PREVIOUSLY ON EPISODE 26 & 27
Episode 28
.
.
So far so good, my life was in ruins. From the moment I got kidnapped, till the moment I lost my dear friend in a cold-blooded death, up till the moment I was denied access of contacting my family… my life had been ruined since then. Just when I thought it was all over, the big shocker came; I got rusticated from school.
Life, to me, is a mystery. I couldn’t cry. I couldn’t shed unnecessary tears. I simply accepted it as fate. For me, what had happened had happened; there was no going back. It was simply baseless to cry.
• • •
Two weeks passed by and I forgot about it. Although it still crossed my mind one or two times that I was practically a school drop-out, I tried my best to shove it off.
During those two weeks, a lot had happened in the house. I had gotten used to almost everyone already, and we coped with each other like family. But something bothered me…
Boma.
Boma had always been there for me, truthfully, and he took it upon himself as a full time responsibility to cater for me, but still, he was something different entirely. Since the day I was taken into the house, right from when I started sharing the room with him, he never slept on the bed with me for once. He preferred lying on the rug. He never touched me. He never made advances towards me. He never caressed or laid down with me, and it gave me a great deal of concern.
I often looked in the mirror, checking myself out to see if I wasn’t attractive enough for him. Was I that bad? I wondered! Was I out of fashion? I always checked myself out. Was there probably something he disliked about me? I often asked myself countless times, but no answer came forth. I was painfully dying inside. I couldn’t take it anymore!
So, on a certain Thursday I decided to summon up courage and ask him while we were in the room together, having lunch.
“Boma…” I called out to him.
“Yeah?” He responded absentmindedly, chewing at his meat.
“Boma!” I called out again, and he turned to face me this time.
“Yes?” he answered properly.
“Iʼd like to ask you something,” I said, tapping the bed absentmindedly like a frightened child who felt tensed. His eyebrows furrowed as he shot me an awkward glare and motioned to me, “Go on…”
I cleared my throat and summoned up courage to ease the tension.
“Boma, I know you are a man,” I began, “and I also know that due to your natural masculine features, you are bound to have constant sexual urges from time to time. It also means that you…”
“Go straight to the point,” he interrupted me abruptly.
I heaved a sigh and scoffed deeply, feeling the tension rising again.
“Why don’t you touch me?” I finally let it out, feeling a huge burden being lifted off my shoulders. He looked at me in confusion, like he didn’t actually understand my question, so I pushed on.
“Why don’t you lie on the bed with me? From the day I moved in, you have always preferred sleeping on that rug! You don’t touch me! You don’t make advances towards me! You don’t give me that affection that makes me feel like a woman! Whatʼs going on? Am I that bad?” I demanded truthfully from the innermost depth of my heart.
I waited patiently to hear him speak, eager to hear what he had to say, eager to know what he had in mind. There was a long, awkward silence between us for a while until he finally spoke.
“You won’t understand.”
“I want to know! Make me understand,” I demanded plainly.
He glared at me directly in my eyes as I glared back too, waiting for an answer.
“You won’t understand,” he repeated again and, like a joke, he stood up from the rug, took out his sleeved shirt and walked out of the room; he walked out on me. Boma walked out on me!
I lost my appetite and stared blankly into thin air, feeling my eyes becoming teary. I felt a tear drop trickle slowly down my cheek. I felt light-headed, and my body vibrated rapidly as my temperature increased. I wasn’t getting myself. I needed to clear my head.
I washed my face and went downstairs to see a movie. When I got there, Nancy and Rita were already there, watching a movie as they smoked and discussed. I joined them and took a seat beside Nancy. Along the line, I noticed they were both staring at me persistently.
“Fifi, is everything alright?” Nancy asked, taking me out of my thoughts.
“Yes, everythingʼs fine!” I faked a smile.
“I called you about three times now, you didn’t hear me. What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing, honestly.” I denied.
“Why your eye come red so?” Rita asked.
It was obvious that they had noticed how moody I was. I couldn’t deny it again. I had to excuse myself from them as I returned back upstairs and locked myself inside.
• • •
One hour.
I woke up to see that one hour had passed as I checked the wall clock. I realized I had fallen asleep during my thoughts, and as I expected, I had a throbbing headache to accompany it.
I looked out the window and noticed that evening had fast approached; then I stood up from the bed to ease myself when there was a knock at the door. Quickly wiping off my face, I went over to answer it.
“Babe wetin dey do you?” Nancyʼs voice resonated across the room as I unlocked the door.
“You better no go kill yourself,” she added immediately. “I just came to tell you that boss man is around. He says you should change into something nice and meet him outside the gate.”
“Right now?” I asked.
“No, right later!” she mocked jokingly.
“You better hurry up!” she added as she left.
In a short time, I had changed into something casual; a cropped white top and a black jean. I glanced at the mirror, gazing at the reflection that glared back at me. Even without make-up, I was certain I was attractive to an extent.
When I went downstairs, outside of the compound, precisely out of the gate, there was a small car parked there. I could sight Boma seated inside even though the glasses were closed, and he seemed to be alone. I heaved a sigh and walked towards the car, opened the side door and took the passenger seat.
“What took you so long?” he asked, avoiding eye contact with me.
“I had a shower, it delayed me. Iʼm sorry,” I calmly apologized. He didn’t say anything thereafter, and then, an awkward silence ensued.
“Nancy said you demanded to see me?” I spoke up, breaking off the silence.
Boma turned to face me this time, with a slight smile forming on his lips.
“Yes,” he answered. “Let me take you somewhere!”
