LILIES OR THORNS 5

CHAPTER 5-BATTLE LINES

“Nne na so I see am o” said an excited Uju “I have a date with my childhood crush o, it seems my luck is here o” she laughed while listening to what Loretta was saying.

“Uju jiri ya nwayoo take it easy, you sound so excited. Don’t be so desperate o, or else you’ll sound like a wonderful prey. Every lizard crawls on its belly so you don’t know what’s in the belly. That you like him as much as you used to doesn’t mean he likes you too. He ...”

“Desperate kwa! Loretta cheta onwe gi mind yourself o, no spoil my mood. No take your Reggae spoil my blues o, make I waka abeg”.

Loretta was such a kill joy. She told her to get a man and when she finally found her childhood crush that was still into her, Loretta wanted to spoil everything.

Uju felt as excited as a young girl experiencing puppy love. Easy’s family and her uncle were tenants in the same compound. Even though she was older than him, they liked each other a lot and they dreamt of a future together. May be that future was here.

She looked at the mirror one more time and she was ready to meet her heart throb!

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“Uju, you look ravishing” said a smiling Easy.

“She almost blushed. “Thank you and you’re still the fine boy you used to be. All your girlfriends must be on your case and please don’t say you don’t have because that’s going to be the biggest lie I’ve heard.”

Easy laughed. “I don’t have many girlfriends; I just have one fiancée that’s all. I don’t want to be like King Solomon.”

Uju’s heart sank. She had hoped he would be free from ties so she could be free with him and...”

“Uju are you alright, you look lost”

“I’ve got this nagging stomach upset that comes with headache. It really weighs me down, I think I need to go home. Please can you give me a ride?” said a disappointed Uju.

“No problem, try to see a doctor later” he said as he signalled to the waiter so he could pay the bills.

She lived at Awoyaya and since the road was traffic free, he arrived there in no time.

“I’m really sorry for spoiling this dinner. Come in for a drink.”

“If you insist.” said Easy.

Thank God he came in. She served him a drink while she made Semovita for her remaining Uziza soup. While he was eating, she changed into very seductive. He tried to complain but with her irresistible figure, he gave in.

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A phone call brought him back to planet earth. A sleepy Easy reached for the phone, said “Hello” and listened.

“What? When did this happen?” Easy jumped up as his sleep disappeared.

“Ok, I’ll be there” when he dropped the phone, he noticed he was in a different environment.

“Hi dear” said a sleepy Uju, “did you enjoy last night, I bet you did”

“Uju, I’ll talk to you later” he said as he dressed up, put toothpaste in his mouth and hurried out of her apartment. He received a call from one Doctor Gani who told him Ene was in his hospital. Being a Sunday morning, his car ate the distance between Awoyaya and the hospital in Surulere in 40 minutes. Thankfully, the money he made from the last two bets had put his car back on the road and cleared of more of his debts.

Read: Lilies or thorns 4.

He rinsed his mouth and dashed into the hospital. A voice saying “hello sir” reminded him he should have approached the receptionist first so he corrected himself quickly.

“Good day sir, how may I...”

“I’m looking for Ene, Ene Richards. She was brought here during the night”

“Hold on let me check, ok, you have to see the doctor. Go upstairs, second door by your right.”

Easy ran upstairs and tried to calm his shaky and sweaty palms. 

“Sir, you called me that Ene was here.” 

“And you are?”

“Easy, Ezekiel”

“Oh, I see, please” said the doctor as he pointed to the chair. “A lady was rushed in about erm” said the doctor as he checked his wristwatch “90 minutes ago, all she said was your name so we searched her phone and saw your contact and called you.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Well, she was run over by a car and we need a deposit of five hundred thousand Naira before we can commence any treatment.” He cleared his throat. “That’s our policy here.” 

Easy began to sweat, all he had was 175,000 of which he was supposed to give Akin the 50,000 he borrowed. He asked the doctor for the account number and he did a transfer of 155,000. 

He asked the doctor to start the treatment while he went out to get the balance. He called a couple of friends who were able to raise 50,000 for him.

He remembered Fatimah. He knew she would be scared to death not knowing where her friend was; moreover, she should be able to raise some money for Ene. They hardly spoke since when they were in school because he tried to date her but she acted like she was too good for him and he knew she was angry when Ene welcomed his attention. 

Now, the story was different. Ene’s life was on the line and this was more important.

He dialled her number and she didn’t pick. This was her problem she was too full of herself. He didn’t plan to back down so he kept calling her.

“Yes” was the awkward answer he heard on the other side. 

He swallowed his pride and responded “Fatimah it’s me ...”

“I know who it is. What is your problem?”

“Ene had an accident and she’s in ICU. We need to save her life. Can you come over, the hospital is off Bode Thomas.”

“When you went to injure her, what were you thinking? Now you want to spoil someone’s day.” She hissed. “you know what, I’m surprised you have the nerve to call me. You shameless fool. You”

“Fatimah please I’m talking about Ene’s life here. I’ll send you the address now. Just come” said Easy as he hung up.”

How great was the day going to be?

Photo credit: datingforsingleslikyou.wordpress.com

Watch out for the next part on Sunday.  

        

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