“Mabel is that you?”
their mother asked from inside the house.
“Yes mum,” Mabel
replied. “Good evening.”
“Ehe,” her mother answered,
looking out through the window.
Ejike
greeted her.
“How are you my
dear?” she asked him.
“Fine ma,” he
replied.
“Mummy, this is
Ejike, my former course mate,” Mabel introduced him.
“Why is he standing
outside?” she asked. “Bring him in.”
“I need to be on my
way now ma,” Ejike said. “Maybe some other time.”
“Is that how people
of your generation now visit?”
Ejike
looked at Mabel and she shrugged.
“Come in if she said
you should,” she said and went inside.
Ejike
followed her into the sitting room.
“I am coming,”
Cynthia said to Chuka and also went inside.
“Cynthia please take
that stuff and keep in the room for me,” Mabel told her, pointing at the nylon
bags Ejike was carrying.
Cynthia
took them from him and went into the room.
“Your sister likes
me,” Ejike whispered to Mabel when Cynthia was out of earshot.
“Don’t count on
that,” Mabel said. “She is naturally a nice and easy going person.”
“Even your mother
too likes me.”
“Don’t conclude on
that also. She is in the kitchen now. Who knows whether it is hot water she is
coming out with?”
Ejike
moved towards the door.
“I am kidding,”
Mabel said, laughing.
“Better be kidding
o,” he said.
“Please sit.”
He sat
and Mabel sat on a seperate chair.
“Sorry about the
hotness here,” Mabel said to Ejike when he brought out his hankerchief and
wiped his face.
“It is ok,” he
replied.
“You are already
used to cool places na, as a big boy.”
“Am telling you. But
I can manage, let’s see if light will
come.”
“Our transformer is
bad so don’t expect light anytime soon.”
“You don’t have a
generator?”
Mabel did not answer. Her mother
came out to the sitting room and asked Ejike what he wanted to take.
“Nothing ma,” Ejike
replied.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes ma. I am ok.”
She wanted to stay a little with
them and ‘interrogate’ him but Mabel eyed her and she went out to the backyard.
“You just saved me
from the interview of my life,” Ejike said to Mabel.
“Oh you noticed,”
Mabel said, laughing.
“Yes o. In these
situations, I am as alert as a cockroach.”
Cynthia
came out to the parlour.
“What have you been
doing inside the room since that time?” Mabel asked her, laughing.
“I was keeping the
stuff well na.”
“I counted
everything o.”
Cynthia
laughed. She hung around for a while, not doing anything in particular.
“Shebi Chuka is
waiting for you outside?” Mabel asked her.
“I know.”
She
opened the door and left.
“Let me leave now,”
Ejike said and got up.
“You are going after
her?” Mabel teased him.
Ejike
smiled.
“Not at all,” he
said. “I have a very busy evening today. I abandoned my guys because I wanted
to see how you are doing.”
“They will call you
on phone if they need you.”
“I left my phone in
the car. I know the missed calls will be many by now. If I leave them for too
long, then whatever they eat or drink will be on my head.”
“Better be going na.
I don’t want you to waste so much money because of me.”
“I don’t mind. Am
glad you are not looking as bad as you sounded over the phone.”
“That’s so nice of
you. Thank you.”
“Tell your mum I’m
leaving.”
Mabel
shouted to her mother that Ejike was leaving. She shouted back her goodbye.
Ejike opened the door and went outside. Mabel went out with him. They saw
Cynthia standing and looking around.
“Where is Chuka?”
Mabel asked.
“I don’t know,”
Cynthia replied. “When I came out, I did not see him on the bench. Even the
drink and biscuit are not there.”
“You kept him
waiting and he left angrily.”
“I think so. Let me
look around for him.”
“Did you check his
house?”
“I did. I knocked
but no one responded.”
“If you don’t see
him, don’t worry. He will not be angry with you for too long.”
“Let me check
outside the gate.”
“Ok.”
Cynthia
went to look for Chuka, leaving Mabel and Ejike standing alone.
“Will you see me off
to my car?”
“No o,” Mabel
replied. “I am tired.”
“Ok then.”
Ejike spread his arms expecting a
hug from Mabel.
“Come to papa,” he
said. “Come give me a hug.”
“Taaaaa,” Mabel
said. “The hug you collected earlier is enough for one month.”
They
laughed and Ejike turned to leave.
“I will call you from
time to time to know how you are faring,” Ejike said. “When I return from my
trip, I will come and see you.”
“Ok. Thanks a lot. I
really appreciate.”
As
Ejike was leaving, he made sure to pass close to where Cynthia was standing at
the entrance into the compound. He held her hand as she told him
‘goodbye’.
“I will see you when
next I come,” he said.
Cynthia chuckled and withdrew her
hand. He looked back at Mabel who gave him a hand signal to leave. He waved at
her, went to his car and drove off. Cynthia continued looking around for Chuka
while Mabel went back into the house. She met her mother standing in the centre
of the parlour with arms akimbo.
“Tell me about him,”
her mother said to her.
“Let me undress
first na,” Mabel said and went towards the room, laughing.
“Be telling me as
you are undressing,” her mother said and followed her.
As
Mabel changed cloths, she told her mother about Ejike.
“You mean there is
nothing going on?” her mother asked her when she was through.
“Nothing from my
side.”
“He seems like a nice
guy o though all men are basically the same. They appear nice and then they
strike and leave you hurt.”
“He seems to like me
though.”
“Yes, but I think he
likes Cynthia more.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw the way he
was looking at her. I can recognize that look any day.”
“True. Even the way
he held her hand when he was leaving.”
“I saw that one
also.”
“Mummyyyyy, so you
were peeping.”
“I need to keep an
eye on my girls o,” her mother said, laughing.
“…like a hen watches
her chicks,” Mabel concluded for her. “I have heard that sentence many times.”
While
they were talking, Cynthia barged into the parlour looking like someone who had
just seen a ghost.
“What is it?” Mabel
asked her.
“Chuka….it is chukka
oo.” Cynthia managed to say and gave them a hand signal to follow her. Then she
rushed out.
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.
(...to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
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