She brought out her hand to shake
him but he ignored the hand and hugged both her and her handbag.
“Ejike,” She called
him.
“Mmm,” he answered
still holding onto her.
“The hug is too much
na.”
He let
her go.
“That’s for all the
years I wished I could hug you in school,” he said.
“Now people are
looking, wondering whether I now sleep around with men.”
“Why will they think
that?”
“My male colleague
just dropped me and you now hugged me.”
“That’s their
business. You know yourself.”
“Ejike! Don’t’ be
insensitive.”
“Sorry. It will not
happen again.”
A lady
who lived in the opposite compound, a friend of Mabel’s, gave her sign like ‘is
he the one?’ She shook her head and smiled.
“You see,” she said.
“Don’t mind then,”
he said. “So what is the matter with you? You said you are not feeling well.”
“Yes o. I fainted in
the office.”
“What! Are you
serious?”
“Yes.”
“Why na? What
happened?”
“I think I was
stressed out.”
“Everybody is
stressed out but not everyone is fainting. Something is wrong.”
“I did not eat and
take my medicine before leaving for work today?”
“That must be the
reason. What are you taking medicine for?”
“Long story. I have
been a bit ill for some days now.”
“So which medicine
are you on?”
“They are just
stress-relieving medicine. I think one is anti-malarial.”
Ejike
folded his hand across his chest and asked, “How could you not eat and take
your medicine?”
“I was in a hurry,”
Mabel said. “I was running late.”
“You would have
called me to come and drop you off in the morning or even to buy something for
you to eat in the office.”
“Why will I put you
through all that inconvenience? As what na?”
“As a friend.”
“You are a busy
person. Besides we just met, like met.”
“I don’t like my
friends going through things like this, especially those close to my heart.”
“Eiyaa. That’s nice
of you.”
“My dad’s health
issue developed this strange concern for people in ill health in me. I can
suspend anything just to make sure someone is taken care of.”
Chukka
came back with the drink and biscuit and walked past them without saying a word.
“Tell Cynthia I am
around,” Mabel told him as he went in.
“Ok,” he replied
without looking at her.
“Let me not keep you
standing for so long,” Ejike said to her.
“Yes. I really need
to lie down and rest my banging head.”
She turned a bit towards the
compound in readiness to go in.
“I really planned a
nice TGIF outing for me and you today,” Ejike said.
“Aww, We will have
to reschedule.”
“I will be traveling
next week. That will be when I come back.”
“Importer!
Exporter!”
“Na hustle we dey o. Survival of the
fittest.”
“Remember me in your
paradise o.”
“Once things are
set, I will come.”
“Come for?”
Ejike
pretended he didn’t hear her question.
“Let me give you
what I got for you,” he said, opening the back seat of his car. He brought out
two nylon bags filled with provision and stuff. “For you.”
“Ah ah na,” Mabel
said to him. “You wouldn’t have bothered yourself.”
“It is nothing at
all.”
“It is too much for
one person na.”
“You have a sister
and a mother to share with.”
“I feel like
rejecting this gift o, just that you will feel bad.”
“Why?”
“It is looking like
a Trojan horse.”
Ejike
burst into laughter.
“Trojan what?” he
asked. “There are no strings attached biko. It is for old times’ sake.”
Mabel
took one of the nylon bags and looked through.
“With the price tags
I am seeing here,” she said. “I hope you did not empty your account to get
them?”
“Like I said before,”
Ejike said. “This is nothing. If I had taken you out, we would have gone to
somewhere expensive and I would have spent much more than I spent on this. Just
accept my gift of love.”
“Gift of..?”
“Friendship.”
Mabel
tried carrying the second Nylon bag together with her hand bag but she needed
an extra hand.
“You will have to help
me bring them in,” she told Ejike.
“Really?” Ejike
asked. “Your mother will not mind?”
“She will mind but I
will take care of that.”
“Sure?”
“It’s nothing to
worry about.”
“If you say so. I
fear protective mothers o.”
“Unless you have
ulterior motive na.”
“Nothing like that.”
“Ok. Sometimes my
mum thinks I am still the small girl she held by the hand and crossed the road
with but the only thing she will do now is to ask me about you. That’s all.”
“Ok.”
Ejike
made sure his car was locked. Then he walked behind Mabel into the compound,
carrying the nylon bags.
“Chei!” he said as they walked. “You go wound person o.”
Mabel laughed and said, “Yeye man like you. You will not face your
front.”
“Easy o.”
When
they got to the apartment, they met Chuka and Cynthia sitting on a bench in
front of the house, with the biscuit and soft drink in her hands. She sat up and
tried to hide the ‘cheap’ biscuit she was holding.
“Welcome,” Cynthia
said to Mabel.
“Is mummy around?”
Mabel asked.
“Yes. She is in the
backyard.”
Cynthia
greeted Ejike.
“How are you my
dear?” Ejike asked her.
“I am fine,” Cynthia
replied smiling. “You brought my sister back?”
“Kinda. Yea.”
“That’s kind of
you.”
Mabel
just watched them exchange pleasantries. Chuka didn’t know whether to offer his
hand to him for a handshake or not. He just looked away so he would not be
embarrassed. Ejike looked at him from time to time to give him the eye contact
greeting but he did not look up.
“I will be going,”
he said to Mabel.
“Just like that?”
Cynthia asked him. “You don’t want to stay a while?”
Ejike
looked at Mabel who shrugged.
“As long as your mum
is around, I don’t think it is a good idea o, and it is getting late.”
“She is in the
backyard,” Cynthia said.
“Mabel is that you?”
their mother asked from inside the house.
(...to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
