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Unita

'I'll treat you like a queen, I'd buy you diamond rings, I swear my baby I say no be lie' I sang along to Wizkid's I love my baby and gave the motorcyclist who swerved into my path as I drove the middle finger. I'd just won a contract for my company, Posh holdings and was in cloud nine. We were to supply bath and bedding items to a big hotel in Ikeja, and I was just leaving the venue of the meeting at Eko court. It was a good day.
It would even get better, because Duke and I have another date. The first date was our meeting at the food court, so I offered to make him something for dinner in my house this time. He would come over after work and we'd just eat and gist, we had planned.
I turned into the Goodies supermarket on Kofo Abayomi and shopped for an army. This dinner had to make sense, and I planned to use all my skills to the letter. I even bought a few bottles of wine and cheese.
The traffic on Adeola Odeku was light, and in a matter of minutes I'd passed the toll gate and turned into my street. I'd already called the office and told them I'd been delayed in the meeting so that I could just head home straight and prepare for the date.
I saw a neighbor's car parked outside and wondered what she was doing at home at this time. Tayo was never home and nobody knew what she did for a living. We only knew of her late night arrivals and expensive perfumes and bags. She rarely was without her custom 22 inches brazillian hair and high heels. Nkoro had met her once and decided she was some senator's call girl. I chose to believe she was a senator's daughter.
I got down from the car and pulled out my skirt from between my butt cheeks. My insides quivered in excitement at the thoughts of Duke running his hands over them. He had suggestively used some double entendres to imply that we'd go all the way tonight. I didn't mind that seeing as I had stayed off sex for a while, and even my last boyfriend Isaiah had been a one minute man. I hoped Duke would live up to expectations.
Once upon a time I'd even tried to be friends with her, stopping over for brief visits and chatting with her on BBM, but she hadn't bothered with reciprocating so I'd let her be.
I parked behind my other neighbor's Honda CRV and carried the groceries in. I began to make afang after changing into jeans bum shorts and a shirt. I know what they say about the way to a man's heart being his stomach. Even that my one minute man ex boyfriend, Isaiah, had proven it.
By the time I was done, it was almost 8.00 PM. I took a quick shower and dabbed on a nice cologne. Just as I stepped into my satin flip flops, I heard a knock on the door. Now, the balls were in his court.


Duke.
The way I rushed through work today, anyone with a nose for gossip would have sniffed that something involving meeting a woman was in the offing. I thought about Unita all day, and didn't bother picking Tolu's calls after 4'o clock. She'd called fourteen times already, so I could just lie to her that I was in a meeting. I left the office at 6.00 PM and drove through the heavy traffic, cursing my luck. I had to be home by 10.00pm or else the wife would send out a search squad. The traffic was seriously cutting short the time I'd have spent with Unita. I hit the steering hard in frustration. There wasn't ever traffic when I was heading home to meet Tolu.
Finally, when it seemed like all the cars in Lagos where handpicked from my front and flung away, I made it to Unita's. 7.57pm left me with barely 2 hours, so I jogged to the door and raised the knocker. It chimed once, and before my hand hit it again, the door opened. Something about this woman standing before me was captivating. It was the seriousness of her face, like nothing in life was worth laughing at. It gave her a cute look, and she didn't look like a woman you could boss around. Sexy.
She was putting on a grey thigh length shirt dress and had let down her hair. I also got a breath taking view of her cleavage.
'Good evening, please come in' she said, after what seemed to me like aeons.
'Errrrm, good evening, how are you?'. I asked
'I'm fine, thank you. Please sit.' She pointed at a couch and sat in a desk chair some distance away. I took in the interior of the house and nodded in admiration.
'A nice place you've got here' I told her, smiling. She looked ever so serious.
'Oh yea? Thank you', she replied.
'So, I smell something cooking, did you make an order so you could microwave it' I asked, patting my stomach. You never could tell with all these Lekki babes.
'Excuse me? I made everything from the scratch!'she said with a pout. I almost wanted to kiss her then, but I had to behave like a gentleman.
'Just kidding. You know, you smell good too. So who do I eat first, you or the food?' I asked with a glint in my eyes. All week, I'd been subtly letting her know what would go down today. If we ended up not going to bed, we'd at least lay a foundation. She hadn't encouraged me, but she didn't act like she wasn't interested too.
She shook her head and wagged her forefinger at me 'Mr. Glutton, let's even see you finish your food first. Eat me ko, chop me raw ni', she playfully finished.
We headed for the table and she uncovered a big bowl. Immediately, my mouth became an ocean of saliva. The aroma was simply divine. I watched her spoon some vegetable soup, and I felt my intestines do a jig. You know that kind of soup that is balanced diet on its own. I loosened my belt and fell to.
We chatted about work, growing up and university days over food and wine. I just didn't want the evening to end, but I needed an opportunity to make my move.
I joined her in the kitchen, watching her do the dishes and drying them. I walked up to her and held her wrist, took away the dish towel and pulled her close. I brought my lips close to her and searched her face to see any sign of reluctance. Her eyes were shut. Good.
What hit me could better be described as a pleasant surprise. Never has kissing anyone brought me such pleasure. We kissed and smooched and moaned until it was unbearable. The hour had come to liberate our passion, and right there on the kitchen floor, we had sex, only it was a great deal better than I'd imagined. I was sated, breathing slowly and caressing her when my phone began to ring.
Tolu.



Unita
I am not going to say it was the best one I'd ever had, but never before tonight had I experienced such passion. It felt really good, and I felt like I'd finally found someone for keeps.
Good looks check
Manners and wit check
Jaguar where it mattered, check check.
I snuggled closer and opened my eyes a fraction. I could see us getting together for a lifetime, making one or two babies and raising them. Finally, Nkoro's Uwem didn't matter anymore. He just paled in comparison already. I thanked God silently for directing me to Food Court that day. Ordinarily I'd have sent the office assistant to get me what to eat, but something in me just decided not to send him that day. It was fate. Yes, we were destined to be together. From somewhere distant, Asa's soulful voice came to life in a ringtone. Who was the person calling him?
He picked the phone and I quickly peeked at the screen. I missed the name, so I didn't care. Until I heard him tell whoever it was that he'd be home in a few minutes. I felt jealous of his male roommate already. He'd better get used to not seeing Duke around every evening. I stood up and headed for the bathroom. I was douching for the second time when I remembered he'd not used a condom. And it was my fertile period. Oh well, if tonight was an indication of how much things were going to be good, then I'll skip the pill, I decided. I was even been paranoid, I thought to myself.


Tolu.
I've been calling Duke, but he won't pick. Again. It's past 10.00pm, dinner is so cold I'd just as soon throw it into the bin. I've really prayed that God gives him a federal government job that will make him have time for his family. See how my daddy always showed up for my visiting days way back at FGC Ilorin. He'd even come on weekdays and spend time. If Duke continued with this bank job his children may never know him, I thought to myself.
I tried to reach him again, and luckily this time, he picked and said he'd be home in a few minutes.
Poor man. He'd probably been working himself so hard just so he could be a good husband. I smiled in satisfaction as the twin babies kicked playfully.
I had it all.
My husband, babies on the way, a job where my bosses understood the plight of a pregnant woman, and parents who thought the world of me.
In fact, I had everything I ever wanted.

Blublahd
Suzzytee05
Olaitan3784
Oluwadanie1
Tijehi
Deb6
Therealstuff
Feyilag
Boigrammz

New post alert

Tolu.
The generator set behind the kitchen window roared on, but it didn’t affect my gist with Yewande. I was making ikokore, water yam pottage for dinner and I was almost done grating the yam. The phone was on speaker on the kitchen island and I could hear her loud and clear from London where she now resides.
‘Aaaah, don’t even go there. You don’t like kini? See, better watch mojo if you must’ she laughingly said. I pictured her lying on a bed and handling her belly button, her favorite posture.
‘Ehn, no please. Why? For what?’, I answered indignantly.
But for Labake’s decision to move permanently to Taraba state as a missionary (she’d even missed my wedding, saying she wasn’t coming back to the things of the ‘world’), why would I even have to share the details of my non-existent sex life with her?
This Yewande sef.
‘You will soon know o. There are different styles you should learn to be giving him by now. Both of you will not leave the bed the next day’
‘You see, that’s my point. Why would I not want to leave the bed because of a thing as mundane as sex?’ I started to drop the grated water yam into the sauce little by little.
‘I know you will not let me talk. But I know you both can have fun. So let me tell you about this guy I met at Cokobar, yeeeee, the guy is fooooiiiinnnneee eh, as in eh, oh my’ she gushed. I shook my head in pity. If you see the guy now he’d look like an ordinary cucumber.
‘Oh really’ I said, deliberately sounding bored. I was taking out the fish and meat pieces so they wouldn’t get stuck to the bottom of the pot.
‘The guy can kiss sha, we have a date for next Sunday sef. I have invited him over and I will make him jollof rice’ she ratted on.
I didn’t even say anything again. She was talking about kissing as if it was something divine.
Here’s how I picture two people kissing; you save spittle, say like a spoonful and exchange it by plunging your lips into theirs and suffocating them with your tongue.
Disgusting. Duke always tried to kiss me, but I’m always put off by the smell of his cologne wafting across my nostrils.
I remembered again the reason why I was making this special dish. I smiled and patted my slightly bulging stomach.
I didn’t know how far I’d wandered off in thought until I heard Yewande ask me how many bottles I would send to her.
‘How many bottles of what?’ I asked, turning the gas’ knob to low heat.
‘Of your head. Ahn ahn? I said when that my friend Bimpe comes to Nigeria, how many bottles of groundnut and palm oil will you send to me through her?’
‘Oh, that. I will send 5 bottles of each. Shey that one will calm your gra gra down abi?’ I replied.
‘Thanks darling, you know that’s why I love you ba, first lady of our Duke’, she teased. We continued to banter for a while, until she had to go to her second job.
The house was now quiet, and I couldn’t wait for my husband to come home.


Unita
I was chatting with my pretend best friend on bbm, and the trend of the chat had me rolling off the couch and laughing so hard. She was teling about how her fiance was asking her for MouthAction and she declined as usual.
Nkoro: Babe abeg abeg. If God approved of this thing would he place the poo hole so close?
Me: *rolling eyes smiley* What kind of talk is that abeg. You dey craze o.
Nkoro: True now. He even sent me links from YouTube to watch and learn. Mbok, what man encourages his woman to watch porn?
Me: A romantic man who wants her to step up in bed. I don't like it o, ahn. Haven't you heard that you should be a chef in his kitchen and a ho in his bed?
Nkoro: Na you go sabi that one*sarcasm smiley*. Brb abeg.
Me: kk.
I dropped the phone on the side table and shut my eyes in meditation. Nkoro and her fiance, Uwem, were like night and day; so different. Yet it was obvious they loved each other. You could practically catch a love bug just hanging around them.
Nkoro had it all. She always had.
We had grown up together in Yaba, attended primary school and secondary school together. While I was the fat dark girl everyone poked fun at, she effortlessly got attention from young and old, boys and girls. I had to hide to eat chocolates, fries, and she could stuff her face and not get bothered. Even when the boys started to come, it was her they sought after. The ones who paid me any attention did so just to get close to her, and then dump me. But I didn't hate her. She was and is still my only friend, and I try to match everything she does.
If she got an A, I'd get an A+. I lost weight and became even slimmer than her. I became senior prefect and she was a house prefect. The competition didn't end there.
She got into the University of Ibadan, I went to University of Lagos. I graduated with a first class in Industrial Design while she dragged through with a shaky second class upper.
Even down right to losing our virginity. She offered hers on a platter to a coursemate she was into, and I made myself feel good by sleeping with an upcoming actor.
All I needed was to be better than Nkoro. It didn't matter if it was right or wrong. I just had to do it better.
When she met Uwem, she'd gone on and on about how he was handsome and generous and she rated him excellent where it mattered.
For once, I couldn't outdo her on this.
She was 26, and getting married soon. I was 28, single and approaching last chance salon.
I wanted my own man.
Scratch wanted. I needed my own man. Fast!


Duke.
I pulled the pilow closer over my ears. It was too annoying. Who wakes up at 3.00am to throw up? And I have to live with this for how much longer? I hear a loud fart from the bathrom and imagined a foul atmosphere.
I didnt it think it was fun to be an expecting father, but nothing in the books had prepared me for this. The tantrums, the morning, noon and midnight sicknes like she was having now, the non-existent sex life. The only thing I loked forward to was the birth of my twin babies.
Yes. Over a lovely dinner tonight, she had waved the report of the ultrasound in my face and told me laughingly that I was a sharpshooter.
Afterwards I had tried to cuddle on the couch, some preamble to a great night ahead but she flew off to the bathroom and threw up everything.
Nothing I did could make her feel better, so I just left her. Now she was awake and throwing up again.
Somehow, I dont know for what reason but I thought of Unita's lithe body and her face underneath me. The result was a rush of blood to my southern part, and I groaned in frustration.
For a week now, I called her everyday and we would talk for hours. The chemistry was undeniable. The attraction was mutual. The only deterent to wooing her had been the constant ringing of my marriage vows in my ears. But an erect penis has no conscience.
I'd make it a one time thing. Nothing to worry about. No strings attached.
I felt a light tap on my butt and took the pillow off.
'Please help me rub my feet'. It was Tolu. Her face was wet, and some hair from her head stuck to her face. She looked pitiful and frail.
'Alright. Lie down and let me' I said with pretend loving and a fake grin. She did, and I started to rub them, from the balls and in between the phalanges.
'Not so fast, you need my foot rub' she smiled. Why didnt she just say that before?
I stood up to get it from the top of the dresser. This was one night I didnt want a repeat of. I couldnt even fantasize about Unita in peace.
I'd rubbed both feet to her satisfaction so much she slept off while I was it. Good for her that she had asked for time away from work.
I didnt have that luxury and I had things to do when morning came. Top of that was getting Unita into my bed.

Good afternoon.
Please I await your criticisms.
I'm traveling and so I may not update for a while after today except the WiFi of the hotel is as good as they say.

Post will be up soon. Enjoy.

blublahd:
How did you come up with your moniker?

Errrrm, my husband once said, errrrrrm

Suzzytee05:
Nice one softandmoist. Unita should go look for her own man elsewhere or didn't she know Duke is married?

The reason why will soon be obvious. He hasn't told her yet.

agent9:
Watin be dis

Story

oluwadanie1:
Nice one up there softandmoist.

Please mention me anytime you update.

Khassy
boigrammz
happykidarotiba
olsoo
agent9
keyana

make una come read better story o...

Thanks so much. I'll be sure to.

Feyilag, suzzytee05, deb6, therealstuff, Tijehi, Olaitan3784, Oluwadanie1
Thanks for the encouragement. This update is for you.

Unita.

I like to jog. I've always liked to. Maybe this started when I was pushed as a child to do extra exercises to get rid of my baby fat. Yes, I was a fat child growing up and countless uncles and aunts had fun pulling my cheeks and calling me fatibombom. Not nice.
So this morning, I was jogging along the Lekki link toll bridge and breathing in the salty air. I recognized a few faces from past jogging episodes and nodded in acknowledgement to their greetings. I noticed a few boats at the Queens drive end of the bridge, their sails flapping against the wind.
I jogged on.
My secret of not getting tired was pushing harder whenever I felt like giving up. I'd bring up mental pictures of bullies taunting me, chipping away bit by bit my self esteem. That was enough to send me more energy.
On the return lap, my phone rang. I pulled it out of the pocket of my cropped jersey top to check the caller ID. It was Duke, the guy I met at food court from the day before.
The guy was fine sha, but I didn't want to seem desperate. I slowed down to a trot and let it ring out. I didn't pick until my phone rang for the fourth time. My breathing was relaxed and under control and I wasnt panting anymore.
'Hello', I cooed, thinking of getting some groceries on my way home. I had no plans to come out for the rest of the day. All I wanted was to snuggle under a blanket and sleep.
'Hey, how do you do', he asked. I liked the richnes of his voice. Already.
'I'm fine. You?', I replied.
'Well, I would be fine if I wasnt at work today'.
'Oh, you work on Saturdays?'
'Yes. Every banker has to, at some point. Errrrm, I actually don't want to bother you, but could we hang out today? Like some time around noon?'
'Well, I think working on Saturdays is some kind of modern day slavery. Only if the pay justifies it'. I tried to calm the butterflies in my stomach down. He was asking me out on a date. He asked again, chuckling about my comment on the pay.

Wel, this was some fast mover. A date wouldnt be bad but I had to play hard to get. By now, I had gotten to the supermarket, and my pink sneakers made slaping sound against the tiles of the aisles. I held the phone to my ear with one hand and held up jars and cartons with the other, checking expiry dates and ingredients.

'Well, I have a full schedule for today', I lied. My purple joggers didn't catch fire.
'Uh ooh', he groaned, 'I really want to see you though'.
'I'll make a rain check next weekend. I'm sorry we can't hang out today' I said, strolling to the checkout with a carton of milk and a dozen eggs. The bread I could have delivered by the bakery in no time.
'It's okay. I actually don't expect a pretty lady like you to be single and available' said he.
'Ya, urm, I gotta go now, bye', I replied, bringing the conversation to an end.
'OK dear, have a beautiful day. Bye,'. I hung up.
Pretty? Check✔
Single? Check check✔✔
Unavailable? I was so available, and that was my greatest source of misery.
I have to state a few facts here.
At 5'11, with a dark chocolate skin and an angular face, I was the kind of woman you'd look at more than once. Add to that a beautiful body gotten from years of exercise and proper diet, I rarely got ignored by the malefolk.
Truth is, at 28, I'm single. Everyone that is related to me has tried to hook me up with someone who knows someone, but it never works out. Thrice, I'd almost gotten married. Once, I'd even gone as far as being engaged, until the dumbass left me for a woman his mother's age.
I had my fair share of toasters. Men wooed me night and day, because I was the picture perfect Lagos babe- a good job, an apartment in Lekki, a car, and vacations twice a year.
What then was my problem?
I turned the key and used my elbow to nudge the door open. I flicked on the light and dropped the groceries on the island in the kitchen.
I never felt anything for them. No matter how much I tried, it never worked. The one I liked were taken. The ones that liked me were not my type.
This Duke guy was the only one I'd felt even a remote connection with in the last 17 months.
Maybe this would work, I thought, as I made my routine banana smoothie.
Maybe.

Waves of Emotions
Part 6
A new character is introduced today. Enjoy Unita.

Duke

I drove hastily into the food court in Victoria Island and found somewhere to park. I had to eat something to pacify the worms in my belly. I don’t know if I’m the only one who has noticed that when a Nigerian eatery takes your order and tells you 15 minutes, it takes 51 minutes for them to deliver. I sat at a table and brought out my phone to while away time. I was still browsing through Linda’s blog to see the latest updates when something nudged me to look up.
A young woman walked in, holding the phone to her ear and laughing loudly. I rolled my eyes and checked my watch. I had waited for 20 minutes for a meal of lamb chops in sweet pepper sauce and a side of pasta. I resolved to look for a proper alternative to feeding. I was still looking at my phone’s screen when a strong whiff of a feminine perfume hit my nostrils. It was rich and inviting.
I raised my head up and caught her smiling down at me and pointing to the table and chair, as if to ask if she could sit. I nodded in affirmation, and went back to scrolling through my phone. Why this table of all the ones in here? The eatery wasn’t so crowded, and she’d passed by a few empty tables before getting here.
She ended the called and muttered a breathy ‘Hello’.
‘Hello’, I replied.
‘I’m fine. Warm day today, don’t you think?’. Her smiled reached all the way to her eyes, and she had a dimpled chin.
‘Quite warm. I hope the rain takes away some of this heat.’ I said conversationally. She was pretty and nice, and we started chatting about politics. For a woman, she was very knowledgeable.
‘Why shouldn’t the subsidy be removed, hen, sometimes things have to get worse before they get better o’ she argued.
‘Well, that’s true. But he should have given us a few days notice now’, I countered.
‘even if he had done it after some notice, these Naija people will complain’, she said, waving over a waiter to take bill. We’d ordered and eaten to our fill, and I’d even forgotten that I wasn’t supposed to exceed my one hour lunch break.
‘so I missed your name ‘I said
‘That’s because i never told you, I’m Unita Amu.’
‘Nice to meet you’
We shook hands, and exchanged a smile. I felt like I had found a long lost friend.
‘May I have your number please?’ I asked
‘Sure, why not?’ she recited it in a sing song voice as she stood up to straighten her dress. She had a very lovely figure, I noted.
‘Where do you work so I can drop you off?’ I asked her.
’Posh Holdings’ she said
‘Oh, that’s just two buildings away from my office; how come I never met you before today?’ I smiled broadly, knowing I had just gotten married a few months back and here I was flirting with another woman. I looked down at her fourth finger; no band, great. She would do as a friend.
‘That’s because a lot of you Lagos men walk around with your eyes closed’ she said, laughing in that deep throated way that had caught my attention.
‘Oh well, I guess we do’ I finished, grabbing my keys off the table and walking her out the door.
Was this the start of something new?

Waves of Emotions (6)

Duke.

The traffic on Ajose Adeogun was terrible. I'd been on one spot for more 45 minutes now, and there was no respite in sight. Some miles away, a policeman chewed kolanut like goats chew cud. His problem, not mine. I just wanted the traffic to ease up already.

I turned up the volume of the radio, drumming my fingers on the steering to Nyanya's Kukere and wondering if I'd make it to the venue of the meeting early enough.

I had graduated in 2009, and was posted to Lagos for my service year. I was lucky to be retained by the bank I served with, and this morning I was driving out to meet with a client. Everything was fine but for the traffic. Everything, but the traffic and the woman I married. We'd been married for 3 months, but it felt like I'd been drinking undiluted lime juice ever since. I could try to pretend to everyone that my marriage was blissful, but deep down, it wasn't. I don't want to think about it, or even talk about it.
My phone rang, jarring me out of my wandering thoughts. I picked it up as Asa got to the first 'Bibanke...' without checking the caller ID. It could only be my wife.

'Hello dear', she cooed, bringing back memories of our dating days. I frown at the man in a tricycle trying to get in front of me and give him the middle finger before I could help myself.

'Hi you dear', I replied.

'How's your day coming? I called you earlier but you didn't pick. I wanted to find out if you had gotten to work', she said.

I cringed inwardly. She'd called me twice before I got to work. The third time was when I was parking the car in my allotted space. What kind of close marking was this?

' OK babe, sorry, there's a LASTMA official in front of me, gotta go', I lied, not wanting to sound as tired as I was of her incessant calls.

'You mean you didn't use your hands free? But you know the rate at which accidents occur as a result of......'she started to chide. I was irritated.

'Sorry gumdrops, gotta go now', I hung up, hissing loudly. If only she was as warm where it mattered most, I'd be pleased.

An angel flew down and miraculously cleared the traffic, and from there it was a perfect day until I went home to meet her.
Her.
Tolu.

**************
Tolu

I splashed water on my face and spat into the sink. I had to lean on it to catch my breath. The wave of nausea passed, and I trudged back to the living room to lie down. Duke would be back in about an hour, and dinner was cooking on the gas.
Marriage.
A lifetime commitment.
So this was what it was all about.
Nothing anyone had said had prepared me for this. Not my mom, not my friends, not Yewande, who was my chief bridesmaid and had slipped me a jar of Vaseline for easy entry when we were to do the do.
Sex is overrated.
The night of the wedding, I'd showered and worn a chaste nightie, prepared to give my husband the best gift ever, my hymen. I'd read books, heard tips, but this was it. It dawned on me that I may be scared, but I brushed it aside. I decided to lie there and enjoy it, but it was so painful. Vaseline be damned! And all that blood! Ewwwwwwww.
I still shudder in revulsion.
God blessed us, and I conceived that night. I don't like sex, but I'm too prudish to talk to anyone about it.
Duke drove in and I went to get the door.

Hello everyone, if you have followed the story so far, we are about to move into a new phase today.
Here's a brief summary of Part 1-4 of Waves of Emotions.
Tolu Bello, a reserved and conservative beautiful daughter of 2 professors falls in love with Duke, a student in the same school with her. While Duke isn't your typical Randy naija guy, he isn't exactly a novice in the game of using and dumping girls. He wants Tolu for keeps, however, for fear of marrying someone with a horrid past....all these happened in 2008 in Ilorin, a town in North West Nigeria.

From part 5, which is set in 2012, we'll find out what happened overtime.
Has Duke's desire for variety waned?
How does Tolu cope as his wife?
What lessons will we learn?

Watch this space. Share. Invite your friends. Talk about it. Comment. Argue. Don't plagiarize.
Love you all. Part 5 coming up in a bit.

Good morning. My tab was giving me issues over the weekend so I couldn't update. I apologize. I'll try to be consistent henceforth.

Waves of Emotions 4 continued

The cool evening breeze wafted, carrying the smell of peppered steak popularly called Suya.
I held on to Tolu's hands. She meant more to me than anyone in the world, including my mother's. There. I said it.

'.....but when the man came out of the bathroom without his towel, the girls were gathered and they began to point at him, laughing loudly'. That was Yewande, regaling us with tales of her housemaster in secondary school.

'I wonder why some people are mean to other people's children' Tolu said, rubbing my shoulder.
The gist continued and we moved on to another topic. It was getting very late, and there weren't many taxi cabs in the car park anymore.
I offered to walk Tolu and she agreed. It was a long walk all the way down to the staff quarters but it would afford us the opportunity to spend time together.
Over the horizon, a sliver of the moon was coming up, as if peeking out at the earth's inhabitants.
I loved Tolu, no doubt. And nothing, not on God's green earth, or his vast blue sky, would change that.

November 2008, Compound C, Lagos hostel

I hadn't felt this way about anyone before. It isn't like I don't have my fair share of admirers and toasters. On the contrary, they flock around me like ants to sugar. I heard my phone ring out Tosin Martins' Olomi and snuck my hand under the pillow to answer the call without checking the screen. Duke was the one I had assigned that ring tone to.

'Hello lovey' he cooed at the other end. My stomach rumbled and did the dance of a thousand butterflies.

'Hi', I replied, avoiding the stares of the girls in the room. Yewande yawned a low but audible 'love wantintin' on her bed, and I gave her a look capable of causing 3rd degree burns.

'I'm outside the hostel, within the butchery area. May I see her majesty?'

'Like you need to ask', I chuckled. 'See you in five' I hung up.

I looked at Yewande imploringly 'Can you please walk me?'

'Egba mi. Am I the one he came to see? Please go and see him jor' she said, not moving a muscle.

The other room mates joined in asking her to go with me and she finally stood up, taking off her hairnet and brushing her weave on carefully.
'Na wa o. Escort own even pass the main chic. Hian' Freda said, making everyone burst into laughter.

Yewande eyed her and hissed loudly. Only that morning, they had quarelled over who should spread clothes on the line first, and it was obvious the issue wasn't settled yet.

'Lets go jare, iya were' she walked out, dragging her feet noisily.
I smiled apologetically at Freda and quickly walked after Yewande.
We got outside and saw Duke lounging on a bench just outside the butchery with a friend. Yewande immediately changed her walking step just as one man in a blue kaftan asked us to help him call one Sophia from compound B room 12. I walked on like I didn't hear and so did Yewande. Duke's friend, Yomi, was the reason her walking suddenly changed. He was handsome and rich and didn't womanize so everyone considered him a prize but he wasn't seeing anyone currently said the gossip mill. Better, I thought to myself. I didn't want anyone wrongly influencing my boyfriend.

'Iyawo mi' Duke stood up and pulled me into a warm embrace. I felt giddy with excitement, but i quickly borrowed myself brain and withdrew. No point getting all mushy when I know I'm saving my cherry.
'Easy dear, how did your day go?' I said shyly. All these PDA wasnt my thing but I didnt want him to see me as a jew.
Yomi cleared his throat and motioned to Yewande to sit down next to him. She did, and they started a conversation. Her lagos razzness flew away with the cool evening breeze and she suddenly started talking in a Chimamandesque accent.

We talked about everything under the sun, Duke and I. It was always that way with us; long endless chats about our dreams, ambition and future. We were very much in love, no doubt, and we knew we were meant for each other. Even my parents let me decide on this one.
It took a while before I noticed that Yewande and Yomi were no longer sitting on the bench. At this time, I was sitting so close to Duke I could breath in the sweet scent of him. Our fingers were interlocked and he ran his fingers through my hair.

'Oh no', I said, sitting up sharply 'where did all the time go to?'

Duke moaned'time only flies when I'm with you. I wish it was that way in Mr. Anunobi's class'.
We laughed so hard passersby stared at us.

Mr. Anunobi was a visiting lecturer who compressed weeks worth of lecture time into hours on weekends and was so boring everyone tried not to fail his course so as not to have to endure him again the next year.

I looked at the setting sun in the horizon and asked my self if, like the sun, our love would always be.
Only time would tell.

Please if you think this makes sense at all let me know. Thank you.

Part 3
K-Dorms, Tanke Oke-Odo, Ilorin. 2008

‘O boy the chicala tight o. I must wife that chic’ I told my brother on the phone, scrolling through Tolu’s Facebook timeline.
‘Wow,’ I mouthed.
‘Wetin sef,’ Dipo said, ‘Duke you too hype the chic o. Oya give me her Facebook name’
‘Tolu Bells’
I heard the sound of hands hitting keys and a few seconds later I heard a ‘whoosher’. So he had found her.
‘So wetin you think’
‘She’s pretty’ he said.
Her pictures even had the power to make my brother speak correct English and not the pidgin he loved to flow in. I felt happy for once that I’d found a looker that could make my brother stop boasting about his Lautech girlfriend who was studying transport management. He was a youth corps member posted to Abuja and he always teased me about my school being more academic than social.
‘What are you waiting for?’ he asked
‘Slow and steady wins the race’ I replied
‘No just dull sha’ he had reverted to pidgin. Dipo sef. ‘How’s your project’
‘Fine o. I’m already in chapter 4’
‘Alright. We go dey yarn’
‘Ok bro, later things’ I hung up.
I took off my grey boxers and put on a clean pair. I was going to the library to prepare for a seminar. As a final year Electrical engineering student, I was working so hard to make all my papers and not have a reason to come back next year.

***************
4p.m
I drove as fast as it was safe, hoping to beat the traffic generated by taxi cabs dropping off students at the car park. I gave myself mental pats on the back for taking the staff quarters as the short cut to the library.
Just as I rounded the bend to the professors’ quarters, the car began to jerk.
Oh no!
This was not good. Not good at all.
Why would this car choose today of all days and this spot of all places to misbehave? I tried to maneuver and slowed down so I could move into the right lane. It jerked again and sputtered the jerked again and died.
Wow.
Talk about deep shit.

I brought out my phone to dial my friend, Kamal’s phone number and heard someone call my name.
‘Hi there, Duke’.
I turned. It was Tolu. Funny, but I felt relieved that it wasn’t some hoity toity bitch from my class who was going to mock me.
‘Hi. What are you doing here? I asked
‘Have you forgotten my dad is a professor?’ she replied, smiling. Her smile was original and set off her teeth nicely
‘Oh, that’s true’
‘So what are you doing here’ she asked, hands in the back pocket of her jeans. The sun was setting to the west and somewhere around a voice rang out calling people for prayers.

‘My car just broke down and I need to get someone to fix it’I answered, furrowed brows thinking in deep concentration.
‘Why don’t you come in and chill till you figure out what to do?’said Tolu
Okay.
Now I wasn’t expecting that. I just expected her to say a hi and walk away but here she was chatting me up and even inviting me to her house. Who was I to turn down an opportunity to get to kknow her better? And in my brother’s voice, I wasn’t going to ‘dull’.
‘alright, let me lock up properly’ I replied, perhaps a bit too hastily.

The walk to their house was a quite a long one and she explained to me that she had left the house to clear her head a bit before eating and going to read in the campus. I didn’t quite feel the strain of the walk because in no time we had covered the basics; how she was finding school, her older siblings who were abroad, her passion for young children and my own indifference to security men asking badly dressed students to turn back at the university gate.

‘Good evening daddy’ she greeted
‘Oh, back already? I thought you were walking forever’
‘I brought home a friend, dad,
Her dad whipped his head around from his seat away from the TV screen and scrutinized me from head to toe. I felt naked and shy.
‘Hi, ‘a friend’, how are you?’
‘I’m fine sir’, I muttered, wondering where all this was leading to. I had no idea her parents were even home because I didn’t see any cars parked in the front of the house.
‘Please sit down and be relaxed, I’ll fetch you a drink’, she said, scampering off in the direction of a room I figured to be the kitchen because of the nice aromas wafting across from it.
‘Okay, thanks’ sat down on the edge of the seat.
For the second time in the day, I cursed albeit silently. What was I doing here, really? I started to study the furnishing. The interior of the house depicted a simple but exotic taste, and it was obvious money had been spent on the finishings. I looked at my watch and fixed my gaze on the screen.
‘So what’s your name’ her dad asked me, eyes still on the screen in partial concentration.
‘Duke, sir’ said I.
‘Duke? What tribe are you?’
‘I’m Yoruba, sir’
‘Oh, and duke is a Yoruba name? Ogbeni give me your Yoruba name’ he chuckled heartily.
I wasn’t surprised by the jocular attitude of the professor. It was his one quality that endeared him to many students, but everyone knew he made Tolu out of bounds to all male admirers.
‘Fikayo, sir’ I said.
‘Much better. So Fikay, you’re Tolu’s friend?’ he asked, eyes fully resting on me and the TV temporarily forgotten.
‘Errr, yes….yes sir’ I stuttered
‘Ok. Just be good to her and let your intentions be pure. I trust her judgment’ he said.
I almost told him I had not come to ask for her hand in marriage, but I said “yes sir, thank you sir’ instead.
He came over and shook my hands ‘nice meeting you, but I have to go to church. Enjoy your visit’.

In all of the five minutes I’d been here, I hadn’t let my guards down but as soon as he walked away, I quickly relaxed. This was going to be the day.
Fortunately for me, I decided there and then that I would ask her out.

She brought me some light refreshment and I watched her talk and laugh all the while waiting for an opportunity to spring itself for me to bare my mind. It wasn’t until she asked if I had a girlfriend and I said no, that I asked if she had a boyfriend and she said no too, that I asked if she would be mine and she said yes.
Not that easy.
She told me I was going to be her first ever boyfriend, and only, and the relationship would be a chaste one.
I agreed.
She told me that I’d have to wait until she was ready to go all the way.
I nodded in agreement.
She wanted me to be totally faithful to her, and to swear that I’d never cheat on her.
I swore and told her to please put me out of my misery.
I remember all these vividly because that day altered my life forever.

Part 3
K-Dorms, Tanke Oke-Odo, Ilorin. 2008

‘O boy the chicala tight o. I must wife that chic’ I told my brother on the phone, scrolling through Tolu’s Facebook timeline.
‘Wow,’ I mouthed.
‘Wetin sef,’ Dipo said, ‘Duke you too hype the chic o. Oya give me her Facebook name’
‘Tolu Bells’
I heard the sound of hands hitting keys and a few seconds later I heard a ‘whoosher’. So he had found her.
‘So wetin you think’
‘She’s pretty’ he said.
Her pictures even had the power to make my brother speak correct English and not the pidgin he loved to flow in. I felt happy for once that I’d found a looker that could make my brother stop boasting about his Lautech girlfriend who was studying transport management. He was a youth corps member posted to Abuja and he always teased me about my school being more academic than social.
‘What are you waiting for?’ he asked
‘Slow and steady wins the race’ I replied
‘No just dull sha’ he had reverted to pidgin. Dipo sef. ‘How’s your project’
‘Fine o. I’m already in chapter 4’
‘Alright. We go dey yarn’
‘Ok bro, later things’ I hung up.
I took off my grey boxers and put on a clean pair. I was going to the library to prepare for a seminar. As a final year Electrical engineering student, I was working so hard to make all my papers and not have a reason to come back next year.

PART 2.
Circa August 2008
Compound C, Lagos Hostel, University of Ilorin

‘Lailai o, I can’t take it from anyone at all, I trust myself as a sharp Lagos babe’ Yewande said from the upper part of a bunk in the corner of the room, wearing only her pant and bra and fanning herself with a notebook.
All five of us girls were involved in a heated discussion and didn’t let the annoying heat of the room deter us. The ceiling fan buzzed noisily and only helped in evenly distributing the hot air of the room. It was a normal school day and we had an hour free between our lectures. I didn’t see the need to go back home so I came to my friend, Labake’s hostel. We all were in our third year and in the same faculty. Her bunkmate, Freda and her other roommate, Hadiza, were talking about a ‘happily married’ lecturer in their department who got a student pregnant and was asking her to have an abortion. Hadiza was the oldest, a Hausa-Fulani girl who was betrothed to a Fulani doctor and always acted like a mother hen to the girls. Freda was a no-nonsense girl from Warri who wore glasses and loved to speak Pidgin English despite having an excellent command of the Queen’s English.
Labake, like me, was a very quiet girl. She was homely, intelligent and soft-spoken which was how we got close. My parents adored her because they saw in her all the qualities a friend of their daughter should have. Yewande was the proper crazy girl in the mix. She had spent all her life in Lagos and got admitted to the University of Ilorin when the person who made her UTME application in the cybercafé mistakenly chose
‘But Yewande, how would you feel if you were the one in the wife’s shoes? Ha, no woman wishes that another woman should have a child for her husband o’ Hadiza said, one eyebrow raised to drive home her point.
‘Why didn’t Mr. Shodipo think of his wife before dunking his rod into her well? So she should do what now? Put herself at risk? Me I know I will move in to the house and become a wife too’ Yewande threw back, beginning to take the gist very personal.
‘I am surprised at this your thought pattern o, 21st century woman who feels its okay to be a second wife, O girl your head no even dey there sef’ Freda joined in.
‘Why are you all making it look like the girl is the villain here when she is actually the victim? Egbami o’ Yewande said.
‘No worry na’, said Freda, ‘when them carry wife come meet you for house you know villain and victor’.
I began to laugh just then, because I found it amusing that anyone would have a wife at home and still want to sleep with another woman. Mom always told me that sex was overrated and when she first gave me the ‘talk’, I promised to wait till my wedding night before I get my cherry popped.
‘Time for our next class, babe. I’d better leave now before the door to the lecture theatre gets shut’ Labake said.
‘Alright girls, bye’ I said.
‘Bye’ they chorused.
We walked out hurriedly and linked the walkway, gisting about CGPAs that only hung and sunk but never rose.
Then I saw him, the guy that splashed dirty water on me some days ago and had the effrontery to tell me he was only being friendly. He looked very dashing in his jeans, a well pressed shirt and nice hair. I really wanted to look at those brown eyes again, so I decided to do something brazen.
‘Hello there’ I said loudly, almost yelling.
‘Hey, so you remember me. How have you been? Going for lectures?’ he said, brown eyes dancing.
‘Please one question at a time. I am fine, lectures, yes’.
‘So may I get your number?’
Oh well. The number thing wasn’t something I did because men were such pests and could turn nuisance when they had access to you. Labake waved at me from a distance away, tapping her wrist to tell me time was running out.
‘Okay, here it is, 0-8-0-4-5-3-0-6-1-3-3. And my name is not hey, my name is Toluwanimi.’
‘Alright Toluwanimi, I also know you’re Prof and Prof Mrs. Bello’s daughter, and you live at 17VAQ8 in the staff quarters’
‘Wow. You’re an awesome stalker.’
‘Well, I’m an excellent detective. Let me free you so you’ll not be late’
I didn’t want him to go, but Labake had waved again and I couldn’t make her wait forever.
‘Bye, Duke’.
‘Bye angel’, he shook my hands and I felt some warmth creep up my arm and spread to my heart.
What was happening to me

Toluwanimi omo Bello!!!!!

This story may be totally fictional or true life, but that’s not for you to bother about. Just sit back, relax and enjoy the series.

Part One
Circa August 2008, University of Ilorin Car Park

The queue was a long one and the cabs weren't many. If you ask me, I’d say there were just two cabs to two hundred students. The sun was blazing hot and flies were buzzing near the refuse dump. All of a sudden, a cab appeared and veered in to the park. All five hundred students on the queue made a dive for the five-sitter cab, me inclusive. For what seemed like a life time, I was caught in a mass of sweaty bodies. I struggled to hold on to the door but I was pushed to the floor. I managed to get up and was flung to the back of the wolverine pack.
My bag!
I quickly checked for my wallet and began to look around to see if somehow the contents had spilled but I couldn't find it. Double loss! I didn't get on the cab and my wallet was missing. How do I get to Tanke? I got out my phone and called my dad.
He picked up on the second ring.
‘Hi Dad’, I wailed, ‘My purse is missing and I’m stuck here. May I come to your office?’
‘You may, young lady, on the condition that you wait for me to finish marking these scripts’, he said, the noisy ceiling fan of his office whirring in the background.

‘Ok Dad, see you in five minutes’.
I hung up and straightened my top. My jeans were a bit stained so I dusted my knees. I didn’t want to appear dirty before my dad who was a senior lecturer in the Department of Botany. He and my mom, who was a lecturer too in Faculty of law (and was popularly called Landlady), had insisted that I learn how to drive but I was too jittery.

I started the long walk to Dad’s office and was nodding to Patricia King’s Igwe from my IPOD. I noticed a car speed by around the curve of the senate building but I didn't pay attention until the driver splashed dirty water on me. He parked a few meters ahead and hurried down to apologize, but I was too angry to notice the hunk approaching.
I just thought to myself that my day couldn't get any worse, or could it?
‘Hey, I really, really wish you wouldn't frown so much, angel. I apologize’ he blurted.
Hello? Who did this guy think he was? Who was he to tell me how and when not to frown?
I made to give him a dose of my lethal tongue and looked into the brownest eyes I had ever seen. No, he wasn't particularly handsome; he was more attractive than handsome, in fact.
‘It’s al..alright’, I stuttered.
‘Awwww, she’s so kind too’, he laughed, ‘I’m Duke Disu’
‘Nice. Do you splash water on every girl walking just so you can pay compliments?’ I said, frowning and looking at my watch like I do when I’m pressed for time.
‘Hey, I’m only being friendly! Take care’ he walked away.
I didn't bother to act ruffled. Many guys would have just driven off but he had the courtesy to stop. I hurried up to Dad’s office and forgot about the episode almost immediately.

Please do not plagiarize. If you do, I'll find you, and I'll...
Constructive criticisms are going to be appreciated.
please do not derail the thread.
Thanks.