AudreyTimms:

@king philip, Letting go is an ongoing story. You need to dwonload the okadabooks app from google play store. Then fund your account with two hundred naira worth of etisalat recharge card. Search for the book to purchase it or follow this link- http://okadabooks.com/book/about/10290

If you still have problems getting it, please send me a mail at audreytimms83@gmail.com. Thanks

is it that letting go isn't up for sale because it's only unfulfilled promises and waiting for the bouquet that I saw up there

I'm just speechless, i lack words to express how i feel. You are not just an exceptional and amazing writer,you are also a darling and i love you so much (no pun intended)...thanks a bunch for the update

kingphilip:
is it that letting go isn't up for sale because it's only unfulfilled promises and waiting for the bouquet that I saw up there

Hi...from her previous response, I gathered that Letting Go is still on going. That is,its yet to be completed which is why you didn't see it there.
P.S I stand to be corrected if i'm wrong

@AudreyTimms Am I free to post criticism here, or do I send them directly to you?

ChidiGodwin01:
@AudreyTimms Am I free to post criticism here, or do I send them directly to you?

Hian, they have arrived..... >

@kingphilip, Letting Go isn't up for sale. I haven't finished writing it yet.


@Izyyblaze, thanks dear. I love you too (no homo)


@ChidiGodwin01, no problem. Whichever you prefer. Keep it constructive though. Thanks.


@tijehi, lol.

Update coming up. Thanks for your patience.

CHAPTER FIVE


Sometimes the door closes on a relationship, not because we failed but because something bigger than us says this no longer fits our life. So, lock the door, shed a tear, turn around and look for the new door that’s opened. It’s a sign that you’re no longer that person you were, it’s time to change into who you are. It’s going to be okay.
—Lee Goff


Episode 10


NKIRU dropped the knife she'd been using to peel the hairy yam and started scratching her left hand. She got up from the small wooden stool in the kitchen and went to the sink. After taking the bar of soap from the partly broken rubber plate and the blue sponge as well, she scrubbed her hand vigorously. Before long, the particular spot had turned red with rashes but that didn't stop her. She continued scrubbing. Her immediate younger sister, Nkechi came into the kitchen, held her elder sister's left hand and removed the sponge forcefully from her right hand to stop her from scrubbing it to ribbons.

"Ogini? (what is it?) Do you want to scrub yourself to death?" Nkechi questioned from a height Nkiru could never hope to attain.

"Abeg leave me. This useless yam is itching my skin." Nkiru's eyes glistened.

Nkechi went into giggles and returned the bar of soap and sponge to their initial place. "Don't let Daddy hear you calling his yam useless."

"It's useless jor!" Nkiru frowned and kicked the yam. The half-peeled tuber of yam rolled from the steel tray to the floor. Nkechi laughed before bending to pick it and put it back on the tray again. She sat down on the small stool and held the knife. Nkiru washed the lather of soap from her hand and opened one of the wooden doors of the cupboards hung against the wall. She stood on her toes to take a bottle of palm oil but couldn't get to it. Nkechi dropped the knife and helped her elder sister get the bottle.

"When Mummy was forcing us to eat beans when we were small, you kept giving your portion to our dog. See now," Nkechi teased and Nkiru gave her a playful bad look. Nkechi sat down on the stool again and started peeling the yam with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I took after Mummy while you, Nnamdi and the ejimas (twins) took after Daddy." Nkiru formed a pout.

Nkechi laughed again. "At least you're still taller than Njideka but mind you, she's still growing."

"Free me, abeg." Nkiru opened the bottle of palm oil and poured a little inside the bottle cap. She rubbed the liquid richly on her reddened skin.

"Abeg no finish the oil," Nkechi had to shout when her sister continued pouring more and more palm oil on her hand. For an answer, Nkiru dipped her forefinger and her thumb in the oil and flicked it towards her younger sister. It landed on the left sleeve of Nkechi's blue denim gown. Nkechi slowly pulled herself up, took the bottle cap containing the palm oil and soiled Nkiru's multi-colored blouse with it as she made to run out of the kitchen. 

By the time their mother got to the kitchen, it was as if a palm oil festival was going on there. There was palm oil all over the place, from the cupboard to the counter to the bare ground and all over the bodies of her daughters including their faces. The ruckus they made as they bathed each other in the palm kernel product had given their position away, hence the presence of their irate mother.

"So Nkiru and Nkechi, you girls have decided to behave like little children and waste my precious oil. Do you know how much I bought the four liters of oil you girls have wasted?" Nkiru and Nkechi looked at each other and tried to hold back a smile. Their mother was fond of asking such a question concerning anything she purchased. 

"Mummy, it was Nkiru who started it." Nkechi pointed at Nkiru who was blinking rapidly to stop the oil from dripping from her forehead into her eyes.

"Shut up. So if your elder sister refused to behave like an adult, you'd join her in behaving like a child, okwia?" Mrs. Chiwendu was having none of the finger pointing.

Nkiru stuck out her tongue at her younger sister but that was a mistake because it enraged her mother further. 

"And you this Nkiru, how old are you?" The woman with hands akimbo asked.

Nkiru stared at the bare ground and rubbed her sticky palms together.

"Answer me!" her mother, with an octave higher demanded.

She sulked. "Twenty."

"You're not ashamed of yourself. At your age, I'd already given birth to Nnamdi."

Nkiru rolled her eyes and bit her bottom lip to keep from bursting into laughter. Her mother had told them that particular history a million times.

"Go and clean yourselves up. Nkiru, Andy is waiting for you in the living room," Mrs Chiwendu pronounced curtly.

Nkiru groaned loudly. Her mother moved forward, held her by the ear and whined it for her. Nkiru yelped while Nkechi ran out of the kitchen. Nkiru managed to free herself and run out of the kitchen too. When the two sisters got to their room, they sat on the bare floor and hit it with hilarity. They hastily put their hands over their mouths in order to prevent their mother hearing them. 

"Quick baf make you go meet your boyfriend," Nkechi mocked jocularly as she got up to take off her dress. Nkiru hissed. 

Her sister laughed heartily. "Do you know two suitors have come for your hand in marriage? They say we might be poor but we are a decent and respectable family."

Nkiru hissed again as she took off her multi-colored blouse and faded blue denim skirt. She used the blouse to wipe oil off her body before going to the door to remove her pale yellow towel from its top. 

"Why don't you just tell Mummy about him? She's hell bent on getting you married before you graduate," Nkechi suggested as she removed her bra and panties and stood in her naked glory before her sister.

In all fairness, Nkechi was pretty, prettier than her elder sister; in fact the prettiest female in the house. She was tall for her age and had a sort of polishness about her that made her friends suggest she go into modeling but her father would hear nothing of it. She had resorted to doing her other favorite thing which was making people beautiful through her salon. With help from her parents, she'd made her salon the best in the village with modern equipment. It hadn't been easy at the initial stage but through dedication and hard work, she'd made it a standard salon. Formal education wasn't her thing so she left that for her book worm sister and her twin brothers. 

A sad look crossed Nkiru's features and she bent her head. Nkechi walked up to her before picking up her own sky blue towel on the door and wrapping it securely around her. 

"It isn't as if he feels the same way about me. Our relationship isn't real. It's just camouflage," Nkiru admitted as she left the room and walked a few paces to the bathroom. Nkechi walked slowly behind her. They got to the bathroom and closed the door. They hung their towels on the head of the shower stand before Nkechi poured water from the black drum in the bathroom into a medium-sized yellow bucket. Nkiru rubbed soap on her sponge and took a small pail from the wash basin to pour water from the bucket on her body.

"Make it real na. You have the power to do that. You said he's now very free and lively with you. You can go further," Nkechi suggested as she watched her sister rub the sponge all over her body.

Nkiru paused. "It wasn't part of the deal. It's going to end soon. When we resume in two weeks, it will be over."

Nkechi stopped her as she tried pouring water on her body. "You can do something for it not to end. You need to step up your game. Well, to me, I feel he feels something for you. He calls you everyday."

An eyebrow lifted."So?"

"Duh! That isn't the action of a guy who doesn't feel anything."

"He's just a caring person." Nkiru shrugged it aside, not wanting to raise her hopes.

Nkechi stayed her hand again as she made to pour water on her body.

"Why are you saying all these?"

Tears gathered in Nkiru's eyes then. She quickly looked away for Nkechi not to see them. Her younger sister knew her well. They were the best of friends. They were in fact the closest in the entire family. They never hid anything from each other, not even when Nkechi was raped when she'd gone to sell her goods to a sleazy guy in his house back then in Lagos. It was their big little secret. Not even their mother knew. There was no need adding to the poor woman's sorrow that their grace to grass state had cost far more than their livelihood.That afternoon Nkiru knew still haunted her sister. She stayed off men as if they were lepers though she was an incurable romantic. She was rooting both silently and loudly for her sister and Gio.

"He's way out of my league, Chichi." She faced her sister with sorrowful eyes. "He's very handsome and very rich. I'm really not his type. We are too far apart. Opposites."

"Opposite attracts," Nkechi pointed out.

"Not in this case," Nkiru sadly replied.

She bent her head and let the tears roll down her eyes. She wiped them furiously away. Tears wouldn't solve anything. Just spending three days away from Gio made her realise her true feelings for him. She was in love with him. She missed him so much. He called her everyday which increased her longing. She wished for the first time in her life that she was beautiful, as beautiful as Gio was handsome. She felt she would have stood a chance with him even if she was poor. Her heart broke at the thought of losing him. They'd gotten so close the previous semester that most nights, it had to take the sighting of a security man at the hour of nine for them to part company. They even continued communicating with text messages sometimes when they got to their respective rooms before they'd call it a day. But with all these, Gio never gave any indication that they were more than just friends, and she not wanting Gio's famous epic embarrassment, kept her feelings well hidden. And it was all going to come to an end in two weeks as agreed earlier. How she would be mocked by those mean girls! Bets had already been placed that they wouldn't last another semester and sadly, she and her pretend boyfriend were going to prove them right. Oh, would she be able to raise her head in the school again, she who had wanted to graduate without any incident? Oddly enough, if she were asked, she would do it again. Gio was that precious to her. It wasn't just his sleek, dark good-looks, his innate elegance and grace; he had an incredible aura of self-assurance that made her feel safe.

Nkechi held her hand and rubbed it slowly. Just then they heard their mother's voice, calling them. Nkiru quickly finished her bath. She rushed to their room to wear her clothes but walked slowly and grudgingly to the door of the corridor leading to the living room where she knew Andy was seated, waiting for her.

Her eyes went round their living room as she took in the shabby place. Their red flowery sofa and chairs had seen better days, even the blue, red and black patterned rug needed a change. A wooden stool held their old school oversized television and between it's legs was their DVD player and numerous disc plates of Nigerian movies beside it which they borrowed from the video shop behind their house. A nail above the television held the wall clock and another nail held several calendars from even five years ago. She saw a can of malt on the partially broken stool before her guest. She shook her head slowly. There was no way she was going to bring Gio here. She could bet her life that even his gateman's house was better than this. Gosh! She didn't like this feeling. Gosh, she was beginning to become vain! Shaking herself off such unproductive thoughts, she stepped from the door and walked into the living room bracing herself to hear ear-splittering grammar.

"My dear, you have came," Andrew Nwafor told her, smiling as she sat down a distance from him.

"Yes, Andy. I'm here."

"Good. How were your school's studies?"

"Fine." Nkiru stifled a yawn. She was sick and tired of these visits from Andy. He was five years older than her. He owned a saw mill at the outskirts of the village and word on the grapevine said he was desperately looking for an educated wife to join him in running the business. She was determined not to be that wife.

She suddenly realised he had been talking all the while she'd been thinking.

"So," the short and stout man put a knee across the other and stared at her expectantly. "What do you said about it?"

Gosh! She hadn't heard a single word. Her phone began to ring. She removed it from the pocket of her floral dress and her face lit up like fireworks on Christmas eve when she saw the caller I.d. It was Gio calling.

Audrey, I'm waiting patiently for more.

Hmmmmmm

More coming up. Just having issues with my network provider

**********

Fi watched her brother at the balcony, talking on the phone and there was no doubt in her mind who he was talking to. Nkiru Chiwendu! He'd been talking to her now for almost twenty minutes, oblivious to the fact that she was standing behind him. The way he smiled and drawled grated on her nerves. She gripped her tank top hard. When was the last time Gio smiled at her like that, never mind talk to her for twenty unblinking minutes? He finally ended the call with a grin. He placed the phone in the pocket of his joggers and placed an elbow on the balustrade to look at the cars driving by in the quiet street. He turned sideways as if he was looking at someone and said, 

"She makes me smile."

A sob caught in her throat which made Gio sharply turn around. With a hand to her mouth, Fi fled the balcony into the upstairs living room and went to her own wing. Gio cast a bitter look at his late twin before walking at a slow pace to his sister's room. He knew Dano had known Fi was behind him before asking him how Nkiru made him feel. When he heard a loud bang, he grimaced and braced himself for girlie drama. He was however shocked when he turned the doorknob to Fi's room and found it locked. That was unusual. He made his right hand into a fist and gave a succession of rapid knocks on the door.

"Go away," was the reply that came from the other side of the door.

"Fi." 

"I said go away. Go and be with her. She makes you smile while I remind you of the people you've lost."

"Fi, it isn't like that." He hated making her unhappy.

He turned to look at his twin who had his arms folded across his chest and was grinning like an idio.t.

"Are you sure I wasn't the one who died in that accident? How come you've taken my personality? You who rarely smiled in real life is now full of smiles and playing pranks." Dano smiled some more to further infuriate his brother.

"I said go away! Leave me alone!" Fi yelled, thinking he was talking to her though she hadn't heard his words.

Gio wanted to knock again but let his hand drop. It was more than obvious that Fi was jealous of his relationship with Nkiru. He couldn't blame her though. She was used to being the only female who made him smile after their mother's death until Nkiru came along. With hunched shoulders, he went back to the balcony. He missed Gaetano. His little brother was in school. Luckily for him, his father wouldn't be around during their three weeks holiday. He was in Germany for his regular medical check up yet he headed his committee on health. Freaking hypocrite!


**********

Smiling like a broke woman receiving her paycheck before the end of the month, Nkiru put back the phone in her pocket. She raised her head to look at her visitor and noticed his hands were tightened in fists. He let out a barrage of insults at her, picked up his car keys and almost empty can of malt and stormed out of the house. Nkiru could only stare after him. Good riddance!

She heard giggling behind her before she heard footsteps. The gigglng Nkechi hugged her from behind. They shared a good laugh until they heard their mother's angry footsteps outside, approaching the house. They stood ramrod stiff. The woman burst into the living room.

"Nkiru, what happened?" Her eyes flashed fire at her first daughter.

"Mummy, me I don't know o!" Her daughter was the face of complete innocence. "A friend from school called me. I answered the call. When I was through, Andy just started hurling insults at me before angrily leaving the house."

Her mother moved closer. "Nkiru! Nkiru! Every woman is beautiful until she speaks. You should have ignored the call or better still told her to call back. You know Andy's mouth runs like a leaky faucet. I don't want him to tarnish your name in this village. Wherever a man goes to dwell, his character goes with him."

Nkiru frowned, folded her arms across her chest and turned away. She clicked her tongue in disapproval.

"Mummy, Nk isn't to blame. I was behind the door. The call didn't even last a minute." Nkechi lied.

"Really? Good riddance sef. I never fancied him; with his terrible English sef. He knows he isn't fluent in the language but always insist on speaking it instead of Igbo which he's a champion in." She hissed. Her daughters burst into laughter.

"Maybe he's feeling intimidated. You know we were once called city people," Nkechi chipped in.

A shadow crossed her mother's face. She sighed and looked far away like someone in a trance. Nkiru had to touch her arm to bring her back.

"God knows best," she acclaimed. "Nkiru, quickly go and prepare the porridge before your father comes back."

Nkiru frowned and Nkechi laughed. Their mother ignored them and went back to her shop.

"Do make you come dey go your salon jor." Nkiru playfully pushed her sister.

Nkechi was all smiles. "I'm covered. Chinelo, my assistant is there and I now have two apprentices. I'll go there later."

"You'll make Ghana weaving for me a day before I leave." They walked towards the kitchen.

"No problem. It's not only hairdo o. You need total revamping and i'm going to help you achieve it at all cost. Operation Get-Gio-To-Fall-In-Love-With-Nkiru commences tomorrow. We will leave no stone unturned. So what did he say?"

Nkiru didn't reply her as they walked into the kitchen. They had a lot of cleaning up to do before preparing lunch.


**********

Fiorella sniffed and hugged her teddy bear tautly. She suddenly threw away the stuffed animal when she remembered Gio had gotten it for her. How could he do such a thing to her? How could he replace her with that plain and poor thing? She used to be the only female who made him smile. What did he see in her anyway? She felt like hurting him the way he'd hurt her. Payback is a b*tch and she intended being b*tchy.

Truly she'd wanted him to fall in love and snap out of the emotional limbo he'd been in for the past four years but not with that...that...thing! And not at the cost of their sibling relationship. Granted Gio was now more open but his whole focus was now on Nkiru.

She makes me smile! She makes me smile!

Fi couldn't get those words out of her mind. Jealousy poured out from every pore in her body. Lifting her sexy frame from the bed, she paced her pink-splashed room. Something had to be done to make Gio feel exactly what she was feeling at present. What was the one thing she could do to Gio that would really get to him? Something that at the end of the day she could throw it in his face that what she'd done was as a result of him neglecting her for the hated girl, Nkiru Chiwendu!

After brainstorming for a moment, Fi sniffed and raised her head to look around her room which was decorated in her favorite colour of pink for her phone. She saw the phone on her dresser and went to it. Sitting on the mahogany stool before the dresser and staring at her red and puffy eyes reflection on the mirror, she hardened her heart. It had to be done. She picked her iPhone 3GS and scrolled through her phone book for Tosin's number. It was time to give her brother a taste of his own medicine. In her jealousy and rage, she didn't stop to think who she'd really be hurting with her actions.

*To be continued*

*Continuation of episode 10*

"Guy, no go kill yourself because of this girl o," Ose warned as he followed the direction of his friend's gaze. Ivie was passing by the front of his house with her friend, Obehi, and Felix was staring unblinkingly at her, a ritual that was fast becoming a habit.

Felix followed the gently swaying behind of his crush until she was no longer visible. His loins complained bitterly. That was the one chick who was out of his reach...for now.

He couldn't believe that he, Felix, the Don Juan of his time was actually spending two weeks chasing just one girl. To his consternation, he'd discovered Ivie wasn't like any of the girls he'd met. Her innocence and admirable naivety got him desiring her the more. She was so shy, she'd make a squirrel look brazen. Where girls still shy in this century? In his mind's eye, he remembered how he'd approached her to chat her up when he'd met her in her friend's house which he'd planned the following day after mass. Too tongue-tied to talk, she'd answered his questions in monosyllables. Undaunted, he'd started stalking her, meeting her at odd places and feigning surprise. Eventually, he had been able to get her to talk and loosen up. It had seemed like ice from the north pole thrown at his face when even before he opened his mouth to tell her he liked her, Ivie had told him point blank not to bother saying such things if he knew that was the reason why he was stalking her. To add insult to injury, she'd told him she'd heard he was a flirt and a womanizer and didn't want to have even a platonic friendship with such a person, let alone date him; thereby cutting the ground from under his feet.

Felix had gone home like a deflated balloon that day and had been unable to eat nor sleep. His mother had worriedly asked if he was okay. Foolishly acting out of character, he'd told her what transpired between him and Ivie. Till date, he still regretted the action because his mother had broken into a fit of laughter and praised Ivie mightily. With bloodshot eyes, he'd gone into his room and slammed his door so hard the whole street heard it. That was last week. After pulling himself together and remembering who he was--the honey-coated devil--he tried again. The embarrassment he received was worse than the first. She hadn't said a single word. After allowing him to talk his heart out for thirty minutes, she'd kept him quiet for another thirty minutes while he kept telling her to say something. Ogbanje madness! When the cup of his foolery reached the brim, he angrily left her grandfather's place. It had led to another loss of appetite and sleep. And his mother was having the fun of her life at his cost.

"You didn't take dinner last night. Has she dissed you again?" His mother had asked, standing by his door the following morning trying her best to contain the hilarity bubbling inside her. "Please tell her I'm her biggest fan."

Silence had been the best answer.

It was time to move on to plan Z since plans A-Y had failed so far. If it didn't work, he'd put a bullet in between his eyes. Never it be said he failed to get a girl.

"For where? She dey crase? Her father lap! Make i commit sucide because of girl? Her mama left b*east! Arrant nonsense!" Felix brought forth his thoughts in a loud voice, forgetting his friend was sitting beside him on the broken fence. He jumped down and walked away. His steps and stance reflected a man on a serious mission.

His friend hastily dialed their other friend's number.

"Ken, abeg bring strong rope come my house...yes...strong one. The type wey dem take dey tie cow...that Ivie girl don finally make Felix kolo..."


**********

Smoothening her damp palms down over her black skirt and held her head high, Ivie willed herself not to move her head backwards to take a peek at Felix. Obehi was quite a trouble maker. She'd told them to pass by his friend's house knowing Felix would be there and he was sure not to miss the opportunity of either staring at her or approaching her.

Ivie had tried her best to pretend indifference to Felix's advances to her friend and Felix but she couldn't deny to herself that she was attracted to him. She had gawped at Felix like a bedazzled kid the second time she'd laid her black eyes on him at Obehi's house and had severely embarrassed herself by accidentally pouring her drink on her beach-blue midi dress. Since she had never felt that way around a guy before, not even around her secondary school boyfriend back then, she could only put her behaviour down to the effects of seclusion from the outside world.

For a year, she'd stayed ensconced with her aunt in a thick village after the death of her aunt's husband. They'd gone through h.ell during her aunt's one year of mandatory mourning. The one year over, at the first light of dawn, her aunt had packed their stuff and they had fled the village to their family house in Edo state. They'd met her grandfather there as their only surviving relative.

So used to being indoors, she'd not stepped a foot outside the house for a month before their neighbour's daughter, Obehi--newly returned from staying with relatives in Lagos--had forced her out of the house. Within weeks, she'd gotten the hang of dealings in the village and ignored advances from guys except for Felix...

Was it because he was so handsome that made her feel so much for him? But he was a womanizer. Even his countenece showed it. Obehi had sang it into her ear drums countless times to ignore him and have nothing to do with him if she didn't want to be just another notch on his bedpost. But she liked him. He was funny and witty and naughty. Most times she had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing at his jokes.

What were her chances with him? She'd never been in a relationship. How was she sure Obehi wasn't just being jealous? Word on the streets was that Felix didn't date fat girls and Obehi was rather on the robust side.

Ivie was tempted, oh, how tempted she was!


**********

Nkiru had been very nervous to see Gio for the first time after they resumed for their final year. With the little money she had left from her tutorials, she'd bought better used clothes and her youngest sister, Njideka had sewn some sexy styles for her. Nkechi had made her hair and also bought her makeup and cosmetics in the Get-Gio-At-All-Cost scheme but she'd put her foot down at fixing her nails and painting them. She'd been crestfallen when Gio had only smiled and held her hand before walking her to her class, not mentioning her new look with her mauve jacket and skirt lovingly hugging her slender figure the day after resumption.

Three days after resumption and he'd still not said anything on her new look, she'd wanted to give up but Hassana would hear nothing of it. She added her own cosmetics to her cheap ones since Nkiru refused putting on her clothes. Nkiru couldn't credit that some new clothes, a rather silly hairstyle and a few cosmetics could genuinely dredge a response from a male like Gio who had beautiful girls chasing him everywhere he went.


**********

Sighing quietly, Nkiru waved Gio good night as usual in front of her hostel. The following day was her birthday but she hadn't been able to summon courage to tell him despite Hassana's incessant text messages urging her to tell him. She had not wanted it to seem as if she was fishing for gifts or anything. With a lowered head, she walked into the building so she missed Jessica's venomous glare at her.

Jessica had fumed in silence all through last semester as she watched Gio and the church rat flaunt their relationship for all and sundry to see. She'd thought it was just a fluke but here they were again this semester, holding hands, talking, walking, eating and studying together. No, no, no ,no no, no! Ugly bitch wasn't going to take her place. No one was going to foil her carefully made plans to marry Gio. She had to make another plan quickly to remove Nkiru from the picture. Having lost a bet of a tidy sum because she'd thought Gio and Nkiru wouldn't be seen together this semester, it was time to set the ball rolling. She'd break them up if it was the last thing she did.

**********

Nkiru woke up the following morning, stretched delicately, farted and yawned on her bed. She made the sign of the cross as she usually did to begin her morning prayers, murmuring them.

"Our father, who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from all evil. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you..."

Her gaze flickered to the foot of her bed as she turned. She nearly screamed in fright as her gaze rested on a big white teddy bear with a pink bow-tie around its neck. Beside it were wrapped gifts. Her prayers forgotten, she got up to inspect the gifts. She hugged the teddy and remembered seeing it at the window of one of the shops in school. She'd stared at it with longing. How had Hassana known about it? Had she told her? She couldn't remember doing that. She lifted the laptop-shaped handmade card. She opened it carefully and read the artistic legible handwriting. It was a poem.

Miss Hazel Eyes

She is of simple proportion,

She is humble and plain,

But her smile is like the morning dew,

She walks like the queen of the world,

Her voice is both sonorous and pleasant,

She has seen many happy days,

As much as she has experienced the sad moments.

She sings like an angel,

And the world bows to her words,

To me, she is an embodiment of perfection,

An inspiring aura revolves all around her,

Because she is a replicate saint,

Others may see her as just plain,

But she is amazing to me.

She is clever,

She is intelligent,

She is beautiful,

She is the one in my life.

*thanks Larrysun for the poem*
                       
Tears came to her eyes when she was through reading it. This was going to be her best birthday ever. Hassana was definitely the best friend on earth. Her phone buzzed just then. She lifted her Nokia phone from the bed. It was a text message from Gio. Why was he texting her this early? 

"Happy Birthday, Miss Hazel Eyes."

Nkiru's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. No way! Like seriously? How had...

Her incredulous eyes fell on her roommate who was lying on her back with one leg propped against the wall and the other dangling towards the tiled floor. Hassana always slept as if she was in a karate class. Nkiru walked slowly to tap her gently. Hassana peeped from one eye before opening the other. She stretched and yawned. Nkiru took a step back to avoid the bad morning breath. 

"Mene? Why have you decided to disturb my sleep? I was dreaming of Anthony. It was my wedding day. He was standing beside Ahmed and singing to me as I walked towards them in my wedding regalia." 

Nkiru giggled hysterically. After Gio and Nkiru hit it off, happy with her friend's relationship, Hassana had searched for someone else to stalk. She found Anthony, a music student. He was handsome but not as handsome as Gio. Hassana was always found in the music department listening to Anthony sing while playing the keyboard. His voice would make angels green with envy.

"You're the worst Muslim I've ever known. You watch too much telenovelas. I'll seize your laptop today," Nkiru warned with a finger in the air.

Hassana sat up and her beddings dropped to the floor. She stretched again and looked at the gifts with a smile.

"Explain this." Nkiru pointed at the gifts.

"What?" She was innocence itself.

"You told Gio, didn't you?"

"Of course I did. Since you chickened out like a chick sighting a hawk, I knew I had to tell him. I sent him a message and he replied that he knew. When you guys were having dinner, Tosin called me and I met him in front of the hostel. He gave the gifts to me and I hid them in Cynthia's room. When I was sure you were dead to the world, I snuck them in as requested," Hassana narrated with a satisfied smile on her face. "So enjoy the gifts. Lemme go back to sleep to continue that beautiful dream." She lifted the beddings from the floor and laid on the bed. She turned towards the wall and covered herself.

"By the way, happy birthday. May Almighty Allah continue to shower you with blessings. Ameen." She closed her eyes and prayed that the dream master, if there was one, would allow her go back to that particular dream. She would wake up later to say the Salat al-Fajr.

Nkiru smiled and shook her head. Hassana was so liberal a Muslim. She prayed her future husband wouldn't curb that natural aspect of her. She went back to view the gifts. There were three beautifully wrapped gifts. She lifted the first one and opened it. Wow! It was an Iphone. The second one was an exotic perfume by Chanel. The third was the one that totally blew her away. A brand new Acer laptop. Christ!

She rushed to her phone. These were just too much for a pretend girlfriend. She prayed inwardly that he felt the same way about her before dialing his number. Her heart beat faster at every ring. She lifted the phone from her ear and dialed it again when he didn't answer the call. She gripped her night gown hard as the phone rang again. She brought the phone down from her ear in disappointment when he didn't pick again. He sent her a text message.

"Busy. I'll see you later."

But she didn't see him later. She didn't see him in his lecture hall neither did she see him in his favorite reading hall. She began to get worried. Was he avoiding her? She had dressed carefully that very day just for him. Hassana had chosen a polka dot flared spaghetti gown with a small jacket for her to put on with wedges. She'd used makeup sparingly and for the first time in her life, that morning she had felt she looked beautiful but now she was in despair. She hadn't caught a glimpse of Gio all day despite the fact that he'd made the whole school know that day was her birthday by putting out a special request on the school's student radio and dedicating a song 'My girl' by The Temptations to her. Everywhere she went, people wished her a happy birthday. Every dog had its day.

Greeted like visiting royalty wherever she went, her joy knew no bounds. There were those who cast looks of aspersions at her and called her names to her hearing of course, but she wasn't bothered by them, she just wanted to see Gio and question him on why he'd been scarce all day and also why he'd put off his phone.

When lectures were over, a student in the Fine Arts department presented her with a painting, courtesy of Gio. She stared at it with watered eyes. The portrait made her look beautiful. She remembered vividly the day Gio had taken the snapshot. She had a hand on her jaw while the other rested on her opened notebook. She was staring out the window, lost in thought, a forlorn look in her eyes. She'd been thinking of a future with him that day and he had teased her that she was probably thinking of her baker's dozen children back home.

A smile turned the corners of Nkiru's lips. She just had to see him. Besides, these wedges were killing her. She wasn't used to wearing heels. She tried Fiorella's number but it was switched off also. She went to look for the petite beauty in her department. No one had seen her all day either. Nkiru decided to check on her in her room. She thanked everyone who wished her a happy birthday on her way there. She made the sign of the cross before knocking on the door, remembering Gio's sister didn't particularly like her. When she didn't get an answer, she tried the door knob and pushed the door open. 

Fi, on a Flamingo Pink Victoria's Secret lingerie was looking disheveled. Nkiru stifled a gasp at the unkempt appearance of the beautiful girl. She had her pillow propped against the wall with her legs drawn up to her chest. She was staring into space at the ceiling.

"Fiorella," Nkiru called as she stepped into the room. Fi brought her head down to look at her as if she wasn't there.

"Emmm..." Nkiru scratched her head. "I came to ask if you've seen...I mean heard from Gio today."

Fi turned and stared into space, ignoring her. When Nkiru stood there for about three minutes without any form of response whatsoever from Gio's sister, she decided to retrace her steps in embarrassment.

"You call yourself his girlfriend, you this gold digging tramp, yet you don't know what today means to him," Fi rasped.

Nkiru slowly moved away from the door. 

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself for calling him your boyfriend." Fiorella continued her tirade as tears she'd been trying to keep at bay moved down her eyes. "The woman you've replaced in his heart died six years ago today. It's our family's ritual to stay indoors all day and reminisce the good times. If you don't mind a spot of advice, give Gio a wide berth. You're not his type." Fi interposed sternly.

At that advice, Nkiru took an offended stance, her spine very straight, her chin lifting. She felt like dragging the mourning beauty to see all Gio got her for her birthday. Not his type indeed! Yet he had chosen her out of all the girls in the school to be his pretend girlfriend.

At that remainder, Nkiru's shoulders slumped. She felt as if a bucket of cold water was poured on her. Then the reason for Gio's absence penetrated her brain. While she had been feeling fly all over the school, the guy she loved was mourning alone in his room. Her face showed the misery she felt inside.

Fi tipped her head sideways to study her. She hadn't expected this sort of reaction from her. Maybe the tramp actually had feelings for her brother. Too bad because Gio would never be hers. She would personally see to that. Especially after the mistake she'd made. Since she wasn't happy, neither would Nkiru and her brother.

"Thanks for telling me." Nkiru said into the silence and had to forcefully tell her legs to move. She walked awkwardly to the door. She didn't remember how she left that particular hostel building to her own. Finally, Nkiru pulled herself together and discovered she was seated on her bed in her own room. How had she gotten there? Oh, boy, she must have walked liked someone in a trance.

Gio's mother, the woman he loved so much had died today of all days, six years ago. Her birthday! A day of joy to her was a day of sadness to him. The irony of life. She was numb for awhile before she made herself move to pick her phone. She called Tosin who told her he was in his lecture hall and would check on Gio later on. Nkiru had to wait till dinner time before Tosin called her back. She'd spent the rest of the day on her bed, thinking, before she'd dozed off. She'd woken up hungry before Tosin's call had come in. She pleaded with him to get Gio to meet her in front of the male hostels. Tosin promised to do his best. Nkiru dressed up in her best top and jean trouser with flat brown sandals after taking her bath. She wore the Chanel perfume and basked in its flowery fragrance. It made her heady. She walked briskly to the male hostels and ignored the cat whistles by the guys hovering in front of the hostels. Male and female students could be seen hovering and walking about there. Like a cat on a hot tin roof, she waited for her beloved.

The birthday girl lost her heart again to the guy coming towards her in black trousers, white shirt and a black jacket with his hands in his pockets. He was a sight for sore eyes. He stopped directly in front of her. Her breath came in short gasps. He was much too handsome for his own good. The streetlights accentuated his remarkable features. She put forth her left hand for him to take it. After a moment hesitation, he removed his from his pocket and placed it on hers. His hand was cold. She didn't say anything but led him to their favorite spot; the stone benches with dim gloves. They were lucky to find the place deserted. It was dinner time. They sat beside each other on one of the benches. Nkiru brought out a bar of snickers chocolate from her pocket, broke it into half and gave him a part. They sat there in companionable silence for awhile.

"Happy birthday. How was it?" Gio intoned quietly.

Nkiru sighed. "Thanks. It was beautiful. Would have been better with you though."

"I'm sorry. I was very busy."

"Busy mourning alone?" she asked and squinted her eyes at him. He moved his head to look at her with surprise in his eyes.

"Tosin," he whispered in fury.

"Nope. Fiorella. After throwing insults at me." Nkiru chuckled. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Gio let out a deep breath. "I didn't want to spoil your day."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Celebrate life, Nkiru. Death is nothing to be celebrated."

Nkiru put her hand on his jaw and turned his face to meet her gaze. "When you're happy, I'm happy. When you're sad, I'm sad."

Minutes ticked by as their eyes were locked on each other. Suddenly tears started streaming down Gio's eyes. She removed her hand from his jaw and placed it on his cheek. He lent into it.

"It's been six years yet it always seem like yesterday every year. She was beautiful. She was the most beautiful woman on earth to me. She brought so much joy to everyone she came in contact with. Apart from Dano, she was my best friend. I could tell her anything and everything. We spent hours talking to each other." He paused and tried to get a grip on his flaring emotions. "This particular anniversary is quite painful because she told me before she died that she had a feeling that this year, 2010 would be a significant year in my life. She usually said things like that when she was alive and most of them come to pass."

Nkiru nodded and moved. They were ensconced in each other's arms.

"What happened?" she questioned some minutes later.

"Cancer. That bastard lung cancer took her away at a time we needed her most."

"I'm so sorry." Tears rolled down her eyes as she tried to imagine life without her mother whom she loved so much.

"She could barely talk before her death. She was a shadow of her former self. My once vibrant and jovial mother was held in the tight grip of cancer. I really should have gone into the medical field to fight that evil spirit called cancer."

Nkiru removed her head from his shoulder and used her hands to wipe away his tears while he did the same to hers.

"It's okay, Gio. These things happen. God knows why He took..." Gio placed his lips on hers and time stood still as their lips fused and sparks flew. Nkiru had never been kissed before but it felt so natural for her to move her lips in rhythm with his. His mouth moved on hers with a soft, sensual pleasure, his tongue darting between parted lips, gently then fiercely plundering the hot, sweet interior in an erotic, wonderful kiss that quickly flared out of control. He swung her round into the circle of his arms and, with one hand braced to the shallow indentation of her spine to draw her close, he bent his head and kissed her parted lips some more.

Shock crashed through Nkiru and made her knees shake at that first breath-taking instant of sexual awareness. She had never been less prepared for anything and impressions hit her in a flood of overwhelming sensuality: the exotic tang of his designer cologne, the uncompromising strength and power of that lean, muscular body crushing her softer curves, the hard, demanding pressure of his erotic mouth on hers. And while at the back of her mind a voice was shrieking no and urging her to pull back, that this wasn't right, her body was singing entirely another song. There was a wildly addictive fire to the taste of him. She wanted more, she wanted so much more she trembled with the astonishing force of that wanting. His raw masculine passion sliced through her every defence and roused a surge of naked hunger within her. The plunge of his tongue into the sensitive interior of her mouth made her body tremble, while heat pooled between her thighs and her breasts swelled, pushing against the lace of her bra so that it felt too tight for comfort.

Gio finally wrenched his lips from hers to whisper passionately, "Be my girl. Be my girl for real, Nkiru. I don't want to live without you. You've taught me how to smile again. You're my Luna. Your moonlight has chased away the darkness in my life. I've been denying it but I can't anymore. Throughout today, I wanted to be with you, I wanted to share this day with you but I didn't want to ruin your day. Luna, I'm whipped. I've fallen hopelessly, passionately and irresistibly in love with you. Please be my girl for real."

Nkiru smiled through her tears and kissed him. "Yes. I'll be anything you want me to be because I love you too. You're my world."

Gio enveloped her in a bear hug. Nkiru felt giddy with joy. She felt like standing on the bench and shouting to the entire school her love for Gio. This was definitely the best birthday ever.

The one who loves an unsightly person is the one who makes him/her beautiful.

Ghen ghen really captivating. Thumbs up.

*********

As Ivie encountered Felix's stunning dark eyes her mouth ran dry, her every muscle so taut that she could hardly breathe as he studied her. Oh, God, no wonder he was the way he was, Ivie muttered. He lived a dog's life. Felix had just told her the sorry story of his life. How he'd spent the first five years of his life at an orphanage, ran away from there and roamed the streets for another five years before his foster parents had found him sleeping in front of their house in Calabar then. They'd taken him in and adopted him but he still didn't feel he belonged with them. It was the reason why he went round looking for where he'd fit in. A movie he'd watched a while ago relating to his life had showed him that what he needed was the genuine love of the opposite sex. That was the reason why he'd gone searching for that love which had unfortunately branded him a womanizer when all he had wanted and sought after was the love that would make him feel complete. He'd found that love in her. The first time he laid eyes on her during that church commotion, something in him had told him she was the one. He was done with searching for the right girl because he believed he'd found her. But when she kept rejecting him, he'd felt life wasn't worth living. If she would ask his friends, she would know they'd stopped him from taking his life when he'd gone back to school a broken man.

Tears made their way down Ivie's lovely face. When he'd seemed withdrawn and stopped chasing her a week before he left, she'd wondered if she'd made the biggest mistake in her life by rejecting him and castigated herself for listening to Obehi. She felt drawn to him like a drug addict to cocaine. Swallowing her pride, she'd gone to visit him when she heard he was home for the weekend to visit his mother who was feeling under the weather. Such a caring person couldn't be the heartless womanizer she'd heard him to be. He'd been cold to her at first in the living room but had eventually invited her to his room for privacy. Catching her hesitating, he'd asked her with a sad smile what could he do to her with his sick mother in the other room. In the room, seated on his bed while she seated on a white plastic chair, she'd asked him what was the problem and after keeping her mute for some tense minutes, he'd finally opened up to her.

She could relate with his story because she was an orphan too. Having never known her dad because according to her mother, he'd died a few months to her birth, she'd lived with her mother, a trader who dealt in tomatoes in Aduwawa in Benin City for eight years until a ghastly auto accident had taken her to the world beyond. She'd resided with neighbours until her childless aunt had come for her to take her to her marital home where she had experienced love before the untimely death of her aunt's husband due to a brief illness. Her aunt's in-laws had dealt with her aunt and called her a witch at different turns, accusing her of killing her husband and subjected her to barbaric mourning rituals. It had been a miracle that they had been able to flee the primitive village without being caught.

Like a drug-induced person, Ivie walked slowly to sit beside him on the bed before lifting his large dark hand and holding it in hers. With her other hand, she lifted his hung head and stared into those brilliant eyes of his.

"I...I was scared of the attraction I felt towards you that was why I kept rejecting you...coupled with the unimpressive things I'd been told about you. I..." she stammered to a stop and took a deep breath. "Yes...yes, I'm saying yes to a relationship with you. I'm not knowledgeable about such things but yes, I'll be your girlfriend. If you will still have me." A bright smile pushed itself forth on her tear-stained face.

You don fall mugu, silly girl. By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.

Felix lowered his eyes as he allowed more tears fall from them. He felt lack dancing 'Alanta' at that moment. It wasn't his fault that he'd had to put on the dog, she had been the one proving stubborn. Had he known plan Z was what would get her defenses falling like a plane from the sky, he would have employed it sooner. It had started with ignoring her, then going back to school for two weeks even though he hadn't felt like it and had held himself from communicating with her through Obehi since Ivie didn't own a mobile phone. In those two weeks, he'd starved himself to make sure he lost weight. With joy, he'd gotten the perfect excuse of coming home when his dad had told him his mother was down with malaria. Spreading the word around that he was back in Ubiaja just to see his sick mother, he'd passed by her house with Kenneth, making sure she saw him. Kenneth had been the one to tell him that shock had left her transfixed on her doorstep. Felix knew then that it was just a matter of time before she'd come looking for him and he'd perfected his orphan story. Getting a call from her through Obehi's phone hadn't come as a shock, the shocker had been her willingness to come to his house. He'd thought she would ask him to come over. Who was he to complain? When a man is coming toward you, you need not say: “Come here.” Beautiful! So he hadn't starved himself nor lied about his parentage for nothing. Plan Z was the bomb, it had worked like a charm. Not that he'd tried it before but he was going to continue using it to crack girls who were forming hard nuts. Learning the tricks of the trade in wooing girls some years back was definitely paying off.

Dating wasn't what he had in mind. He just wanted to do her a number of times and move on to greener pastures. There were a lot of girls waiting in the wings. But hey, one didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Half bread was definitely better than puff-puff.

Sugarcane is sweetest at its joint.


*To be continued tomorrow*

Hmmmmmmnm. ..........thanx for d update

Hmm...now i feel like falling in love. Jessica is a nut case...future husband ni,future b/f ko. Felix is such a hopeless womanizer,i pity ivie. Thanks ma'm Audrey for this wonderful story, can't wait for tomorrow to come.
By the way, i love your name,what does it mean please?

Beautiful update Audrey. Uwese, obhulu.

You are awesome, well done

Good job Audrey. God bless you

wow, ghostmood deactivated, tnx ma'am for sharing this wonderful piece with us...expecting mur #moreinspiration#

Wonderful...still anticipating how felix and gio are linked in this literary piece.

audrey you have a great talent as a writer i have followed most of your stories and i like them all, but this particular one is kinda deviating from the original way it started, because i visualize everything i read and am connecting with the characters but the way gio talk to his twin is not supposed to be so, it makes it so unreal and makes the story loose its originality, i don't believe in ghosts but i can attest to the fact that anyone talking to a ghost all day long is a nut job and a weirdo and its unreal for people to be drooling over a weirdo like that, so I'll appreciate if you hardly talk about dano, and that nkiru also seems unreal because even if shes a saint dont u think she should soften her stiff personality? She's from a poor home doesn't mean she cant dress fine, i recall hassana bought her some clothes shouldn't she Atleast look good, her poor could she be that she doesn't have any nice clothes but doesn't feel bad and behave like a robot without feelings, everyone wants the good things of life thats a more reason why she should accept gifts or help, i am a student and i can imagine the lives of people in a school setting, her character needs a little improvement, shes too unrealistic just like gio.

U ar such an angel Audrey, tnx 4 d updates

loveyP:
Hmmmmmmnm. ..........thanx for d update

You're welcome, dear.

Izyyblaze:
Hmm...now i feel like falling in love. Jessica is a nut case...future husband ni,future b/f ko. Felix is such a hopeless womanizer,i pity ivie. Thanks ma'm Audrey for this wonderful story, can't wait for tomorrow to come.
By the way, i love your name,what does it mean please?

You're welcome. Audrey means 'Noble strength'. (You made me go look it up) It's actually a pen name.

tijehi:
Beautiful update Audrey. Uwese, obhulu.

Eeeh! Meh hun.Obhulu too

CuteChiluv:
You are awesome, well done

Thanks dear

teeghurl:
Good job Audrey. God bless you

Thanks dear

Bb4u:
wow, ghostmood deactivated, tnx ma'am for sharing this wonderful piece with us...expecting mur #moreinspiration#

Thanks dear.

jaybiz007:
Wonderful...still anticipating how felix and gio are linked in this literary piece.

They are both drop dead gorgeous na. Just kidding. Keep your fingers crossed. Thanks dear