As
Cynthia rushed back into the house, she met Mabel standing in the parlour with
her hand folded across her chest, and a grin on her face.
“What?” Cynthia
asked her and sat down.
“What just
happened?” Mabel asked her.
“Leave me alone.”
“You hugged Chuka.
Wonders shall never end.”
She
came close to Cynthia and saw a drop of tear on her cheek.
“Mummy must hear
this,” she said, laughing.
Mabel
went into the room to tell her mother and soon came out with her.
“What is it na?”
Cynthia asked, a bit embarrassed.
Their
mother clapped her hands as she laughed.
“Cynthia is finally
in love oo,” she said.
“Ooohm mummy stop
it,” Cynthia said, laughing.
“He finally broke
through,” Mabel said.
“It was just a hug.
It doesn’t mean anything.”
“What about the tear
in your eye?”
“Which tear?”
“You cannot deny it.
I saw it.”
Cynthia
kept quiet and just smiled as Mabel and their mother continued teasing her.
After a while, Mabel coined a song with “Cynthia is in love” and went into the
kitchen to dish her food. Her mother joined in the song and went to the kitchen
also.
“Funny people,”
Cynthia said, laughing.
It was
dark so Mabel put on the lantern.
“Should I dish your food
and bring?” Mabel asked Cynthia, peeping from the doorway. “Or you are still
thinking about Chuka?”
“Don’t worry,”
Cynthia said. “I will take by myself when I want to eat.”
“Love nwa nti nti.”
“Leave me joor.”
Mabel
and her mother came out to the parlour where they sat down and ate their food.
“This place is hot,” their mother said. “No single air.”
“I doubt if the window
is open,” Mabel said.
She
kept her food on a stool and opened the windows well.
“Should we put on the
generator?” their mother asked Mabel.
“There is no
strength to draw that generator,” Mabel replied. “And Chuka is injured.”
“He would have just
rushed to put it on for us,” Cynthia said. “I just hope he is ok.
“It will take up to
72 hours before he feels well, but he surely will.”
“This kind of love
that will make a man fight in order to please the family of the lady he loves,
I wonder o,” Cynthia said.
“It is a huge
sacrifice,” their mother said, “but it is still not yet a guarantee of genuine
love.”
“What do you mean?”
“Men can do anything
just to get a piece of you.”
“How will someone go
through this and not genuinely love you?”
“It can mean love
when you are just boyfriend/girlfriend, but if you are thinking of marriage,
then you are not certain of a man’s love until he walks you down the aisle and
says “I do”.”
“It is true,” Mabel said. “These days, men
even jilt ladies after the wedding card has been printed and they have spent so
much.”
“Really?” Cynthia
asked.
“Yes o. It happened
to one of my course mates back then in school. The poor girl was devastated.”
“So to get beat up
is not a sign of genuine love,” their mother said.
“That is not to say
that he doesn’t genuinely love you,” Mabel added.
“So what do I do?”
Cynthia asked. “I really feel for him. He has gone through a lot just to get my
attention.”
“Just be friends.”
“He is not a bad
choice at all,” their mother said. “We know his family. He is a graduate with a
bright future, just that he has been looking for a job for more than two years
now. Things can still turn around for him.”
“Mummy is already doing
advert for him when I have not even accepted ordinary friendship,” Cynthia said
and laughed.
They joined in the laughter.
“I have watched him
for many years and I like him,” their mother said. “Very hardworking and decent
young man.”
“Mummy!” Cynthia
called. “Let me finish school first joor. I don’t need distractions.”
“I know.”
Cynthia got up.
“Are you going to
check on him?” Mabel asked.
“No,” Cynthia said
laughing. “Won’t I eat again?”
She went to the kitchen, dished
food in a plate and came back to the parlour.
“I will check up on
him when I am done eating,” she said.
“Chat him up na,”
Mabel said.
“His phone in not
chat-enabled.”
“You will not go to
his house alone o,” their mother said.
“Why?” Cynthia
asked.
“It is late.
Everywhere is dark.”
“And he is alone in
the whole house,” Mabel added.
“Nothing will
happen,” Cynthia said.
“You never can tell.
Better safe than sorry.”
“You are sounding
like he is a rapist.”
“You are a serious
beauty o and no man is a saint when an opportunity like this presents itself;
alone with the girl he loves in a dark room. Five minutes of error can change
the course of your entire life.”
“Ok o.”
When
they were done eating and taking their drugs, Mabel took the plates to the
kitchen and washed them. Then she went into her room while Cynthia stayed in
the Parlour with her mother. After a moment of quietness, her mother put on the
radio in her phone.
“ooohm what is this
one na?” Cynthia asked. “Is not as if you will put a station playing music.”
“I want to hear
news,” her mother replied.
“Everytime, news.”
“Since we are not
watching it on TV, I need to listen to it on radio and know what is happening
in the country now.”
“Ok o. Let me go and
check Chuka then.”
“Alone?”
“I will not waste
time.”
“Call Mabel to go
with you.”
“Am I a little girl?
Is it not in the same compound I am going to?”
“Ok oo.”
Cynthia
opened the door and left.
“Girls of these days
will not listen,” her mother said to herself after Cynthia left.
About
ten minutes later, Cynthia came back in, sweating.
(...to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
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