FED UP!

(…continued…)

Risi waved at Mabel as she went back in with her mother who was still clutching her bowl of water. Mabel waved back. Coker sat in, put on his seat belt and his brother drove off. Mabel sunk into her seat and exhaled through her mouth.

Mabel went through her phone log and saw all the missed calls. Cynthia and her mum had called her severally. Cynthia also sent her text messages asking her where she was. She dialed Cynthia. It rang once and Cynthia picked.

  “Where are you?” Cynthia asked her.

  “On my way,” Mabel replied.

  “You have not been picking my call. Even mummy called and you didn’t pick. Is there a problem?”

  “When I come I will tell you.”

  “Ok. How soon will you be here?”

  “In fifteen minutes.”

  “Ok.”

                Mabel hung up. About a minute later, her mother called her.

  “Why is mummy calling me?” Mabel said to herself. “Is she not with Cynthia?”

                Mabel allowed it to disconnect and then she dialed her mother. Her mother answered, sounding worried about her. She reassured her mother that she was fine and she was on her way to the house. Then she hung up.

  “You have a lovely family who care about each other,” Coker’s brother said.

  “Thank you.”

  “I will love to meet them.”

                Mabel kept quiet. Coker’s brother looked at her through the rear view mirror but she looked away. He cleared his throat and continued driving.

  “Mabel,” Coker called.

                Mabel did not respond. He called her again, turning around to see why she was not responding.

  “Yea?” she answered.

  “Do you still feel dizzy?”

  “Slightly.”

  “I couldn’t help but notice something in your crib.”

  “What is that?”

  “You still have stuff that belong to Segun.”

  “Yea.”

  “Why are you still keeping them?”

  “I can’t throw them away.”

  “Why?”

  “They are things I need. He has more things I bought for him.

  “Oh really.”

  “I even noticed that he was wearing the wrist chain I bought for him today.”

“Ok. But since you know he has moved on, why not remove those things and get new ones. They will keep bringing back old memories.”

  “Ok. I will.”

  “If you need help with buying new ones, let me know,” Coker’s brother interjected.

  “Don’t worry. I can take care of myself. Thanks anyways.”

                They were silent for a while. They drove past a shopping mall and Coker asked Mabel if she wanted to buy anything she might need in the house.

  “Don’t worry about me. You have done enough already.”

  “I don’t think I have. But it’s ok if you say so.”

  “Or maybe I could do with cold bottled water. I don’t know whether there will be light at home.”

  “Ok. We have already passed the shopping mall. We will stop at the next supermarket we see.”

                They didn’t drive long before they saw a supermarket. Coker’s brother drove into the parking lot and parked. Mabel made to open the door and come out but Coker stopped her.

  “Where are you going?”

  “To get the water.”

  “Don’t worry, I will get it for you.”

  “Ok thanks.”

                Mabel relaxed. Coker went into the supermarket to get the things. While he was gone, his brother kept stealing glances at Mabel through the rear view mirror. He seemed to be observing her mood in order to know what to say. Mabel knew he was trying to say something but she kept quiet, looking out of the window. Then she looked at the rear mirror and their eyes met.

  “Is there a problem?” she asked him.

  “No. Not at all.”

  “You are tensed up.”

  “Me? I am not. I am just tired.”

  “Ok if you say so.”

                Mabel shook her head and smiled. Coker’s brother saw her do that and felt stupid. He tried to say something but stopped halfway when he saw Coker coming.

  “What did you say?” Mabel asked him.

  “I said Coker is coming.”

                He turned on the ignition, Coker entered and he drove off. Coker handed the take-away bag to Mabel. It contained bottles of cold water, juice, some apples and biscuits.

  “Ah ah. Why did you stress yourself?”

  “It is nothing. I am still trying to redeem myself for what my friend did to you.”

  “Bros bros,” his brother called him. “You no remain anything for me to do.”

  “Wetin you wan do. Your oyibo iyawo no dey?”

  “Bros leave matter.”

  “Thanks a lot,” Mabel told him.

  “you are welcome.”

  “You have truly redeemed yourself.”

  “Now you know that all men are not the same.”

  “If I hear. Only time will tell.”

                As they got close to Mabel’s mother’s place, her phone beeped. She checked it. It was a message from an unknown number. At first she didn’t want to read it but on second thought, she opened it. It was lengthy SMS; it was from Kemi.

(…to be continued…)

-Chinedu Isaac