CHAPTER 13 –
© OPEYEMI OJERINDE AKINTUNDE
I cried myself to sleep. The day had been hell; from embarrassment to almost
killing someone, to my mother’s drama. I just wanted
it all to end. I woke up around 11:00pm. The house was mildly
quiet, I could hear my male cousins playing their
game as usual… My throat was parched, I needed
water, and thinking about it, I needed food. I had not
eaten anything all day. I stood up reaching for my slippers, when I saw the
screen of my phone blinking. It was a call, and
obviously it was Daniel… I was not in the mood for
drama, but on a second thought, I knew he would not
sleep if I didn’t pick up… I tapped on the receive icon
and tapped the speaker icon, I didn’t have the
strength to hold the phone…
“Hello” I said
“Oh finally, you picked”
“Daniel…” I was saying but he shut me up…
“Shut up and listen to me, I have done my part of
becoming born again, you do your part of letting your
mother agree about us”
“Daniel, did you call what you did becoming born
again, No, that was a show of shame…You
embarrassed me so much, I ran from church and
almost killed a boy today”
“You ran from church or you deserted me” Daniel said
I was lost for words, Daniel was so self-consuming he
didn’t care about what I said about almost killing
someone that day, what he cared about was Him…
I was so pissed I ended the call. I was not ready to
trade words with him…
I stepped into my slippers and I got a message
notification, my first thought was it had to be Daniel, he was very good at typing angry messages very fast
after our fights…
I ignored the text…
Then my phone started blinking again. I was so mad I
wanted to tell Daniel I needed space, but on picking
up my phone, it was Reuben calling.
“Gosh, why can’t you both just let me be” I said to an
empty room
“The guy saved you today” the good thinking part of
my brain reminded me. I tapped on the receive icon, but he ended the call… He called again, but as I tapped on receive, he ended
the call again
“Is he Beeping me?” I asked myself very surprised…
“Maybe he has run out of airtime”
I decided to call back… He picked up in a rush
“Oh thank you for calling back, I didn’t want to use up
my once a week calling chance” he said
I was a bit lost, then it occurred to me, that I had told
him, he could only call once a week. “I have been texting you all afternoon till now, and I
didn’t get a single reply, so I thought if I kept beeping
you would respond”
“So sorry, I have been sleeping… kind of cried myself
to sleep since I got back” I said
“Cry? Why… Is it about the boy? He is doing great, he
is a tough boy, I waited till I could see him and take a
picture. That was the text I have been sending. I
wanted to know if I could send you his picture”
“Oh! He is fine”
“Yes, very”
“Thank you…”
“We thank God…”
“Pastor Reuben…”
“Yes Reverend Nwala” he said laughing and I got the
message he was passing, he wanted me to drop the
title…
I laughed for the first time in that day…
“Thank you” I said again
“Once again, Thank God”
I decided to cut to the chase…
“You are a good person, and I know any lady will be
fortunate to have you, including me, but…”
“But… you are committed to Daniel” he supplied
“Yes…”
“I understand”
“The thing is, if I leave Daniel for you, it will seem like
I left him because of his background and that I
married you for money”
“But will you be marrying me for money?” Reuben
asked
“No…” “If you were to marry me, why would you marry me?” Reuben asked
“Truthfully, because my mother likes you and
knowing my mother, she never misses. If my mother
says a man is husband material then he is husband
material” I said resting my back on the wall. “I am not asking about your mother, What about
you? if you were to marry me, why would you?”
“I can only leave Daniel to marry you if I realize you
are best for me,” I said truthfully and I slid down the
wall to the ground
“How can you know if I am better than Daniel if you
don’t give me a try” Reuben said. “Are you suggesting I start double dating?” I was
enjoying the conversation. There was something
relaxing about Reuben, just like his handshake…
“You don’t have to date me to know me, you could
allow me to be your friend”
“You are my friend already”
“Not the once-a-week phone call friend…” he said and
I laughed
“You can’t know me if I talk to you once a week” Reuben stated
“Fine, you can call me twice”
‘Everyday” Reuben negotiated
“Four times” I moved a little
Everyday” Reuben stood his ground
“Five times” I moved a little
“Everyday” Reuben insisted
“Six times, at least give me one day of rest’ “Okay… Thanks” Reuben agreed to this. Gosh! He was too courteous a human being. “Have you had anything to eat since you got home” he
asked
I rolled my eyes…
“You are asking boyfriend question?” I said laughing
“No…. I promise you; I am a man of my words… I am
asking as a friend” he replied laughing
“Ok… I have not had anything… I will go downstairs to
fix myself something”
“Doriens’ Eatery will still be opened, I could order
something nice for you and have it delivered”
“No… thank you… I will drink cassava flakes” I said. “Garri… Are you serious? That’s my food any day” Reuben said sounding so excited
“Are you serious?”
“Nwala, Give me Garri and chicken and you have
made my day” Reuben said
I laughed at the combination…
“Well mine is Garri and suya or Kilishi”
“Try peppered chicken… oh my…” Reuben said
We kept going back and forth for another five minutes, and that led us into talking about different types of
foods we like and disliked… In between our talk, I went to the kitchen to get my Garri and thankfully
mum was not in the living room. We spoke for about an hour, my eyes were wide
opened, thanks to the long hours of sleeping during
the day. Before ending the call, we agreed to meet at the
hospital in the morning to see the boy…
To be continued