Chapter 40

Chioma's POV.

"Wait first, so all these happened yesterday?" Amanda asked as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge. It'd only been a few minutes since she returned home from work, her parents were upstairs and Agozie left a long time ago. Things were a little awkward between us, so I was happy that he left.

"Yes and that's why I want to leave" I said and Amanda placed the bottle of water on the counter and stared at me.

"Why? Who is chasing you?" She asked and I let out a sigh.

"No one. I just felt it'd be better to head over to my new home" I replied, a hint of sarcasm in my voice.

"You're serious? But I thought you didn't want to go, what made you change your mind?" She asked and I shrugged, sitting on top of the kitchen island.

"Nothing in particular. Actually, I don't want to keep living in people's houses and letting them take pity on me. I mean, the mainland might not be that bad. It could actually be a nice place... Okay, I'm telling hefty lies right now" I blurted.

"Yeah, I figured" Amanda replied as she washed her hands in the sink.

"I'd have to leave eventually" I said and she turned off the tap and looked me in the eye. "I'm even going job hunting tomorrow, I think it's time I get up my lazy butt and be independent" I grinned and Amanda shook her head in disbelief.

"Do you even know what you sound like to me?" She asked.

"A confident and independent young woman" I replied and she rolled her eyes at me.

"You wish" she scoffed. "You sound extremely stupid to me, and confused. Like girl, you were the same person that made a fuss out of the issue last week. The same person that bluntly refused to go there, and now you're suddenly feeling all confident about going. That's not how life works, Chioma. Sometimes, you should really think" She continued, her voice withheld so much seriousness that I felt like the kid in this conversation.

"I am thinking" I argued.

"No, you're not, you don't know what you want. Tomorrow you'll come and tell me a whole new and improved story concerning this issue. For Pete's sake, Chioma you don't even know how to cook! And neither do you even know how to do any chores, how on Earth will you survive? I really think you should apologise to your father, he__"

"That's enough!" I warned her, putting my hand up to shush her. "I'll manage on my own. I know you're worried and all that but that's why you're my bestie, if I need help then I'll give you a call" I replied and she rubbed her temples in thought.

"Oh Chioma, how do I mould sense into you? Just tell me how and I'll do it" she groaned and I hissed at her, eyeing her from head to toe.

"I'll act like you didn't just say that" I said to her and she chuckled, drying her hands with a hand towel and coming to seat next to me.

"And what about, you-know-who?" She asked and I looked at her in confusion. She face-palmed herself and looked at me in a really funny way.

"Femi na. I thought you guys were finally getting along and all that" she said and I sighed.

"Oh, him. He's fine" I replied, getting down from the island and heading to the living room.

"You know that's not what I meant!" Amanda hollered from the kitchen and finally joined me in the living room.
"I meant, how far your relationship na? Why can't you just stay at his house?" Amanda asked and I sighed and looked her in the eye with a sad smile on my face.

"His parents probably hate me now. I don't want to burden them by being there, you won't understand what I'm saying, so don't bother asking any further" I replied dismissively.

"Of course I'll understand you. Why are we friends if I can't understand you? Talk jare!" She replied, taking off her heels.

"Well, I'll feel somehow if I stay with them. Like, I don't know if you understand this but...they were present at my house when all that showdown took place and I'm pretty sure they were disappointed" I said, as memories from that day flooded my head. "And staying with them will make thingsΒ  feel all awkward, I don't know if you get what I'm saying" I added and she nodded her head in understanding.

Amara hasn't even called me since then, she probably even hates me, and my mom? I'm pretty sure she despises me with every fibre of her being. In fact, I'm sure they all hate me, it seems like I don't even exist to them. If they still cared, then they would've called but they didn't which only means one thing; they don't care. I wasn't even expecting my parents to be concerned about my whereabouts but I silently hoped Amara would at least call me. Knowing she probably hates me, hurts me so much.

"Chioma!" Amanda tapped me on my shoulder and I immediately came back to the reality of what was going on around me.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just thinking about something" I replied.

"About what?"

"Nothing. What were you saying again?" I asked, in attempt to change the topic.

"Oh yeah, I was asking if you've spoken to Femi" she replied and I let out a sigh and slouched on the couch which we were currently sitting on.

"What is doing you? Answer me jorr!" She said.

"We spoke but, I was mean to him, as usual" I answered without looking her in the eye. I've spoken rudely to Femi and on so many occasions but for some reason I felt really guilty about today's own. I guess I just let out my frustrations on him. And that made me feel like the worst person on plant Earth. I mean, he has helped me so much and the least I can do to thank him is to, at least, be a little nice to him.

"Why?" Amanda asked.

"I-" and then I told her all that had happened, and she listened attentively with keen interest. I watched her shake her head in disappointment when I was done with my narration and I immediately knew she'd preach to me about how wrong my actions were.

Like I don't already know that.
Sigh...

"You have a serious problem. Call him and apologise, now. Cause me, I can't be here and watch you dispose such aΒ  valuable person out of your life all because you're too proud to actually admit it. He has helped you, too much. And the least you can do is to be grateful for it, even if it's in the slightest of all ways. Femi does not deserve that kind of treatment, God knows if I were him I would have left you for good. In fact, I would have insulted your life and destiny, in fact, I would've finished you with my mouth. Omo! You for die for my hand! You don't even know me, I can be very wicked, you know that?" Amanda said with all seriousness in her voice. "My friend! Pick the freaking phone and dial his freaking number and freaking apologise to him. Be fast or I kill you, I swear to God who made me! Maka Chukwu Maka Chineke, if you don't call him right now, you'll know that I can be very heartless" She continued, putting her index finger into her mouth, pulling it out and raising it up in the air. "Alaye! Start dialing the number fast fast! No time for nonsense at all!" She warned and I slowly gulped and reached for my phone.

"I'll call him, sheesh!" I muttered and she grinned.

"Very good. Oya oh! Be fast with it, I don't have all day abeg!" She said and I immediately dialed his number. "Put it on speaker phone so I can listen too" she grinned and I groaned and did as told, she had her heels in her hand and held it right next to my face. So there's every tendency that she'd use that murder weapon on my face and totally disfigure it without looking back. Amanda is just that crazy.

"Hello?" Femi finally answered and I let out a shaky breath before replying, with Amanda staring murderously at me while pulling the pointy heel of her shoe closer to my face and mouthing a"talk" to me.

"I, uh, I called to apologise. I shouldn't have spoken that way to you, I was angry at someone else and pissed out and I took it out on you instead" I said, cringing at my own words. I barely meant any of those things I said.

"I'm sorry, is this Chioma? Chioma Aniobi?" He asked and I rolled my eyes and tightened my fists.

Who else?!

"Who else do you think is talking?- ouch! What the butt is- ouch!" I exclaimed as Amanda stepped on my feet, real hard, to keep me from saying something rude.

"Be nice, will it kill you?" She whispered and I groaned, slowly rubbing my sore feet.

"Is that why you had to step on my feet? I__"

"Hello? What's going on?" Femi's voice interrupted and I let out a sigh and swallowed all the harsh words that came rushing into my head, deleting all the puns and sarcastic replies in my mind all at once.

"Uh, it's nothing. I just bit my tongue, nothing serious" I lied and Amanda gave me a thumbs up.

"Now you have sense" she whispered to me.

"Okay. Well, Chioma I'm not mad at you anymore. I just wish you'd learn to calm down when you're angry, self-control is an important tool during times like that" he said and I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

"I know that!- ouch!" I yelped but stopped when Amanda stepped on my feet, really hard this time, and I immediately got the message and swallowed my sass. "I mean, what I meant to say is; that's great advice" I replied instead.

"Um, Chioma, are you sure you're okay? You don't sound like your normal self" he replied, a hint of uncertainty and doubt in his voice.

Amanda gave me a warning look and her feet hovered over mine, waiting for the right moment to step on it. I immediately decided against any rude remarks and decided to be polite instead.

"Yeah. I'm okay, I just had a good rest a while ago and I'm feeling all giddy once again" I lied.

"You sure? You sound, um, nicer than usual. And that's really... rare" he replied and I stiffened the urge to grunt and replied him in a sickly sweet manner.

"I'm good. Perfectly fine" I replied.

"If you say so. Do take care of yourself, I'll try visiting one of these days. How's that?" He asked, his voice lighter and extremely gentle. Something about it made my heart lighten a bit and that smile of his flashed before my eyes, causing a smile to tug at the corner of my lips. His smile was just that captivating, so much that I wondered if he casted a spell on those who beheld his smile. It was so bewitching, yet gentle, calm and assuring all at the same time.

"That sounds great" I finally replied and I could hear him chuckle.

"Really? Are you being serious? The you I use to know would reject abruptly without thinking twice" His voice withheld so much enthusiasm and knowing that he was happy about me being nice to him, made me smile too. A smile stretched across my face and grazed my lips with it's gentleness, one that I was sure couldn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah... I'm sure" I replied.

"Okay then, how's Saturday?" He asked and I nodded my head in response, forgetting that he couldn't see me do that.

"Saturday is just fine" I replied, shocking myself with the sickening sweetness of my voice. I cringed inwardly at this, I've never EVER spoken to Femi this way. It all feels weird, I'm used to being all sassy and rude to him. So much that being nice to him feels a little nauseating.

"Bye then. We'll talk later" he said.

Hope not. I can't handle another moment of niceness, I can't take it!

"Bye" and then I immediately hung up.

"See? Did you die now? Sometimes be nice to people, it'll really help you" Amanda said and I rolled my eyes, major eye rollercoaster.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever" and with that, I turned on the TV to watch a movie while Amanda headed upstairs to freshen up ajd have a change of clothes.

* * *
Femi's POV.

I was about heading out with Damola when I got a call from Kunmi. I retrieved my phone from my pocket to answer it and discovered it was a video call.

"Kunmi baby! What's up na?" Damola hollered and came to join the conversation.

"I'm fine" Kunmi chuckled and smiled.

"How are you, dear? And how's Abuja treating you?" I asked, sitting down on my bed with my car keys now in my pants pocket.

"Good. And from the looks of things, I might be returning to Lagos by Monday next week" she replied and I smiled, happy that she'd finally return home. I was hoping we'd have time to gist and kid around like we used to, before I left for the US. We were so close and sometimes I'd sleep over at her house for days. And being the stubborn young boy that I was back then in Secondary School, I'd sneak out of the house and we'd hang out all day at her place or an arcade where we both played lots of games and just lazed around. I'd ditch schoolwork and assignments just so we could have some fun. Those were really crazy days, I wasn't even half as close to Damola like I was to Kunmi back then.

"That's great, baby boo! I'm missing you like mad eh, you left me all alone with this fool here. This idiomatic expression that refused to have sense" Damola said and I shook my head at his level of stupidity. Kunmi laughed at what he said and I smacked his head playfully with a goofy grin on my face.

"Have sense! Have sense for once in your life! Be wise! Idiot!" I said while smacking his head.

"You're seeing what I'm saying, right? It's alright! I'm clearly being maltreated here, I'll just drink Sniper and die or even hug transformer and get electrocuted. Then you guys will understand my importance" Damola said and Kunmi and I burst into fits of laughter.

"See this one oh! Who is begging you? Who you? Who you help? Go ahead na, I'll even give you t-fare" I replied and he playfully glared at me.

"That's it! I'm jumping off the balcony right this instant. You guys are taking me for granted" he said and we shrugged.

"It is what it is. If you know, you know" Kunmi grinned.

"You both are not okay. Malignant apes! Shapeless amoebas! Spineless anacondas!" Damola said and we all laughed at his words. The fool in him just refuses to depart from him. His inner mumu is bound to live with him forever.

Mumu extra!

"Only one person"...

__________________________

Aaand, that's it for chapter 40!!βœ¨πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰πŸŽ‰

Thank you so much guys for all your support, we wouldn't have made it to chapter 40 without all your support and God's grace. Thank you all so so muchπŸ’ƒπŸ’ƒπŸ’ƒπŸ₯‚

Please tell me what your opinions are on this chapter.
What do you think will happen next?
And Agozie, what do you think he's trying to do? Any guesses?😏
Please, do share your opinions in the comment section, don't be shy, we're all friendly and I definitely don't bite.

KK, so that's all for now.
Till my next update,
Bye...

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