4

BABY DADDY DRAMA

CHAPTER 4

NARRATED

Odirile walks in panting. Sweat is running down his forehead and his shirt is tucked out. Grandma is in the kitchen baking. Seeing her grandson in distress, she quickly wipes the flour off her hands and rushes to him.

"Odi, what's wrong papa?" She asks concerned.

"There was a man," he says, catching his breath.

"A man doing what?"

"He wanted to talk to me but I refused because you said I shouldn't talk to strangers. Then he wanted to grab me so I ran," he says.

"You're safe now," she looks outside but doesn't see anyone suspicious. She's worried now and doesn't know how to handle this.

"What did he look like?"

"He said he's my father but I know he's lying because mama told me that my father is dead."

Grandma starts panicking. It seems Pitso is far from throwing in the towel.

"Go change I'll fix you something to eat and drink. I'll make sure he doesn't come anywhere near you again," she says.

As soon as Odirile leaves the kitchen, she grabs her phone and dials Kaone.

****

KAONE

I'm in the middle of a session when my phone rings. I don't like to be interrupted while working so without looking at who the caller is, I silence it and apologize to my patient. 30mins later, I conclude the session and attend to my phone. I find 4 missed calls from my mother so I call her back. It must be something serious. She doesn't answer her phone and I have to attend to someone else.

****

PITSO

I drive in and park my car in front of the garage. I left earlier having faith but now I feel like things will only get worse.

"Why the long face?" Asks my mother who's polishing the stoep. She stops and focuses on what I have to say.

"It didn't go well," I sigh.

"You should have listened to me from the beginning. I told you to let me ask your uncle to accompany us to the Malekas. Obviously they won't allow you to just walk in and demand to see your son."

"Mama I don't have time. You heard what the prophet said. I need to acknowledge my son or else things will only get from bad to worse. I've already lost an opportunity to that promotion and I'm five to losing my job because of odd mistakes. I just need to get Odirile here and perform the acknowledgement ritual," I say.

"You know that's not what happens. The Malekas have to agree first and give you their blessings. I blame myself for not putting you in line years back when you denied the pregnancy."

"I was scared, mama. I know I made a mistake but at that time I thought I was doing what was right for me. I didn't want a baby to hinder my future."

"Your future is in the hands of the Malekas and there's nothing you can do to change that. Let me do this my way, please."

"Fine but if it doesn't work then I'll have to come up with another plan. Kaone doesn't even want to see me," I sit on the other stoep that hasn't been cleaned yet.

"Your way has always led to bad consequences so please don't do anything. Your uncle and I will try our best to make all this work out, I promise."

I don't think they'll succeed but I'll have to wait. I get into the house and lock myself inside my room. I start thinking back to the night where I first saw Kaone, the night Odirile was conceived.

[FLASHBACK]

I was deejaying that night. A 22 year old guy who wanted nothing but fame and money. I killed the set and as soon as I got off stage, I grabbed a drink with my friends. It was a coincidence that we met because I was sitting opposite her and every time I raised my eyes, I saw her and she was always looking at me.

I approached her and asked to talk to her somewhere privately because the sound was too loud. I bought her a beer and we went to the parking lot.

"I feel like my ear drums are going to burst," she says.

"Come on, it's not that bad."

"I'm not used to this. I don't go to groove so all this is completely foreign to me," she says. She looks so innocent, the type I've never been with. I've always wondered how it'd be like to have sex with a girl who was inexperienced. An opportunity was in my palm and I had to grab it.

"Can I buy you another drink?"

"No thanks. I think I've had enough and I need to go back home. I don't want my parents to notice that I've sneaked out," she says.

"Sneaked out? Are you that much of a risk taker?"

"I've surprised myself. I've never done something out of line before and all this time I've been looking over my shoulder thinking my dad would show looking for me," she says. I laugh at her for the statement she made.

"Let me buy you one last drink and I promise I'll take you home."

"You would?" Her face is filled with relief.

"I would do anything for a beautiful girl like yourself," I caress her back. She gets a bit uncomfortable but that doesn't make me stop. Instead, it makes me want her even more. The alcohol in my system makes me fantasize about her riding me at the back of my car. I fantasize about how tight she'd be since it'd be her first time.

Despite her being intoxicated with alcohol, I perceive her as smart so she won't agree to have sex with me so I buy her another beer and lase it with a rape drug. Within before the drug kicks in, we're already kissing at the back of my car and she asks me to put on a condom. Before I know it, she has blacked out and I'm doing as I please with her.