The weekend 3&4

“THE WEEKEND”

By Sokes Naths Allamogu

EPISODE THREE& Four

WEDNESDAY 9:10 PM

“Working late?” Max inquired as Isaac joined him and Victor at their usual spot.

“Nope!” Isaac shook hands with both of them before taking his seat. “I went to visit Adewale at home.”

“He’s not coming? I thought he said he’d be here every other day,” Max expressed his disappointment at not seeing Adewale tonight.

“But did any of you check on him since that day?” Isaac questioned.

“You all know Adewale doesn’t pick up my calls since the bad investment I made,” Victor offered as his excuse.

“You should have at least sent him a message. What about you, Max?” Isaac asked.

“No, I thought he was going to be here today,” Max admitted.

“Come on, guys, we need to do better than just meeting here and drinking away the hours. We have to be there for each other when needed,” Isaac emphasized.

Max sighed. “So, how is he doing?”

“Good! I met him helping his kids with their homework,” Isaac shared.

“That’s what I’m not ready for… children,” Max and Isaac ignored Victor’s comment.

“How is Eugenia doing?” Max asked.

“She’s fine. Adewale is planning to change her school if the bullying doesn’t stop,” Isaac explained.

“Hmm, is Adewale ready for his nagging wife? Because soon she will drive him out of the house again,” Victor voiced his thoughts.

“For your information, she has stopped nagging,” Isaac replied.

“How is that even possible? Once a nagging wife, always a nagging wife. I don’t believe she has stopped,” Victor insisted.

“Adewale is helping with raising the children, and he is spending quality time with his wife and kids. These were the issues that caused her nagging,” Isaac explained.

“Is raising children, not a woman’s job?” Victor questioned.

“For the children, they both had together, you are unbelievable, Victor,” Max retorted.

“Max, are you ready for this thing called marriage? You need to think about it very well before you propose,” Victor warned.

“Propose?” Isaac asked, staring at Max.

spills

“Yes, our friend here is planning to propose to Chidera this weekend,” Victor spills the secret.

“Why am I just hearing this? Is that true, Max?”

“Yeah!” That was all Max could utter, but he was irritated as he turned his gaze at Victor, giving him a straight look to shut his loud mouth.

“Wow! What change? After all these years,” Isaac remarked.

“Hmmm… maybe I’m ready to settle down now,” Max responded.

“Max! Max!! You! Settling down, it’s because you don’t want her to go to London,” Victor laughed, but Max wasn’t finding it amusing.

“I don’t understand,” Isaac looked lost.

“Her company recently opened a new branch in London, and she’s among the team that will be sent there,” Victor explained.

“Victor! Will you shut your mouth and stay out of my business!” Max yelled at him.

“Come on, Max. It’s the same thing you did to her last year when she wanted to pursue her master’s degree. You threatened to end the relationship,” Isaac expressed concern for Chidera and how Max was treating her.

“This is different. I’m proposing to her. I’m sure she would prefer that to anything in this world,” Max bragged about his plan.

“You can propose and still let her go to London. You two can agree…” Isaac started to suggest as Max interrupted him.

“No! She’s not going.”

“But why?” Victor asked.

“Mind your own business. After all these years, I don’t want to lose her. And how am I supposed to watch her in London?” Max justified his decision.

“Come on, guy, she has eyes only for you. Sweet Chidera is the only girl who has stuck with you for this long,” Victor remarked.

“Victor! Stay out of my business!” Max was vexed.

“Oh, okay. I’ll zip my mouth,” Victor gestured, using his hand to mimic zipping his mouth.

“So, how are you planning to propose?” Isaac decided to smooth the angry Max with his next question.

“Nothing dramatic, just dinner, just the two of us.” Max was trying to calm down and not show how angry he was.

“Have you gotten the ring yet?”

“No, but I will have it before Saturday,” Max sighed.

“Good one, bro. Let me know if you need any help.” Isaac shook Max’s hand.

“Thanks, my guy.” Max sighed and smiled back.

While shaking hands, Isaac’s phone rang; it was an unknown number. He stared at it for a few seconds before answering. “Hello, who is this? Rose! Oh my God, where have you been?” Isaac got up and walked away to get privacy.

“Could that be the same Rose?” Victor asked. Max didn’t answer but kept his gaze on Isaac as he walked away. “Isaac will not leave this married woman alone.” He giggled. “Anyway, Max, are you still in for the investment? We are cashing out this weekend again. Any amount from five million Naira upward will be doubled. I’ve already cashed out twice, and you also…”

“NO!” Max didn’t allow him to finish his sentence before snapping at him.

“Okay, I can see that you’re still angry. I’ll go get myself another drink.” Victor got up and walked away.

EPISODE FOUR

THURSDAY 8:10 PM

“Shouldn’t you be having dinner with Chidera?” Victor asked Max as they shook hands.

“She’s still at the office, waiting to see her director.”

“By this time? For what?”

Victor shrugged his shoulders. “I didn’t ask; I’m sure it’s work-related.” He sipped his beer.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just a bit tired.” He sighed and set down his drink.

“Hmm, the weekend is close; you’ll get all the rest you need. I called Isaac, but he’s not picking up.” Victor changed the subject to ease Max’s pressure about proposing.

“He’s in church.”

“Doing what?”

“He went for mid-week service.”

Victor burst into loud laughter. “Since when did he start going to church?”

“Isaac goes to church every Sunday. But any time Rose appears in his life, he becomes more committed and stops frequenting the bar.”

“Hmm, for real? But Rose is a married woman; Isaac should leave this woman alone.”

“She’s a divorcee now, so we might hardly see Isaac here.”

“Come on, not Isaac too. I feel like our circle of friend is breaking up. Have you spoken to Adewale recently?”

“Yeah, he’s planning a family trip this weekend, but he promised to be here next week. He’s sticking to his new routine of every other day and every other weekend.”

“That’s fair enough. I miss him, though.”

Max gave him a curious look and laughed. “You know, if Adewale were here, he would have run you out of this place with fiery words.”

“Yes, but seriously, I miss him.”

“Maxwell! Maxwell!!”

Both Max and Victor turned to see a lovely, curvy dark lady shouting Max’s name and walking towards their table. Suddenly, Max recognized her. “Funke Oke!”

“Yes, in flesh and blood.” She was laughed and couldn’t take her eyes off Max as she sat down.

“Wow!” was all Max could say; his eyes were lost in her shining dark skin and beautiful body. ‘Oh boy! She has become curvier,’ he thought to himself.

Victor tried to get their attention, especially the beautiful lady. He cleared his voice loudly. “Hey! I’m Victor, Max’s friend.”

“I’m Funke. Nice to meet you.” She turned her gaze back to Max, and she liked the way he looked at her. “I was told you were in Abuja, and I never thought I would bump into you.”

“Never imagined that I would see you again.” He found himself smiling uncontrollably.

“And also, I was told you work at Apex Oil.” She could smell money all over him, and that made her interested.

“Yeah! So, what are you doing in Abuja?”

“I’m here for a friend’s wedding.” She heard her name being called by her friends, and everybody turned around. “That’s my friends; I have to go.” She smiled. “Your phone.” She stretched out her hand to collect it and typed in her mobile number. “Call me, let’s hang out this weekend. I leave Sunday morning.” She returned his phone to him and stood up. “Allow me to make up for the past years.” She winked at him and walked away.

The guys stared at her as she walked away towards her friends. “Oh boy! Her backside is something else, Max!” Victor couldn’t hold himself. “Where did you guys meet?”

“University, I chased this babe from my 200 level till my final year, and every time she kept telling me I don’t have what it takes to take care of her.” Max turned again to have one last look.

Victor laughed. “And now that you work in an oil company, she is suddenly interested in making it up to you.” He laughed out loud. “I think this is the time to reject her too.”

“No, this is the time to eat this golden fish.” He joined Victor in laughing.

“You are proposing this weekend, remember?”

“That can wait.”

“Bad guy!” They both laughed out loud, shaking hands. “The issue now is how to get Chidera out of the way in the meantime.”

“Official trip. That solves it.”

“No, I still plan to propose to Chidera this weekend, I will do it Sunday night. The issue is that we always spend the weekend together.”

“Temporary breakup, I call it a weekend breakup. Breakup on Friday and makeup on Monday.” Victor was giggling.

“Chidera is a sweet girl. What will be the cause for the breakup?”

“I can help you make the breakup happen, but you have to…”

“Victor, no!”

“Hold on and hear me out.” He paused and smiled. “I just want you to invest in ODL. Wait, Max.” He tried to smooth it out. “It’s to your benefit, and you will cash out this Saturday. If you can make it up to 5 million, you get double your money. Trust me, I’ve cashed out twice, and if anything happens, you take my car.”

“If anything happens, Victor!!”

“Relax, guy. I’m just saying, should in case. At least my car is worth more than 5 million.”

“Talking about your car, I didn’t see it when I arrived.”

“A friend of mine borrowed it. So, this weekend, you will eat the golden fish, propose, and cash out a cool extra 5 million.”

“Okay, let’s hear your plan.”

Victor looked at his friend and had this mischievous smile. He drained his beer and laid out his plan for the weekend breakup.

Thanks, to be continued after your comments…

Jumie Naths