Cupid's Risk, Episode 5
Could this be love? .....by Cerebrally Busy
Iphey got out of her car as fast as she could and hurried up the steps to General Hospital Ikeja. In the corridor beyond the nurse‟s station, she saw was a slightly harried, fifty-something year old woman with an arm around a sobbing younger woman. Her heart rose into her throat. It was her mother and sister. Something really was wrong…her nephew had crises all the time…but this time was different. Her sister had a strange…aura around her. She was crying like there was no tomorrow, like all hope was lost. Iphey swallowed. She didn't know how to deal with grief. Her legs suddenly felt like lead, but she managed to lift them one after the other, each step filled with dread.
“Mum…Ngoo, what did they say?” she asked, dreading the answer. Her sister looked over and the despair in her eyes cracked Iphey's heart. She reached for her.
“Iphey…Iphey…my baby, the doctors…said…he's going to…die,” her voice broke on the last word. “Iphey, what will I do…he's my life…” she sobbed “my life…”
She clung like a leech and Iphey could do nothing but cry too and murmur useless soothing words. When she could finally get up, she handed her purse to her mother and went into Obi's ward. He was sleeping so peacefully, but there were so many tubes...It should be illegal for so many tubes to be attached to one small child, Iphey thought angrily, what kind of world is this, where the young die and leave the old? Minutes passed…or was it hours?? Her mother came in and hugged her, offering wordless support. They stood like that for a long time, looking at the boy beneath the sheets, each thinking their own thoughts.
“One Chinedu called,” her mother said.
Iphey looked at her mother in shock. “Who?”
“Chinedu…the same number called so many times, I decided to pick it. Who is he?”
She pulled out of her mother's embrace. “Just someone I met some days ago…”
“Anything I should know about?”
Should I tell her? Iphey wondered. No, she decided as she put on a smile that didn‟t quite reach her eyes.
“Not yet mum, I‟ll let you know if there is.”
“You know I want you to settle down soon right?”
“I know but not now…”
Her mother shrugged. “OK but I told him where you were and that you will call him back later. Anyway, you can go home and have some rest.”
Iphey stared. Trust her mother to make all the arrangements. Iphey hugged her without a word and said goodbye to her sister who came back in then. As she drove home, she became depressed and the tears brimmed over again. Her mother had called after her earlier phone conversation with Aisha. When she had not heard from Iphey, her mother had flown in from Port Harcourt to be with her sister in the hospital.
Iphey had gone straight over totally ashamed of herself. She had assumed her sister and nephew were back home. She now thought of all Ngozi had been through. First with her husband's mysterious disappearance, and now her son, Obi, was about to die. She prayed that by some miracle, the little boy pulled through this. In her street, she noticed a car parked beside the gate and wondered who it could be. Could it be him? The headlights shone brightly on the figure leaning against the wall. It was Chinedu. Her heart gave a very uncomfortable lurch that had nothing at all to do with her family. She frowned and got out of the car, she really didn‟t need any distraction right now. All she wanted was to crawl into her bed and cry her eyes out, for Ngozi and for Obi. She hoped a brusque dismissal would get him off her case.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
She raised her hand and halted him. “I don‟t want to talk about it.”
“Iphey, I‟m sorry I didn‟t call in the past few days. I wanted to hear from you or Aisha first. I‟ll like to talk to you…”
“Can I just go in please?” She tried to move away.
Chinedu held her hand. It hurts, he realized. It hurts me that she's angry. “I left some friends to come over here after speaking with your mother. You can talk to me you know?"
"Don‟t be nice please," she inwardly pleaded, "I can't take it if you're nice."
To her utmost horror she began to sob. The sound grabbed his heart and squeezed. He pulled her into his arms while she wept it out. He gathered little from her unintelligible gabbling, but it saddened him the more. He pried the keys from her fingers and opened the door, and then guided her over the threshold.
“First you're going to sit down, and then I'm going to get you some water. Where's the kitchen?”
“First door to the left,” she sniffed. She loved being babied. He sat her on the couch then he removed her shoes and her jacket. He smiled at the way her eyes widened.
“Don‟t worry, that‟s all.” He could guess where her thoughts had gone. He gave her a wink that was absolutely charming…it had her staring stupidly at the door long after he had left the room.
Good man, she mused. What could have possessed him to be an armed robber? She fell asleep with the barest hint of a smile on her lips and the slightest frown on her forehead. That was the exact expression Chinedu saw on her face when he came back out. He held the sweating glass in his hand as love budded in his heart for the girl who had fallen asleep with a stranger in her house.
Please don't judge me......by Atala Wala Wala
Chinedu watched her as she slept, taking in the delicately curved lashes, the slight upturn of her nose and her long, tied-back hair. As he did, once again he regretted the reckless streak that had made him tell her that he was an armed robber during their previous encounter. He shrugged; I guess that's just who I am. Iphey stirred and opened her eyes. She sat up with a jerk and looked around. How could she have fallen asleep with a guest in the flat?
“Madam, drinks are served.” He bowed with an exaggerated gesture and presented her with the glass.
She sat up and took it with a grateful smile. “How long have I been sleeping?”
Chinedu smiled back. “Not long enough. After the stress of today, you definitely need some rest. Even your body agrees.”
While Iphey drank, her mind turned cartwheels. He was kind and considerate; he was funny; and he was good looking. She did want to like him, but... that history. And how could he be so comfortable and nonchalant about it, too? What exactly had happened to drive him down those darker paths of life? But did she really want to know, anyway? Wasn‟t it her curiosity that had saddled her with the burden of this knowledge? What if he revealed even darker secrets -- secrets that made it too difficult to bear the contrast between the person she was getting to like and the person she wanted to keep at a distance?
A musky scent intruded into her thoughts as Chinedu settled beside her. “You seem to be a lot better, but it looks like you also have something on your mind.”
“Oh… I was still thinking about my nephew… I‟m praying that he‟ll pull through.” Iphey was thankful for the handy smokescreen Obi‟s hospitalization presented to her.
Chinedu nodded. “I completely understand. Was it very shocking to hear the news?”
“He‟s had asthma attacks before, but nothing like this…” Her voice trailed off.
“I hope he pulls through; in any case, he‟s in good hands now. There‟s not much else we can do except pray”.
They sat together for a while, each lost in thought. Iphey broke the silence. “Oh, I feel so bad; you‟ve been so kind. I am a bad host. Can I get you anything?”
Chinedu laughed. “This isn‟t a proper visit; I only came over when your mum told me about your nephew's crisis. I've put some Indomie in the microwave for you; otherwise, I'm happy to just talk. Like I said earlier, once I heard from Aisha, I was hoping we could set another date." Again, Iphey felt herself torn apart by the self that said “go for it, he‟s a great guy” and the other self that said “watch out, he used to be an armed robber!”
The cautionary self won out. “Well, I don‟t know… right now, my mind is not settled enough to think about that.”
“I understand, and that‟s why I‟m not asking you for anything immediate. I only want to know if you would like to meet at all.”
Seeing her hesitate further, he added “Think about it. You‟ll get the chance to hear about my adventures during my life of crime.”
At that remark, all her apprehension boiled over into indignation. “How can you be so callous and talk about it as an adventure, as though you had been on holiday? Don‟t you even feel any remorse?”
Chinedu nodded his head. So it was the armed robber thing; he had thought as much. “I regret what I did then, but that doesn‟t mean that I cannot describe some of them as adventures. Or do you want me be to lie about my past to you?”
“I‟m not asking you to lie, but please show a sense of shame! Why should I want to hear about the adventures of an armed robber on a date?”
Chinedu began to feel irritated; he had meant to bring the issue up in a light-hearted way to diffuse any possible tension, but that sure wasn't working.
“OK, I‟m sorry that I‟m not perfect. I‟m sorry that my life has this smear you disapprove of. But at least, one good thing is that if I meet someone who made mistakes and turned their life around, I‟m less likely to judge them harshly.”
Iphey was defensive. “I‟m not judging you; I‟m just saying that you shouldn't take it so lightly.”
“Really?” Chinedu smiled bitterly. “Avoiding Aisha's calls and not even calling me to say thanks all this while has nothing to do with me being an armed robber before? Do you remember the anger and force with which you responded to the revelation?”
Seeing that Iphey had been embarrassed into silence, he continued in a softer tone. “I don‟t blame you; others have judged me before too. I found it wiser to be quiet about my past. Even now, I don‟t tell everyone. I only tell people I‟ve known for long enough to trust.
“But sometimes, I take a chance, follow my instincts and tell people who I feel I have strong connection to, even though I‟ve just met them; people who I feel will be willing to listen more and judge less.” He looked into her eyes, and continued. “The trouble is, sometimes, my instincts are wrong.”
Chinedu rose and stretched. “It‟s getting late so I must head out.” At the door, he stopped and turned. “My instincts may be wrong sometimes; but somehow, I don‟t think this is one of them. How do I know? Maybe it‟s my instinct telling me.” He smiled wanly and added. “I really hope your nephew makes it out of intensive care. Please let me know if there‟s anything I can do to help. Have a good night, Iphey.”
She listened to the door latch slowly, her head bowed in thought. The ping of the microwave brought her out of it.
JUST CLICK TO FOLLOW US ON
Post a Comment