Taduno's Song by Odafe Atogun

That’s not something you can do quietly. Very soon the neighbours will sense that he is here. And all our lives will change.’
    â€˜I need to have him here if I’m to recover my voice and save Lela. Please try to understand.’
    â€˜Of course I understand,’ Aroli laughed bitterly. ‘We’re neck-deep in this together, you and me! But must we forget the pain we could end up causing the innocent people of this street?’
    â€˜I promise we’ll keep things quiet,’ Taduno pleaded. ‘Before you know it he’ll be out of here. It is just for a short while until he can find his own accommodation.’ Helaughed uncertainly. ‘Hey, you might be able to help with that – getting TK affordable accommodation, I mean.’
    In spite of himself, Aroli laughed. His laughter was warm; it dispelled Taduno’s fears.

TEN
    But they couldn’t keep things quiet for long. As the days passed by and their rehearsal sessions became more intense, Taduno’s neighbours began to suspect that something wasn’t quite right. They were used to hearing only the music of his guitar, but now a croaky voice accompanied that music. And as the voice underwent a painfully slow improvement day after day, they began to gather beneath the upper-room window once again to marvel at the music of his guitar and the voice that got better and better.
    They soon discovered that there were two voices at work in that upper room that had now become a part of the great mystery that joined them to him: one voice issuing instructions, the other undertaking the painstaking task of singing. They wondered if he now dwelled with a ghost. They wondered, too, what sort of music they were trying to make, if the music would change their lives.
    The neighbours spent more and more time beneath theupper-room window, and Aroli devoted himself more and more to his work as an estate agent, pursuing bigger deals and enduring longer hours of frustration – all in an effort to spend more time away from the street.
    The people could not understand by what miracle the croak of a voice was being transformed. Some said that the ghost had taken over the singing; others said Taduno had become a ghost too, and his voice was now that of an ethereal being. Everyone forgot that the man from the secret service promised to come back.
    *
    Sensing that Taduno was getting more consumed with his music, Judah began to visit him less frequently, not wanting to be obtrusive. He understood that Taduno must discover his voice in order to find his sister. On the occasions the boy visited, he noticed that Taduno kept looking at the stairs leading to the upper room. He assumed that it was because he was eager to get back to work; he never suspected that TK was up there, waiting for the all clear.
    And so the boy would make his visits very brief. ‘I know you must get back to work,’ he would say. ‘The earlier you discover your voice, the better. Maybe it will help us to remember you.’
    Taduno would smile with a hint of guilt. Often, he thrilled the boy with a beautiful song before saying goodbye.
    *
    One afternoon, without thinking of Taduno’s warnings, TK parted the curtains of a window in the upper room to get a bit of fresh air and some sun. As he stretched by the window, he realised that the entire street was gathered below. But it was too late for him to pull the curtains together. The people stared up at him. And as they beheld the Afro cut that graced his face like a halo, they gave a collective gasp, and it dawned on them that the man above was TK, the famous music producer. A second gasp rose from the crowd, and they fled, certain that their lives were about to be altered for ever.
    Taduno had gone downstairs to get some water. He returned to discover that TK’s cover was blown. All he could do was mutter a silent prayer.
    *
    Maybe it was that prayer that summoned Aroli back at that particular time. As