Chuka found out about the money the hospital paid them for negligence, and of course he was mad. With that money, he could have avoided jail. Kiki lets him know he’ll be grateful to have money in the bank when he gets out of jail, and she expects an apology when he realises she acted in their best interest. I don’t think Chuka should be so angry though. Kiki isn’t the only one playing God. I mean, this episode opened with us finding out that Chuka has been tampering with Kiki’s birth control all along! All this time we’ve been thinking Kiki was the sneaky one, and there Chuka was, trying to make sure his wife, who doesn’t want kids, gets pregnant! And she was praising him for sticking with her despite his wanting kids! If she falls pregnant as a result of his tampering – as the narrator suggests – what’s the guarantee Kiki won’t get rid of the unwanted pregnancy?
Getting rid of the unwanted is something Deji is clearly good at. He not only got rid of Mrs. Benson, he also got rid of a woman! Yes, over a decade ago, a woman came to take Akin away from Deji and Rume, and she ended up chopped up in that box Deji dug up in the very first episode. Deji admitted this to Akin when detectives came asking questions. Akin claimed he had previously told him it was a man they chopped into the box, and now detectives were saying it was a woman. The boy is certain his dad is lying. As for me, I can’t even believe anything Deji says.
To ensure that Leo doesn’t feel unwanted, Kay begs Ese to come with him to Calabar where he’s being disciplined by Aunt May, who insists that counselling with the parents present is part of the deal. Ese doesn’t want to face a resentful Leo, whom she fears will attack her, but she eventually packs chocolates, puts on what she hopes is Leo’s favourite colour, and courageously makes the trip to Calabar. She shouldn’t have bothered. Leo already made it clear to Aunt May, who describes him as troubled and confused, that he will speak to his father alone.
Funke has been invited to lunch with her old work colleagues, but who will watch the kids? That is the question. I feel really sorry for her, trying to hold on to a thread of the life she had before becoming a mother. Unable to find a babysitter, she drops the kids with Ese, who spanks Tola when he misbehaves – and he really did misbehave. When Funke returns and finds out about the spanking from Ese herself at their weekly game, she asks a shocked Ese to please never spank her kids again. Ese was shocked that Funke didn’t spank her boys! I mean, they’re more than a handful! You know Funke just had to retort that Ese’s son didn’t turn out all that great. Game ruined. Luckily, Shina, in his ever diplomatic manner, lets Funke know that this “no spanking” rule won’t get them anywhere with those boys. Damn, that man knows how to talk to his wife! She eventually apologises to Ese, who does the same, and that ends quite warmly.
Not everyone is that lucky. Tari has a not-so-welcome guest: her mother. She can’t wait for the woman to leave though; the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. From the moment she arrived, it’s been one incident after the other. Just picture a slightly older Tari. Yup. Furo George started by driving into Larry’s fence as she arrived, then going all mother-in-law on him. “You’re Larry? My Tari’s Larry? You’re practically family, come show us some looooove!” Tari quickly tells her they’re not together anymore. Awkward! Ms. George then proceeds to tell him Tari’s life history. Larry, being Larry, just smiled. I cracked up when he told Tari, “I used to wonder what mix of genes, experience, or random chance created you? But now…” LMHO! I couldn’t think of a better person for this role of a mum who looks as young as her daughter, than Tina Mba. Well, the woman has broken up with her live-in lover Pascal, and she figures she can stay with Tari. The poor girl almost went into spasms when she heard this. Stay with who? She tries to “return” her mum to Uncle P, but it doesn’t work out. Stuck!
Chuka threatens to divorce Kiki and leave her penniless if she doesn’t sign a legal agreement not to divorce him while he’s in prison, which is when she tells him she read the papers he asked her to burn, and that she knows about his secret account overseas which the government would be too happy to lay hands on, so he had better not piss her off with talks of trust, divorce and legal agreements. Yes, these two are just right for each other. He leaves, moves the money to another secret account, and comes back to physically force her to sign the legal agreement. Kiki, never to be outdone, flies back into Tai’s waiting arms, and the narrator suggests she might have conceived. Uh oh!
Truth cannot be hidden forever though. Agnes Benson, who saw Deji and Akin arguing when the detectives came, draws Akin into her home for a little chat. She tells him things he already knew: his mother loved him very much, and he must miss her dearly. She also told him things he didn’t know: she worked with his mother in Jos, she saw him once as a little baby, and she loved his original name better than his present name. Akin didn’t even wait for her to tell him the name. He said it himself: Ify!
