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Episode 36

Now, before I had the courage to skip lectures to visit David, here’s what happened. David made me feel special. He even showered up at my school with his car, causing envy and jealousy from most girls. I didn’t have time for the few guys there, I ignored them all. One several occasions on Sundays, I spent all my time with David. He complained that visiting him on just Sundays was not enough, I was choked up that I only visited home once that year. Stella was still at home doing nothing, I felt pity for her, just because she was two years younger than I was, she felt she had time on her side. For a whole year in school, I didn’t have the courage to leave school to visit him. Not only was I scared of leaving the school on a week day, my schedule was tight. At the middle of my second year in school, somehow, I developed courage to visit David. ‘I’m coming tomorrow’, I said. ‘Tomorrow?, he asked. ‘Yes, tomorrow’, I replied. ‘But, tomorrow is not Sunday’, he said.

‘I know’, I replied. ‘That means, you will skip sewing lessons’, he said. ‘Yes, I have to, you said Sundays are not enough, so, I will come’, I said. ‘Okay, so, but you know, work’, he said. ‘But you said, you don’t go to work on Tuesdays’, I said. ‘Yes, I don’t, okay, but you will have to come in through morning to avoid leaving late’, he said. ‘Okay, no problem’, I replied thinking he was so caring. Alas, that Tuesday, I couldn’t make it, I called to apologize and he sounded a bit angry. I just told him that I would come on any of the Tuesdays and he consented.

One of the Tuesdays, I left school to visit David. I thought of calling David but I wanted to surprise him. On my way to his house, I felt the need to call, so I brought out my phone and dialed his number tirelessly, but he didn’t pick up. I was distraught. I started contemplating going home but, I was very close to his house. I still didn’t give up on calling him. I got to his house about fourty five minutes later. David’s house wasn’t as glam as my uncle’s but for a bachelor, it was okay. There were four houses in the compound, two upstairs and two downstairs. David’s house happened to be upstairs and his balcony was directly facing the road, one could see it from outside the gate. I wondered how he could afford the rent of that three bedroom flat and maintain the car. I had asked him about his job and according to him, he said his boss dealt with car parts and his boss really favoured him a lot. I wasn’t collecting cash from David except the ones he spent on me whenever we went to an eatery but I was aware of the kind of cash he received because most times, I saw the alert on his phone.

I didn’t want to upset David by just showing up, so I brought out my phone and dialed his number again. This time, he picked up, I was still at the front of the gate, so, I moved into a view, where I’d see his balcony. ‘Hello dear’, he said. ‘Hello, good morning’, I said. ‘How are you?’, he asked. ‘I’m doing good, you?’, I asked. ‘So, I wanna come to your house’, I said. I was expecting his response to be, ‘okay, you can come’, then, I would say, ‘Come to the balcony’ but his response was rather surprising. ‘Uwa, oh, I’m so sorry’, he said. ‘Sorry about?’, I asked. ‘I’m not at home’, he said. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?, the sliding glass of the balcony was opening, why would he say, he was not at home. ‘You’re not home?’, I asked. ‘Yes, I’m not home, dear, I hope you’ve not already started coming’, he said and came out from his balcony which only confirmed my suspicions that he was at home. ‘David’, I called and laughed. I contemplated allowing him to see me or not. After thinking deep, I decided catching him red handed would be the best thing and since I was impatient, I couldn’t wait to demand an explanation for his fibs. ‘Uwa, why are you laughing?’, he asked. ‘David, I’m at the front of your gate, I said and pushed the gate open, David was shocked to the core.

‘Uwanah, what are you doing here’, he asked. ‘You’re seriously asking me that, I’m coming upstairs, don’t finish my airtime’, I said and ended the call. I was angry but not as angry as I claimed.

I had come to trust, love and respect David and I wanted to know why he lied, to sort things out. I was about coming upstairs when someone came from behind him. I needed a closer view, I went directly to the front of the balcony. It was a girl clad in David’s shorts and a bra top. The first question I asked myself was, ‘did I do something wrong to David, that he’s bringing someone else to the house?’. I was speechless, I looked at the girl, I looked at David then, I turned around to leave. I practically turned deaf to all David’s pleas. I returned to school and went straight to my dorm. Few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door, ‘who is that?’, I asked. ‘it’s me’, David said. I didn’t move an inch from my bed, he knocked tirelessly explaining that the girl I saw was just a friend.

When I heard, ‘She’s just a friend’, I remembered Dayo, that was exactly the kind of explanation Dayo would give, if I caught him with someone else. I still ignored him, I was severely infuriated and could probably do anything to him at the moment. ‘Uwa, I’ll call you later’, he said and left. I left my room and went for sewing lessons, Uwa was very surprised to see me, ‘I thought you’d be back in the evening, what happened?’, she asked. ‘I’d let you know later’, I said. ‘Okay, no problem’. She replied.

Later that evening, Uwa was also angry at David when I explained what happened at his place. ‘Word of advice, Uwa, Leave that guy’, she admonished. ‘If he truly loves you, that girl will not be in his house’, she added. I wasn’t even listening to her, I was just staring at my phone, looking at the numerous missed calls from David. I wasn’t ready to leave David, ‘he probably has an explanation’, I told her. ‘Uwanah, are you okay?’, she asked. ‘Yes, I am, you know all the things I told you about David, it will be wrong if I don’t give him a chance’, I said naively. ‘Uwa, yes, you told of how you lived in his house, but, I have news for you, people change, it’s better you have sense and end this thing now’, she adviced.

‘I will give him a chance to explain’, I said again. Uwa was short of words, she went to her bed and lay down to rest.

I resorted to picking David’s call if he called again. Hours passed, David didn’t call back, I was distraught, then I called him. ‘Hello, hello Uwa, lemme call you back’, he said. ‘Okay’, I replied. David called right away. ‘Hello, Uwa, please just try and listen to me’, he pleaded. ‘Uwa, that girl you saw me with was just a friend’, he said. ‘David, I’m not a fool’, I replied. ‘So, your friend will wear your shorts and a bra top in your house?’, I asked. ‘Okay, see eh, Uwa, I’m sorry, let’s forget what happened’, he said. ‘David, I can’t forget’, I said. ‘Okay, Uwa, please Uwa, I will make it up to you, I just want to spend all my time with you, if it were possible for you to leave in my house, I’d really glad’, he apprised. ‘Live with you?’, I asked. ‘Yes, Uwa, so you can believe, you’re the only one on my mind’, he said. ‘I will think about it’, I said. ‘That means, you’ve forgiven me?’, he asked. ‘I’ll think about it’, I said chuckling like a fool. ‘Okay, thank you Uwa, I love you’, he said. ‘Bye’, I replied and ended the call.

‘Uwa, Uwa, wake up’, I said excitedly. ‘What, what is it?’, she asked. ‘David and I have reconciled’, I said. ‘David and I have reconciled’, she mimicked me. ‘mtcheeew’, she hissed. ‘Uwa, something is wrong with your head’, she mocked. ‘What do you mean?’, I asked, ‘what exactly is making you excited, what did he tell you, that you have forgiven him so easily?’, she asked trying to sit on her bed. ‘He said, I don’t have to live in school, he said, I can come to his house’, I informed her. ‘Then, you told him, you can’t do that, right?’, she asked. ‘No, I said, I will think about it’, I told her. ‘Then, Uwa, you’re more stupid than I thought’, she said. ‘Uwa, what’s up with all these insults?’, I asked. ‘See ehn, you should have not even listened to him, what does he want you to do in his house, to cook for him, to wash his clothes abi?’, she said. ‘No, he can’t possibly want me to do that, besides, I’m going there to make sure that what happened today will not repeat itself again’, I said smiling. ‘You’re really getting on my nerves’, she said angrily. ‘What is wrong with you sef?, why can’t you just be happy for me?’, I asked. ‘Happy for you that you want to put your hand inside fire abi?’, she asked. ‘Mtcheeeeew’, I hissed and went back to my bed. ‘If I had told Yemisi, at least, she’d have told me what to do.

Speaking of Yemisi, I recalled, she had been playing tricks on me for the past year about who truly impregnated her.

She had problems, so, I didn’t want to burden her. She had still not left Boma, she said her father didn’t allow her leave Boma, her mother had tried all she could to sneak her out of Boma, but, it just wasn’t working.
I called to check up on her. ‘Hello, Yemisi’, how are you?’, I asked. ‘I’m okay, you?’, she asked. ‘I’m fine’, I replied. ‘See, Uwa, I’ve left Boma’, she said. ‘You’ve left, wow!, when?’, I asked. ‘Just this morning’, I replied. ‘What of your father?’, I asked. ‘See ehn, Uwa, it’s high time, I told you the truth’, she said. ‘Mr. Soji is my mum’s boyfriend, when I came back to Boma, my mum was broke, so she asked me to stay for a while with him while, she hustled’, she explained. ‘So what I’m trying to say is Mr. Soji is not my father’, she said. My mouth opened in awe. ‘And, actually, Mr. Soji molested me one of the nights, a month later, I discovered, I was pregnant but Dayo had stopped returning my calls, so I had to do something to gain his attention’, she said. I found it very difficult to believe, to me, Mr. Soji and Yemisi were the perfect father daughter combination. I actually thought her mother was the devil all those while. ‘That’s why, Mr. Soji wasn’t bothered when we couldn’t find Dayo, that’s why he didn’t want you to abort the baby’, I said. ‘Yes, exactly’, she replied. ‘Yemisi what you did was horrible, why didn’t you just tell your mother the truth?’, I asked. ‘I don’t know why and I just wanted to punish Dayo’, she said. Her explanation didn’t make sense to me. I saw her as selfish, if she could cover up for a rapist to punish an innocent person, then she could do worse. I had so many things on my mind that day but I didn’t want to hurt her with harsh words, so, I decided to cool off for that day. I would have called Dayo to apologize for doubting him but then, I thought about it, there was no need bringing him back into my life.


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