Last updated on February 9th, 2024 at 04:22 pm
“I’m glad you guys were able to talk. Omo, his family is wild o.”
“That should be an understatement.” I was folding my clothes when Zabby called. I just spent the past fifteen minutes telling her what Tochi’s family and his mother had gone through just to bury his late father. The last time Tochi and I spoke was two days ago, the remaining updates had been on his status. I kept leaving him messages though. I was assuming he was only posting and unable to read his messages. I kept shoving aside any insensitive thought that came up. I was going to be there for him in this period especially after he had opened up to me as he did.
“So they want her to sleep with her husband’s corpse for ten days.”
“After scraping her hair and restricting her diet to saltless and bland meals. They said it’s the tradition. Some of her kids had no issue with that, that’s the crazy thing.”
“I can imagine. What’s wrong with them? If all the children had one voice, the family wouldn’t have been able to stand up to them.”
“Babe…”
“At least, they have buried the man now.”
“Praise be.”
“Have you guys spoken after that day?”
“Not yet.”
“Okay. Thank God you waited.” It took me a while to understand what she meant.
“Oh! The breakup. I won’t be doing it again.”
“Oh oh, that’s alright.” Zabby sounded anything but alright. But I already thought about it. I could be very impatient and selfish sometimes. Staying and being patient while my relationship worked was worth it, there was enough love.
***
Tochi and I barely talked more than thrice for all the time he was at home. He got back to Lagos yesterday and I allowed him, I knew he would want to rest and settle in. Instead of getting worked up, I got busy with my PPA and started taking online classes for photography. A part of me wanted to reach out to Joe since he had experience with photography, but I decided against it. I didn’t want to use him as a crutch, it was unfair to him, to my relationship, and Tochi.
***
“Ahnahn, you didn’t even call me.”
“Hello to you too.”
“So you didn’t miss me.” Tochi sounded hurt which was funny. I had not called him since he got to Lagos and texted me that he had arrived. I had read some articles that also said there should be room to miss each other. Coupled with wanting to give him his space, I allowed him be. I didn’t know if this method would work because he might as well get used to it, but I was willing to try.
“I missed you, baby. I knew you needed time to rest and settle in.”
“Well, I still have time for you.”
“I also have time for you. I would have appreciated your call before today.”
“I was waiting for you to call.” I see.
“Babe, we are two in this relationship.”
“Ehnehn, equal effort abi?” I honestly didn’t want the conversation to turn sour. I gauged my responses well and tried to be as sweet as I could.
“Tochi, that’s not it. I told you my reason. Next time I will call you. I was just being thoughtful.”
“Hmm. If you say so.”
***
I disliked the games we were both playing. I just wanted to be vulnerable and call my partner whenever I felt like it, but I had to calculate and consider the last time we spoke, his last WhatsApp update, and the last conversation we had. It was just too much. Tochi being the king of games and issues already caught on and seemed to be playing games too. I just wanted this to end.
***
Our anniversary was in a few days time. I was hoping it would be a good time for us to see considering that we hadn’t seen in about three months. I wanted Tochi to bring up the discussion because as we agreed, we were supposed to alternate our visits to each other. As much as I wanted to say something to Tochi, I would be quiet. I didn’t know how long I could go for though, the day was fast approaching.
***
It was 6 pm on our anniversary day and I hadn’t heard from Tochi at all. Sitting in my room binge-watching Netflix on Valentine’s Day—the same day as my anniversary wasn’t exactly what I anticipated. Apart from the painting that he had shared on his status in the morning, there was no update from him. For every love-related post I saw I got jealous and sad. Even Zabby’s friend whom I stayed with has gone out with her date. For some reason, this year, everyone seemed to be in the spirit of love.
I got up and changed into something I could wear out, grabbed my purse, and locked the door. The plan was to console myself with ice cream and movies until I passed out. After waiting for Tochi’s message, at around 1 pm, I sent him messages on WhatsApp to check up on him, but the last time I checked which was about five minutes ago, he still hadn’t read them.
***
Going to get ice cream on Valentine’s Day in such a sour mood was the worst mistake I’d ever made. While I waited for my ice cream, a lady was proposed to. They could have been quiet but her scream made everyone turn toward her. At first, I was sure others were irritated like me, but as soon as they saw that it was a proposal, many started smiling and telling her to say yes. I rolled my eyes and faced the person attending to me. As if it wasn’t enough that the whole town was filled with love and lovers. I’d been home for almost thirty minutes and my mood didn’t seem to be better even with the ice cream.
I paused the movie I was watching and dialed Tochi’s number. He didn’t pick up. I tried once more. Same thing. I blinked back the tears that were threatening to spill and dialed Zabby. Her birthday was in two days and she had traveled on her own to Calabar for her birthday adventure. I would have loved to follow her but my PPA was intent on ruining any possible fun for me. She picked on the second ring, sounding breathless.
…
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