He said no episode 31 – 32
HE SAID NO
EPISODE 31 – 32
By quarter past 7, the crowd had dissipated and while Grace saw Mike off, Amifel packed her things in readiness to leave before sitting on Grace’s rugged floor while waiting for Grace to get back.
The room was empty, seemed like ~the perfect timing for some serious thinking. While waiting, she allowed her mind to wander, she was totally happy for Grace but she felt bad at the same time.
It was not that she was jealous of her best friend but it just sorts of reminded her that she was the only one left. Although no one knew what Blessing was up to, it was obvious that whatever plans she was making had to do with her settling down. But she was just there, as single as ever.
Maybe her mum was right, after all, maybe she really had a spiritual problem or why had it ~been so difficult for her to find a man who would love her? Then, she remembered that she found one but God refused to let her stay with him.
It’s been like six months since she ~~parted ways with George and since then she knew nothing about his whereabouts, but she was sure that he had moved on with another lady.
~
God had asked her to wait but she couldn’t help but wonder how long she still had to wait.
The rustling of the doorknob jolted her back to reality as she skated out of her thoughts as the bride to be walked in on her.
“Sorry I took a while, I was waiting for him to get a taxi,” Grace explained before she could say a word.
“It is understandable,” she managed to force a smile in order not to pass the wrong message across.
“Mike really blew my mind!”
” That makes two of us baby because he blew mine too,” Amifel chuckled,
“I didn’t see that coming, I mean, we have only known each other for 6 months and we started dating about 3 months ago.
“Lucky you girlfriend, I am really happy for you,” Amifel smiled, she had had enough of her proposal stunts for the day and her head was beginning to churn.
“Mike said, we would start making plans about going to see my parents and his as well,”
“Awwwn, so beautiful… Iyawo in the making, I feel you!” Amifel whined as she adjusted her shoe buckle which was already well done. She just wanted Grace to get a hint that she was ready to leave. Grace must have gotten the cue because she checked her wristwatch for the time almost immediately,
“It is getting late, you should start going,”
“Yeah, it is,” Amifel buttressed as she stood up thankfully, “You know, I would have slept over but dad is coming around today and it won’t be nice of me to stay out,”
Grace followed suit in readiness to see her off. As they strolled to the junction, Amifel caught her friend peeking at her beautiful engagement ring under the bright street lights and she just smiled in silence, it must feel good.
“Thank you for today, I had an amazing birthday,” Grace hugged Amifel as soon as they were able to wave down a bike that would take her to where she would get a cab home.
“It was nothing compared to what your fiancée did baby, don’t wear that ring to bed oh, and make sure you close your eyes while sleeping tonight!” Amifel teased as the bike man turned on his ignition.
“Go away jare,” Grace slapped her buttocks playfully as they zoomed off.
As Grace made her way towards her compound, she took another glance at her ring, and while she was at it, the streets light went off as everywhere was thrown into utter darkness.
She cared less,
“Thank God they were at least gracious enough to leave the lights on while my visitors were around.” She thought to herself as she smiled satisfactorily. She had a great birthday after all and it was possibly her last birthday as a spinster.
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Amifel walked into their compound and saw her dad’s car parked beside her mum’s. Her dad had been away for two months and that was the longest he had gone in a while. She had missed her dad and was happy she would be seeing him again.
It was such a long evening and she felt drained, emotionally drained. She needed to sleep.
She opened the door to their sitting room and met her father seated on the sofa in front of the TV,
“Daddy!! “she jumped on him, hugging him fondly while trying to drown out the weariness that was tugging at her soul, “I missed you! “she continued.
Her dad did not say a word neither did he hug her back, she detached herself from the embrace as she shot him a questioning look,
“What’s wrong dad? “Mr. Robert didn’t say a word, he looked at her briefly with disdain boldly written all over his face before turning away from her to focus on the football match he was seeing before she came in.
“Seems like you are not happy to see me, or did I do something wrong?” Amifel asked, she was as confused as ever but her dad ignored her still.
“Or, is this because I came late? “she thought to herself as she wondered what she could have done wrong, it was definitely not about her getting late because she already sent her mum a message that she might be getting home late. Moreover, it wasn’t her first time and it was just some minutes past eight.
She stood transfixed on the s₱0t for a few minutes while her dad acted like she was invisible and just as she was about to head to her room, her mum appeared in the sitting room.
“Mummy, I don’t know…”
“Would you keep that uncouth mouth of yours shut!” her mum thundered, Amifel felt like she had been hit by a sledgehammer and she developed a splitting headache almost immediately. She opened her mouth but no words came out.
“If not that I was looking steadily at you while you were born, I would have said they exchanged my original baby! “Mrs. Robert clapped as she adjusted her Ankara prints wrapper. “God! You gave me a child, just one and you couldn’t at least give me one that won’t give me hypertension” Mrs. Robert dramatized raising both hands while looking up to their ceiling before she continued, “Or don’t you have shame? Aren’t you ashamed? Oh oh oh, I have forgotten that you cannot shame the shameless!”
“What the hell is happening here? I have asked a million times over and no one has given me a reasonable answer! What have I done to deserve these terrible insults!” Amifel yelled like a madwoman with a shaky voice.
“If you scre-m at me there, I would slap you so hærd that you would go deaf this minute!” Mrs. Robert scre-med h-rder while jumping and showing her a demo by sl@pping the air right in front of her.
Mr. Robert still did not say a word, as he stood up and walked towards his room, leaving both mother and daughter in the boxing arena.
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What do you think could have happened to warrant such a reaction from her parents?
To be continued
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HE SAID NO
EPISODE 32
The atmosphere was tense as the sound of the generator blared on, Mrs. Robert was not done.
“You have a problem and the fact that you don’t know makes it even more pathetic.” Mrs. Robert yelled on as Amifel kept mute, she was already boiling with anger.
“So, you broke up with George! Ehn!”
“I didn’t break up with him, he broke up with me!” Amifel yelled, she was already getting emotional.
“Will you shut up your mouth! He broke up with you? Isn’t that what you have always wanted or would he have broken up with you if you didn’t frustrate him? after all we have done to make sure that things work out between you two!”
“Do you think I planned for all of these to happen! Do you think I don’t want to get married too? “
“You want to get married? I doubt that, ” Mrs. Robert fumed, “That you dumped him, or you made him dump you is one thing and that he is getting married is another but what is paining me the most is that you gave your pearls to a swine!”
“You know what I have noticed about you? You never listen, and I won’t bother explaining.’ Amifel said as she walked out on her quickly, she had had enough. So, George was getting married, he moved on quicker than she thought. As for her mum, she had heard enough for three people.
“You are walking out on me abi? Continue! At least, you have dashed your husband to your friend, so it is fine!” Mrs. Robert scre-med, Amifel who was about to lock her door, stopped in her tracks as she walked back briskly to the sitting room.
“What are you talking about?” Amifel asked as her mum hissed and angrily walked to her room, banging the door really hærd, it was her turn.
Amifel headed back to her room as well and locked the door firmly, she settled on her bed as she ruminated on all that had happened. Grace had since told her to tell her parents about her and George’s break up but she had vehemently refused, as she kept pushing the evil day forward. Now, it had finally come and it did catch her unawares. For her sanity, she decided to leave home for a while, she would move to Grace’s place until further notice.
What a day, she sighed. From the proposal party to George’s surprise wedding. She wasn’t surprised that George had gotten married, he was every girl’s dream man after all and a lot of girls would kill to get him. She didn’t bother to undress, she just wanted to sleep, wake up the next morning and move to Grace’s place. She felt weak and tired, she was hurt too by those demeaning words that her mum freely lashed her with. Tears had gathered in her eyes.
“Father, I am really hurt right now and I don’t know what to think. First, Grace got engaged and now the man who you asked me to leave is getting married. Even though ~I don’t~ appreciate this sort of response from my parent, especially not at a time as crucial as this, I don’t blame them either, I know, If I hadn’t left him, I should be married to him now. Maybe he wasn’t the best bu ~t at least he is good enough, everyone~ thinks he is good enough except you or wait, how am I even sure that I heard you correctly in the first place, how am I sure that it wasn’t my mind playing tricks on me, this is so not fair!” she ~said angrily as she sobbed. She closed her eyes and stood still, her questions met with silence, the only~ sound she heard was that of their working generator.
She felt restless, she just wanted to sleep but sleep was not forthcoming. She scrambled for her phone right in,side her purse which was some meters above her head.
Since she couldn’t sleep, she might as well surf the net. She scrolled through her news feed on Instagram, ‘owanbe’ pictures and videos posted by different people winked at her.
The inquisitive spirit in her pushed her to George’s wall. He must have done a private wedding event because there was no notification of that sort from him, his last posted 3 weeks before then.
Just as she was about to log off, her eyes caught sight of Blessing’s picture on a friend’s news feed, it was a wedding picture but it was a personal picture of her in a glamorous wedding gown, it was posted that same day and it had the caption, ‘congratulations baby girl, God bless your new home!’. She went straight to her wall and she scrolled through her pictures, there was no recent picture of her.
“Happy married life to her,” she mumbled.
She sat still there in the dark, whenever her dad was home, the generating set always worked through the night, except there was power supply. She was there looking into space, she did not know when she dozed off.
She woke up quite early, It was still dark outside, she packed her things into a small traveling bag, she needed to leave before her parents woke up. She thought of calling Grace but on second thought, she felt it was too early and decided to wait till she was ready to leave.
Her phone rang while she was getting set to use the bathroom. It was Grace.
“Grace! I was just about to call you, ” Amifel said, “You sound tensed, what happened?”
“Have you heard?”
“George’s wedding? “ she shrugged as she wore her shower cap, “ I heard. My mum rained fire and brimstone yesterday, even my dad was so angry. I don’t even know how I managed to sleep. I will tell you all about it when I come around. “
‘Okay, you are coming around? When?”
“This morning, in fact as soon as I am done bathing. I can’t stay here anymore, I don’t want to go insane. Expect me soon.”
“Okay, I will wait till you come around before I leave for work.”
“Okay, thank you, dear.”
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Grace had just finished her quiet time when she called Amifel, what she heard the previous night made her feel disturbed. She knew that Amifel had not heard otherwise she would have called her or told her when she called her.
No wonder Blessing had been acting strangely, little wonder she told nobody that she was getting married.
She couldn’t imagine how Amifel would feel hearing that her best friend got married to her ex-fiancé!
To be continued…