I Did Not Want To Fall For You

30: The Kamsi I know

They walked on in uncomfortable silence. She wasn't sure whether she was to apologize for not calling or offer her condolence on the accident or just talk to him normally.
"You resumed last week Sunday?" He finally broke the silence.
"When else?"
"Ah, I see," he chuckled, glancing at her, "the Kamsi I know."
She smiled. "I'm sorry about the accident."
"You haven't given me my hug, you know. My very longgggg hug."
She laughed, avoiding his eyes, "you weren't the one involved in an accident," she countered.
"But my best friend and brother were. I need comfort too," he persisted.
"So you now acknowledge him as your best friend," she commented, looking up at him.
"Let's just say you don't almost die every day," he said smiling.
She smiled too. His side view was mesmerizing. Why did it seem like he got more handsome every day?
She shook her head and looked ahead.
"What happened anyway?" She asked curiously.
"We were driving around. Obinne and Tobe were showing us around then we stopped to get some stuff. At first, it was Nonso and me that got out of the car but Tobe decided to join us and Nonso stayed back in the car because he was too busy with his phone. We went to the next street then this van that was coming down the road started acting strange; it was going too fast and it was jerking dangerously. I don't know if it was a good or bad thing that there were not many cars passing at that time so the van was headed straight for our car that was parked at the side. People were shouting at the driver but no one knew that there was someone in our car. Both Nonso and Obinne had earpods on and both of them like listening to their music at high volumes plus they were also busy with their phones."
"The car's window is not tinted or is it?" She asked.
He shook his head.
"Someone should have seen them now," she muttered, dreading to hear the rest of the story.
He shrugged, "You should have seen the way Tobe and I were running and shouting their names," he shook his head with a smile, "It was the noise of people shouting that made us come back to check. Then suddenly, Obinne started reversing the car and people realized there was someone there."
She was bewildered, "why was he reversing? Didn't he see the van? They were supposed to jump out!"
He laughed lightly, "It wasn't because of the van that he reversed, can you imagine?"
"Why?"
"They didn't notice the van. It was because he saw us running and waving our hands so he thought we were asking him to reverse."
"Hey!" She exclaimed, her Igbo accent creeping in.
Kaito laughed again. They were almost at the class area now.
"Can we not go to class? Let's stroll around," she suggested. He agreed and they changed direction.
"It was too late when they noticed the van," he continued, "it was good that he reversed or else the van would have hit them straight on and well..."
She looked up at him but he had no emotion on and she knew it was a facade.
"But since he had started turning the car around, it hit the side of the car and well, you have watched movies. The two cars got stuck at a pole..."
"Don't tell me the pole fell on them," she begged, eyes wide.
"The pole fell."
She froze on her spot, mouth wide open. He stopped too, turning to look at her and slowly, he smiled. "But not on them."
She pressed a hand to her chest, blowing out a tense breath. "Thank God," she muttered.
"The velocity at which the van was moving was excessive so it hit the car with a huge force. It was that impulse that propelled the car..."
She bit back a laugh as he spoke.
"... to the pole but there was this stuff, this no parking stand, it caused the car to turn so the van ended up being smashed against the pole instead of our car."
"Wow," she said with a short laugh, "velocity, impulse, force, propel, wow."
He laughed too. She noticed he was now laughing and smiling unlike before.
"I couldn't resist the temptation to use it," he cockily explained.
"But the physics of the whole thing is scary," she said, smirking, "their injuries should have been more severe due to the heavy impact and the heat of the burning metals."
He feigned seriousness, "Plus the pungent smell of chemicals. The oxygen in the air was subdued by a dense plethora of dangerous acids and compounds that were released due to the rapid combustion of natural and man-made minerals."
"Correct. The matters present at the scene were involved in causing physical and biological..." she paused then laughed, "I give up."
He was laughing too.
"I like your dimples," she spoke and poked his cheek.
"You have told me before," he smiled.
"And I'm telling you again."
He chuckled then said seriously, "You know, if Tobe and I had been in the car, we would have been affected badly, perhaps we might have died."
She blinked, "how?"
"The part of the car the van hit and that also almost hit the pole was where we would have been sitting."
She oohed, uncomfortable with the turn of conversation. She didn't want to imagine him dead.
"It was divine providence," he smiled down at her, "that made us not to be in the car at that time and preserved Nonso and Obinne from getting badly affected."
"God is wonderful," she declared, "Mother Mary would not let her babies die in such a manner, would she?"
They fell silent, both lost in their thoughts. She didn't know how to feel, couldn't imagine how he and Tobe must have felt watching their brothers and best friends being thrown about wildly. They were on the freedom road. Her hands brushed the shrubs that lined the pathway and she wondered if she was supposed to marvel at its perfect trimming. They walked slowly as if treasuring every second they spent together even when they knew they had important exams to read for. She looked at him. He had a smile on but his forehead was creased with worry lines.
"What happened after the accident?" She asked softly.
"Nonso was unconscious," his voice was low and calm, "Obinne was bleeding badly from his head and his left hand was stuck bc he tried to get out before the van hit them," he sighed, "Nonso was just lying there, his pulse was very low and for a second, I thought he... he..."
He had a stricken look on his face and when she looked at him a little longer, she noticed his eyes glittering. She took his hand without thinking; they trembled and she held on tightly wishing she could take all his pain away.
They turned when they got to the crossroad and went in the opposite direction of the school gate. She steered him into the field and they sat beneath a cashew tree. She still held his hand but now they were enclosed between both of hers.
"The people around helped us to pull them out of the car and we performed first aid. The driver was the most injured, I heard he survived though. It was an elderly man that drove us to a hospital. There was so much blood, especially from Obinne. I was scared, Tobe cried. When we got to the nearest hospital, they said there was no available doctor to attend to them and there was no bed space. We had to drive a longer distance. Nonso's pulse was getting too low and the elderly man said that Obinne would not last another hour with the amount of blood he was losing."
She breathed in sharply and scooted closer to him. He gave her a small smile.
"Mother Mary helped us. Obinne was already muttering nonsense about him already dying and how he loves us and God should forgive a poor sinner like him," he laughed. It was a painful one, choked with tears. She didn't look up to see the tears.
"They took them in at the next hospital and they attended to them immediately. Obinne had to receive some blood. We didn't call our families that day because it was late and we knew if we told them they'd start rushing down immediately. We slept at the hospital and we prayed, I think up to a hundred Rosaries," they both laughed, "On Sunday, Nonso's dad and my first brother, the one in Abuja, flew down to Benin while my mum came on Monday. Nonso's mum couldn't come because she is pregnant and she had pregnancy complications."
"Oh. She's pregnant?" She looked at him then. There were no tear tracks on his face but there were still unshed tears in his eyes.
"In her 7th month. She had complications after she heard the news, they had to rush her to the hospital."
She nodded, looking out into space.
"Nonso's dad had to fly him to Lagos on Thursday so she could relax. My mum just kept crying. She would take one look at Tobe and I and she would burst into tears. When she was not crying, she was angry and shouting and breaking things. We almost didn't resume yesterday because of her. Anyway, I called them yesterday night; they are back in Lagos. Obinne will continue seeing a doctor there."
"I thought you said you haven't switched on your phone?" She asked, hoping she didn't sound accusatory.
"I haven't. I am too lazy. I used someone's phone. I know there'll be a lot of messages and stuff and I don't feel like going through them," he replied.
They fell quiet.
"That was an experience," she said softly, "I'm trying hard to picture what you guys went through but it's hard. I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," he stated.
"I was not apologizing, I was comforting you."
"Okay," he shrugged.
"Wait," she started and paused, "that Nonso is the one jumping about?"
He laughed, "Nonso is Nonso."