She Is Blind

Chapter Twenty-Four: Mistake.

WARNING: This episode contains explicit scenes. Please skip if you are unwilling to read.

Two days to my departure, I was home alone because Ayo had gone to the market, and was surprised when someone knocked on the door. I opened the door to Winifred, surprised that she should want to come inside the house because she had never done so before, but I locked my objections in my head and ushered her into a seat. I served her some food I had luckily cooked which she ate slowly, and I could not help noticing that she had her eyes on me all the while.

“What is wrong?” I asked when I was becoming uncomfortable with how she was looking at me.

“I have always liked your eyes... Brown... Coffee Brown colour.”

Her reply was too daring for me and I tried to change the topic, feeling shy. I had never believed that I would shy away from Winnie like this, had always taken my opportunity to flirt, and had never been expected to be taken serious, yet the hunted was hunting the hunter this time, and bearing down on its victim with speed. She ate up slowly, and when she was done we touched on other issues, and I tried not to talk about any as emotionally deep as how my eyes looked.

We kept talking and I felt too flustered to pay attention to her, listening to her as if through a recording or through ears that were not mine because my mind was totally someplace else. I did not even notice too, when she stopped talking, or even when she sat next to me until I felt the skin of her arm rub against mine, and a surprised me turned around to look into her wide expectant eyes.

They had never seemed as big as they did that day to me, and I turned away again, not wanting to look in them. I had always considered our relationship a pastime, one for the excitement of it, had never envisioned that she would seek me out herself, that she would call me baby in front of everyone, and now, that she would want to be close to me. How was I to explain to her that I did not love her? I did not want to deceive her, I had never intended to get to this point, and still yet I did not know how to face her. Now I found myself hoping she was not serious with whatever was on my mind, and that she had not fallen in love with me.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Do I now need an excuse to see you?”

“No but—“

“No buts. You will be leaving in two days and I want to spend my free time with you as I please.”

She silenced me effectively. Definitely she could not be thinking beyond us being just friends. She really just wanted to spend time with me and that thought alone softened my heart.

“I am very sorry Winnie love."

She smiled, and looked beautiful doing it too, although I could not tell if it was because I was too used to an ugly side that I could now see some beauty, or because of my relief that she had not called me baby.

“I used to have a boyfriend. He was all I ever wanted in life. Handsome, strong, and had a way with words. He was the talk of the area when he was here, and every girl wanted him for herself.”

“He used to live in this compound?” I asked.

“Yes. In the house where Ngozi now stays. He was here before Ngozi.”

I nodded my head, wondering why she was telling me that story, and kept quiet so she would continue.

“But the day he proclaimed me as his woman, I felt truly loved. My mother loves me, yes, but I always wanted a father around. And although he did not perfectly fit that image of a father because he was only 20 years old, I had always wanted a man to love me, because of what I noticed from my mother’s experience. She might seem happy being alone, but she is not. Sometimes she feels the burden heavily on her and vents all her anger and frustration on me but I cannot really blame her. My boyfriend loved me a lot and always wanted to make me happy. He gave me all that security of having a man with you, and a real one. He even used to promise to marry me and all. I loved him David, so much I gave him my virginity.”