Nearest Love- the Only Crime Is Love...

by Eu Aristos

  "Ok... Mama thanks for your time." Nk bowed slightly.

  "OK my daughter. Take care and come again oo."

  "Frankie come make you tell your aunty bye-bye"

  "Aunty bye-bye!" Frankie shouted from within.

  "Sorry ma..." Kunle said as he covered her head down to her shoulder. It was typical for him to apologize to her beforehand. She got into the car as swiftly as she could and he tiptoed fast enough into the driver’s seat.

  "Sorry ma. The umbrella was left inside the other car. You know November never really comes with rain so I didn’t expect this."

  "It’s OK Kunle. Just get me home."

  Time check... 6:48pm and Kunle kick-started the engine and navigated into the main road. Nk stared steadily at his face through the rear mirror with many thoughts on her mind; especially what mama had just told her. She wondered how he could stay lively having gone through such.

  Tawai! Was the sound that interrupted her thoughts.

  "Aahhh... Tire don blow." Kunle said disappointedly.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter 2

  "Oh my.... He has a good..... Shit! Shut up!" She cautioned herself. Looking down and noticing she still had his jacket, she felt bad and responsible for his wetness.

  ∞∞∞

  "Kunle what is it?" Nk sat upright and asked. Her expression was a mixture of fear and uncertainty.

  "Ma I think it’s the tyre." Kunle said as he tried to park the car well.

  "Oh crap, in this heavy rainfall? What kind of temptation is this now?" Nk relaxed back at the leather seat, disappointment written all over her face.

  "It’s nothing ma, we’ve got a spare. I’ll just change it and we will be on our way." Kunle’s voice was filled with a lot of reassurance as he spoke.

  She relaxed back on her seat as Kunle went down. Soon she watched as he opened the boot removed the spare tyre and all he needed. Under the rain, he began to loosen the tyre and jacked the car. Her senses came to her and she noticed that the side he was working on was the side she was sitting on. She moved to the other side of the seat.

  Gbigidim.... Came a noise from outside and Kunle sighed. She tried to adjust the window but the button didn't respond."Oh. See how this rain is beating him..." She imagined while looked around for an umbrella. But then, she remembered the story behind it. Looking outside, at the same time, Kunle stood up. The rain was really not smiling, so his white shirt was drenched, sticking to his body and exposing his entire manly body structure.

  "Oh my.... He has a good..... Shit! Shut up!" She cautioned herself. Looking down and noticing she still had his jacket, she felt bad and responsible for his wetness. She thus opened the door and stepped out with the coat still serving as umbrella. She went straight to him and standing behind him, she covered him.

  "Ah ma, you are not supposed to be here." Kunle looked up and said.

  "Don't worry... I'll be fine. Just continue..." She tried to dissuade his concern with a smile.

  He bent down and released the knots, removed the tyre of the 2019 Toyota corolla and replaced it with a spare. As he tried to stand up he nudged her and she almost fell. With a speed of light, he left the tyre he was carrying and caught hold of her. His hands, as gentle as ever, held her from falling into the gutter behind. On her face was written fear and unbelief.

  "Sorry ma." He apologized. She flicked a smile and he left her.

  "Oh his hands were gentle and meek. His handling was warm." She imagined. "Who's this guy? Thought drivers were rough and iffy?" She thought.

  Soon he was done. She shook her head as he opened the door for her to enter. His physique was enticing to ignore. In seconds, they were on their way back home. Sitting there, many thoughts ran through her mind. What was mama talking about? Why didn't he mention anything about the accident during the interview? She was determined to ask him. Opening her mouth to speak, he spoke first.

  "Ehee ma, thank you for covering me. Sorry the devil tried to come in but we were victorious." Kunle began talking, not bothering to look at her.

  "It’s OK... I..." she tried again to ask him the question.

  "...I’ll take the tyre home tonight so that Yusuf my vulcanizer can fix it. He cut her off again.

  "Is it necessary that you do it tonight?"

  "Yes. It’s actually wrong and dangerous to drive without a spare tyre...”

  "I know.... But, it’s late. Let it be tomorrow." She muttered as his physique distracted her.

  "OK ma." Kunle responded, looking into the rear mirror. Their eyes met briefly and she looked away.

  "Kunle w......" she tried to speak up.

  "Tiririntinrintinrin.... Tatiritinririntirintirin..." Her phone rang. She looked at it. It was Victoria her best friend.

  "Hello Vicky...”

  "Babes how’re you?"

  I'm fine...You?"

  "I'm OK. You are just dodging up and down. We can't see you anymore." Vicky spoke meanly.

  "My dear, it’s just the nature of my work. You know I have to leave early to beat traffic and come in late because of the same traffic."

  "Yea... I hear you, madam d madam."

  "Hahahaha Leave me abeg." Nk laughed. She noticed Kunle was shivering a bit. "Kunle please turn off the AC." Nk instructed with the phone lowered from her left ear. Kunle did as he was told.

  "How's the work Na?" Vicky continued.

  "My dear, we are pushing it. Can you imagine we are still on the way back home?"

  "What! How come? It’s almost 9pm" Vicky spoke with unbelief.

  "Just small hitches" Nk said.

  "OK oo. I guess by "we" you mean you and your driver???

  "Yea...Who else would it be?"

  "You this girl, your singlehood reek."

  "See kettle calling pot black." Nk fired back at her.

  "Hahaha. I am better than you. I get offers and I turn them down. But you on the other hand, don't even get offers."

  "I got a job offer..." Nk defended herself

  "Hahahahahahahah.... You can't be serious! Marry your job then." Vicky taunted her.

  "My status might change soon." Nk said with uncertainty.

  "Wow..... What do I not know? Gist me..." Vicky said interestedly.

  Puuu-puuu... Kunle honked the horn for the gate man. Soon the gate was opened.

  "Hehehehe amebo, there's no gist. I'm just saying... It’s my wish..." Nk said calmly.

  "You aren't getting younger babe...” Vicky tried to remind her.

  "Shat app.... So are you too..." Nk replied as the car came to a halt in the parking spot. "Just got home, I'll talk to you later dear. I need to rest."

  "Ok cupcake.... See you in the weekend." Vicky tried to sign off.

  "You and who? Abegi… I'll rest."

  "Come on... You know that place is where you can meet Mr. Right?" Vicky tried to sound so convincing.

  "I'm not interested. I like my peace of mind." Nk responded while trying to hide her interest.

  Kunle was already out of the car and putting finishing touches to the arrangement of the tools he used earlier to change the tyre. The rain had stopped.

  "Peace of mind? How can you have peace of mind when the time is running out??? That's weird" She heard Vicky blast out on the other end of the phone.

  "I do; maybe that's why I'm me. I'm weird”

  "Abeg drop call so I can pick up a call. One of my prince charming is calling." Vicky said.

  "Idiot, get out of my phone." Nk joked. She stepped out of the car and at the same time pressing the red button on her phone to drop the call. Oh... that girl drains my energy. She thought to herself.

  "I am going home ma..." Kunle said, startling her.

  “Oh... OK.” She forgot he was still around. She looked at her imperial wristwatch. Time check...8:07pm

  "Is there some other thing you’d like me to do?” Kunle asked innocently.

  "No... Just go home and rest. You surely need it after this rain. You are wet."

  "No I dey fine." He smiled
shyly. "OK then... Good night." She went back to pressing her phone. He stood there still looking up to the sky. She looked up from her phone and he shyly pointed at his coat which she still had on.

  "Oh....Sorry..." She laughed out while removing and handing it over to him.

  "Thank you..." She said. He smiled and turned to leave. She stood there indirectly watching him go. "Please look back.... Look back one more time..." She wished, but he didn't. Disappointed, NK went into her apartment.

  ∞∞∞

  "Oh... I can't believe I was waiting for him to turn back." Nk berated herself. "It’s true what they say. Love makes you look stupid." She thought "Mtcheew! I can't believe this.... Did I just say love?" She flung her shoe to one side of her bedroom and dropped on her bed. She was indeed angry at herself. "I can't believe I stooped so low!" She gnashed her teeth and turned to her right. She perceived the fragrance of his perfume on her cloth and hated herself the more. "Mtcheeeeeeww!!!"

  She stood up and removed her cloths, carrying it to the machine immediately. Everything about him disgusted her at the moment. In seconds, the machine was doing its work and she was in the shower. Whilst there, she was determined to have him replaced over the weekend.

  "I can't take this shit mehn."

  ∞∞∞

  "This madam is just doing anyhow since last week. Well... she seemed better than last week. Tomorrow is Friday, let me go to bed before I wake p and go late to work tomorrow" Kunle thought as he unbuttoned his shirt.

  "Hehehehe. But it will be cool to know what she will do if I come late to work." He landed on his bed while enjoying the thought of making Nk angry. He stood up and went to his wardrobe. Opening it, he brought out his best suit. He stood there, staring at it, as the memories of how he got it flashed through his mind. It was the first ever gifts given to him by his late wife. Even though they had their differences, he still believes she had the highest taste in wears – the best, to say the least. Life sucks indeed. He thought. In the split seconds he was down. He hung it back and went into the bathroom.

  ∞∞∞

  Chapter 3

  She was silent. She better than to respond to her mom when she sounded that way on the other end.

  ∞∞∞

  7:45am

  "Good morning ma." Kunle greeted her as soon as she stepped out of her apartment.

  "Kunle why are you late???" Nk sounded uninterested of his greetings.

  "Ma... I just had a little overlap." He smiled weirdly with his hands joined together.

  "The question is simple. Why are you late?" She looked sternly at him.

  "I overslept. The cold was much and you know the rain yesterday was not friendly." He swore with his hand making a move from his lips to the sky. Somewhere in her heart she felt pity for him but remembered her resolution and frowned as she opened the car door and sat in. He started the car and on driving out of the gate asked her if he could stop.

  "Ma we’ll make a brief stop at the vulcanizer to drop the tyre.”

  "Don't try it. Can’t you see I'm late? If you remembered you would do that maybe you could have come earlier.” She looked out the window in a move to prevent her eyes from meeting his.

  "OK ma." He looked through the rear at her. But she avoided his eyes.

  Silence reigned between them as he drove to the office. Kunle knew this was the version of her he never loved seeing. He tried to keep his mind on the road but decided to first make an attempt at making the mood lighter.

  "Hope you slept well ma?” Kunle asked, hoping to clear the silence existing between them that moment.

  "Yes I did." She replied rather bluntly. She wanted to ask him same. But instead, her stubbornness made her look away.

  "OK..." He said calmly. From the look on his face, she figured he would be wondering what was going through her mind.

  "You'll not need to drive me home after work today.” She said. “You can go as soon as you get me to the office."

  "No ma. I can still drop you ma." He looked at her from the rear mirror

  "No. I'll be staying back late. You need to go stay with your family..." She lied. He was silent. From the rear, she noticed his eyes and countenance change and there and then she recalled the conversation with mama the night before. She was sorry but didn't say it. He, on the other side, didn't speak again till they got to the office.

  ∞∞∞

  While at the office, Nk’s phone rang. "Mummy Good Afternoon" she spoke into her phone after picking the call. She looked at her walk clock briefly; more from instinct than from the need to know the time, it was 1:30pm.

  "Nwam kedu..?" Her mother’s voice picked on her.

  "I'm fine ma. How are you too?" she had one hand lying on her desk and the other holding unto the cell phone as she spoke.

  "Hope you are coming home for the traditional retirement of your grandfather?" Her mom spoke, ignoring the question about her wellbeing.

  "No ma." Nk answered frowning. By now she had her right hand clutching the phone and the left on her forehead with both elbows on the desk.

  "Ah-ah... Don't joke with me." Her mom warned.

  "I'm not joking with you ma. Shey it is question that you asked?" Nk defended herself.

  "Wait... You think I was asking?" He mom flared up.

  She was silent. She better than to respond to her mom when she sounded that way on the other end.

  "Hello... Are you there?"

  "I'm here mummy." She replied sluggishly biting the inner part of her lower lips.

  "Good. Since you can't understand English... You should be home for your grandfather's retirement." Her mom stated categorically.

  "Oh." Nk replied uninterestedly.

  "Ma achokwalagi acho." Let me not look for you.” She paused. "Wonder what's chasing you." Her mother continued.

  "Oweghi. You people should just leave me alone abeg." Nk said rather childishly.

  "You people should leave me alone.” Her mom tried to mimic her mockingly “Leave you maka gini? For what? You don't know that they will be the ones to fast track your marriage rites mgbe oge ruru? (When its time) Eh?" He mom emphasized. Nk was silent again as she spoke. "Isi emebikwala gi. Let your head not spoil" Her mom scolded her. There was silence on the phone. "Mtcheeww... let me look for you first. Call your younger sister Chy-Chy and let her give you information about the materials and how to get it. We have chosen to wear...."

  "Aha ah.... Shey you said Chy-Chy will give me all the info Na..?" Nk cut in.

  "So I should not talk again eh-kwa?!" Her mom thundered.

  "Mummy na...I dey office oo" Nk argued.

  "Office fipiakwa gi onu there ‘I dey office oo’ She mimicked again. “Should I run away then?” Silence.

  “Ehee... When are you bringing boyfriend home?"

  "Hello... Hello.... Hee...hee...lllooooo.... I can't hear you...." NK faked.

  "If you like don't hear me. Onye apari. You don't know we've done all this before..." Her mom shouted mockingly.

  Pim...Pim. Nk dropped the call. "Uhmmm..... Don't know why you people will be disturbing me every time." Nk murmured.

  She picked up her phone to call Chy-Chy. Even though Chy was her younger sister, she was her closest pal and the only one of the 5 girls who understood her. Just then, the knock came on her office door. She looked up to see the clerk – a young man in his early twenties with a file in hand.

  "Good day ma." He bowed slightly.

  "Yes Victor?" she dropped the phone on the desk.

  "…Just to inform you that we found you the new driver. This is his CV" He handed her the file as he spoke.

  "OK." She collected the file. Swinging her seat she backed him as she scanned through the file. Male, in his late 50s, it read.

  "OK. We'll hire him. Tell him to resume on Sunday." She handed the file back to him.

  "…and Mr. Kunle?" The clerk asked, creating a brief silence between them with his question. "What do we do with Mr. Kunle ma?" he asked again. She closed her eyes and swa
llowed hard. "I don't know. Just find a way to reassign him." She tried to sound unclenched.

  "There's no vacancy ma..." he said emphatically

  "Find one...” She dismissed his emphasis with her finger.

  "We can't ma. The…" he had his hands together on the file.

  "...Then just fire him! Just get him out of my sight. I don't care." She said flipping her hands and cutting him off.

  "OK ma." He bowed and turned to leave.

  "Call in Sandra for me." She said calmly.

  "OK ma." He bowed again.

  "Also... In the letter of termination, write that he was irresponsible and.... No... Scrap that." She was silent a bit. "Just question his commitment to work after he came late thereby delaying my prompt resumption and which led to the delay in the development of the company whatever..." He was taking note as she spoke. “OK ma. OK ma...”

  "You are dismissed." She picked up her phone and dialed her sister Chy-Chy’s number again.

  ∞∞∞

  "Hello...Chy how are you?" She spoke to her sis on phone as soon as she picked.

  "I'm fine sis and you?"

  "I'm OK. How's everything at home?"

  "Things are fine. You know the retirement event dey everybody mouth."

  "I heard. So what's the fuse about cloths and mode of dressing?"

  "Eh. Mummy said we must all appear in cockroach brown gele and a matching cream ankara."

  "Uhm, Such combinations" Nk folded her lips and waved her head in disappointment.

  "I don't like it too. You know I don't like that cockroach brown thing. Makes me look snooty" said Chy.

  "Hahahaha I know you've always hated brown." Nk affirmed.

  "So can you join me in raising alarm so that they can change it na?” Chy pleaded.

  Nk smiled. "No I can't. I don't even think I'll be coming." Just then her PA walked in.

  "Ah-ah! Don't even try it oo. Why?"

  "Nothing... You know how much I'm not the occasion type of person." She spoke as she arranged some files.

  "Uhmmm.... Even at that... This one is our family. You should be there." Chy insisted. Nk was silent as she handed her PA a bunch of files.