The Externals - Chapter Twenty-nine

 When I saw Zach standing outside my bedroom window the next morning, I was dumbfounded. I vocally begged my heart to give good reasons why he was smiling at me from that spot at that time of the day but my pleading didn't work. Instead, I could only think of him being there because he failed at perpetrating an evil act until the smart guy spoke to defend himself.

"I only came in because the gate was open in and I wanted to confirm if you're safe", He spoke calmly.

"Are you serious?" I hit myself on the head, remembering that my exhausted self forgot to lock it because I slept off after we got back from the trip in the evening.

"I totally understand", He sighed."Let's thank God nothing bad happened to you".

"Abi oo...please wait for me in the living room ", I told him then quickly joined him there since the outfit I was still wearing the outfit for the broadcast visit. 

The only reason I told him to sit there was because I was sure my aunt wouldn't have come home at that time of the day. Also, the rumor mongers in our street couldn't have been awake during that period so I doubted if they saw him walking into our home.

"I figured out you wouldn't be strong enough to cook this morning after the stress you went through yesterday and brought you this since omma said you like it", He gave a shopping bag with a flask containing 'tapioca' and a tin of peak milk.

"Awwn..that's so thoughtful of you. Thank you so much", I blushed.

"Come on, you deserve it. You did very well at the radio station", He complimented me.

"Really?" I said shyly. "Thanks for listening".

"It's my pleasure, miss", He voiced and stood up."I have to be on my way now".

"Okay. Thanks for coming. My regards to Omma and I.D", I followed him to the gateside.

"I'll make sure to deliver your message to them", He said and turned back. "If it's not too much to ask, would you mind coming me for Christmas lunch at my house? My mom's coming and I want her to meet you".

"Hmm..okay", I wanted to refuse his proposal because I thought my aunt would be around that day then I remembered that year's Christmas fell on a Sunday. Aunt Tolani wouldn't have missed church for anything. Even though they closed early, she still got home late due to her church's distance.

"Oh, my God! Thank you so much!" He replied excitedly and went out. The young man was so close to hugging me to show how happy he was I accepted his proposal, but had to control himself so he doesn't end up messing things up.

After taking the breakfast Zach brought, I washed the flask he used to bring it at the backyard, bathed and took a nap. Exactly at 4:00pm, my phone's alarm woke me so I wouldn't forget about the last rehearsal for our carol competition at Halima's house and I hurried there. As expected, my classmates used half of the rehearsal time to celebrate my success and Kenny wasn't left out. He was actually the one who made the celebration more interesting by getting me soft drinks and snacks. Still, I ended up sharing them with others.

Our performance at the carol competition was awful because John strained his voice to impress the girl he had a crush on. Okay, pinning the whole thing on him was cruel because every other person also played a role in our downfall. I mean we all tried too hard to sing the Pentatonix version of "little drummer boy" the exact way they sang it, knowing fully well that we didn't have the potential. To make matters worse, the host school insisted that their instrumentalists who never rehearsed with us play for us and Halima's gorgeous voice wasn't in a good mood that day.

In a bid to make us to make us forget our sorrow, John suggested we go unwind at a clubhouse after his dad dropped us at a bus station because he had to an urgent job and even I agreed with him. To conceal our identity, we all pulled off our school uniform's shirt and hid them in a plastic nylon bag that the shortest among us was told to carry. Thankfully, all the boys and girls wore tee shirts that fully covered their boobs and chest. The only one who didn't do that was still the shortest so Kenny told him to wear the other side of his uniform. Still, the security guards didn't question his weird fashion choice as we walked in because he hid in our midst and they were even too busy chatting to order us to stop for a search.

No one came out of the clubhouse with eyes redder than tomatoes, bruised bodies, or mouths that reeked of weed and alcohol. All we did in there was to joyously eat the barbecue fish the boys gathered money to get us with bottles of malt. Then, we started singing our favorite hip-hop songs in a way we never did while at the carol competition. Other people at the clubhouse who were impressed by our performance got up to take pictures and videos of us but we didn't mind. We were too engrossed and happy with what we were doing.

All of a sudden, we realized someone was missing among us and that person was none other than John. Immediately, Kenny volunteered to go look for him since he knew him more than anyone else, urging Omma to watch out for the safety of everyone else. In less than a minute, we saw him coming back to meet us again but our mind still wasn't at ease because John wasn't with him and he looked as though he's just seen a ghost!

Upon getting to our table, Kenny played us a recording which proved John wasn't with us because he was speaking with his dream girl near the grill stand and our mind was finally at peace. While listening to the voice note, we heard the girl agreeing to be his girlfriend and felt happy for him. Nevertheless, I had a feeling that the relationship wouldn't last too long because the girl seemed too good to be true.

On Christmas day, I did go to church with the best dress in my wardrobe, most expensive shoe I had and my Christmas cap which still had a faint smell of substances from the club we attended the other day because I forgot to wash it and couldn't afford to waste my almost-finished perfume on it. After service, sister Grace and her family members apologized to me concerning what happened the other day, which I had already forgotten about with two hamper packs. I also got to hear the amazing voice of my church's youth choir after a long time because teenagers were told to join the main church for service. Regardless of the recession in the country, my church was still able to serve its members big collars of jollof rice with chicken laps and a pack of juice. They also took some to a nearby orphanage home.

After the short Christmas service, I and two other girls who were my church buddies went to a teenage exco's house to get cake since she was celebrating her birthday, then we went to our homes. I didn't bother going to my bedroom to pull off my blue dress. I only pulled off my shoes on the rug in the living room, dropped my cap and earrings on the table, and started devouring my rice. It had fried plantains and the taste was heavenly. It was the best I'd ever tasted. I heard from Yemisi, my church bestie that the plantain was brought directly from a church members' farm to the church's kitchen for frying. And truly it had no staple taste whatsoever- Not like I could differentiate the taste of fresh plantain from the old one though. All I knew how to do was eat and eat until nothing was left in my cooler! Not even chicken bones! Well, we had no dog I could give them to.

After eating, I slept off because I was tired due to the distance I trekked from home to church then to my church member's house and back home. It was not until I heard a voice that my senses became alert again.

"Lily, wake up", The voice whispered. It didn't sound happy to interrupt my sleep.

"Oh..leave me alone jor", I said childishly, with my eyes still closed.

"I wish I could but my mom's already waiting for you. I can't afford to disappoint her", The voice became more dull.

"Oh, my God!" I got up, opened my eyes after hearing the mom word and saw Zach standing in front of me. "I'm so sorry".

"It's okay", Zach tried not to sound too disappointed. He couldn't even smile well or look me in the eye.

"I'll be right back", I went to my bedroom.

When I eventually got to my bedroom, I decided to dress the best way I could make it up to Zach. Rather than pick from the unamusing set of old clothes in my wardrobe, I looked into the traveling bags where I kept the nice outfits I got from my fashionista cousin when I went to my aunt's house for mid-term break and brought out that which got my attention. It was a black off-shoulder gown with white petal drawings and lines from the chest side to the upper belly side. After wearing it, I wore a long wooden earring to complement it with gladiator sandals. Then, I wore the curly wig my elder sister sent as a Christmas gift.

Zach's jaw nearly dropped when he saw me coming out of my bedroom, because the sound of the net protecting the main door maid him to look in my direction since he was lookingg elsewhere before. For a few seconds, he was dumbfounded. That almost made me feel like I was the worst-dressed female in the world but when he finally complimented my look, my mind became calm and I was ready to be the perfect girl his mom will approve of even if I wasn't sure I wanted to date him yet.

My sandals had no heels that could make me fall yet Zach choose to help me get get down from the pavement in front of my home. He started treating me as one would treat an eyeball to the extent of even openinh the gate for me - like my fragile hands would start itching me terribly if I did so. If only he knew allowing me open the gate myself would have been better.

As soon as Zach opened the gate, he saw my biological father and fear gripped him. Even though they had never met before and I never showed him his picture, he could easily tell because I was his carbon copy. He must have thought I did it intentionally but that wasn't the case. I asked dad several times if he was coming home for Christmas but he always replied me with a negative answer. So, how was I supposed to know he was going to show up at the most crucial time in Zach's life and disrupt things?