THE EXTERNALS

Chapter Six

"What was that for?" Halima yelled at him.

"Why are you getting upset, baby? I just wanted to surprise you", He smiled.

"That wasn't funny. Besides, who is your baby?" She laughed.

"Excuse me. I don't think I can wait anymore", I said, since his presence started making me feel awkward.

"Hey! I didn't realize you were sitting there. Good to see you", He offered me a hand.

"It's obvious that love has blinded your eyes", Kaira joked.

"Abi oo", I shook his hand and walked to the exit, only to realize that he followed me.

"You don't have to leave. I'm not staying long. I just dropped by to give my baby a gift because I love her dearly", He told me.

"That's...nice", I replied."I'm very sorry for what happened yesterday and thanks for...."

"It's okay", He didn't let me finish my statement. "Your Aunt had every right to be that way, but please let her know that I've lost interest in you long ago". His last statement made me feel like someone drilled a nail in my heart.

"Fine..."I smiled and watched him ride his bicycle out of the compound.

In the long run, I didn't let Halima make my hair because I heard her telling Kaira that even making my hair wasn't going to make me beautiful as she was and that she was going to use Kenny's feelings for her to extort him as much as possible. Still, I decided to stay out of her way to avoid making my final high school year troublesome. Of course, we all know that playing the role of a hero or good Samaritan doesn't work in real life most of the time. It ends up in chaos and that was the last thing I wanted in my life at that moment.

I was alarmed when I caught my elder sister going through my things back at home but couldn't do anything about it. According to her, she decided to drop by the house so we could talk about what happened after taking care of the business deal she originally came to Lagos for and we did. Then, she gave me her old android phone to enable her to reach me anytime she wanted, and a credit card to use in case I run out of the monthly allowance Dad sends me because she didn't want me to be tempted to have a boyfriend even after hearing what really happened, excluding the jail and torture part.

On Sunday morning, I had to help my sister carry some of her luggage to the bus park, yet that didn't stop me from getting to the teens' church before anyone else as I wanted. With my eyes shut and clothes rolling over the tiled floor of the auditorium, I prayed for the grace to stand tall till the end because I knew I couldn't afford to make any mistake that would jeopardize my future. Through faith, I believed he heard me and was further determined to help him keep me safe by minding my business and getting rid of the feeling I was developing for Kenny.

While heading back home after church service, I bumped into Jessica since her home was on the path I took. She was surprised I didn't make my hair at Halima's since I told her I had the intention of doing that during our last meeting so I had to tell her what went wrong and to my utmost surprise, she offered to help me with it in the evening when she's done with her house chores though she had never tried making anyone's hair before. Even though it made me sad, I was already planning to have my hair shaved at a Barbershop later in the day so her offer made me so happy that I was willing to give up my lunch meal to show my appreciation.