A Promise From My Heart

35.

YUSUF'S POV

The cigarette was nestled between the second and third knuckles of his index and middle fingers. Listening to what Obinna was saying, Idris directed it to his mouth. He took a long drag then a wheeze of white spiral clouds came from his lips. The smell of nicotine, burning paper and paper smell rushed into my nostrils, my nose scrunching up in an attempt to wade off the smell. I shifted a bit from Idris as I hid my discontentment.

The way he smoked reminded me of the first time I had a cigarette. I was in school and we were in a guy's apartment watching a football match. This guy was a heavy smoker. We all knew it and he did not hide it. He smoked cigarette and weed. That day, I watched him smoke and was curious to know why someone and why people enjoyed smoking. This battle of questions raged in my mind. What's so good about cigarettes? Why do people smoke them? The smell is repulsing. Does it taste as terrible as its smells or better?

I told him I wanted to smoke a cigarette out of curiosity. There was this fierce urge to smoke and maybe I will get answers to my questions. He gave me the cigarette with no sign of surprise on his face. I had no idea how to smoke but I knew I had to suck in it. A big mistake. I sucked in my cheeks while the cigarette was in my mouth and inhaled quickly. I cannot tell what the taste was like but it was terrible that I knew that instant I was not doing it again. Never doing it. The smoke went into my lungs. I felt a weightless pressure in my air pipe before it came out in a painful cough that peppered my lungs and released water from my eyes.

"If Tauhida knows I still smoke, she will not take it lightly with me." Idris mentioned dabbing the cigarette into an ash tray.

"You also need to stop. It is dangerous." I advised with no pressure.

There was a slight shrug of his shoulder "Old habit die hard. I am better now though. From smoking a whole pack and more in a day to one or two sticks in a day or two. It's great progress. It was not easy."

"It sure is." I agreed without judgement because I understood how hard it was to get over an addiction. "How far about the DNA test you wanted to take?"

As I took a couple of meat from the plate before us, he announced, "My children are mine." Relieve leapt in his voice.

"Thank God." Obinna said. "You are a lucky man."

"I sure am. If you know how scared I was and the thoughts that went through my head as I assumed if they are not my kids, I was scared. But Tauhida found out about it."

"Shit!" I cursed after dropping the glass of juice from my mouth.

"Na wahala be that! (That's trouble)" Obinna, equally shocked, confirmed.

"Wahala wey no be small (A lot of trouble). I can't say when it will end."

"What you did was not wrong. You have all the right to actually do that before you end up raising kids who are not yours." I voiced out the thought in my mind. "You are just unfortunate that she found out."

"Wetin you dey say Yusuf? (What are you talking about?)" Obinna disagreed. "All he had to do was trust her."

"I trust her!" Idris exclaimed, frustration on his face.

"But not enough to believe she will not pin another man's pregnancy on you." He shot at him.

"I am not at fault you know. Yusuf is right! I have the right to do it. It was scary with all the news on twitter and instagram of men finding out their kids are not theirs after doing a DNA test. I had to know if they were mine before I raise them far in life." Idris defended.

"I agree with him." My support for Idris was firm. "We can't blame him. I have a family friend who just found out all his kids whom he had taken care of for nearly thirty-five years are not his. The man is in the hospital right now!"