Chapter 29

JOURNAL OF A LAGOS PLAYBOY (29)

"Hi." Her voice sounded stiff but it was music to my ears.

"My goodness! Its so good to hear your voice again." I said without thinking. I missed her badly and I wanted her to know.

"I just called to say hi." She said hesitantly. My furiously thumping heart fluttered weakly at the tonal undulations of her voice. It was like listening to a symphony. How I had missed its light musical timbre.

"That's pretty nice of you. I thought you were never going to afford me the luxury of hearing your voice again. How are you?" I asked, my heart busy

doing more flip-flops.

"I'm doing ok." She answered quickly.

"How are you?" Her voice was a bit strangled; like she was still battling with herself whether calling me was the right thing to do.

"Well, I'm still alive…desperately hoping for second chances." I said. She started to say something but paused as she considered my words. My heart rate increased so bad that I felt my knees go weak for a second. I leaned on the car closest to me.

"Chris, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry…if I knew then what I know now, we wouldn't be where we are now." I deliberately used the "we", half-expecting her to sting me with

"There's no we!"; but she didn't. She seemed to weigh my words over and over again before she spoke.

"Have you found someone else?" She blurted out. The tone of her voice told me this was the crux of the matter; the real reason she called as it felt like she couldn't wait to get the question out. I wasn't expecting it.

"Err…no. Not at all." I said. There was a sigh and a sniff. I had an idea that she had been crying.

"You lying to me again, aren't you?" She asked quietly, her voice breaking.

"Ouch!" I muttered before I could help it. She was still hurting and I was ready to take whatever she was going to dish at me. I deserved it.

"Are you lying to me?" She asked again.

"I'm not."

"You're not seeing anybody at the moment?" She asked again.

"I said I'm not!" I said tiredly with a little of my repressed anger at her total distrust breaking the surface. I calmly reminded myself that she had every right not to trust me.

There was a brief pause. I could hear her soft breathing pattern. Nostalgic memories flooded my brain of a time when she nestled on my chest. It seemed like ages past.

"I hear you've easily replaced me with a white girl." She said with a recognizable tinge of jealousy. I was flattered.

"No. You're irreplaceable." I said quietly.

She was silent for a time. It seemed like an eternity before she continued.

"So there's a white girl?" She asked.

"She's just a friend. Thanks to Kunle." I said but I regretted mentioning that snake's name.

"Kunle? How does he factor into this?!" She asked.

"Never mind. He doesn't." I said, knowing she wouldn't let it rest.

Toksy by this time, had gotten quite impatient and strolled to where I was and tapped me. I made a gesture telling her to be patient and moved further away.

"How did you know it was Kunle?" She asked incredulously.

"How did I…I didn't know."

"Then why did you call his name?" She was agitated now. I sighed deeply and I realised I had put myself on the spot.

"Her name is Chloe. She's a friend of Kunle. I met her through him."

"What…what is going on?" She asked, shocked. "You've been meeting Kunle behind my back? W…wh…why would you do that?" She was almost in tears.

"You don't understand…" I started but she cut in.

"No! I do understand now. I never should have trusted you, EVER!" She said, her voice turning into a shrill yell as she choked back some tears.

"Chris…" I said, trying to explain but she hung up on me. I wanted to dial back but I decided it wasn't a good idea. I had never really gotten over the silent treatment she gave me after my forced confession. No human being could remain sane after such a monumental betrayal without some form of closure. This was the first dose and I had a strong feeling that she would call again.

Toksy hovered back into my view. One look at her face and I knew I had lost the moment we were having before the call came in. In a way, I was grateful because my active libido was replaced with an over-excited, thumping heart and an anxiously roving mind; I would have been a great disappointment if I had to force myself to sustain the moment.

"Are you gay?" She asked suddenly, breaking my thoughts. I was so shocked that for the first few seconds, my mouth was agape as I struggled to find an appropriate response.

"What?! Why the hell would you even

think that?" I asked, deeply offended.

"Chris called you…and you talked to him like he was a woman…a lover." There was a funny expression in her eyes like she had caught me in a lie. It was infuriating!

"I…you…Chris…" I stammered, unsure of where to start from.

"Oh, forget it!" I said angrily and walked away from her and headed back into the bar and ordered a drink. The party was at its apogee as everyone was in high spirits with the DeeJay doing a terrific job much so that everyone sang along to Davido's "Gobe". Ifeanyi and his girlfriend Irene were getting it on at the middle of the dance floor with a large circle of bodies urging them on. I searched around for Tunde but he was no where to be found. I concluded he must have left a long time ago, especially when he didn't see me.

I was still sitting at the bar with my can of beer when Toksy came back in. She sat next to me and watched me with a renewed interest that annoyed me. I was tempted to shout "WHAT?!" over the loud music but I thought better of it. I needed to head home. I needed to think; my mind was in such turmoil.

"Its nothing to be ashamed of." She whispered, leaning so close that I could feel the tickling sensation of her hot breath on my ear.

I looked at her in dismay, totally short of words which were useless in here anyway. She really thought I was gay! I washed down the contents of my beer can and decided to call it a night. Ifeanyi was surrounded by lots of party animals; he wouldn't notice my absence. I totally ignored Toksy and headed out to my car but the girl wouldn't let me be. She followed me behind calling out to me.

"Why are you so angry? Did I do something wrong?" She asked surprised but I ignored her. I just wanted to leave but she was persistent. She knocked on my windows as I was about to pull out of the lot till I had to roll down.

"I can't believe you asked me that useless question!" I said angrily.

"I'm sorry for my assumption but I happen to actually like gays and bi's…" She explained but I cut her off.

"I'm none of that!"

"Then why are you about to drive out just like that?" She looked genuinely confused. I struggled to force out a coherent answer but none came. I stared at her for a while until I realised I didn't owe her any explanation. I rolled up my window and drove off.

The drive from the bar to my house was relatively peaceful. The roads were empty and devoid of much activity. The streetlights gave every where a brilliant ambience that helped to relax me. I got home a few minutes before 11pm and as I drove inside the compound, I was surprised to see a familiar white Honda Accord parked in my space. I wondered why the may guard didn't tell whoever owned the car that it was my space. I parked close to it and stepped out, using my eyes to search for him. The compound was dark and noisy – thanks to PHCN. The weather was hot, too damn hot. I was going to need my generator if I was going to sleep at all tonight. As I moved toward the little wooden contraption that housed my generator, I heard a familiar voice that made me turn cold.

"Hey handsome."