Chapter 34 II

The Present

S E G U N

"Mad people everywhere."

"Oh my goodness, he's so manly."

"Covid never show these one's yet."

"If I had a man like that, we'd never leave the bedroom."

Eve storms out of the hall amidst whispers loud enough to reach my ears.

Shit! I fucked up . . . again.

I thought I was over this 'acting up' phase of my life, clearly I was mistaken.

As I approach our table, Dipo gapes at me in disbelief. "Holy shit, dude! Who are you?"

I ignore him and fall into the chair opposite him, suddenly feeling drained. Sighting the bottle of Hennessy, I pour myself a small glass. Actually, more than . . .

"Alright, that's enough." He snatches the bottle from my hand. A split second more, and all its contents would have spilt all over the table cloth. I watch as he puts the bottle in front of him, but it's still not far away from me if I want more. Make that when.

With a pained expression on his face, he asks. "Please . . . tell me this is not because of her?"

I'm afraid it is.

But I say nothing, and ignore his question, as I grunt and pick up my almost-overflowing glass. Tilting my head, I throw it back in five large gulps.

A ping goes off. Two, actually, and suddenly Dipo exclaims. "Holy shit!" If looks could scorch, his gaze would have set his phone on fire by now, with the way he's staring at it. "Twelve thousand views and five hundred comments already on gistlover's blog and woooh . . . two thousand views and a hundred comments on Facebook . . . in less than five minutes?" His voice takes on a hushed reverence. "Bro, you're a fucking internet sensation!"

His unhinged bottom lip is beginning to creep me the fuck out. On second thoughts, him using two swear words in one sentence . . .

My performance must have been really good . . . or fucked-up, bad.

Since he keeps staring at his phone like it's the next best thing after sex, I swipe the bottle from the table and pour myself a generous amount once again.

"Dude! Get a load of this." He practically shoves his phone under my nose. I try to turn away, but when I see an image of myself grinding against Eve, I'm transfixed. I watch the shocked expression on her face as I slide her down my body, the necklace I gifted her glinting against her neck. She never removes it. She told me she wears it even when taking a shower. Good thing it's pure silver then. Suddenly, shame courses through me. Hot and fast.

I treated Eve, my princess, like a prostitute, exactly like I'd treat . . .

Damn you, meat head! Damn you to hell and back. Let's hope you didn't fuck this good thing up with your own two hands.

"Roxy! It's her, isn't it? She came for Stacy once again, right?" Dipo suddenly bursts out.

I don't have to say anything. He already knows.

"So you're just gonna allow her take our daughter whenever she likes?" His voice is tinged with anger. I don't blame him. I'd be angry at me, too.

"And here I was thinking you had some balls." He scoffs and turns away.

Ouch!

I gotta tell ya ---- It takes a strong man not to react to a jab like that, especially when he's under the influence of alcohol.

"So that's it, huh? You're just going to remain silent and allow her walk all over you? All over Eve?" I know Dipo is a master at tactics, but I just never knew how much it would hurt hearing him use it on me, most especially when it's directed at Eve.

"Leave her out of this." I hear myself speak, but I don't recognise it. I sound hoarse, like I've been crying. That would probably be because I'm such a coward, I can't face Eve without some liquid courage in my system.

"Talk is cheap, Segun ---- oh, I'm sorry, I meant Aureliano, 'cause that person dancing earlier on wasn't Segun." He fixes me with a gaze that is meaningful as well as confusing. "Segun would have stood up for his girlfriend, the one who took you out of your shady ways, the one who redeemed you from fucking every thing in skirts. Although, I wonder why you allow Aureliano to make a debut now and again, showing his decadent ways to the one he claims to love the most. I know Segun was the one that come to my house some days ago, almost knocking the door down at twelve midnight because he wanted some advice." He suddenly leans forward with a glint in his eyes. "So I ask ---- As Aureliano, the panty-dropper, will you abandon Eve because of this recent discovery, or will you stick by her as a new and reformed Segun?"

I groan into my fourth-empty glass, it's contents already rumbling around in my stomach, finally loosening my tongue. "It's all my fault. She wouldn't have had to go through this pain for the rest of her life if it weren't for me. I don't deserve ----"

"You didn't get to choose the father you have, you know. Don't beat yourself up about it. It wasn't your fault." His voice has softened a shade. Make that two shades. Get angry at me all you like, but don't fucking pity me.

"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?" I suddenly burst out. When I feel several eyes turning my way, I put my head down in shame.

"Roxy could be lying, you know. How do you think she found out" His voice drops an octave lower. "And then why didn't Eve tell you?"

"Come on now, D, what woman would be happy to tell her man she can never give birth again?" My voice cracks at the end. All I've been doing this past one month is envisage having a child with Eve, but that will never be possible anymore.

"I think you should clear this mess up with her once and for all. Don't let that bitch, Roxy, get to you. She's like a fucking cancer, just eating and eating at you, until ----"

I slam my fists on the table, already sick of talking about the same matter, and stand up, but the room stands with me.

Now the chairs are moving, or am I the one moving?

I turn to look at Dipo, only to realise in surprise, there are two of him.

I hear a shrill noise sounding off. It's relentless, and doesn't seem to want to stop.

Where is it coming from?

Dipo is saying something, but I can't hear shit over this buzzing in my ears.

He puts something into my hand and I notice the shrill noise is coming from it. It's a phone, and it won't shut up. Without thinking, I answer the call.

"Hey, baby!" A man's voice booms into my ear.

Baby?

At first I'm confused, so I remove it from my ear and glance at it, only to see its Eve's phone, not mine, so I put it back to my ear, as static begins to grow in my head.

"Who're you?" I sound as high as a kite.

"You don't want to know."

Suddenly, all the high drains from me leaving me with a hollow feeling, as warning bells begin clanging around in my head. "Boy, this phone is my girlfriend's, so you'd best start talking."

A chuckle sounds off in my ear. "I'd think you'd know better than to answer your girlfriend's phone, then. You just might see, or hear something you don't like."

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

After a few seconds of silence, he speaks again.

"My name is Dee Scott. I take it I'm speaking to Segun . . . my step - brother?"

E V E

I'm not one of those women who like to hang around in toilets, powdering my nose and repainting my lips while I stand in front of the mirror admiring myself as I listen to the latest gossip from my best friend, but seeing Ebere's face looking so wan and contorted with pain, I think that is going to change soon.

She's shaking like a leaf and muttering incoherently.

I've never seen her this way before. Never.

Except with . . .

Zubi.

Fortunately, we don't have to worry about him anymore. Whew!

I take her into my arms and she collapses into me, crying uncontrollably. After awhile, she quietens down and moves to where some tissues are stacked.

She takes awhile fiddling with them but when she eventually turns round, I notice she's turned it into shreds. I doubt if she even registers what she's doing.

"I saw Zubi." She states suddenly.

I move to stand beside her in two strides, "But Zubi is ----"

"I see you don't believe me."

That would be correct.

"Eb ----"

"Please!" She puts up a hand. "Just . . . give me the benefit of doubt on this one. I saw him. He just stood there looking at me with sorrowful eyes."

But it can't be. Zubi is dead.

"I think he was trying to apologise."

I nod, but not in understanding. How can I understand such a thing? I hope she's not having a bad case of hallucination, or post partum depression.

A certain tremor creeps into her voice as she continues talking. "When we were dating, I was always weak and nauseous, but I chucked it down to side effects of the drugs. I later found out it was something else entirely, after a good Samaritan took me to the hospital when I blacked out on the side of the road. I thought . . . actually I don't know what I thought, to be honest." She throws her hands up and moves to stand in front of the window, blocking out the sunlight streaming in.

I'm scared to ask what she found out, but I steel my nerves and do it, anyway. "What did you find out?" Instead of telling me straight away, she takes another route.

"When we were dating, I felt the drugs he was making me take were a natural protection, so we would have unprotected sex ---- lots of it. We had so much wild sex, it probably put some porn artistes to shame. He made me do things I wasn't proud of." Her voice catches at the end.

I want to reach out to her, but I'm transfixed. I can't move even if I wanted to. It's like getting front row seats to the recitation of 'sordid diaries.'

Sensing my uneasiness, she turns to look at me with eyes that are red, puffy and watery, a testament to the hysteria lying just beneath the surface, waiting to spring up at anytime.

I can hear the shuffle of feet and the chatter from people beyond the window, so I centre my attention on that, instead of listening to what I know will be another notch added to the heartache lying in my heart.

Unfortunately for me, her next words don't just add a notch, they take it to a whole different level.

"Amidst all this wild sex, something I didn't believe would ever happen, happened." Her gaze falls to the ground, and I have to restrain myself not to shout at her to look up at me. After a few seconds of heavy silence, she continues speaking, still with her head bowed, like the weight of the whole world is on her shoulders. "I didn't know it at the time." She lets out a small laugh and moves away from the window, letting the sunlight stream in once again.

As she comes close, she lets out a sentence that has me almost caving in on myself. "I became pregnant. I became pregnant for the devil."

The sting in my chest is sharp and painful. I clutch at it, trying to take deep breaths, but it's almost an exercise in futility. All I'm able to do is stare painfully, balefully at her.

She was pregnant?

Why didn't she tell me?

Not knowing the turmoil I'm going through, she continues speaking. "He must have found out later on, because. . . because that same night, I began . . ." She lets out a whimper, and as if sensing her uneasiness, a dog outside howls mournfully. ". . . I began bleeding." She shakes her head and smiles sardonically. "It was later I found out he put something inside the food I had cooked with so much love for him. 'Just take a little bit,' he said. 'I don't want to eat alone.' The pain started immediately I got to the toilet. Instead of urine, blood flowed out of me like water, and oh, the pain ---- it was indescribable." She lifts her head, finally and the tears begin falling. Big fat globs of tears born out of pain. "He came to the bathroom where I was almost bleeding out on the floor, and I will never forget what he said to me."

I wait with bated breath for her to talk, but she's struggling, struggling amidst tears and bitter memories. I know I should give her time, but the more she cries, the more impatient I get. Just as I'm about to ask, she continues speaking. "He stood at the door looking like a handsome devil, and said. 'You knew I wasn't ready to be a father, so this is on you,' and he walked off leaving my entire being in shreds."

This time, she's the one who comforts me, as tremors rack my whole being. She holds me tightly and soothes me with her fingers the length and breadth of my back.

Suddenly, a loud knock sounds off at the door, freezing us into immobilty.

"Ebere! Eve! Are you both in there?" That's Dipo, and he sounds frantic. He must have been looking everywhere for Ebere.

We both swipe furiously at our eyes, and I watch in rising surprise as Ebere rushes to the sink, splashes some water on her face, pinches her buxom cheeks, and with a smile fixed firmly on her face, walks to the door and throws it open with a flourish. "There you are, my love. We girls were just touching up our make-up. How are things outside?" And she expertly steers him away. She looks back and winks and then vanishes around the corner.

I'm not like Ebere.

I don't know how to hide my troubles behind a fake smile for the world to see. I wear my heart on my sleeves, which is the reason why I linger behind, slumped against the door, waiting for my erratic heart to simmer down, as well as digest all I've been told.

Unfortunately, I'm not able to do that, because someone pushes the door open, almost making me stumble to the ground.

She burps loudly, and turns watery eyes towards me.

Taye?

"'ello lil sis. Fancy seeing you here. Come to take a leak like me?"

She stumbles, almost falling over her feet.

Crap! She's drunk as a skunk.

"Oh sis, what have you done to yourself?" I move to help her, but she puts up a hand to stop me.

"Don't come any closer. I'm a big girl, I can help myself." That she does as she holds the edge of the sink and steadies herself.

She walks into one of the stalls, bumping into things, and making a lot of noise. When she's done, she comes out with toilet paper stuck to her hair, and her dress around her waist.

Was she snuggling the toilet paper?

This time, I ignore her protests as I help pull her dress down.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I'm taking you home."

This time her protest is almost violent. "NO!" Immediately sorry for her outburst, she apologises.

I say nothing, because I know an explanation is not far behind. "I've been a verrrrry naughty girl." She giggles, almost stumbling on her feet.

She turns away, and I groan inwardly. Looks like we'll be having a full take-out from the chronicles of sordid diary this time around, and not only will I be getting front row seats, I'll probably be featuring in it as well. I sigh and move back fully into the toilet, ready to have my heart broken all over again.

"You know I always liked Cheerios. Sooooo crispy. Brings out the inner child in me." She smiles giddily.

I don't believe this . . .

Is that supposed to be her confession?

Did I hit my head and fall into an alternate universe?

"I was never married." She blurts out suddenly. "Ronald, my supposed husband, was just a 'man for hire.'

She puts a new meaning into 'shocked into silence.' All I can do is gape at her.

"All these years, who I've ever wanted to be like, is Kehinde. Smart and responsible. She finished school on time, she's a doctor. Has a family. A husband and two kids, while me . . ." She points to herself and burps. She looks suddenly spaced out and unsteady on her feet. I'm scared she may keel over any moment if I don't wade in soon, but as I make a move towards her, she moves unsteadily away and continues speaking, her voice fading in and out. "I'm just some errant child, living like a nomard, moving from place to place, never settling down in one place. I've got no home, I can't even pay my fucking rent, so I was kicked out." She faces me now, and I see her eyes shining with an emotion closely resembling . . .

Fear?

I want to take her into my arms and tell her everything will be just fine, but I can't, because try as much as we can, problems don't get erased just by wishing them away. I'm also fighting my invisible demons and don't know any way out of it, at least for now.

As I stand looking at her, it occurs to me we're all just broken creatures looking for love in the right . . . or wrong places.

"So you're not really pregnant?" I think it's fair for me to know.

"Oh, that!" A smile seeps onto her face as she cradles her stomach. "Yes I am, that's the only good thing I've got going for me presently."

"But ----"

"What! I still like the way my figure is presently, wouldn't want to mess it up, so I got someone to carry it for me. Haven't you heard of those women who help other women carry their children --- surrougacy, lil sis."

A sharp knock immediately sounds off at the door, setting my heart beat richochetting in it's cage.

I'm begininng to think this is a trend. Starting serious conversations in the toilet, and ending them with a knock on the door.

This knock, though, it's different. I can tell a little about knocks. I grew up around them.

Soft, tentative knocks indicate a light-hearted message, but a military-style knock, indicates . . .

Another rap on the door shows an urgent, and even angry person is behind it.

Trouble is looming. I can feel it.

"Eve! I know you're in there. Come out immediately."

Crap, it's Aurey!