There was a loud noise coming from outside. Voices were raised in disagreement very close to my shop. I came out and saw that Aku had gone outside. I stood outside, waiting to see something. After a while people started running out from the shop just before Madam Chinaka's own. Aku also ran out from there. Then she looked at the door I was standing at.
"Come here you, you! " I shouted in annoyance.
She clapped her hands and came to me, laughing. She reminded me of a village gossip in a movie. "They are fighting! They are fighting o!" she told me excitedly.
"And you are there, It's like you want to follow them to the station? "
The Landlord had connections with the police and in violent cases like that, he did not waste time to call them.
Aku went in while I kept standing at the door. People were still struggling to see what was going on inside.
"Aunty, if you see drama eh! " She still screamed behind me.
I turned to look at her with a frown. "Oya come and continue watching since you are stupid."
She stood beside me, seeing whatever she could from behind me. At that moment, Tunde came out from the shop, shouting at people to stop clustering about. He looked at where I was and waved with a smile. Without waiting for my response he went back inside, leaving me waving to nothing or the little crowd gathered at the door. He came out again not wearing a shirt but a white vest. He was with a girl that was now wearing the shirt he was wearing earlier. He held her by the hand and led them through the crowd .
"They are Lucky," Aku said, "Their Madam would have used their salary to bail them."
"The two sales girls were fighting? " I asked, turning to Aku.
"Yes. That one that behaves like a boy and that small, unfortunate one, Bro Tunde took out. The boyish one best her eh and even tore her dress," she said.
I knew the owner of the shop where the two girls worked. She was a huge woman with big buttocks that could hold a book on it and the book would not fall. She hardly talked to anyone around but I heard stories about her; she was divorced but was at that moment dating another woman's husband, who sometimes came to the shop to help her sell. Aku loved those kinds of stories - she always had them in full. She was the one I heard from.
I would not say the two sales girls were lucky she was not around when they turned her shop to a wrestling ground because I knew the environment, she would finally hear the story, with exaggerated toppings which might increase their punishment.
I watched Tunde as he walked towards me. The crowd had now dispersed. He wore a smile that I liked- one that played at the corner of his mouth. The vest he wore clung jealously to him, fitting around his muscled arm, down to his broad chest and then his tummy. I could not make out abs from his polo but I could tell he was not pot bellied.
"When did you return ?"
He leaned on the rail, facing me like the first day I met him.
"Weekend," I replied.
"I thought you would call me when you return."
"Why did you think so?"
He shrugged. "It's just my thought."
I looked inside to look at Aku who was now more interested in an old newspaper. She sometimes took pages from it to wipe dust when she could not find a rag. I looked back at Tunde, backing the road, he had turned his head to look at the usual busy road.
"I had in mind to call you, " I said.
He turned to me and gave a nod then he turned back to the road.
"Do you want to come inside? "
"Okay," he replied.
He followed me inside and Aku was greeting like he was deaf with a very loud, "Good afternoon Sir! "
I shook my head at her before going into my office. The finished Kimono was folded on the sewing machine. I pointed to the wooden bench but he eased a hip on my table, his shoe hitting the wood on impact.
"How have you been? " he asked.
I sat on the bench, looking up at him. "I'm good."
"Your Aunty and family? "
I nodded in reply, wondering if it was okay to talk about our loss with him since we all agreed not to tell outsiders yet. It was just funny that Tunde did not feel like an outsider.
"I didn't see your car," he said.
I began to explain how the car broke down and was in the Mechanic workshop before I returned. It was Wisdom's fault and his constant use and overuse of the car that made the car break down in protest. I had not even imagined the speed limit because I knew Wisdom; he loved to 'get there quick'
"I have been busy with a lot of work lately. I have even lost weight," he said.
I eyed him up and down. "You have not."
"I have not? " he stood up and looked down at himself like he had not seen himself in a while. "I feel like I have."
I laughed. "It's like you desperately want to shed some fat."
"Naa," he said, settling back on the desk. "For the sake of my mother."
"You are really fond of her," I commented with a smile.
He smiled. "She said, she wants me to look like I'm eating. She once said I looked better in the seminary but that is just an obvious lie. I'm sure she prayed for forgiveness later."
I laughed, wondering what the woman would be like. Someone who was like Hannah in the Bible, ready to drop the only child at the altar. I could say, priests had a look and Tunde did not look like one. He looked too hot to be a priest - if that was acceptable to be said.
We sat there, in a comfortable silence. I enjoyed being with him and I had missed it. I wanted to say something to break the silence when it lingered. Maybe Say that he was sweating or ask what brand his vest was.
As we sat in that silence and the sound of the sole of his shoe hitting the desk being the only sound in the room, I could not help thinking of a time when he would no longer have his shop downstairs - when we would no longer sit this way.
"Have you found somewhere else to move to? " I asked.
"No, not really, " he replied, "I have heard of places in Aba and I have found some places in port harcourt but I'm searching for a good place to set up an art gallery."
He scratched the hair on his chin. "still searching," he said.
"You have not heard of places in Umuahia you can set up a gallery?"
"I have. I just need somewhere with alot of population. Umuahia is such a small town."
"Seems you came here just so I can meet you, " I said.
He came down to sit beside me on the wooden bench. "It feels like I have known you a long time."
He reached for my hand which I was twisting together at the moment. "A very long time, " he said.
I should have taken back my hand. I loved the way it felt and it was wrong because of Ike but I did not pull out my hand. I let him intertwine our fingers. I held on more tightly, my hand in his giant hand, building up heat like we were making love with our hands.
"I think we have places here good enough for your gallery," I said.
"I think you don't want me to leave and you are already missing me."
I let my lips broaden in a smile. "Don't be cocky. "
" Nothing will change. We'll stay in touch, " he said.
It was comforting but I felt, I had been swept into the friend zone, maybe even made the president, Bestie. I did not understand myself or what my plans were but as plainly I could understand, I was certain Tunde had no plans to be in a romantic relationship especially with me.
I slowly took back my hand. Aku came in and announced she was going. I gave her a little money for her transport even though I knew sometimes she loved to walk home.
"I could drop you off, " Tunde offered, standing up. He put his two hands in his pocket, waiting for a reply. I happily agreed without up to a minute thought .
He opened the car door for me. It was one of his gestures I was used to. He drove silently, listening to me give directions. When we reached my street he said, "I'm sure my car hates your house now."
I agreed. Indeed everybody's car should. There were many potholes and they became small rivers each time after a rainfall. The dirty water bathed the tires thoroughly then splashed on the body of the car.
When I showed him my gate, he sighed in relief then packed. "Thank you, Kemming," I said before I got down.
He laughed. "Say that one more time. "
"Kemming!"
"Say it again and I will bundle you away."
"Kemming! " I dared, laughing.
He laughed, watching me through the rolled down window. "See you tomorrow, my lady."
I bent my head a little in an attempt to curtsey and he laughed. He waited till Ife opened the gate before he reversed and drove off.