₦airaland Forum

Chapter 4 : Meeting Veronica (Part 3)


I was sitting in my car outside Veronica’s house, feeling awkward that I had to come and pick her up for our date. My mind was playing tricks on me. Would she ever see me as more than just an Uber guy? If her friends asked how we met, would she lie about it, or would she be mature enough to tell them the truth. 


My car radio was on, and a discussion on air caught my attention. The presenter of the show was talking about death being a part of life. The topic took my mind back to earlier in the day when I had carried a mother and her two teenage daughters to the hospital. The woman was heading to see her sick sister, who had been said to be unresponsive. They kept praying that she would be okay when they got to the hospital. When a call finally came in that the woman had passed, the girls started crying, and the woman kept screaming on the phone demanding that they don't bodybag her before she gets to the hospital. Their emotions were too intense, and I was drawn into their current tragedy. Even after dropping them off, the eerily feeling of death lingered around me.


My phone started ringing and it brought me back to reality. “Hello…” I said after picking up. “I was just about to call you.” I added.


“Oh…Okay. You’re here?”


“Yeah.”


“Okay. I…can you come in for a minute?”


I was silent for a second before saying, “Okay.”


“I’ll be by the door.”


“Okay.” When the line went dead, I thought of all my rules that I was breaking. First of all, I wasn’t supposed to agree to go on a date with her. Now, she was inviting me into her house. I had her helpless in my car last night, and there was really nothing to be scared about. But still, I felt I didn’t know her well enough to be going into her house. 


When I stepped out of the car, I noticed the clouds had suddenly become thicker, and it was about to rain. I could smell the rain as I walked into her compound through the opened gate, thinking of what I was getting myself into. 


She opened the door as I was about to knock on the brown wooden door, and I was shocked to see that she was just in shorts and a white tank top, with nothing underneath. Her eyes lit up behind her glasses as she looked up at me and leaned in for a hug. “Sorry I’m not dressed yet.” 


“It’s okay.” I said as she moved back for me to step in. She smelt of perfumed soap. My mind relaxed a bit, but I was still wondering why she was so comfortable letting me into her house. It was a bit dark inside but I could see the expensive looking gold furniture and heavy looking black drapes. She walked past me to one of the couches and threw herself playfully on it with a little laugh. She tapped the free space next to her and I walked over to take a seat next to her. It felt a bit awkward for a second, because I knew right away what she had in mind, and it shocked me because I wasn’t expecting her to be that kind of person. 


She looked at me for a few seconds with a smile on her face, not saying anything, and then laughed sheepishly. “What of your mom?” I asked as I looked around the living room. 


“My mom? She’s.. She’s not around.” She said, still smiling at me. Slowly, the smile disappeared from her face like she was lost in thought, and then her face lit up again. She moved closer, and within a second, our faces were inches apart. This was moving a lot faster than I had anticipated. I could smell liquor on her breath. “I’ve been on your instagram all day,” she said in a low seductive voice. “Johnny, I’ve been dreaming of you touching me all over.” Her calling me Johnny instead of John turned me on a bit. She had one hand rubbing my crotch area, with her eyes closed, waiting for me to kiss her, but I did nothing. After a few seconds, she stopped what she was doing and moved back. Her head was low as she said, “I’m so sorry. I thought you would be into this.” When I didn’t say anything, she looked up at me, studied my face for a couple of seconds before saying. “Eversince Edem left me, I've not been myself.” 


It all made sense to me now. She was dealing with a bad heartbreak, and was using liquor as a coping mechanism. She also wanted to feel wanted again, which explained her move trying to seduce me. “Veronica, I understand what you’re going through, but it’s dangerous to let a stranger into your home.”


“I wasn’t thinking straight, with all the Jack Daniel I’ve been drinking.” She said and sighed. “Besides, I saw all your pics and videos on instagram with your nieces. You looked so harmless in them”


Oh my, I should make my page private, I thought to myself. She slouched on the couch at an angle that made an ample amount of her side boobs visible, and I found myself looking. At that moment, I knew I had to leave. “I picked up some people earlier that got me down,” I said as I sat up.


“What happened?”


“They lost someone close to them on the way to the hospital.”


“Oh my. That’s sad, "she said with a concerned tone.


“Yeah. It really messed me up.”


“I’m sorry about that.”


“I think I have to go now.” I said as I got off the couch. I saw the disappointment on her face and I could tell she was looking for something to say to make me stay. I stretched out my hand, and she reluctantly held it. I miscalculated her weight, and I extended too much force in pulling her up, which led to her ramming into me. “Sorry.” I said and slowly pulled her away from me. 


“Okay, Hercules.” She said with a little laugh. I smiled and headed towards the direction I walked in through. 


I turned around after stepping out the door, and she was looking at me with sad puppy eyes. “Why don’t you stay a little, and we could just talk?”


“Tempting, but…maybe some other time.” I said with a smile. It was too awkward giving her a formal handshake greeting, and I didn’t want to hug her, so I smiled at her and gave her a head nod. “I’ll call to check up on you later today.”


“Okay.” She said, standing there, watching me walk away backwards, still wishing I would change my mind. 


“Bye Veronica.” I said and turned around.


“Bye.” She said and added in a low voice, “Thanks for turning me down.”


I chuckled as I kept walking. I didn’t know if she was being honest or being sarcastic with that statement. Just as I stepped off her front porch, it started raining all of a sudden, and I had to make a run for my car. 


Inside the car, as the thudding sound of the rain drops on my car roof made a constant rhythm, my thoughts went to how nice it would be to be cozied up with Veronica right now. I sighed, started up my car, and drove off.

Kawo9ze:
Continuation pls

Soon.

Bighills150:
Bro u no go finish the story?

I got carried away with some things in life. Writing and making little to nothing from your works can be very unispiring, but I will start posting again soon.

Chapter 3 - Meeting Veronica (Part 2)

Back in the stone age, before man developed electricity or any form of manmade light, human beings usually slept after sunset as it was hard to do anything in the dark. In modern times, artificial light makes us able to work at night, and in my case, through the night. But sometimes I wonder how much we can defy how God intended us to operate from the start because even when I sleep all day, and work through the night, I still feel tired and drowsy when I wake up in the afternoons. That's why I decided to pick three days of the week when I don't do any work. 


So, I woke up Tuesday afternoon, a work free day for me. I grabbed my phone from the bedside stool and noticed I had six missed calls, and one unread text message. Usually when I see multiple missed calls on my phone, I know they are from my mom, but I was surprised when I checked and saw it was from an unknown number. I sat up in bed, rubbed my eyes and looked long at the screen, wondering if it was a number I recognized, but it wasn't. I decided to go to the unread message, and saw the text was from the girl I had carried yesterday, Veronica. 


She had apologized about not paying me yesterday, and wanted me to respond with my bank account details. I replied swiftly, threw my phone on the bed and got on my feet. After stretching, I got on the floor and did thirty push-ups, rested for a minute and did another set of thirty. That had been my morning routine for years now, and since I started working overnights, I now do them in the afternoons. I worked up a sweat after ending the second session and headed straight to the bathroom. 


One of my favorite times to think is when I'm under the shower. Lately I had been trying to figure out how to get the money I needed for the project I was working on, and I usually just let my mind wander off in my free time. Three years ago, I quit my job when I was just about to get married to my colleague. We had been dating officially for a year but had been friends for a total of three years. One day I had stopped by the office unannounced and saw her flirting with one of our mutual friends. She told me it was nothing, but judging from the fact that that was how we used to be when I worked there, I just couldn't get it out of my mind. We started getting into fights afterwards and eventually broke up. I was lost after the breakup. My former work place had all my friends, and I  just didn't feel comfortable talking to any of them anymore as they were still friends with my ex. With time, I started seeing a therapist, but the sessions were too expensive for me, and I had to discontinue. Thinking of how important therapist sessions were for every human's mental health made me think of ways to make it affordable to more Nigerians. 


As I stepped out of the shower, white towel wrapped around my waist, I saw my phone vibrating on the bed. Before I picked it up, it stopped. It was the same number that had been calling earlier. There was also a new unread text message.on my phone When I checked, I saw it was a bank alert; she had paid. I called the number right back, and she picked on the first ringing session. "Hi...hello." She said in a warm voice. 


"Hello. Is this Veronica."


"Yes." She said in a low voice, and paused for a few seconds, as if distracted by something, and then added. "Umm...sorry, I didn't introduce myself."


"It's okay. I guessed it was you anyway; I just wanted to be sure"


"Okay." She said and cleared her throat before adding, "I'm so so sorry about yesterday."


"Oh, yeah. It's okay."


"Oh my God, my mom said I was really messed up when I got home. I can't remember anything."


I stopped to think for a minute before saying, "You can't remember anything at all?"


"It's so embarrassing. I remember trying to book a ride and nothing else."


"Oh."


"Yeah, and the next thing I remember was waking up in my room."


"Hmm...that's interesting."


"How bad was I acting?" 


"Umm...well..."


"Oh my, I know it was bad." She said with a worried tone in her voice and her British accent heightened.


"It really wasn't that bad."


"I haven't been able to do anything since I woke up. My mom said I was saying a lot of gibberish last night."


"Oh...umm. Trust me, it really wasn't that bad."


The line was quiet for a while and then she said, "Well, I guess I have to take your word for it. Thanks once again."


"You're welcome."


"Okay. Bye."


"Bye."


"Wait...wait. Let me buy dinner. At least, to pay back your good deed."


"Ummm..." I wasn't expecting that and it left me dumbfounded.


"Please, it will make me feel less guilty for what I put you through."


"Umm...okay."


"Thank God." She said with a sigh and added,  "I feel so relieved already. I'll call you in about an hour."


"Okay."


"Okay, bye for now." 


"Bye." I said and the line got disconnected. I sat in bed, instantly regretting agreeing to meet up with her later. I had a rule never to interact socially with passengers. But this was different, I thought to myself. She obviously had many questions she wanted to ask me and felt she would get more out of me if we were to see physically. I shouldn't deny her the chance of knowing what happened last night. Plus there was no real harm in meeting up with a rider, as long as she was the one that asked for the meeting. I sighed, got off the bed and headed to the kitchen.

IkeIgboNiile:
Thank you for the update. Please continue writing and posting more.

Thanks. All things being equal, I should post the next chapter tomorrow.

Bam17:
Mr Kayode. It's been longggg We've missed you!!!

How are you doing. I just posted a chapter.

metalgear11:
Boss what's up? Been waiting for a new update.

How are you doing. I just posted a chapter.

Chapter 2 - Meeting Veronica (Part 1)


I was sitting  in my car on a slow Monday night, waiting for the next ride request to come in as I listened to slow tempo R&B music. My usually smooth face was beginning to grow a little stubble as I had been busy lately with driving and keeping up with my grand project that I had been working on. I turned off the inner light, and flicked up the visor after accessing my face for a little too long. In this life, you will always be treated based on your looks, and I never wanted to give any customer a reason to look down on me.


Two white Lexuses whizzed by my car so fast they almost shook my car and I wondered where they were rushing to at eleven at night. Shortly afterwards, I got a ride request. The pick up spot was less than a kilometer away, and the fare was a juicy one. It was actually too good to be true. I picked it, and the rider immediately contacted me through the in-app chat asking how long it would take me to get to her. Before I could respond, she called. "Hello." I said after picking up. I could hear commotion in the background. 


"Good evening." She said in a low voice. "I'm at Kay's Bar along Awolowo road." She added.


"Ummm....Okay, yeah. I know the place."


"Okay. Call me when you get there." She said and the line went dead. I held the phone to my ear for a few seconds, thinking, waiting for my instincts to tell me whether or not to proceed with this trip. After about a minute, I took a deep breath, put the gear in drive, and slowly pulled out of where I was parked on the side of the road. 


I hardly finished parking at the spot when I felt a tugging at my car's back door handle, owner's corner. I turned around to see an average lightskin girl in her late twenties outside my car, waving at me with a smile on her face. She was dressed formally in black, and looked like a bank worker. Even though I had seen just a little thumbnail picture of her on the app, I could tell she was the one from her braids and the glasses she had on. I opened the door, and she rushed to get in. "Please move fast, they're fighting." She said, tapping the shoulder of my seat. "Oh my God, they had guns and all." She said, and I could hear a little British accent in her voice. She started telling me how the fight had broken out at the bar, between two scammer boys, who apparently were dating the same girl. Even though I loved to hear stories, I was more concerned with the fact that she sounded like she was a little tipsy. An intoxicated person was an unpredictable person, and that was something I didn't like in this line of business. But the girl looked so innocent, and the way she told me the story with so much excitement took down my defences. 


"Your car is so nice." She said after completing her story.


"Thank you." I responded and I noticed she was poking her head forward, trying to see my face. And then she all of a sudden started trying to get in the front passenger seat. "Wait, what are you..." I was saying as she fell sideways towards me; our cheeks were side by side, and I couldn't help but notice how good she smelled. I slowed down a bit as she got her footing and maneuvered into the front seat. 


"I'm so sorry.' She said between laughs. "This is so unlike me, but I had a little drink at the bar."


Nah, you definitely had more than a little to drink at the bar, I thought to myself. She was stealing glances at me now, but quiet.


"Are you Morris Chestnut?" She asked.


"What?" I asked, looking at her startled, and then she started laughing again.


"I'm so sorry." She said between laughs. She stopped laughing and got silent for a few seconds, looking straight ahead. And then she said in a serious voice, "Please pull over, I think I want to throw up."


Immediately the car came to a halt, she opened the door, and hauled out her insides on the side of the road. I got bottled water from my central console compartment, stepped out of the car, and walked over to her side. She had thrown up about five times in such a short period, and now just had her head bowed, breathing deeply. "Sorry. Take this." I said and handed her the water. She collected it, opened it and gargled her mouth with the water a few times, and spat it out before sitting back in the car. 


 We sat silently in the car for a few minutes, and then I asked her, "Are you okay now?" She nodded and I slowly drove off.


"Sorry about that."


"It's okay."


"Please do you have mint in your car?" She asked, and I reached into the central console compartment and pulled out the mint gum I had bought earlier in the day. "Thanks Morris Chesnut" She said and I chuckled at the fact that she had a sense of humor at a time like this. A few minutes later, I noticed her eyes were closed and she had fallen asleep. Throwing up must have relaxed her nerves I guessed. 


When I pulled up to her house, the real work started, because all efforts to wake her up seemed not to work. I said hello out loud, I tapped her gently, I slowly shook her, but no success. It was fifteen minutes to midnight, and I knew gates around her community usually get locked by midnight. I needed to act fast to avoid more complications. I got her name from the app, and called out her name a few times, till she started mumbling incoherently under her breath. I increased my voice as I continued to call out her name, and then she finally opened her eyes looking confused, like she didn't know where she was. And then she turned to look at me. "Morris Chesnut, am I still dreaming?" She said with a smile. 


"No, you're not. We're at your house now." I said and she just kept looking at me with a smile, and then she slowly started caressing my cheeks. "Ummm...is there someone you can call to come and open the gate for you?" I said and gently removed her hand from my face.


"I'm so weak. Can you carry me to the gate?"


I ignored what she said and looked around for her phone. It had fallen on the car flow. I picked it up, and handed it over to her. "Please call someone."


She collected it and was fiddling with it for a second, and then stopped to look at me, "Do you promise to carry me to my gate?"


I hesitated for a second, and then said, "Okay, I promise."


"You promise what?"


"I promise to carry you to your gate."


"Okay." She said with a smile on her face. She spoke to someone briefly on the phone and then ended the call. "Okay, I'm ready to be carried. She said with a little chuckle and her hands in the air. 


I got out of the car and walked briskly over to her side. I wanted to get this over with as soon as possible. She held on tightly, with her hands around my neck as I  gently lifted her out of the car, making sure to avoid her head hitting the roof of the car. She was looking up at me, smiling sheepishly as I carried her to her gate.


"Oh my God, is she okay?" A short middle aged woman in nightgown said as she came out the front door, and rushed to the black see-through gate. 


"I'm okay mom. But I think I'm a little drunk." Veronica said as I slowly dropped her on her feet. 


"Veroica!" Her mom said, shocked. She examined her daughter for a second, and then turned to me. "I'm very sorry. She is never like this."


"It's okay ma." I said and as I watched them walk away, I remembered I hadn't been paid. I sighed, turned around and headed to my car. 


"Bye Morris Chestnut." She said and waved at me just before she entered her house.

Bam17:
Mr Kayode. It's been longggg We've missed you!!!

I'll be back soon.

metalgear11:
Boss what's up? Been waiting for a new update.

Sorry...I'll be back with a new chapter this weekend.

Phew! I finally found the word/phrase and removed it. It was a lot of work. The first chapter has been posted in full above this comment.

Chapter 1 : Down a Lonely Road 


One hand on the steering, my other hand was fumbling through my car’s center console. Outside was dark, except from one functional light pole that was down the road I was driving on. Usually, when I go through lonely roads like this with little to no traffic, I use the time to grab a quick bite. A crackling sound filled the air when I finally found the sausage roll in a pack I was looking for. I used my teeth to tear open the pack, savage man style, and took a quick chunk off the sausage. In this line of business, time flies by fast, and you sometimes forget to eat, that's why I always have snacks in the car.


While still munching on my snack, with speed down to the minimum, I heard the Uber app say, "you have reached your destination." I started looking out the window, left and right, looking for who I was to pick up, but there was no one in sight. My friends never liked the idea of me working the night shift, but I just felt more comfortable working at that time. Plus in my 35 years on earth, I had never lost a fight, and that always gave me the silent confidence to be comfortable in my nightcrawling ways. Being 6ft2, and weighing 100 kilograms of mostly muscle also added to my confidence.

I grabbed my phone from beside the gear and was about to call the rider when a figure appeared by the side of my window and startled me. It was a slim girl in a long black t-shirt, and nothing else. "Umm, you're Kate, right?" I said as I wound down the glass. There was disappointment on her face.

"Sorry, I thought you stopped to..." She was saying and slowly started backing away.

"Oh, no. I'm picking up someone." I said, and she slowly disappeared into the darkness she had appeared from. She looked too innocent and plain to be in her line of business, and it got me thinking for a minute. I snapped out of the thought and turned down the car AC before dialling the number I had been given by the guy who booked the ride. The line got connected, but I didn’t get a response after saying hello. I could hear the static sound of TV in the background. I was about to end the call when I heard a female voice talking, but not to me. "Hello." I repeated again.

Hey, sorry, please where are you?"

"I'm exactly at the pick up spot."

"Can you see an ATM gallery around you?"

"Umm...give me a minute." I said and looked out the window; left, right, forward. I was about to tell her no, when I looked forward again and saw the white signboard of the bank. "Yeah, I see it...umm...about a hundred meters in front of me."

"Oh, okay." She answered in a silent voice, obviously thrown off by the technicality of my description. "Please just drive up to the place and wait for me, I'll be there soon."

"Okay." I said and the line went dead. I was back to the dead silence of the night. I liked to be fully alert while in neighbors I wasn't familiar with, especially at night, so I never turned on my car stereo until I picked up the rider. The AC sound filled the air as I waited in anticipation, wondering which direction the girl was coming from. I was about to call again when I heard my car door trying to open. I took a good look at her by the front passenger door before opening it. From my calculations, she would be in her mid twenties. It was funny she resembled the girl I had seen earlier; slim and tall. She was like a tomboy, dressed in sweatpants, a tank top, and head warmer; very unusual dressing for the girls I normally pick up at this time of the night.

"Sorry for the delay." She said as she settled down in the seat. I said no problem before putting the car in drive. "Wait, did he tell you about the money?"

"The money?" I asked, looking confused, till I remembered the conversation I had had with the guy on the phone. "Oh yeah. I remember." I said, before reaching into my back pocket and pulling out a wad of thousand naira notes. I counted three and handed it over to her.

"The place is not far from here." She said as she wore her seat belt. "Just drive forward." She added. I hadn't been informed about the detour, but I wanted to get the ride over with as fast as possible, so I followed her orders. Just a few quick turns, and we ended up in a lit up dead-end street, with a lot of street boys walking around. Before I could say Jack Robinson, she said "I'll be right back" and jumped out of the car. It was obviously a weed spot as the houses on the street were rundown, and some abandoned. It didn't take long before the guys noticed my snow-white 2013 Honda Accord, and started looking my way. I thought of the worst, but as soon as I deemed my headlights, they all went by their way, most shabbily dressed, and walking around like zombies. I could tell a lot more than weed was sold here. 

Just before the girl disappeared into one of the run down bungalows by the right, a lanky guy pulled her by the hand, and they had a quick discussion, before she yanked her hand off and disappeared. Just then, he noticed my car and started walking my way. Oh! Oh! I thought to myself. Sizing him up before he got to my car, I knew I could take him easily, I just hoped he didn't have buddies around that would want to join in the possible extortion. He tried to open the front passenger's side door a few times and then bent over to signal for me to open the door. I wound down the window and said, "what's up?"

"Find me something, I dey H." He said in broken English. The way he was fidgeting, I could tell he was on some certain drug that had him very hungry. I reached into my center console box and pulled out the last two packed sausage rolls I had and handed them over to him. He thanked me and walked away, munching on the snack like he hadn't eaten for days. 


Even though I could tell most of the guys there were oblivious of my presence, I still stood on guard, watching for any sudden suspicious movements amongst them. When the girl finally appeared, the guy from before latched onto her again, and started walking with her towards the car. They were talking about me, it was obvious because he kept looking my way, and then looking at her. She whispered something in his ear that made him nod and walk away just before she got in the car.

The car was silent until we got on the highway, and she broke the silence with, "That guy from earlier, hope he didn't bother you much?"


"Well, he did come to the car, and tried to open the door." I said, and her head sunk in her hand. "But he just wanted something to eat."


"We...he used to be my boyfriend."

"Oh." I said. I was used to riders opening up to me during long trips, but I was still a bit surprised, especially when she went on to tell me about her love life with the guy. He used to be a scammer that had Mercedes Benzes and Lexuses in his garage, till he got addicted to Meth and sold all his belongings. She said the drugs had run him mad, and he had been taken to rehab a few times, but with no positive results.

By the time we got to the hotel I was to drop her off at, the girl felt more like the younger sister I never had. While waiting for the guy, I noticed she had become nervous. She was fidgeting, and taking deep breaths. I asked if she wanted me to turn off the AC, and she said no. Just before she got out of the car when the guy arrived, she said in a low voice to me, "this is my first time doing this. Please pray that nothing happens to me." 

The guy, a tall and chubby guy hugged her, and then leaned in to pay me in cash.

As I drove off, I thought about the last thing the girl told me. I had seen a lot over the last couple of months in Uber driving, and had become sort of nonchalant to what young girls decide to do for money. But tonight, I felt sad for a minute. Her vulnerability was in full display in the last couple of minutes before stepping out of my car, and I almost felt the need to tell her she didn't have to go ahead with her plan. But what alternative do I have for her? Was I ready to take care of her or get her a means to earn decent money? Even if I could do that, did I know if she was ready to work to earn a living? I sighed, turned on my stereo and headed to my next pick up spot.

I'll post paragraph's individually to see which paragraph has the issue.

Anti-spam not stroke again. How will i know the words that's causing this so I can remove them from the story. What a conundrum.

I never even knew that the first chapter I posted was hidden. I wonder what the antispam bot picked up.