Night Before the Swing

Blow after Blow

CHAPTER 8

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After finding Nandi on campus, they took a meter taxi to the mall. They shopped for new clothes with Christian's credit card and went to do their hair. Nandi stuck to her simple but adorable look and Nala got highlights like the ones Neaty got after getting a sugar daddy back at school. Unlike Neaty's hair, Nala's was a bob-cut which suited the shape of her face. She was fire and she knew it. On their way back and rushing to the late afternoon class, Nala saw Lizzy coming in the mall with her mother. She walked up to them pulling Nandi with. Lizzy didn't recognize her at first then was overjoyed to see her. Her mother looked a bit older that she did when she first saw her but was still nice and friendly. They spoke briefly and Lizzy told her she was taking a gap year to give herself time to find an affordable course to study. Nala recalled her mother giving Christian her blessing to help Lizzy and wondered why he had not reached out. She gave them his father's direct contact details and told them he had said he wanted to assist with her studies. Lizzy was thrilled and embraced Nala for a long time. "Your family is such a blessing" she exclaimed. They promised to meet for lunch soon and parted ways revived.

*****

Warren visited Nala that evening and found Nandi also spending the night. He almost left but Nala insisted it was okay. When Nandi went to take a shower Warren told Nala how crazy he almost went from not seeing her for weeks. She told him she missed him too. They spoke about their past relationships and Nala discovered Warren was once engaged at the age of 19. He's 28 years old now and single. Nala told him about Chad but not the pregnancy and the miscarriage. She got the surprise of her life when Warren revealed who his mother was.

Nala knows Mrs. Forest because she lectures final year students at the very same university. His father is an accountant somewhere she couldn't remember. Nala didn't tell him that her father is a surgeon; only that he works with hospitals. She then told him about her mother and baby Tyler. She walked him to his car and they embraced for a while. When they finally let go of each other, a strong emotion pulled them back and they kissed passionately; only stopping when a security guard appeared with a torch light. Nala was happy to be back and she spent most of the night thinking about Warren and her baby brother. 'Tyler must be so confused wondering where I went' she thought.

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Two days later, Lizzy called with exciting news. Christian had committed to paying her fees and she was now looking for placement. Nala knew who to talk to and told Lizzy to stay close to her phone. After her first lecture she looked for Warren. She didn't have a class with him that day and had no idea where he was but when she saw his ford, she felt relieved. Nandi went to her home early and left Nala with other students. Nala found it easy to hang out with everyone even though she didn't know their names. When her final class came and went she wondered why Warren had never asked for her number because she would have his too. She texted Lizzy to let her know she hadn't forgotten about her and at that moment Warren appeared with his mother. Nala wasn't brave enough to walk up to them, so she waited by his car up until he showed up. They went back to the office together where Warren showed her the courses Lizzy could still register for at that time of the year. Nala took a picture of the list and sent it to Lizzy via text. The next morning, Lizzy was waiting at reception to get registered. When Lizzy and Nala saw each other during lunch, they were over the moon and began making arrangements to move in together. Student accommodation had one apartment available which had three bedrooms. They needed a two-bedroom apartment so they decided they'll look at student accommodations not too far from campus and walk to school.

Later that evening Nala was on the phone with her mother, telling her about their predicament and Gwen asked why they didn't take the three-bedroom place then look for another mate to share with. "Nandi!" Nala exclaimed. "Can you please ask papa to pay for all three of us? She won't be able to pay for herself mama. She's an orphan". Gwen told Nala to text her father and ask him personally but she couldn't do that. Christian always got his wife to okay money donations so Nala failed understand why her mother was passing that task to her. She then remembered the stolen money for the shoes that she needed for the party. She can make things happen without talking to either of her parents. She called Lizzy and hatched a plan.