Utianle

Beads of sweat formed on my forehead and my index finger reached out to wipe it off. The windows were open, curtains were pulled back but it did nothing to alleviate the heat. With Faith's fingers moving across my scalp, glueing weaves to the skull cap on my head, I wanted to disappear.

The rest of the weaves were on the floor, alongside my iPhone which was turned upside down. My gaze drifted to the phone again, eager to see that familiar flashlight that signified the entrance of a new message but there was none.

Subconsciously, my fingers played with the strap of my gown, sliding it down my shoulders and I toyed briefly with the idea of stripping. "I don't know why these NEPA people won't bring light."

"How do they expect us to enjoy this public holiday if everywhere is hot?" I finished off with a long hiss.

Picking up the hand fan I had earlier discarded, I fanned myself aggressively, raining numerous curses on the electricity distribution company. My feet were numb from staying in the same position for so long and the hair constantly brushing against my neck was making me antsy.

"You know how they are, better don't stress yourself." Faith responded, returning my head back to its initial position - right in between her laps. Somehow, that one move made me feel hotter than I did before.

"You didn't even tell me how the dinner went? Did you meet any fine man? What of the money, what will you do with it? I hope you have dumped that Umoh now?" She fired questions upon questions, not giving me a chance to reply one before the next one came out.

What will I do with the money?

I glanced at the cream coloured walls, at the peeling paint that I had not noticed until now. The ceiling was no longer white, tainted at the edges by a colour that seemed closer to brown. The sofas were old and sunken from the weight over the years.

My eyes strayed to the television which was propped on the wooden divider, the disks stacked underneath one of its compartment before landing on the DSTV decoder: our latest addition. It was time for a much needed parlour renovation.

"The dinner went well, it was okay." A half-smile graced my lips; it was more than okay, probably one of the best I'd been to in years. Sparing another glance at my phone, there was still no flashlight. 

Maybe I should have kept the lunch bit to myself.

"It was okay." Faith reiterated in a voice that was supposed to sound like mine but sounded nothing close to it. Her fingernails dug into my ear, pulling down on it like it was some sort of stretchy material. "You spent more than two hours there and that's the only thing you have to say, ehn?"

"You didn't have to do that," I murmured when she finally let go, gently stroking my ear. If all of my attention wasn't so focused on a certain handsome man, my mouth would have been running by now. 

"Talk joor." She pushed my hand away, taking over the ear massage. That was the only form of apology I would get from her and I didn't mind.

The long-awaited flashlight finally came on and I hurriedly grabbed the phone. Taking deep breaths to tone down my excitement, I giggled as I inputted my password. This was like my secondary school days all over again, when I received my first love letter from my crush. The difference this time was in the content of King's message, a disappointing, one-word response.

Okay.

"Uti," Faith called, pulling on my ears again. 

"What is it?" I snapped, twisting my neck to face her. She chuckled at my reaction, trying to push my head back. If I wasn't so hungover King's lukewarm response, I might have seen the humour in her actions. 

Out of annoyance, I slapped her hand away, yanking the wig off my head. Her eyes widened in shock and her lips parted like a fish out of water. We stayed that way with our gazes locked until a knock broke us apart.

Standing up, I cast a questioning glance at her, she was among the very few who knew where I lived. The knock sounded again and I quickly got to work, picking up the remaining pillows that were scattered all over the floor.

When I was certain the parlour looked presentable enough, I sauntered off to the door. "Who's there?" 

The response I got was another knock. I turned to stare at Faith but she only stared back with a scowl on her face.

Irritation laced my words when the knock persisted. "Who's there?"

With words at the tip of my tongue, ready to lash out at whoever was behind the door, I twisted the key in the hole. Annoyance gave way for curiosity when I saw Junior standing at the door, his hand balled into a fist, ready to knock again.

"Junior?" I asked to be sure, the only one in their clique who knew my address was King.

"In flesh and blood." He replied with a wink. 

Laughing softly, I engulfed him in a hug, releasing him shortly after to take a look behind him. At the premiere, I was on heels so it was easy to match his height but now, I could barely see past his shoulders. Whereas, King was tall, he was taller.

"I came alone," he declared when he finally caught onto my not-so-subtle eye movements, a lopsided grin plastered on his face. I was happy to see him but I would have been happier if it was King or if they had at least come together. "Are you going to let me in?"

Still in a daze, I opened the door wider for him to enter. He hesitated for a moment, casting one look at the sitting room before heading straight to sit beside Faith.

"Your boo sent me," he gestured to the picnic bag I didn't notice he came with on the table, crossing one leg over the other. All the while he spoke, he never looked at me, his attention was solely on Faith who was furiously blushing.

"He's not my boo," I murmured under my breath.

I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me that I'd been dismissed so I ignored them, sauntering to the bag on the table. I opened it carefully like I was afraid it would blow up, already second guessing its content when I saw a nylon inside.

"You are very pretty." I heard Junior say to Faith and my hands stilled on the nylon.

He was right, she was really pretty.

Her face was spotless, the kind you saw on a billboard magazine for a soap advert. Even without makeup, her full eyebrows, pink lips and unusually long, curly hair coupled with her fair skin would have you turning back for a second look at her. She was the opposite of what I was: thick, curvy and short.

"You too." She responded. I could picture her cheeks turning red as she said this, the tiny mole just above her lips she would inadvertently touch. In as much as she was aware of the effects she had on men, she never let it get to her head.

My back was turned to them but my ears were perked, waiting for Junior's next remark.

"I'm pretty too?" He chuckled softly. "That's a first for me."

They said nothing more and I resumed what I was doing. My eyes widened at the sight of the takeaway plates and bottled drinks in front of me, reminding me of the last message I sent to King. When he asked if I'd eaten lunch and I said no, I didn't expect him to do this. Umoh would have just told me to go cook something.

"For you, Emma and Esther." Junior's voice came from behind and I nodded, there were three plates. I took a few seconds to compose myself, blinking back the tears that pooled at the rim of my eyes.

"What about me?" Faith asked and I giggled, something I was beginning to do a lot more often now.

"Where's he?"

"Something came up, he couldn't make it. And like the gentleman that I am, I rushed in to save the damsel in hunger." He grinned, ending his statement with a pat on his biceps; such a showoff. Turning to Faith, "you could join me to grab an early dinner."

He rose to his feet, smiling down at Faith who was in a little bit of shock at his forwardness. She blinked morosely at him, then glanced at me as if asking for my permission.

"You have nothing to worry about, I'm the good guy." He said when he noticed her hesitance.

Indeed.

"Right, Uti?" He glanced expectantly at me.

"Errrrrr," I shifted uncomfortably; he was the good guy who broke women's hearts.

In terms of complexion and appearance, they were the perfect match. His chocolate skin matched perfectly with hers, like cream to coffee. Saying yes meant that I was expressly giving permission for Faith's heart to be broken. And I didn't want that.

"We can have dinner some other time," Faith was quick to my rescue and I mouthed a thank you to her. I also owed her an apology for snapping at her earlier.

Junior's facial expression didn't crack at her response, instead, he requested for her number which she was quick to give and he bade us farewell.

"Are you calling him?" Faith asked when the doors were locked and I nodded. Her eyes were set on the phone in my hand. "Put it on speaker."

Giggling, I hit the dial button, biting on my lower lip when it rang uninterruptedly. I dialled it two more times and when he still didn't pick, I sent him a bunch of messages.

"Sooooo, you have a new boo and you didn't think to tell me, me?" Faith asked when I dropped the phone. Bunching her black gown up to her thighs, she clapped her hands in a way that was far from delightful, "wonders will never end."

"There's nothing to tell, he's not my boo," I started and when she raised a brow up, "King doesn't even like me like that. He's just being nice."

"Right. Because men just send food to women they don't like." Pushing my legs off the couch in a dismissive motion, "please, let me see his picture again."

King's display picture was not of him but of Samia, so I had no choice than to show her one of the many pictures we took together in and out of the restaurant.

Faith sighed when she came upon a picture of King, holding the phone to her chest. "I think I'm pregnant from looking at this picture." She continued swiping left on my phone, moaning each time his picture appeared on my screen. "What is stopping you from snatching this hot cake?"

She zoomed in one of his pictures where he was standing alone, sighing contentedly like she had found her Mister Right. I didn't like that.

"You don blow oo, see Cynthia Ubani," she shouted when she came upon a selfie with the both of us. "Even her husband? This is the kind of outing you should be calling me for, not to follow you to see one man that will be shouting yunction yunction in his Calabar accent."

I shouldn't have laughed because she was mocking my boyfriend but I couldn't help it, not when she sounded like that. Umoh had a slight lisp and on some occasions, he would switch the letters 'y' and 'j' intermittently.

"Just look at man that God took his time to create, ehn?" She sighed dreamily again; this time I snatched the phone from her.

"Do you want or not?" She asked like he was an item at an auction sale.

I want.

"Be forming hard girl, someone will soon snatch him from you." She picked a bottle of Pepsi from the bag, sat down and then rose up abruptly like someone who was possessed. "I just had the greatest idea of the century."

"Which yeye idea?" I eyed her warily. Faith was very good at blowing things out of proportion.

"Kuti. You can name your first child with him Kuti." My eyebrows raised in disbelief and she rolled her eyes. "King plus Uti equals Kuti, how you see am?"

She didn't get a response from me because I was still laughing; how did she even come up with that? She shrugged when I glanced at her, looking at me like she didn't say anything funny.

"When will you break up with Umoh?"

"Nobody is breaking up with anybody." 

When she folded her legs underneath her and scoffed, I sighed.

"King and I are just getting to know each other," and maybe, just maybe I liked him more than I was letting on but I wasn't willing to cut things off with Umoh, not without a valid reason. Neither was I going to chase after a man that had not declared his interest. "He's not even the commitment type."

"What's your problem with Umoh though?" I hurriedly asked when I saw the pitiful look on her face like I was missing out on something, or in this case, someone important. Someone she didn't know, yet she was rooting for him.

"I don't trust him," was her solemn response and after a long pause, she said, "I think King is a better match for you but whatever you decide to do, I will always support you, so long it doesn't involve us killing anybody."

Laughing together at her last statement, I leaned closer to her, resting my head on her shoulder. Every female deserved a friend like Faith.

"Sister Uti?" The voice stopped me from replying Faith, not that I had the words to express my gratitude for her support and friendship.

Emma strolled into the living room in black shorts and a white singlet that was drenched in sweat. Rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands, he walked up to me. "I'm hungry."

"What do you want to eat?" I asked, helping him out of his singlet.

On tapping the tip of his nose, I was instantly overcome by a wave of unexplainable joy. When he closed his eyes and squeezed his lips, something he always did when he was thinking, I couldn't help but pinch his cheeks.

"Fried rice and chicken," he said with a pout, parting his eyelids to reveal eyes that were a different colour from mine. Faith and I chuckled, he was in luck because that was exactly what Junior brought.

Pulling the table closer to me, I placed him on my laps, opening up a plate of rice for him. His face beamed and his arms jammed together in excitement, clearly, I wasn't the only one who was feeling happy.

"Sister Uti," he murmured with satisfaction each time I scooped a spoonful of rice into his mouth. And when I gave him a slice of the chicken, his arms easily wrapped around my neck.

His joyousness was enough to fill my belly and I felt the hunger slowly dissipating just from watching him eat, replaced instead, by a strong need to hear him call me by my rightful title.

"Say mummy," I requested of him politely, holding his chin to stop him from turning away. It sounded foreign even to my ears and his refusal to say it made the word taste like bile on my tongue.

Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Faith's phone drop to her laps and her eyes bulge in shock. Her eyes filled with questions but she didn't ask them, instead, she squeezed Emma's feet.

"Emma." When he turned to her, showcasing his missing teeth, "say mummy." 

"No mummy, sister Uti," he replied, shoving a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

My heart plunged into my stomach, the disappointment slowly descending on my shoulders. As if he could sense my hurt, Emma tapped me on my shoulders, motioning for me to open my mouth.

"Ah!" His mouth opened wider, gesturing for me to do the same.

When he was satisfied, he shoved a spoonful of rice into my mouth, then another into his, clamping his lips shut as he chewed with his eyes closed. It didn't make up for the pain I felt from his refusal but it lessened the hurt. Before long, I was smiling along with him, sharing in his meal which he was glad to spoon feed me at intervals.

* * * * *

Yo! How are y'all doing? How's the isolation going? I'm really not enjoying it but I hope you guys are.

And King is so sweet 😍😍😍😍, the food incident does remind me of my first university boo.

I also got this crazy idea to recommend a book for you guys at the end of each chapter, something you can read while waiting on an update. Trust me, I have great taste. 

This is now my official longest chapter (I feel like it will change though).

Random question: what state are you reading from?