Episode 32
âStellaâs trying to blackmail you, with your pictureâ, David explained holding my hand tight in front of the compound. âDavid leave me aloneâ, I yelled. âWhat kind of blackmail is that, is it not the picture I deleted yesterday?, why didnât you just ask me first?â, I asked. âSee, she said, if I date her, sheâll delete the pictureâ, he explained. âAnd has she shown you any picture?, okay, I will try to understand Stellaâs case but how come Dayoâs in your house?, the same Dayo, you asked me to stay away from?â, I questioned. âNo, Uwa please try understand, he doesnât have a place to stay, I know, I asked you to stay away from him but, he came begging, I just couldnât let him sleep outsideâ, he explained. âSo, thatâs the friend that has been staying with you and you kept it a secret. Yet, you opened your mouth the other day to say I take you for grantedâ, I yelled.
I remembered the nefarious look on Stellaâs face when I opened the door and the guilt and shame written all over Dayoâs face. While David rushed outside to beg me, they both remained inside.
âUwanah, Iâm sorry, I kept this from you, I just didnât know how youâd reactâ, he begged. I felt unimportant in Davidâs life, what if I hadnât barged in on them?, Iâd still stay at home all day worrying about him. I knew there was sense in what he was saying, I just didnât want to listen. âYou said, youâre ill but, you look fineâ, I said. âActually, Iâm fineâ, he said. âWow, so you must have another explanation shey?, okay youâre fine, why havenât you gone to work for the past two days?â, I asked. He seemed hesitant about telling me why he had been away from work. âOkay, donât worry David, Iâd be on my wayâ, I said. âUwa, the thing is, Iâve gotten a better offer for a new job, Iâve been going there but I still donât want to resign from your uncleâs place yet, I want to confirm the new job firstâ, he said. âOkay ooooâ, I said and turned around to leave. âUwaâ, he called. âWhat?, Iâm going na, just better know what youâre doing with Stella, she has no picture of me, I deleted it yesterday and for the fact that, she hasnât shown you any picture, sheâs lying. Besides, your excuse about blackmail is somehow stupid. I wonât talk about Dayo ooo, but just know, I didnât expect this from youâ, I said and walked out before heâd say anything.
I felt so bad, that David kept all those secrets from me, âmaybe, Iâm not as important as I thoughtâ. I said to myself. âIf he wants to stay on his own, let him stay on his ownâ. I concluded. I got home and got to cleaning, I needed to keep myself busy to avoid unnecessary thinking. I was cleaning but, I was still lost in thoughts. I wasnât just thinking of David, Dayo or Stella, I was also thinking of having a private tutor or learning a handiwork. âUwanahâ, I heard Ngozi hurl, âYes, ma?â, I answered. âAre you alright?, Iâve been calling your name since the past few minutesâ, she informed. âEh, sorry, didnât hear youâ, I said. âYour uncle asked me to make preparations for a small party here in the parlour for you, so I need to tell me the kind of things, youâd likeâ, she said. âEh, party?, no!, no!, please letâs forget about itâ, I said. âAh, ah, Uwa, I thought youâd be happy about this birthday, whatâs wrong?â, she asked. âI donât feel like having any party, I donât have any friends and besides, I donât want Stella and her mum to spoil anything for me, a simple birthday cake is enoughâ, I said. âOkay ooo, I wonât force you, a small birthday cake it isâ, she said. âThank youâ, I said smiling.
Stella returned later, stinking of liquor. I wasnât sure, if she drank the liquor at Davidâs house or she drank it somewhere else, I just didnât want to know. âSo, you canât greet abi?, or youâre angry that David didnât tell you about our secret meetings?â, she said laughing. I ignored her and went into my room. âWait, secret meetings?, no joor, why would David be meeting her?â, I asked myself. On second thought, I remembered if I hadnât barged in and seen Stella in Davidâs house that morning, heâd have kept it a secret from me.
âSo, David didnât call since morning?â, I asked myself angrily. âSo, he cannot call?â, I said and picked up my phone. âWhat?!â, I exclaimed as I realized my phone had been switched off. âHow did it go off?â, I wondered. âMtcheeewâ, I hissed and switched it on. Not long after I turned it on, I received three apology texts from David, all which were sent in the morning. I expected that, since my phone was switched on, David would call but, he didnât. Then, I decided to call, after dialing tirelessly, he didnât pick up which increased my doubts about the stories he told earlier that day.
Through out that week, David didnât come to work, it was assumed by Stellaâs mother after checking the attendance, that David was no longer a worker in the garden. I guessed that his new job might have clicked but why didnât he want to talk to me about it?, why wasnât he returning my calls?, What made him change so much?. Though, Stella made a usual boister daily of how she had snatched David away from me but, I knew she was just trying to get on my nerves. Even if David had fallen for another girl, it would definitely not be Stella. I was beginning to fear that he would not even call to wish me a happy birthday the next day. My mum was hyped up about my birthday, yelling, âMy daughter are an eighteen years baby, she are a fishion designedâ. She wanted me to forget about private tutor and go for a trade, preferably fashion designing. âMummy, Iâve not decidedâ, I told her. âWhat you are knows?, you knows nothing, fishion is the best thing for youâ, she said without considering my own thoughts.
The next morning, seemed like every other morning, there was nothing special about my birthday morning. I even thought, my mum and Ngozi would stand at my door yelling, âhappy birthday â, due to the way, they had been talking about it. I didnât feel like getting up from bed that morning.
There was still no call from David, the number one person, I thought that would have sent a dozen texts and called a million times, just to wish me a happy birthday. I was emotionally devastated. I didnât realize, I had come to care so much about David, that I grew sad over his recent actions. He was the main reason, I cancelled the small party.
There were no other friends besides him, if I had a phone that could enable chat on Social media, like Stellaâs, Iâd probably have more friends.
I couldnât wait for the day to be over, Stella didnât wish me a happy birthday but her mother did, which was actually a surprise.
Ngozi was giving me great lectures, being that, I had turned eighteen and the number eighteen meant adulthood. My mum was constantly giving me suffocating hugs which was out of Love anyway. I only had a piece of cake, before my mum and Ngozi devoured the rest of the cake, leaving a teensy bit for my uncle. It was like torment until the best part of that day happened. My uncle called me out to the living room and handed over a brand new phone to me. A very beautiful phone, way nicer than Stellaâs phone, the phone whose screen I damaged few days ago. I could feel the pain in her eyes from the way she clenched her teeth. I wanted to make it worse, so, I increased the rate at which I thanked my uncle. âThank you sir, thank you sir, thank you sirâ, I said. My mum and Ngozi also joined in the thanks, thereby agitating Stella and Mrs. Martins, especially Stella.
âDaddy, my phone is bad, I need a new phoneâ, Stella said bitterly. She must have been fed up of my superfluous gratitude to her father. She showed the screen of her phone to her father. âNgozi, I just got you that phone, what happened to it?â, he asked furiously. She stared at me intently giving me creeps. I know I made claims that I didnât care, even if she reported to my uncle about me destroying her phone, well, I really cared. If she wanted to expose that fact on any other day, Iâd be cool with it, but not on my birthday and the moment, I was being given a new phone. âAnswer me, what happened, why did you do this to your phone?â, my uncle questioned. âI didnât do this to my phoneâ, she replied. âThen, who did?â, my uncle asked. I was ready to deny the truth that evening if she dared mentioning my name.
I was short of words, when I heard, âItâs mummyâ. âWhat?, why would she blame her mother?â, I asked myself.
Choose Episodes Below;
Note: episodes already read are highlighted in red!
Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18 Episode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21 Episode 22 Episode 23 Episode 24 Episode 25 Episode 26 Episode 27 Episode 28 Episode 29 Episode 30 Episode 31 Episode 32 Episode 33 Episode 34 Episode 35 Episode 36 Episode 37 Episode 38 Episode 39 Episode 40
Leave a Reply