Preordained #ProjectNigeria

54- Back To Reality

Nwanyieze's POV~

" Thunder fire your papa dia!"

I stifle my laughter at the insult my taxi driver hurls at an offending Jeep driver. The Jeep driver, too unbothered to reply even though I think he deserves the insult, simply laughs and overtakes my cab. But he winks at me and zooms off, leaving my cab driver to mutter more insults after him.

"Iyalaya anybody."

This time I can't hold it in. I burst into a fit of laughter, shaking my head.

Welcome back to Lagos.

I take in the sights on Airport Road: temporarily abandoned tankers by the sides, hotels littering the landscape, the potholes dotting the road. The air here is heavier, spiced with dust and fumes from the cars, unlike in Maduka's village where the air was crisp and clean.

"Because say you carry Jeep, pesin no go see road drive kabu-kabu again. Baskat."

Body dey pain this one, I think, deciding not to laugh again.

Mama Uju and Adanna are not around, but she has left a key with one of our neighbours who owns a shop on our street, and I retrieve it. On getting into our flat, I instantly realise how much I have missed the place. Adanna's toys are stacked neatly in one corner of the living room, and I can see that there are new additions already.

"Just one week I was away, and she has updated her collection of toys," I say to myself.

I hope they will enjoy the gifts I brought from the village: roasted ukwa and akara japu.

My room is just as I have left it, but I know that Mama Uju has cleaned up the dust in preparation for my return. After a shower, I dial Maduka's number but get no reply. Hunger sets in, but I ignore it and go to sleep instead.

My phone wakes me up a few hours later. Mama Uju and Adanna are not back yet. It is a landline number I am not familiar with.

"Hello?"

"Welcome back to Lagos, Queen."

"Saheed. I bet you've paid one of my neighbours to spy on me."

"Smart girl."

"What is it now?"

"When am I seeing you?"

I scoff. He chuckles. How about never?

"You don't sit well with rejection, do you?"

"You know me so well. How is it that we aren't together yet?"

"The gods didn't put that in the works."

"And they also didn't put Maduka in the works."

"If I didn't dislike you so much, we would have been good friends."

"Me, friends with you? I was aiming for something more."

Before he can say more to piss me off, I tell him, "This call has come to an end, Saheed. Have a nice day."

"You, me, tomorrow night."

"Shebi that's if you find me?"

"Come on, Queen. I'm am your friend of sorts, even though you might not know it yet."

"Really?" I ask. The nerve of this human being!

"I'm your friend because I always tell you the truth. You and Maduka, not working. You might be enjoying it now, but deep down, you know it won't last."