Adanike

chapter thirteen

Late in the night,after we finished our night prayers and were retiring for the night,as I fix my hair in the satin bonnet,my phone vibrates,I see the ID it's Gabriel, I ignore it,and lie down,he calls four more times,I just stare at the bright screen and his name, different thoughts cross my mind,what am I doing?,I move to pick the phone then the call cuts,I lie back waiting for another call but it doesn't come,it was like the calls were laying blocks on the foundation of trust I had in him,I  close my eyes,letting my mind rest from overthinking and analysing the situation,joy comes in the morning I remind myself.

It's Monday again,I do the routine,prepare the days meal,dress up Kachi,gather up my school work,and off to school it's revision period,so lessons are not too extended, I'll be leaving early to the market to buy food stuffs since we were paid last week,I make a mental note to write a list of what I'll be getting from the market.

I'm marking a test script of my class at break time,untill I see the gate man walk up to my class,

"Aunty,well-done ohh,how school naw?"

"Good afternoon sir"I greet him"school is fine , thank God"

"Ehhhh,one oga wey bring your Bobo dah day,he say he wan see you??I immediately know it's Gabriel but I don't want to see him,I don't know how to explain my jealousy fits,and I've been thinking maybe he is the distraction Doctor Philip saw,the one he told me to pray against.

The gate man turns away after telling me my visitor is at the gate,I gather my thoughts, imagining how the conversation would go.

I approach the reception and see him seated,his hand balanced on his, knees and his head bent,he raised his head and sees me approaching,my face as straight as ever,no emotions,he get up,

"Hey"he says worry written in his eyes,his fore head furrowed in uncertainty,

"How are you?"he continues,

"I'm fine"I reply,an award silence follows,

I know I'm making a big fuss out of this small issue,but I've been overthinking,and I can't help but draw conclusions, weather they are right of wrong,I can't tell.

"Can we talk outside?"he says,

"Yeah,sure"I say leading the way,arms crossed.

"You left the party without telling me,and you weren't picking my calls,I was worried and so I decided to see you,to see if things were ok"he starts, bouncing from foot to foot,I look at my shoes, deciding not to look at his face,cause all my resolutions will melt like wax.

"I'm sorry I didn't give you the most attention yesterday"he says,then sighs

"And,I'm sorry I barged into your working place to disturb you, but I couldn't work well knowing we weren't cool"

I take up courage to look at his face but my eyes only fall at his chest,"I should be the one apologizing,it was a family something,and you had a lot of people to entertain,and I left early cause I was really tired"

"But you would have texted me to drive you back,or to tell me you were leaving,or pick my calls,or maybe return them this morning,I was really worried"he says concern laced his voice,

"I,was tired"I repeat,cutting everything short avoiding his eyes,

"Ok,let me make it up, dinner today?"I debate in my heart if I should tell him right here and now,that our friendship or what ever we were doing has to end,

"Ok,7?"I surprise myself saying,

"Yeah,I'll come pick you up at 7"I nod and turn around, leaving him standing there,

"Have a nice day Ada"he says behind me,I just nod and continue my walk back to class,

It's already closing time,and Im still clearing up,all the students have left the class, I sit on my desk facing the window,and think of the events today,and how the evening will end for I and Gabriel and a shudder runs through me,I heave a deep breathe, trying to release all the tension in my body,but my head reminds me that I'm doing the right thing for myself and for him also,I turn to reach for my bag,and jump in fright,Aunty Caro leans on the door,I wonder how long she has been standing there or how distracted I was to not notice her presence,she laughs and clap her hands,as she moves and sits on one of the students desk,my fright is amusing wow!.

"Good afternoon ma"I start,still clearing my desk, wondering what brings her here again, because she is always asking I help her take one of her periods because she is pregnant and loves to sleep.

"Good afternoon oh Ada,this one that you are jumping at seeing me hope all is well"she says sarcasm and concern laced together,

"No,I didn't expect to see anyone at the door"I reply avoiding her eyes,I know Aunty Caro her eyes are everywhere,she has a reason for coming here.

"So tell me what you were thinking about"I look at her,and shake my head, signifying nothing,she just smiles at me,

"You know when I first met Joshua,I would spend hours thinking about him ahhh!"she exclaims,her eyes lost in old memories,I look at her wondering what she is insinuating,

"It was as if my whole world rotated around him"I stare at her mouth slightly parted,and eyes wide,why for heaven's sake why is she telling me this?

"Even up till now it's as if I just met him,even though we been married for more than five years"she says lifting up her right five fingers to demonstrate,she draws her eyes back to me.

"Ohhh..that wonderful"I say smiling sheepishly,not knowing the right words to make the conversation not go further.

"I saw you with Mrs Ezenaya's son today"she continues,a sly smile on her face, before I could explain she continues"Do you know that she  grew up here, right in this town before she met her husband right in this town,they got married at their present church,untill her husband got a scholarship to further outside,from there bussiness blew,then he came back and started building structure everywhere,that scholarship school they own is not up to a fragment of what those people own ohh,if I were her I would just sell it and remain abroad,but I wonder why she just loves this place,ahhh! money is sweet ohh" she laughs at the end of her,mini information passage,I just smile in lack of words,

"See if he want to marry you,say yes ohh,I don't know which juju you are using on him but it's working"she laughs again, leaving me blinking my eyes and uncomfortable,he is not even my boyfriend yet and she is already talking about marriage,how ridiculous.

"But you know you guys should wait first let me give birth,so that if I wear asoebi it will lap correctly,it's just about four months more,I want to dance and dance proper proper"she gets up and begins to dance forcing half baked Igbo dancing steps, little does she know, that we haven't even walked half up the road to marriage,or that he is not into me as she thinks,we are just casual friends and that friendship may end tonight.

Chapter thirteen,it's the golden star 🌟 please vote for this story,thank God bless you