Azed 11

Azed

Episode 11

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The Doctors just couldn’t explain the change in Mama. It was as if the Lagos weather had some positive effect on her system. She would still require her surgery but there was a huge difference when compared with how she looked in Ibadan. Uncle Mufu had given me the best Christmas gift I didn’t even wish for just because I didn’t think it was possible. The man had surprised me too much during the year. His niceness to Mama and I was not explainable. Not killing me for losing my cab, I thought that was the height of it but bringing Mama to Lagos, I was beyond grateful.
Uncle Mufu asked a doctor at the hospital to check out my “accident wounds” and he still didn’t ask any questions. I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday with Uncle Mufu; He was leaving for Abuja on Boxing Day and he wanted to ensure his family had enough supplies to last them while he was away. He was a strong member of the ruling political party; a lot of the drivers at the park talk about how he controls most of the happenings in the rough parts of Lagos and they have countless stories of how he amassed so much wealth from the last elections but he was also a strong family man. Despite tales and mentions of countless girlfriends and concubines outside his home, he always ensured he took good care of his family.
I spoke to Fadeke – a lot too. I had made up my mind to get her a gift but I wasn’t exactly sure what to get. I thought about asking Princess for help but I decided against it. There was really no other person to ask, well, so I thought till I got talking with Debola one of the days I was at Uncle Mufus house and out of nowhere, I asked her, more out of confusion than nothing else. Her reaction was surprising. She seemed so eager to help. She advised on budgets, locations where I could shop and places we could go on dates. She even offered to help get cards. She seemed like a natural and I was beyond grateful. I had never ever done this before. Closest I had been to liking anyone this much was after I left secondary school, back in Ibadan. There wasn’t this much pressure then. Not like Fadeke was demanding or anything but this was more or less like an opportunity to present my case. A show of interest and I wasn’t going to let it slip.
Debola did everything. It was like a little project for her and I didn’t get in the way. On Christmas day, I was in Uncle Mufus house. He threw what was supposed to be a little party for close friends and his “boys” as he fondly referred to some of the older drivers in the park. The little party turned out to be a big deal. By the end of the day, two cows and another huge ram had gone down. Guests kept trooping in. it seemed some people had heard about Uncle Mufu’s trip to Abuja, which I later found out was for his party’s convention and primaries that was holding the following week. That explained all the uninvited guests that came for the party.
As we cleaned up in the evening, Debola handed me the bracelet she got for Fadeke. It was beautiful and too much of a bargain. I wondered if it was real, I knew nothing about these things and even though Debola took her time to try to explain what kind of jewelry it was and why and how she had managed to get it for such a reasonable price, I still didn’t understand. I was just happy I finally had a gift for Fadeke. I slept over at Uncle Mufus house because I stayed back to help with the cleaning and he had asked me to take him to the airport the next morning.

The next morning, Uncle Mufu woke me early, it always amazed me how disciplined the man was even at his age. I made sure I called Fadeke to wish her a happy birthday and also to set up our meeting before I got ready to leave. As we drove out, he asked me to stop by at the hospital to check on Mama. She seemed even better than the day before. She was up in bed and though she couldn’t talk much, she acknowledged our presence and I couldn’t hide my emotions when she held out her hand to hold mine. I loved the woman so much and I vowed to make sure she would get better. I promised to come see her the next day since I’d be with Fadeke that evening. I drove to the airport, a short peaceful drive – Lagos is always so bearable during Christmas. Uncle Mufu packed just one bag so I didn’t have to wait with him, before he got out of the car, he told me to make sure I visit Mama as often as possible and to also take care of my “aburos” (younger ones) by that I assumed he meant Debola.
I dropped off his car and went back to my room carrying Fadeke’s cake and gifts. I had made arrangements for her to come over to my room and then we could go out from there. All Debola’s idea. The sparkle in her eyes as she gave me the cake and wished me luck made me wonder why she didn’t exert all her energy into doing this instead if running around with older men but everyone had reasons for making their choices. I promised myself that I would talk to her about it later on. After all, she was family.
I got to my room and cleaned it up. I took a bath and as I dressed, I looked at myself in the mirror. My face had healed well but you could still see signs of the injury. I also had some other scars on my body but I wasn’t really bothered about those. I told Fadeke to come around by 4pm so I still had enough time. I decided to get some reading done and I almost got carried away with it. Fadeke’s call a few minutes before 4 brought me back to earth. She was already on campus and was walking towards my hostel.
I hopped off the bed and cleared my books away; I had to go bring her in. The things one could do once school was empty – I didn’t even know I could bring her into my room till Debola told me what I had to do. A little holiday generosity to the porters and that was it. Minutes later we both walked in to sounds of cheer and greetings from both of the Porters. They made me a bit shy but Fadeke seemed very comfortable with it. We got to the room and we both sat on the bed. It felt very strange. I doubt if any of my other roommates had ever had a girl over but then again, I was probably wrong. I tried to end the deafening silence; I wished her a happy birthday again and then gave her the cake and her cards.
She was very surprised; she hugged me and then opened her cards – both of them. She read out my short message and looked at me with a very shy look on her face. I was pleased – very pleased and I had Debola to thank. I still had her bracelet to go but I was going to save that for later. We talked after that, I always enjoyed talking to Fadeke, she made it very easy and even though we were alone in my room, it wasn’t different. She told me how her day had been and the gifts she got from her parents. The idea was to stay in and chat for a while and then head out for a meal later but we seemed to be having so much fun. The awkward silence came again and this time I knew what I had to do. I liked Fadeke so much and I could tell she did too. I looked into her eyes and she looked away smiling – blushing. I moved closer to her and guided her face to look at mine. She closed her eyes and I moved closer. This was really happening, I thought to myself as I closed in to kiss her …