© copywrite 2009
by Yvonne Oshiobugie
check out her blogChapter 8
Her tongue was suddenly paralysed and she could not think of anything to say. “I asked who your partner is…”
Partner? Jane was confused and she felt all eyes turn to her. This was something she had not wanted at all. What kind of partner was he talking about here?
“Me. I’m her partner.”
She heard Latoye’s voice and Steve’s eyes shifted to the towering bulk of a man that stood behind her.
“She’s new,” Latoye explained.
“Okay, you Toye, you know the drill…”
Steve’s eyes lingered on her face once more and he smiled. “Thanks for coming to join us. Not so many people are interesting in feeding the homeless, but thank you for finding the time to come…”
She wanted to say something but what was she to say? Not in front of all these people. She decided to talk to him later.
“I thought you did not have a partner,” he told her, “I wanted you to join my group…”
She almost kicked Latoye in the shin but she caught herself on time. She had just missed he golden opportunity to partner with Steve. She might have taken time out to monitor him and observe him before telling him who she was. She had learnt that looks were deceptive and after fifteen years of dating, she had learnt that a man could never be judged by how charming his smile was. The brief moment was over and Steve turned away.
She was left with Latoye.
“Hey,” he nudged her. “I realised you did not have a partner and you looked a bit lost out there,” he began.
Jane laughed to herself. He thought he had done her one great favour – if only he knew how annoying he was starting to get. She noticed everyone was breaking up into groups of twos and dispersing. “Where is everyone going?”
“We’re going to give these out,” Latoye had a carton of old clothes and toys. “It’s normally divided so that it’s simpler.” He explained. “We’re going to be giving this out to children, so it’s not difficult…” she watched Steve and two people follow him. That’s where I am meant to be, if only Latoye had not come into the scene. “Okay, just hold this…” he handed her a packet of sweets.
Sweets. What a waste of time. “Why are we giving them sweets?” She asked him. “Why can’t we just give something more profitable?”
“They are kids,” he told her. “Come on, let’s go.”
The children gathered around them like a horde of flies and their hands were outstretched as they chorused: “Uncle give me sweet!”
Latoye made them sit in circles and he told them stories from the bible. Jane was impatient, never really having had any particular patience for children, but Latoye was so kind. She watched him pat each little child on the head and smile as he handed a toy.
“Aunty, can I have a sweet?”
Jane remembered she still clutched unto the packets of sweets and she opened it and as she placed it into the hand of the child, her face lit up with a smile that was worth more than all the millions. She could not get over the fact that a single sweet could bring so much joy to their faces.
“Jesus loves you,” Latoye began. “You should give your lives to Him and make up your minds to be good boys and girls so that you can go to heaven…”
“I have a song and I want to sing it to you,” he began. He cleared his throat, singing had never been a hobby of his but he loved to sing with his heart. When he started the first lines of the song, Jane couldn’t help but snicker as he hit the wrong note and went off key. She could see the determination on his face to sing, but the voice was not doing what he wanted. The children started to giggle – even street kids knew the difference between good and bad music.
It was a popular song, one she had learnt in one of the Sunday school classes she had compulsorily attended as a child. She started to sing and all the eyes turned to her, including Latoye. She could not remember the last time she had sang, maybe when she was in secondary school. The children stared, and started singing along. Their voices were pure strains of innocence and its sound was soothing and appealing.
Latoye stared at the woman, watching and wondering who Jane Nwobodo was. The woman had her car had walked into his life just a couple of days ago and she amazed him with each passing moment.
Jane felt a joy bubble inwardly that reminded her of when she was younger and when she had had time to just be free, run around and have no cares whatsoever.
“Did you see the looks on their faces?” Jane asked excitedly. There was a joy she felt on her insides that she could not quite understand. She had never felt this way before. She was just happy for some unexplainable reason.
”You are so happy…”
“Yes,” Jane realised she was pleased she had come, although it had turned out the way she expected, she was pleased. “I don’t know why I’m happy,” she laughed, “I just am.”
Latoye felt exactly the same way when he left the children, the looks on their faces and just knowing he had contributed something to their lives. “It always gives joy when you’re able to touch someone’s life, I guess that’s what makes us Christians…”
Jane could not remember when she was this happy and with a smile on her face as they walked back to the group with an empty carton, she talked with Latoye, like an old friend. “You should go for voice training,” she teased.
“Is my voice that bad?” He asked her.
“It’s terrible!” She laughed. “Really terrible.”
“You know, you look prettier when you smile, you should do it often…”
His words jogged her memory and she remembered what she was meant to be doing here. She saw Steve at the far corner, speaking to the people.
“I want to thank you all for coming out here to see these people,” Steve began. “I want you to know that when you help the poor, you are sowing seeds into your own lives, seeds that will one day germinate and become forests…” he paused. “Let’s just pray and call it a day…”
Someone started to sing, a slow moving worship song and although Jane did not know the words, she hummed along, and the same peace she had felt while she sang to the children overwhelmed her heart and she felt tears spring to her eyes. What was this? What was going on? Why was she crying? She could not explain it.
The prayers were short and afterwards, she made her way to her car. Was she so unhappy that the first sign of happiness and she was in tears?
“Jane, wait!”
It was Latoye. She turned and she saw him walkin to her.
“You have not given me your office address, I told you I want to fix your car,” he began.
Smiling, “it’s not necessary,” she began. “Accidents happen…”
“Please let me fix it,” he began.
“It’s okay…” she started.
“If I can’t fix it, can I make it up to you?” He asked her. “Can I take you for lunch or something?”
Warning bells went off in Jane’s head. That sounded like a date. “I don’t think it will be such a good idea,” she started. Apart from the fact that she knew nothing about him, the last thing she wanted to do was ruin their lovely friendship.
The disappointed look on his face was clear to see and she tried not to make it awkward. She had enjoyed herself all right, but the fact that she had fun was not a reason to go into something. She thought of Marina and wondered what she would do in a situation like this – that was right, Marina would tell her to go on the date, besides, it took one day to know someone. “Okay.”
“Okay,” Latoye waved his phone. “I have your number, I’ll call you and we’ll fix something…”
The day had ended and her thoughts were heavy. She had enjoyed herself very much, too much.
by Yvonne Oshiobugie (email: yoshiobugie@yahoo.com)
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