Shin-nae Nae

§§Chapter 12§§

We met at The Villa and talked a lot about ourselves, the gang, etc, etc.
Actually I was the one who asked him about the gang seeing that it'd been a reasonably long time since I reached out to anyone of them.
And he told me we had split because of true. Because unlike me and Sampson that were going to UNICAL to study Fine and applied arts and Peace and Conflict Studies respectively the rest of us were leaving Calabar to other states for our education.

I nodded in understanding and checked my phone. It was pretty late.

Once again I was reminded to change my date and time. It was only 6:30 pm!
I hated staying out late and I knew Helen was sure to be on my beck when I returned.
I looked at him and he was laughing.
I grabbed my things and my drink and  waited as he paid. Then we left.
He dropped me out and I was so irritated since I had missed most of my Star Life series. And true to my word Helen was at the parlour waiting for me I guess cos I mean the whole living room was filled with pics of her and Gabriel and she was sobbing.

"Emmm Helen I'm so sorry I'm home late"
"You're excused" she waved me off without even looking at me.
I sighed and dropped my bag.
"Helen you miss him. Even I can see it"
She sniffled
"I don't miss him. It's just been so long since I'd been alone you know."
I looked around the house
"They're not here. They went to Aunty Jesam's fo the holidays."
"Ohh ok." I nodded "But Helen has the divorce been processed??"
"No not yet."
"Then why don't you and Gabriel sit down and renegotiate??"
She looked at me.
"I mean do it for your peace of mind. You miss him so give him a second chance."
She looked at me as if saying 'Would that work??'
Then I nodded profusely and she put herself together
"You're right. I'll send him a call tomorrow.
Thank you Shin-nae"
I smiled and took my bag to go to my room
"You're welcome"
Halfway there I heard
"But don't think I'll let it slide that you came home late today just because you gave me some advice"
There was silence then we laughed.

When I got to my room I just sank in my bed. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh Thank you Jesus"
I decided to plug my phone since NEPA is unpredictable. But then there was a charger and no phone.
I just breathed and decided to go to bed because this life I can't kill myself.

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The Next Day
I decided to travel again down to Sampson's. Because my phone was important.
Only for me to get there and.......
"Sampson's not around. I'm sorry"
"Ope"
We hugged.
"Can I come in??"
She laughed.
"Sure"
We sat.
"Well since Sampson isn't around we might as well talk"
Sara came in with our drinks and straws.
"Thank you Sara." She nodded "So like I was saying...."
"I like Sampson"
I spat out my drink.
"Yeah I do."
There was silence and I felt uneasy. She adjusted in her seat
"But I know for sure that Sampson likes you. Anyways I went to JAMB yesterday to change my institution to UNILAG. It's for the best you know."
"Lagos is pretty far"
"I'll manage. But at least I'm being sincere to myself. You should too. This will take me nowhere you know why?? It's because it's destined for you."
I looked at her and breathed. I wanted to say something when Sampson came in. So I quickly grabbed my drink to sip before I spilled what was in my head. Ope disappeared upstairs.
"My baby, my baby"
"Sampson rest. Whey my phone??"
"Won't you atleast welcome me"
I sized him up and down
"It's upstairs"

As we climbed the stairs I pondered on what Ope had said. As I kept staring at Sampson. Did he really like me?? I pushed that aside and grabbed my fully charged phone and stayed a while to chat before leaving.

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The Next Week
Today I wrote JAMB like this afternoon. God has been faithful. And I had been trying my very best not to think about my mother.
After the journey home I was exhausted. I greeted Musa and struggled to unlock the door.
Only for me to see Gabriel, Helen and the kids having dinner.
It made me so so emotional like 'Wow'. And it made me wonder if I had been more mature back then then perhaps I could have had a family like that. I felt so sad because I ruined my chances at having a family so I smuggled myself to my room.
Truly I was happy for them but for myself I was sad.

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✓✓✓ Helen's POV
I was so grateful that I listened to Shin-nae Nae's advice. If I had wasted even one more day Gabriel would have crossed over to Cameroon. But today we were having a family outing because I refused to listen to my stubborn side. And I was grateful for that.
"What's on your mind??"
I side hugged him "Gabriel remember when we first met Shin-nae Nae. She was only a day old you know. And we didn't deserve her but Mi-young had no other choice. It hurt her you know." He laughed.
"You know her original name was Shin-nae (신내) in Korean, but we wrote the name  'Shin-nae Nae' on her papers. The extra 'Nae' was a error, you know but it had become a part of her identity nonetheless."
" Yeah" I laughed" Shin-nae (신내) - "inner beauty". But we wrote Shin-nae Nae like "inner inner beauty". At a point I really didn't like her you know cause child care was difficult. But we are all together today because of her."
"Really??"
"Yes really. She's something else but in the good way sha." There was silence. "Oya it's okay before they say I'm now softhearted abeck"

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✓✓✓ Shin-nae Nae's POV
A Few Months Later
A few months had passed by and admission requirements were so so stressful and that created distance between us as friends. Our WhatsApp Group had been so so abandoned. We were just too busy. And by busy I mean Year 1 was over. (So technically it wasn't a few months later but about a year later......... Soooo)
Yep! So we decided to meet up at a somewhat neutral place- Awka. We went there to hang. We had no idea of any place there so we just had fun getting lost and found and you know passing away time.
And the cycle of life took it's course. I became an online sensation but alas UNICAL called my name. It was back to school for me.
Saying goodbye to all my friends was hard but at the end we just had to let go of our hands physically and hold them virtually.

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About Another Year Later
Year 2 was over now. I was doing some cleanup planning to return to the Anyas for the holidays. You know I was leaving off-camp. I also planned to see Sampson soon cos even though we schooled in UNICAL we hardly ever saw and I didn't like that at all.
My phone thats always on vibration vibrated and I brought it out from my shorts.
The number looked foreign and for a moment my mind went to my mom. I know I always thought about her but this week it'd been worse. I was getting this Indian movie feeling. I really hope she was ok.

"Miss Shin-nae Nae."
"Yes. Good morning. Who am I speaking with."
"This is from the office of the General."
There was silence and only my heartbeat could be heard.
"Yes go on"
"It's about your mother Major General Mi-young."
Silence again. I was about to speak when I heard
"She's in a coma"
I almost didn't hear that. But then again I did and my phone slipped out of my hand. And breathing became hard.