alive.
The new neighbour who moved in last week is Mrs. Haastrup (Carol King). She bought the house over the phone, sight unseen, and even Rhetta knows it had nothing to do with her skills as a realtor. A woman running from something is not hard to recognise. So, what’s her secret?
Funke’s secret is out. Now that Shina knows what she did, he has decided she’s going back to work, while he stays at home as a full-time dad. She never expected it! At least she still has a husband. Not everyone is that fortunate.
We knew Lekan had been replacing Kay’s medication with pills of his own, and that’s the reason Kay was feeling so sick, but did we ever think that Kay would actually die? After the second heart attack the hospital managed to get him stable. They were supposed to operate, and he would be alright. Sadly, by the time they figure out he had been ingesting potassium, the doctor suggests it’s Ese’s doing, and when Kay looks at the chart he has to believe that. Nobody else prepares his meals, so, who else could it be?
I was feeling thankful that they had a chance to talk; he apologised for the unfaithfulness and the “sex stuff” just in case he didn’t make it, and Ese was quick to forgive him and assure him that he would make it. Yet, it breaks my heart that Kay dies thinking Ese was the one poisoning him, and they never get a chance to talk about this since she wasn’t there when the doctor showed him the charts. It is this thought that kills him, even before they can operate, and he leaves her a note, “I know what you did. I understand. I forgive you.” Just like that, death visits Hibiscus Lane again, and Ese De Souza is a widow.
Ese is innocent, but Kay will never know this. Worse, if she hadn’t let Lekan into her life, Kay would still be alive. Will she ever forgive herself?
Adieu, Kayode De Souza.
