(…continued…)
While Cynthia was still cleaning his face, Chuka suddenly held her
hand.
“What is it?” Cynthia asked
him.
“I can’t continue with this.”
“Continue with what?” Cynthia
asked, a bit tensed. “Continue with liking me?”
Chuka forced a
smile.
“Not that,” he said. “I mean
this cleaning.”
“Why.”
“It is really painful.”
“Oh sorry. You have to endure
it until I am done. I will give you pain reliever after ok.”
“Ok.”
He sat still till
she was sure she was done with the cleaning. Then she gave him the warm water
to rinse his mouth. He rinsed his mouth into the bucket. When he was done, she
took the bucket and stuff into the bathroom where she washed them and came back
to the parlour. She sat with him for a while. He tried making conversation but
the pain in his mouth did not allow him.
“Don’t stress yourself,”
Cynthia told him.
“Ehe, where is the pain
reliever you promised me?” he asked.
“You have not eaten anything.”
“I ate like an hour before I
went to buy the kerosene.”
“Ok, let me get it.”
Cynthia went to
her drug nylon and brought an analgesic for him. She went to the kitchen and
got a cup of drinking water for him.
“Are you done?” her mother
asked her.
“Yes.”
“What do you want to give him?”
“Pain reliever.”
“Has he eaten?”
“He said he has.”
“Ok.”
She took them to Chuka. He took the drug and sunk
back into the chair.
“Can I lie on your laps?” he
asked her.
“No o. My mother will just
pour hot water on you.”
He laughed.
“I think I should take my
leave.”
“Now?”
“Yes.”
Mabel came out of
the kitchen.
“The food is almost ready,”
she said. “Are you sure you don’t want to eat?” she asked Chuka.
He looked at
Cynthia.
“Why are you looking at me?”
Cynthia asked him, smiling.
“Will you feed me?” he asked.
She burst into
laughter.
“All because of kerosene.”
“You know I am hurt,” he said
and winked.
“Are you eating through your
nose? Or is something wrong with your hand?”
“So what are you saying?”
Mabel asked him.
“Ok. Very little.”
Their mother came
out to the parlour as Mabel went back to the kitchen.
“How are you feeling now?” she
asked Chuka.
“I am still feeling the pains
but it is not as bad as before.”
“Don’t worry. It will stop.”
She went into the
room.
Mabel brought the
food for him. Cynthia got a stool close to him. Mabel kept it on the stool and
Cynthia turned it so the heat will evaporate.
“Thank you so much,” he said.
“Cynthia please take care of
him and make sure he finishes it,” Mabel said. “Let me bath.”
“I will definitely not feed
him,” Cynthia said and eyed Chuka.
“This husband and wife sef,” she
said and went in.
Chuka took a spoon and writhed in pain.
“What is it?”
He opened his
mouth and blew air out.
“It is still hot?” she asked
him.
He nodded.
“Allow it to get cold na.”
“It will still touch the wound
in my mouth.”
“You know you will feel sorer
in the morning before it begins to heal. It may not let you eat then. So just
try and eat well this night.”
“You are right.”
She brought a hard
paper and ‘fanned’ the food.
“Nonsense NEPA people,” she
said. “When you need light, you will not see it.”
“Our transformer is bad so
forget about seeing light for some days, if not weeks.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes.”
“When did this one happen?”
“In the afternoon.”
“Nawa o. Is the neighbourhood management
aware?”
“They are. You know how they
act. Let us wait and see what happens.”
“I hope it does not involve flat-by-flat
contribution o.”
“I don’t think it will get to
that. Maybe just repairing something in the transformer.”
“To get NEPA people is another
wahala.”
“My dear.”
“Don’t mind those people. Check
if the food is okay now.”
He began eating
small small, using the side of his mouth where the injury was less. While he
was eating, Cynthia went to the room and met Mabel on the bed pressing her
phone.
“Has he gone home?” she asked
Cynthia.
“No. He is still eating.”
“When you are done with your
romance, let me know so I can go and eat.”
“Are we preventing you from
eating?”
“I don’t want to interrupt
anything.”
“You are not serious,” Cynthia
said, laughing. “Stay here and be pressing your phone. The transformer is bad
o.”
“What? Who told you?”
“Chuka just told me now.”
“It is fully charged so it
will last for a while.”
“Ok.”
Cynthia went back
to the parlour and met Chuka with the plate empty.
“Did you pour the food away?”
she asked him.
“No,” he replied, laughing. “I
had to try and rush it.”
“Why?”
“So I can vacate the house for
you.”
“Are we pursuing you?”
“Not at all, but you need your
own privacy.”
“Ok.”
Cynthia took the
plate back to the kitchen and brought warm water for him.
“Thank you so much,” he said
after drinking the water.
“You are welcome.”
“I will be leaving now. Where
are mummy and Mabel?”
“Mabel is resting in the room.
Mummy is bathing.”
“Help me thank them for me.”
“I will.”
He got up and
went towards the door. Cynthia opened the door for him and he stepped outside.
“I wish I will be wounding
everyday just to get this kind of attention from you,” he said and looked into
Cynthia’s eyes.
“Aaww, that’s so sweet of you,”
Cynthia replied.
“I know I have not qualified
for a hug so..” he said and brought out his hand to shake her.
Cynthia ignored
the hand and hugged him.
“Thank you for your
sacrifices,” she said to him.
She turned and
went into the house before he could say anything else. Chuka stood surprised
for a while and then he left, smiling.
As Cynthia rushed
back into the house, she met Mabel standing in the sitting room with her hand
folded across her chest, with a grin on her face.
(…to be continued…)
-©2015.Chinedu Isaac
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