She got to a T-junction and slowed
down.
“I even forgot to
ask you,” she said to Mabel. “Are you going to your place or your mum’s place?”
“Even though I need
to see how things are in my place,” Mabel said. “I will leave that till
tomorrow.”
“That means you are
going to your mum’s place.”
“Yes ma.”
Mabel’s
mother’s place was to the left while her place and Mrs. Biodun’s were to the
right of the T-junction. Mrs. Biodun checked her timepiece. Mabel understood
what she was considering.
“I can get down here
and find my way,” Mabel said.
“Ok dear,” Mrs.
Biodun said. “I thought you were going to your own place.”
“You have tried for
me. My mum’s place is not far from here.
I can even trek home if I want.”
“Ok.”
Mrs.
Biodun looked around properly before she parked.
“The fear of task
force…” she said.
“Is the beginning of
looking well,” Mabel completed the sentence for her.
They laughed.
Mrs Biodun parked, brought out some
money from her bag and gave to Mabel.
“Manage this my
dear,” she said.
“Thanks a lot ma,”
Mabel said and collected it.
She couldn’t reject the offer
because of how close they were. She knew Mrs. Biodun would feel bad if she
rejects it. She had done it in the past and it did not go down well.
Mabel
alighted and Mrs. Biodun drove off. She stood for a while wondering whether to
trek home or get a keke. She decided to trek home since the weather was cool.
As she walked, she made sure to stay away from the path of oncoming vehicles.
She also held hand bag tight in case some of the hoodlums around decide to be
funny. From time to time, a man would cat-call her and say nice things to her.
She would pretend not to hear and just smile. As she got close to a junction,
someone in a jeep drove past her, slowed down and reversed. She surveyed her
environment well. It was a busy place so she relaxed, knowing that nothing much
could happen where many people were. The car stopped in front of her. She saw
that there were two men inside it.
“Hello,” one of them
men called as she got close.
She walked past them as though she
did not notice them. She felt they were trying to ‘toast’ her so she did not as
much as look back. As she kept walking, they kept moving closer to her. Even
when she took a turn at the junction, they still followed her, trying to get
her to stop and talk with them. After a while, she was getting embarrassed so she
stopped and looked at them. They smiled, thinking they had gotten her after
all. She politely told them to leave her alone.
“You mean you don’t
recognize me?” the man on the steering asked her.
She was
surprised by the question. She looked at him very well, trying to figure out if
he was someone she knew. She couldn’t place the face.
“Sorry I don’t know
you,” she said and walked away.
“Wait wait wait,”
the man said to her.
She stopped, turned to him and
asked, “What do you want from me? Have we met before?”
He
called the name of the university Mabel went to, her department and matriculation
year.
“How do you know all
these?” she asked, more surprised.
“Because we were
course mates,” he replied. “Though we were not friends then.”
“Wait wait,” Mabel
said, trying really hard to place the face.
“You don’t remember
me? Ejike.”
He told her some other things that
happened in school and mentioned the names of their lecturers while they were
in school.
“I remember now,”
Mabel said, recollecting. “Ejii that fought with course rep one time.”
“Oh you remember
that,” Ejike said, laughing. “It is me oo.”
“You have really
changed. I could not recognize you. Imagine.”
“My dear, it is God
o.”
“Why didn’t you call
my name since you have been following me?”
“I actually forgot
your name. You know we were not close back then in school. We were all minding
our businesses.”
“Nothing would have
made me stop and listen to you o, if not that I know you from somewhere.”
“I know. I just
decided to try and see.”
“And you refused to
give up.”
“You are not worth
giving up on.”
Mabel
smiled. All the while Mabel talked with Ejike, his friend in the car just
pressed his phone.
“Ejii Ejii look at
you,” Mabel said. “You look good.”
“You too,” Ejike
said. “Where are you going?”
“I am going home
from work.”
“Hop in let me drop
you.”
Mabel
made to enter the back seat and stopped.
“What’s the matter?”
Ejike asked her.
“People are looking,”
Mabel said. “If I enter your car now, they will conclude that I am as cheap as
these other girls who hop into any car they see, looking for who to take them
out.”
“You are concerned
about what people think?”
“Yes o. I have built
a reputation for myself over the years. I won’t give them any reason to think I
have changed.”
“So what do we do?
How do we see?”
Mabel
told him the address of her mother’s place and told him to drive down there and
wait for her.
“Ok,” he said. “I
will be waiting for you there. We have a lot to catch up on.”
“Ok, drive off. I
will walk as though nothing happened and when I get home, we will see there.”
Ejike
drove off.
“Wonders shall never
end,” Mabel said to herself after Ejike drove off. “Ejike of yesterday, looking
all tushed up.”
She wore her straight face and
walked home. When she got to the compound, she met Ejike and his friend
standing beside the car, outside the compound.
“You are looking
georgous,” Ejike said to her when she got to them.
“As stressed out as I
am,” Mabel said.
“Am telling you.”
“Thank you.”
She side-hugged
him and just said ‘Hi’ to his friend. She looked into the compound as though
thinking whether to go in or not.
“Do I follow you in?”
Ejike asked her.
“No o,” she said. “My
mother will be around now. She is not very comfortable with male visitors she
does not know, coming to the house.”
“You know we have a
lot to catch up on.”
“Yea I know.”
“What if I take you
out?”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
“I had a stressful
day at work. I really need to rest so I don’t start getting dizzy. We can talk
for a while here. Then exchange contacts and see some other time when it is convenient
for both of us.”
“That’s fine by me.”
Mabel
leaned on the car beside him.
“So tell me,” she
said. “What are you doing now?”
“You know I had
issues with school then,” Ejike began.
“We were not close
so I didn’t notice. Just that you hardly attended lectures.”
“My dad fell very
sick. Being the first son, I had a lot of responsibilities; taking care of him
and carrying him from hospital to hospital.”
“Eiyaa.”
“There was no money
for me to pay my fees and cater for myself while in school, so I had to drop in
3rd year.”
“No wonder. I know
we stopped seeing you at a point.”
“My dad’s pension
was never paid. My mother couldn’t carry the burden alone, so I went into
business while my younger ones continued with school. It was the little money I
made from business that helped take care of the family. Then early last year, a
friend introduced me to some people abroad who made the business explode.”
“What type of
business is that?”
“Supplies.”
“Wow, really?”
“Yes. That was when
things turned around for me and my family. God really helped me. One single
contact changed things for me. That is the evidence you are seeing now.”
“God can truly
change a person’s life o.”
“Yes o. As long as
you are God fearing, honest and hard working. These qualities make my business
partners comfortable working with me.”
“True.”
“I suffered those
days o. Kai. I shudder whenever I remember those days. It was worse when you
guys graduated. I would see my course mates and be hiding because they were
graduates and I was a drop out. They dressed well but I wore clothes that were patched
and discoloured. It was a period of shame and questions, but I am glad I did
not give up and join bad company then because I thought of it severally but my
mum kept encouraging me. I thank God for where I am today.”
“Thank God for you. Life
is not about how fast but how well. Who started first is not important as long
as we all get there.”
“True. Now I travel abroad
frequently. I just came back from Asia two weeks ago. Something I never thought
could happen for me at this age.”
“Ejii Ejii.”
“My dear we give God
praise. What about you? What’s been happening since after school?”
Mabel
told him about her NYSC posting and then where she was working.
“For you to be
working there,” he said. “You are a big girl na.”
“It is not like that
o,” Mabel said. “We are just managing o.”
“It is showing on
you na. see how fresh you are looking.”
“Na small small sha.”
Ejike
admired her for a while and then said, “I see you are not married yet.”
(..to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
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