"Wait, Jesus, are we going to them?" Edegbe asked as his feet dragged behind Efe.
"She invited me," Efe replied. "To be precise, I'm her partner."
"Shouldn't you, at least, give me a head up?"
"Sorry, sir."
He wondered if Efe would jump in joy if he slapped him, and dreaded the walk towards them, especially with the way they all looked.
"It's so good to see you again, Mr. Edegbe," Bello said upon their arrival, and Soliat wondered if the calmness in his voice was because of what Alhaji had done.
"I don't know if I can say the same but thank you."
"I heard about the incident, thank Allah you're safe."
He nodded to the man, nodded to Mr. Haruna who was biting a remark and shook hands with the ever smiling Alhaji.
"And so I'm invincible that I do not deserve an acknowledgment." Yasmin taunted. "And you said you weren't coming."
"You invited them?" Mr. Haruna, disbelieved, asked.
"Yes. Is there a rule I'm going against?"
"No, it's just that," he glanced at Edegbe. "Nothing."
"Better," she turned back to him. "You said you weren't going to come."
"And I changed my mind."
"Which is so unmanly."
Sometimes Edegbe did not know what to think, did the woman not like him? Why did she kiss him if she did not like him? But then she had said because she felt like, so she had kissed all the men present because she felt like? Did that even make any sense?
"You're staring," she told him and he averted his gaze. She always found a way to annoy him, as if determined to make sure he did not like her. Or was she annoyed that he had said he did not like her?
"I'm actually surprised you came here," Mr. Haruna said. "For what? To show that you have guts?"
"Excuse me?"
"Gentlemen, why don't we sit down." Alhaji came between them. "This evening is already supposed to be gloomy, let's not add to it."
The evening was supposed to be gloomy? "What is this gathering about?"
It was Yasmin who answered. "A tribute to the deceased girl."
Edegbe had to blink and look around, it was a tribute to somebody who had died? This? This colourful gathering of happy people?
"I know it seems unbelievable, but the elite looks for a reason to party," Bello said and Soliat wished he would stop talking.
Amidst the guests, Edegbe saw the girl's ugly parents and a picture of the girl perched at one side, they were the only people wearing black. Facing Yasmin, he asked, "And you didn't tell me about it?"
"You said you were not coming."
"You didn't tell Efe either, you knew my reservation about this."
"I didn't think he would be bothered by it, or are you?" Efe did not answer but there was a subtle glare in his eyes that told he was very bothered. She continued. "You would never come if you knew what this gathering was about and I wanted to spend time with you."
Edegbe blinked as he felt the world go silent. He searched for the right words to say, knowing that all eyes were on him. He gnawed his brain and when nothing came forth, he walked past her to a table and sat.
Alhaji cleared his throat and snapped a finger at Haruna's face which had been stunned into immobility. "Shall we?" He ushered them to Edegbe's table and drew out a chair for Soliat.
"You're going to make it obvious," she complained.
"That I like you? You were the only one who did not know about my feelings for you. And it seems Bello is ignorant too. He's a fine young man and I like him but I don't want his eyes lingering on what belongs to me. I am very possessive, Solia."
She sat down, tugging on her hijab and wishing it would cover her face, then Ms. Samira joined their table.
"You came?" Bello asked.
"I could not miss it, such a poor girl whose life was wasted." The woman replied and Soliat stared at her, trying to remember the last time she saw the woman, probably before Ramadan.
"She would not be a poor girl whose life was wasted if one of you had done something," Edegbe said before he realized.
"For the years none of us did something, she was alive. The one time you did something, she died," Haruna fired and Efe nudged whatever comeback Edegbe had, so he turned to the woman. "You are now a VVIP, we should now pay to see you," he teased.
"Barely," Ms. Samira replied. "And Mr. Edegbe, I heard what happened, both with your farm and at the fair, and I can only imagine how bad you must feel."
"Hmmm," he hummed.
"How was your trip to the states, Samira?" Alhaji asked.
"As usual."
"As usual, boring. Or as usual, exciting?"
"Exciting, but I think it would be more exciting if I can go with a man as handsome as Mr. Edegbe's friend."
Efe felt the woman's gaze on him and he opened his mouth to reply but Yasmin beat him to it. "He likes women who are submissive in bed. Are you submissive in bed, Samira?"
She smiled and looked away. "Then what type of women does Mr. Edegbe likes?"
He did not pause to think. "Bold."
"In bed?" Yasmin pressed.
Edegbe did not really have a preference in bed, he just like women who could satisfy his needs, but of course, he wouldn't tell her that. "I don't think I would like to talk about my personal life."
"Your personal life," she murmured softly as though she did not understand what it meant.
"Does Sister Yasmin not like Mr. Edegbe?" Soliat neared Alhaji to ask, whispering.
"People have their own different ways of expressing feelings."
"Like you?"
"Like me." He took her hand under the table and caress it. Her breath hitched. "Brother Ab—"
"Shh, no body would know if you behave. It's hard to hold myself back from touching you." He placed a hand on her thigh. "Especially with the way Bello can't stop looking at you even after my warning." He glanced at the man and smiled, his hand going up on her thigh. "Are you hot, Solia?"
"Why do you ask something like that when your hand is…" her breath hitched again when his hand went under her gown, making direct contact with her skin.
"When my hand is?" He probed.
"Brother Abubakar please, everybody is looking at us."
"Just two," he corrected. "Bello and Mr. Edegbe's friend. Tell me, do you still like him?" She shook her head, not trusting her voice. "Good. You know you owe him an appreciation, if he had not told me about you, I don't know where we would have been right now."
But Soliat did not feel grateful, she felt embarrassed. How would she face him?
"Hmmm?" His hand got to her undergarment.
The clinking of metal got their attention and Soliat was glad when he removed his hand. The father of the deceased, Mr. Bilal, climbed on stage and they all stood up.
"I'm actually surprised people came for this, as if they cared about this girl," Edegbe said to Efe.
"They have connections with the man, that is enough care."
He, knowing his reply would raise an argument, did not reply. Mr Bilal started talking, in Hausa, in a voice that told sorrow and Edegbe listened to his non stop jabber until he and all the other guests gave a one minute silence for the deceased. Edegbe was not familiar with death and so he actually felt a deep sense of unfulfillment, from the woman whose child had died, to the girl whom they were paying their respect to, and the child whose life had been lost in the stampede. Three destinies destroyed, three dreams crashed. He sighed.
After the one minute silence, he was amongst the people who walked up to where Amina's picture was hung and offered a little prayer. It was not her fault that she had to be born to her kind of parents, neither was it her fault that her short life was unfair. He sighed again.
"You have a good heart, Edegbe." He heard Yasmin's voice, knowing she had followed him. He asked her, as he gave way for the people behind him. "Are you familiar with things like this?"
"I'm a paramedic, half of the people we rush into an emergency unit are people we know won't make it out of there alive, some die in the ambulance."
"Do you have any children?"
"No, I don't."
"Oh."
"You think that's the reason I can't sympathize with her? Because I don't have children?"
He thought for a while. "I don't have children myself but I sympathize with her, so I believe it's a thing with the person."
"Well, she's dead."
He nodded. "Yes, there's no need spilling over cried milk. Oh Jesus, I meant there's no need crying over spilled milk." Embarrassed, he looked to his right to watch other guests pay their homage, patting Mrs. Bilal who was sobbing, and thought the crackling sound he heard was from elsewhere but when he looked back at Yasmin, sure enough, she was laughing.
It stunned him to speechlessness. It was the first time he saw her face stretch into a smile, more laughing. He blinked, forgetting the embarrassment and when she stopped, he told her, "Do that again."
"Do what?"
"Laugh, laugh again." But the excitement had passed and she did not laugh. "So you know how to laugh? Or smile?"
"I'm not from Mars," she replied.
"That's true, but you should smile more often, you looked beautiful." She stared at him. "I mean, you're a beautiful woman already but—"
"I know." Then she started to walk away from him.
He chased after her. "Let's go out tomorrow."
She halted her steps. "What?"
"You said you wanted to spend time with me, I don't know why you want to spend time with me and I don't know why I want to spend time with you too but let's go out tomorrow."
"Are you asking me out on a date?"
He blinked. "No, it's not a date."
"What then is it?"
"We'll just get to know ourselves. I thought you said you wanted to spend time with me?"
"Yes, but not when you can't even give it a name."
"Fine, Yasmin, fine. It's a date. You know how you said you liked what I said about keeping your gift by the window? I want to do more things you'll like."
She paused as if considering. "I will think about it. How is your wound?"
"Fine, and don't think about it. I don't want to go home wondering what your answer will be."
"I'll think about it. You can decide not to wait if you don't want to, but I'll think about it."
"Women and their initial gra-gra," he murmured. "You are a very difficult woman, Yasmin."
"Difficult is good. If you don't have anything else to tell me, can I leave?"
"I don't understand you at all. You keep poking me and troubling me when I'm not looking in your direction. But when I do, it's as if you can't stand my presence." He exhaled. "Why did you kiss me, Yasmin?"
"I did tell you the reason."
He scoffed. "Does that even make any sense? If I kissed you and gave you that as a reason, would you accept it?"
"If you kissed me, Edegbe, I won't ask you why you did. But you can't even do that."
"What?"
"Kiss me?" she replied. "You can't do that."
He glanced briefly at her lips before averting his gaze. "Don't test me, Yasmin."
"I dare you." She took a step and stood in front of him. "I dare you."
It was a moment when the world halted, and when time stopped and everybody disappeared and it was just the both of them left, and without thought, he reached out to her. "You asked for this, Yasmin." And his lips met hers and as he felt a melting in his heart, he realized how much he didn't want the moment to pass.