Soliat felt uncomfortable, and she wished something would happen to make the plan not work, because if nothing happened, then she was going to get laid in the next few hours. Mustafa sat across from her and despite that he was somebody she knew, she couldn't help feeling uneasy. Brother Abubakar had taken her phone, so he would obviously think he had an upper hand but Soliat was set out for this.
"See you looking as beautiful as ever," Mustafa said, smiling expectantly. He was a handsome man and Soliat wondered why she had not be drawn to him. She had not really be drawn to the men she dated, she just dated them because Alhaji had told her to go with the flow, and she broke up with them when he told her they had started to misbehave. He would really hate it if he found out, it would ruin their relationship and she wasn't going to have a family again, was it worth it? But had she really been their family? Family did not wait to sleep with each other, family did not bathe in front of each other. They had never been one, he had taken care of her, watched her, with the hope of getting a reward. She was his reward, the same way her marriage to a man was her father's. Yes, it was worth it, she looked at Mustafa determined. She was going to do this, and go home and tell him she had me he could cut her off for the rest of his life if he pleased, she was not a fruit to be nurtured until ripened so it could be eaten and the seed discarded.
"Your godfather doesn't know about this right?" Mustafa asked. "He doesn't, he would never let you do this. Did the both of you fight?"
"Is that your business?"
He laughed. "You always lived in his shadow, 'Brother Abubakar would not like this', 'Brother Abubakar said I should not go', 'Brother Abubakar will get angry', ha, I always wondered whether you were dating him."
"He's my brother." She glared at him.
"He's not, brothers are not even that protective, I'm even surprised that he allowed you date. So tell me, did you quarrel with him? Because that's the only reason you'd be here."
"Do you want an out?" They were at a bar of an hotel, chilling.
"Hey, relax. I'm just curious, I mean it's the almighty 'Brother Abubakar' we're talking about here. Remember when I had wanted to kiss you and you said you had to ask him first," he laughed, "you really hurt me."
"Did you come here to talk about things that happened before?"
"No, we came here to fuck, and with the amount of water you've drank so far, you'll pee on me while we're at it," He told her with a smile.
"Actually, I'm pressed, let me use the toilet." She excused herself and navigated to the female's room. While she did her business, she wondered if she should run through the back door. She would go home and sleep and forget she had tried to have sex with an ex Abe hadn't even slept with while they dated. Then he would wait and wait, and perturbed, even check the female's bathroom and after a while he would realize she had left, and it wouldn't be classy. No, she would not leave like that, if she was going to leave, she would say it to his face and not be a coward. She closed her eyes, Alhaji would really hate her for this.
She flushed the toilet and washed her hand before stepping out. Her feet came to an abrupt stop when she saw somebody she knew well Efe?
…
"Be careful with that plant," Edegbe warned as Victor lifted the pot Yasmin had gifted him. "I said be careful with it! If you break it, I will break your head."
"Yes, Sah." The plant was not bigger than a small bucket, how would he break it?
"You cherish her gift more than a person's head and you claim to not know your stance in her game of seduction?" Efe tsked. They were leaving the hospital, after Edegbe was discharged.
"Not now," Edegbe said. "Tell Victor to carry that thing with more care!"
Internally, Victor sighed. "Sah, should I bring a wheelbarrow to carry it?"
Efe laughed and Edegbe cursed. "Something must be wrong with you. In fact, let me carry it." He took the pot from him and secured it well in his arms.
"Seriously?" Efe shook his head. "Does she know you're being discharged today?"
"How would I know what you've told her."
"I didn't tell her anything." Silence brewed between them as they walked to the car. Efe, for one, was glad he was discharged, he longed for a good sleep, a bottle of whiskey and a hot woman. Maybe he could get all three tonight.
"Sah should I help you carry it?" Victor asked when he opened the car for Edegbe to get inside.
"Can you please leave me alone?"
"Leave him alone," Efe added playfully. "It's his first time receiving a gift from a woman."
"Stop making a fuss about it."
"You're the one making a fuss about it, guarding the plant like that, awww, neither Victor nor I is interested in a potted cactus."
Victor started the car as he tried to stifle a smile, his boss was really dramatic today.
"Do you mind if I stop by a hotel to buy a bottle of whiskey?" Efe asked halfway through the drive.
"Be quick," Edegbe responded and Efe tapped Victor to stop the car. "Only whiskey, Efe, don't bring a prostitute to my house."
He laughed and raised his both hands up. "Only whiskey, okay?" He went to the bar and pointed what he wanted before paying, he had wanted the tripartite to be complete, but Edegbe only knew when to shoot his expectation. He dropped the whiskey with the girl behind the counter, needing to use the toilet. It was there he saw Soliat.
Great, she thought, what a nice day to meet him. She was going to put on her rudeness and walked pass, but he stopped her. "What are you doing here?"
"What, am I a child to you too?"
He stared at her, surprised. The last person he expected to see in a hotel was Soliat, not because she was too much of a good girl, her nose ring and tats blew that away, but it just did not seem like what she would do, it felt out of place, and what about her being a child? He looked around to see if she had come with Alhaji, she hadn't. "I don't mean to offend you," he started to say, "but," then stopped.
"Please, go your way while I go mine."
Before he could reply, a man came to her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close to himself. She tensed. He noticed.
"Babe," Mustafa said. "What kept you so long?
"Nothing." She tried to wiggle unnoticeably from his arm but failed.
"Let's go?"
"Have a nice day," she said to Efe and turned, not waiting for his response. He would mind his business, she told herself.
Efe watched until they were completely out of sight. He had thought she was a thing with Alhaji, maybe he was wrong. He retrieved his goods from the girl behind the counter, on a good day he would have taken her number, and joined Edegbe in the car. Whatever Soliat did did not concern him, he did not like, at least not anymore, so he should not be bothered that she was with a guy. But she had looked uncomfortable, it left him uneasy. Nevertheless, he was going to forget about it, and he was really going to forget about it if he had not seen Alhaji at the gate, waiting for them.
"This man is overly friendly," he said.
"It's a harmless friendliness." Edegbe countered.
Victor drove into the compound and the man walked in before the gate closed. "Wonderful, wonderful." He clapped as they got down from the car. "And the man from south survived." He smiled when he saw him clutching to the pot his sister had gifted.
"How do you expect me to react to that?"
"Hahahaha, I'm glad you're better." The phone in his pocket, Soliat's phone, beeped.
"Would you come in?" Edegbe asked. Then turned to give his plant to Victor, warning softly. "Be careful."
"Oh no, don't worry about that, I just wanted to see for myself that you're alright." He brought out the phone to check, she'd been receiving messages from her contacts and he knew he should have switched it off, but he wanted to to receive whatever message Mustafa would send and maybe reply. But Mustafa never texted. It was questioning, he wondered why, but he decided to let sleeping dog lie.
"Is that Ms. Soliat's phone?" Efe asked when he saw her picture as the wallpaper.
"She gave it to me for safekeeping."
Efe doubted, but did not pursue it.
"I should go now. I'm glad you're safe, once again."
"Thank you," Edegbe appreciated.
"I'll see you to the gate," Efe offered and even Edegbe stared at him.
"Okay," he agreed, letting the man walk before him to open the gate. "Thank you and have a nice day," he said as he stepped outside the gate but neither of them tried to move. After a while, he asked. "Do you have anything to say to me?"
Defeatedly, he sighed. "It's not in my place to say this, but I think you should know. I saw Ms Soliat in a hotel a while ago when I went to get something. She was with a guy, and he had his hand around her. Like I said earlier, it's not in my place to tell you, and I usually do not concern myself with things like this but she looked really uncomfortable and the both of you seemed close, so I thought you should know."
"He has a thick Afro hair?"
"Yes, not too tall, young and handsome."
Alhaji closed his eyes, so she had met up with Mustafa? No wonder he hadn't texted. He opened his eyes back. "Which hotel?"
Efe told him.
"Thank you." If Alhaji was angry at the party, he was ten times angrier now. He called the owner of the hotel, an associate of his, every rich man in Unguwan Rimi was an associate of his, one of the thrills of being rich, and requested for a favour. Five minutes after the call, Soliat's room number was forwarded to him and he increased the gear of his car. He did not know what to think, he was angry, a mild anger though because what he really felt was fear. Efe had described her as being uncomfortable, why had she gone out with Mustafa when she wasn't comfortable? To spite him of course.
It took Alhaji forever before he got to the hotel, and an eternity to find the room. When he finally did, he flung the door open and the sight that greeted him broke his heart.