Three generations episode 37
TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 37
Dinner ended. Paul took Nwanneka to the poolside to relax. They met some of his colleagues and friends. They exchanged pleasantries. Some of them stared at her lewdly while some passed remarks about her look. Some behaved like gentlemen while others acted like schoolboys catcalling their prey jokingly.
“You look familiar though. Paul have I met her?” one of them asked.
“Do you remember the first day we went to RSUST to pick up babes? She was the girl I went after”
“O, I remember now. The one you said was your wife. She looks very different”
“She was going to class that night. She’s a final year student. Can you guess the course?”
“What is she studying? Chemistry, Microbiology or Biochem?”
“No, she is studying Marine Engineering. I weak when she talk am”
“Shuo, no be man dey do that kind course?”
“I am ten men put together” Nwanneka replied smiling.
“After suffering to study the course, you will end up in the kitchen”
“Says who? I will rather not marry than be a housewife”
“Paul, that’s your answer. She has turned down your marriage proposal”
“I don’t want a woman in the kitchen, I want the complete package. She has convinced me why she has to work and now I will allow her work. We have planned everything. Port-Harcourt will be our base so her mother will help with the children. We have agreed on everything”
Everyone burst into laughter. The girls with them looked at Nwanneka and whispered amongst themselves. It was now they recognized Nwanneka.
Nwanneka was embarrassed. She said to them, “I don’t know what he is talking about. It was nice meeting you all. Paul, I’m ready to leave now”
“Aren’t you spending the night? Paul will be lonely”
“I think he will be for a very long time” Nwanneka answered.
“It won’t be long; I promise you that. Let’s go”
They were chatty on the way back to the hostel. When they got to the hostel, they stayed back in the car and talked for another hour before Paul left. He gave her peck on the cheek before she walked into the hostel.
Paul was attracted to Nikky. He attributed the strong attraction to her physique but he found himself drawn to her intellect too. When he got back to the hotel, he and his friends discussed her.
“The babe just dey ok. Na big nyash you dey look. If dis one born one pickin she go full house.” One of his friends said too him.
“She resemble Igbo girl. If you see am, you go know say na correct Igbo girl. She cleans up real nice though. You go get competition for the nyash, na our brothers go wan try am” another added.
“I trust her. And no be just nyash, she dey smart”
“I give her that. Your babe for Warri go laugh you o. She set pass this babe”
“But she no get brain reach am quarter. If she talk, I go sit both of them down together make she use brain finish am. Anyway, when man wan settle down, he go lookout for certain things. I like her body and will desire it always which won’t make me cheat. Two, she get brain and me too get first class brain, what kind of children will we have? Three, she is well brought up. Four, my long throat siblings will have her to contend with. She is a no-nonsense person. Five, her mama get money but no spoil her”
“When did you start thinking deep like this? Every point you have mentioned makes sense except for number one. Her nyash go over big when she born”
“I like am like that”
Nwanneka on the other hand felt funny when Paul held her and gave her a peck. She had shut down her feelings when she initially had s€×. This felt different. She liked Paul and this joke about marrying her was funny. She missed him already; it felt like they had known each other for years. He was like her companion.
The following day, Priye asked her how it went. She was happy to tell her how it all went. For a very private person, she revealed too much. She did this out of excitement.
“Since you like him so much we can pay him a surprise visit. We could just bump into him at Hotel Presidential. It will be fun”
“No thanks Priye, I can’t intrude on his privacy like that”
“Are you scared he might be with another girl? Won’t that tell you type of person he is?”
“He doesn’t have to be loyal as we are not yet in a committed relationsh¡p. I can only accept that when we graduate from school”
“What difference does it make? It is just a few more months”
“Priye, it makes a wh0le lot of difference. He is a distraction I don’t need right now”
“He will be back on Friday, what will you tell him?”
“Nothing. We will eat and then he will drop me off in class”
“Ok. I know he will do more than that but my l-ips are sealed”
“What do you mean?”
“He looks at you like you are a piece of very juicy meat he is about to devour. He wants more than what you are offering. Right now. Don’t let him have it with another girl”
“Priye, he should go ahead. He is free to behave as he desires until we are tied together. I don’t want to be deceived as I have seen. I won’t hope on any man until he marries me”
“Since I have known you all you talk about are your academics and marriage. It makes me feel like you are desperate to get married”
“I’m not but I would love to be married. It is advisable for a girl to have a suitor while she is in school so that as she graduates, she will become a wife. That is my desire. I am graduating at the age of twenty-three and hopefully, I will get married at the latest twenty-five after my NYSC”
“I don’t want to get married soon. I want to travel abroad and pursue a career in the US Navy. That’s what I yearn for. I will marry a white man and have cute mixed-race children.” They both laughed.
“I like your plan. I want a Nigerian husband and I can’t leave my mother and da….”
“And who?”
“Not important. I want to marry a Nigerian man”
“You want to marry Paul”
“Lol. Maybe but only if he wants to marry me”
Friday evening, as predicted, Paul was at the hostel. He waited for her to come out. She walked to his vehicle and together they left for dinner. Nwanneka looked different. She seemed conscious of her appearance, she had on a pair of jeans and a nice t-shirt. She also packed her braids and wore some powder and lip gloss. Paul smiled when he saw it. She was coming out of her shell.
He drove from the school to town. Nwanneka wasn’t comfortable with it but he assured her by telling her to trust him. He took her to a restaurant where she had fresh fish pepper soup with plantain. She enjoyed it so much and washed it down with a malt drink. They talked for a while and then he drove her to the class.
Paul parked his car at a dark corner of the car park and came down with Nikky from the car. He walked over to her side of the car quickly and took her in his arms suddenly. She tried to wriggle out of his embrace but he held on tightly and whispered to her “I’m crazy about you. I just want to hold you. Stop struggling” She stopped struggling. He pulled her closer to him, as he was about to plant a k-ss on her l-ips which she tried to avoid by pushing her head backwards a security guard flashed his torchlight towards them and shouted out, “Who are those?”. Paul released her immediately. She composed herself and walked away.
Tbc