The Parade

Chapter 3 - Millicent

Acho was still struggling to pull his gaze away from the dazzling distraction when she caught his eyes.

"Why are you wearing a face mask in The Carven?" Acho asked her, trying unsuccessfully to wear an expression of disgust. "There is no 3N Bullcrap in The Carven" he continued, with a condescending smile.

She replied, but her words were muffled behind her mask. Acho motioned to his ears. She removed her mask to reveal a beautiful strong jawline and smooth face only dented by two deep dimples "What does 3N Bullcrap mean?" she asked, smiling broadly, as she leaned forward towards Acho trying to shout over the increasing decibels from the DJs music.

"You are clearly not from here, if you don't know what 3N Bullcrap means."

"Ei, Chale, are you sure I'm not from here?" she replied quickly, laughing.

Her reply betrayed her, Ei Chale, clearly not a Nigerian lady. Ghanaian expression.

Several banters later, he got to know her better. Her name, Millicent Quaye, from Ghana, a neighboring West African country. She came to Nigeria two weeks ago on a secondment programme, working with one of the big 4 consulting firms. She heard of The Carven Bar from the grapevine in her office, as one of the few hotspots in Lagos. So, she decided to check it out.

"Well, I had to take all 15 vaccine shots before coming to Nigeria...you know, I am indifferent about all these rules, it is just a vaccine...but I see your point, the right to choose is part of a human's fundamental right" she sipped from her sixth cup of Schweppes, her iron bracelet sparkled in the light as she raised her hand.

"I am happy you see my point" Acho replied with a wry smile.

"You know, that is why I like Nigerians. They are defiant, you can't just shove anything down their throats...unless it's money". They both laughed heartily.

The music in the bar was now low, fading into the background, overpowered by the hush whispers of the few guests left in the bar. Since it was the early hours in the morning Acho dropped her home.

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Ben and Tosh could not believe Acho's fortune. A highflyer gorgeous bird had wondered into his nest. "So have you guys decided how many children you will have?" Tosh quipped.

"Na, both of them will probably adopt, they are too busy for natural insemination" Ben jumped in.

"Look guys lets focus on this" Acho cut in, smiling sheepishly, as his Associates roared with laughter. It was barely two weeks to the execution of "The Parade" plan, but everything happening in the country seemed to indicate this plan should have come earlier. The Federal Government had just passed a directive that all public forms must contain sections for vaccination status. Passport, Driver's License and National Identity card applicants will have to indicate if they are up-to-date with their vaccine status during the sign-on process. Though the government tried to allay fears that the data was just for "information purposes", everyone knew this was not true. It surely was another opportunity to oppress those who stood their grounds against those needles.

"The revolution has to happen fast, before women are asked to provide evidence of up-to-date vaccination status, before admission into labour rooms" Acho gulped his Schweppes. As he laid his back to give himself an eye break from his laptop the thought of Millicent crossed his mind. It had been a week since they saw, due to conflicting schedules, though they exchanged messages frequently. Then, he remembered his phone. He peeped at the auto-generated quote-of-the-day on his phone, it read "Desire without action remains a Wish, Desire acted upon becomes an Adventure". He hurriedly left his crew on the table and went out of the bar.

"Can we meet tomorrow, anytime and anyplace at your convenience" Acho asked nervously, literally trembling, as he held his phone waiting for Millicent's response, after they had just exchanged pleasantries.

"Sure" a sweet voice responded from the other end. "Let's meet at a place I call my 'happy place'" he could sense she was smiling at the other end. After a brief description of the location, they said their goodbyes. Acho was elated and kissed his phone.

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"You have arrived at your destination" the voice from Acho's google maps app notified him, as he turned into a green area he never knew existed in Lagos. Just beside the car park, a narrow walkway led into a bush path with many trees, the loud chirps from birds could be heard even with his car windows still up.

Acho left his car and walked along the narrow path, inspecting the different trees that lined the path, and gave a quick glance to the signposts which provided botanical information of the trees. As he continued to walk he saw a signpost with a different colour - "No Mask, No Jab, No Entry". He giggled under his breath and kept walking.

The narrow path led to an open clearing, overseeing a small lake. Again, Acho wandered why he had never heard of this place. From his vintage point he could count a handful of people in the park, all masked, mostly women. And even though he could only see Millicent's back from where he stood, it was still obvious she was the most beautiful of all in the park.