by Vina Fenty
Tejiri's father was already nodding in agreement, and it dawned on me that they were going to take Tejiri away from. The sob left deep from the pit of my belly as I fell to the ground and held my father's legs.
"Daddy, please, I would die. Don't separate us. I swear we would stop whatever we were doing, I will stay away from her, but please don't take her away from me. Daddy, please."
It was the worst day of my life. The cry was past physical. It was tears coming from my soul, and nobody that heard it could shut their minds against it. Even the principal shuffled uncomfortably in his seat as he looked away from my pitiful display.
"Mummy... beg... daddy..." I said.
My face was red and a mess. Catarrh streamed down my nose, coupled with my tears. I didn't care, I would stay away from Tejiri, I wouldn't even greet her if they wanted, but I had to keep seeing her face. I would die if I couldn't see Tejiri because of some flimsy excuse. Tejiri left her mother and came to me, but she didn't know what to do. She just stood there, and surprisingly her presence helped me calm down a little. I left my father's leg and held Tejiri's, crying into her legs.
"Daddy, please, don't do this. We promise to stop," Tejiri said with tears streaming down her face too.
Our parents looked at each other, and for a moment, we thought they would leave us be. My parents pulled me away from Tejiri, and Tejiri's father pulled her away from me and out the door. I fought my mother, fought my father, and they stumbled over each other as they tried to hold me down, even the principal ran to help, but for a minute they got weak, and I was able to squirm free.
"Tejiri!" I screamed as I got to the door and she looked at me with teary red eyes. She left her father's grasp for a minute to run towards me, but her father was quicker, he pulled her back, and six pairs of hands fell on me, pulling me back.
"Tejiri! Tejiri! Please don't go!"
But before my very eyes, she was forced into their white SUV, and just like that, a part of my life was ripped away from me.
*****
I was a shadow of my former self after that incident. A week later, they came to collect Tejiri's things, and I carried hate so strong that it was palpable around. I hated Luke so much, I hated my parents, I hated the principal, and I hated Tejiri's parents. I couldn't concentrate in school, and it was funny that WASSCE was coming very soon, but I couldn't bring myself to care nor to read. I woke up crying and slept crying. I couldn't eat, and as such, I lost weight. The Principal, one day sent for me and then ordered me to go to the counselor's office.
The counselor's attempt at counseling was genuinely laughable, and I didn't open my mouth to say a word. I had heard rumors about how a battery could be poisonous. So one evening, I ground batteries into powder as I soaked them into my cup. I made up my mind that I was going to kill myself. I was useless without Tejiri, and I knew that I would never see her again.
I sat there with the cup, as I wrote a long letter to Tejiri.
Dear Wolf,
I remember when you told me that even though it wasn't healthy, that I was your life, and I have thought about it and come to the same conclusion. You are my life, I cannot bear to sleep in this bed without knowing that you are close to me. I am constantly reminded of you, and my dreams are filled with flashes of our time together, and I cannot take it anymore. I hate everything, I hate everyone, and nothing is worth it.
Tejiri, I love you. I love you so much that it hurts. Nothing feels right, and I just want to end it. I will always be with you.
From your Amy.
I wrote another letter to my parents, begging them to give the other to Tejiri before I drank the cup of mixtures.
I woke up in a hospital, alive and drained. I hated myself for not succeeding, something as easy as suicide, and yet I had failed.
I woke up to hear my mother talking to someone about what they would do about the 'children.' I got a hunch that she was talking to Tejiri's parents.
"Mummy... is... that... Tejiri?"
She looked at me and ended the call while rushing over to me.
"Nkem! My only child, why do you want to do this to me? Didn't you even think about me? Is that how unimportant I am to you?"
I started to cry because I hadn't even thought about her, I loved my mother a lot, but she didn't love me as much. I asked for one thing, and they couldn't do it. They didn't deserve me one bit, and I still couldn't forgive them.
*****
I left the hospital weeks later, the poison ejected from my system, but they couldn't wash out my pain, my sorrow. I went back to school, and nobody still dared sit on Tejiri's empty sit, plus everyone avoided me like the plague. I wasn't talking to anyone, and no one was talking to me. There were rumors and side talks whenever I passed. It was so inconsequential and irrelevant to me that I mostly ignored it.
I was in bed, as usual, that day, and I slept on Tejiri's bed. I cried as was customary these days before I fell asleep.
It was in my sleep, but I could smell Tejiri, I could feel her, she was holding me and kissing my face. I didn't want to open my eyes for fear that the beautiful dream would end. I held her head in place as tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes.
"Tejiri?"
"Amara, wake up, it's me, I'm here," the apparition whispered, but she was real, I was holding someone, and my eyes flew up as I sat up in fear. Was I going mad? I opened my eyes and saw her sitting there, smiling sheepishly. I cleaned my eyes and tried again. It was Tejiri, she was there, and my heart constricted and burst into a thousand rainbows. I jumped on top of her and kissed her everywhere. She was giggling and trying to get away from me.
I stopped and touched her face as more tears ran down my face. She thumbed my tears away as she kissed me deep and long and hard. Then she held me on top of her, her hands roaming up and down my thighs.
"The first thing I need to do is to feed you," she said absent-mindedly. It was true that I had lost a lot of weight. My mind went over what was happening, and it dawned on me that Tejiri was here in the hostel with me. I sat up all of a sudden and looked at her.
"How did you even get here?"
She laughed lowly as she stroked my hair.
"I wish you wouldn't ask until tomorrow. I ran away from home, Amara. Sleep, we will talk tomorrow."
"I can't sleep, my heart is beating faster than normal, I am too excited to sleep."
"You will. Come here."
I entered into her in the typical way that we cuddled, and she held me to herself, stroking my hair, whispering to me how much she had missed me, and I did sleep.
When I woke up in the morning, Wolf was gone. I thought and thought about it all and concluded that it must have been a dream. I pinched myself hard and knelt to pray to God to remove the spirit of madness, of ghost seeing from my life. It was the most confusing thing to happen to me ever, one minute wolf was holding me, and the next she was gone.
****
Present Day
In the moving car with Tejiri, she was watching me with all intent. Her eyes would go from my face to my exposed thighs. I tried to sit correctly, seeing as my dress was short, and I was bare underneath.
Then she burst into wicked laughter, and I joined her. I hit her playfully on her side as we continued laughing.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to. I would give it back to you, but I don't want Dave seeing it," she said, gesturing towards the driver.
I giggled some more and looked away embarrassed.
"So, where would you like to eat?" she asked much later.
"Surprise me, Wolf."
Our eyes met awkwardly, and this time I didn't flinch. It was an intense staredown, and she finally backed out.
"How is your husband, and where did you tell him you would be?"
I sighed in resignation and replied, "he is fine, I guess. He works in the entire southwest, so he travels a lot and only comes home weekends. He is not around, and I see no need to inform him of my movements."
"Oh. Does he know about our history?"
"I am not sure."
"Fair enough. How are your parents?" she asked further.
"I guess they are fine. Having the best time of their lives as they have turned me into what they always wanted. How about your parents?"
"Daddy is fine, Mum keeps asking me to visit more often in Abuja, but well, I try not to stain their reputation seeing how dad is now a member of the legislative and I have serious business here in Lagos," she said looking at me in that way that felt like she could see my soul.
"Do you still hate me?" I asked, expecting the worst as I fidgeted with my nails.
"Honestly, No. I never did. I never could, neither will I ever, but I was hurt."
"I'm sorry," I said sadly.
"Stop saying that, none of it was your fault. I came back before, you should have trusted me to know that I would always come back."
I shook the tears away and sniffed. All those years ago, she had come back for me, she had.
********
2009, FGC ASABA
The next night at the hostel, I was afraid to sleep. Hence, I turned and tossed, and finally, by past midnight, I heard a creak of Tejiri's window and saw her silhouette jumping in quietly and tiptoeing towards our bed. I hadn't been dreaming, Tejiri was back.
She climbed into my bed and reached for me like last time, and I melted into her. I started to cry again.
"You are here, I wasn't dreaming," I whispered as she hushed me and held me even tighter.
"Yes, I'm here, and I registered for my WASSCE and NECO at Greater Minds high school, they were kind enough to allow me. Then I got a house at the back of the school. It's tiny, and I have to share the bathroom, but it's close to you, and I am thrilled. I would need you to get the stuff from the lair for me tomorrow so it could reduce my expenses. You are strong and smart, Amy. I know that we can go through this."
I smiled happily as I processed all the information.
"How did you get the money to make this move?" I asked thoughtfully.
"I broke my piggy bank, trust me there is enough, to be honest. I've had that piggy for years. I would just have to work a little, so I can at least feed you. I found a job, can you believe it, someone hired me to run his cyber cafe, and I will start soon."
We held hands and giggled happily. Everything was going to be fine as long as we had each other, and the future had never looked so bright.
The next night, I was standing by the hostel fence by midnight as Tejiri had instructed, and she soon jumped down the wall right on time as she always was. We hugged and kissed as she threw the mattress and the other bags over the fence. She clutched the lamp under her armpit and kissed me again before asking me to go back.
"No! I am coming with you. Please!"
She looked around and thought about it for a minute before saying, "fine, but you know the rules, so keep it."
She was later grateful for my stubbornness as tagging the heavy loads would have been too much for her. I held the mattress while she carried the rest of the load, and we found our way to her room, facing the back of the house. She unlocked it, and I entered into a room, empty with a dainty old wardrobe by the side. It wasn't too shabby, and I didn't even care if it was. We immediately untied the mattress and put it on the carpeted floor while Tejiri kept the rest of the bags.
"Are you tired? I know I have stressed you," she said, coming to hold me.
I shook my head in surprise, tired? Tired of what? Tired of being happy? She wasn't serious, was she?
That night was the first time Tejiri would cook for me, and we both agreed that it should never repeat itself. Honestly, I didn't believe anyone could ruin noodles in the way that Tejiri did, but I ate with her, and we slept happily in each other's arms.
******
It was usual for senior students preparing for their final examinations to be wayward and stubborn and aggressive. Honestly, the staff couldn't wait for us to finish and just leave. Even though I wasn't usually undisciplined, I had to ride on the wave of being a senior to practically move in with Tejiri.
We lived a sheltered, happy life that was full of childish dreams. Her parents had come to the school to look for her, and they had called me to ask me squarely if I had seen Tejiri.
"Amara, my daughter, you don't understand, Tejiri is my only child. If you have any human feelings at all, you would tell me the truth. Where is Tejiri?" Tejiri's mother said in tears.
It was her turn to cry and grovel, and I felt powerful as I watched her clutch my legs like I had done to my father a few weeks ago. I had human feelings alright, but I cared too much about myself, to tell the truth. Tejiri was mine, and no one was going to take her away from me. Let them taste how it felt to lose someone you loved.
"Ma'am, If I knew where she was, I would tell you, I know nothing, maybe she ran away for a few days, she would surely come back," I lied through my teeth even as I added a few tears for effect sakes.
They had no choice but to let me go, and I went straight to the fence, jumped over it, and walked home to my Tejiri. Her parents didn't stop coming, and by then, the police had been involved. The pain they felt knew no bounds, but nothing could have made me speak up and give up Tejiri.
The chores were quickly shared, I cooked, and Tejiri did laundry and cleaned. She also worked at the cyber café after school, and she always came back tired and worn out. Sometimes, I went to the cyber cafe to check on her and give her food. I always met a long line of satisfied, happy customers.
As young as she was, she already had a knack for handling business. She brought in changes and ideas that ultimately made the cyber café grow into many returns and profits. She made more money, and we lived well, and happy, I did add all the weight I had lost and more. She never broke her promises to me.
Even though we slept in a private room, on a tiny bed, with so many hormones and feelings, Tejiri never did go past kissing me and holding me. There were times I would threaten, seduce, and even caress her suggestively, but it never did work.
She would always say, "there would be plenty of time for that Amara, stop it, I know what you're doing."
I always imagined that she didn't want me as much as I wanted her until one night. I really couldn't sleep. I was so hormonal and turned on that I felt like crying. The good night kiss that Tejiri had offered before sleeping off did nothing to help matters. I started to trace her beautiful face with my fingers and decided that I liked the feel of my hand on her soft face. I outlined her lips and decided to taste them, so I dipped my head to hers and took her lower lip in a sweet kiss. She sighed and pulled closer into me, our lips melting into each other. I would blame it on the sleep because her eyes were never truly opened as she deepened the kiss and groped me my ass under my light nightgown. I moaned low into her mouth as her hands trailed down and squeezed my breast. My nipples became hard immediately. I was so turned on that I was panting as though I had just run up Mount Kilimanjaro.
Tejiri soon climbed on top of me and pushed her knee securely between my legs, and while she kissed me, she moved her knee round and round my crotch area. It was the sweetest thing I ever experienced after her kisses and her mouth on my nipples. It didn't take very long for me to climb to the clouds, a place that I had never been, never even knew existed until Tejiri showed me. It was what I had been wanting but couldn't put in words. It was exactly what I had needed all these while. The feeling was intense as I crashed hard, back to earth, and I couldn't put it in words. I panted harder as I climbed down from my high to Meet Tejiri's closed eyes. She stopped with the knees and kissed me longer before sliding off me to her side of the bed, with eyes still closed.
She had never really been awake, and when I tried to talk to her about it in the morning, she looked lost and then said, "oh God! I thought it was all a dream. Geez! It was real. It won't happen again, I'm sorry."
"Tejiri, are you joking? It was the best thing ever. I want to do it again."
She eyed me with a smile that looked so beautiful.
&n
bsp; ''You shouldn't like it. It can't happen again."
"Fine, just a year more, and we can do everything," I said the last part under my breath so she wouldn't hear, but it did look like she heard me.
******
Present Day
Back in the car with Tejiri, we drove a little into the island until we were in Victoria Island. It was funny that even though Tejiri had asked me where I wanted to go eat, it didn't matter because she didn't tell the driver where we were going, but he drove us straight to this place we were now. He honked, and the gates flew open to reveal a large building far into the compound that was breathtaking with all its glass and marble. I recognized the name sitting grandly atop the building as I absorbed what it meant.
'AMY HOTEL AND SUITES'
I knew when the hotel had opened, and Sam had promised to take me there to eat as he boasted that they had the best food in town. He said something about the hotel being better since it changed hands from the old owners to someone new. Of course, it would belong to Tejiri, and she would go ahead to name it after me, how apt. I had to give it to her, the hotel, its bar, its restaurant and the famous buffet they served every Thursday was the rave of the moment. I also loved how the green space was managed to make the environment so serene and peaceful. It was a stunning hotel, and it was so typical of Tejiri, everything she touched turned into gold, my very Midas.
She came around and got my door as she placed her hand on my lower back to guide me towards the door. The driver soon drove away, and we entered through the revolving doors. The receptionists greeted her enthusiastically as she walked past them to a waiting room.