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Chapter 2 : My Teen Years (Part 1)


Kings College Lagos, the secondary school I attended was boys only. As prestigious as the school was and still is, I feel it wasn't the right choice for me. I was already battling with social anxiety and problems interacting with the opposite sex, being in a school with no girls didn't help my case. I was a boarder, which meant I spent more than half the year cooped up with just boys, all day long. 


Once in a while, we would get to interact with females during the yearly inter-house sports competition, or during the literary and debate club events, but it was usually just a few days of the year. I remember one of the social events that took place when I was in JS 3. I was about 13 at the time. The event usually had guests from other schools, especially females, socialising with a selected few from our school. It was a Saturday, and I was going to wash my clothes by the school reservoir. Loud music was booming out of the assembly hall as I walked past it. The building was all glass, but thick glass. I could see figures moving inside, but I had to move closer to see clearly. 


Inside the hall, I saw about two dozen boys and girls on the dancefloor, dancing to slow music. My jaw dropped when I saw boys my age holding girls in their arms and moving slowly to the rhythm of Boyz 2 Men music. ‘Oh my God, they're actually chest to chest.’ I said to myself, thinking of if I could ever get the confidence to dance in that position with a girl. My heart started beating fast just from the thought of it, and I slowly walked away from the place. I wandered off to the reservoir, lost in thought. 


Later that day, I went to the dormitory room of one of the boys I had seen dancing and waited. John was a very popular boy, and an extrovert. Even though we were agemates, he always looked older to me, because of his muscular build. 


I needed to hear from John on how the whole experience was. I had a classmate in the room, and I pretended to have come to visit him. He was very playful, and smaller in size than most of us. He kept talking about cartoons I didn't know still aired on TV. The dorm room had six bunks on both sides; my classmate’s bunk was the first bed to the right, and I was sitting facing the entrance of the room. When he noticed I had my eye on the door and wasn't paying attention to him, he poured his Nescao chocolate powder in his hand and blew it in my eye. I cussed him out and left his bunk corner, looking for water as he laughed like a villain from a cartoon. He then said he wanted to show me how the wrestler, The Great Kabuki, disarmed his opponents. I just shook my head at how childish he was.


When I got the powder out my eye, and was storming out of the place, John finally walked in, and almost bumped into me. He gave me a handshake, and smiled before walking past me to his corner of the room. I guessed he had seen me peeping at them in the hall earlier. He smelled really nice, and had on blue jeans, and a red lumberjack shirt. On his feet, he had on butter colour boots that I would later learn were called Timberland boots. I pretended to want to look out the window at the end of the dorm room, where his bunk was, and eavesdropped on him talking about his experience with the girls that had come for the event. 


What shocked me was the nonchalant way he spoke about the experience, like it was something he experienced regularly. I was perplexed. Am I ever going to be confident enough to do what I had witnessed that day? I thought to myself as I walked out the room.


……….


Through the course of my teen years, I had a couple of memorable encounters with females; some good, some bad, and some ugly. Let me start off with the bad. 


When I was in SS1, my cousins were sent home from America to live with us for a couple of years; their parents wanted them to imbibe some of our Nigerian culture . They were two: the older one was a girl named Susan, and the younger was Larry. Susan was closer to me in age, and happened to be in Queens College; the sister college of my school. 


One day, my dad was dropping Susan and I off in school after our mid-term break, and he drove to Susan’s school first. I was 14 years old, about 5 ft 10, and in my white on white school uniform. The moment we drove our red 1982 Mercedes Benz into the compound, my heart quickened. There were girls in sleeveless blue check blouses, and blue skirts everywhere. I had never seen so many beautiful girls in one place before. It was like I was Odysseus trapped on the mythical Amazon island that had only women on it. 


We had to stop at a roadblock, where the students' house masters were all lined up, checking them in. I sat in the car, while my dad helped Susan carry her boxes out of the car for scrutiny. While the procedure was ongoing, I looked around from the back seat I was in. I hadn't been looking for long when I recognized a girl. I quickly looked away and wished she didn't see me. Her name was Tayo; she was a slim light skin girl I had had a puppy love crush on when I was in primary school. I hadn't seen her since I left primary school 4 years ago, and was even surprised with my bad memory at how I was able to recognize her. 


I was dreading having to get out of the car to talk to her when my dad sat in the driver’s seat and said, "Lucas, do you know that girl? She has been looking at you for a while now." My heart started beating fast again. 


I swallowed spit. When I looked to my side, she was right there, a few feet from our car smiling at me. "Oh, okay. Yes sir. I know her." I managed to say, in a shaky voice. I got out of the car, my whole body shaking as I did so. I stopped a few inches from her and waved, when I could easily have hugged her or shook her. 


"How are you Tayo?" I didn't recognize my own voice when I said that. It was like the sound of air being let out of a blown up balloon. I cleared my throat and tried again. "So, do you attend this school?" Tayo chuckled at how ridiculous my question was and said, "How are you Lucas? Long time." I smiled back at her, not wanting to say anything and make matters worse than they already were. "So you attend KC?" She asked, and I nodded. Just then, her house mistress called her attention to something. She had to move along with her box for the next person to get checked in, so she smiled and waved at me before heading towards her dormitory. I cursed under my breath as I got back in the car. 


That was one of the many bad experiences I had with the opposite sex, before I got it right. Thinking back now, I can remember one particular good experience that made me realise talking to a girl wasn't that hard, and that it was all in my head. 


I was about 15, and had gotten sick in school. My mom came to pick me up, and we took a cab to her office clinic. After seeing the doctor, I was waiting in the corridor area of the clinic to see the head nurse when I saw something weird on the other end of the lobby. A girl about my age had come out of the rest room, holding a drip stand in her hand, with the tube that carried the liquid into her veins still attached to her wrist. It was like a scene from a horror movie. When she got to where I was seated, she looked at me and said, "hello." She had an American accent, and it made the situation even scarier. I greeted her back as she walked off. 


I thought I was hallucinating, and looked at the man sitting opposite me, on the other side of the corridor. He didn't seem shocked that she was walking around like that, and I had to conclude in my mind that I was overreacting.  


A few minutes later, I was called into the head nurse's office. As she examined my file, I noticed the mystery girl sitting at one corner of the room. I told the nurse my age when she asked how old I was and the girl said, "you're quite tall for a 15 year old." I didn't say anything. I just smiled. The nurse then told me I was going to get two injections, and some drugs. "Do you know how tall you are?" The girl asked, and I said I was 6 ft 1. "Wow! That's tall." She said, but I wasn't paying attention because the nurse had just asked me to pull down my pants a bit for the shots. I was wondering why she didn't ask the girl to leave the room. 


'Okay Lucas, you can't show any form of pain in front of this girl.' I said to myself as the nurse put the needle of the syringe into a small glass bottle and drew the liquid out slowly. The first shot wasn't that painful, but it took all my focus to not make a painful sound while getting the second shot because I felt it in my bones. "You didn’t feel pain? How come it didn’t hurt you?" The girl asked from where she sat, the nurse said, "Tinu, leave him alone." The girl got quiet afterwards. 


The nurse asked me to sit for a while before going out, explaining to me that the shot would make my legs weak for a bit. I sat on a chair by her desk, and watched her walk over to where the girl was. I assumed they were mother and daughter. She removed the drip’s tube from the girl’s arm, and pressed down on the spot she had pulled the tube out with wool for a few seconds, before putting a bandaid on it. The girl said something about being happy to finally be able to walk around freely. 


When the nurse came back to explain where I was supposed to get the remainder of my drugs from, I wasn't getting the description, and the girl volunteered to take me there. Her mother reluctantly agreed to her suggestion. 


On our way to the place, Tinu couldn't stop talking, and she reminded me of how I used to be. She reminded me of a time when I was filled with energy, and was always eager to talk to anyone that was ready to listen. In the short 3-4 minutes it took for us to walk to the clinic’s drug store, we had a discussion about my height, basketball, and video games. It was so easy to talk to her, and I wondered why I had been so scared to talk to girls all along. Our interaction went so smoothly, and I had no idea I was going to have a different type of encounter with another girl that same day.

DemiKOL:
Wow!🙈

I did not even know it’s been that long.

But you have been posting good, interesting, and captivating stories which gave me no choice than to follow you.


Keep it up!👏

Thanks once again.

Ohibenemma:
A beautiful story...just stumbled upon it while searching for a literary piece to read, and it was worth it! So the angel of death fit collect uppercut?

LMAO!!

I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

YoungBruzzy:
Okay, I am here.
Kayo80 is at it again 🤩😊
Take us on a long ride boss

lol.

Yes o.

DemiKOL:
Wow!

More ink to your pen 🖊 Op!

Thanks. And thanks for being a fan for over 5 years now.

Jaybest1719:
So interesting
next chapter plss

Coming soon.

And thanks for helping me come up with the title of the story

tonexyx:
Wow beautuful story ,i really enjoyed it,wish it was longer though.

Thanks for the comment. I appreciate it. This story didn't really get any comments, so I really value this.

Chapter 1 : The Beginning 


When I was growing up, I never thought I would be unmarried at 40, let alone single. There are just some things in life you would never think would happen to you. But life happens to us all, in different ways. My name is Lucas, and I am going to let you into my world. 


As a kid, I was a talker. I loved movies, and I loved narrating the movies I watched to anyone that gave me attention. Around 5, it was my mom's friend, Mrs. Johnson. She was about 10 years younger than my mom, and gave me a listening ear anytime she would come around. Back then in the 80s, Indian movies were very popular in Nigeria, and even though they were mostly 3 hour long, I would sit through them, and always couldn't wait till Mrs. Johnson was around so I could narrate the movie to her. 


I was a cute little dark skin boy with all the energy in the world, till something happened. One day when I was 6, I was playing outside with my friends in the neighbourhood. They were swinging around on our house gate. One kid would hang on the gate, and the others would swing it shot, and swing it back open, over and over, till the kid got off, and another got on the gate. I was lost in thought, thinking of the last Indian movie I had watched, thinking of how I was going to narrate it to Mrs. Johnson when she came around and I didn't know when I put my hand in the little space between the gate and the metal  part attached to the wall. By the time I realised where my hand was and tried to pull it out before that space got shut, it was too late; the tips of two of my fingers got mutilated in the accident. 


I remember walking into the house with a bloody hand, crying. My younger brother had just been born at the time, and they were people in the living room visiting my mom. They all screamed and jumped up when they saw me. The look of fear in their eyes made me cry even louder, and it made my baby brother cry too. 


My mom grabbed me, crying as she examined my fingers. I could feel her trembling as she assessed the damage. She quickly led me out the house, and rushed me to the hospital opposite my house at the time. They were overwhelmed with the amount of people that came in with me, and I remember them running around trying to get non-family members to leave, and get the operating theatre ready for my surgery. 


I passed out from loss of blood even before I got anaesthesia for the operation, and they had to revive me first, keep me steady for a few hours before proceeding with the surgery. Medically, things weren't as advanced as it is now, especially in Nigeria, and they did a really bad job with the surgery. I woke up with gauze on the two affected fingers, my middle finger and my ring finger. The doctor assured me that they would look better when they healed, but even at that age I knew he was lying. 


I was discharged after a few days, and I went back home to heal. That single event changed the course of my life. Sometimes I wonder why it had to happen to me. Where was my guardian angel? I was just a little kid with an afro who wanted to tell happy stories to anyone that was ready to listen, and make them smile. After the incident, my confidence was gone. I felt incomplete. I started keeping more to myself because I didn't want anyone noticing my injured fingers. Slowly, I went from a very lively kid, to an introvert. 


By the time I was 7, the right side of my head had a patch of white hair. The white hair was restricted to just one side, and I guessed it had something to do with the fingers on my right hand being crushed. Now, not only did I have to hide my two disfigured fingers, I also had to find a way to not make people notice I had white hair like an old man. The psychological and emotional stress was too much for a 7 year old me. 


I withdrew deeper and deeper into my shell. I lost my self esteem, and never wanted to socialise with other kids. As I grew older and started getting female attention, I would always think they were staring at me because I had white hair. I remember one time in primary 5, my home tutor for mathematics was also my teacher in school. I had just gotten a new haircut, and he kept looking my way while teaching us in class. I was thinking in my head, 'Oh my God, the haircut has made my white hair more obvious. Why the hell did I get this haircut?' I was shocked when he stopped what he was doing and said, "Lucas, this your new haircut makes you look really handsome." All eyes were on me after his statement, and I didn't know how to act. 


With the days that followed, a lot of my female classmates would giggle whenever they walked past me. Before, I would have thought that it was because of my white hair. But after what my teacher had said in class that day, I started to think maybe it was because of my looks. Although I remained shy, that incident gave me a little confidence. It made me realise I wasn't as worthless as I thought I was. With a brighter outlook on life, a little twinkle was back on my face.

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Good day my good people. I'm back again with another one. This story is written in first-person narrative, and it will have about 13-15 chapters.

42. Oh No, Oh Yes (https://www.nairaland.com/7842854/oh-no-oh-yes-short)

43. Helen of the Night (https://www.nairaland.com/7637812/helen-night-flash-fiction-kayode)

44. Nothing Was the Same - Book 1 (https://www.nairaland.com/8105076/nothng-same-book-1-kayode)

45. From Azrael's Mouth (https://www.nairaland.com/8147948/azraels-mouth-short-story-kayode)

Thanks guys...get the "likes" up.

Before we get to 150 likes, you can read this my short story in the meantime.

https://www.nairaland.com/8147948/azraels-mouth-short-story-kayode

I hope you enjoyed the quick read.

……….


Time is an illusion, and as an angel of death, I’m in many places at the same time. I stuck around the hospital, waiting for others to reach their point of no return so as to assist them to the spiritual realm. I watched as the pretty doctor came and went; she had other patients to attend to, but Olu was a paramount case to her. His case was a little more complicated as his internal bleeding wasn't slowing down, and they had to give him three pints of blood over a course of three days to keep his PCV from dropping too low. The frequency of time she spent by his bedside, very concerned about his health gave Olu hope, and he would always talk to her about little things, aside from his health. He grew fond of her, over time, and she did too, even though she kept everything  professional.


Her voice when she walked into his ward early in the morning gave him a boost of energy. Her footsteps, heading towards his bed, and her referring to him as Mr. Johnson always made him smile. His family members were always around during visiting hours, which lasted about an hour, and his mom was allowed to see him more than usual, but the person he saw the most now was his warm and caring doctor. Her concern for his recovery was genuine, and she worked hard to get him healthy. 


When Olu eventually stopped bleeding, and she got back his Pack Cell Volume test, her face lit up. His PCV when he was brought in was at 16, now his PCV was at 39. This was at a normal range for males his age, and a huge success for her. She smiled at him for the first time. Her mission was complete, and she could let her guard down a bit. 


I had to smile too, watching from a distance. Just 5 days ago, Olu was battling for his life, now he was back to normal, and even falling in love with his doctor, who might be developing feelings too. If he never had the near death experience, he probably wouldn't have met the doctor. And now, anything was possible moving forward, as he was about to be discharged, and transferred for outpatient services at another hospital. So she was no longer his doctor, and he was no longer her patient 


On the day he was getting discharged, she came over to talk to him about his diet, and listed foods he should avoid eating moving forward. When she was done, and was about to leave, he asked for her number, saying that he would like to see her again. She told him it was against her ethics to give him her phone number. Olu felt disappointed, as he watched her walk away. 


The pretty doctor turned around at the door, and walked back to his bedside to pick up her pen from his bed. As she was leaving this time, she smiled at his sister who was by his bedside and said, “You really love your brother; your calls have been non-stop these past couple of days.” The two ladies laughed, and the doctor said the last goodbye to Olu before leaving. And she was gone. But Olu got the message she passed to him with what she had said as a joke to his sister. All she was trying to say was, ‘your sister has my number, you can get it from her.’ That realisation brightened up his day, and he couldn’t wait to start life again. 


And that's the end of the story, as told by me, Azrael, the angel of death. I hope I was able to brighten your day a little with this story. Wink-Wink.


The End

……….


While lying down on his bed, at the emergency unit of the hospital, a young female doctor walked up to him with a file in her hand. Olu sat upright and adjusted the hospital gown he had on. She was average height, light skin, in blue scrubs, and had her stethoscope hanging on her neck. She greeted him, opened the file and asked if he was Olumide Johnson. He nodded his head, and she let him know she would be the doctor in charge of his case, and would be the one to oversee his treatment till he was discharged. The fact that she was positive that he was going to get better was good news to his ears, because right now, he didn’t even know what was really wrong with him. But what made him even more happy was the fact that she was very good looking. Even the fact that she had on a nosemask didn’t hide her beauty. Her eyes were so pretty to him, and he liked the way her hair was packed neatly to the back.  I was hovering around his bedspace, shaking my head at the fact that he had just almost lost his life a few hours ago, and here he was checking out his doctor as she asked him questions concerning his health. 


Olu had a case of upper GI bleeding; his stomach acid had caused bleeding in his oesophagus. The doctor was asking questions trying to ascertain the cause. After a few minutes of question and answers, she pulled over the medical privacy screen, and sure no part of Olu’s bedspace could be seen by people passing by. And then she asked him to lay on his side, with one leg slightly raised up. She explained what she was about to do to him as she put on latex gloves. As she positioned his legs properly for the rectal examination, Olu felt a bit uncomfortable that she was about to see his unclothedness. 


After the examination, which lasted a few minutes, she let him know he was still actively bleeding. As she removed the gloves, and disposed of them, she said he would be giving proton-pump inhibitor drugs and shots to stop the bleeding. and if that doesn’t work, she would have to call in the surgeons to go in and stop it. The thought of being caught open scared him, and he hoped the first method she mentioned worked. 



That night, he was awoken by the noise of an ongoing CPR. I never stick around if I don’t have work to do. The patient right beside Olu was currently fighting me for his life, but unlike Olu, it was really his time to go. Olu’s beautiful doctor tried to save him, performing CPR for ten minutes, as Olu watched in shock. When the girl finally stopped pumping on his middle aged man’s chest, and told the man’s wife her husband was gone, the wife let out a loud cry. Olu looked at his doctor, feeling sorry for how defeated she looked. It wasn’t her fault; there was nothing she could have done to bring him back. When it is time to go, it is time to go.

..........

Sleep, an unconscious state, and coma are three states of mind closest to death. Olu was in the second state now, and his soul was halfway to the afterlife. My job was to make that journey a smooth one, and re-acclimate the soul with what it is already knowledgeable of. When it’s time to go, it’s time to go, and no amount of prayers can make a soul stay back in a body. But if it is not time, then the battle to return begins. Every single person has a purpose to achieve in the physical world. Some do it faster than others, and depart to the spiritual realm. Others take longer to achieve their purpose. Some purposes are really simple, some are complex, but in the grand scheme of things, everyone’s purpose is important to the growth of the whole.



My job is to let the individual that has achieved his purpose a smooth passage to the spiritual realm, or let the one that hasn’t achieved his purpose prove to me why he or she should be let back. As much as achieving purposes is important in the grand scheme of things, things can be shifted around in the universe for another person to take up your place.



The battle began for Olu’s life when he faced me. His knowledge of the afterlife which he once had was now restored to him; he knew me and exactly what I was there to do. I grabbed his neck with both hands; this represented choking the remaining life out of him. As we tussled in the spiritual realm, his body was almost lifeless on the floor in his room, in the physical realm. With every second of our battle, his pulse was slowly fading away. Just then, his sister walked into his room and shouted out, “Olumide!” The compassion and love in her soul gave him a jolt of power in the spiritual realm to remove the grip I had on his neck. I grabbed him by the neck again, this time squeezing harder. He was still unconscious in the physical plane as his sister pulled him up, and rested his back on his cold room wall. She was asking him what had happened, confused about what to do. When his mother came into the room, and shouted out, “Olu!” It was the greatest surge of energy for the night, and in the spiritual realm, he removed the grip I had on him, and  floated far away from me. His eyes slowly came open in the physical world.


His nieces had heard the shout of their mom, and ran into the room. They saw their precious uncle looking sick, and joined their grandma in saying a prayer for him. The pure innocence of their souls, with the combination of the strong unconditional love from his mom and sister gave him a quick surge of power in the spiritual realm. I looked at the life force glow around him, and he was right now at the level of strength of me and my colleagues. Unconsciously, he knew this surge of energy wouldn’t last, so he moved in quickly. His punches came at me as quick as a flash of lightning. After a three punch combination to my face, he put all his energy into the fourth punch; an uppercut that sent me into another dimension. There was silence. The battle was over. He was fully back to life now, explaining to his family members what he felt was wrong with him. 


When his dad walked into the room, he got briefed on what was going on, and he rushed down the stairs to get the car ready for the trip to the hospital. From where I was, I looked down at him and his family helping him down the stairs, and thought of how I would wish to experience this kind of love one could only experience in the physical plane. This love had saved his life, and I saw more love coming his way in the next couple of days. He had a purpose greater than he knew, and this love would help him all through to the point where he would accomplish his purpose in life.

……….



After sitting on the ground for a couple of minutes, he had enough strength to pull out his phone out of his jeans pocket and make a phone call. He couldn’t call his parents as they would panic, so he called his neighbour, and long time friend, Peter. “Please, come fast, and bring water.” He said to his friend and tried his best to describe what was wrong with him. All his years of getting drunk, he had never felt this way before. And this was a worse feeling than anything he had felt with the worst sickness he ever encountered. The only thing he could think of was that he was dying. And his instinct told him water would save his life. He was partially right. Water would definitely give him a little extension, but he would need more than that for the battle he was going to have with me in a few hours.



If only people understood the afterlife, they wouldn’t see what I do as a bad thing. Death is a part of life, it is not necessarily a bad thing from my point of view. I come when it is time for someone to go; sometimes the person does the work themselves and I assist in making it faster when their soul doesn’t want to be in the physical plane anymore. Most times, it is old age and sickness that call for the exit of some people. And other times, it might be a murder, or an accident.



His friend, Peter, was confused when he got to the scene. Olu wasn’t talking incoherently, and didn’t have any movements of a drunken person when he had stood up to greet him. He studied Olu as he gulped down the bottle of water he had handed him, and wondered what was really wrong with him. “Wow! I feel better now. Water really is life.” Olu said to his friend as he turned the cap of the empty bottle and threw it in a bin basket beside him.



On the walk home, the two old friends caught up on old times, and concluded to see the next day when they got to Olu’s house gate. A few minutes after Peter departed, Olu’s mom opened the gate for him. She was a slender woman in her late 70s, that still moved around like she was 20 years younger. She complained about Olu coming home late again, and then asked him to help her carry some heavy boxes into the house. They had gotten the DHL delivery earlier, from his sister overseas. The 3 cubic feet boxes were filled with clothes for the family. He looked at the four boxes and wanted to tell his mom he couldn’t do it because he was feeling weak, but he felt that would be rude, so he did it anyway. When he dropped the last box in the living room, he started feeling the weakness he had experienced early, so he quickly excused himself and headed for his room.



Laying on his bed, he couldn’t sleep as he was feeling uneasy. Nauseated, and with a strong feeling to poop at the same time, he thought maybe he had cholera. He felt woozy in the head when he made an attempt to get up. He lay back down, but when it felt like the poop would come out any second, he got up from the bed; it felt like the room was spinning when he took his first few steps towards his room door. His vision got blurry right before he slumped, and fell. The room door broke his fall, and his almost dead reflexes made an attempt to hold on to the door handle with his hands, but his grip was limp, and he slowly came to the floor. It was time for me to do my job.

This is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all the names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents in this book are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

..........

Immediately Olu stepped out of the local restaurant and started walking home, he knew something was wrong. His street was off the tail end of the road he was on, but he still had to walk about ten minutes before he got home. The newly constructed road was lit up by solar powered street lights. With every car that zoomed past him, he felt he was going to lose balance and fall. His lanky body swayed here and there. Was it the spicy food he had just had, or was it the bottle of Stout he had drank earlier. He didn’t believe just one bottle of beer could have him losing control of his body, but he didn’t have any other explanations for how he was currently feeling. .



When he made the turn to his street, he felt very weak, and it was like his soul was leaving his body. A rush of black substance came up his throat and leaned over to throw up in the gutter next to him. The street lights hadn’t been turned on his street, and if he could have seen his vomit at that point, he would have been a lot more worried than he was. He sat on the bare flow because he felt he would pass out if he kept standing. Is this the end? He thought to himself. Olu didn’t want to die on the street, a few houses from his home. He thought of what the headlines would read. Drunk man in his 30s, found dead on the side of the road, next to his vomit.



The thought of death suddenly scared him, and he started praying, hoping God would save his life. He had forgotten all the times he had suicidal thoughts; all the times he had wished God would take his life, because he was too cowardice to make the move himself. Indirectly, he had silently prayed to me, the angel of death all these years. My name is Azreal, and I am the one telling you this story.

What's up people. I'm back with this short, quick read story. It's about 3,000 words...once you see The END, that's the end of the story.

This is a bit different from my regular stories...a bit spiritual.

Once I get 150 "likes" on this particular comment, I will start posting the second part of the story.

juninhouj:
oh.. I never knew... So when should we expect the next part?

Look below for the answer.

juninhouj:
End just like that... Can I I be a little Oliver twist and ask for more pls.... Thanks for this wonderful story, it's been so refreshing reading👍

I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I said it from the start that this is a three part series. This is just the end of the first part.

mostob:
Thank you for sharing Kayo80.
This is really beautiful that really got me overly immersed.

BTW, I bear Tobi too and hopefully, I will find my own Fransesca one day.

Nice!

Yes o! You will find your own Francisca.

Chapter 12 

  

A few days after Francisca had visited him, Edem called him out of the blue and let him know he was coming over. When he arrived, they greeted like usual, and sat in silence for a while before Tobi asked if he wanted to play the new game he had gotten on Playstation. They spent most part of the day playing video games, and shouting commands at each other, like everything was back to normal. Tobi ordered food in-between, and they had a great meal. When they switched from a tag-team game, to a combat game, it felt like Edem was channeling his anger towards Tobi through the game's character. He would have an over the top celebration every time he beat Tobi in a round, like it was a real battle in life.  

  

When negative energy started growing more than normal,Tobi paused the game and turned to look at his friend, "Okay, are we going to talk about your pent up anger or what?" 

  

"What? We're playing video games." 

  

"Come on dude...I know you better than that." 

  

Edem dropped the control pad, rubbed his eyes for a couple of seconds before saying, "I finally decided to fall in love, and the girl I fall for is in love with my friend." 

  

"Edem..." 

  

"It's not your fault bro." He said, cutting Tobi off. "I saw it from the start, but for some weird reason I thought my swag would make her fall in love with me and forget you." Tobi was speechless now and just sat there in awkward silence. "Yeah, I cheated, but even if I didn't, she still wouldn't love me the way she loves you." He looked into space for a few seconds, and then laughed lightly before saying, "I can't believe I got caught up in this soap opera kind of situation." He got off the stool now, and went and sat on the couch close to the kitchen door. He picked up the bowl that had his food in it, opened it, and started munching on a half eaten chicken lap. "This food is actually pretty nice, where did you order it from?" 

  

Tobi was surprised at how fast he switched topics, but he guessed it was for the best as he didn't have anything to say anyway. "Chicken Heaven."  

  

"Oh, it feels like heaven alright." He said as he continued to munch on the chicken. "I'd soon be leaving. I need to drop off something for my sister." 

  

"Okay. How is she doing?" 

  

"She's cool. We haven't had an incident for a while now." 

  

"Cool." Edem's sister had a mental health condition called schizophrenia, and had bad episodes each time she stopped taking her drugs. They had lost their parents in an accident when they were teenagers, which he felt triggered the mental illness. Even though their aunty now took care of her, Edem still had to handle most of the financial responsibilities concerning his sister's upkeep. Having family members that needed constant medical care was one connection they had. They both understood the toll it can take on one's mental health.  

  

"Okay! Check out time." Edem said as he got off the couch still using tissue paper to wipe oil off his hand. "Has she been here since the last time I was here." He said on his way to the kitchen. 

  

The question caught Tobi off guard and he paused for a few seconds before answering with, "Umm...yeah, she was here a couple of days ago, with her brother." 

  

"Okay." He answered from the kitchen. Tobi stood by the kitchen entrance, as the sound of running water from a tap filled the air. A few seconds later, Edem emerged with a smile on his face. "You can't fight love, embrace it." Tobi didn't know what to say to that so he just smiled back at his friend.  

  

When they stepped out was when he realized how much time had passed. The sun was setting and it left a red cluster of clouds in the horizon to the left of them. He walked his friend across the road, a few blocks from his house to his car. "Tobi, if you like her, make your move. I give you my blessings." Edem said as he got into his car. It was as if he couldn't look directly at his friend while saying that and had to wait for a moment like this to say it. Tobi didn't say anything back, and just before he started up his car, Edem said, "Life is short bro, and we have only one life to live." He focused on his car's side mirror for a couple of seconds and then smiled. "I'll see you later bro." He said before driving off.  

  

Tobi turned around and saw Francisca approaching him, looking sizzling hot in a spaghetti strap, red bodycon gown. She didn't have her glasses on, and she looked different, but still very beautiful. He waited till she was within earshot to say, "where are you headed?" 

  

She took a few steps, and was a few inches from him before saying, "Running an errand for my dad." She gave him a quick side hug, and walked past him. "I'll be out in one minute." She said facing him, walking backwards. And then she turned back around and walked towards a black gate to her right. He watched her disappear into the compound, and felt awkward just standing there, so he crossed to the other side of the street, and sat on his car. But like she said, she was out within a couple of seconds. She looked around for a few seconds, before she saw him sitting on his white Sonata across the road. Even though there were no cars passing, habit had her watching both sides before crossing.  

  

Tobi moved a bit to create space for her, and she sat next to him on the hood of the car. The discussion went from church, to her stepbrother wanting a toy car that their dad found out cost a million Naira, to the economic state of the country. Once in a while, a car would drive into the street and shine its headlights on them, and make them uncomfortable for a few seconds. And then they would go back to the conversation they were having.  

  

When they finally went silent, and neither wanted to leave, Francisca finally blurted out, "I'm relocating to Port Harcourt for a new job." 

  

"What!?" Tobi said and turned to look at her. 

  

"I've been thinking about it for a while now, but I finally made up my mind last week." 

  

"I don't understand." 

  

"I got a job offer over there; the pay is three times what I currently earn." 

  

This reality hit Tobi like a ton of bricks, he didn't know what to say. "And your dad is okay with this?" 

  

She looked at him with a disappointed look on her face. Those were obviously not the words she expected out of his mouth. "Tobi, l'm not a kid." She said and got off his car. "Can you walk me home?" 

  

"Okay." He said and got off the car. "But...wait, Francisca, have you really thought this through? PH is really far." She didn't respond to his question, and they kept walking in silence. Maybe she was joking, he thought, and looked at her under the half moon light. Her face looked serious, like she was deep in thought.  

  

"I've had a long time to think about it, and I had to make up my mind before I lose the offer." She finally said. 

  

"So...so, when are you leaving?" 

  

"Tomorrow." 

  

"Wait, what? Tomorrow?" You're traveling to Port Harcourt tomorrow?" 

  

"Yeah, I would lose the offer if I don't resume in two days' time." They were in front of her house now, and she turned to face him. She sighed, looked up at him and said, "I think this will be really good for me." When she saw the sad look on his face, she went on to say in a low voice, "Sorry, I wanted to tell you after my confession of love to you the last time I was at your place, but I felt that would be too much at the time." 

  

He looked in her eyes for a few seconds before saying, "So...so you'll be gone till Christmas?" 

  

"No...I'm going to work for a month, and then come back for two weeks, before fully resuming." Tobi felt a little better now; at least he would get to see her again in a couple of weeks. She gave him a soft playful punch on his upper arm before saying, "Goodnight Tobi." 

  

He watched her walk away, still lost in thought, thinking of the reality he was just hit with. She was about to open her house gate when he said, "Wait." She stopped, turned around, and stood in one spot, staring at him, waiting for him to say something. "Come on! Come and say a proper goodbye." He said, with his arms opened for a hug. She smiled a genuine smile, shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and stared at him for a few seconds before she started approaching him. She walked into his arms, and he gave her a warm bear-hug. He shot his eyes for a few seconds, taking in her enchanting perfume, her soft body pressed up against his hard exterior. He felt a jolt of electricity run through his body.  

  

When they pulled away, she looked up at him, and he remembered that look from when they were sitting in his living room, just before Edem had burst in to disrupt the special moment they had had. This time, it felt like time stood still, and they were the only ones on Earth. She closed her eyes as he started to lean in, and when their lips touched, it felt like fireworks went off around them. They shared a long passionate kiss that seemed to go on forever.  

  

When they pulled away from each other, Fancisca's knees buckled and she almost lost her balance. He quickly reached out to grab her and steady her. She had a nervous smile on her face now as she looked up at him. "I'm okay." She said, with her eyes still on him. After a few seconds of silence went by, she said in a low, sexual voice, "Whoa. Can we do that again?" She laughed lightly at herself, and he smiled at her. Slowly, his hand went up to her cheek. She closed her eyes as he slowly caressed her soft skin, and then leaned in for a kiss. It felt like her world was spinning around and around. With eyes closed, she didn't want this moment to end. It felt like she was in the end scene of a romance movie, where the couple stood still, kissing while the camera focused on them starts to back further and further away, and into the sky, till they are actually appear like the last two people on the surface of the Earth, and then the credits starts rolling. 

  

This was meant to be. Tobi thought to himself. This is what love feels like. Francisca thought to herself.  

  

The End

Last chapter coming up...

Chapter 11 

  

The next couple of days had Tobi going into full work mode; he needed to focus on something he had control over. Francisca was the first to reach out to him out of the two, asking if they could see. He told her he would let her know when he would be free. One thing he needed to do was patch things up with Edem first. Regardless of what Edem did to Francisca, it was still wrong of him to have her in his house without letting Edem know.  

  

He had been chatting with Jane a lot lately; the catalyst of the conundrum he found himself in. He wanted to know if Francisca was capable of doing what Edem had accused her of, so he asked her a lot about Francisca. Girls reveal their darkest secrets to their friends. After a few days, he concluded Francisca couldn't have done what his friend accused her of. Really, Edem's accusations were that of a disgruntled ex. 

  

He was back home from work early on a Friday, sitting in his living room dressed in black polo top and blue jeans, thinking of what to do with the rest of the day when he heard a knock at the door. He sat still till another round of knocking came, accompanied with a familiar female voice talking in a low tone. He got off the couch and headed to the door. When he swung it open, he saw Francisca there, talking to her stepbrother. "Hey Tobi" She said with a nervous smile on her face. She had on a sky blue tight fitting gown, and her short braids were packed to the back. He looked down at little Timothy and the boy was cheesing up at him. He had on the same dungarees he saw him in when he visited their house a few weeks ago, but this time, he had a black t-shirt underneath it. "We were taking a stroll when we saw you park your car and go in the house." She was saying and stopped to clear her throat before saying, "I just wanted to come say hi." 

  

"Okay." He answered, still standing at the door, wondering what to do. Then he stepped aside and ushered them in. The little boy ran in, and started talking about how cold the place was. Francisca ran after him, trying to catch up with him before he ran into Tobi's room. He was already halfway in, and as she pulled him back, he kept saying he wanted to watch cartoons. Tobi walked up from behind, smiling as he watched her struggle to pull him away from the room. He eventually asked her to let him go, and walked him into the room.  

  

He selected a kid friendly animation movie for him on Netflix, and turned up the volume of the TV. As he and Francisca walked back to the living room, he perceived her perfume and remembered what Edem had said the other day. It really had a strong smell, and he wondered why he never noticed the scent till today.  

  

With no word exchange, they both sat opposite each other, and remained like that for a couple of minutes. When Francisca finally broke the silence, she said, "So...what have you been up to?" 

  

"Work...same old, same old." 

  

"Edem...you've spoken to him since that day?" 

  

"Yeah, but we didn't have a serious conversation...just...you know, small talk." 

  

"Okay. I understand." She said and looked at him for a while before saying, "Do you still believe I...we..." 

  

"Nope." 

  

She sighed and sat back in her seat. "So what made you come to this resolution?" 

  

"Umm..." He stopped to think if he should tell her about Jane, but decided not to. "I went with my gut." 

  

"Oh, okay." 

  

"So, what about you...what have you been up to?" 

  

"Work, family, taking care of little Timothy..." 

  

After a little silence in the room, he asked, "Have you and Edem spoken since?" 

  

"Umm...yeah." 

  

"So...any chance you guys are getting back together?" 

  

She shook her head slowly for a few seconds before saying, "That's never happening. The only reason I called him was to make him stop making you feel guilty." 

  

"Oh." 

  

"He knows we didn't do anything, but came up with the accusations to make himself feel better about cheating on me."  

  

"Oh...okay." 

  

She muttered something under her breath, and when Tobi asked what she had said, she laughed a little before saying, "It's funny you would think we would ever get back together." 

  

"Well, couples get back together all the time, it's not weird to think that could happen with you guys." 

  

"Tobi, he slept with my best friend's kid sister." She said and waited for it to sink in before adding, "It's almost feels like he slept with my sister" 

  

"I know." 

  

She had head bowed the whole time, but looked up after Tobi's last words. "Wait, what do you mean you know? You know what?" 

  

"Jane told me everything." 

  

"What? I don't understand, how do you know Jane?" 

  

"She found me." 

  

"How?" She asked as she sat upright with her eyes focused on him now. "Wait, what exactly did she tell you?" 

  

"Well, she didn't try to defend herself. She feels awful for what she did." 

  

"What else did she tell you?" 

  

He looked at her for a while before saying, "She said you never really liked Edem like that." 

  

She looked down now, "That is kind of true." 

  

"Then why agree to date him?" 

  

About a full minute of silence went by before Francisca responded with, "Because...Because I thought he would make you hate me if I said no to him." 

  

"That makes no sense." 

  

"It's you I liked. It's you I like. It's always been you, but you never got the hint." Hearing her admit her love for him got him dumbfounded, and he was lost for words. "I know you feel that's crazy, I feel it's crazy too, but I felt he would poison your mind against me if I said no, and you would hate me too." 

  

Tobi had never been this confused in his life. What would he do now that his best friend's ex girlfriend was in love with him. Not only was she in love with him, she had been in love with him even before she agreed to date his friend.  

  

"I don't want you to think I'm telling you this because I want you to do something about it. I just told you so you get the full picture." She said when his silence became awkward, she added, "If you didn't act before Edem came into the picture, I don't expect you to act now."  

  

After a prolonged silence, she slowly got off her couch and said, "My dad would be wondering where we are now." She said and started heading towards his room. He got up and led the way. They found little Timothy dozing off on his bed. He uttered some gibberish when Francisca woke him up and they both laughed.  

  

As he walked them to the door, the little boy asked if he could come back sometime to watch cartoons again, and Tobi said he could come over anytime. When they said their goodbyes, he could see the twinkle was back in Francisca's eyes. He guessed she was happy she had finally told him how she felt about him. It seemed just him knowing this truth was enough satisfaction for her.

Chapter 10 

  

Four plastic chairs surrounding a table was the arrangement at the outside spot, and they were scattered all around, under a huge white canopy. The loud voice of a sports commentator boomed out of the large screen TV placed on the wall that most of the tables were facing. Tobi was at a bar taking a few bottles of beer; he always had things under control with beer. It was vodka that usually messed him up. You're not supposed to drink vodka like you're drinking beer, Edem would always tell him but Tobi always seemed to learn the hard way. He was thinking of what his relationship with his two friends would be like in the next coming days. Edem was somewhat mad at him, and things between him and Francisca was complicated because of that.  

  

He took a handful of peanuts that was in a small metallic bowl beside his drink, and started popping them in his mouth. There was a football match going on and the spot was a little more crowded than usual. He felt someone staring at him, and when he focused on the person, she looked away. He wanted to look away, but the girl looked awfully familiar, so he looked again, and their eyes met. She didn't look away this time, but got off her seat and started heading in his direction. Oops! What have I activated? He thought to himself. Just before she got to his table, he realized who she was. It was the girl that had been staring at him at the mall the other day. She had on the same scandalous short black gown she was wearing when he had seen her at the mall. 

  

"Hello, I'm Jane. Can I talk to you for a minute." She said standing in front of Tobi now. She was tall and her figure kind of reminded Tobi of Kelly Rowland. 

  

"Okay." He said and she sat opposite him at the small table for four that Tobi was seated at.  

  

"I know you don't know me, but I know you." She said, looking straight at Tobi. 

  

"Oh, okay." 

  

"I'm...I'm not so proud of myself right now, but it is what it is." She said and Tobi kept a stare on her, wondering what she was trying to say. "I'm the girl Francisca caught with your friend, Edem." Tobi's eyes grew bigger at this revelation. "Yeah, and the crazy thing is I'm actually Francisca's friend." 

  

"What the..." Tobi was saying and stopped to really study her. She did appear a bit tipsy, which would explain why she was opening up to him so easily.  

  

"Yeah, well, she is technically my elder sister's friend, but she is also my friend." 

  

"Are you for real?" 

  

"Yeah, I know, I really messed up. No excuses, I just really needed the money." He looked at her for clarification on the last sentence and she went on with, "I'm a little tipsy right now, so I'd just say it as it is. I'm not a saint. He promised to give me a hundred thousand if I allowed him sleep with me, and I agreed." 

  

"Did...did he give you the money?"  

  

"Yes, he did." She said and took a sip from her cup. "It was meant to be a one time thing, besides, she never claimed Edem as her guy." 

  

"What do you mean?" 

  

"She always told us he  was always bugging her and that she didn't like him like that." The girl looked him straight in the eye for some seconds before saying, "It's you she's always liked." Tobi almost spat out his drink after hearing that. "It's true." 

  

"What?" 

  

"It's true. It was very obvious the way she talked about you, but she never accepted that fact." She took some of his peanuts without asking. "I've heard so much about you I feel like I know you already." 

  

Tobi sat back in his chair now, and went down memory lane, thinking back at all the times he and Francisca had shared together, trying to see if there were any signs. The girl said something in a low voice that he didn't hear and didn't bother to ask her to repeat herself. When she saw that he was no longer paying attention to her, she relaxed in her seat and started eating his peanuts.  

  

When the football match ended, everyone started getting up to leave, and she looked back at where she had earlier been sitting, and then turned to look at Tobi. "So, my friends would soon be leaving, but the real reason I came over is to ask you for a favor." Tobi sat up now, curious of what she needed from him. "Can you ask her out?" 

  

"What?" 

  

"Ask Fancsica out." He shook his head at her and she leaned in to say, "You would be doing us all a favor." 

  

He looked at her for a few seconds before saying, "You mean I'll be doing you a favor." 

  

"Yeah, you'd make her hate me less, but you would also make her happy." 

  

"I'm sorry, I can't do what you're asking; it makes no sense."  

  

She sighed, sat back in her seat for a couple of seconds looking at him, then she looked back at her friends. "Please give me your phone." She said with her hands outstretched. He looked at her puzzled, and she did the 'give me' sign with her hand. It was so cartoonish and almost made Tobi laugh. He reluctantly handed her his phone. "No lock, just as she said." The girl said, with her head buried in his phone. She put his phone to her ear, and after a few seconds, handed it back to him. "I just dialed my number on your phone. I'll store it and call you later." She said and got up to leave. She took a few more peanuts, stuffed some in her mouth before saying, "Or you can call me if you change your mind. I can give you some pointers on how to go about it. Bye." 

  

"Bye." He said and watched her disappear into the crowd.

Chapter 9 

  

After getting the truth from Francisca, he was relieved. But something funny happened, he didn't see both Edem and Francisca again. It felt like they disappeared. Edem was always busy with one thing or the other and didn't have time to hangout anymore. And he never saw Francisca on the street like he usually did. He had never seen his friend heartbroken before, and concluded maybe disappearing was his way of coping. He thought to himself. 

  

He buried himself in work, and visited his parents more often. He knew his friend would be okay in the end, but he felt Francisca might not be that over the whole thing yet. Considering the fact that he had been the one that matchmade them, he felt a tad bit guilty. Many times he had to stop himself from calling her. Now, on a warm Sunday afternoon after church, with nothing to do, he decided to call. He sat in his living room, in jeans shorts and a white tee shirt, with his phone in his hand, wondering what his first few words would be. Would he say he just wanted to know how she was doing, or should he ask about her dad. He was still thinking of what to say when his phone started vibrating. There was a delay in the phone displaying who was calling, and when the caller ID displayed on his screen, he was shocked to see it was her calling. He picked up and said, "Hey." 

  

"What's up Tobi? Are you home?" 

  

"Yep." 

  

"Okay. I'm coming over." 

  

"Okay." He said and the line went dead. He sat there wondering what was up. Could it be that they had gotten back together and were planning to meet at his place as usual? He was still thinking when he heard a knock at the door. "One minute." He said out loud before heading to the door. "Hey what's up. It's been a while." He said as he opened the door and stepped aside for her to come in.  

  

"Yeah, I went to stay with a friend for a while." She said as she stepped into the house. She had on denim dungarees, and a white tank top underneath it. Hairdo was short braids that looked fresh like she just had it done. 

  

"Oh, okay," He said, eyes fixed on the basket she had in her hand. He didn't need to guess what was in it, his mouth started to water from the smell of Jollof rice that filled the air. 

  

"So what's been up with you?" She asked as she sat on the couch closest to the door.  

  

"Nothing much," He said as he walked to the center of the living room, and faced her. "Just the same old, same old." He added.  

  

"So...you didn't call Funmi?" She asked, smiling up at him. 

  

"Oh my God, I still can't believe I told you about her." He said and as he took the seat opposite her. She laughed lightly and smiled at him.  

  

After a few seconds of silence, she looked down at what she brought and said, "Oh yeah, I brought you some food." 

  

"Wow, that's so nice." He said and sat up. 

  

"Today is little Timothy's brthday, and he insisted I bring you food." 

  

He laughed lightly before saying, "That's really thoughtful of little man." 

  

"Yep. He calls you, tall uncle." She said as she removed the napkin and pulled out a glass bowl from the basket.  

  

"Are you serious?" He said between laughs.  

  

She got up, walked over to where he sat and placed the bowl on the side stool close to the couch he was on before saying, "Umm...I'll pick up the bowl later." 

  

"Wow. You guys really made my day. I appreciate this." He said, viewing the chicken thighs on top of the Jollof rice, already salivating. He didn't notice she was already heading towards the door. "Wait." He said when he looked up. "Are you leaving already?" 

  

"Yeah, I have some planning to do. His friends would be around by 4pm." She said as she looked at her watch. "That's in about an hour and the half." 

  

"Stay a little...maybe fifteen minutes?" 

  

"Umm...okay." She said and walked back to take her seat.  

  

"So...what has been happening with you?" He asked. 

  

"Work. Work. Work." 

  

"Hmm...okay." 

  

"What about you? Any new girl in your life?" 

  

"Umm...nope. My life has been boring."  He answered with a nervous laugh. 

  

After looking lost in thought for a few seconds, she said, "I always wondered how you and Edem are friends." 

  

"What?" Tobi asked. He heard, but she said it in a very low voice, and he wanted to pretend he didn't hear. 

  

"Nothing." She said and got off her seat. "Don't you want to eat the food now, while it's still hot? 

  

"Oh yeah, that's true." He said and also got off his couch, and walked to the kitchen. A few seconds later, she walked in, with the bowl in her hand.  

  

When he was done washing the glass plate he had pulled out of the plate rack, he placed it on the kitchen cabinet and looked sideways at her. "You're about to witness my super Jollof rice recipe." She said as she poured the rice on the plate. "Oh, perfect." She said with a little laugh as the rice slid onto the plate perfectly, with no grain left in the bowl.  

  

"Will you join me?" He asked as he pulled out two spoons from the drainer. 

  

"Oh, no, I already had enough at home." 

  

"Okay." He said, dropped one spoon, washed the other, and then they headed out to the living room. "Do you want anything to drink?" 

  

"Umm, yeah, but definitely not what you had to drink the last time." 

  

He laughed a little before saying, "Okay. No liquor this time." 

  

"Definitely no liquor." 

  

"Juice?" 

  

"Cool." She said. 

  

He dropped the plate on the stool and went to the fridge to get the organic jar of orange juice he had in there.  

  

As he ate and she drank, they talked about her work. It was interesting to him to hear her talk about the different patients she encountered every day at work. He got to know that she had witnessed so many people die she had become numb to death. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but considering  the fact that her mom had passed away a couple of years ago, maybe that had a little advantage to it. She could see death as what it is; a transition from the physical to the spiritual plane. Death was inevitable, and we would all die someday, but just don't know when.  

  

When the room got quiet she asked if he was in any type of relationship of any sorts right now, when he replied that he was married to his work, she said she didn't believe him. She believed he would have some sort of no strings attached relationship going, and he said no. The room went quiet again, and she looked up slowly with her eyes on him. He recognized that look, but he didn't want to believe what he was reading. Just then there was a knock at his door. He wasn't expecting anyone and was just as shocked as she was at the knock. When the knock came on again, he shouted out, "I'm coming." He got off his couch and on his way out of the living room, he looked down at her and said in a low voice, "I'll be right back." 

  

Maybe it was one of the members of the landlords association coming to collect the landlords monthly dues or something, he thought to himself. He almost had a heart attack when he swung the door open.  

  

"What's up Tobi." Edem said and walked past him, to get into the house. "Sorry I didn't call, but I had to confirm..." He stopped talking when he walked into the living room and saw Francisca on the couch.  

  

"Umm...how you are you doing? Francisca brought me food...food from her step brother's birthday." Tobi said, coming behind Edem into the living room. It wasn't like he was doing something really bad, but the whole thing didn't feel right, and he started fidgeting. "How have you been?" He said to his friend, who just stood there, with eyes on a nonchalant looking Francisca.  

  

"So they were right all along." Edem said and took a deep breath. He had on sparkling white polo top, with blue jeans shorts. 

  

"What are you talking about?" Tobi asked, standing beside his friend now. 

  

"You've been sleeping with Francisca." Edem said with a loud voice, facing Tobi now. 

  

"What? Dude, what are you talking about." He said and walked over to the curtains. "Lower your voice bro." He added as he looked out the window. 

  

"I thought I was crazy when I smelt her perfume here the last time, so I started asking around." He stopped to take a deep breath. "And I heard you guys have been shagging since the day she broke up with me." 

  

"What? That's insane." It was Tobi's turn to take deep breaths now. "How could you even believe that?" 

  

"Stop it Tobi, don't insult my intelligence." 

  

"Edem..." 

  

"No, stop. I never believed you were capable of that, but then I asked her, and she didn't deny it." 

  

"Edem, what are you talking about?" Francisca finally spoke. 

  

"I asked you if you slept with Tobi and you...you....you didn't deny it." 

  

"You're not making sense, Edem." She said in an angry tone. 

  

"You said, now you know how it feels." 

  

"I never said we did anything." 

  

The room was quiet for a few seconds and then Edem said in a low voice, "So you decided to pay me back by sleeping with my best friend?" 

  

Francisca said something under her breath and sat back in her seat. Tobi looked at her for answers and when he got none he turned to Edem. "Bro, I know things look tricky right now, but trust me, we didn't have sex." 

  

"How do you know for sure? You blanked out." He backed out at Tobi, and it made Tobi look confused. "Don't you get it, she used you to get back at me." 

  

With a confused look on his face, Tobi turned to Francisca. "No Tobi. Don't you for one second believe this is what happened. I told you what happened." Francisca said. 

  

"Oh shit, Tobi think, why do you think she never got depressed after the breakup?" He said, and paused for a second before adding, "She got her revenge, quick, that's why." 

  

"Tobi he is just making stuff up because he is frustrated, don't believe him." Francisca said. She was sitting up now, looking at Tobi wondering if he actually believed his friend over her.  

  

"She knows you blank out whenever you drink too much vodka, she planned the whole thing." 

  

The room got quiet. Tobi was deep in thought. He was beginning to doubt Fancisca's story. Could Edem be right? Did she use him to get back at Edem? He didn't know what to believe anymore. Edem all of a sudden punched the fridge, and stomped out of the house.  

  

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Francisca said, "Everything I told you is true. I would never lie to you." Tobi just sat back in his seat and sighed. "Tobi, I respect you a lot. I would never do that to you." She said and got off her seat. When she got to the door, she turned back and said, "Yeah, I confess, I wanted to make him feel how I felt, but I promise you, nothing happened that night." 

  

As she shut the door behind her, he sat there, wondering how he got entangled in this mess. He questioned everything he had heard his friends say the last couple of minutes and concluded he needed a clear head to process all of it. He got off his seat, grabbed his car keys from the center table and headed out the house.