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Chapter 2

Jane settled in the traffic, her hand was pressed on her horn and she hissed as loudly as she could.

The sun had come and gone and the sky was darkening as the moon prepared for its entry. The streets were as usual packed with cars, emptying out into the streets from invisible parts of town.

She had a terrible day in the office – her boss was on her neck, pressing for an unbelievable target – but she had been known to spring back and surprise her company – why else had she been promoted three times in a short space of time?

A bus driver had levelled with her again and she paid no heed as he made gestures at her and tried to make her give him an opportunity.

“This should teach impatient drivers like you a lesson,’ she mumbled under her breath.

“Madame, please, abeg!” His cries fell on deaf ears for she could hardly make out a word with the air-conditioner on.

The line started moving and she jerked her car forward as was custom of Lagos drivers who knew the game well. The bus nosed into her lane and tried to run her off the road. She looked at him – the man thought he could treat her as such because she was a woman. Well, he had a lot of things coming for him.

The restaurant where she was going was by the right and she veered off, looking angrily at him. She was not in the best of moods and there were clear reasons why.

The restaurant was brimming with life and people came in settled in usual seats.

Matrick was as usual buzzing with activity, cars parked outside its glassed walls, lining up in fashion and through the windows, Jane could see tables filled with people the faint strains of Italian music pulled her towards its large doors.

She felt the cool wave of freshness as she stepped in and her eyes went to Marina’s favourite spot. As she spotted the curly bob of hair on a familiar dark skinned and rosy cheeks rising to greet her, Jane flashed a smile at her friend and made her way towards her.

Marina loved this Italian food joint and often said if she were not Nigerian, she might have been Italian. It did not help that she had married a half-Italian.

“Jane, so what was this emergency that could not wait?” Marina asked her.

Jane had called up her friend to talk to her and they had agreed to meet in Marina’s favourite restaurant for lunch. A little on the expensive side and very stylish, but Marina had always been one with taste. “Suzanne is getting married…”

“Suzanne? Who’s that? Your ex-boyfriend’s girlfriend?” Marina John-James was Jane’s best friend, a chubby woman with a beauty that was outstanding. Her lips were coloured with pink lipstick that matched the pink dress she was wearing. Marina was a woman who loved details and matching colours to the very last was one of her many delights. Jane knew Marian had every possible colour of shoes, bags and lipstick to go with any attire. She happened to be married to a multi-millionaire, so it did not really bother.

“My secretary…”

“Your secretary?” Marina’s eyes swung around as she tried to piece the puzzle together. “Is that supposed to give me a clue as to what this is all about?”

“Suzanne is plain, not pretty and has no dress sense, and she’s getting married.”

“You called me out here because your secretary is getting married?” Marina looked at her watch, her eyes darting side wards as she mentally calculated. She took a sip from the small glass of martini, her favourite drink “I can’t believe you would do a thing like that… I had an appointment with the masseurs and I had to cancel…”

“Please Marina, I need you,” Jane began. “I’m breaking down because of this…”

“You realise everyone must get married someday, don’t you?” Marina beckoned to a waiter and she lifted the menu card off the table and looked over it, tapping her red acrylic fingernail over it.

“I just feel life is happening everywhere but around me…” Jane sighed, her eyes dropping to the red carpet and the shoes she was wearing. It had been a gift from her friend and at a time in her life it seemed that was all that had mattered – getting the right clothes, the right shoes and the right job. Getting the right man had never been much of an issue – until now. “It’s so depressing and it’s weighing me down, badly.”

“Okay, so what do you want to do? Mess up her wedding?” The waiter walked to the table.

“No.” This was no time for Marina’s jokes. “I need to find a man,” Jane began, “I can’t stand it anymore, I have done everything possible…”

The waiter heard Jane’s statement and his astonished face tried to suppress a smile and Marina looked at him, harshly. “I’ll take items four, five and twelve…” and she looked at Jane, “and for my friend, any good looking man on the menu…”

“Marina, that’s not funny…” Jane looked angrily at her.

“I’m sorry Jane, it was just a joke,” Marina could not resist the urge to pull her leg. “What would you have?”

“Nothing, I’m fine…” Jane was not feeling up to Italian food. When she thought of it, she was not feeling up to anything.

“Get my friend the same thing I ordered…”

As the waiter walked away, Marina laughed again, tossing her hand in the air.

“This is not funny Marina, stop it!” Jane felt helpless, she had brought her troubles to her best friend to get some advice and a shoulder to lean on and all she was getting was the entire laugh.

“I knew something like this would happen…” Marina began. “I told you to listen to me...”

“Marina, your ideas are crazy,” Jane raised her eyes to her friend’s. The two had shared a long time together and had made the adventure of the higher institution a worthwhile one.

“Have you come up with any better ones?” There was no reply. “See, I told you.” Marina took a sip, savouring the taste of mixed fruits and lime. “Take it easy, relax….”

The waiter returned with a plate of barbequed chicken and he placed it on her table. “Hmm… this smells really good…”

“You’d better watch those calories,” Jane eyed the chicken. “I hope you didn’t order that for me?”

“What’s there to watch when I’m going to be bloated in a matter of months.”

“Are you pregnant?” Jane looked at her, seeking evident signs, shock resigned on her face.

“Yes.” Proudly, Marina touched her stomach. “I have been trying to get you to notice – you just did not seem to get the point.”

“Again?”

“You make me sound like a baby producing industry,” Marina began. “I had the twins two years ago, so it’s no big deal.” She nudged her friend. “Cheer up okay, don’t let your sour mood spoil everything.”

“Sorry, congratulations…” she wanted to be happy, really she did. First, it was her secretary getting married, now it was Marina, having a baby.

“Jojo is so thrilled,” Marina began.

Jojo was her husband. The two had been married for five years and they had two kids.

“He says it’s going to be a boy,” Marina told her.

“More boys?” Janet looked at her friend. “Haven’t you had enough of boys?”

“Two boys are more than a woman can handle,” Marina began. ‘I want a girl…” she took another sip. “Aren’t you taking too much of that?” Jane asked with concern. “It’s not too good for the baby…”

Marina raised her glass to her. “I am Italian now, so I have to behave like one…” she began. “And little junior here is an Italian and does not mind a little drops once in a while…” She went ahead. “I hear that children whose mothers take a little bit of alcohol end up stonger…”

Jane doubted the authenticity of her friend’s statement but with no other option, she nodded. “You’re so lucky Marina,” Jane saw in her friend, a reflection of life she had always dreamed of.

“Why? Because in less than nine months I’d be on my way to the labour room for another dreaded session of ‘push the baby out’?”

The look on Jane’s face was wistful – her friend had gotten the perfect life and she was single at thirty two.

“Jane, I have told you what to do…”

“I’m not desperate – it’s only desperate people that do things like that…”

“Putting an ad in the papers in not bad – it could actually be fun…”

“Fun? I don’t want any fun, I want to find a man…”

“So many people are doing it,” Marian cleared her throat. “I am single, 32, a manager…”

“Don’t include manager, people would think I’m a money bag of some sort,”

“But honey, you are a manager and a money bag, aren’t you?” Marina nodded. “Okay – I am single, 32, looking for a man…”

“A Christian man…” Jane cut in. “Okay, I am single, 32, looking for a Christian man between 33 and 40.”

“Forty? That’s too old!”

“Well, you are not 16 anymore,” Marina began. “Okay, how do you want to ad to read?”

“Why am I even discussing this? I am not interested, not one bit.”

“Okay, why don’t we give it a try?” Marian asked her. “I’ll pay to advert myself, all I’ll do is to put a number…”

“My number is not going on the papers…” Jane could imagine her boss or family recognising her number from a sloppy dating service system.

“Then, we’ll get you another number,” Marian told her. “Buy a new phone and send me the number tomorrow…”

“I’m not desperate… I’m not doing this…”

“Okay, I’ll buy the phone and I’ll drop off your new phone tomorrow…”

“I don’t like the idea of this Marina,” Jane began.

“Jane will you relax?” Marina laughed. “You don’t always have to be so boring all the time, okay?”

***

Jane slipped off her shoes and walked into the darkened room. As she switched them on, the room resurrected and her sister, asleep on the large bed, pulled the covers over herself and curled into a ball at a corner of the large bed they shared. Jane headed to the bathroom and pulled out her toothbrush. Three painful visits to the dentist had made her a dutiful caretaker of her teeth and she never joked with the routine of brushing twice a day to keep plague away. She filled the bathtub with water. Today was an exceptional day with all the hassle and stress and all she wanted to do was lie in the warm water and just relax.

She shared an apartment with Uzo, her younger sister who worked in a bank. Jane loved her privacy and living alone had been her dream but her parents would not hear of her living alone but Uzo was in a serious relationship and very soon, in a matter of months, she would be heading down the altar and into her own house.

She heard the sound of the door, and she knew it was Amaka. Amaka came around from school and as usual, she pranced about. Jane looked at the clock on the wall – eleven o’clock. Amaka was as usual keeping late nights, most likely she had been out with that boyfriend of hers.

Amaka walked in, a spunky looking young girl with long braids that touched her waist.

“Amaka, where are you coming from?” Jane asked her sister.

Amaka pretended she did not hear her, the smile froze on her face and she walked towards her room at the far end.

“Am I not talking to you?” Jane asked her.

Amaka stopped and turned around, looking at her sister.

“Look here, this is my house, if you want to stay here, abide by my rules and be in this house by 10 o’clock, or don’t even bother coming home…” Jane sighed and turned away. “If this is how you live on campus, then please don’t bring into this house…” Jane did not want to think about the hands and feet of evil that plagued the streets and the sort of dangers Amaka could fall into.

“I was not alone sister…”

“That was exactly what I was afraid of,” Jane sighed. Uche gave her the creeps. The last time Amaka came visiting, she had seen him with a couple of men who were suspicious looking. She suspected he was in a cult, but Amaka would not hear of it.

“Sorry sister…”

“Please just be careful,” Jane watched her sister leave and could see the excitement in her eyes that her words had been unable to reach. Most likely, she had been out with her boyfriend and they must have gone for a party or something.

She went back to her room, she was looking forward to her bath.

by Yvonne Oshiobugie (email: yoshiobugie@yahoo.com)




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