Vagrants

Chapter 22

Few days after that, Damba and I spent more time with eachother, going on dates, eating out, seeing movies, shopping and making love to eachother. Folake and Tayo actually envied us at some point, they never got to do all we were doing before marriage. I was proud of myself, I was having fun for free. I had a good and charming boyfriend, I was very sure we were going to be together forever and that he won't leave me. That was the case until one morning.

It was 6 a.m. I stirred in my sleep and couldn't feel Damba on the bed beside me. I opened my eyes and saw Damba dressed beautifully but he seemed to be in a hurry.

"Good morning." I stretched, sitting up.

"Oh shit." I heard him curse.

"What's that?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing." He shook his head. "Good morning."

"Where are you going this early in the morning?"

"I...um...It is..."

"Are you going for a walk?" I hate that I filled in for him.

"Yes, yes. Thank you."

I smiled to myself. Damba was stuttering. That means he really liked me. He hasn't stuttered before. Why now? Is he hiding something?

Then I remembered what Damba said some time back. If you think too much, you would start getting wrong ideas.

So I didn't think, I trained my brain to understand that Damba liked me and that's why he was stammering.

I observed Damba fumbling with his bags. He took his phone, his wallet which contained his atm cards, other important I.Ds and lots of cash, discreetly.

I was surprised by this act. "Are you really going for a walk?"

"Yes, why?"

"You're taking lots of important things that..."

His back was turned to me so he turned around and faced me. "That what?"

I was surprised with this new tone of his. "N-Nothing."

He walked towards the bed and held my shoulder. "I'm not going to do anything to hurt you. I told you I loved you, didn't I?"

"Yes." I nodded.

"Then why don't you trust me?"

"I...I do." I smiled even when I still had my doubts.

After Damba left, I felt a tinge of guilt rise in me. I don't know why I didn't believe Damba in the first place, after all he had done for me. I was so selfish. I looked in the corner of the room where my bags were. He had bought a bigger box for me so all my shopping could fit in.

I kept thinking of him for a very long time before I got out of bed to get cleaned up and watched a movie on my phone whilst waiting for Damba to return so we could have breakfast together.

At 11 a.m., I decided to eat breakfast and concluded that he would be late. I ordered for breakfast in my room because the only time I ever ate downstairs at the restaurant is when I had someone to eat with.

As I ate breakfast, I received a call from Aunty Kemi. I almost didn't pick her call because I knew she was going to start teasing me again but I did because I was bored and maybe she had gists to tell.

"Girlfriend of life!" Aunty Kemi hailed me.

"Aunty mi, how far?" My aunt.

"Mo wa pa. How are you now?" I'm doing great.

"Fine. How is everybody?"

"Fine too. Boyfriend e n ko?" How's your boyfriend?

"He has gone out."

"Okay. Greet him for me. I'm sure the two of you..." That's how Aunty Kemi started teasing me about my relationship with Damba. The only good about our conversation were the advices she gave me about relationships. She told me the etiquette of building a strong relationship and she made me understand that if I had doubts, I must clear them by talking it out with my partner and not think too much about things.