I stepped out from my house one cool evening and was on my way to the provision store nearby when a young man got out from his car and approached me with a brisk smile on his face. He seemed to have been waiting for me in the car.
“Excuse me young lady?”
I turned around and took a quick look at him. He appeared to be in his early 30s. He had an oval shaped face with well-trimmed mustache & sideburns. His eyes had a mischievous twinkle that looked natural and warming. Clad in a grey coloured polo on top of black jeans trouser, he was good looking.
“Hello, i am Femi, i live in this neighbourhood” I saw you when you moved in last week, he said.
“Okay, cool”
“What’s your name?” He inquired.
“I am Uduakobong.”
“Oh, nice name! Wait! Are you from Calabar?” He asked.
“Well...not really, I am from Akwa Ibom.”
“Isn’t Akwa Ibom Calabar?” he asked with a quizzical look.
“Nope, Akwa Ibom is a state on its own while Calabar is the capital of Cross River State. We are the same people sha in terms of language and culture.”
“Oh, Akwa ibom the land of the “bong bong” people. Most of your names end with bong! Imaobong, Itoroobong, Enobong, Mfonobong, Iniobong etc.” Femi said smiling.
I giggled, “’Obong’ means ‘God’ so they are all lovely names.”
“Uduakobong is too long jor, I will be calling you Calabar girl” he said and continued, “Are you going somewhere? I can give you a ride”, He offered as he pointed towards his car, a shiny Toyota Hyundai parked by the side of the road.
“No thanks”, I politely declined.
Femi shrugged, “Okay, since we are both living in this neighbourhood, we’ll be seeing each other often. He flashed a suggestive smile and walked back to his car. In no time he slowly drove past me and waved to me, I didn’t wave back.
************
After three years of working in the Calabar office of Melena Pharmaceuticals, a big drug conglomerate as a deputy branch manager, I was promoted to the post of Branch manager and transferred to head one of the ten branches of the company in Lagos. This was an offer i couldn’t resist and I grabbed it with both hands as it came with an enhanced salary package and improved allowances. I had been living with my parents in our Marian Road apartment in Calabar. My parents were initially reluctant in approving the relocation of their single 27-year-old daughter to the big and wild city of Lagos. I myself was a bit apprehensive about the move. However, when my parents got assurances from Engineer Inyang, a close family friend resident in Lagos who promised to check up on me regularly, they sanctioned the move.
That was how i relocated from the Caanan city to Surulere, Lagos.
I am truly a Calabar girl because I have spent most of my life in Calabar. I was born and bred in Duke town, I schooled at Edgerly girls’ memorial school and studied Business management at the University of Calabar.
I moved over to Lagos and settled nicely in the city. Accommodation wasn’t an issue because the company provided a suitable apartment for me. My new position has been interesting so far and I am enjoying working in Lagos.
***********
“Ud you are welcome!” Chinasa greets me as i pass by her door. Chinasa is my next-door neighbour and we are on very good terms, she is more or less like a sister to me. Being relatively new in the area, I depend on her for many things.
“Thanks, dear, this your hair is fine o! I want to do this style when I loosen these braids. Who is your hair stylist?” I asked. Chinasa had mentioned to me in the morning about making her hair today, the design was just wow!
“Thanks, I will take you to her when you’re ready. Chinasa replied, “by the way who is that guy I saw you chatting with yesterday evening?”
“Oh, he is Femi, he says he lives in this area. He seems to be a nice guy.”
Chinasa let out a knowing sigh, “Ud please be very careful with Femi, he is like the devil walking to and from looking for young girls to devour!”
“Wow really?”
“Yes, he is a Cassanova. There is a rumour that he has a notebook where he writes down the name of his conquests and it is a very long list!”
“Na waoh, you don see the list? abeg gist me some more” i shifted closer to her.
“Seriously everyone here knows him, just be careful sha. You know how people talk…”
“Ok, thanks for the tip, don’t worry I have dealt with many of his likes and have come out unscathed. I really need to make this hair style....”
*********
It is a Tuesday evening, and I am sitting under one of the almond trees in front of my house enjoying the cool breeze. One thing I like about this neighbourhood is the serene environment. There is a calm aura that pervades everywhere. This is quite unlike what I heard in the past about Lagos being a noisy and feisty place 24/7.
Well, this area is a mini estate peopled by respectable folks. I have met several of my neighbours and they are all nice middle-class folks with shiny cars.
There is no PHCN power supply, and I am trying to finish up a book that I bought last month.
I hear the sound of a vehicle slowing down, I look up from the book and it is a Toyota Hyundai. The door opens, and a familiar face steps out, it is Femi. He is on a checked shirt on top of a brown chinos trouser. He is sporting a designer sunshade on his face.
“Hi Ud my Calabar girl, i just came around to say hi.”
“Hi Femi, how are you doing?”
“I am cooool. What’s up? What will you be doing tomorrow by 7 pm? Let’s go and watch Iron man 2 showing at Silverbird cinema.”
“No thanks, I will be busy’, I replied on the defensive, “How did you know my place?”
“Well, i just asked around and someone graciously gave me the right direction” he sheepishly replied.
“What’s that novel you’re reading? Femi asked, I gave the book to him.
“How Europe underdeveloped Africa by Walter Rodney” He is genuinely surprised as he reads the summary on the back page. “This is weird, why is a young lady like you reading such a boring book? You should be reading books like Fifty shades of grey and any of the harlequin romance series”.
“I am not your average young girl and i don’t dig romance novels” I replied.
“Interesting!” he smiles, “won’t you offer me a seat?” He asks.
“Sorry, bring the white plastic chair on the porch.”
Femi sits down and begins talking to me. He tells me he is from an affluent home; his dad is a political godfather in Lagos, and he works as a manager in one of his dad’s numerous companies. He says he is a hip-hop fan. I tell him Drake ain’t shit, he agrees wholehearted with me. He likes Eminem & Jay z. I tell him that I dig Nas, Kendrick Lamar, and Joe Cole.
“The best rapper alive is Eminem” Femi declares.
“No, I think Nas is better, Eminem is a commercial white boy while Nas is the underground master and rap god.”
“Have you listened to Shady CXVPHER, did you see how Eminem murdered the other Emcees?
“Yeah, but I still think Nas is the real deal!”
Femi changes the conversation; he is eager to please me. He says there is something about me that makes me stand out from other Calabar girls he has met in the past. He says he likes me and wants to get closer to me.
I turn down his request for my BB pin and he leaves disappointed promising to check back on me.
It is clear that he wants a relationship and is flaunting his wealth hoping to impress me.
I am used to being hit on by men right from my secondary school days. I grew rapidly as teenager, even some of my male teachers in secondary school had crushes on me. University was a totally different case. Only God knows how i managed to graduate from the university of Calabar with my dignity intact.
I just don’t get it; why are men so promiscuous? Why can’t they keep the little piece of meat hanging in between their legs in one place? I am 5 ft 8 inches tall, light skinned, a pretty face, aquiline nose, gap toothed, dimples and tall hot legs. I am an expert in politely rebuffing advances from men.
**********
It is Sunday, Chinasa and i worshipped at her church, Christ Holy Earthquake for the World International ministries. I am from a conservative orthodox Anglican background. I have not seen any Anglican church around here so I will have to make do with one of these Pentecostal churches. Chinasa says that her church is very spiritual and will open my eyes to the things of the spirit.
We were among the crowd that thronged out of the church at the end of the service. Chinasa waited for me; as one of the first timers I was being attended to by the members of evangelism unit who promised me a complete change of story and destiny, if I continue to worship in the church. After they had finished exhorting us and getting our contact details, they released us to go. Chinasa and I boarded a taxi back home.
Femi closes in on us from our back as we enter the estate gate.
“Hi girls, how was church service?”
“It was glorious, which church do you attend Femi? I asked him.
“Church ke? He is neither a Christian nor a Muslim, he is just like that” Chinasa fired.
“Ud babe, don’t mind her. I do attend church sometimes whenever I am in the spirit” he jokingly replied.
‘You should be going more often," I advised.
“Do you girls want some fruits? I bought some fruits when i went out this morning. I’ve got apples, bananas & oranges.” Femi said, he quickly ran to his car and opened the passenger’s door. He brought out a sack filled with fruits.
I am a sucker for fruits! How did this guy know that I loved fruits most especially ripe watermelons? I turned to Chinasa for approval, and she shrugged her shoulders as if to say why not? We collected a couple of round apples and two ripe bunches of bananas which reminded me of the ones I used to buy from Mma Akpan stall in Watt market Calabar.
“Can I have a word with you Ud?” Femi asked me. Chinasa was walking up ahead of us. I stopped and gave him audience.
“Are you stalking me? I asked him.
” No, I am not but it would be my pleasure to stalk a beautiful woman like you tonight”, he said with a sly smile and quickly continued “How about dinner tonight with me at Iniobong’s restaurant in Lawanson road? The place is owned by a Calabar woman. She prepares lovely Edikang ikong soup.” He cajoled.
“Not tonight, Femi, maybe sometime in the future, thanks for the fruits” i politely replied.
“Ud I love you….”
I had turned away and rushed up to meet up with Chinasa.
It is crystal clear by now that he is stalking me.
To Be Continued
By Iniobong Umoh