Cynthia turned her face and
chuckled.
“She got under my
skin,” Chuka continued.
“Get her out of your
skin and stand as a man first,” Mabel said. “Then let’s see what happens.”
Chuka
kept quiet.
“I hope you heard
me?” she asked him.
“Yes,” Chuka replied
and sighed.
“Now get up from
there and get something to eat.”
Cynthia
turned to leave.
“Where are you
going?” Mabel asked her.
“To the house,”
Cynthia answered.
“You want to leave
him like this?”
“I am still
traumatized and my back is aching me. I need to rest.”
“Don’t worry,” Chuka
said. “I will be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
Mabel asked.
“Yes.”
“Don’t be suicidal
o.”
Chuka
laughed and said, “If I kill myself, what will I gain? I will go to hell and
she will move on with her life.”
“Ok o.”
Cynthia
got to the door and stood.
“So what will you
eat this night?” Mabel asked him.
“I will find
something to eat,” he replied.
“When we are done
cooking, I will call you.”
“Don’t worry about
me. I will be fine.”
Some of
Chuka’s friends in the neighbourhood came to the door. Cynthia stepped aside
and they came in.
“Wetin happen?” one of them asked,
rushing towards Chuka.
“Guy I hear sey you wan kill yourself,”
another said.
“No oo,” Chuka said.
They
saw the tablets and one of them picked up the bottle.
“If you no wan kill yourself,” he said. “Then wetin these drugs dey here na?”
“Guy wetin make that kain thing enter your head na?” another asked
him.
“No be wetin you think o,” Chuka said.
“Na your matter dey the whole area now,”
one of them said. “People gather outside
now sef dey talk say Chuka don die, sey im commit suicide.”
“Serious?” Chuka
asked.
“Yes na. You know as news dey spread.”
“Kai!” Chuka
exclaimed. “Wetin I wan do now?”
“You gass come find something tell them o.”
“Wetin I wan talk?”
“At least make them see say you no kpai.”
Chuka
laughed.
“You dey laugh abi.” they said to him.
“I just make mistake take overdose o,” he
lied to them. “I no read the dosage
well.”
“You sure?” one of them asked.
“Yes na. If say I take drug to kill myself, I no for dey here dey talk
with you na. I for don go since or I go still dey unconscious.”
“Na true sha. But wetin you dey think sef wey
make you no read the dosage well? Na so person dey take die o. small mistake
like this.”
Cynthia chuckled at the door.
“Okkkk,” one of them
said, laughing. “I know wetin you dey
think.”
“Wetin?” Chuka asked.
“You dey think about Cyntibaby abi?”
“My brother no be small thing o,” Chuka
said. “I dey think am badly.”
They
laughed.
“We have to go now,”
Mabel said to Chuka, laughing. “Take care of yourself o.”
“Thank you so much,”
Chuka said. “Cynthia I am sorry. I will make it up to you.”
Cynthia
did not reply. She left with Mabel.
When
they went outside, they were surprised to see people gathered in groups in the
compound and outside the gate.
“They must be
talking about Chuka,” Cynthia said.
“Yes,” Mabel said.
When
the people saw Mabel and Cynthia coming out of Chuka’s place, some of them
started coming towards them.
“We better leave
fast o,” Cynthia said.
“Yes o,” Mabel
agreed. “They are looking for story to tell.”
Mabel
went close to the window and shouted to Chuka to come and show himself to the
people and tell them what happened to him. Then she and Cynthia walked fast
towards their house and just answered those who asked them about Chuka with “He
is fine”. The people wanted to know more but they did not get any more info
from Mabel. Chuka came out with his friends and talked with the people. Some pressed
further and asked about his face and he told them what he wanted them to know. When
he reassured them that he was fine, they went their different ways. He went
towards the gate as he chatted and laughed with his friends.
Mabel
and Cynthia stood at the entrance door all that while watching what was
happening. When Chuka and co went out of the compound, Mabel and Cynthia went
in.
“What happened?”
their mother asked, coming out of the kitchen.
“Happened where?”
Mabel asked.
“After I left.”
Mabel
told her everything she had missed.
“The way children of
these days fall in love is shocking o,” she said when Mabel was through.
“They watch Movies
too much,” Mabel said.
“The things you people watch on TV and read in
books are not real o. They are just acting out a script written for them. Most
times, what they portray is far from the realities of life.”
“You are right.”
“Is it that bad that
people now thinking of committing suicide because of love,” Cynthia said.
“You have not seen
anything yet o,” Mabel said
“May I never get into that kind of love o.”
“But how is he doing
now?” their mother asked.
“He said he is fine.
He is with his friends now.”
“When I am done
cooking, you will go and give him food or call him to come and eat.”
“Who?” Cynthia asked.
“You,” Mabel said.
“I am not in that
mood now.”
“You need to get
over it and help him get over it also.”
“I will just call
him to come and eat.”
“Or just give him
the food and come back. You don’t need to stay there.”
“Ok.”
Their
mother went back to the kitchen. Cynthia went with her while Mabel went into
the room to lie down. She held the wall as she staggered towards the room.
...to be continued.
Nedu Isaac
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