LOST

   
Dabota turned around and Charise was not behind her. her first reaction was anger. "Charise Ala" she yelled in her stern voice. No response. She expected to see her four years old daughter emerge from another aisle. "Charise" she yelled even louder, still no response. she was getting even angrier.  she walked back down the aisle, pushing her loaded cart and checking each row she passed for signs of her daughter.
 

  Less than three minutes later, she panicked. " please i am looking for my daughter. she's four, wearing a green gown and carrying pink sunglasses" she told everybody she met in her now frantic search. some shop attendants were helping her search. an elderly woman approached her. " calm down, she has to be around here somewhere" she reassured Dabota. "you know how kids that age can wander"

"no madam, Charise is a good child. she doesn't wander. she's a good girl" Dabota replied as tears gathered in her eyes. "we cant find her anywhere in the store madam"  an attendant came back to tell her. "What do u mean by that? do four year olds fly? or disappear? she was right beside me. she wanted a red apple and i was picking out one for her. find my daughter"  Dabota screamed at the girl, making her jump.

Her perfectly made up face was now teary and her mascara ran down her cheeks. she was wearing a black lace gown, and her scarf which was on her head, was now by her feet. her hair was disheveled, as she had been running her fingers through it. "Has she been kidnapped? she thought to herself" With that thought, she jumped up and down. " Tamuno eh" she exclaimed. " Charise! Charise! " she screamed running up and down the aisles like a demented woman. she searched even impossible places like inside and under the refrigerators.

        The store manager had been alerted and he tried to calm her down and restrain her, but she wouldn't be stopped. some shoppers had abandoned their shopping and joined in the search. shouts of "Charise! Ala!" rang the air. the search had gone outside the mart and its environs. The store manager had grudgingly alerted the police. Then her thoughts went to her husband Gogo. She fell to the floor powerless and wept. nerve wracking sobs tore through her chest. " what do i tell my husband " she sobbed incoherently. The elderly woman sat with her on the ground and gathered her to her bosom, letting her cry on her shoulders.

         A police officer who identified himself as Sergeant Okoro, strode into the super mart about thirty minutes later. By this time, Dabota's eyes were swollen shut and her face was puffy. Seeing her, one would never connect her to the well put together woman that strode in here to do her grocery shopping. "i go collect everybody statement for this matter" was the first thing Okoro had to say. The store manager told him the little he could, as Dabota could not put her words into coherent sentences.
"Madam all this cry wey u dey cry no go carry your pikin come out o. make you cooperate with me" Okoro said, sizing her up. " my daughter is missing. Charise Ala Gogo. she is four years old. i turned around to choose an apple for her over there and now she is missing" Dabota said pointing towards the fruit stand.
"wetin she dey wear? describe am" he asked writing or pretending to write down something on a scrap of paper
" a green gown with a tiara in front and the inscription baby princess and her pink barbie sunglasses" Dabota replied.
"tara? wetin be tara?" Okoro asked obviously confused.
"TIARA T I A R A" Dabota answered him looking even more confused.
" wetin be dat one? tiara" Okoro asked her looking around
"Oga na dat kain crown wey dem dey wear for beauty contest and wedding" one of the shop attendants explained to him.
"O crown na dat one you for talk na madam" he said scribbling some more "what of the father of the pikin you don call am?"
"No" Dabota answered.
" make you better call am now. i no know how you go manage misplace your pikin for inside here. abi dem don kidnapp am?" Okoro told her, folding his scrap of paper into his front pocket. At the mention of kidnapp, Dabota wailed even louder.

      Gogo strode into the store ten minutes later. When he saw his wife seating on the floor disheveled, he rushed up to her and gathered her to him, cooing softly to her and calming her down. her sobs grew louder and her whole body shook. " shh baby don't cry. i'm here now" he told her softly, patting her hair "Charise is missing. Our baby is missing" Dabota cried. 

" i know love i know" he reassured her. When she was calm, she looked up at his face, her eyes wide "she is never coming back. is she?  what are we going to do" she asked.

" don't worry dear i have it under control" he replied. Then he helped her up, a shop attendant handed him her purse, and he took her outside to his car. when he settled her in the car, he went back into the mart and called the manager and policeman aside.

   " I'm sorry about this episode gentlemen. you see, my wife took our daughter to a shopping mall and the child wandered away from her and got in the way of a car. my wife saw the car crush our daughter to death and our lives have not been the same since that day. this happened six years ago and once in a while she gets these episodes of reliving our loss." Gogo explained to them.

" you mean say your wife no well? as in, she dey crase? Okoro asked.

" No she is perfectly sane. in fact we have had two other kids since then. its just that sometimes she gets overwhelmed. especially when she goes shopping alone." he answered. 

"would she be okay? we have been through a lot for over an hour" the manager noted

"yes she would be okay. it happens sometimes. a little rest and she would be fine. i have to take her home now" Gogo replied dismissing them

"ahem oga, nothing for the boys? at all at all na him bad pass o!" Okoro told Gogo

 Gogo put his hands into his pockets, took out a few notes, handed them over to him before leaving the super mart. 

" na wa o! nothing person no go see for naija. see as that woman fine, she dey mad and this kain fine man keep am for house. all these rich men. who know sef him fit be ritualist" Okoro muttered to himself, counting the money and leaving after him.

Life is a choice
Choose wisely
Enough said



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