Ride Her Shoes

14- Elchi

"Echezona !!" She called out again and Oma who had been standing there, looked in the direction of the person she was calling.

The man stopped walking and turned around gradually while his friends, those he was walking with continued moving as they hadn't realized what was going on.

Nmachi got down gradually from the stair she was on and walked towards him to see if really he was Echezona, her Echezona.

After he had turned completely, the gasp that escaped from her mouth and the surprise they held were immeasurable as her eyes met his face, those black eyes that would often stare into hers and get lost in them, the flat nose that breathed against the skin on her neck and those soft lips on his dark face which she would run her hands over often and on.

"Nmachi !" He shouted upon seeing her, and this caught the attention of his friends who were few meters away from him and they turned to see why he had shouted.

Nmachi ran to him and threw her arms around him but his were still stiff as he was yet to recover from the shock of seeing her. Composing himself, he wrapped his arms tight around her as if she might disappear if he left her. His arms were so tight that Nmachi had to stylishly wriggle out of his hold.

"What are you doing here?" He asked after she broke out of the hug but he still held her hand,"How's Nne? Is everything okay?"  He asked her these questions back to back while looking at her face.

Surprised, Nmachi asked,"Didn't you get my letter?"

He left her hand and rolled the strap of the case he was hanging on his shoulder, he gave her a quizzical look,"You mean," he paused and took his eyes down from her face to her stomach,"It's true? You're pregnant." He said but it sounded more like a question.

Nmachi smiled, nodding her head continuously,"Yes, I'm pre-" she couldn't finish off her sentence as the excitement she displayed wasn't reciprocated.

"You can't be pregnant, Nma. Not now." He muttered and Nmachi felt her heart being placed on a minn to be grilled. She gulped and didn't say a word.

What is he trying to say? She thought without looking away from him. This wasn't what she expected, this wasn't what he was supposed to say to her. He was out of character and wasn't sticking to the script she had prepared for him in her head.

He was supposed to hug her, he was supposed to be excited, he was supposed to do anything but what he was doing now, he was supposed to hold her.

Swallowing down the saliva that had accumulated in her mouth, she turned to where Oma was waiting for her, then at him,"What are you trying to say, Echezonam? What do you mean?" She managed to ask and he looked away from her to where his friends were almost approaching them.

"You can't be pregnant, we only did it once and you're trying to tie me down. I've got school to go to and a dr-"

"What about me?" She yelled and her eyes were threatening to flood,"You got me pregnant and you're just-"

"Hey, Elchi what's keeping you na?" One of his friends asked, coming closer to them while Nmachi wondered who 'Elchi' was, he accessed her with his eyes. He looked from her tattered half made hair to the size of her dress and how it got to her ankle then, her foot wear and how white and dusty her legs were.

"Elchi!" He called again and upon reaching there, he placed his hand on Echezona's right shoulder without taking his eyes off Nmachi, confirming exactly who he was calling.

"Echezona?" Nmachi called and he looked away from her to the hand his friend had placed on his shoulder.

"Who is she?" Echezona's friend asked him his eyes focused on her.