She wasthe only one in the lounge, but I could see a man standing behindthe bar. His back was turned to me, so he wasn't in a position tosee me coming.
“Hello,” I said. I noticed thatmy voice sounded deeper than usual. The sight of her had impactedeven my vocal cords.
“Hello,” she replied, with acharming smile showing perfect white teeth. If I thought I wassmitten before, now I knew I was dead meat.
“Are you a guest here?” Iasked.
“Yes,” she replied.
“It can’t be dull around here,then,” I said and she laughed. She came forward and extended herhand.
“You are?” she asked, as weshook hands.
“Philip Newman,” I said, holdingher hand far longer than was necessary.
“Maria Marshall,” she replied,in no hurry to remove her hand from mine. She looked up at me, intomy eyes. “You are on the big side, Mr. Newman.” She said this, asshe looked at her hand, which was very small in mine.
“You’re verybeautiful, Miss Marshall,” I observed. I discovered two thingsabout Maria Marshall. She was a flirt, and she had a wild temper; both proclivities couldbe easily aroused.
“Listen to me,Philip,” Bobby had once told me. “It is difficult to know if a girlis genuinely interested in you, or is just playing hard to get. But if you stubbornlypersist, despite the cold reception and all the odds stackedagainst you, you will know at the end of the day. You may learnthrough hurt pride, disgrace and humiliation or throughacceptance.” Now and then, Bobby said something sensible one could relate with.
I was in the lounge onehot,sunny afternoonreading a Playboy magazine. Actually, I was just flipping the pages andlooking at the pictures. I was bored and slightly drunk, which wasunusual for me. After I came out from the hospital, I had promisedmyself that I would stay away from alcohol and hard drugs for life.But from time to time, a great depression would come upon me, outof the blue. Dark thoughts about the past would seize and weigh medown … ona couple of occasions, I felt like killing myself. Most times, Iwould take a walk around the neighborhood and by the time Ireturned, my head would have cleared. But on that morning, the depression wasterrible and I decided to drown my misery in a bottle.
Amovement caught my eye and I looked up from the magazine. It wasMaria Marshall. She had just entered the lounge and gone to the barsection. As she walked to the bar, she swung her hipsprovocatively. She always sent my heart racing.
She sat on one of the stools atthe bar. I closed my magazine, summoned the courage, and walked over to join her. Iobserved that she was having a coke when I got to the bar. I satdown beside her.
Lately, she had been runningaround with Nagoth, and hadn't been paying me any attention.
“Hello, Sunshine,” Isaid.
“Hello,” she replied, notlooking at me.
“Let mehave whatever she's having, Mallam,” I said to Ayuba, who was behind the bar. “You have been hiding away fromme,lately,’ I toldher, as Ayuba brought my drink.
“You thinkso?” she asked, sipping her drink indifferently.“I didn'tknow.”
I justcould not say where exactly I had gone wrong. We no longer seemedto have the flow we initially had.
“I know so,” I said. “How aboutwe take our drinks to my room?” I asked her in what I felt was aromantic tone.
“What is so special about yourroom?” she asked.
“Drinks always taste a lotbetter in my room,” I said. She laughed.
“You are drunk, Philip,” shesaid.
“You thinkso?” I asked. “I didn't know.”
“I know so,” shereplied.
“How about my proposition?” Iasked.
“My drink tastes just finehere,” she said.
“I guess you are saving it allfor lover boy, Nagoth.” I said.
She looked at me, for the firsttime with some annoyance. “Saving all what?” she asked and I saidsome things that I donot want to repeat. The next thing I knew, her drink was in my faceand all over my shirt. Then, she walked out of the lounge. Ayubasympathetically handed me a clean cloth and I wiped my face, butseveral eyes had witnessed my humiliation. I could also hear somelow chuckles. I couldn't blame anyone but myself; I had asked forit. Bobby was right about the hurt pride, disgrace andhumiliation.
Maria had so many sides to her,that it was often difficult to understand her. She had graduatedfrom the Cross River State University of Technology,with a degree inChildcare Education. She had specialised in Child PsychologyEducation and taught children suffering intellectual disabilities.She often helped out in one of the schools for specialchildren in Obudu. She volunteered at the school when she came to theLodge.
I didnot speak with Maria after that episode at the bar, until the daybefore she died. I was coming out of the lounge and she was goingout of the Lodge. She was wearing a sky blue skirt-suit that huggedher body; her jacket was fitted around her slender waist,accentuating her lovely curves. She seemed to be in a hurry and hadbumped into me. We stared at each other. It was our first physicalcontact since that day.
“Maria, I’ve been looking for anopportunity to apologise for my behaviour the other day. I’msorry.”
“It is okay, Philip,” she said.“You were drunk.”
“But that’s no excuse to act theway I did,” I said.
“I forgive you, Philip. Now,you're in my way.” And she made to push past me.
“Hey easy, what’s the bighurry?”
“I’m late for school,” she said.“We have special programmes today and tomorrow.”
“What is it all about?” I askedher.
She gave me a quick breakdown.It was the end of term and the school was organising a Christmas party. Several things were needed tobe in place for the occasion and she was the person in charge ofthese arrangements.
“Philip, do you know where I canfind someone who would dress in a monkey costume and amuse thechildren for free?”
“You have found him,” I said.“That’s if the costume will fit me.”
“You are adarling, Philip. I’m sure the costume will be just your size. Comewith me,” she said, and I went with her.
Thecostume fit me perfectly. I danced and did monkey-jumps, as thechildren pulled my tail,
