Sorry, I didn’t post this last week. I was bereaved and had to do the needful. Permit me to dedicate today’s Episode to my late uncle: Sir Christopher I. Okafor. Kindly check http://www.charleyrosu.wordpress.com or http://www.facebook.com/charleyrosu, if you’ve missed any episode. Enjoy! And please don’t forget to leave your comments————————
COMPLICATIONS
By Onyekaba N. Charles
EPISODE 5
I quickly rushed upstairs to meet Timi who had been gazing at Shantel with so much interest all the while.
“Timi am sorry for taking…………” “Oh no problem Ken!” He cuts in almost immediately. “Such a damsel”
“Yea she used to be my girlfriend” I replied.
“How could you lose such a beautiful girl Ken?
“Long story bro. Besides, it’s in the past. I’d prefer not to discuss it please”. I said with a rather stern tone.
“Hmmmm, No problem, I don’t mean to intrude, but I was curious because you both look good together. Besides, her face looks familiar even though I am yet to ascertain where we have met”
“So how far Timi” I harshly interrupted him. Obviously, I didn’t want him to take the conversation any further, especially after he mentioned the word ’familiar’. In the few months I have been Timi’s neighbor, I have noticed he is a ‘Womanizer’. In fact, before he travelled to Abuja last month, the landlord himself, came to warn him probably after one of a co- tenant reported the various cases of nuisances and disturbances his visitors had caused the compound. He apologized that day, even though he had bullishly shrugged off the complaints saying that he’s a bachelor on one hand and a good tenant on the other. Thus, does not owe anybody an explanation whatsoever on how he lives his life. He paused for a while and looked at me so distraughtly that am sure he was wondering why I reacted that way. “I am fine” he answered reluctantly.
“Let’s go in” I said, pretending not to take any notice of his mood. “No Ken! I’d rather we stay here and discuss. I don’t intend to take much of your time” He replied. So I quickly got another seat from my sitting room to join him at the balcony. He had just purchased a plot of land somewhere at Ikorodu and wanted me to do a be-fitting design for him. We discussed his brief, quickly agreed a small fee and I promised to get back to him with a preliminary design in a month’s time. He thanked me and left in a mood that suggested that he was still not happy at the way I ignored his questions earlier on. I thought about calling him back to apologize but on a second thought, I decided not to.
“I didn’t do any wrong” I thought aloud. So I shut my flat door and went inside my room. I picked up my phone, dialed Shantel’s number and she picked after some beeps.
“Hey! How far are you now? I asked curiously.
“Am at Ketu” She replied. “Serious hold-up dey oh” She continued. “Oh my goodness” I lamented as I checked my wrist watch. It was already 7:12pm.
“I just pray you get home on time. I continued.
“I will be fine Ken!……Thanks for the reception, I really enjoyed my time with you” She replied.
“I guess that means you’re coming tomorrow?”. I said with a smile. There was silence for awhile as though She was pondering if she could make it before promising, but I continued:
“I will call you again to know what the situation is” She said thanks and I hung up the phone. I dropped the phone on my reading table, sat down and reflected for awhile on a poem I titled: ‘The cry’ which I had started earlier in the day. I picked up my pen and managed to scribble the following:
“She drinks down in her sorrow, Her heart pierced with an arrow. To escape emotions so repressed, And looks, so depressed.
I tried to add another line but just couldn’t concentrate. My thoughts were just on Shantel and Emeka. How possible? I kept asking myself. I picked up my phone again, dialed Shantel’s number severally but the call didn’t go through. The replies I got was either “Network busy” or “The MTN number you are calling is not reachable at the moment, please try again later”.
Thirty minutes passed and I was still staring at my phone. I thought about calling Emeka but I doubted If I still had his number. So I searched my phone using his nickname: ‘Meks’. I found a match, tried it, but the replies were same as Shantel’s call. I sighed, scratched my head, stood up and paced the length of my room aimlessly. I suddenly noticed that I was more bothered about Shantel’s relationship with Emeka rather than her getting home early. I tried calling Emeka again. This time it rang severally but there was no one at the receiving end. I became so restless at this point. “Is this a game? Why was she crying when she announced her wedding plans to Emeka?, Is this whole thing a ploy by Emeka and Shantel to see if I still have feelings for her?, If not why did Emeka elected not to call me to tell me about his plans to marry Shantel: a girl he met through me?”. These questions kept pondering my mind, yet I tried pretending as though I didn’t care. As hard as I tried, I noticed, I was clearly in two minds. One cared to know what this whole thing was about, while the other was ready to forget it and move on.
“Do you really care? She is your past!” I could hear a little voice telling me, but almost immediately I found myself reminiscing her company. I just couldn’t pretend. I enjoyed the warmth of her embrace, the fragrance of her skin and could even remember the stray strand of her hair that brushed my face while we hugged. I couldn’t believe I still felt this way about her after all these dark years. It made me even more determined to know what her visit was really about. I checked my wrist watch again, it was 8:00pm. “She should be home now” I thought aloud as I moved towards my reading table. I picked up my phone to call Shantel but unconsciously dialed the last number on my call log. It rang and almost immediately someone picked and I heard a male voice.
———————————–JOIN ME NEXT WEEKEND FOR EPISODE 6
Charleyrosu 