₦airaland Forum

Chapter 2

They were alone in the room, and Abdul felt a bit uneasy. She had come when he and his friends were all in the room with Wole’s girlfriend, Bimpe, but Wole had to go and drop Bimpe, and Lawrence left with them.

He didn’t want to ask her to move to the sitting room, as he thought that would feel even more awkward. She would leave soon anyway, he thought to himself.

She was sitting on the only couch in the room, and he was on the mattress, but facing her. She had on the same blue tank top she was wearing when he had run into her at the mall a few weeks back. Looking up at her from where he sat, he could see the well defined outline of her breasts in the top, and he felt guilty for even noticing that.

She was telling him about how her Dad had just gotten her a new car and how excited she was to finally not have to drive the old Peugeot. Although he wasn’t really interested in much of what she had to say, he liked how youthful she was, and, the fact that he didn’t have to worry about the complications of being with a grown woman that might probably be thinking about sex right now.
“Are you even listening to me?” She said and playfully dumped her body in the bed next to him.
“What? Of course I was listening to you.” Abdul said and shifted to face her.
“Okay, what was the last thing I said?”
“You were talking about your new car.”
She laughed lightly before saying, “That was like 5 minutes ago.”
“Oops! Sorry.”Abdul said and laughed.
“I was saying…” She was saying and paused to pack her long hair properly in a ponytail, all the while maintaining eye contact with him. And then she slowly leaned in and kissed him.
“Whoa!” Abdul exclaimed after slowly pushing her away. “Lilly, I think…” He was saying but stopped when he saw the look on her face. He had never seen her like that before. She looked like if she had the power, she would chop his head off with her hand. After a while, she looked away and bowed her head. He didn’t know what to do so he closed up the space between them and tapped her shoulder.
“What is wrong with me?” She said in a low voice.
“There is nothing wrong with you Lilly.” He said and put his arm around her shoulder. “Lilly, you are 16 and…”
“What!!?” She said with a frown on her face as she lifted her head swiftly to look at him. “Who said I was 16? I’m 18.” She added.
“Wait…I…You said it in your rap freestyle.”
“I wrote part of that verse 2 years ago.”
“Oh! Well, I thought you were 16.” Abdul said and looked into space for a few seconds before adding, “But even at 18, I still think…”
“I will be 19 next month.” She said, cutting him off. When he didn’t say anything she bowed her head again. “I have never liked a guy before.” She said as she slowly lifted her head and looked his way. “I didn’t know what I was. But I feel something when I’m around you.”
“Lilly, you probably feel this way because I like your rap verses.”
“I feel butterflies in my tummy when I am with you Abdul.” She said as she intensified her stare.
Abdul was confused of what next to tell her. This was a first. She was naive but bold at the same time. And after hearing her age, he started doubting himself and how he really felt about her. He did like her, but he had never made himself see her more than just a friend because he thought she was too young.
“I want to beg you for a favor.” She said disrupting his train of thought.
He cleared his throat and said, “What?”
“I don’t want to have this bad memory for the rest of my life…” She said and tucked loose hair behind her right ear. “Can you kiss me?”
Abdul was shocked and didn’t know what to say. He looked at her for a few seconds, hoping she would be intimidated by his stare and change her mind, but she didn’t back down. He leaned in, and she met him half way. With her eyes closed she slowly kissed him passionately like she had been waiting for this day all her life. He kissed her back as his hands held her face in place.

They were deep in passion when the room door opened and Mariam walked in. “Oh shitt!” She said and froze.

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

Chapter 1

The house was on the outskirt of the city, and the long drive there had tired them out. The townhouse had an English style setting although the butler was in a safari suit instead of a tux.

Abdul, Wole, and Lawrence sat in the high ceiling living room in silence for about 5 minutes before the short bulky man arrived. They had never worked with him before, but Mr. O told them he could be trusted to get them out of any situations in case things went left. He also told them never to ask him who he was or what he did.
“Good evening gentlemen; let’s go to my home office.” He said and walked briskly down a long corridor. They all got up and followed. At this point, they had not even introduced themselves.
The man sat on the desk with half a butt, and waved them over to a couch opposite from him. “I’m sure my friend Mr. O has briefed you about what you will be doing, but I would like to give you the full details now.” He said and went over to a device near his desk. He turned on the projector, and started tapping the keypad of the silver colored Tab he held in his hand. An image of Ayodele Johnson appeared on the large screen. “I’m sure you all know who this is?” He said, looking at them under the rim of his glasses for confirmation. They all nodded. “As you know, apart from his business in the Oil Sector, he also owns Gotco Bank, which is our target.” Lawrence, Wole and Abdul kept quiet and waited for him to continue. He tapped the device in his hand, and an image of a building that looked like a bank came up. He turned and studied them a little, before turning back to the screen. “I didn’t ask for your names because I want us to know as little as possible about each other.” He said as he slowly removed his glasses. He studied them for a while and smiled before adding, “You may ask; why then would I take the risk of inviting you to my home?” They all kept quiet and just stared at him. “I will give you an answer to that before you leave.” He said and pursed for a while before adding. “One more thing before I continue; you are to see this operation as a patriotic one. You really are going to be saving your country.” He said and turned to face the screen again. “This is the branch you will hit; it happens to be the unofficial head office of the bank.” A flick from his controller, and another image appeared.
He briefed them for about 10 minutes and the meeting became interactive. After about an hour and the half, the meeting was over.

“So, it is really that simple.” He said and switched off the projector. “Now, on a lighter note, I would like to educate you a little on the state of the country.” He said paused for a while. “I won’t like to bore you; so I’d try and make it short.” Abdul, Lawrence, and Wole adjusted in their seats like they were about to receive a lecture. “Actually, Johnson is just a front for a bigger boss; he doesn’t really own Gotco. He is just a figure head.” he said and smiled. “Ayodele Johnson is just a stooge; of course he is an intelligent man, but still a stooge; A stooge for Ovbar Akmad.” He stopped for a while and let the information sink in. “I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors, but they are actually true. And the reason you are hitting this bank is to cripple their operations. Once you can cripple the operations at the bank, you cripple the mafia that’s running the country.” He stopped and let the fact and the seriousness of their operation sink into their heads. He wanted to make it clear that their operation was more than just a bank robbery; that they were actually going against the top dogs in the country. His face got a little bit more serious as he continued. “Don’t worry; nothing will happen to you. My friends and I also have our connections.” He said and cleared his throat. “You see, the potential of the impact your operation would have is massive. The mafia is no longer allies with the ruling power, which is why you have all the chaos in the country at the moment. The chaos is actually funded by the mafia. Give a homeless man a million naira in cash and he’ll do practically anything you ask him to.” He paused for a second and robbed the bridge of his nose before continuing with, “Akmad still has a lot of money from his various investments, which are also fronted by a couple of Nigerian Billionaires. I mean, the real billionaires, not the ones you read about on the Internet.” He said and smiled before adding, “But, his Swiss account loot is harder to access now, so he and his partners keep most of their money and valuable documents in that bank. How many of your friends do you know that have accounts with Gotco?” He asked with a grin on his face, and when they looked at each other and laughed at the realization, he joined them in the laughter. “The bank is a warehouse for money; in different currencies. They even have stacks of Gold bars in their vault.” After saying that, he squinted at them. “You’re supposed to be 4; where is the fourth guy?” They all looked at each other. They hadn’t concluded on that matter.

“The driver; she had somewhere to go, but she didn’t have to be here since she will be in the car most of the time.” Lawrence said, and Abdul looked at him in astonishment.

“Hmm! A she? That’s interesting. Well, you are not really going to use that much force anyway. So it is okay.” He said and wore his glasses. “Yusuf would have loaded your car by now with all you would need.” He said as he started walking towards the door; they understood that it meant their meeting was over. There were no last words, he just walked with them down the stairs at the house entrance, and waved at them before heading back into the house.

None of them spoke on the long drive back home.

This is the third and concluding part of From Nigeria with Love...

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

Thanks.

OluwabuqqyYOLO:
Time check: 20:39

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

Chapter 5

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

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

..........

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

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

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

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

Rahmoney:
Fire on.. Following tentatively

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

Chapter 4

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

rachealfst:
Wow! Nice story, though short but interesting.
I like the fact that the writer talked about suicide which is now common in our society.

Please let's pay more attention to friends, family and people around us. Let's check on them once in a while and ask how they are faring. We can also do that via social media thank God for internet.
#Be your brother/sister's keeper.
God bless us all.
God bless kayo80 More inspiration......

Thank you.

smizel:
bros kayo, abeg when u go start the part 3 of tony nd judith. I don dae xpect d update.

This weekend by the grace of God. Too many story ideas dey this my small head. lol!

siralabai:
Moi aussi, Monsieur Kayode

d'accord

stephenGee12:
Mention me wen u start the part 3

Okay. I will do that.

Olabantu:
Wow wow wow... Bro, i doff ma hat 4 u ooo... Short, intruding, simple, & interesting... Nice one

Thanks for the compliment and short review.

stephenGee12:
Yea I read all ur other stories after coming across this one and its suprising ow u went from celebrity forum to agriculture den romance and literature.
Pls update bff and tony and judith story

"its suprising ow u went from celebrity forum to agriculture den romance and literature."


HAHAHAHA!!! You really have been following me. lol! My mind just likes to jump around like that. But i am focusing on Literature/Writing for now.

stephenGee12:
Send the link na please.
Loved this one

Thanks.

This is the series i want to finish next...https://www.nairaland.com/3307549/me-book-1-romance-novellete

I don't know if you have read it before sha.

One down...I have two more uncompleted stories to finish before i start my new one. Let me head on to the next one. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 11

She met him with a smiley face and a hug when he walked into the frozen yogurt joint they planned to meet before the movie started. They sat by the table close to the door and she let him know it was her treat, and that she had already gotten two tickets for the movie. He declined her offer for a cup of frozen yogurt, and just watched as she took scoop after scoop as she told him about what happened at her church earlier on in the day.

It was almost like they never had the argument about Tunde’s death and she never shouted at him at the parking lot of the same mall they were now seated at. He didn’t know what she was up to, but he didn’t want to ruin the high spirit she seemed to be in, so he didn’t bring up the past.

She had on a white cotton gown with black patterns running along the hemline. As he listened to her talk about how panicky everybody was in church earlier because of the bomb scare, he wondered what part of her made him fall in love with her. Though he was a novice when it came to love matters, he knew his love for this girl sitting in front of him was unconditional. Even if she wasn’t as witty as she was, he would still love her. Even if she wasn’t as beautiful as she was with her shining brown complexion, he would still love her. Even if she didn’t have such beautifully shaped breasts on her chest, he would still love her. Even if she didn’t have a great body, he would still love her. He just wondered if she felt the same way about him.

……….

After the movie, they walked to the same bar they had been last week, and the talks continued. They discussed the movie, and how they had expected more. Andrew said he thought there would be more action, and Angela complained about how violent the little girl was.
After a while, there was silence. She started playing with her glass cup, running her finger around the circular top, and then she looked up at him and said, “I’m sorry about last week.” He looked up at her but didn’t say anything. “I shouldn’t have overreacted like that.” She added.
“It’s fine.” He said ad took a deep sigh. “We both loved Tunde, so I understand how you would act like that.”
“I sat down to think about it, and there is really nothing you could have done.” She said and picked up her drink. She was about to take a sip from her glass cup when she stopped to say, “I heard you visited Tunde’s family?”
“Yes. I had to talk to them. The issue was killing me inside.” He said and sighed as he remembered how Tunde’s parents burst out crying when he had visited them a few days ago. Burying a child was something most parents prayed against. Tunde’s sister, Bimpe was also there, and at some point, she ran into his arms and cried profusely. He understood how losing a sibling can make one lash out at anyone they felt could have saved the loved one, so he totally understood her early outbust at the mall.
A tear rolled down Andrew’s eye and Angela reached for his hand on the table. She stared at him with the look that said, ‘it’s okay.’ She had done her own grieving in the quiet of her room the last couple of days, but she understood how feeling like you could have done something to save a friend’s life can make one feel.

……….

By the time Tunde walked Angela to her car later that day, it was already dark. She leaned on her car and he stood a few inches away from her. He was about to say his goodbye and leave when he noticed she was staring at something behind him. When he turned around, he saw an old couple making out in the front seat of a yellow 1981 Volvo 244. He had to look again to be sure of what he had seen. “This sure doesn’t happen every day.” He said with a smile.
She chuckled and looked down. When her face came up, she looked straight at him and said, “You know what?”
“What?” He said.
“The real reason I snapped at you the other day was because…” She was saying and stopped to look at him intensely. “It was because I was fighting my feelings for you.” He looked at her trying to understand what she was trying to say and she continued. “You had told me you loved me, and I felt the same, but…” She said and stopped as tears rolled down her eyes…”But I didn’t believe I could get a second chance at happiness.”
He reached out for her and she held him in a tight embrace as she cried tears of joy.

The End.