Same Difference [A Queer Nigerian Experience]

4 | WHO THEY SAY THEY ARE

"You sent me your address" Maxwell explained, when I inquired how he knew where I lived. I couldn't recall sending him my address initially, but then I realized it was probably Ossai who did. I welcomed Maxwell inside and closed the door, he glanced around to take in the surroundings when he entered.

I scrolled through our chat history on my phone and discovered that Ossai had indeed disclosed my exact location to Maxwell. I had overlooked it during my previous review of Maxwell's chats. I was certainly planning to kill Ossai when I meet him again.

"How did you get this house? The place is nice." Maxwell asked, fascinated by the apartment.

"Met this final year student at the cyber cafe, he's the one who lived here before" I responded, Maxwell examined the soundbox for a moment. "It's for him, he hasn't come to collect it yet" I answered, before he could ask. "So what are you doing here?" I hoped I didn't come off as dismissive.

"Mr Utomi later saw me right after you left and chased me out" Maxwell chuckled. "Plus I couldn't go for class, you're with my note, I came to collect it"

I recalled that he had left it with me earlier, so I reached for my cross bag, unzipped it, and gave him his note. I hoped he'd catch the hint and leave because I wasn't keen on having guests around. I cherished my alone time.

Maxwell waited, pulling out his iPhone, saying, "Before I logged out in the library, I saw something." I didn't want to peep at his phone, but I noticed he opened Facebook and quickly scrolled. Then, he turned the phone toward me, and I took a look. It turned out he had also logged into Mr. Utomi's account on his phone. I saw the chat between Mr. Utomi and the deleted account, but it was just a series of messages from Mr. Utomi. It seemed the deleted account didn't respond at all, although I couldn't view the messages from the deleted account; I was sure no replies were sent from it.

Mr. Utomi had said sorry for disappearing on him, mentioning leaving for a "she," probably a girlfriend. As I read the messages, it felt like my own experience, with Kennedy ghosting and me later seeing him with a girl, or at least that's what I assumed had happened. I didn't want to delve further into the messages, so I returned Maxwell's phone.

"So what? He is bi." I defended Mr Utomi.

"Are you serious? The man is gay and is in denial" Maxwell jumped to conclusion.

"He literally said it himself in that text that he's bi" I emphasized, "People are who they say they are."

"Unless they aren't." He remained convinced Mr Utomi was gay. "I really want to know who this person is" He said, beginning his search to discover who was behind the deleted account.

I was unsure how to dissuade him, so I allowed him to proceed, even allowing him to take my seat to continue his investigations. The sole reason I allowed this was because I shared his curiosity about the account's owner. Although I didn't want to pry, it made sense to let Maxwell take charge of the investigation for both of us.

My conscience weighed on me as I cautioned, "You shouldn't be doing this. It's illegal"

"So is being gay, why are you complaining about me now?" Maxwell countered.

My mouth was agape, I couldn't comprehend if he was being homophobic or if he just outed himself. I chuckled in surprise as he carried on, realizing it was my mistake to advise someone who was already involved in internet fraud about legality. "What about investor does he know?" I made my question as disingenuous as I could, aiming for the answer I had in mind.

"I lied that I changed the account name, and gave him a different account under disguise. He doesn't really care, he has other means of bombing" Maxwell gave me the response I wasn't asking for.