The Externals Reloaded - Chapter Twenty-Six

Since he was in the mood for a friendly act again, Quinn offered to drive Mr. Allen home the day he was discharged at the hospital. When they got there, he got the usual stares from Nigerians due to his skin color and hair texture but he was already used to it so he wasn't really bothered. The only problem was that when he was supposed to spend time rehearsing his script with Lily, he had to answer numerous questions from them about his country of birth. It was so bad that Aunt Tolani had to come chase them away when it was time for dinner. On his behalf, she prepared the most expensive soup she had ever made.

"Hey, ladies.", Miss Claire decided to join the other women who abandoned her in the living room to cook dinner in the kitchen few seconds earlier.

"Hey, miss Claire. Is there anything you need", Martha who most especially fond of her replied first.

"I'd like to help out", Miss Claire joined her in preparing vegetables for cooking even before finishing her statement.

"Don't tell me you just learnt how to do that within these past few minutes!", Martha admired the fast manner in which her hands seperated the vegetable leaves from their stalks.

"No. I enjoyed doing it back then with Wale", Miss Claire said and realized the gravity of her words. "I'm so sorry".

"It's alright. I've gotten over him", Mrs. Kunbi smiled.

"Still, you've been chasing away men that could have been the best step-dads in the world", Mary moved away from her mom to avoid getting slapped.

"Claire didn't re-marry either", Mrs. Kunbi tried to justify her action.

"My wedding's invitation card is out already", Miss Claire smiled.

"Awwn..that's so sweet. Can I be your best lady?" Martha said despite knowing what she wanted was impossible.

"Does Quinn always come home this late?" Miss Claire changed the subject of discussion for Mrs. Kunbi's sake. Yet, she was actually worried about her son.

"No. He had to help his friend drop her sick dad at home", Mrs. Kunbi replied almost immediately.

"Quinn now has a female friend!" Miss Claire said surprisingly.

"More like a girlfriend", Mary rolled her eyes.

"Thank you so much for coming", Lily told Quinn for the umpteenth time as he was about to drive out of her compound.

"Stop it already, Lily. My ear's sick of hearing it", He replied her. "What time should I come pick you up tomorrow?"

"To do what?" Lily was clueless about his plans.

"See my mommy now", Quinn said in a Nigerian tone. "How could you forget?"

"I'm so sorry. Forgive me", Lily apologized. She didn't actually forget it intentionally but because she was anxious about meeting her.

"It's fine. We all make mistakes", He sighed.

"My son, you've done enough. Please come and be going so those bad boys won't stop you on the road. It's getting late", Aunt Tolani came to hasten his departure for good intentions.

"Alright, ma. Thank you ma", Quinn turned on the ignition of Mrs. Kunbi's car.

The following morning, students in Johnson College basked in the joy of completing their exams and talked about their expectations for the upcoming cultural event. Of course, SS3 students were happier because it was their last exam in the school yet still had the fear of facing WAEC which was to begin the following week. Although, some of their past seniors that came to address them said everything was going to be fine, they still dreaded the warning voices of teachers, parents and even non-teaching staffs, admonishing them to prepare well so as not to fail the examination.

With little or nothing to do, GMC girls had time to watch Lily complain about how meeting Miss Claire was scaring her. As usual, Omma admonished her not to bother herself about something so insignificant while Khadijat told her to be herself in a cliche manner. Janet felt spicing up her look with a wig, an iota of mascara and lip gloss wasn't a bad idea. As for Jessica, visiting the overrated white woman wasn't compulsory. She didn't want Lily to be associated with someone that would make her feel inadequate. Meanwhile, Quinn had already begged his mom to be nice towards Lily.

"Good morning, maami", He said to her while she was making her early morning coffee.

"Morning, sweetheart", Miss Claire gave him a peck. "Do you want some?"

"No, thanks. Mom Esoshe already went to get me some fresh pap", He said, anticipating the creamy taste of the maize meal, aided by his favorite Peak milk. More also, moimoi, his best friend will be part of the team.

"Oh, it's fine", Miss Claire said dejectedly.

"Mom, I need a favor from you", His statement surprised his mom because he hadn't asked her anything in a while.

"What's that?" Her eyes left the coffeemaker and collided with his.

"My Nigerian friend's coming over tonight and I want you to be nice to her", He pleaded with her and headed towards the entrance to open the door for Mrs. Kunbi.

Rather than express her grievance towards Esoshe for allegedly stealing her son, miss Claire hid it. However, she planned on not letting the Nigerian friend or girlfriend or whoever Quinn was bringing do the same. Given her experience in being married to a Nigerian, she was scared her son might go through the same ordeal. So, she got determined in her heart to get rid of anything that would block his happiness. Surprisingly, Quinn never actually thought he would have the same fate as his parents. He never considered the fact that both his dad and Lily were Nigerians. He's always seen her as a unique person. Someone different from others in his motherland, fatherland and he himself. Someone whose mind wasn't as polluted as his. The truest of all persons he had seen in his entire life.

Lily appreciated her friends' concern towards her but at the end of the day, their advise turned useless. As a truthful person, she kicked against the use of another human's personality to win someone's heart. She didn't use any mascara or wig, yet looked her best when preparing to visit miss Claire. She wore a tie and dye t-shirt with a dark jean. Throughout their journey, she forced herself to believe everything was going to be fine. Quinn also assured everything was going to be fine since he already pleaded with my mom not to torture her. But parents don't always listen to their children's plea, do they?

"Hello, fam. We're home", Quinn announced as they got to the front door of his home and moved his hands towards the location of the doorbell.

"Wait.." Lily stopped him from pressing it because she wasn't ready to face his mom. Unfortunately, Mary was already nearby.

"Hey there, egbon and dear...lily", Mary gave them a warm smile.

"Hi, Mary", Lily replied nervously.

"Where's my mom?", Quinn asked as they got into the living room but got no response. "Have you suddenly turned deaf?"

"How am I supposed to know which one you're referring to?" Mary rolled her eyes.

"Hey, sweetheart. You're back already", Miss Claire joined them in the living room and gives him a hug. Her flawless skin left Lily breathless.

"Mom, I want you to meet Lily, my best Nigerian friend", He introduced her immediately.

"Good afternoon ma", Lily knelt to greet her. Rather than impress, her action made miss Claire laugh.

Lunch was okay. Everyone enjoyed miss claire's cabbage plate with some Alsace white wine. Thereafter, they laughed during dessert as they chew some fresh dates. Miss Claire didn't magically start liking Lily or mention that her smile reminded her of her late mom. Considering the way Lily interacted with everyone at the table and ate, miss Claire actually felt she was a cultured person but chose not to jump to conclusions quickly. It's no news that people have a knack for putting on their best behavior around new people.

As the Kunbis had dinner with their special guest, their patriarch also went for an evening hangout with an important personality. It was none other than the proprietor of Johnson College. Mr. Kunbi started working under him since he finished secondary school. Under his supervision, mr. Kunbi became a teacher that championed the success of many students. It was Mr. Johnson's wish that they would be working partners for life, rubbing minds to discover ways to expand the school. However, Mr. Kunbi's goals were far bigger than what he had imagined.

"Good afternoon, your excellency", Mr. Johnson greeted as the minister entered his home.

"I'm not on an official assignment now so it's okay to call me by my name, big uncle", Mr. Kunbi replied in an humble manner.

"Have you ever heard that a king retired from his duty?" Mr. Johnson offered him a seat at his rooftop.

"Nice one, big uncle", They both laughed. "But I'm far from being a king you know".

"For the Nigerian educational system, you are", Mr. Johnson has barely finished talking before a maid came in with cold cans of beer, glass cups and peppered meat.

"Oh my!" Mr. Kunbi touched his chest as if he's having a heart attack.

"Are you okay, wale!" Mr. Johnson called his name fearfully. He knew he could be arrested as a suspect if something bad happens to him.

"So you can call me by my name", Mr. Kunbi laughed. "My heart only melted because this is just what I've been looking for.

"I'm glad to hear that", Mr. Johnson offered him a glass of cold beer as soon as the maid finished pouring it.

"Thank you sir", Mr. Kunbi accepted it, waited for him to take his and they made a toast before drinking. "I've never felt this relieved in a while".

"How's it....moving from our caliber to drinking with men of higher status", Mr. Johnson asked jovially.

"Dreadful", Mr. Kunbi's countenance changed. "Someone might just be aiming at killing you with a sip".

In the morning, Mopelola Adekunbi is seen dressed casually as she walked to a store to check out a nice outfit for Johnson's cultural celebration. After picking the one her eyes fell in love with, she went to meet the owner to bargain price. On her very first attempt at trying to get discount from her, the saucy shop owner insulted her. Mrs. Adekunbi who had no chill immediately called some some government officials to lock up her unregistered shop. As soon as the government officials arrived, she left them to deal with her without saying a word and zoomed off in her Mercedes Benz. Barely before reaching her estate, she started receiving notifications of stories about her oppressing an helpless poor woman.

"Omo, nawa for your family oo. If your papa con be the president nko", A student said to Quinn and hissed.

"God, why me for God's sake?" Quinn lamented after he had gone.

"Oh my God, you won't kill me, Tokunbo", Lily laughed.

"It's not funny, Lily", Quinn replied and joined her in laughing afterwards. "But seriously, what's my business in this? Was I the one who ordered someone to lock up someone's shop?"

"Well, whatever affects the eye affects the rest of the body", Lily told him.

"You must also be unhappy about the issue between you and your stepmom because she doesn't feel good about it. I'm so sorry about that, pumpkin" he also teased her.

"You know our situation is different!" Lily tried to defend herself.

"Excuse me, seniors. Master Segun said he wants to see you in the rehearsal room now", A junior came to call them from the lab room.

"Arrrgggghhh", They display their agitation.

There was nothing like waiting for a miracle at the eleventh hour. From the very beginning, adequate preparations were put in place to ensure that Johnson's College cultural celebration turns out a huge success moreso because the ministry of education was part of its sponsors. All the performers and students had access to necessary resources to succeed in their chosen fields so failure was not an option!