Turning to her I asked: ‘What sort of a woman are you?  Do you have any conscience at all?  Would you like to be treated like this if and when you eventually found a husband?  ‘On and on I went as I marched my son into his car and got in with him.  I asked the driver to take Tope to her new home and told Fola to take me home.

Gemima protested she didn’t need to, as she meant to go into private business right away.  But Fade ‘our friend’, talked her into changing her mind in case she had the prospect of a political appointment in future. Her ambition wouldn’t be flawed by a simple thing as the lack of a service certificate. So, the poor girl came home looking ravishing and sophisticated.

“I was really gutted and I felt  betrayed. Raymond showed no remorse whatsoever and it was him who told me Dupe was expecting his child. I was really bitter. So, I had an affair I was sorry for, but it was obvious Dupe set me up so she could steal my husband. A single mother, the father of her son had abandoned her when he travelled abroad.

With the passing on of one’s mother, the shape of a family changes abruptly. The children are in shock, and the father, even though he’s expected to be strong, is most of the time bewildered.  With time, the pain might be dulled, but the grief resurfaces from time to time over the years

a) Always look on  the  dark side of life. See the glass as half empty rather than full,    regard changing   circumstances   as    disasters    rather   than opportunities, always expect things to go wrong, and your negativity will remain intact.