NOVEL WEB Chapter 11: Chapter Eleven
Nancy's heart leapt for joy when she saw Wumi sitting under the umbrella of the woman roasting plantain at the junction of her house. She hadn't visited her since she packed to there so Wumi had a bit of difficulty coming over. She hadn't seen Wumi for years and it was really obvious how time has sculptured Wumi's body. Her forever slim body had now turned to an ampersand. Her fairly fair skin had changed to overripe papaya and now glowed in the sun. Whatever she used over the years was in her favor because she was as beautiful as the evening sun.
When Wumi saw her, she jumped up and raced towards her, jumping into her arms. Of course, the years didn't change her childishness. She had always been a child at heart. Nancy, never embarrassed by her, wrapper her arms around her body and wanted to carry her and spin her around, like they do back then in school. But she couldn't. Wumi had added weight. The reverse was the case. Wumi carried Nancy off her feet in a swift and spun her around. They both laughed their heart out when she set her on her feet.
"Quite ironic." Nancy said while struggling to breathe between hearty laughter.
Wumi couldn't reply as she struggled to catch her breath. Nancy collected her bag and thanked the woman for accommodating her friend under her umbrella. She took Wumi's hand and led her to her apartment.
"I can't believe I'm seeing you in person, flesh and blood, after like how many years?" Wumi said when she finally caught her breath. She counted her fingers.
"Honestly, I can't remember. But I'm glad you're here." She squeezed her hand.
"But you'll still get your punishment for neglecting the fact that you had a best friend ."
"As your Lordship pleases." They both broke into laughter again. Nancy opened the gate and led her in. Wumi admired the building and the architecture. The building has upstairs rooms and was painted in cream color. From afar, one would thought it was white color. It was the only house on the street with that color and upstairs. Nancy led her to her room and displayed her hospitality.
In the evening, after Wumi had rested and felt refreshed, she started:
"Are you still into nature like when we were young or you've grown up?"
Nancy turned from the novel she was reading on the table and turned to her. She tilted her head slightly to the right to stare at her on the bed. Wumi laughed at her gesture. She knew the answer already but she wanted to pull Nancy's leg a bit.
"Alright, alright. Answer successfully gotten. Anyway, you really went on full ghost mode to everyone including me and you didn't bother to check on me. I began to wonder if I was still your best friend or not. The distance really spread its legs between us."
Nancy heaved. She already expected this. The fact that Wumi decided to come spend the weekend at her place after apologizing for a week didn't mean she wouldn't raise the matter in person. Virtual apologies don't solve again.
"I'm sorry, babes. I really am. I don't think I have an excuse. Also, it was a mutual action; you also didn't call me."
"Honestly, I was solving puzzles here and there. I had a lot of personal problems that required a lot of time. But I could really use a best friend at that moment. It just hurt back then. But I'm stronger now."
"We both grew stronger and met each other again. Sorry dearie."
"I'm sorry as well."
That's something about both of them: if one was at fault, both would apologize together. Apology had kept their friendship strong when they were young.
"So, what's up with you?"
Nancy gisted her everything going on, all except Dave. Wumi would freak out if she knew her friend had finally fallen in love. Wumi also gave her gist. She would get married soon. Nancy squealed loudly, squeezed her in a tight hug. They laughed, talked, imitated some of their classmates they could remember and all. This lasted till nightfall.
"So, are you ready to tell me who he is?" Wumi asked Nancy when they were both in the kitchen. Nancy looked at her, feigning innocence. She knew she hadn't told her anything.
"Who's 'he'?"
"Don't feign ignorance, the 'he' on your phone. I saw the pictures na"
Of course, Dave and Nancy took pictures together with nature. But Wumi didn't see the rainbow-color caterpillar in the picture, or the sun setting in crimson, or the green leaves. She only saw Dave and Nancy.
"Oh, his name is Dave and he's a friend." She quickly spewed and swallowed after replying. Wumi might not have seen her friend in years or know her new personality, but she could read affections which were boldly written all over Nancy. "Nancy, you love him!" She yelled while smiling. Nancy flinched back, she quickly urged her to keep quiet. Then at once, they burst into laughter.
"Gurlllll, you're in love! Who could have thought?!"
"Okay, chill. Let me fill you in." She began from when she and Dave first had contact to when they became friends and when he left Nigeria and the weird phone call. Wumi was garnishing each affectionate scenario with 'awn', 'hmm, that's beautiful' and others. When she finished, Wumi looked at her and touched her shoulder, "babes, this feeling might not be one-sided thing. Dave might reciprocate."
"I know, but I keep getting this odd feeling. It started after the phone call. It's like a big stone placed against my chest and a force pushing me more into the stone. I'm being skeptical about my feelings for him. In fact, everything felt like a figment of my imagination, as if he never existed in the first place."
"Nancy, don't feel like that. Love supercedes. If your feelings for him are genuine, I'm pretty sure you'll overcome any obstacle."
Nancy shrugged. She continued stirring the stew sizzling inside the small sauce pan while Wumi whisked the eggs in the ceramic bowl. "but, what if love doesn't supercede in some scenarios? I mean, you can love someone and still let them go. I've seen scenarios where you'd love someone but still let their souls be at rest. I believe one shouldn't focus firmly on love superceding all thing. Sometimes, letting go supercedes."
"Nancy, have you heard of Que Sera, Sera? What will be, will be. If loving someone means letting them go, then, the love wasn't meant to be in the first place. Loving someone is the strength, not the weakness."
"Babes, love can be weak sometimes..."
"Sweetie, no. Love is strong. Love is the strongest; every other things emerge from love."
"Okay. I need energy to argue this with you. Pass me the beaten eggs, let's finish dinner before we continue."
Wumi passed the beaten eggs to her. "What did you call his name again?"
"Dave. Wilson Dave."
Wumi froze like she had been tasered. She searched for the name in her memory. She had definitely heard the name before. Where? She rummaged her memory, chewing the name in her mouth.
"Dave Wilson. Dave Wilson...yes! I remember."
Nancy looked back at her from the egg she was frying, "remember what?"
"I know the name Wilson bangs a bell in my head, not just ring. So you didn't know the entire story about that family?"
"Aside from them being crazily influential, what else?" She turned off the gas and took out a ceramic plate from the dish rack. They both eat together often.
"There are other odd stories about them, especially Mrs. Wilson. Even Dave himself has quite a number of stories about him." She whispered, "some dark stories."
Nancy paused with the dishing of the egg. She looked at Wumi, curiosity etched on her face. "Listen, I can't remember the exact story about him because when the stories were posted, the poster took it down within thirty minutes and I heard he got fired. This was over nine years ago. I don't know what how they did it, but not even a single person had the article on his/her phone. Everything got wiped. People thought it was magic. But those who saved the article couldn't find it again. Those who read it, like me, never forgot what happened."
"Okay, what happened? Tell me."
"I..."
A hubbub disrupted her. They've heard the argument before but the noise wasn't near them then. But now, it was like those arguing were doing that right before her window. Nancy listened very well to the noise and eventually heard Mama Kemi's voice. Everyone knew her as a busybody, so, it wouldn't be surprising if one of whom she had gossiped with another person came to beat her up. But that wasn't the case. Nancy and Wumi left the kitchen and went outside. They saw Mama Kemi sitting on a fair slender lady who was gasping for air and begging for help. Baba Kemi, in a towel tied around his waist, was trying to get Mama Kemi up from the lady. Bystanders were also helping Baba Kemi while the window-peepers urged Mama Kemi to go on.
"You, I don catch you today. Shey na whenever I no dey house u dey find my husband come? You don die today. Baba Kemi, leave me o. Wait make I finish this turkey-leg girl, I dey come for you..."
Both the lady and Mama Kemi were breathing hard. Wumi and Nancy moved closer to them and followed suit like other bystanders. Wumi whispered to Nancy, "this una apartment get as e be o. When it's not a face-me-I-face-you apartment. I'll tell you the story later, nevertheless." Nancy smiled and nodded while they pull Mama Kemi off the girl.