Read Online Where Women are Kings by Christie Watson - Free Book Online Page A

help they will need? Maybe the older one cared for the younger one because they were so neglected. And I read somewhere that neglect is the worst form of abuse. It damages their brains. Anyway, look at this little fella!’ Nikki pointed to a photo of a fat baby with a gummy smile.
    Obi turned the page back to Talesha and Malika. ‘What are you talking about?’ He hadn’t even looked at the baby. Nikki felt her eyes sting. He put his other hand on top of Nikki’s.‘That’s the whole point, isn’t it? That we help someone who needs help the most?’ He squeezed her hand.
    She looked at Obi’s kind face, the outline of Daddy’s kind face behind him. ‘You’re right,’ she said. ‘It’s just a bit scary, that’s all, to think about a life, a life that we’re in charge of.’
    ‘I know, but what a thing to do! Look at these kids. All of them. Of course they’ll have issues but they need love. Love is the most important thing they’ve missed. And we have plenty of love.’
    Nikki picked up a magazine from the pile and flicked through the pages. It was an older magazine, one that Ricardo had left them as it was out of date. ‘Malika and Talesha,’ she said. ‘Look.’
    It was definitely the children from the other magazine. ‘It’s the same two,’ Obi said. ‘A year ago. A whole year in care, being advertised and no parents coming forward. That should tell you everything you need to know if you’re feeling unsure about what we’re doing here.’
    ‘Poor little things,’ said Chanel. She leant towards Jasmin, but Jasmin stepped away from her.
    Nikki breathed deeply. Obi was right. It made perfect sense. They should help someone who needed help the most. Poor kids.
    ‘They are not the right ones for you,’ said Daddy.
    ‘We’re not shopping for a new car, Daddy. We’re looking at children. And lives. Imagine all these children and what they’ve been through.’ Obi moved the magazine over to Nikki’s lap.
    Daddy moved back over to his chair and sat down, leant forwards. ‘I know. I am making light of dark work,’ he said. ‘And I want you both to know that I will be on this journeywith you every step of the way. We all are. I love you both and I’m so proud of you.’
    Obi laughed and pulled Nikki’s hand towards his mouth and kissed her fingers. ‘With us all together, we’ll be fine,’ he said.
    ‘We’ll help, Aunty Nikki,’ said Jasmin.
    ‘Of course we will,’ Chanel agreed.
    ‘I mean it,’ said Obi. ‘We are going to give a child a chance, a real chance.’
    Nikki looked back down to the magazine.
    So many children with read-between-the-lines stories. So many older children still waiting. Nikki tried to focus on them. But her eyes kept moving away and landing on the babies.
    ‘You don’t need the magazine,’ said Daddy. ‘Our boy isn’t in there.’
    ‘Here we go,’ said Nikki, loud enough for Daddy to hear.
    ‘I’m serious. My grandchild is a boy,’ he said. ‘A Nigerian boy.’ He looked to the ceiling and put his hands together as if praying. ‘A
Nigerian
boy.’
    *
    Later that afternoon, Obi was called into work. Something important. He had kissed her hair, grabbed his keys and run out. Nikki went for a walk to clear her head. She usually walked through the park towards the river – almost daily, if the weather allowed it. She loved to be near the water. Growing up, she’d lived close to the sea, her childhood filled with brawny, yellow-booted fishermen, whose laughter rattled like her mum and dad’s house. But that day Nikki found herself walking towards the swing park, in the opposite direction to the water that usually drew her. Their plans whirled round and round inside her. She understood why Obi wanted tohelp an older child, a child who needed help and who might be overlooked. And, seeing those children in the magazines getting older and older, she had felt his excitement that they might be able to rescue one. But still, her head was filled with the