At War

Chapter 22

Contenders

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Dedicated to maramartha for being an overly annoying ram but a wonderful reader😂😂
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The scent of crayfish hovered in the air, different spices accentuating its strong aroma as Obanma trod into the mini market before the school gate.

Many kiosks with different colors scattered around, each manned by mostly women pleading for students to buy from them.

She picked items which she needed with Onyedikachi trailing behind her neatly dressed in his white senator cloth which gave him a quite classy look. She had objected to him following her but he insisted

Most traders perceived them to be siblings and dished out compliments to coax them into buying, some promising their daughters to Onyedikachi who laughed heartily.

His appearance led to some of the traders increasing the price of the commodities with the belief that he would pay as he had dressed.

If only they knew

Onyedikachi's strong price haggling technique was worse than Obanma's and he mostly got the things he wanted at a price very suitable for him.

His curt reply whenever Obanma mentioned his brutal negotiating skill in the market being

Anambra is a trading hub and I am a son of the soil.

She hated that response and often resisted the urge to bash his head with an object, each time he mentioned his place of origin. It was either he was arguing of his place being the richest in the east or how industrious they were or probably how she would definitely end up with an Anambra man.

Their friendship had become quite cozy after the incident at the hotel in Owerri. He'd always come visiting during the weekends, bearing too numerous gifts, from cloth items to provisions and sometimes monetary gifts which was practically shoved into Obanma's hands with threats of visiting her uncle in Enugu. Refusing to release her account number didn't do much for her

Only then did she truly regret leading him directly to her house. Onyedikachi became a constant song on the lips of her roommate Kelechi, who was also studying pharmacy in her school.

She had nicknamed him handsome pocket and would always practically deplete her monetary funds whenever she heard of his intending visits from Obanma. Obanma found it amusing, leaving the higher percentage of her gifts to Kelechi.

Ralph had become too busy for her she noted, his father always pushing him around for meetings which the older man claimed would prepare him for the ownership of his company. They managed to always talk briefly only on weekends.

Raphael had once mentioned hating the whole idea of being an engineer and subtly hinted a resentment he bore for Onyedikachi who was the golden boy of the company, with the likes of his father approving every little thing Onyedikachi did.

Convincing her uncle about the phone she supposedly got from Olumide was quite difficult. She had to call her sister and her fiance to make sure her lie wouldn't be found out.

"Are you sure you don't want me to buy another one for you? I don't want all these small Igbo boys hovering around our wife" Olumide teased when he finally agreed to her proposal

"Noo, it's fine. He's a good friend" She had quickly objected drawing laughter from Olumide

"You like this one abi?" Came his amused voice

"Yes" was the only response Obanma could afford, not knowing what else to say

"Ah! I knew it! I know something has been going on in that your Enugu" Obanma had given up on correcting him from wrongly pronouncing certain Igbo words and wholeheartedly accepted whatever he spewed. Olumide only worsened the case by making attempts at pronouncing whatever Igbo word he came across. Enugu was at the forefront of the wrongly pronounced words followed by her name.