I Found Out My Dad Has a Second Family in Ibadan. I've Known for 4 Years.

The thing is, I wasn't even snooping. I was helping my mother find her old WAEC certificate in the wardrobe when I saw a folder with a different surname. Inside was a birth certificate. A boy born 2013. Father's name: my father's full name. Mother's name: someone I'd never heard of.

I sat on that floor for maybe 20 minutes. Then I put it back exactly where I found it and told my mother I couldn't find the certificate. She didn't question it. She just said "no problem, I'll look later."

Four years now. Four years of Sunday lunches with this man. Four years of him asking me when I'll marry. Four years of me smiling and passing the jollof. I've never told my mother. I've never confronted him. I don't know if she knows. I don't know if knowing would break her or free her. And I can't decide if my silence is protecting her or betraying her.

Some nights I just lie down and wonder who exactly I'm being loyal to anymore.