The Name Inside the Envelope

Nobody moved.

Even the nurse at the door forgot she was supposed to leave.

The hospital room became so quiet that the steady beep from the heart monitor sounded louder than ever.

The lawyer looked at each of them.

“I think all of you should sit down.”

Nobody listened.

Teniola’s eyes were fixed on the brown envelope.

Her hands refused to touch it.

Kola stepped closer.

“Who is the name?”

The lawyer adjusted his glasses.

“I’ll explain.”

He carefully removed a few documents and placed them on the small table.

“The trailer driver, Musa Garba, made a sworn statement forty-eight hours before he died.”

He paused.

“He admitted that he deliberately chased your vehicle.”

Teniola felt the room spin again.

“What…?”

“He said someone paid him.”

Kola clenched his fists.

“Paid him to do what?”

“To make sure your car never reached its destination.”

Silence.

The lawyer continued.

“He claimed he wasn’t supposed to kill anyone.”

Morenike frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“He said the instruction was to frighten the occupants and force the car off the road.”

Kola’s face hardened.

“But he lost control.”

The lawyer nodded.

“Exactly.”

Teniola couldn’t speak.

She remembered the headlights.

The loud horn.

The trailer refusing to slow down.

She had always believed it was a terrible accident.

Now…

It wasn’t.

The lawyer opened another page.

“There was one problem.”

Kola looked at him.

“What problem?”

“The man who hired Musa disappeared before police could arrest him.”

“So why are you here now?”

The lawyer looked directly at Teniola.

“Because Musa finally mentioned his name.”

Teniola slowly shook her head.

“I don’t want to hear it.”

“You have to.”

“No.”

“Teni…”

Kola reached for her hand.

She held it tightly.

The lawyer took a slow breath.

“The name Musa gave was…”

He stopped.

Almost as if he wished he didn’t have to continue.

“…Pastor Gideon Akinwale.”

The world stopped.

Teniola blinked once.

Then twice.

“No.”

The lawyer looked confused.

“I’m sorry?”

She laughed.

A strange laugh.

Small.

Broken.

“No… you’ve made a mistake.”

Morenike looked equally confused.

Kola frowned.

“Who is Pastor Gideon Akinwale?”

Teniola’s lips trembled.

“My…”

She couldn’t finish.

The word refused to leave her mouth.

The lawyer quietly asked,

“Do you know him?”

A tear rolled down her cheek.

“He’s my father.”

Nobody spoke for almost a full minute.

The lawyer lowered his head.

“I’m very sorry.”

Teniola stood up abruptly.

“No.”

She started pacing.

“No… my father is a pastor.”

No one answered.

“He has planted churches.”

Still silence.

“He raised me in the fear of God.”

Kola looked at the floor.

“He cannot…”

Her voice cracked.

“…he cannot pay somebody to kill me.”

The lawyer remained calm.

“I understand how difficult this is.”

“You don’t understand anything!”

Her voice echoed through the room.

“My father prays every morning.”

She pointed toward the ceiling.

“He quotes Scripture every single day.”

Another tear escaped.

“He taught me not to lie.”

Silence.

The lawyer finally spoke.

“I’m not saying he is guilty.”

Teniola looked at him desperately.

“The statement only mentions his name.”

Kola finally asked the question nobody wanted to ask.

“Why would a father do that?”

The lawyer slowly closed the file.

“That…”

“…is not written in the statement.”

Teniola left the hospital.

She couldn’t breathe inside those walls anymore.

Kola ran after her.

“Teni!”

She didn’t stop.

Cars passed.

People walked by.

Nobody knew a whole life had just collapsed.

Kola finally caught up with her outside the gate.

“Listen to me.”

She pulled her hand away.

“Don’t.”

“We don’t know if it’s true.”

“My father?”

Her eyes were full of pain.

“You think my father wanted me dead?”

“I’m saying we need facts.”

She looked at him.

Then whispered,

“What if the facts destroy what’s left of my family?”

Kola had no answer.

---

That evening…

Teniola drove to Surulere.

She didn’t call ahead.

She simply walked into her parents’ house.

The television was on.

Her mother was arranging flowers.

Her father was reading his Bible.

Everything looked…

Normal.

Painfully normal.

He smiled when he saw her.

“Teni, my daughter.”

She couldn’t smile back.

“Daddy.”

He noticed immediately.

“Is everything alright?”

She placed the brown envelope on the table.

“I met a lawyer today.”

His smile faded.

Very slightly.

Barely noticeable.

But she saw it.

“I see.”

“You know what this is?”

He looked at the envelope.

Then at her.

“I had a feeling this day would come.”

Teniola’s heartbeat became louder.

Her mother slowly turned around.

Confusion filled her face.

“What day?”

Teniola looked straight into her father’s eyes.

For the first time in her life…

She wasn’t looking at him as a daughter.

She was looking at him as someone searching for the truth.

“Daddy…”

Her voice shook.

“Did you know the trailer driver?”

The room became silent.

Her mother looked from one face to another.

“What trailer driver?”

Her father quietly closed his Bible.

He didn’t look surprised.

He didn’t even look angry.

He simply sighed.

A long, tired sigh.

Then he said something that made Teniola’s blood run cold.

“I’ve prayed for this conversation for five years.”

Her mother stared at him.

“Gideon…”

He looked at his wife gently.

“It’s time.”

Time?

Time for what?

Teniola took one step backward.

“Daddy…”

He stood up slowly.

His eyes were wet.

“I never wanted you to find out like this.”

Her heart pounded violently.

“So…”

She struggled to breathe.

“…you know him.”

He nodded once.

Very slowly.

“Yes.”

The room spun.

“But…”

He raised a trembling hand.

“Please.”

“Let me tell you everything from the beginning.”

Teniola’s tears flowed freely.

One question escaped her lips.

Barely above a whisper.

“Did you try to kill me?”

Her father closed his eyes.

And after a painful silence…

He answered.

“I have committed many sins in my life.”

He opened his eyes again.

“But that…”

“…is not one of them.”

Just then…

Someone knocked loudly on the front door.

Three heavy knocks.

Everyone turned.

The gate man rushed inside, breathing heavily.

“Pastor!”

“What is it?”

The gate man looked frightened.

“Police officers are outside.”

The room froze.

“They said they have come to arrest someone in this house.”

To be continued…