West life _Queen of my heart
For unmask_reader

***
Liz

I was lying on my back, when he came in. Events of the entire day rushed in from my outfit to his grandmother's speech and the spitting soup event. I quickly closed my eyes quickly to feign sleep, which was hard to do because I was hungry.  Jason's weight dipped the bed and I felt his hands draw imaginary circles on my collarbone.

"Are we pretending to be asleep B?" His slight chuckle should have made him sound foolish but it still sounded hot.

Since I kept mute, Jason asked again, "I know you just rolled your eyes at me even without opening your eyes." It was a mental eye roll but I'm not opening my mouth to tell him that.

"Okay since you've gone dumb should I just start kissing all over your body?" As he spoke his hands toyed with the straps of the singlet I had on and mental images flooded my mind.

His lips on my body, there is no way I'm resisting him when he gets there. So instead I had to end my cold war, "You must be  delusional if you think I'm letting you touch me." I also opened my eyes.

Jason laughed loudly, his voice took a tingly, scratchy hot vibe  as he said, "I love it when you talk psychological to me baby."

Remember why you're mad Liz! How could I when he was this naughty. I couldn't help but chuckle, since I can't stay mad at him. His breaths fanned my neck and I let him wrap his arms around me.

His beard scratched my skin slightly but just in a way that I liked. then  we were talking about the events of the day, minus where his grandma gave me the "broken people" speech. We just got married, we can at least gave ourselves a little chance before we start second guessing ourselves right?

Jason was presently explaining something to me about Yoruba's Insane obsession with pepper and making everything spicy. I chuckled when he told me the part of them adding pepper to their pancakes and other pastries. I got lost in his Nigerian lecture from here, he was so animated I loved the way his mismatched eyes lit with pride about his homeland, the way he was licking his lips intermittently also made me hot inside.

He must have noticed I wasnt listening when he shouted "B! Stop ogling me." This man must be a joker, I married him body and soul of course I can ogle as much as I want.

I rolled my eyes first then said "What's the use of marrying a fine man if I can't stare at his body as much as I can?" My stomach grumbled loudly after this reminding me of how little I've fed it all day, before Jason could comment someone was knocking the door sharply. Immediately I pushed Jason off me and he frowned at my actions.

"Yes," Jason shouted in irritation. Then got up to open the door, it was one of the distant distant cousins that stayed with them. Double distant for emphasis, its like half of the people living under this roof are distant relations.

She muttered something to Jason in Yoruba which he interpreted to me. "Hey B, mama is asking of you downstairs." Jason shot me an apologetic smile as he spoke.

I let out a loud fake snore! I'm sleeping please, even my ancestors are asleep. After spitting pepper soup on her she's calling me at night, no way. Jason just laughed again, I swear that man has no sense of loyalty, "B!" He shouted.

My snores took a louder gear, I hope the person outside is convinced. Until he had to scream "STAR! You sound like an old used truck." I flung my phone at him, before I could regret my decision. Jason still calls me Star sometimes from our first under the moonlight date and it still makes me go haywire. The man practically chooses whatever to call me whenever he likes yesterday he called me a nut job as compliment.

I got up and wore Jason's white tee which drowned my small frame, a permanent scowl sat on my face though. When I passed him at the door he hit my bum sharply and if looks could kill he'll be feet's under after all he was refusing to go with me.

Iya Agba was sitting on the dining table, which was now cleaned thoroughly. I felt regret, knowing someone else cleaned up the mess I made. In front of her was a plate of steaming doughnuts and a cup of  warm chocolate. I was too stunned to take a step further until her sharp voice commanded me to sit.

"Here," She pushed the food towards me, "I know you must be hungry, you didn't eat dinner." I was going to decline at first, I mean what if they added pepper to their doughnuts to, since if Pepper wasnt in all their dish Yoruba's will go mad.

Iya Agba must have seen the hesitation in my eyes because she smiled a crooked smile. Well, if she doesn't like me the least I could do was to fuel my engine after all we are spending a whole week here. I stuffed my mouth with the hot pastry and chewed slowly under her gaze. She didn't say anything till I finished my meal and I was grateful for that.

"It must be hard being in a strange place, with different cultures and food?" Iya Agba asked gently.

I nodded my head quietly, "I'm sorry for spitting soup on you mama."

She smiled warmly, which didn't fit into the image of wicked grandma and I could feel the tension ease out of my system. Iya Agba got up and said "I still dont like you, but maybe I will when I get to know you. I'll try not to poison you with pepper while you're around" then she winked, She looked funny with all her wrinkle lines but her deal sounded fair.

*****

The last 2weeks was the best two weeks of my life, for someone who has always been alone this was a different kind of wholeness. Iya Agba finally warmed up to me while we stayed with her. I learnt to eat some of their meals and even though I could manage spicy though not too spicy, she finally started pampering me.

I got bitten by a black ant and yes, I didn't cry even though Jason says I did, disregard whatever he says he is a hater. I had bowel movement trouble when I ate roasted maize and coconut, my faeces definitely felt like stone although it tasted divine. I hate, scratch that I detest Amala; no amount of persuasion made me try it, the color wasnt inviting.  I tried so many new things and Iya Agba got me new Ankara patterns to take back home.

We also went to their local market with some of Jason's cousin and to someone who was germophobic I hated it. The market was full and loud, and dirty water flowed on the streets, little stalls littered everywhere and some sat under umbrella shades exposing their wares. Everything was unhygienic and the fact that I've been eating food bought from there made me sick. None of this seemed to faze Jason and he just chugged it up to where I came from.  I almost fainted when I saw a meat shop and flies covered the meat I could barely see, yet people kept buying it. At this point I just dragged everybody back home and made sure everybody used the hand sanitizer I kept in my purse before entering the car.

I still dont understand some of their culture. Jason and I have been taking the love making slow, because we were in a house full of people and we could get loud sometimes. So he was so happy when we finally had to leave for Calabar, before we left I took pictures with everyone.

Calabar was so beautiful and neater than Abeokuta. We stayed at the Tinnapa Resort and we couldn't do a lot of sightseeing because we had a lot of catching up to do in the bedroom. I had a weird fetish for Nigerian soups so on Jason asked we tried Edikaikang soup which I regretted when I got a first class running stomach, we couldn't even leave our room.

We were able to see the Obudu cattle ranch and really connect with nature. Jason was my designated photographer as my husband so I'm sure his hand hurt that day.

After Calabar we couldn't go to Bauchi as we planned earlier so we came back to Lagos. We've spent 5 days in Lagos and its been all shade of frustrating and fun, the roads and traffic was so annoying I was elated when Jason told us we'll be taking helicopter rides.

We went to Eleko beach, since it was during a weekday it was very quiet and intimate. We sat on the sand and talked for hours while stealing lots of kisses in between.  Our next stop in Lagos was the new Afrika shrine, where we really spent a long time dancing and grinding, even though I didn't understand what most of the songs meant.  We attacked each other when we got back that night I'm not sure we made it to the bed.

Tonight was our last Night in Nigeria and we planned to have fun.
Jason pulled me by the waist towards himself and my body collided with his. He gathered my box braids and pulled it into a bun and left few pieces to frame my phase, I just let him have his moment. Jason has a strange kind of fixation with dressing me up, and I kinda like it.

I had on a body con, midi red sleeveless dress which I paired with a baggy jean jacket, large hoop earings and white sneakers. It gave me a kind of sexy, alte vibe and I loved his choice. Jason on the other hand was putting on a blue jean, and a black tee shirt with sneakers.  We were set to go to a Johnny Drille room concert.

It wasnt a large crowd event, just super VIP.  When he started singing I almost cried, his voice was like honey it melted my heart . The couples that hanged around were few and the setting was intimate. The Popular Nigerian musician sang tons of love songs at his Piano most of which wasnt his, yet he blew my mind away.

Jason made sure I sat on his laps, as we sang along. I knew some of the songs while Jason knew most of it. We left early at Jason's insistence and I was still in a bubbly daze. We had left the car behind and entered an Uber. He finally brought us to a busy street where people milled around and sold some wares beside the street.

I placed my hands in his and he swung it as we walked on, everything looked so colourful and vibrant I loved their energy. I saw a poor looking girl selling water and almost gave her the ten thousand naira in my purse. Jason just laughed at me but cautioned me against doing that, so we settled for two thousand naira. This way if I saw someone else I could give them too, the girl prayed for my generation, generations and this was where I finally concluded that Nigerians love prayer.

"Baby I'm hungry," I whined and tugged at the edge of Jason's shirt for attention.

"Babe its barely three weeks and you're getting fat, you're always hungry." Jason complained in mock anger. As he did he steered me towards a barbecue grill. I sized the place up and quickly decided against it. There is no way I was eating that especially when I looked at the makers appearance.

"Baby," I called Jason to make sure he didn't buy it, but he was engrossed in a conversation  with the seller. "Tolulope!" I shouted and his mismatched eyes finally landed on me.

I dragged him away and told him of my fears, "You can't just buy that."

"Why not?" He asked in return most probably confused. When it hit him about why I was rejecting he just laughed. "B, the meat is on fire. Its a Nigerian delicacy called suya, any germs would have died okay dont stress your head."

Jason went back to buy the Suya and I frowned at him. As he negotiated the amount and parts he wanted, he popped some into his mouth and smacked his lips. We finally left the stall and I was angry he bought it. The meat was cut into dices and it looked good enough to tempt me but  I'm not trying it.

"Take some" he offered. After holding it out to me and I refused to accept it, he continued eating and smacking his lips loudly in an offensive manner.

I wasnt going to mind him until I saw a naughty glint in his mismatched eyes. Before I could stop him he was kissing me an open mouthed kiss and depositing the Suya in my mouth. I was too shocked to even reject it, do you know how weird we looked kissing on a popular Nigeria street? Not just any kind of kiss the sloppy spit exchange or rather food exchange kind.

I whacked Jason on the back of the head and everyone started looking at me strangely like I commuted a crime. Some where making cat calls and sharp whistles while others  were looking at us as if we were evil. In Nigeria Public display of affection wasnt a socially accepted thing I guess.  I didn't know if I should be embarrassed or angry, I just dragged him quickly and walked away and he still had the guts to laugh.

This boy will be the end of me!

In my defense the Suya was already in my mouth so I finished chewing it and since all the germs was already in my mouth, why not try another.

That's how we found ourselves sharing a large bag of the grilled meat. It was not too spicy, tender and thoroughly cooked and has become my favourite thing after Egusi soup. Even though there is no way I'm telling him that, we chugged a local yoghurt drink on top which we got at a supermarket that had coconut shavings in it.

We continued our night stroll his hands thrown possessively on my shoulder letting his warmth seep through me. When we heard the song blasting on the radio. It was our song! Our date night song.

Jason didn't know I learnt it so he was surprised when we were blasting Fireboy's 'I need you' on the top of our lungs in public. There is something extremely romantic about having this Nigerian boy sing to me, something freeing when I sing along in my horrible Yoruba and danced off beat to the song as passerby's hailed. Something intoxicating when you stare into his mismatched eyes and knows he means every word. Something sexual when he pulls you towards him and finish the last words in your ears and you forget the crowd singing along and their gaze and you just get lost in each other.

Most of all there is something raw about the lovemaking we had when we made it back to our hotel room. We felt so connected to each other every kiss and touch was a sweet kind of torture. Desire so insane when you finally get to its peak and let yourself do nothing but feel.

****
Early in life I found out that no high lasts forever not even the feeling of completion or love. I wasnt  surprised when I woke up to an empty bed with our bags packed and Jason dressing up, I slept like a baby no single nightmare in sight.

"Hey baby!" I said and yawned. It was the pain and fear in his eyes that made me panic, "Tolu what's wrong?" I asked quickly suddenly beginning to feel cold.

"Its your mom Liz. She had a heart attack last night" he said gently and moved to my side. His hands stroked the side of my face in a caress which I couldn't feel, "we need to go back home Liz. I've packed, we'll be using Pamela's husband private Jet. " I nodded my head in reply since my tongue lost its function.

I felt my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth, I couldn't even bare to ask if we was dead. If just like that she was gone? I told you right, no high lasts forever especially when it has anything to do with me. Life couldn't just be fucking fair!

***
Super long chapter right! Its two chapters in one. So that the people that use to threaten me on WhatsApp will allow me have peace, they know their selves o.

How do you like your honeymoon? Nigeria based or Abroad based? Dont even ask me you must know the answer. Lately I'm so fed up with Nigeria especially with the southern Kaduna killings.

Also are you team pepper in Pancakes or not? My family members are still on this argument. Lastly what's your take on public display of affection? Seeing people act kinda intimate in public

I'm working on a new book again😂😂 crazy right? Anticipate people its a mixture of mystery and romance you'll like it.

Doughnut starved writer😭😭😭😭😩😩😩😥
Orex.