through the night. James's father let us
have a crate of beer to ourselves and
we drank it up like fishes. James had
this mad home theater in his room and
we banged it up with run town's mad
over you track. The ladies around were
either older than I was or not fine
enough for my standard so I just
mingled with my bottle of Heineken. I
was at it and also shaking my head to
the rhythm of music banging away
when I felt a light touch on my arm. I
turned and Chinemelum stood before
me with a plate of steaming jollof rice
in her hand. I took it from her and
dropped it on the table with a thank
you.
"Where are you going?" I asked as she
turned to go. She pointed in the
direction of the kitchen and I nodded.
"Will you come back?" I asked.
"I don't know."
"Well I want you to come back," I said,
flashing her my Mr charming smile.
She smiled back.
"I will try."
She left the room brushing James who
was already on his way in. He came in
and shot daggers at me with his eyes.
"Nothing naa, she only brought me
food," I protested.
"Next time, tell me. I will even add
more meat for you."
He dropped more chilled beer on the
bed and we knocked ourselves out. Real
out. Things moved so fast and I soon
found myself at the far corner of the
fence, in the darkness with
Chinemelum. We weren't kissing or
smooching as most of you would think.
She held a bowl of water while I bent
low, vomiting the destiny out of my
life. I'v had too many to drink and the
consequences hit me like a mark
trailer. It was my second time of
vomiting that evening and she was
there through it all, heaping me with
sorry.
I took the bowl from her and washed
my face and then rinsed my mouth.
"Thank you," I murmured, staggering to
stand erect. She smiled and her dimples
showed.
"I would have kissed you but I am
afraid I may vomit on you," I said and
she smiled again.
"Don't worry, maybe tomorrow."
I assumed the answer was conjured up
by the liquor in my blood and sent to
my brain because if it wasn't so then it
means she would actually allow me
kiss her tomorrow. Jeez. Why do girls
love me so, or is it because I love
them?.
We walked into the house, leaning on
each other. She left me at the door to
James' room. I pecked her cheek and
she smiled. She bade me Goodnight and
left. I watched her go and realized How
beautiful and innocent she looked. She
was the type that I had always loved to
kiss and hug but never Bleep. She
looked too innocent and beautiful to be
messed up plus James would poison the
next drink he would offer me.
I staggered into the room and James
was already snoring his life away. I fell
beside him and prayed I don't vomit on
him.
I and James lay in the room wasted the
next day, staring at the ceiling and
trying to kill the headache with soft
blues. We brushed around 9 am and
fell back into the room. We had no
business around, everything was
already being taken care of.
"Your sister is fine," I whispered to
James all of a sudden.
"I know, everybody knows, even she
knows," he replied.
"Well, are you aware that my name
and hers sound alike?" I asked.
"So?"
"And she is my exact spec, fair,
beautiful and curvy," I said and he
turned to look at me.
"So?"
"We could be in laws you know," I
suggested.
"You are still drunk," he replied and I
laughed.
"So James, you had a treasure like this
at home and you didn't even tell me, eh
Chibundu?"
He laughed at the way I called his
native name.
"Now you know, wetin go come
happen? Will you be coming here from
Anambra just because of her?"
"No but you can invite her for small
holiday at our lodge since you live
alone."
"Why don't you invite Amara over then
I will invite her."
"I will rather invite my mother than
invite Amara," I said. Chinemelum
walked in on us. I saw a different side
of her beauty, one I couldn't find in her
parents. She brought us breakfast on
the bed. We were really kinging and
the icing on the cake for me was
having a queen like her serve me on
my bed, James's bed actually.
The wedding mass was for 10 am.
Everyone of note left before them,
Chinemelum inclusive, to my utter
dismay. The house turned up boring so
we decided to go to church, if for
nothing, at least for photoshoots. So
with my red tux, it was a wedding mass
so Romance was in the air, my skinny
pencil and black Italian shoes toe
match, James was on something similar
too. It was our uniform sort of. We
strolled off to church, it was a
walkable distance. The time was 11:30
am when we got there. The priest was
already on his way to concluding the
entire affair. We both sat at the back of
everyone. We had a vantage view of
the church and the choir girls mostly.
"See that girl?" James whispered to me,
pointing to the direction of the choir
girls.
"That one with big boobs?" I asked.
"No, the one on skimpy skirt."
"Hian, all those choir girls are on
skimpy skirts naa."
"No, that one with Chinaza's kind of
laps."
"James abeg, don't start comparing my
Naza with your village girls."
He Pointed the girls out to me and I
checked her out. She was cute and dark
and fresh like pumpkin.
"Ehe? What about her?"
"She go fit you," he told me.
"I know but I only do dark girls who
are exceptional," I said.
"She is exceptional."
"How?"
"She will save you from me."
"Which kind saving?" I asked,
switching stares between him and the
girl.
"You need saving from me because I
will poison you if you try any rubbish
with Chinemelum. Just take that girl in
her place," he said. He wasn't smiling
but I can tell when James was joking.
He was joking shaa. But then the girl
looked cute though and from where she
was sitting, I could tell she had that
potential of being very curvy. I
imagined myself hitting it off with the
girl after the wedding mass and going
home to a savory Chinemelum. I loved
the idea and it was worth risking
James's poison.
"Will you introduce me to her?" I
asked.
"Sure, only if you promise not to look
at Chinemelum twice again."
"I swear."
"Swear with your life," he said and I
shot my eyes at him.
"Haba guy, easy naa, like say those
other girls you dy tidy are not people's
Junior sister."
"I know what I am doing. You that is
always doing magic with girls, I don't
want you to do magic with her."
"I cannot swear with my life abeg,
what if we get drunk again and
something happens? I can't swear
abeg."
"Then I will poison you."
Fast forward to the wedding
photoshoot. I was all over Chinemelum.
Our hands on each other as the flashes
came. We had a groupie, We had our
personal, one which James was
dictating to us where to hold each
other. If he had his way, we would
have been taking the pictures at a
perfect 10m distance between us. And
we had the one which James stood in
between us. It was as fun as fun can
get. Their entourage drove home while
I walked with James, just as we had
come. I made sure the girls around had
enough reason to ogle at me and they
did.
Into the house and the reception
started. We ate and kept the drinks
aside. We needed to be sober to be
helpful. Things moved swiftly and a lot
was cramped into the reception so it's
details would be bulky, I am leaving
them out. Our Job mostly was to help
those intending to spray money on the
dancing couple get change for that
purpose. I and James. We made quite a
sum of money from it. Don't ask me
how, we weren't stealing them tho, but
we did make money.
We were far gone into the whole thing
when I remembered Chinemelum. I
searched around for her but couldn't
find her then I remembered the
kitchen. I left James as he stood at a
spot, looking for potential customers
who would like to change their money.
Into the kitchen I went and there was
my fair lady, watching and rinsing
ceramic plates. Her mom was around
and I couldn't possibly drag her out of
there myself.
I stood at a distance from them for
what seemed like 72 hours, hoping and
praying she would look my way, then
she did and our eyes smiled at each
other. I nodded and pointed back
inside, she seemed to understand my
sign language and smiled at me, this
time around with her lips and those
her dimples knocked me out. I stood
imagining those lips on mine. I believed
it would taste like strawberry.
I ran back inside, into our room to
wait for her. I passed the door, threw
the curtain open and walked inside to
meet our whole lodge there. Well it
was just Shape, Willie and
Chinecherem, James too. Willie was
already on one bottle of Heineken and
was grinning ear to ear at me. Shape
was clutching his hand and smiling at
me. The the gate crasher, the party
spoiler, Chinecherem. She ran straight
at me with her open hands and landed
straight on me.
"Baby!" she yelled as she hugged me
deeply, destroying my cheeks with
pecks. Just then, Chinemelum walked
in, wiping her wet hands against her
blouse.
.
To be continued
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