Facing the dust.

"Dust settles on the things we live behind..."
—Unknown.

Maverick.

The door creaked open, a gust of wind carrying a cloud of dust that made Maverick sneeze violently. He fumbled for a tissue, his fingers brushing against the dusty surface of the cabinet, leaving a thick brown smear. The toys on the cabinet were blanketed in the same grime.

He moved deeper into the room, his face twisting in a grimace as a dusty teddy bear tumbled to the floor, sending a flurry of particles into the air. A strangled cough escaped his throat, his lungs protesting the unwelcome intrusion.
Maverick let out a string of colourful words when his gaze landed on the bed, a large, dark stain marking the once pristine sky blue sheets with white angel figures.

He felt that part with the back of his palm, it told of recent wetness.
He held his breath and removed his fingers, then drew the bed sheet from the bed. Once again, he coughed the dust away and while raising his head, his gaze stopped at the window. Lo and behold, it was wide open.

"Ha! Just how forgetful am I?" He muttered. Now he was unable to pinch his nose because his fingers were dirty. He went to the window sill and looked out. Why wouldn't the room be dusty? The last time he entered was well before the last harmattan.

Both rain, shine, sand, and every least desired substance that hung in Lagos air had entered the room. Maverick pushed the windows further open to let in some breeze and carry some dust away. A sigh left his chest when he turned. The room looked so abandoned. Like a fancy dungeon in a palace that never housed prisoners and was paid the least attention.

It was the room he had created for their child when Leticia was pregnant. All he had stocked on the shelf were intact; toy cars, action figures, teddy bears, robots and the likes. Untouched, just as he had left them.

Maverick was the only one who had access to it because it was meant to be a surprise. However, things changed and plans got thwarted when she lost the baby. When that happened, he avoided the room like plague; first because Maverick didn't think he had the right to, and next because if Leticia saw it, her condition would have worsened.

Well, here he was now. The baby was alive and in need of a room. Marcel had been sleeping in Maverick's room since he was found but he thought it best to let Marcel have his own room now. Toys were in endless supplies so the boy wouldn't be bored. Although, Maverick had to get him more of those that were more suitable for a two-year-old.

The room needed serious cleaning, and Maverick planned to do that himself. Kola had gone out with Marcel and Mom so no one would bother him. Maverick cracked his knuckles and rolled up his sleeve. On second thought, it was better he wore a short-sleeved t-shirt. He washed his grimy hands in the toilet sink and left to his room.

Deciding that a sleeveless shirt would be even more suitable, he changed into the black one that laid on the door to the dressing room with beach shorts, then grabbed a face mask, detergent, mop, brush and a vacuum cleaner.

Almost four hours later, he was done cleaning the room. By the time he was done, it was a few minutes past three. He sat on the bed laid with clean sheets, breathed in the fresh air the windows were letting in and allowed himself a brief smile. For the first time in a long time, Maverick felt fulfilled. It was the first time in a long time that he had started something and finished it on his own.

Maverick switched on the lights and lay on the bed, watching as the room lit up. He had painted the walls with sky blue neon paints that glowed in the dark, and the ceiling was designed with a large yellow crescent moon and constellations that shone in the night. Paintings of the ocean also hung on the wall.

His heart felt heavy once again, as he realized that he had nobody to tell him how beautiful it was. A few years back, he had visited an art exhibition in Korea and was fascinated by the paintings of the ocean by an upcoming artist. He was reminded about how much his wife loved the ocean and could not leave until he was the highest bidder at the auction. He had purchased the painting, a vibrant tapestry of blues and greens, the crashing waves seemingly leaping off the canvas. 

Now, it hung on the wall, a silent testament to his grief. He imagined her standing there, her eyes tracing the lines of the waves, a soft smile playing on her lips as she held their son. She would have loved it. He remembered that the few times they had any less awkward conversation, Leticia would talk about the ocean, its vastness, its power, its beauty. Her love for it was boundless, a love that had somehow found its way into his heart without permission.
He closed his eyes, Leticia’s image as clear as day.

He could almost feel her presence, the warmth of her hand in his the first day he’d dared to hold her, the sound of her laughter echoing in the empty room. But it was only an illusion, a fleeting vivid imagination that faded as quickly as it arrived.

Swallowing back the guilt that had begun to resurface, Maverick grabbed his shirt and trudged back to his room for a shower. The cold water felt good against his skin, but it couldn't cool of the heat of the ache in his heart.

"Mide!"

Maverick jumped when he heard his name. His mother was behind him, with Kola who was shaking his head.

"Gosh, you don't have to scream my name for me to hear Mom."

"Well I had to, because you were lost in your head until a few seconds ago." She dropped her bag on the table.

Maverick sighed in response. "How was your outing? I don't see Marcel anywhere." His eyes scanned all the sofas. No sign of his boy.

"Good. And nobody ate or stole your son. If you were truly not absent minded, you'd realize that Kola laid Marcel right beside you when we walked in."

He cast a glance on the couch beside him and sighed again. "Whatever."

"Why are you sighing like a pregnant woman?" She asked, taking a seat on the opposite chair. "What did you eat?"

"Nothing really. I don't have appetite."

"Ehn? Since morning that we left this house you've not eaten? You want to give yourself ulcer?"

He scoffed. "Chill mom, I'm too old for that-- Ow!" Maverick shouted, caressing the back of his head that his mother had whacked. "What was that for?"

"For the rubbish you're spewing. Ulcer is not a respecter of age. Now get out of my sight and go eat the food I left in the microwave for you before leaving this house."

There was no room for argument, and so Maverick did as he was told.

"How far?" Maverick asked Kola as they sat on the dining table.

Kola sighed.

"Nothing?" Maverick ran his fingers through his hair. The heat building in his chest would melt butter. "Where on earth is she for God's sake?"

"Calm down. We'll find her-"
Maverick’s hands slid up to his head and back to his face. He scoffed.

"I think it's time everyone stopped telling me that. It's pulling me under. Maybe I should even stop looking for her. What if she found a better place to live? I think I should just stop here, nothing is working I-"

"If you ask me, you don't have the right to give up." Kola's tone was hard, so were his eyes as he stared at Maverick. "You sent her out of your house because you were angry, knowing that anything could happen to her. Now you've gotten back to your senses and you think it's time to give up? Have you ever thought that there are people who love her and need her or you're just being selfish? What about Marcel who needs his mom? What about Michelle who needs her best friend? What about Mom who needs her daughter?"

Maverick bowed his head.

"Yeah. So before you think about giving up, think of how to find her. What if contrary to what you think, she's in danger or even at the point of death? That should scare you enough into finding her."

Kola gave him a pat at his back and stood up, leaving Maverick all by himself. At that point, Kola's words had started to sink in. What if Leticia was in danger?

The thought sat in Maverick’s mind until it found a lodge, and from then on his dreams were centered around her words that day she called.

In the passing days, no matter how much he buried himself into work, it didn't get better. His day would be so busy, but at night when he was the only one left in the confines of his room, it came rushing back.

He would see her in his dreams, sometimes smiling, sometimes she was in tears. Then when he woke with a start, Leticia was not there.

The dreams were torturous but relieving; it was the only way he could get to see her. Maverick didn't think he could ever forgive himself if it was discovered that anything happened to Leticia.

Another weekend passed just like that without any news of his wife. Monday was a busy day; Maverick was to go to the site and see how things were coming along but he decided to stay back and go the next day. His eyes were trained on the documents that were brought a few minutes ago but the previous familiar thoughts assaulting his mind did not let him comprehend the letters.

Those thoughts were rudely snatched when his office door was thrown open. Kola walked toward him. Heaving chest, an air crackled with tension that could be cut through with a blade, face contorted in a mask of fury. Kola was a brewing storm, and for whatever reason, Maverick was the lightening rod Kola was aiming for.

"Maverick are you crazy?" His baritone reverberated through the walls of the room as Kola stopped in front of Maverick’s desk.

"Okay, I don't know what this is about but please get to the point," Maverick said, putting down the file he was going through as he leaned back on the recliner where he sat. There was nothing particularly new about this side of Kola. He was dramatic like that.

"Why waste my time like this? I've been here for two weeks, searching like crazy for a clue meanwhile you had one right in your hands. Did you forget to tell me that Leticia called you some weeks after she went missing?"

Maverick stood up from the chair. "How-how did you find out?"

Kola placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Was I not meant to?"

"No I uh... I just didn't think it..." Maverick licked his lips and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look I-"

"Cut the crap Maverick. Does your mom know that you threatened Leticia when she called? What was it? Uh...
You'll find her, and when you do, she'll wish so bad that she never toyed with you, right?"

Maverick realized then that he should have said it long ago. If he did, Kola wouldn't be so mad. "No I-"

"I don't know about her family, but if Leticia were to be my sister, Maverick I would beat you to pulp and throw you in jail. What? You had feelings for her? Gibberish. I should find out instead if you had a woman outside your marriage."

"Kola! Why would you say that?" In all the years he had been married to Leticia, Maverick never thought of cheating on her.

"Well what do you expect me to say? If a third party were involved in this case, they'd say you're a cheater who was just looking for a way to get rid of his wife."

"I'm not a cheater. I never cheated on Leticia, and I never will."

"But you believed without thinking twice that she cheated on you. And if someone else did this to Michelle, would you take it?" He clicked his tongue. “At this point, how am I sure you didn’t have a deeper hand in her disappearance?”

The statement left Maverick speechless. He tried to find words but nothing. Deny it, say he didn’t have a deeper hand. But that would be a lie. The fact that he threw Leticia out by past 11pm was deeper hand. He avoided Kola’s burning gaze and sat at the edge of his chair.

Kola, after glaring at Maverick for a while, heaved a sigh. "I hate to see you like this, but you... This should have been the first thing you told me Maverick. How did you even threaten her when she told you she was abducted? Jesus! Olumide. What on earth came over you?"

Yeah. Even Maverick wondered what exactly got over him that day. He so wished he could turn back the hands of time, but that was not possible. All that Kola had said was right. If he were a third party, he would accuse himself of cheating. And if someone else did this to Michelle, Maverick would have fed him to the dogs. Yet, he had done the same to Leticia.

"So... What next? Where do we go from here? I can't guarantee you right now that Leticia is alive, and if she is I doubt she's whole." Worry had replaced the anger in Kola’s voice.

He rose his head. "Don't say that." Maverick did not want to hear that anything was wrong with her. He refused to even reason the possibility.

Kola heaved a deep sigh and collapsed on the seat opposite Maverick. "Okay," he said after a while. "Let's stay positive. I'll ask you some random questions again so try to answer me well. We might just get a clue from there."

"Okay."

"Did she behave weird before you traveled?"

"No. She was her usual self."

"Hmm... What's her usual self like?"

A faint smile painted Maverick's lips. "She is calm, quiet, hardly speaks her mind, doesn't really get angry-"

"You didn't know her."

"What?"

"I said what I said, Maverick. You can't live in the same house with a woman and tell me she didn't really get angry. Forget that. Remind me how you got Marcel back."

"A Reverend sister brought him. She said she had been asked to pick the baby the day Leticia gave birth."

"You didn't believe that she told the woman that she would kill the baby, right?"

Maverick shook his head. "I didn't. It was what made me realize that everything could have been a farce."

"Did the sister come again?"

Maverick shook his head.

"There. You need to find her."

"How does that relate to finding Leticia?" Maverick asked.

"Does it occur to you that whoever stole Marcel might have had a hand in her disappearance? Think about it. Why would they take Marcel and return him with that story if they didn't want to implicate her? You know what’s funny? Why would Leticia give out her identity if she was actually behind this?"

Michelle had said the same thing.

"Next, we need to find out what they would stand to gain from setting her up. We could draw a conclusion if we know what’s in it for this person."

Maverick had gone blank at that point. He’d tried to think about this over and over again but there was no reasonable answer. They wouldn’t get anything from setting Leticia up. She didn’t have enemies as far as he knew, she wasn’t the offensive type, hardly had contact with anyone who was not his immediate family. Maverick drew a breath.

"Go find that sister, Maverick. We'll know what to do after that. There's every possibility that this is deeper than Leticia's disappearance."

An incoming call beat Maverick to his reply. He reached for his phone from the drawer and slid the answer button.

"Maverick Wagner speaking."

"Good afternoon Mr Wagner. There's an emergency-"

Maverick took the phone from his ear and stared at the caller. It was Marcel's school. An emergency?

His heart started to race and he placed it back on his ear. "Is Marcel fine?"

"No sir, he was rushed to the hospital-" The rest of the statement fell on deaf ears.