The Externals - Chapter Seventeen

 

A Lovely Afternoon Indeed😁🥰

Lily Allen, fond of studying intensively near her dad's hospital bed every evening changed her routine that particular day to fulfill the promise she made to Kenny. Aside from shortening her study time, she wore a pair of sunglasses she hated so much and started her mission impossible with a pair of Khaki shorts and a Sherlock Holmes t-shirt for inspiration. On her head was a pair of face black cap, which was part of the gifts Dad brought for her but she had no jewelry on her ears or neck.

There was not even a single defined hiding space in Halima's street so the poor heroine investigator had to keep moving from one spot to another under a hot sun that refused to chill, even with time passing by, to avoid being suspected. Regardless of how Lily stuck around Halima, she couldn't find anything against her. All Halima ever did was cook meals for her family, fetch water, help her neighbors make their hair, amend shoes on behalf of her grandpa, or grind pepper for her grandma's customers. In conclusion, she would make the perfect heroine for a book titled, "The African Child".

At some point, Lily regretted her actions. She came to realize how stupid it was of her to abandon her sick dad in the hospital and stalk a girl undeserving of it. Then again, she factored admiration as another reason for her stupid decision. If she hadn't admired Quinn, she wouldn't have been affected by his hostileness towards her and hence there wouldn't have been any need to seek solace in Kenny. Yet, another part of her mind assured her she did good by helping a friend in need. After all, he was also there for her when she needed him the most.

By the time Lily was returning home, it was getting dark so she decided to take a short route to prevent reaching the hospital late and making her Dad worry about her. As fate would have it, she saw two admirable couples from afar, which didn't help her feeling of inadequacy for Quinn. As she got closer to them, their identity became more glaring to the eyes and when she finally saw them filly, her legs couldn't move. Every part of her body became numb.

"Lily, it's not what you think...", Their Maths teacher was alarmed to see her.

"Babe, don't worry. Let me handle this", Halima bade him goodbye.

"What the heck is going on here?", Lily finally spoke with venom in her voice.

"I'm above 18 and free to date whoever pleases me, so what?" Halima didn't show any form of remorse.

"If you were so proud of it, why is the whole school unaware?" Lily challenged her.

"Some things are better left unsaid", Halima defended herself.

"Cut the crap, Halima. You know what you're doing. You're making a fool of Kenny which is so unfair!" Lily felt disdain for her.

"And so what? This is high school. Things like this are normal. Just go with the flow", Halima now spoke calmly to get Lily on her side.

"No, I won't be a part of your wicked plot", Lily resolved to tell Kenny the truth.

"I just want to know whatever you do will have a greater effect him. Remember, he has a widow and two siblings to support. He has also done you a lot of good", Halima walked away.

Surviving in the classroom the following day was a struggle for Lily so she rather spend most of her school hours in the library so she'd neither have to deal with seeing Quinn nor Kenny's eyes constantly drifting to hers to get updates about her mission. Also at lunch hour, she didn't have the appetite to eat so she continued with the chemical equations she had been dealing with since she came in until Kenny caught her there. Not only was he eager to receive feedback about her mission; but he was also worried about why she didn't come to the school cafeteria. He knew her as a big-time foodie.

"Did I take too much of your time yesterday that you only had ample time to study", Kenny said, dropping a package on her desk.

"No...not at all", Lily said out of guilt.

"So what happened? I've been expecting you to gist me since", He whispered.

"Sorry about that. I had a lot on my mind", Lily made up an excuse.

"It's alright. Do you still need to be left alone?"He tried not to impose his will on her.

"It's fine. Halima's cool", Lily forced herself to say. She didn't have the guts to tell him what happened.

"Thank you so much!" Kenny almost hugged her." I knew it. Halima's only testing me. I can't afford to give up now".

With this kind of spirit, Kenny left Lily in the library, every other SS3 student apart from her left the school compound at closing hour, excited about the fact that the end of their secondary school education was drawing neigh. They danced and sang during the fellowship hour spectacularly each time they remembered, ignoring the fact that tons of assignments were waiting to be treated over the weekend. They were the happiest bunch of individuals on earth, except for Lily.

Quinn's quarrel with Lily also affected him significantly and the only person he could tell his plight was his best friend. Surprisingly and unsurprisingly, he didn't approve of his behavior. He resolved not to contact him again unless he resolves his issue with her. Mart also felt Lily was genuinely concerned about him, being the only person who asked what was his real reason for coming to Nigeria and didn't deserve to be treated that way. After hearing her view, Quinn started regretting his actions more and wished he could see her instantly but didn't want to go to the hospital, so she doesn't discover his identity.

As Quinn was lamenting over his issue in the bedroom, Martha was in the kitchen trying to see if she could succeed at making him another decent meal in the kitchen. Mrs Kunbi should have been the one preparing a special delicacy for them as Mary requested but she developed a fever overnight and decided to rest. When she finished cooking, Martha went to their bedrooms to call everyone out and they honored her call even though no everyone was interested in eating. Quinn planned on eating the food, hoping it would help him get over Lily until somethings happened.

Firstly, the doctor personally came to invite him for an outing he declined because he never felt comfortable hanging out with her since he started getting close to Lily. Secondly, Mrs Kunbi got a call from an important client who said she needed to go to the saloon at all costs. Quinn wasn't comfortable with letting her go alone so he offered to drive her there. Mrs. Kunbi was so touched by this that she wouldn't stop thanking him until they got there. Upon discovering the real identity of the client, Quinn felt more lucky he was connected to a person as special as her whom people could go the extra mile for.

"Good morning, Mrs. Kunbi. How have you been?" Lily smiled at the best hair stylist in the world to her.

"Fine, my dear, and you?" Mrs. Kunbi struggled to open the door of her salon. Meanwhile, Lily had been so preoccupied with looking at Quinn whom she had never thought would be at such a place that she forgot to assist her.

"Ma'am, haven't I told you several times already not to stress yourself?" Quinn finally helped her.

"Thank you, my dear", Mrs. Kunbi said and turned to Lily, "He's so sweet like you. He's made me change the opinion that all American kids are inconsiderate".

"I'm so sorry for stressing you. You shouldn't have", Lily was happy about the fact that they were compared yet felt more guilty about disturbing a sick person.

"It's okay. This is not a strenuous job", Mrs. Kunbi gathered her tools and started plaiting Lily's hair.

Since she didn't plan on opening the salon before, Mrs. Kunbi told her apprentices not to come that Saturday. However, she became in need of them when she started working on Lily's hair most especially because she was ill. Quinn had to be the substitute and even though the role wasn't easy for him, he had to accept it. He soon learned how to give the right proportion of local thread and pin down part of Lily's head with his thumb when needed. At such moments, Lily felt highly privileged. She strangely loved the uneasy feeling that his finger on her head triggered. Yet, she felt sad because it wasn't something she could brag to the whole school about else he would stop being friends with her.

After exhausting her energy on Lily's hair, Mrs. Kunbi got so hungry that she couldn't wait till they got home before eating and tried making meals for them. Lily couldn't let her get more stressed in her sick state so she offered to cook the meal and Mrs. Kunbi agreed after hesitating for some time. Quinn was super excited about that but wouldn't show it. While Lily was cooking their meals, he ate some of the fruits in the kitchen, they had a fruit-sharing session and slowly resumed to their talking stage.

"So about my reason for coming to Nigeria", Quinn finally deemed it fit to tell her the truth at that moment.

"You don't have to talk if you don't want to. I know it's not cool forcing people to....", Lily didn't want to force him to share his private information with her.

"No, it's fine. I'm ready to talk. There's nothing worth hiding about a father who abandoned his kid for years", Quinn didn't let her finish her last statement.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry about that", Lily felt sorry for him even though it was hard for her to believe a handsome and intelligent guy like him went through that type of ordeal.

"It's okay. I'm not a child who should feel so bad because of that.." Quinn tried to hide his pain.

"Well, you shouldn't feel that bad because I don't have a close relationship with my dad either, despite living in the same country", Lily sighed.

"Are you kidding me?" Quinn almost choked on the pair of bananas he was chewing. "Who wouldn't want to have a relationship with a sweet girl like you", He spat out hurriedly.

"Of course, he loves his job and new wife more than me", Lily complained bitterly.

"My mom's also getting a new husband... the second reason I came over here", Quinn sighs.

"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine fine fine", Lily gave him a pat on his shoulder.

"I smelled something burning from the office. Is it in here?" Mrs. Kunbi came into the kitchen with her sleepy eyes.

"Oh my God!" Lily got her fingers hurt by opening the pot lid without a napkin yet she didn't make that much of a fuss about it as Quinn had expected. Funny how he hadn't gotten used to that side of a typical Nigerian girl.

Lunch went pretty well. They enjoyed every bit of the porridge Lily made which had fresh pepper slices with grounded tomatoes, chunks of crayfish, and a variety of seasoning then took glasses of pineapple juice afterward. From the look of things, Mrs. Kunbi knew Quinn wouldn't want the girls to know he had tasted a Nigerian meal and decided to keep it a secret, even though it meant betraying her daughters. She just didn't want to seem ungrateful to him after all he did for her. When lunch ended, they waited some minutes for their meal to digest, drove Lily to the hospital, and finally returned home.