FED UP!

(…continued…)

                Cynthia turned her face and chuckled.

  “She got under my skin.”

  “Get her out of your skin and stand as a man first. Let’s see what happens.”

                Chuka kept quiet.

  “I hope you heard me?”

  “Yes I did.”

  “Now get up from there and get something to eat.”

                Cynthia turned to leave.

  “Where are you going?” Mabel asked her.

  “To the house.”

  “You want to leave him like this?”

  “I am still traumatized and my back is aching me. I need to rest.”

  “Don’t worry,” Chuka said. “I will be fine.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Don’t be suicidal o.”

                Chuka laughed and said, “Never. If I kill myself, what will I gain? I will go to hell and she will move on with her life.”

  “Ok if you say so.”

                Cynthia stood by the door, waiting.

  “So what will you eat this night?” Mabel asked him.

  “I will find something to eat.”

  “When food is ready in our house, I will call you.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I will be fine.”

                Some of Chuka’s friends in the neighbourhood came to the door. Cynthia stepped aside and they came in.

  “Wetin dey happen here?” one of them asked, rushing towards Chuka.

  “Guy I hear say you wan kill yourself,” another said.

  “No oo,” Chuka said.

                They saw the drugs still on the table and one of them picked it up.

  “If you no wan kill yourself,” he said. “Then wetin these drugs dey here na?”

  “Guy wetin make that kain thing enter your head na?” another asked him.

  “No be wetin you think o,” Chuka said.

  “Na your matter dey the whole area now. People gather outside now sef.”

  “You gass come find something tell them o.”

  “At least make them see say you no kpai.”

                Chuka laughed.

  “You dey laugh abi.”

  “I just take overdose o,” he said. “I no read the dosage well.”

  “You sure?”

  “Yes na. If say I kill myself, I for dey here dey talk with you?”

  “Na true sha.”

  “Wetin you dey think sef wey make you no read the dosage well? Na so person dey take die o.”

                Cynthia chuckled at the door.

  “Ooook,” one of them said, laughing. “I know wetin you dey think.”

  “You dey think about Cyntibaby abi?”

  “My brother no be small thing o,” Chuka said. “I dey think am badly.”

                They laughed.

  “We have to go now,” Mabel said to Chuka, laughing. “Take care of yourself o.”

  “Thank you so much,” Chuka said. “Cynthia I am sorry. I will make it up to you.”

                Cynthia did not reply. She left with Mabel.

                When they went outside, they were surprised to see people gathered in groups in the compound and outside the gate.

  “They must be talking about Chuka,” Cynthia said.

  “Yes.”

                When they saw Mabel and Cynthia coming out of Chuka’s place, some of them started coming towards them.

  “We better leave fast o,” Cynthia said.

  “Yes o. They are looking for story to tell.”

                Mabel went close to the window and shouted to Chuka to come and show himself to the people and tell them what happened to him. Then she and Cynthia walked fast towards their house and just answered those who asked them about Chuka with “He is fine”. The people wanted to know more but they did not get any more info from Mabel. Chuka came out with his friends and talked with the people. Some asked about his face and he told them what he wanted them to know. When he reassured them that he was fine, they went their ways. He went towards the gate as he chatted and laughed with his friends.

                Mabel and Cynthia stood at the entrance door all that while watching what was happening. When Chuka and co went out of the compound, Mabel and Cynthia went in.

  “What happened?” their mother asked, coming out of the kitchen.

  “Happened where?” Mabel asked.

  “After I left.”

                Mabel told her everything she had missed.

  “The way children of these days fall in love is shocking o,” she said when Mabel was through.

  “Too much TV.”

  “The things you people watch in TV and read in books are not real o. They are just acting. Life is much more different from what they are portraying.”

  “You are right.”

  “People now thinking of committing suicide because of love,” Cynthia said. “May I never get into that kind of love o.”

  “But how is he doing now?” their mother asked.

  “He said he is fine. He is with his friends.”

  “When I am done cooking, you will go and give him food or call him to come and eat.”

  “Who?” Cynthia asked.

  “You,” Mabel said.

  “I am not in that mood now.”

  “You need to get over it and help him get over it also.”

  “I will just call him to come and eat.”

  “Or just give him the food and come back. You don’t need to stay there.”

  “Ok.”

                Their mother went back to the kitchen. Cynthia went with her while Mabel went into the room to lie down. She held the wall as she staggered towards the room.

(…to be continued…)

-©2015.Chinedu Isaac