Chapter Six
MY FIRST MEETING with Albert had been purely accidental. I ran into him. Yes, literally. I was running out of a shop in Ajidi on a rainy night and began crossing the road when his car came to a screeching halt barely two feet away from me. I stood in the middle of the street, stunned at what almost became the end of me when this dark figure took my hand and led me to a safe spot in the corner. The streetlights were off, and high up in the sky was the crescent left over by the waning moon. He muttered something as he tapped me lightly on the cheek to get me out of my daze. The few people who had seen the near-accident stood by, watching and chattering.
“Give her room to breathe,” Albert had pleaded. He had been trying to say something, and the increasingly noisy crowd wouldn’t let him hear himself, let alone get across to me.
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“Are you okay?” he repeated slowly.
“I can’t hear you.”
“Move... move,” he pleaded, waving his hand at the crowd.
Some unwillingly dispersed, while a handful meandered still.
“You,” Albert said, pointing at me. “I’m not sure what’s going on in your mind, but you should have known better than to step out on the street like that.” He spoke in a patronizing tone.
At first, I was so bewildered that I could not think of the right words to say to him. I simply peered at him. I did not like this rude stranger at all.
“I should have known better?” I whispered when I finally found my voice. “What does that even mean?”
“Hey! I was only trying to help. Calm down!”
“I should calm down?” I yelled. What kind of person says that to someone they almost ran over?”
“No one talks to me like that! Does she know who I am?” he asked, shooting a glance at the people standing around.
“Maybe the nearest psychiatrist hospital will have the answer to that question,” I said, scoffing at his arrogance.
“What did you say?”
I could have sworn that I saw the veins on his neck popping in the dimly lit street as the people that witnessed the altercation between us chuckled to themselves. Ignoring his rants, I emerged from the horde, but I could feel his eyes watching my back as I jumped into a waiting taxi and headed straight for my hostel.
* * *
The following day, Amah, who was attending the same university in Ajidi, barged into my room as I tried to catch a few minutes of sleep and announced that I had a visitor in the lobby. Standing at five-feet-five-inches tall—the same height as me—Amah’s ebony black skin glistened in the midday light as she wiggled her tiny waist in the fitted camisole dress she had on as she spoke.
“Is it the dry cleaner’s boy?” I asked, getting out of my bed, happy that the clothes I’d sent for cleaning were finally being delivered.
“Dry cleaner ke?” Amah chirped. “Except if the dry cleaner wears a two-thousand-pound designer watch.”
“Amah, who is it then? Doesn’t this person have a name?”
“He didn’t give his name. I heard him asking the caretaker for Ona, and I offered to come and get you. Did I commit a crime?” she asked, chuckling and shaking her head.
“It’s probably someone from my grandmother. But she just sent my uncle with some provisions last week. Anyway, I won’t put it beyond her to start worrying if I have everything I need so soon after—”
“Ona, believe me,” Amah interjected, her tongue still as sharp as ever, “this one is not from your grandmother.”
“Then who can it be?”
“Why don’t you go down and find out yourself.”
“Okay, Amah. I’ll be right down.”
I took off my robe and threw on some clothes before heading down the stairs leading to the lobby. From a distance, I noticed a tall, svelte stranger in faded blue jeans and a black dress shirt waiting patiently with his car keys dangling in his hand. The dark shadows from the night before had obscured his features, but as I got closer, I recognized Albert. Thinking there had been a mistake, I immediately turned on my heel, but he strode forward and stopped right in front of me, blocking me from moving.
“Hey, Ona,” he said.
“Excuse me?” I responded, attempting to slide past him as people walking by stopped to look at us.
“Can you at least hear me out?” he pleaded in a soft tone.
“What could you possibly say to me? Haven’t you said enough?” I responded.
“At least let me show you how sorry I am.”
“Start by telling me how you figured out my name and where to find me.”
He chuckled and glanced behind him.
“You’re acting like you’re not aware that the shop you were stepping out of yesterday is a popular university hangout. Many people knew who you were.”
“And they gave you my info?” I asked, staring at him in amazement.
“They knew I wouldn’t bite you,” he said with a smirk. “I told them I needed to check on you to make sure you were fine after the incident.”
In my confusion the day before, I had mistaken him for an ogre and assumed he must have been fifty or so based on his attitude. Now that I could see him in the light and his attitude was changed, I was certain he couldn’t be a day over twenty-six.
“I’m sorry for responding so harshly yesterday, and it’s nice of you to come and check on me, but I really should take some responsibility for the incident.”
“But I ran into you.”
“Yes, but I’m the one who ran into the street mindlessly. I should have looked where I was going.”
“Does that mean you accept my apology?” he asked, grinning widely. “Where are your parents? I feel I should meet them and offer an apology.”
“Why?” I said, rolling my eyes discreetly. “I live with my grandparents. My grandmother, actually. In Ntebe. Do you know where that is?”
“Do
