Mabel went in and met Cynthia
peeping through the window.
“What are you doing
there?” she asked Cynthia, gently pulling her back.
“Is he the new guy?”
Cynthia asked.
“Who?”
“Eji..”
“Ejike?”
“Yes.”
“No. Why do you
ask?”
“I saw the way he
was looking at you.”
“Haba. He is my
former course mate. I thought I told you before.”
“The guy is
freeeesssshh.”
“You want to eat
him?”
“These are the kind
of guys Dinma milks dry.”
Mabel laughed and Cynthia joined in
the laughter.
“The guy is not
serious sef,” Mabel said. “While we were still talking, he asked for your phone
number. Can you imagine?”
“What?” Cynthia
asked surprised. “Are you for real?”
“I am. After you
left me, he kept staring at you as you walked in.”
“The same way he was
staring at you after you left him?”
“Yea.”
“And he really asked
for my number?”
“Yes.”
“What did he want my
number for?”
“I don’t know. Maybe
he likes you.”
“But you are the one
he came looking for.”
“He didn’t come
looking for me. We met on the road when I was coming back from work.”
“Anyway, I still
don’t believe he asked for my phone number. You are just teasing me.”
“I am serious.”
“Did you give it to him?”
“No.”
“Ohhhm. Y na?”
“You wanted me to
give him your number?”
“Yes na. Treasure is not bad na. He can be taking
me shopping na, unless you are interested in him sha.”
Their mother came out from the room.
“Mummy good
evening,” Mabel greeted.
“Cynthia told me you
are seeing someone now,” she said to Mabel after acknowledging the greeting. “And
he even dropped you off,”
“Hmm who?” Mabel
asked.
She
looked at Cynthia for explanation.
“Let me check the water I boiled in the
kitchen,” Cynthia said and got up from the seat to leave.
Mabel
blocked her and gently pushed her back into the seat. She burst into laughter
and Mabel joined her.
“Yeye girl,” Mabel
said. “Will you talk now.”
“I did not say
anything o,” Cynthia said, still laughing.
“Cynthia,” their
mother said, turning to her. “You just told me there was a man with Mabel
outside.”
“Yes.”
“And you are saying
you did not tell me anything.”
Cynthia
kept quiet.
“Mummy did you see
him?” Mabel asked.
“No,” her mother
replied.
“Then how do you
know I was with a man outside?”
“That little girl
even told me when I asked her what you were doing outside the gate.”
“Ok, I give up,”
Mabel said and sat down
Her
mother sat beside her.
“So who is he?” she
asked Mabel.
“He was my course
mate back then in school,” Mabel replied.
“Mummy if you see
this man eh,” Cynthia said. “He is richer and finer than Segun ten times.”
“Cynthia!” Mabel
called.
“Sorry.”
“He saw me when I was
walking home and stopped me,” Mabel continued. “We were just catching up outside
the gate. Nothing more.”
“Ok,” her mother
said. “So there is nothing serious going on then.”
“No. We just met
today, after many years. Something cannot start today and get serious today. Moreover,
it is too early for me to be thinking about another relationship.”
“Ok.”
Their mother got up to go to the
kitchen. Cynthia followed her.
“So how rich is he?”
their mother asked Cynthia as they entered the kitchen.
“Mummy!” Mabel
called and laughed.
“Don’t mind us,”
their mother said, laughing too.
Mabel
went to the room to undress while Cynthia and her mother went to the kitchen to
look for what to prepare for dinner. When Mabel was done wearing something
simple, she washed her hands and joined them in the kitchen. They pondered on
what to cook. After a while they decided on what to cook.
“I doubt if we have
enough kerosene,” Cynthia said.
Their
mother checked the stove.
“You are right,” she
said. “We don’t, and there is nothing left in the kerosene can.”
“I poured in the
last drop,” Cynthia said.
“So what do we do?”
Mabel asked. “I wanted to buy gas cooker for you but you refused.”
“I don’t want to set
oga landlord’s house on fire,” their
mother said. “You can’t trust those cookers.”
“We will need to go
get kerosene now,” Cynthia said and brought out the kerosene can.
“Where?” Mabel asked
her.
“Either the filling
station in the express road or the kiosk at the junction.”
“I don’t have the
strength to go that far with you.”
“And I can’t go
alone.”
“Look for Chuka na.”
“Honestly, I wish I
can see him now. I don’t have the strength to go and buy this kerosene.”
Their
mother collected the kerosene can from Cynthia.
“Don’t worry,” she
said. “Let me go and get it.”
“No na,” Mabel
said. “We cannot be here and you will be
going to buy kerosene.”
“It is not a big
deal. It has not been long you girls came back so you must be tired. At least,
I have been resting for some hours now.”
“Ok, if you say so.”
“Prepare what we
need to cook,” their mother said and went out.
Mabel
and Cynthia prepared the ingredients for the food they wanted to cook.
“Don’t do the one
that will involve bending down o,” Mabel said to Cynthia.
“Don’t worry about
my back,” Cynthia said. “The pain is not that much again. I did not even feel
it that much all the while Dinma made my hair.”
“Ok.”
The
entrance door opened and their mother came back in, without the kerosene can.
“What happened?”
Mabel asked her. “Where is the kerosene?”
“I met Chuka on the
way,” their mother replied. “And he offered to help me get it.”
“This Chuka sef,”
Cynthia said. “Is he a ghost? He is everywhere.”
“He must have heard
when you called his name,” Mabel said, laughing.
They finished
getting the food stuff ready for the cooking and sat in the parlour, waiting
for Chuka to come back with the kerosene.
“What is keeping
Chuka?” their mother asked after a while, looking out of the parlour window.
After
waiting a little longer, they heard a knock on the door. Mabel opened the door
and saw Chuka standing at the door, with his shirt thorn and bleeding from the
side of his mouth.
(...to be continued)
Nedu Isaac
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