I turned angrily on my sister. "Stay out of this Shalewa! It's none of your business!"
"But it is, brother! How can you hit her like that? What if something bad happens to her? Is it not all of us the police will arrest?" she retorted. She bent down and lifted Jemi off the floor.
"Sorry, Aunty! Are you ok?" she asked Jemi.
"I'm fine," she said brusquely, adjusting her clothes.
When she looked at me, there was a pained look on her face and tears in her eyes.
"You hit me just because I told you the truth, Demola? You can continue to live in denial, but Becky will never be yours! You better face reality and..."
*Get out!" I screamed at her, pointing at the door. Out!"
She went to pick up her bag and prepared to leave.
"I'll go," she said. "But mark my words One day, you'll come crawling back to me. But by then, it will be too late!"
"Crawl back to who? You?" I said scornfully. "I'll rather romance a stone than get mixed up with you again. So, just go! Get out of my house. And my life! Silly thing!"
At the door, she turned, glared at me, hissed and left.
***
I stomped off to my room and flung myself on the bed, still fuming.
Jemi's words kept swirling round my head, as if mocking me: 'Becky will never be yours! She loves another not you! Stop being...'
I sat up abruptly, shaking my head as if in denial of those words of hers.
" How dare Jemi talk to me like that?" I mumbled to myself. "I think she's just jealous because I don't love her as I do Becky. Yes, that's it! I hope she'll still be in this Lagos when she sees me marrying Becky. Then, I wonder what she'll say then! Stupid girl!"
I rolled off the bed and checked the time. It was almost 8pm.
Time to get dressed and go hook up with Kefe, my bosom friend. Kefe and I often hung out most weekends with a small group of friends at our favourite nite club on Victoria Island. It was owned by a popular musician and was one of the cool fun spots in the city.
I quickly undressed and headed for the bathroom to take a shower.
I was almost dressed and ready to leave when my phone rang.
I smiled on seeing the caller ID.
"Hey, Becky!" I said. "I was about calling to check on you. How're you doing?"
"Am cool!"
"You sound sleepy," I said.
"Just woke up. I took a nap after you left and overslept. What are you doing?"
"I'm heading to the club. Like to come?"
"I'll pass. I just want to chill at home tonight."
"Ok, dear. When can I pick you up for our date tomorrow?"
We chatted for a few minutes more before ending the call. I picked up my car keys and went to the living room.
Shalewa, who was watching a programme on TV, one of those Mexican telenovellas she loved so much, turned to stare curiously at me.
"Going out?" she asked.
"Yes," I said shortly, still slightly pissed with her for siding with Jemi earlier. That girl has no sense of sibling loyalty at all, I thought grumpily as I headed for the front door.
"Don't stay out too late o, brother. Remember what happened the last time when you nearly ran into some armed robbers on your way home from night crawling."
"And what are you? Our mother?" I retorted.
"Since Maami* is not here, it's left to me to play that role, brother mi!" she said half jokingly.
"You know what? Just sit there and watch your silly soaps and mind your business. Busy body!"
With that, I left the house, banging the front door behind me.
***
The Sea Point Bar and Restaurant at the Ikoyi waterfront was already filling up when Becky and I arrived the following evening.
"I've missed this place, especially the spicy grilled fish," she said as we sat down at a table on the rooftop section of the bar. It overlooked the lagoon and across it on the other side, the lights of Lekki twinkled brightly at us. "It looks a bit different, like it's been refurbished. "
"A new management took over and did a makeover,"
I said. A waiter arrived and we placed our orders.
"I want my fish with plenty of pepper, " Becky instructed the waiter, then turned to me. "I've been eating mostly bland food for the past few months...so now, I want something really hot that will make my eyes water!"
I laughed.
"Don't complain if it gets too hot!" I quipped.
"Don't worry, I can handle it," she said, taking a sip of her drink.
"You know what, Demola?" she said.
"Yes?"
"This place wasn't the only thing I missed you know," she said.
"What else did you miss?"
She looked at me keenly.
"You! I missed you very much, Demola! Being apart from you gave me time to think about things, about us. How you've loved me and been devoted to me all these years and I never reciprocated. Now, I think it's time," she said.
I could feel my heart beat quicken at her words. Was she finally going to accept me?
"Time for what, Becky?" I prompted.
Our food arrived at that moment, interrupting our conversation.
"This looks yummy," said Becky, picking up her fork.
I was not interested in the food but in what she had been saying earlier.
"Becky, you were saying...?"
She tasted a bit of the food then nodded her head.
"Just what I wanted. Really spicy! Let's eat for now. We can talk later at home."
"By that, you mean...?"
"Yes. I want to be with you tonight baby!"
I saw in her eyes something I thought I would never see- a look of love and desire for me...
To be continued
Note: 'Maami' refers to "Mother' in Yoruba language
***
This episode was scheduled to have been posted yesterday but was delayed due to some unforeseen circumstances. We apologise for the delay Thanks for stopping by today!
Comments
Post a Comment