(…continued…)
She got to T-junction and slowed down.
“I even forgot to ask you, are
you going to your place or your mum’s place?” she asked Mabel.
“Even though I need to see how
things are in my place, 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. Mrs
Biodun checked her timepiece. Mabel understood what she was thinking.
“I can get down here and find
my way,” she said.
“Ok dear. 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 and gave to Mabel.
“Manage this my dear.”
“Thanks a lot ma,” Mabel said
and collected it.
She couldn’t decline the offer because of how close
they were. She knew Mrs Biodun would feel bad if she rejected 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. As she went, she made sure to stay
away from the road and keep an eye on her hand bag 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 smiled when she should and pretended not to hear when
she should. 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. She walked past them as though she did not notice them.
“Hello,” one of them men
called.
In her mind, they
were trying to ‘chyke’ her so she did not as much as look back. As she walked,
they drove 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
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, “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. “You don’t remember me? Ejike.”
“Wait wait,” Mabel said,
trying really hard to place the face.
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. “You have really changed.”
“My dear, it is God o.”
“Why didn’t you call my name
since you have been following me?”
“I actually forgot your name.”
“Nothing would have made me
listen to you if not that we were course mates.”
“I know you well. I just
decided to try and see.”
“Ejike Ejike, look at you. You
look good.”
“You too. Where are you going?”
“I am going home from work.”
“Hop in let me drop you.”
Mabel made to
enter and stopped.
“What’s the matter?” Ejike
asked her.
“People are looking. If I enter
your car, they will conclude that I am as cheap as these other girls looking
for who to take them out.”
“You are concerned about what
people think?”
“Yes o. I have built a reputation
for myself for 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 gist.”
“I will walk as though nothing
happened and get home. We will see there.”
He drove off.
“Wonders shall never end,” she
said to herself after Ejike drove off. “Ejike has a car.”
She wore her straight face and walked home. When she
got to the compound, she met Ejike and the other guy standing beside the car.
“You are looking georgous,”
Ejike said to her.
“Thank you.”
“Do I come in?”
“No o. My mother will be
around now. She doesn’t like male visitors.”
“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. We can talk for a while here. Then exchange
contacts.”
“That’s ok by me.”
“So tell me, what are you
doing now?”
“You know I had issues with
school then.”
“We were not close so I didn’t
notice. Just that you hardly attended lectures.”
“My dad was 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 my education. 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 small small. Then early last year,
a friend introduced me to people who made the business go international.”
“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. That is the evidence
you are seeing now.”
“God can truly change a person’s
life.”
“Yes o. As long as you are
honest and hard working.”
“True.”
“I suffered o. Kai. I shudder
whenever I remember those days. I will 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 torn and discoloured. It was a period of shame and questions,
but I thank God for where I am today.”
“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 just came back from
Asia few weeks ago. What I never thought could happen for me at this age.”
“Ejike Ejike.”
“My dear we give God praise.
What about you?”
Mabel told him
about her NYSC posting and then where she was working.
“For you to be working there,
you are a big girl na,” he said.
“It is not like that o.”
“It is showing on you.”
“Na small small sha.”
Ejike admired her
for a while and then said, “I see you are not married.”
(…to be continued…)
-©2015.Chinedu Isaac
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