Good day people. I wrote this story in 2013, and it has been sitting in my hard drive since then. I decided to make a few changes here and there, and give it a proper ending and share here. It is a short story that I have divided into three shorter parts. It is a romance mystery story.

From Nigeria with Love: Part 1

By

Kayode Odusanya















 

© 2015 Kayode Odusanya






























 

Chapter 1
Abdul felt like emptying the bottle of water he held in his hand on his head. It was mid day, and he had to walk a length of about half a kilometer home from the bus stop. A couple of teenage kids rode past him on their bikes and he felt a wave of fresh air hit him; it was refreshing.

A pack of girls approaching him were whispering within themselves, and they all started giggling at the same time. They went silent as they passed by Abdul, and then started giggling again when they were a few feet away from him. His pretty boy face, with his hulking body always had that effect on women of all ages.

……….

He noticed Wole’s Mazda wasn’t parked at the usual spot as he walked into the compound. His guess was his friends had driven out to buy some liquor.

He took a long look at the duplex as he walked past it and laughed. Every now and then he and his friends would bring girls to the house, and it was funny how their expression would usually change when they found out the guys stayed in the boy’s quarters at the back of the house.
Of the two rooms at the back quarters; one was used as their bedroom, and the other as a living room. He used his right foot to move a pair of rubber slippers to the side as he turned the key to open the door of their bedroom. He was hit with a strong aroma of a sweet smelling air freshener mixed with cigarette smoke. The smell was very fresh, and he concluded that they couldn’t have been away more than a couple of minutes. He had pleaded with them to stop smoking in the room since his nasal track illness. He guessed Lawrence must have had one of his weirdo girls over again.

After carefully placing his bag in one of the wardrobes, he did a free fall on the mattress with his face to the ceiling. Just as he was about to get lost in thought, a knock at the gate and a simultaneous ringing of his phone made him sit up in bed. He reached in his pocket for his phone, and pressed the mute button before heading out.

“The Hulk is back!” Wole shouted out as Abdul let them in. “What’s popping Nigga!” He said and let out a little laugh; more at himself than anything. He was about 6’1, but his chubbiness made him appear shorter. His white t-shirt got caught by the metal bolt of the gate as he walked in and he got snagged back. He unhooked his shirt, and punched the gate twice before reaching out to greet his friend with a hand slap and a hug.

Wole had always been the funny one. Lawrence on the other hand was the weirdo. Without saying a word, he lifted his eyebrows in greeting at Abdul and walked passed him. “So, what’s up?” He said and started nodding his head like he was listening to rap music. He was the shortest, standing at about 5’8; dark skin, and a goatee that gave him an evil look. He reached into his pocket, pulled out a small bottle of Squadron rum and tossed it up in the air. Abdul caught it, slowly uncapped it and took a swig from it. He recapped it and threw it at Wole. Wole caught it, looked at the bottle with a smile, sighed and motioned with his left hand for them to walk to the backyard.
The main house and the boy’s quarters took up only half of the property’s land span, and the guys usually hung out and talked in the middle of the large backyard. That was the only place they could smoke in peace without Abdul getting on their nerves. “So, how did the meeting go?” Wole asked Abdul as he dumped his full weight on a plastic chair. The chair made a creaking sound, and his friends chuckled. “Did you see him?” Wole enquired with a frown on his face.
Abdul stopped laughing and sighed. “I saw him.” He said and took a seat next to Wole. He scratched his head a bit; confused on how to deliver the message he had brought back from his meeting with Mr. O. “He gave us two options; one not too dangerous, but with low returns. The other would help us with what we want to do, but very dangerous.”
“Hmm” Lawrence exclaimed, turned his head to the left, then to the right to reduce tension. He then started rocking back and forth in the old wooden chair he was seated in. “Skip the bullshit; just tell me about the dangerous one.”
Wole threw the bottle of squadron at Abdul. He caught it, took another swig, and squeezed his face. “You said we would need about 20 million Naira for that project, right?” He said, facing Wole.
“Yep!”
“Okay, this is how it goes. Mr. O said we would have to pull a “robin-hood.”
“What?” Wole asked, obviously not getting his friend. Lawrence smiled and kept his back and forth movement going.
“You never watched robin hood while you were kid?” Abdul said with a smile on his face.
“I guess I did, but…just tell me in plain English.”
“Simple,” Lawrence said, and cleared his throat before adding, “We take from the rich, and give to the poor.”
Wole looked from Lawrence to Abdul, back to Lawrence. Then he looked up in the sky, like that was where the answer was.
“He wants us to rob a bank for him.” Abdul said.

Chapter 2

“What?” Wole said in a low voice. “I know we have done dangerous things in the past, but this is…this is insane.”
Abdul smiled and crossed his arms. “The way he explained it to me, it will just be like picking up a package.”
“You spoke to MR. O himself?” Lawrence cut in.
“Yes. He said we would actually be helping a lot of people in the country with this operation.”
“I still don’t believe what I am hearing you say Abdul.” Wole said with a frown on his face.
“He said he had to know if we were all in before the full briefing.” Abdul said, facing Lawrence.
“The deal is fair enough.” Lawrence said. There was a toothpick bobbing up and down his mouth as he spoke now, and Abdul wondered if it was there when they first came in or maybe he had it in his pocket earlier.
“Where did you guys go?” Abdul asked after a brief silence.
“Shoprite…well, I can’t technically say we went to Shoprite. We went to a canteen beside Shoprite.” Wole said.
“For some Eba and things.” Lawrence said and they all laughed.

……….

Abdul had rushed off early the next day to get some things done in the mainland and when he got back, he met their house gate open. That rarely happened, unless they were sitting on Wole’s car outside, talking. Someone tapped his left arm as he stepped into the compound. He turned to the left but there was nobody there. He perceived female perfume and guessed who it was before he turned to the right and saw Bimpe, Wole’s girlfriend. She was a short, dark and thick girl that was always bobbling with excitement. Even with all the thickness, a coke shaped body was evident.
“What’s up handsome?” she said and gave Abdul a hug. She stood at 5’3, and Abdul was a complete foot taller than her.
“Hey! What’s up?” Abdul greeted with all smiles. She always lifted the spirit in the house whenever she was around and Abdul loved it. “So, what did you go out to get?” He asked as they disentangled.
“Salt.” She said, holding up a little paper bag of salt in her chubby hands. From the size of it, Abdul could tell that it was a 50 Naira pack. He knew that because he had bought that same size many times. It always amazed him how cheap salt was compared to sugar. “You guys really need a lady in the house.” She said as she throttled along.
“Are you trying to tell me something?”
“Wear it if the cap fits.”
“What?”
“Never mind” She said, not breaking stride.
“Very funny, I got you the first time.” Abdul said, standing there, watching her bounce along. All that weight, and she was so playful. He thought it was a good thing he was not attracted to her and vice versa; it would have made things difficult for them all.
He headed straight to the kitchen as he heard Wole’s voice coming from there.
“What’s up big man; how did your day go?” Wole said leaning on his girlfriend, who was sitting on the kitchen cabinet.
“Messed up” Abdul said and placed his left hand on the top chicken cabinet a few feet from his friend. Wole laughed out loud at Abdul’s response.
“Your bluntness amazes me at times.” Wole said in-between laughs. “Ahh!” He exclaimed. “What are you trying to do? Tyson me?” Bimpe had nibbled a bit too hard on his left earlobe.
“You really shouldn’t be laughing at something like that.” She said and then faced Abdul. “It’s all good, things always get worse before they get better.”
“Thanks.” Abdul responded with a smile on his face.
“Hmm! Bimpe, you’ve been reading all those motivational books haven’t you.” Wole said and turned around to get a better look at his girlfriend.
Abdul stood upright and did some swift shoulder movements to the left and to the right. “Where is Lawrence anyway?” He asked and started heading out of the kitchen.
“Hey!” Wole called at him, and wiggled out of his girlfriend’s arms to reach Abdul on time. “Lawrence is umm! Lawrence is kind of busy.” He said with a sly smile on his face.
“Great…just great; and you don’t have to tell me who will be the needing the other room soon.”
“Don’t worry.” Wole said with his mischievous smile on his face. “I don’t think we will need the room any longer today.” Abdul chuckled as he headed out of the kitchen.
“I think I need some fresh air…maybe I will even get a girl to bring back.” Abdul said; increasing the tempo of his voice as he passed by the room Lawrence was in. Wole caught up with him just as he was about to leave the compound.
“Hey, seriously, I feel bad. Maybe you should take the 626, and drive to the beach or something.” Abdul stood there, weighing the options. Then Wole added “You can stop over at The Palms Mall on your way back and get us some…” Abdul gave his friend a nasty look and walked off.
“I knew there had to be a reason for your generosity. Thanks, but no thanks.” He said as he slammed the gate behind him. Once on the streets, he decided to head to the estate park. It wasn’t far from their house. He always liked places with lots of happy people.

Chapter 3

Even for a weekday, the park was packed with people. Kids playing in the grass, while their parents sat close by. There was a basketball court to the left, and half naked teenagers ran around showing off more of their abs than their skills. Abdul headed straight to the bar. It was a hut, with space between the bamboo sticks and thatched roof, which made the bar very visible from outside. Because of his towering height, he could see the whole inside as he approached it. He liked to always appear in control at all times, so he walked in and headed straight to the corner piece he had picked out. He was shocked to see a teenage girl already at the table. It was too late to head in another direction, so he just walked up and took a seat opposite the girl.

They greeted with head nods and Abdul brought out his phone to check for any missed calls or messages. What puzzled him was the fact that the girl probably couldn’t be more than 18. He wondered what she was doing at a bar. She was scribbling something in a pad, and from time to time, she would read it under her breath. He placed his wallet on the table to claim ownership of the space, and went off to get a drink. Although it was a bit risky, and he could have just asked the girl to reserve the seat for him, he didn’t want to start up a conversation with her. He was sure she would watch it anyway.

He got back with his big bottle of Guinness Stout, and noticed her head was on the table now, like she needed some concentration. Her hair caught his attention. He had dated enough superficial girls to know a little about hair, and he noticed the girl had no attachments on; but the hair was not an ordinary black girl’s hair texture. Her head came up slowly, and he had enough time to avert his eyes. She started writing again; faster this time around like she had just gotten some wave of inspiration. Abdul poured himself a glass full of his beer and stole another quick look at her. She looked like a young Harley Berry.

“Nice shoes” she said and it startled Abdul. He didn’t know if it was her boldness or her accent that got to him. She had a little Spanish tone to her voice.
“What?” He asked, and looked at his own shoes. “Oh! Thanks” He said. He had on a pair of black converse all-stars sneakers that his sister had bought for him as a gift last Christmas. He looked up to be faced with a smiley face.
“I’m sorry; I just can’t help myself when I see someone with a nice pair of all-stars.” She said,with excitement in her voice.
Abdul looked down at her feet and nodded slowly.“I can see you also have on pair of all-stars.” He said with a smile on his face.
“Well, my mom got me this pink one a few weeks ago, but I really like darker colors.” She said, moving her right foot from side to side. Then she looked up. “I am more of a collector, but I haven’t seen yours before.”
“Well, they are the century edition; made for the 100 year celebration of Converse All-Stars.”
“WOW! That’s so cool.” She said, and looked at Abdul’s feet again. “So people have been wearing all-stars that long?”
“Actually, it started out being used by basket ball players back in the day.”
“Hmm! How come you know so much about all-stars?”
“I am a fan; and I think I am a research freak.”
“A what?”
Abdul laughed before answering her. He couldn’t believe he was having this talk. “I am a research freak. I read up anything and everything in my spare time.” The look on the girl’s face showed she wasn’t really concerned with what Abdul said he was. She just seemed happy that she was talking to someone that shared her interests. She had adjusted in her seat and they were now sitting face to face. What surprised Abdul was that she was not in any way shy talking to him; girls of her age would be blushing right now. Maybe she was a tomboy…or a lesbian. Then he thought if there was a difference between a tomboy and a lesbian.

After a couple of minutes of chit-chat, they both got back to what they had been doing before the conversation; the girl went back to her writing, and he was sipping his beer. All of a sudden, she looked up at him, and a little shy smile was evident on her face. Okay, now she is looking like a normal teenager, Abdul thought to himself.
“I need your opinion on something.” She said, and waited for Abdul’s response.
“Okay.” Abdul said.
“You don’t know me, so I guessed I would get an honest opinion from you.”
“Go ahead.” He said and leaned forward to hear what she had to say.
“First of all, do you like rap music?”
“I love it.”
“Good. I’m an aspiring rapper and I want you to give me your honest opinion on how…” she paused and laughed a little like she was nervous, then she looked serious again. “I want to rap for you, and I would like you to tell me what you feel.”
“Cool. I would love to hear you.”

“Okay.” She said and took a deep breath before going…”I’m sitting at the bar with a pen and a pad/I’m sane, but my friends say I’m lyrically mad/I’m a lyricist/I wanna go to the moon like a crazy physicist/but I’m the rap pugilist/murder every name you put on your favorite rapper list/I burst sixteen without a pause/and leave any rapper without a pulse/I had plans to take over the scene when I was a preteen/Now I’m sweet sixteen, mapping ways to be on your tv screen/dangerous like osama/with my lips I can blow you away like a lama/I win all races/and I can’t be racist/cos I’m all races/look at me and it’s like you see different faces/should have been in the 90s group, changing faces/dad wanted a son, so I act like one/a Nigerian girl, but pop’s is a Mexican don/tons of money in the bank, so I do this for fun…I’m…I’m…I’m out” she ended with a chuckle.

In a dumbfounded state, Abdul clapped slowly for a couple of seconds, buying himself enough time to juggle all she had just said. It was funny that in a space of 30 seconds, she had answered all the questions he had intended to ask her.
“That was incredible. I should introduce you to my friends, you would freak them out.”
“Freak them out? Like I’m a freak?” She said, as the smile on her face melted away, to be replaced with a puzzled look.
“No. No! I mean, you would freak them out like you are so good. Damn! I should have recorded that.” Abdul said, and restored the smile on her face.
“I’m so glad you feel that way. A lot of my peers don’t get me.”
“No great person was ever really understood by even their family, so know you are on the road to greatness.”
“Thanks. I’m glad you feel that way.” She said and looked at her watch. “I just came out to get some stuff for my mom, and thought I would use up a couple of minutes to write. I guess you can’t rush creativity.” She was up now, and Abdul thought he would have never guessed she was that tall. He gauged she would be at least 5ft11. “I’m Lilly.” She said with an outstretched hand. “I’ve seen you around before, so I guess I would run into you again” she added.
“You’ve seen me around before?” Abdul said with a shocked look on his face as he held on to her her hand longer than usual.
“Yeah! Who would miss someone as tall as you?” She said and smiled at him before turning around. She started for the door, and then quickly walked back. “Thanks again. So what do I call you?”
“Oh, sorry about that. I'm Abdul.”
“Okay Abdul, see you around.” She said and walked hurriedly out the bar.

:DMy buddy z getting z vibe back!!! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

MhizDherbee:
:DMy buddy z getting z vibe back!!! yayyyyyyyyyyyyyy

Yea...small small. lol!

Chapter 4

Abdul didn’t feel like staying around after she left, so he rushed his beer and left the bar minutes thereafter. He met her at the park’s gate as he was leaving.
“You’re still around?” He said as he approached her from behind.
She turned around startled. “Yes. I guess so.” She said with a smile. “My brother was meant to pick me up here, but I can’t find him anywhere and I can’t get through to him.” She said and started fiddling with her phone. She looked up again after a while and the worried look on her face slowly turned to a smile. She was about to say something but something behind Abdul had captured her attention. When he turned around he saw Lawrence, Wole and Bimpe smiling at him from inside the Mazda.
“Hello?” Lawrence waved at Lilly from the back seat. She waved back with a forced smile on her face.
Abdul thought he could talk Wole into dropping her off. “Excuse me a minute” he said and walked over to the car.
Just as he bent over to talk to them, Lilly shouted out, “Abdul, I’ll catch you later, my brother’s here.” She raced over to a black Ford SUV that was driving up behind them. Abdul turned around fast enough to catch her wave. He waved back and got into the Mazda with his friends.
……….
After dropping Bimpe off, the boys drove back to the house, parked the 626 outside their house gate and let loud music from the car fill the air as they talked about their future. Wole started throwing pebbles at a lizard on the wall and it just kept moving around in circles but never leaving the wall.
“I think we just have to be persistent and not give up.” Wole said “like this lizard…” he continued and paused for a second to suck in air before throwing another rock at the lizard “it just won’t leave the wall.”
Lawrence laughed and mumbled something under his breath. Abdul just smiled at Wole’s comment from where he sat on the boot of the car.
“Guys! Wake up.” Wole exclaimed. “Let’s think of something else to do…I am sure we can find another way to get that money.”
Lawrence took one long drag from his cigarette, squashed it on the wall, and let it fall to the ground. The bud landed in a puddle of water, and made a hissing sound. “We do have a plan…Mr. O’s plan.” He said, as he played with his mustache. Abdul nodded gently, but didn’t look up from his phone. He was seated next to Lawrence on the car’s boot, and Wole was standing opposite them.
“Come on! Let’s be realistic here.” Wole said, looking from Lawrence to Abdul, then back to Lawrence. “We aren’t criminals.” He said in a low voice.
“Yes, we are not. But we are rebels…and, as Mr. O explained, we would be doing the whole country a favor.” Abdul said, with his eyes still fixed on his phone.
“Then what exactly is the motivation behind the plan?” He enquired. When Abdul didn’t respond, he snatched his phone and ran off.
“Hey!” Abdul exclaimed and was about to jump off the car before something caught his attention. From the corner of his eye, he saw two cars approaching them from the right side of the street, at top speed. Wole also looked, and slowly got out of the way with a frown on his face. Lawrence sat up to get a better look at what was going on.

Their street was wide; every street in the estate was made that way. Occasionally, people took that advantage and drove past in top speed. A white Honda Accord and a black Toyota Camry were neck to neck, and the Camry got ahead of the Accord just as the cars drove past the chatting buddies. In the process of overtaking the Accord, the Camry went through a puddle, splashing them with filthy water.
“What the…!” Wole exclaimed and stood in the middle of the street with his hands in the air, facing the direction the cars had gone.

Lawrence and Abdul were laughing now as they examined the damage that had been done to their clothes. “On the contrary” Lawrence said with a smile on his face, “we might need drivers like that in the very near future.”

Keep it coming dearie!!

MhizDherbee:
Keep it coming dearie!!

From Nigeria with Love

Chapter 5

Abdul lay in bed, playing with thoughts of what was to come. Even though Wole had freaked out at the idea of the heist, with their gun handling skills from the past, he knew they could pull it off successfully with no causalities.

Power outage made him hiss and sit up in bed. He walked over to the wall and turned off the switch the CD player was connected to. Whitney Houston’s ‘where do broken hearts go’ had been playing on repeat for the last hour or so before the power cut. Although it was meant to be a sad song, it always made him feel good.

He looked out the window for a second before getting back in bed. Restless, with his face to the ceiling, he watched the fan blades lose speed; following one blade, round and round until it came to a stop. Dust had made the white blades appear brownish, and he thought he would have to take time out during the week to clean it.

He got off the bed again after a couple of minutes, and his phone fell to the fall. Apparently, it had been on his lap. He cursed under his breath and picked it up. That had been happening a lot lately, and he feared the phone would give up on him soon. He stood there, examining his Infinix phone, trying to remember why he had got out of bed and then he heard a knock at the gate. It sounded faint, and distant, and he wasn’t sure if it was his house gate. Then he heard it again. He was certain the second time around.

He checked his watch and concluded it couldn’t be his friends. They normally drove down to Bimpe’s house after church for lunch. They rarely got visitors, so he was wondering who it could be. It probably might be one of Lawrence’s wild ‘one-night-stands.’ Maybe she forgot her purse or something, he thought to himself.

He picked up the closest t-shirt he could find, and threw it on. The white top was an odd combination with the brown Ankara pants he had on, but he shrugged and walked out of the room. Abdul felt uncomfortable as he made his way to the gate, and found out he was wearing one of Lawrence’s tops. His muscles looked like they were going to rip the top to pieces any moment.

He opened the gate without asking who it was and saw a figure backing him. Wow! Nelly must have had this girl in mind when he made his Apple Bottom jeans, he thought to himself. She turned around, her hands folded across her chest, with an angelic smile on her face. She was about 5ft8, caramel complexioned, and the tight fitted jeans and t shirt she had on made her hour glass shape very visible.

“Hi? Sorry to bother you, but I …Umm! I kinda came to apologize.” She said in a low voice; taking her time to say every word.
“Apologize?” Abdul asked, with a puzzled look on his face. He was stunned both by what she had just said and by her beauty.
“Umm! Yes. My brother and I drove past here yesterday.” She said, motioning the movement of a car down the street with her right hand.
“Drove past here? I don’t get you.” Abdul said. He was so mesmerized by her looks that his brain couldn’t quite process what she was saying. He looked behind her and saw a metallic grey Ford Mustang parked, with the engine running.
“We kinda…or rather, I kinda splashed muddy…”
“Oh!” Abdul cut her off before she finished. “Now I remember.” He made a playful frown with his face, which quickly turned to a smile. “No problem. Shit happens.” He said and stepped outside the gate, staring at an old Peugeot 504 sedan car with tinted glass as it drove pass them.
“I could have come over to apologize right away, but there was someone in the middle of the road, looking really pissed.” She said and Abdul started laughing. “It definitely wasn’t you.” She added
“Don’t worry, he was just being overdramatic.”
“So…where are the rest? I would like to apologize to you all.”
“They’re not home right now. But I’ll pass the message to them when they get back.”
“Are you guys’ like brothers or something?”
“No. We are friends; very good friends. I guess you can call us brothers.” He said. He was thinking of inviting her in, but he didn’t know how she would react to the offer. He noticed the Peugeot had slowed down a few meters from where they stood, and when he looked at it, the driver slowly drove away. He turned his gaze back to the beauty in front of him, but so many thoughts were running through his mind and he couldn’t come up with something to say to her.
“Okay. So…what’s your name?” She asked.
“Oh! Yea, sorry, my name is Abdul.” He said with an outstretched hand. She shook his hand with a smile on her face. “My name is Mariam. I actually stay down the street.” She said, pointing to her left. “But you know it’s a very long street.” She added.
“Yea, it definitely is. It should probably be called a road…or a drive or something.”
“Do you mind if I have your number.” She said very fast.
“Not all.” Abdul said and collected her phone to punch in his number. “My phone is inside the house, so I will call my number from your phone, and store it later.” He added.
“Okay, cool.” She said. She was checking him out as he punched in the numbers into her phone and she quickly looked away when he raised his head.
He put the phone to his ear for a few seconds before saying, “Yep, it has gone through. I will store your number when I get back in. You are Mariam, right?” He said as he handed her the phone.
“Yes. And you are Abdul?”
“Yes.” He answered with a charming smile on his face.
“Okay. Please don’t forget to tell your friends I said sorry…especially your ‘over-dramatic friend’” She said with a comical look on her face. Abdul laughed lightly, and as he watched her go, wishing she could stay and keep him company. And just like she read his mind, she turned around and started walking back towards him.
“I still feel a pint of guilt in me.” She said with a smile forming on her face. “I’m sorry if I appear weird.”
“It’s okay.”
“Can I take you out for a drink or something?” She said. He didn’t see that coming, so he was quiet for a while. “It’s just this bar I like to go every now and then. Please don’t think I plan to kidnap you.” She said with a little laugh.
With a smile on his face, he said, “It’s cool. I’ll just go in and change.”
“Please don’t; I love what you are wearing.” She said.
Abdul took a long look at what he had on. “Are you sure? You don’t have to be polite.” He said.
“No. I’m serious…I like the combination.”
“Okay.” He stared into space for a few seconds before adding, “I’ll just run in and grab my phone then.”

Mariam and Abdul, hmmm, sounds cool...



Following!

Chapter 6

The inside of the car was pure leather and wood; leather upholstery, and wood dashboard. She caught his eyes on a can of Red Bull on the car’s bottle holder and smiled. “Yea, that’s what I had to take before I could sum up enough courage to walk up to your gate.” She said. Abdul just smiled but didn’t say anything. “Now you see why I’m so hyper.” She added.
“Hmm! Hyper.”
“Let’s just say I wouldn’t have invited you for a drink if I was just me.”
“Are you trying to say…” Abdul was saying and got cut off.
“No. Don’t get me wrong, you’re hot. Ahh! What am I saying?” She said and hit her forehead with her palm. “What I mean is that I…I am a very reserved girl. I keep to myself a lot.”
“That’s interesting. Tell me more.” Abdul said and shifted in his seat.
“Hmm! Let’s get to the bar.”
“Okay.”

……….

She parked the car on the other side of the road from a cream colored two-storey building that had a lot of tinted glass work here and there. She killed the engine and turned to face him before saying, “It’s actually a hotel, but I really like their bar section.”
“Oh! Cool.”
“I used to come here with my little brother, but he is not in the country anymore.” She said and stared into space for a couple seconds before slowly pulling the key out of the ignition. “Okay. Let’s go.” She said with a smile.

They got out of the car and she led the way as they walked through wide opened gates to the back of the building. Abdul thought it was strange there was no security guard at the gate.

The outside bar was at the back of the hotel building, with about a dozen palm trees running on either side of the length of it. There was an elevated platform close to the left wall, where a band would probably play on special nights. The place was scanty with just a few occupied tables, and service girls with red t shirts on cramped together talking and laughing at a little shed at the extreme end of the bar.
She looked behind at him and smiled as they approached a table. “Thanks for accepting my invitation.”
“Well, I am happy I did. I love the place.” Abdul said as he took the seat opposite from hers. One of the service girls was approaching their table now and she leaned forward to ask him what he would like to drink. He said Guinness stout, and she smiled and said she drank the same brand. She placed the order, and the waiter disappeared. She was back in about 5 seconds and Abdul and Mariam had to laugh at the speed of service. Abdul guess she probably was in a hurry to get back to her gossiping clique.
“So, what do you and your friends do?” She asked after taking the first sip from her glass cup.
“Well…Umm! We are job seekers for now.”
“How long have you been home?”
“After national youth service, I would say…8 months.”
“Hmm! That’s kind of long.”
“Yea, but we are actually planning to set up a business, that’s why we have been a bit relaxed about getting a regular job.”
“Cool. So…what’s up with the business?”
“Mmm! We are kind of having some problems starting off.” He said before taking down half the content of his glass cup.
“Let me guess; finance?”
“Yep!”
She looked up in the sky for a while before answering. “This is just my opinion, but I don’t think money should stop you from starting off any business.”
Abdul looked her straight in the eye. “As you said, it’s your opinion.” He said. She smiled and took a sip from her cup. The foam smeared her upper lip, and she licked it off with her tongue. Abdul found the gesture very sensual.
She stared straight at him for a while, with an expressionless look on her face, and then she said, “Okay, let me put it this way; there should be a couple of things you can do to get that money.”
“What? Oh! Okay.”
“There’s got to be some skill or talent that you posses that you can exchange for money.”
“Hmm! I don’t know, maybe if you know me a little longer you can help me in recognizing that.” He said and twisted his neck to one side then the other. “I guess there should be, but the money we need is really huge.” He added
“Do you smoke?” She asked.
“What? Is there a smoking contest coming up?” He said and laughed, but she didn’t join him.
“No. But I am weighing the options of making you my next boyfriend, and I am just trying to get some facts.” She said with a straight face. Abdul got a bit uncomfortable, and shifted in his seat.
“So…” He started to say but his voice trailed off.
“I actually wanted to offer you a cigarette.” She said and took another sip from her glass.
“Oh! I don’t.” He said and laughed out of relief that she was just joking with her earlier statement. “I get it, you were just being…” he was saying and his voice trailed off again when he saw that she still had a straight face. He took a sip from his glass cup and leaned back in his seat. He looked her straight in the eye, and after a couple of seconds, she burst out laughing. He didn’t join her, it was his turn. After a while, he just smiled.
“I’m really sorry I did that to you; I guess it’s still the Red Bull kicking in, I really am not like this.” Abdul just shook his head with a smile still on his face.
“So…do you smoke cigarette?” He asked her.
“No. But I carry a pack of cigarette around.” She said and leaned forward “but it is not actually tobacco in them.” She added and winked.
“That’s interesting.” He said with a puzzled look on his face.
She leaned even closer and put her index finger on her lips before saying, “It’s weed.”
“How’s that possible?”
“I have this young dude opposite my house.” She said and started going through her bag. “So…do you smoke weed?” She said, with a mischievous smile on her face as she held up a stick of cigarette.
“If I am smoking it with you, I am game.” He said and took a long look at her as she lit the thing. “My friends would really love to meet you.”
“Why?” She asked, as she took two quick drags from the weed to help the flame catch on.
“Well, because they smoke a lot of weed.”
“Well I don’t smoke a lot of weed. I just smoke enough to keep me sane.” She said, and exhaled. The weed aroma hit Abdul and he couldn’t believe he was actually about to smoke weed with a girl he met a couple of minutes ago. She smiled at Abdul and took another drag. “That’s actually why I come here.” She said and passed the cigarette-weed to Abdul . He took it, examined it with a smile and took a quick drag before returning it to her. It was dark now, and apart from the red light bulbs attached to the palm trees, there was no other source of light at their section of the bar. He could hardly see her face.
“My lover actually showed me this place a couple of years ago. She was really a crazy girl.” Mariam said and smiled.
“You said she? Do you mean…?” He said, stopping halfway.
She laughed a little bit before answering. “Don’t worry, I’m not a lesbian. Or I’m no longer one. In fact, I never was. I kinda just experimented.”
“So what did you discover?”
“I discovered that there’s nothing like a man’s touch.” She said and smiled at him letting her smile say more. Then she cleared her throat before talking further. “I really don’t like to bullshit; I like getting straight to the point, so I am going to say it the best way I can.” She said and picked up her glass cup with the same hand that had the weed, took a sip and placed the cup gently on the table, then looked directly at Abdul before saying, “I like you.”
Abdul didn’t say anything. He was trying to figure out if she was playing around again. She dropped her glass cup, took another drag from the weed before passing the weed to him.
When Abdul didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, she spoke. “I really am not like this; but I guess you have this magic the way you bring me out of my shell.” She said and gave Abdul a look that said- ‘I’m serious’.
“Well, that’s interesting.” He said and took a drag from the weed before passing it back to her.
“I’m not saying I want you to take me as your girlfriend or anything like that…hell, we just met today.” She said and laughed and coughed a little. Left over smoke in her lungs choked her. She kept quiet for a while then cleared her throat. “I don’t care if you have a girlfriend. You don’t owe me anything. I just would like to be able to see you every now and then…you know, come over and just hang out.”
“That’s no problem.”
“I bet you are going to tell your friends the minute you get home that a girl asked you out.”
“I am not going to lie and say I won’t.” Abdul said and they both laughed.

End of part 1

Story continued here- https://www.nairaland.com/3968520/nigeria-love-part-2-romance#59173187