Utianle

Faith's car purred gently with me on the driver's seat, spinning the wheels like I did this often. An image from the last time I drove popped up briefly in my mind, a memory from a lifetime ago. My back was ramrod straight as I drove in through the big, black gates, slowly coming to a halt in front of a tree in the children's school.

A hand touched my back and I jerked forward, turning to face the accomplice. I offered Faith an ear-splitting grin when I realised it was her, going on to stick out my tongue at her when she shook her head. Asides from the initial fear that was caused by being away from driving for so long, this morning experience was exhilarating. I should have taken her offer up sooner.

I got out of the vehicle, carefully sizing up the different colours, models of cars parked in the large school compound that had unknowingly created a colour block. For the families who came with both parents, the mothers helped the children get to their classes while the fathers waited behind.

Pupils who didn't have the luxury of being driven trooped in, bags dangling from their shoulders as they conversed in pairs. Some of them made their way through a small, brown gate that separated the nursery school block from the primary block.

Esther stepped out of the vehicle first, followed closely by Emma. The beads she insisted on attaching to the ends of her cornrows jiggled with each step she took. They were as colourful as the letters used to write A is for apple, B is for ball on the large fence with pictures of those objects drawn beside it. But it only added to her beauty, my baby was growing up beautifully well.

She left us after a quick goodbye, taking off in the direction of the small gate. I watched her skinny, tall frame as if noticing her for the first time. Her uniform was a perfect fit. Her sparkling white socks contrasted so much with her black shoes like an aesthetic you didn't want to stop staring at. She had picked the shoes herself, now I knew why.

I could see the faint outline of the watch on her tiny wrist as she swung her hands back and forth. It was a gift from her father that she continued to wear even though it had stopped working. We never spoke about him but I knew she missed him. Sometimes I would catch her speaking to the watch like it was a person. Her own way of coping.

Waving at her retreating figure, I mimicked a high pitched voice, "bye-bye."

It was no surprise that she didn't turn back, the shocker would have been if she did.

Emma nudged me with his elbow, making me aware of his presence. I smiled. While his sister shied away from attention, he liked to be at the centre of it all and I was glad for that, however annoying he got. Esther's quietness could be quite unnerving.

Though he barely remembered his father, most of the memories he had of him being from pictures we showed him, he was the one to always talk about him.

"Will Uncle Kiki come and pick us today?" He laced his hands with mine, pulling me in the direction of his class.

Pretending to think about my answer, I shook my head slowly, "no."

"But I want Uncle Kiki."

"Me too," Faith interjected. She was leaning on the side of the car and I turned to glare at her. Thanks for the support, best friend.

"Uncle Kiki is busy."

"Let's go to his house."

This was not his first time of bringing this up, I had lost count of how many times he requested for Uncle Kiki and I was running low on promises to keep him from asking. In response, I quickened my steps, his class now looking farther than it actually was.

"No." He pulled his hand out from my grasp as soon as that word came out of my lips. My nostrils flared and I sighed. Why couldn't he ask for Umoh? Or better still, coin him a nickname as he did wit-

Don't think about him!

"I'll tell my teacher for you," Emma cried out, stomping his feet as he walked ahead.

My eyes twitched in mild annoyance. The bad guys were supposed to be reported to your mother, not the teacher. "If you tell your teacher, I will not buy you ice cream."

He spun to face me, his tears already dried up with a guilty smile on his lips. "I want vanilla."

That was the only flavour he could pronounce without any help. I smiled as he walked back to interlace our fingers together. Sometimes, I could swear he was doing all of this on purpose because he was aware of the control he had over the two females of the house.

We stopped at the front of his class and I helped him up the pavement. His class was near full, nursery kids didn't have to attend assembly. I waved at his teacher and she waved back, for a brief moment I wondered if Emma did ever report me or Esther to her. I shook my head, he wouldn't, not unless he was coerced.

His arms wrapped briefly around my neck and he murmured, "I love you."

"I love you," I replied with a quick peck to his cheek. Not only did he love attention, he never failed to shower you with it if he felt you were deserving and that was always.

I didn't leave until he sat close to the hijabi girl, Samia. Someone clearly has a crush. With a final wave at him, I left to join Faith.

"I want Uncle Kiki," was the first thing Faith said once I got into the car. She was back in the driver's seat, seatbelt already fixed.

"You don't even know who Uncle Kiki is," I replied, barely looking at her.

The key in the ignition turned before she responded, "I know he's not Umoh."

"Faith."

"Fine. Sorry." She didn't speak again until we were outside the school, "is he still coming?"

I fished out my phone from my pocket to call Umoh, he was supposed to meet us at the car dealers shop. I bit the inside of my cheek as his number rang uninterruptedly. We had planned this for days, even spoken about it as early as 5 am today.

"He's not picking," I volunteered to Faith who looked more relaxed when driving than I did. She kept mute. It was better than having her add this to her list of reasons why I shouldn't marry Umoh.

"Try again."

We were close to the dealer's shop now and I was starting to see the numerous cars decorating the entrance. I dialled the number again, there was no response.

Faith parked the car by the side of the broken fence but we didn't step out. Instead, I tried the number over and over again until I gave up. I needed him with us to avoid getting cheated. We had already confirmed our choice, all that was left was to make the payments and pick up the car.

My soon-to-be Uber driver had volunteered to go with us but I refused, his only job was to drive and remit a percentage to me every week. When it came to deals like this, women were not taken as seriously as they should, which was why I wanted Umoh here.

"I've been doing some research," Faith's voice broke me out from my thoughts and I twisted to face her. My gaze wandered to her outfit - white blazers paired with a chiffon top of the same colour that was tucked into her black trouser. A look she finished off with a pair of nude pumps.

The only makeup on her face was red lipstick and a winged eyeliner, she didn't need any other addition to look stunning. I chuckled at the differences in our attire. She was looking so corporate, ready to tackle this huge project kind of look while I was dressed in more of a Friday wear. Black jeans, a peplum top made from African print and flat sandals. My face was bare.

"What kind of research?" I asked sarcastically. Her job as an Accountant didn't require much research.

"Pre-Implantation Genetic Diagnosis and Bone marrow transplant."

Huh?

"Sounds like rich people things," I responded without thinking. I didn't know what those words meant and I didn't care to, not at this moment.

"King is rich," she replied, blinking rapidly and I rolled an eye at her response. When I said Faith never gave up, this was what I was referring to. Stubborn daughter of Eve.

"For two AS couples, you have a 75% chance of having healthy children. And if that's not the case, you can alter the baby's genotype." She continued from where she left off, ignoring the look of disinterest I was certain was plastered on my face.

"Or you could simply adopt," she whispered when I continued staring at her. She matched my stare with the same intensity, no remorse, no backing down, nothing! This friend of mine was unbelievable.

"You need to stop doing that your research."

"Don't shut down the idea without thinking about it," she argued back. I pursed my lips in utter disbelief, think about it? No way. I wasn't going to entertain the idea any more than she did. It was meant to remain what it already was - an idea.

"Faith, I'm not interested."

"Utianle, th-"

"Faith, stop it! I'm not interested."

"Fine, whatever. Get married to who you want." Her voice was tinged with hurt, probably disappointment too and I nearly apologised. She turned on the AC, then the radio, increased the volume until the car was drowning in the anchor's voice.

"You know that's not what I meant," I said, my fingers reaching to turn down the volume. I wasn't even sure what I meant anymore. I tried to pinch her cheeks but she smacked my hands away.

"I saw him, I saw King," she spoke again after what felt like minutes.

"How?"

"With my nose," she replied with a sneer, going on to add, "how else if not with my eyes?"

"Sorry," I muttered. I was actually asking how their meeting was possible because they worked in different establishments.

Rephrasing my question didn't seem like the best option now so I placed my hands in between my laps. She would calm down eventually, her anger never lasted.

"He sounded very angry," she spoke of her own volition and I smiled. Her anger never stopped her from voicing out her opinions and I had been counting on that. "I think you should call him."

Call him to say what? Hey, it's me, as you know I'm getting married. Do you mind an invite?

I tsked, reflecting back on her words. She said he was angry. If that was truly the case, he would probably drop the call as soon as he heard my voice.

An angry King, was that even possible? I wanted to take her words with a grain of salt but she had no reasons to lie. Well, maybe now she did. Still, she wouldn't go through the troubles of making up such stories. Was I going to call him? Definitely not but she didn't have to know that.

My phone rang, saving me the stress of giving her an answer. The excitement soon gave way for annoyance when I saw the caller, it was Umoh and the call was brief.

"He's not coming," I said after I dropped the call. Umoh claimed to have been in a meeting with his record label, only took a break to return my calls.

My left eye twitched furiously as I recounted his reasons to Faith, flimsy as they were and I bit the inside of my cheeks to stay calm. We agreed he would be here waiting for us, it wasn't a spur of the moment decision. I told him a week ago.

"I'm not surprised," Faith murmured under her breath, it wasn't meant to be heard but I did anyway. Truly, she wasn't surprised.

That fact alone made me angry, I wanted to scream, ask him why he always ditched our appointments at the last minute. More so, I wanted to know why I always forgave him, condone such behaviours from him.

Why was I trying so hard to make him look like the good guy if he all he was going to do was prove me wrong?

"Are you coming out or not?" Faith asked, she had already gotten out of the car. I nodded, soon joining her on the road.

Making a quick check of everything in my bag, I nodded to myself. Our meeting inside would determine if I was going to come out a proud owner of a new car or not.

*****

Of late, it has become more difficult to write Uti's POV, I have no idea why. She wouldn't let me sleep until I wrote this, woke me up by 2:41 am. It's weird what these characters do to their creators.

Also, if you are unfamiliar with the terms Faith used, as I'm sure some of you are, you can make some research of yours. Didn't want to bore anyone since I have very little concept of it myself.

Moving on ...

Book of the chapter: Ruby Red by dlcroisette. If you are like me who enjoys harlequin romance (read it for the most part of my younger days until I found Wattpad), I promise you will love this. It's complete so you don't need to request for updates.

Question: For the writers, what's the oddest time you have woken up to write?
What will you do if you think your best friend is making the wrong choice for a marriage partner?

I finally found a ship name for Umoh and Uti; Umuti or Umanle or Lemoh 😂😂🤣 Help me pick one. I'll be putting up the wedding invite soon.

Team Kuti, say hi.

Team Umanle, say hi.