CHRONICLES OF THE HELPS: PART 7

Lianate back from work and went straight to the kitchen. She found Amina washing some of the beef they stored in the refrigerator.
 
“Have you grinded the tomatoes?”
 
The girl turned to see her employer standing by the door way, still in her work clothes. “Welcome ma, yes, I am already steaming the tomatoes. I have also started cooking the rice,” the girl responded.
 
She sighed with relief. She was happy that dinner would be ready before her husband returned from work.
 
“The twins are done with their homework and they are watching the television. The baby is asleep, she ate a while ago,” Amina closed the tap and poured the washed beef into an empty pot.
 
Lianate strode into the kitchen, checked the tomatoes, then walked over to the refrigerator to get herself a drink.
 
“Mrs. Nkechi called about thirty minutes ago. She wanted to know if you got her the cheese you promised.”
 
“Oh! Yes I did. Leave what you are doing. You need to get to her place immediately,” Lianate took over the cooking.
 
“Okay ma,” Amina took off the apron.
 
“The cheese is on the dining table. You need to hurry. I think it is going to rain soon,” she glanced back at the girl who was already at the door.
 
Amina cringed. She detest getting wet in the rain. Mrs. Nkechi’s place was a street away from the estate. If she walked fast enough, she should be home in less than fifteen minutes.
 
The girl picked the packaged cheese on the dining and dashed out of the house. When she got to the estate gate, the clouds became darker and from nowhere, fierce breeze danced around her.
 
“Oh God…” she groaned inwardly.
 
“Where are you going, Pretty?”
 
The familiar voice made her smile. She turned her head and got a glimpse of Deji, standing a few feet away from her. The blue short-sleeve tee-shirt he was putting on gave him a soft aura.
 
“I am running an errand.”
 
He looked up at the darkened sky, then back at her. “It’s going to rain.”
 
The girl shrugged. “This cheese needs to get to the owner,” she tapped the package.
 
“Where exactly are you taking it?” he sounded concerned.
 
“The next street.”
 
“Let’s take a bike,” he collected the package from her.
 
She gaped at him.
 
“I am coming with you. I don’t trust this weather,” he waved down a motorbike.
 
“You don’t have to…”
 
“Yes, I do. Come on, it’s going to rain,” he reached for her hand.
 
They boarded the bike, delivered the package and by the time they got back to the estate, the rain was pouring.
 
“We need to find a place to hide,” she whined.
 
“Okay…” he looked around, then sited an uncompleted building afar off. “Let’s hide in there…” he pointed at the building.
 
Amina followed the direction his hand was pointing to. It was one of the few uncompleted buildings in the estate.
 
“Let’s run!” he held her hand and began to move.
 
She marched his speed and ran.
 
But, by the time they got into the building, they were dripping wet!
 
Amina felt like crying. she never liked been soaked in the rain. Even as a child. While others played in the rain, she would hide inside her house and watched them through the window.
 
“Are you okay?” the sad look in her eyes poked him right in the heart.
 
She shook her head.
 
Dejl surveyed the damp space. He saw what looked like a makeshift bed. An old blanket was spread over some cement blocks. He wondered if someone had slept there a night before.
 
“Let’s sit over there.”
 
Amina followed him and sat on the old blanket. She sighed heavily and looked outside. It was raining heavily. She wished she was home.  
 
“How are you feeling?” he placed a hand around her shoulder when he noticed that she was shivering.
 
“I am feeling a bit cold,” she dropped her gaze and stared at her wet fingers.
 
He drew closer. “We will be fine. Once you get home, make sure you change into dry clothes, then drink up some hot beverage. You will feel better.”
 
“Yes, doctor…”
 
They both started to laugh.
 
Deji was happy that she was smiling again. He also liked the way the warmth of her nearness penetrated into his system. If he had a choice, he would stay right beside her for the rest of his life.
 
There was something he wanted to ask her, but he was a little scared. Would she say yes, or a blunt no? If she said yes, he would be the happiest man on planet earth. But, if she said no, he would ache for days and weeks and probably years too. He breathed out loudly. What would her answer be? There was only one way to find out.
 
“Amina…”
 
“Hmm…” she lifted her eyes to meet his.
 
“I… I wanted to ask you…” he froze.
 
“Ask me what?” she looked on, eager, wondering.
 
He swallowed hard. He needed to finish what he started. “I… I like you.”
 
The girl blushed. Her shy eyes found other things to watch. “I like you too.”
 
Her response made his heart to miss a beat. The affirmation boosted his esteem. “I really, really like you.”
 
She pressed her lips together and smiled. It wasn’t news to her. The truth was that, she felt the same way.
 
“I… I want us to… I was wondering if you will like to go out with me.”
 
She began to feel warm all over, from the crown of her head, to the tip of her toes.
 
“Amina…” he became aware that she was avoiding his gaze.
 
She focused on the dark clouds. “Hmmm…”
 
“Will you like to date me?”
 
She nodded.
 
Deji breathed out loudly. “Is that a yes or a no?”
 
She met his smiling gaze. “It’s a yes.”
 
He chuckled. He felt like jumping and dancing at the same time. He would do that once he is alone in his room. “Beautiful, that’s wonderful.”
 
She looked away again. She couldn’t believe that she was now officially Deji’s girlfriend. Sometimes she often wondered why he decided to get close to her, rather than the undergraduate girls and fellow youth corpers in the estate. Many of them have been giving her envious looks in the past few weeks.
 
“Will you be free on Saturday? I want us to go to Jabi Lake.”
 
She nodded again. She had been there a couple of times with Lianate and her family. But, it would be a totally different experience with her boyfriend. She was looking forward to spending time with him outside the estate.
 
“Amina…”
 
“Yes…”
 
“Can I kiss you?”
 
Her heart beat accelerated.
 
“I believe in no sex before marriage and I would never, ever try to pressure you to do anything contrary to our belief system…”
 
She relaxed a bit.
 
“But, I have been tortured for weeks, dreaming of kissing you.”
 
She bit at her lower lip. She wanted to say yes. But she had no experience. The last and only person she kissed was her childhood friend, Audu. They were barely six or seven. She remembered playing with him and other children at the back of her father’s house. They hid in the same corner, hoping that the girl who they were playing ‘tag’ game with, won’t find them. The boy brushed his lips over hers briefly and swore that he would marry her. That was just a child.
 
“Amina…” he leaned closer.
 
Deji was a full grown man. She liked him and he was now her boyfriend. He had promised that they wouldn’t do anything stupid. Maybe she should allow him. She had also been dreaming of the day he would kiss her.
 
“Okay…”
 
Her consent made his heart to inflate.  
 
She closed her eyes, waiting. She could literally hear her heartbeat banging against her eardrums.
 
The moment his lips met hers, the rain stopped and the clouds began to clear.