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Part 13
NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY
Opeyemi Akintunde
I cried myself to sle€p.
The day had been hell; from embarrassment to almost killing someone, to my mother’s drama. I just wanted it all to end.
I woke up around 11:00pm. The house was mildly quiet, I could hear my male cousins playing their game as usual… My throat was very dry, I needed water and thinking about it, I needed food. I had not eaten anything all day.
I stood up reaching for my slippers, when I saw the screen of my phone blinking. It was a call, and obviously it was Daniel… I was not in the mood for drama, but on a second thought, I knew he would not sle€p if I didn’t pick up… I tapped on the receive icon and tapped the speaker icon, I didn’t have the strength to hold the phone…
“Hello” I said
“Oh finally, you picked”
“Daniel…” I was saying but he shut me up…
“Shut up and listen to me, I have done my part of becoming born again, you do your part of letting your mother agree about us”
“Daniel, did you call what you did becoming born again, No, that was a show of shame…You embarrassed me so much, I ran from church and almost killed a boy today”
“You ran from church or you deserted me” Daniel said
I was lost for words, Daniel was so self-consuming he didn’t care about what I said about almost killing someone that day, what he cared about was Him…
I was so pissed I ended the call. I was not ready to trade words with him…
I stepped into my slippers and I got a message notification, my first thought was it had to be Daniel, he was very good at typing angry messages very fast after our fights…
I ignored the text…
Then my phone started blinking again. I was so mad I wanted to tell Daniel I needed space, but on picking up my phone, it was Reuben calling.
“Gosh, why can’t you both just let me be” I said to an empty room
“The guy saved you today” the good thinking part of my brain reminded me.
I tapped on the receive icon, but he ended the call… He called again, but as I tapped on receive, he ended the call again.
“Is he flashing me?” I asked myself very surprised…
“Maybe he has run out of airtime”
I decided to call back…
He picked up in a rush
“Oh thank you for calling back, I didn’t want to use up my once a week calling chance” he said
I was a bit lost, then it occurred to me, that I had told him, he could only call once a week.
“I have been texting you all afternoon till now, and I didn’t get a single reply, so I thought if I kept beeping you would respond”
“So sorry, I have been sle€ping… kind of cried myself to sle€p since I got back” I said
“Cry? Why… Is it about the boy? He is doing great, he is a tough boy, I waited till I could see him and take a picture. That was the text I have been sending. I wanted to know if I could send you his picture”
“Oh! He is fine”
“Yes, very”
“Thank you…”
“We thank God…”
“Pastor Reuben…”
“Yes Reverend Nwala” he said laughing and I got the message he was passing, he wanted me to drop the title…
I laughed for the first time in that day…
“Thank you” I said again
“Once again, Thank God”
I decided to cut to the chase…
“You are a good person, and I know any lady will be fortunate to have you, including me, but…”
“But… you are committed to Daniel” he supplied
“Yes…”
“I understand”
“The thing is, if I leave Daniel for you, it will seem like I left him because of his background and that I married you for money”
“But will you be marrying me for money?” Reuben asked
“No…”
“If you were to marry me, why would you marry me?” Reuben asked
“Truthfully, because my mother likes you and knowing my mother, she never misses. If my mother says a man is husband material then he is husband material” I said resting my back on the wall.
“I am not asking about your mother, What about you?if you were to marry me, why would you?”
“I can only leave Daniel to marry you, if I realize you are best for me” I said truthfully and I slid down the wall to the ground.
“How can you know if I am better than Daniel if you don’t give me a try” Reuben said.
“Are you suggesting I start double dating?” I was enjoying the conversation. There was something relaxing about Reuben, just like his handshake…
“You don’t have to date me to know me, you could allow me to be your friend”
“You are my friend already”
“Not the once-a-week phonecall friend…” he said and I laughed
“You can’t know me if I talk to you once a week” Reuben stated
“Fine, you can call me twice”
‘Everyday” Reuben negotiated
“Four times” I moved a little
Everyday” Reuben stood his ground
“Five times” I moved a little
“Everyday” Reuben insisted
“Six times, at least give me one day of rest’
“Okay… Thanks” Reuben agreed to this.
Gosh! He was too courteous a human being.
“Have you had anything to eat since you got home” he asked
I rolled my eyes…
“You are asking boyfriend question?” I said laughing
“No…. I promise you; I am a man of my words… I am asking as a friend” he replied laughing
“Ok… I have not had anything… I will go downstairs to fix myself something”
“Doriens’ Eatery will still be opened, I could order something nice for you and have it delivered”
“No… thank you… I will drink cassava flakes” I said.
“Garri… Are you serious? That’s my food anyday” Reuben said sounding so excited
“Are you serious?”
“Nwala, Give me Garri and chicken and you have made my day” Reuben said
I laughed at the combination…
“Well mine is Garri and suya or Kilishi”
“Try peppered chicken… oh my…” Reuben said
We kept going back and forth for another five minutes, and that led us into talking about different types of foods we like and disliked… In between our talk, I went to the kitchen to get my Garri and thankfully mum was not in the living room.
We spoke for about an hour, my eyes were wide opened, thanks to the long hours of sle€ping during the day.
Before ending the call, we agreed to meet at the hospital in the morning to see the boy…
Part 14
NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY
Opeyemi Akintunde
I woke up to about 10 text messages from Daniel and one from Reuben…
Daniel’s messages were filled with threats like:
“If I don’t marry you, You know no one can”
“If I don’t marry you, I will kill myself and kill you”
“If I don’t marry you, I will kill the man that even dares to propose to you”
“If I don’t marry you, I will kill your entire family”
On the other hand, Reuben texted…
“Hello, my friend, hope you had a good night? I had the best night. I Can’t believe I have become a legit friend to Queen Nwala… I will treasure this friendship forever. Good morning. I Can’t wait to see you in a bit…”
I laughed and soon forgot Daniel’s threat…
*****
“Where are you going dressed like this?” Amara asked
“The hospital” I whispered
“Are you going on a date afterwards” Amara teased
“Amara, go and sit somewhere”
“Before nko? I will sit and wait for the good news. In other news, no one else can be your chief’s bridesmaid, if you marry Reuben”
“And if I marry Daniel?” I asked
“I won’t be around for that duty, I will help you serve drinks” Amara said laughing
“Ok… I see you are now on mum’s side”
‘Always… Queen mother never fails to get good husbands for her princesses. I am patiently waiting for mine”
I opened my mouth wide… Amara wanted Mum to choose for her…Tufiakwa ( God Forbid)
*****
“You look beautiful as always” Reuben complimented as we walked to the ward…
“Thank you… You are looking good as well”
“I know you didn’t look at me , you just said it as a courtesy reply” Reuben said smiling
“You are putting on a J.T. Rulox T-shirt, and nice trousers, with a Mcafeee trainers and your perfume is either Jordan Boss or Deluxe”
“Queen Nwala… Beauty plus Brain, and Yes, I am wearing Deluxe perfume”
“I am good with perfumes” I said Proudly
I could see thirst and hunger in Reuben’s eyes, you could see how much, he wanted me to be his, but I was not giving it a thought, I still had a lot on my mind. I had a year more in the university and I still needed to work on Daniel…
We walked into the ward where the boy laid, he was looking even better than the picture Reuben sent.
“Hello…”
“Good morning” he replied
“I am so sorry, I was the one who hit you, I was so angry at someone, I lost my mind. Please forgive me”
“No problem ma”
There was brief silence, but I felt I could do better for the boy…
“Where do your parents live? I asked
“I no get father or mother, they haf die” ( I am an Orphan)
“So sorry to hear that, but when you leave here, is there no place you can go apart from the street…”
“No… the only family I haf, before my moda die, she say I should run for them, say God go send helper for me, and me even though my moda haf die, I still trust anything she tell me, and I will follow everything she tell me till I die… I know like she talk, somebody go still help me one day” ( Before my mother died, she told me to run away from my family members, she told me that someday a helper will locate me. The truth is though my mother is no more alive, I trust the instructions she gave me before she passed on. I will follow her instructions till I die ”
Silence permeated the room, the boy had just preached a sermon to me…
“Our church can help you.” Reuben said to the boy, then he faced me.
” Nwala… we can include him in the church’s outreach to the lost…” Reuben said and I didn’t know which emotion I was feeling; was it growing likeness for him? or Gratitude for the fact that he was about to change the life of the boy…
Without thinking, I hugged him tightly in appreciation…
“Thank you” I said hugging him and yet again the warm feeling.
He was a standing duvet in a cold weather. He felt like a comforter against the cold and harsh world…
The hug lasted some long seconds…
I caught the boy smiling…
******
Five days later, I was packing my stuff for school when an unknown number called in…
I was skeptical about picking the call. I was thinking it was Daniel. I had not been picking his calls since his threats.
I had two reasons; firstly, I was enjoying my new found friendship and secondly, I wanted to punish Daniel for a while. I wanted to get back to school before dealing with any Daniel Drama. I knew we were going to settle it. Daniel knew how to make me forgive him…
I picked up hoping it won’t be Daniel and thankfully it wasn’t, but frankly speaking in a million years I would not have expected a call from that particular caller. Guess who?
“Hello Sister Nwala”
“Good afternoon”
“This is Pastor Ben Nwafor, Bishop Acme’s P.A.”
“Yes sirrr” I stuttered
“The Bishop would like to see you after service tomorrow”
Life paused at that moment, my heart sank. My stomach started aching
“Okay sir” I managed to reply
“Alright sis Nwala, see you tomorrow after service”
I dropped the phone far away from me out of fear.
Why?
Bishop Acme?
Because of Reuben?
Oh my good lord!
I could guess that Reuben had told his father about his interest in me… Now there was no escaping, my mother and Bishop Acme will force me to marry Reuben…
I dialed Reuben’s number, our friendship in the past five days had been sweet but this was about to bring out the angry Nwala…
“Hello Queen Nwala” he said with the warmest voice ever
Not again! What kind of manipulative power did Reuben possess? His few words had watered down the fire of my angry… I couldn’t be angry with him…
” Hello Nwala! Are you there?” He said
CLICK HERE TO READ “NWALA ; THE BITTERSWEET STORY” (PART 15&16) – OPEYEMI AKINTUNDE.
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