“Stop!” I shouted, causing her to jump. “Why did you do that?”
“I’ve asked you so many times to sit still while I’m plaiting your hair.”
“It’s not funny, Ifedi. The next time you hit me like that, I’ll hit you right back.”
“Sorry,” she said in a drawn voice. “I was just playing with you. You’ve been too morose these days. I wanted to wake you up.”
“And so what? Don’t play like that. I don’t like it.”
“I’ve said sorry. How are things with Albert?”
“So-so.”
“What does that mean?”
“How will I know? I’ll have to wait until I see him. I just hope I can look him straight in the eye after what happened yesterday.”
“I agree, and I hope you’ll do the right thing this time. You can go now,” she continued, tapping me again, gently this time. If you play your cards right, you just might be our next queen.”
“Haha,” I responded dryly.
Albert had been waiting nearly an hour by the time I got downstairs. He came towards me and reached out for a hug, but I retreated slowly from his embrace and took the seat next to him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, a sullen expression crossing his face.
“Nothing. I’ve been feeling a little sick lately.”
“You mentioned you were tired yesterday. Why don’t you let me take you to a doctor?”
“No. It’s not that kind of sickness. I’ll be fine after I rest for a day or two.”
“I hope so. What about my proposal? Have you had time to think about it? Will you marry me or not?”
“I don’t know. Not now,” I said beseechingly.
“Not now? When then? Could... Could you at least give me an idea of when I can expect an answer?”
“Albert, I said I don’t know,” I reiterated, sighing deeply. “Can you leave now? I need to head back to my room and finish something.”
I couldn’t possibly tell him right then that Okem was the one I wanted, not him. That would break his heart into so many pieces it would be impossible to put them back together.
“Ona, I honestly can’t fathom the reason for your change in attitude. I just can’t!” he said, getting up and leaving in annoyance, causing me further dejection.
* * *
That night, I dreamt that as I was walking down a path, a creature strode right past me, causing a slight tremor on the ground. As I was trying to regain my balance, it crept behind a shrub and glared at me with huge, glowing eyes, frightening me. I had woken suddenly from the nightmare and was sweating profusely. I could have sworn the face on the creature was of someone I knew very well, but I couldn’t say who it was with certainty.
In the morning, as I reflected on the meaning of my dream and wondering if it had something to do with Okem’s disappearance or even with the darkness I experienced the last time I was in Luenah, Ifedi rushed into my room wearing a sullen look on her face.
“Ona, there’s something I think you should know,” she said, sitting slowly by my bedside.
“Is Okem back?” I asked excitedly, pushing the covers away and scrambling to the other side of the bed to get up without obstruction.
“Ona, no. Okem is not back. And I don’t think you should keep torturing yourself because of Okem.”
“What do you mean?” I was angry that Ifedi did not understand the amount of pain Okem’s disappearance caused me.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “Even more so for what I’m about to tell you. Honestly, if I had known it would have caused you such grief, I wouldn’t have agreed to the plot.”
“Stop talking in riddles. Tell me what you want to say.”
“Okem asked me to pose those questions to you after we both overheard Albert propose.”
“I don’t understand,” I said, shaking my head non-stop while I waited for her to explain.
“I refused at first, but he begged me. He wanted to hear for himself who you would choose, him or Albert. I don’t think it ever crossed his mind that you would pick anyone else over him—”
“Wait! You’re saying Okem set all that up to figure out who I wanted between him and Albert?”
She nodded.
“I didn’t know—”
“How could you have agreed to such a thing?” I yelled, stopping her mid-sentence. “And why did you not alert me when I was saying those horrible things about him? Why?”
I pulled off the covers completely and paced the room angrily, shaking my head in disdain. Stopping at the window, a ray of the morning sun reminded me that I hadn’t experienced joy in a while.
“Ona, it didn’t occur to me at the time that you liked Okem this much. And what was I to do? It seemed to me that you really liked Albert too. Don’t blame me.”
“Well, it’s not your fault. His plan worked. He got the answers he needed for his burning questions and got burned in the end. If only he wasn’t so cocky and impatient, he would have waited to hear me out!” I was fuming, staring out the window but only seeing red.
“Okem was a hundred percent sure you would choose him,” Ifedi said. “He kept saying that your constant rejection was your way of testing his patience.”
“He said that?” I shrieked, turning around to look at Ifedi.
“Yes, he did.”
“Oh, God! He really thinks everything is about him. Does he think I play games like that?”
Ifedi rose from her position on the bed and grabbed my shoulders. She dragged me away from the window and gently guided me to the settee.
“What should I do now?” I sobbed, looking down in embarrassment.
I was angry at Okem, but he wasn’t there for me to take my anger out on him. I was even angrier at Ifedi for agreeing to such foolery, but I needed her to comfort me. Regardless, it felt like a betrayal. I raised my head to look at her face. At that moment, I remembered my nightmare from the night before,
