Ten
Ifenkili


My heart was constricting with pain right now. And please, this iron inside brassieres, was it meant to hold our babies up or kill us slowly by puncturing our lungs? Someone should answer me fast before I do something irrational.

Anyway, back to why pain and anger were competing for prominence inside me. I told you about today’s date with Preye, right? The one I agreed to fund as an atonement for my sin of sleeping off while he was speaking to me over the phone. See ehn, I had planned to go all out for this date. In my mind, I had matched my clothes and accessories, picked out the shoes to go with them. But my brethren my sistren, that date no work.

Before you shine your teeth in laughter, let it be known by all and sundry that Oghene was to be held responsible. Tell me why I had everything planned out only for him to call and tell me, “Don’t go.”

I was shocked. Then it became funny, and finally I was angry. Make una follow me see case o, somebody I hadn’t considered, just because he gave me a touch that made my head spin for a dizzying second, he now thought he could control my life. What did he mean by ‘don’t go,’?

Ah, chai. Anyway sha, he didn’t know me.
Or rather, I didn’t know this lady called frustration.

The first thing that went wrong was my makeup. I had sat on my dressing table making up for twenty minutes straight, but when I neared the mirror to appraise my handiwork, I realized that my face wasn’t in focus—whatever that meant. But una know me na, I no dey hear word, I washed off that one and started all over. Another twenty minutes straight. When I checked, what was looking back at me was a clown instead of fine geh.

Hmm. I sat down to redo it again. See ehn, those that had known for a long while knew that no matter how many times things turn bad, I would try it again. I no dey hear word.
I was on my way back from the bathroom where I went to wash off the second face makeup trial when my brother called to tell me that he was on his way to my house to pick up the laptop he left behind the last time he visited. I was almost getting agitated when I remembered I didn’t need to stay back and wait for him to arrive. I could leave my keys with my neighbor and tell my brother to pick it up from her.

With that wahala settled, I proceeded to go another round with the makeup. This time it was perfect, I was looking on fleek, everything was puuurrrr—on periodt! I ate with no crumbs left.

But lady frustration wasn’t done with me. My car refused to kick start. No matter how many times I tried, no matter what my kind neighbors did; tightening and loosening wires, screwing and unscrewing nuts and bolts to bring down my battery so they could try starting the car with theirs, the old lady refused to bulge.

In the end, I decided to take a taxi. I would have ordered a ride, but I was worried it might arrive late. I was already a little behind time.
My frustration didn’t end there. As I stepped outside the gate, walked the little distance from my house to the road, it started raining. Hahaaaaa! I laughed. It was like heaven and earth were against me today. Unfortunately for them, they didn’t know how stubborn I could be. They didn’t know that when I’d made up my mind about something, even if an earthquake struck the road and broke it into two, I must find a plank and cross it.

I located a shelter and waited. Soon, a taxi came by and I entered, feeling like a winner as the taxi continued along the Eliozu/Rukpokwu road, thinking that the storm was over.

My brethren my sistren, it was the beginning of shege. Mmalite ihe mgbu. The taxi parked up at Airforce flyover. At that point, the level of anger in my heart could roast a corn . I was fuming inside, swearing for Oghene and whatever spirit he had sent my way.

And to show them that they had not won yet, I ordered a bolt ride there. In less than fifteen minutes, the ride arrived. Pheww...I heaved a sigh of relief; but lady frustration wasn’t done yet. The bold driver turned out to be the most aggressive human being I’d ever met. The man was fighting me as if I was the rat that ate his hairlines. When we got to BenJack, the stupid man killed his engine and insisted I transfer his money that he wasn’t going any further. I pleaded, threatened, cried. This wicked man threw me out of his car even without finally collecting his money and drove away. I had to run into the communication center to avoid being totally soaked by the downpour.

Oghene and his village people, una weldone o.

The rain must really have a score to settle with me because what was this mockery? It would reduce to a drizzle, only to pick up again when I was about to step out to track down a little distance to where I would get another taxi to the Mimi Bar. Hei, ohhhh God, it was already 7 p.m., Preye must be angry by now. He hated being kept waiting.

Shuffling through my bag, I brought out my phone and checked for his missed call or an SMS. Nothing.

Yap. He was. Definitely angry.

I put back my phone inside my bag, got a tissue paper out and dapped my face with it, hoping that the rain had not ruined my makeup. Oh, that was a hope a little too late because multiple colors came off with the tissue paper. I have to clean the whole thing.

Again, Oghene, you did this one o.

I must have stayed for quite a while in front of that center when a Toyota Sianna slowly drove past, then reversed and stopped.

I only had to glance at the driver who stepped down and was hurrying towards the store like any more drop of that rain on his skin would turn him into a wet bread, before I returned my eyes on the screen my phone where I was typing an apology message to Preye and asking him to wait a little while for me, or better still come and pick me up.

“Ifenkili?”

Oghene...Oghene?

My eyes caught his feet first. Clean, slipped into a rich looking pair of leather slippers. His legs...why was he in a pair of blue shorts instead of the usual trousers? My goodness, his legs were so sexy that for a moment, my stupid head imagined me running my fingers on them. Then his yellow Tee shirt, I’d seen it on him before...once or twice. He had an earpiece hanging across his neck.

“Ife watin you dey do here?”

Principality and power, I said in my mind, reminding myself that he was the architect of my frustration. He should be looking like a gloating wizard and not like the next best thing after Genesis freshly baked banana bread. I should hate him. But here I was wondering when he went home to freshen up and why was he out here...driving a Sienna I didn’t know he owed. Where was he headed to...a date with a girl? I never thought of him having a girlfriend. Did he have one?

Okay, I hated him right now because this grin on his face made him look so cute. And I heard from somewhere that the cuter the boy the mushier a lady’s brain.

God, was my brain getting spooned? It was disgusting, noticing this cuteness and slightly having this stupid pain gripping my chest. Was that envy? Jesus, I should be shouting his head off not thinking about the girl he had plans with. I couldn’t even stop. He still wasn’t perfect, still looking soft and fragile, like a material that could disintegrate when wrongly touched. But he gave the best impression of it I’ve ever seen.

“How did your date go?” he asked, wiping drops of rain from his face with the back of his hand. “Are you guys already done with it?”

“No.” And all thanks to you. “I am caught up in the rain. My car is bad, so...” I shrugged, returning my attention to my phone that just beeped. It wasn’t Preye replying to my message, but my brother telling me he would be waiting until I got home because he wanted to discuss our mother’s upkeep with me. It was his turn to send her something, but he had run out of money.

Chai, God. What kind of life was this biko nu? The last time I checked, my main motivation for wanting to be an adult was so I could eat more than one piece of meat and go to bed whenever I wanted. What was all this unplanned responsibility nonsense for goodness' sake?

“Ife, are you okay?” Oghene asked.

“Mm-hm.” I nodded. But I wasn’t anywhere near okay. Everything about tonight was getting me frustrated; the rain, the taxi, the bolt driver, my brother. Oghene. Seriously, I couldn’t even think when he looked at me like that. And there was this peace, a kind of calmness he was exuding was also getting me at edge. It was mocking me, this calmness. Yet I liked it, I wanted to keep feeling it.

What was even wrong with me?

“Preye must think that I stood him up,” I murmured, feeling the closeness of tears, and desiring to fly into someone’s arms to drown my worries in his embrace. I want him to say something to me. Just...anything.

“Where is the venue?”
“Ehn?”

“The venue for your date, where is it?”

“Eh...the Mimi Bar.”

He was silent again. “Is, is your man...waiting for you there?”

I didn’t answer immediately because...I suddenly became uncomfortable that he should ask that.

“I can drive you down there if he is waiting.”

He must think I doubted him. Of course I did. I knew he was nice to a fault, even to the detriment of his sanity but, this? Offering to drive me to my date with another man when I knew he had something for me?

“It’s not far,” he added. “And since I am here with Oga Emeka’s Sianna—”

Oh, the van. It wasn’t his. “Okay, I said. Thank you so much.”

He offered me his hand. I stared at it, then at him and back at the outstretched hand before placing mine on it, stifling a gasped when our skin touched and looking into his eyes in a kind of shocked wonder. His hand was smooth and warm, a few degrees warmer than it should be, and that heat sank into me, but it was not his heat that made sent a gasp rolling