Against All Odds

Chapter Fifteen: Strange Feelings

Obi eyed Obiefune like he was a trophy, part of her still didn't believe he was there. He had helped her into the verandah and afterwards her room. Obi thought of how her mother would have reacted to a boy being in her room but she didn't know anyone else around to help her. She was still shivering but her fever had been subdued by the rain.

Obiefune exited the room and instructed her to change out of her damp clothes. Obi quickly peeled off her clothes and got a dry one. She wore a skirt and a top that barely covered her arms.

Her body still shivered out of cold and even though her teeth clattered continuously she didn't regret her decision of going out in the rain. She was never the child, not even when she was younger. Being the first daughter and first born made her the mother hen to her siblings. Denying herself a lot of things so that they would be under her watchful gaze. Her decision might have been stupid but being under rain brought her comfort.

When she got to the living room Obiefune was not there, she stepped outside the verandah and saw him picking clothes off the muddy ground. The clothes she had carefully washed and spread. Obi quietly watched him as he picked the clothes one by one, some he had to use sticks to remove from trees where the wind had carried them. After he got all the clothes, he turned and saw her standing outside the verandah with her hands wrapped around herself.

He must have been upset about it because he marched with a speed which the mud despised and in the bid to get to her, he was thrown off balance in minutes and landed on his derriere.

Obi fought a laughter making her release throaty chuckles. Obiefune's clothes were ruined by the rain and  the additional coloring by the mud.

When he finally got up he picked up the clothes and walked to the front of the verandah. He had been wearing a scowl like someone who wanted to scold her, but when he saw her with her hand clamped over her mouth struggling and failing to stop herself from laughing,his face softened.

He did not speak about what happened instead he asked her when he could keep the clothes.

"The.. The big b.. bbasin at t.. the bbb.. backyard" obi stuttered

Obiefune quickly went to where she directed him, kept the clothes in the basin and filled the basin with water that he found in a reservoir made from stone and cement. This was the first time that he had ever noticed such in their house.

He scooped water from the reservoir and attempted to rinse his body and wash off the mud with his clothes on. He hadn't thought of coming with spare clothes and he had to help Obi especially now that she was sick.

Obiefune got out of everything he wore except his shorts which also served as an underwear. He rinsed the clothes and wringed water out both his trousers and shirt before proceeding to the house. Thankfully the short was not too wet

Obi had gone into the living room, she was sitting on one of the chairs thinking of how to get Obiefune a change of clothes.

She thought of giving him Tobe's but she knew it would be undersized, he couldn't wear hers either or even that of the girls. The only option would be her father's clothes in her parent's room. She thought about the possibility of her mother getting upset about it and thought about Obiefune shivering and dripping water all over the room and the latter outweighed the former.

Obi went into the room and brought out one of her father's clothes, but she did not find any suitable trousers for Obiefune . He would have to manage just the shirts and a wrapper till the rain subsided.

When Obi got back into the living room Obiefune had been standing there bare chested but not dripping wet as she envisioned. After scanning him Obi quickly averted her eyes and handed out the clothes to him.