Mabel and her mother went after
her. Cynthia rushed to Chuka’s apartment. She pushed the door and went in. They
went in with her. When they got in, what they saw shocked them.
They saw Chuka lying on the floor,
face down. Then they saw a little bottle of medicine open, with some tablets
spilled on the ground.
“Chuka chuka,” they
shouted as they rushed to him and shook him.
“He is still
breathing but he needs help as fast as possible,” Mabel said.
“Let me go and get
palm oil,” their mother said.
“Does that thing
work?”
“Yes o.”
“I don’t think so.
He needs to be rushed to hospital immediately.”
“Let me get the oil
first.”
Their mother rushed out.
“What happened?”
Mabel asked Cynthia.
“After searching for
him everywhere,” Cynthia said, crying. “I came here and knocked but no one
responded. Then I tried opening the door and saw that it was not locked. I came
in and met him like this. That was when I came to call you.”
“Did you tell
anybody?”
“No.”
The
door opened and two of their neighbours came in.
“What happened?” one
of them asked.
“We just came and
saw Chuka like this o,” Mabel replied.
“Looks like he
committed suicide,” the other one said. “Is he still alive?”
“Yes he is breathing,”
Mabel replied. “But he needs help as soon as possible.
The
neighbours rushed out to see if they can get a nurse or a means of rushing him
to hospital. Mabel’s mother rushed in with a bottle of palm oil.
“What is the meaning
of this na?” Mabel’s mother asked, fidgeting with the bottle. “Why will he
choose to commit suicide when his brother has traveled?”
Mabel
turned Chuka and faced him up. He opened his eyes and smiled. They were stunned
and maintained their postures for a while, not knowing what to make out of it.
“What’s funny?”
Mabel asked. “You almost committed suicide.”
“Nothing,” he said,
still smiling.
“Chuka, why did you
take these medicine to kill yourself?” Cynthia asked him.
“I did not take
them.”
“What is going on?
Why did you pass out? And what are the tablets doing here if you did not take
them?”
“I wanted to take
them but changed my mind.”
“And you made us
believe you were dead!” Mabel shouted in anger.
“Please reduce your
voice,” Mabel’s mother said to her. Then she turned to Chuka and asked, “You
think things like this are to be played with?”
“Sorry ma. I didn’t
mean for it to be like this. I don’t even know what I was thinking.”
“The whole street
has heard that you committed suicide. You better have an answer for them.”
Some
more neighbours rushed in.
“Is he alive?” one
asked.
“Is he breathing?”
another asked.
They
got their answer when they saw Chuka sitting on the floor.
“We prayed for him
and did CPR on him and he got up,” Mabel said, not wanting them to know it was
a hoax.
They
thanked God.
“Still give him the
palm oil to neutralize the effect of the drug,” one said.
“Don’t worry he will
be fine,” Mabel’s mother said.
“Are you sure?” one
neighbor asked her.
“Yes.”
“Imagine Chuchu committing
suicide,” one of them said and clicked her fingers in disbelief.
“I did not try to
commit suicide,” Chuka said.
“Then what
happened?”
“I did not read the
prescription on the bottle. I took double the normal dose. Before I knew it, I collapsed.”
“That is risky. Be
careful next time.”
“I will. Sorry for
disturbing your peace.”
Mabel’s
mother carried her bottle of oil and left with the neighbours. Cynthia and
Mabel stayed behind. When it was only three of them there, Cynthia went close
and slapped Chuka.
“Why did you do
that?” she asked.
“Am sorry,” Chuka
said holding his cheek.
“Do you know the
kind of trauma you have put me through?”
“What was I supposed
to do? I felt abandoned and insulted.”
“What do you mean by
that?”
Mabel
just stood and watched them.
“When the other guy
came, you turned your attention to him. If I was there, you didn’t want to
know. I saw the look in your eyes and the way you talked with him. You like
him. Then you left me there looking like a fool and went inside because of him.
When I was tired of waiting, I went back to my house.”
“When I came out
calling your name, didn’t you hear me?” Cynthia asked, still angry.
“I wanted to see
what you will do next. Then I saw you holding him and the way you smiled when he
held you. I concluded that I have lost you. Then I decided to end this. But
when I got the drugs and still heard you calling my name, I couldn’t get myself
to do it.”
He paused and coughed. Then he
continued.
“Then I decided to
know your reaction if you think I committed suicide.”
“Now you have seen
the reaction. Don’t ever talk to me again.”
“I am so sorry,”
Chuka said, getting up and going towards Cynthia.
Cynthia
stretched her hand, telling him not to come close. He knelt down and pleaded
with a lump in his throat.
“It will not happen
again,” he said and sat on the floor.
“You are intimidated
by your fellow man,” Cynthia said. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“I was jealous. The
tush guys get all the chics and hustling guys like me just can’t do anything
about it. We take care of girls and then people with cars come and take them
from us. It is normal to feel bad na.”
“But not to the
point of wanting to kill yourself,” Mabel said. “Nobody is worth dying for.”
“It depends o,”
Chuka said.
“You have bigger
things to be worried about now. You will now be known as ‘Chuka the guy who
tried committing suicide because of a girl’. How will you deal with that?”
“My thinking did not
go that far.”
Chuka’s
phone rang. He checked it.
“My brother is
calling me,” he said and hissed.
“You see what you
have caused,” Mabel said.
He
picked it. His brother told him that he heard that he had committed suicide and
asked him what happened. He kept quiet. His brother asked him whether he was
depressed because of not getting a job. He kept quiet for a while, and then he
told his brother that he did not try to kill himself, that he just took
overdose of a drug. His brother asked him what he was thinking that made him
take the overdose. He reassured his brother that he is fine. His brother told
him to come to the village the following day. He agreed and his brother hung
up. He dropped the phone, sighed and put his head in-between his knees.
“You need to put
yourself together,” Mabel told him. “Focus on your life and stand as a man
before you think of getting emotionally attached to any woman.”
Chuka
just gazed at the floor.
“Are you hearing
me?”
“Yes,” he said,
looking up. “But it is hard. I really love Cynthia.”
“If you don’t have
any security to offer her, your love is in vain.”
“Was it not because
of her I fought the other day?”
“That is not the
security I am talking about. A woman needs someone who is matured in thinking
and character, and who has money to take care of her basic needs at least. It
doesn’t have to be much but it has to be coming steady.”
“It is not my fault
that I am jobless. I have tried my best to get a job.”
“You will still get
one. That is not the only thing. Don’t tie your life to a particular person,
especially someone who is just a casual friend.”
“Honestly I don’t
know why I feel this way about Cynthia. I have tried to call myself to order severally
but whenever I see her, I lose my senses.”
Cynthia
turned her face and chuckled.
...to be continued
Nedu Isaac
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