I will start posting in a bit, but if you haven't read part 1, this is a link to it...https://www.nairaland.com/3926881/nigeria-love-part-1-romance

From Nigeria with Love: Part 2

By

Kayode Odusanya






 

© 2015 Kayode Odusanya



















 

Chapter 1
Abdul got back from his early morning run and his friends were still sleeping as usual. It always made him feel good whenever he got up before every other person in the house and actually did something productive.
Lawrence opened his left eye and from where he lay on the bed and said “How was your run?”
“Cool.” Abdul answered as he bent down to unlace his tennis shoes. “You usually lie down awake like that?” He added.
“I like to plan my day mentally before getting up.” He said and sat up. “So when do we leave for the beach?” He added.
“Probably around 11 a.m.” Abdul said as he took off his shirt and pulled out a sky blue towel from the wardrobe. “Mariam would be here around 10:00a.m with a couple of her friends.”
“Female friends?”
“Of cos! What did you expect?”
Wole rolled over from where he lay on the mattress, wide eyed. “Did you guys just say females are coming around?” He asked.
“Yes. But not for you Mr. Married man.” Lawrence said and hit him on the head with a pillow.
“Hey guys, I’m not married yet. And besides, Bimpe isn’t going to be around.”
“You’re such a jerk.” Abdul said as he walked out of the room.
“Guys! Can’t a brother have some fun anymore?” Wole said as he stretched and got into a sitting position. “What’s the time anyway? I think I better go freshen up.”

……….

At about a quarter past 11 am, they were ready to move. Two cars were parked in front of the house; Wole’s Mazda 626, and Mariam’s red 2010 Dodge Charger. Mariam came with friends that looked very much alike, and seemed too loud to even be associated with her. She had introduced them as Ngozi and Chioma. They were light skinned beauties with identical body shape; big boobs, slim waists, and flat butts. The three girls were dressed alike; bum shorts and clingy white t shirts.

As they all sat on worn out plastic chairs in compound to make their final plans for the beach trip, it was like they had been friends forever the way they joked around.

When they finally walked out of the compound, the girls separated themselves for a minute for some girl talk, and then Mariam walked back to Abdul’s side. “So I and my friends were talking, and they say they want to ride with Wole and umm…damn! I’m always forgetting his name.”
“Lawrence.”
“Yea, Lawrence.” She said, and put up a smile. “Please, don’t tell him I forgot his name.”
“No big deal. So, are we all set now?” Abdul said out loud. They all echoed a big YES! Mariam turned around to look at her friends getting into Wole’s car as she and Abdul stood by her car. He stole a look at her. There was nothing exposed, but the way the t-shirt clung to her upper body made his imagination run wild. She turned around and handed Abdul the car keys before heading to the passenger’s side.
Wole had gone in to get the camera, and when he got out, he stood in the middle of the road, trying to figure out how the sitting arrangement would be. Abdul walked up to him. “The two girls and Lawrence are rolling with you.” He said to his friend.
“Hmm! So you get to ride alone with Princess Allura, right?”
“Very funny; I’ll catch up with you guys at the beach.”Abdul said and tapped Wole on the shoulder before walking back to the Dodge Charger.

Chapter 2

“Are you going to go any faster or what?” Mariam said and let out a muffled groan.
“What? You want me to go faster than this?” Abdul said with a laugh. “I’m doing…” He stopped mid-sentence and bent his head a little to get a clear look at the speedometer. “…I’m doing 100 kilometers an hour. I think that’s fast enough.” Mariam bent over to look at the speedometer, and he revved up the engine a little. She laughed at his gesture.
“Dude, that’s not 100, that’s like 75.” She laughed some more.
Abdul looked at her and smiled. I'm so happy to have you in my life right now, he thought to himself.

……….

Parked side by side at the parking lot of a Mall on the way to the beach, Abdul, Mariam and their friends gathered around each other as they quickly concluded on what they were going in to get. Soft drinks, liquor, fast food, plastic cups, ice cubes, and straws were all on the list.
They were engulfed by a crowd of weekend shoppers as they made their way into the mall, and at some point, Abdul found himself walking side-by-side with one of Mariam’s friends. “So, what are you like 7 feet tall?” She said, looking up at him.
He laughed a little before answering. “If I was, I probably would have to bend over while passing through this.” He said, signaling to the metal bar that was directly above them at the entrance of the store they were walking into. She looked up at what he was talking about, and then as she once again looked his way, their eyes met and locked for a split second. She had long eye lashes fixed and the blue contacts she had on gave her an enchanting look. “I’m 6 ft 4 inches.” Abdul said to break the ice.
“That’s tall.” She said and tried to measure where her head reached on his body. He was sure he couldn’t recall her name, so he did his possible best not to have to call her by name during their conversation together. After a while, her friend came over and pulled her away, and Abdul let out a sigh of relief.
On their way back to the car, Abdul remembered that he had forgotten to buy batteries for the camera and rushed back in to get them. He was half way through when he noticed he was holding the car keys. He ran back to Mariam, handed her the keys and kissed her on the cheek before dashing back in.
He got the batteries and was rushing out of the store when he collided with a little boy of about 3 years old. He actually hadn’t seen the kid at all, and knocked him to the floor. Tears rolled down the boys eyes before the loud cry came.
People started turning around to see what had happened and he felt so embarrassed. He was in a crouching position now, consoling the kid, trying to make him stop, and wondered where the mother or whoever brought the little boy to the mall was. Then a figure appeared in front of them with flip flops, and faded jeans on. He looked up and saw a tall teenage girl with her face hidden underneath a face cap. The girl bent down before he could stand. “Did he run into you?” She asked, her face on the same level with Abdul now, but he still couldn’t see her properly. She had on a navy blue tank top with 'MASTERMIND' written across the chest in white prints. “I was actually trying to get him to stop running around the mall; I didn’t know he had come this far.” The boy stopped crying, held her leg, and beat Abdul on the shoulder twice before the girl pulled him away. “Stop that.” She said and laughed a little. Abdul stood and she did the same thing. “Hey…” She said and moved her cap backwards in one swift motion.
Abdul recognized her immediately. “Yea, the rapper right?”
“Yea! Actually my name is Lilly. And you’re Abdul, right?”
“Yea.”
“Umm! Sorry about the little episode with my cousin.” She said and ruffled the little boy’s hair.
“I have to confess though, I actually bumped into him.” Abdul said and watched the little boy look from him to Lilly and back to him, probably wondering why they were smiling at each other.
“So, you came to shop?” Abdul asked.
“Yea, I had gotten everything I came for, but my cousin decided to play hide and go seek around the mall.” She said and smiled. “Maybe it wasn’t that bad after all; at least it led me to you.” Abdul just smiled and nodded. “My mom s probably…” She was saying and caught sight of a lady waving at her. “I better go. I guess I’ll run into you again some time.”
“Yes.” He said and watched her walk towards the lady that appeared to be her mom. He took a wild guess and concluded the mom would be somewhere in her mid forties. She was slender and tall like Lilly, and looked smart in the blue Ankara skirt and blouse she had on. He was about to turn around and start heading out when he saw them walking towards him. The little boy was pulling them back and Lilly's mom picked him up in one swoop.
“Hi?” The lady said as she dropped the kid and extended her hand at Abdul. He shook it and nodded. “I’m Lilly’s mom.” She said and smiled at her daughter in approval of her new friend. “She tells me you are some sought of music producer.”
“Mom! I didn’t say producer.” Lilly said with a frown on her face.
“Pleased to meet you Mrs…” Abdul said with a smile.
“Toledo.” She said with a wider smile.
“I said he is a rap enthusiast mom.”
“Oh! You know I don’t understand all what you be talking about sometimes.” She said using a little Ebonics in her speech, and then she turned to Abdul again. “I’m actually fascinated that anybody would pick an interest in her dreams. She says you think she’d make a good rapper?”
“Yes. She is one of the best females I’ve heard rap in a while now.” He said and looked at Lilly as the smile on her face turned to a blush. “I think with a little assistance, and guidance, she can actually make a career out of this.”
“Hmm! That’s interesting. Can I have your number? You need to stop by our house for lunch sometime.” She said as she went through her bag. “Her dad would love to meet you." She said and handed Abdul a Blackberry phone. As Abdul collected it from her, the little boy kicked Abdul on the leg.
“Hey! Daniel!” Lilly exclaimed and pulled her cousin aside.
“Don’t mind my little nephew; he is a little too playful.” She and waited for Abdul to finish typing his number. “So, your name is?”
“Abdul. I stored my name on your phone as Abdul Lilly. Hope you don’t mind?” He said turning to Lilly. “I tried saving it as ‘Abdul, Lilly’s Friend’ but that was too long.”
“Hmm! That’s cool. Just put a hyphen between the two names, I will get it better that way.” Mrs. Toledo said, still smiling.
“Okay.” Abdul said and quickly made the change on the phone before handing the phone over.
“We got to go now; I’ll definitely give you a call.” She said and walked off with a smile. While Lilly also smiled at him, the little kid made a face at Abdul and attempted to stomp on his feet before Lilly pulled him away and carried him off, laughing.

Abdul stood still for a few seconds as he watched them walk away, and then realizing where he was meant to be, hurried out of the store.
They were all leaning on the Mazda when he got out. Wole asked him if he had gone in for his ICAN exams and everybody laughed.

Chapter 3

The view of the beach is a true testament that the earth is spherical, he thought to himself as he looked at the horizon ahead of him. They had all changed to beach wares and Abdul had his jogging shorts and a white t shirt on. Mariam emerged from the tent and shouted out Abdul’s name. He turned around fast enough to see a can of Guinness Stout flying his way. He caught it and frowned at her. “Nice reflexes.” She said as she walked up beside him.
“What did you expect?” Abdul said and made a macho pose, showing off his rippling biceps.
“Oooh! Sexy.” She said and chuckled. He opened the Guinness and took a quick swig from it. She turned to face him and lifted her dark shades before saying “Let’s take a walk.”
“Okay.”He said and turned to face the tent, signaling to his friends that he would be back soon. Lawrence winked at him and Wole made a face he couldn’t interpret. He hastened his pace to catch up with Mariam and put his arm around her waist from behind. She moved in closer on him, and their movement became a rhythmic sequence.

Abdul looked back after a while, and gauged they had walked up to half a kilometer from the main beach and decided to stop. She sat on the sand, and he did the same. They kept talking, and he was surprised they had so much to talk about.

Mariam picked up a black sea shell and dusted off the sand from it; Abdul took it from her, checked it out for a couple of seconds and then handed it back to her. She was telling him how she and her mom owned a clothing line, and called out the name hoping that he would know it. He shook his head, and she continued. She told him how they had a small factory in china, where most of their clothes were made. Abdul was surprised and said he and his friend were actually planning something similar, but working on using Nigerian labor instead.

She started taking off her top, and Abdul wanted to protest, but held back. Then he realized she had on a bra top beneath her t shirt. She placed the t shirt around her neck and looked ahead. Her cleavage hung halfway out of her bra top and it got him aroused instantly. He looked away and tried to control his urge. Even though they had been seeing each other for a couple of weeks now, he just realized he had never seen this much of her body before.
“Are you trying to seduce me?” Abdul asked after a long awkward silence.
She turned to face him and laughed lightly. “If I want you to do anything to me, I would ask you directly.” She said and winked “But now that you brought it up.” She said and took off her shades. “I think I’d like you kiss me right now.”Abdul smiled and looked away. After a few seconds of silence, he turned to look at her again and saw in her eyes she was serious. He slowly moved in on her, she met him half-way and their lips locked. She plunged in deeper into the kiss, forcing Abdul to arch his back. It was sought of like she was on top of him now and in one swift move, he manipulated her, so he was on top. Then he gently laid her back to the ground, without breaking the kiss.
Abdul’s hands caressed her bare back and every other place his hands could reach as they kissed passionately. At some point, the waves brought in water closer than usual, and it touched their toes. Mariam pulled back from the kiss and laughed a little, before locking lips with him again. His hand started fumbling with her bra strap and then she pulled back sharply. “Stop!” She said and rolled out of Abdul’s grasp. “Naughty boy.” She said with a playful frown on her face and it made him laugh.

Chapter 4

Mr. O had called earlier about their meeting later in the day. He let them know he would call again with the specific details and location for the meet, so everybody stayed in, waiting for the call. They were in their living room playing scrabble. The room windows were opened as power was out, and a streak of sunlight illuminated the room. A phone started buzzing, and everybody went alert. It was Abdul’s phone, and it was an unfamiliar number.
“Hello?” He said and waited for a response. His friends stared at him, trying to guess if it was Mr. O from his facial expression.
“Hi? This is Mrs. Toledo, am I speaking with Abdul?”
“Yes.” He answered, but didn’t know who it was. Then it hit him. “Hey! How are you doing ma?” He said enthusiastically.
“I’m okay. You know who you are talking to, right?”
“Yes. How is Lilly?”
“She’s doing fine. Actually, she’s standing right next to me, making sure I don’t say anything out of place.” She said and laughed lightly. “So…I really don’t know what you do, but I guessed since today was a public holiday, you’d be home.”
“Yes, I’m home.”
“Good. We want to invite you over for that lunch we talked about.” She said and paused for Abdul’s reply. Abdul thought about the bad timing and looked at his friends. Wole had a frown on his face, and Lawrence just gazed at him with a blank facial expression.
“Oh! Umm! Okay, when?”
“Now; I mean, at least in like an hour, if you don’t have anything doing at the moment.”
“Okay.”
“Good. I’ll give the phone to Lilly so she can give you directions.” She said and there was silence for a couple of seconds before Lilly came on.
“Hi?” She said, sounding excited. “Can you get a pen?”
“Give me a minute.” He said and bent down to the game of scrabble. “Okay, I’m ready.”
“Number 14, Salisu street; It’s off the road from the park. You know, the park road…it is actually called park road.” She Said and chuckled.
“Yep! Got it.” He said and put a full stop at the end of the address he had written on the pad in front of him.
“Okay. So how long before you get here?”
“Hmm! Let’s just say about half an hour.”
“Okay. Cool. We’ll be expecting you.”
“Okay.” Abdul said and hung up.
“Dude, don’t tell me you are going off to visit someone right now?” Wole barked out.
“Relax. It will just be a couple of minutes.” He said and tore out the small part of the notepad he had written the address.
“Come on! Who is this Lilly girl anyway?” Wole enquired.
“She’s the girl we saw with him at the park the other day.” Lawrence said with a smile on his face.
“What? Hulk, have you lost your mojo?” Wole said with a frown on his face. Abdul laughed, turned around and started leaving the room. “I’m just helping her out with something.” He said as an afterthought.
“Yea, you don’t have to tell us that.” Wole said.
“Abdul.” Lawrence called out before he made it out of the room. “How long will you be gone?”
Abdul paused and held the room door open for a couple of seconds before saying, “A few hours; but if the call comes in before I get out of there, you guys would have to come get me.”

Fire on.. Following tentatively

Rahmoney:
Fire on.. Following tentatively

Thanks. Next chapter coming up by 8:15pm tonight.

kayo80:


Thanks. Next chapter coming up by 8:15pm tonight.

Time check: 20:39

Chapter 5

He heard dogs barking as he knocked on the gate. The cab made a u-turn, and the fumes from the exhaust got into Abdul’s face. He wondered how a beat-up cab like that could be operating in the estate. The house gate was really high, and he couldn’t see much from outside. He heard footsteps, and then the gate opened slowly. Lilly had a pink skirt and white sleeveless blouse on. He was sure this was the closest he had seen her resembling a girl. They exchanged greetings, and he asked why she didn’t ask who it was before opening the gate and she said she had already seen him from the surveillance camera monitor before coming out.

The inside of the house was nothing like what he expected from outside looking in. He stepped into the main house to a long corridor, and then another corridor to the right which was side by side with the living room, but separated by a long glass door. The corridor was dimly lit with blue light bulbs, but the living room had white bulbs all over.
“Thanks for coming, I really appreciate it.” Lilly said as they made their way through the corridor.
“I appreciate you guys inviting me over.”
“My dad would be down in a minute.” she said as she slid the sliding glass door and ushered him into the living room. “But my mom…” she was saying before getting cut-off.
“Hey! You’re here?” Lilly’s mom said with a smile on her face, approaching from the other end of the spacious living room. She had on a white apron and looked like someone you would see in a TV commercial for a new Noodles brand. “Good. I like people that keep to time.”
“Good afternoon.” Abdul greeted with a slight bow. He made sure not to add ‘ma’ to his greeting this time around because he had sensed displeasure in her voice when he used it while speaking to her on the phone earlier.
“How are you doing?” she asked Abdul with a genuine smile on her face.
“I’m doing okay.”
“That’s good; Lilly will keep you company till the meal is ready. That’ll be in about…10.”
“10 what mom? Minutes or hours?”
“Of course, minutes. I was just trying to be a little funky, you know.” she said and turned around to head to the kitchen. It was like a long hall; you had the living room, then an elevation of about 2 feet before the dining, then another 2 feet elevation before a 5 feet demarcation that separated the kitchen from the living and dining areas. The demarcation was made of thin roles of mahogany wood that ran from one end and stopped few feet from the wall on the other end; the space between where it ended and the wall served as an entrance to the kitchen. The thinly sheeted wood which were held together by some sort of binding left wide enough space between each individual wood piece to see through, but not wide enough to make out what was on the other side.
“Come on, I want to show you my CD collection.” Lilly said and pulled Abdul up from where he was seated. They walked to the other end of the living room where a hi-fi system stood in place. It was to the far right corner, and the TV was at the other extreme end. Abdul thought it was a funny arrangement. She opened the glass doors that housed the stereo. The first CD that caught his attention was a Nas CD titled ‘Street's Disciple.’ The cover had the rapper, Nas dressed in a traditional African Attire having supper on a long table with different other Nas’s in different westernized outfits representing the twelve disciples. The setting was obviously a play on Leonardo Da Vinci’s last supper painting of Jesus and his twelve disciples. But Nas’s concept had a deeper message.
“The rest are in my room; these are just the ones I listen to constantly.” She pressed a button on the sound system, and it made a rotating sound. Then here was silence for a while before a beat came on, followed by rapping.
“One minute; I’ll be right back.” she said and ran out the room. Abdul picked up the remote and took the track back to the beginning. Just when he was getting into the spirit with words from Kendrick Lamar, he heard a loud laugh, then some words in Spanish. On the other side of the glass wall was Lilly and a Man; a big muscular brown skinned man.
As they approached him, he heard Lilly say some words in Spanish and the man replied her and a big smile came on her face. Abdul was already up from where he was seated as a sign of respect.
“Welcome to my home young man.” the man said in a Mexican accent. His voice was deep and it reverberated through the room. He focused on the man’s dressing as they shook hands. He thought it was awkward that a Mexican man would be dressed in Yoruba Aso-Oke. The thick brown fabric actually looked nice on him, Abdul thought to himself.
“Thank you sir.” Abdul said with a slight nod of the head.
“Lilly told me you know about music?”
“Yes sir.”
“I’m happy to see someone that understands our little angel. But my heart would be happier if you were a suitor.” He said with a smile. Lilly playfully hit him on the shoulder and they exchanged some words in Spanish before the man faced Abdul again.
“So, what do you think of my little Lilly here?” He said and turned to look at his daughter. “I mean, with her music thing.” He added.
“I think she can make it big as a rap artist. She just needs a little support and dedication.”
“Hmm! Support… what kind of support?” He asked with all focus, and Abdul wasn’t sure, but he could sense the man was scrutinizing him in some way. He could feel a little air of distrust, although he tried to hide it.
Abdul briefed Lilly’s father on all the moral and financial support Lilly would need. He hardly asked questions during the discussion; he just nodded in agreement to what Abdul was saying once in a while, and Abdul knew immediately his mind was elsewhere.

..........

Abdul’s discussion with Lilly’s father didn’t last more than 10 minutes and he was gone. Lilly’s mom was so accommodating, and it made him feel at home. The meal was good; way better than all he had been eating at his bachelors’ lounge with his friends the past few months. He told her how he enjoyed the meal and she said he was welcome to pop in anytime he felt like.

During the course of their discussion, he found out that Lilly’s parents had met when Lilly’s mom had gone to Cabo, Mexico with her family back in the 90s. Mr. Toledo had been so mesmerized by her beauty that he approached her inside a coffee shop. She turned him down at first, and he would have let her go, but when he found out she was Yoruba, he just persisted with his chase. His Santeria religion was heavily influenced by Yoruba slaves of the 16th century, and he was glad to be meeting an original Yoruba person. They ended up marrying two years later. What Abdul wondered was why they were a bit sketchy in talking about what the man actually did.

When it was time to leave, Lilly’s mom packed some fruits into a black paper back for him to take home. Lilly walked him to the bus stop. All the while he was thinking why he had not gotten the call he was expecting, and then the call from Mr. O came in.

He called Lawrence and Wole afterwards and asked them to pick him up at the Lilly’s bus stop. He thought it wouldn’t make sense going back home.
“What’s wrong?” Lilly asked him from where they sat at the bus stop.
“What?”
“You are not yourself.” she said and it made Abdul smile. The statement was funny to him because he didn’t even think she knew him like that.
“I’m fine. It’s just that I am going for a real important meeting, and I am kind of lost in thought.” he said, hoping she won’t ask any more questions in that line.
“Oh my God!” She said and covered her face with her hands. “It has just been me! Me! Me! I don’t even know what you do. Oh my, I am such a bad friend.”
“It’s okay. I guess that’s based on the circumstances surrounding how we met.”
“Okay. So…are you a businessman or something.”
“Well, something like that.”
“How old are you anyway.”
“I’m 24.” He said and then there was silence. Two minutes of silence went by, and it seemed like 2 hours to Abdul.
“So...you stay on that street that has the DSTV office, right?” Lilly said; breaking the silence.
“Yes. Wait, how did you know that?” he said with a shocked look on his face.
“I drove by the street a few Sundays ago, and saw you on the street talking to a girl.”
“Oh! I remember that day.” he said and smiled at the memory of the day. “It’s funny you drove by that particular day.”
“So, was that your girlfriend?”
“I thought you couldn’t drive.” Abdul said, ignoring her question. “The first time we saw, you said you were waiting for someone to pick you up.”
“That doesn’t necessarily mean I can’t drive.”
“The girl you saw me with is not my girlfriend; I actually just met her that day.” he said and there was silence again.
“I have a friend that stays on your street. My mom does some business with her. I usually drop some things off with her on Mondays. Do you think I can drop by and see you when next I am in the area?”
“No problem.”
When things started getting quiet again, he looked to his left and saw Wole's 626 approaching in the distant. He got up and stretched.
“Okay, I guess it’s Monday then.” she said and lifted a hand for a hand shake. He shook it and smiled at her.
“Take care of yourself Lilly.”

OluwabuqqyYOLO:

Time check: 20:39

Oops! Sorry. Actually, as I was about to click 'submit' my laptop went dead. But I have uploaded it now.

kayo80:


Oops! Sorry. Actually, as I was about to click 'submit' my laptop went dead. But I have uploaded it now.

I've read it. I like Lily. You're good, brother.

OluwabuqqyYOLO:

I've read it. I like Lily. You're good, brother.

Thanks.

The story continues here...the third and concluding part...https://www.nairaland.com/3981524/nigeria-love-part-3-romance#59366569