Records has it that the girl child is the most vulnerable, the most molested and most underestimated. We need to change that record. –Cinmisola-.
"And when they begin to ask those questions..." Mrs.Chang faltered and came in front of me, grabbing my hands firmly yet gently. "...how do you answer them?"
"My name...why don't you take a wild guess" I smirked and sipped on my coconut drink. It was unbelievably tasty and yeah, I eagle eyed the whole preparation of the drink just as the Chang's instructed.
"Uh...Okay, lemme try, Lee?" Emem asked.
"Why, because every Asian is a classic Lee or Li?" I asked, smiling.
"Then you've probably got an English name. Maybe, Grace or Clara?" Tobi tried.
"It's 'heaven'" I said and took my final sip of the amazing drink.
"Woah! Now that's what I'm talking about. Your name is like, super cool." Aisha said.
"Thanks"
"So where do you reside?"
I mentioned the name of the estate we shared like it wasn't a big deal and watched with amusement as Aisha opened her eyes in shock.
"You're not gonna believe this, but do you know that we live exactly in the same estate"
"You're kidding me, you also live in 'Amen Estate?"
"Yes she does!" Tobi answered. "You guys are practically neighbors"
I laughed, we all laughed.
"Tell me the name of your parents, when did you move? I'm sure my dad knows your dad"
"Woah! Slow down with the questions"
"Keep them intrigued. Don't divulge all necessary information at once." MrChang said.
"I'm sorry, I'm just excited. Please do forgive me"
'look who's being all nice and emotional'
"I understand" I stood up. "I've got to go though. I'll just say hello to Leah and give her my present"
"Hey, why the rush?" Aisha asked.
"Don't forget to let them know you'll be attending the same school with them" Mrs.Chang said, smiling.
"The thing is I've got an interview at EMBASSY uni, early tomorrow so, i—"
"Wait, did you just say, Embassy uni? Tobi asked with an unbelievable look in his eye.
"I swear, I thought I was the only one that heard her say that" Emem said.
"What, you know the school? Is it bad or something?"
"Hell, No! it's like the best school in the country. Matter of fact, we're all aspirants." Aisha said.
"Yeah, the school is so cool, it's like schooling overseas the only difference is that it's in Nigeria" Emem said.
"I do hope they've got hot boys." I say as I dust beach sand off my butt.
"I'm sure they do, but I've got a boyfriend already so I guess I'll be missing out on that
"Every information is vital, squeeze as much as you can from them. But do it subtly, we don't want them suspecting you or something." Mr.Chang said.
"Yeah, yeah, boyfriends. I used to have those, but boy! They come with a shit load of drama"
"Narghh, Obinna is soo not like that. he's completely cool. In fact, too cool to a fault."
My heart stopped beating for a second or two. "Obinna" that was the name I'd been trying to remember all this while. He was my boyfriend before...
"is something wrong? Or is it something I said? Aisha asked.
'Shit! It's too early to start losing my guard. Get your act together, Remi!'
"Nope. It's just the name, it sounds weird like a fruit drink or an exotic place in India or Colombia" I answered and watched as they laughed.
"You're so funny. How long have you been in Nigeria though?"
"A few years" I answered.
"And you haven't heard of the name before?" Tobi asked.
"Duh" I answered. "I do hope he doesn't look as weird as his name" I said and laughed.
"You wanna see his picture? Cos I've got it on my phone," Aisha asked.
"Nargh. I'll pass I'm tired of seeing ugly looking Nigerian boys. No offense, dude" I said to Tobi.
"Trust me, Obi is super good-looking." She quickly tapped on her phone, raised the phone to my face, and confirmed my suspicions. It was indeed, Obinna. My Obinna.
"He's not that bad" I sneered. "But I wouldn't leave hot guys for him, though" I said and grabbed my pink tote bag that read, 'REVENGE IS BETTER SERVED HOT.'. "It was nice meeting you guys. I do hope to catch you around."
"We'll meet at the interview, yeah?"
"Of course" I answered, smiled, and turned to go.
As I got into the designated vehicle, I pressed a button on the waterproof wristwatch Mr.Chang gave to me and watched their voice frequency turned up in the watch screen. Unknown to Aisha I'd planted a bug in her hair while we were playing in the water. I pretended to dust sand off her hair when I was actually making sure the electronic bug got deep into her scalp.
I felt the tiny voice transmitter in my ears buzz and I tapped it a little, knowing it was Roland trying to reach me.
"Hello, sis"
"Hey, bro"
"You did great. In addition, we have activated the voice frequency. You can start listening on them as from...now.
"That's cool."
"So...this, Obinna guy, you know him?"
I wanted to tell him I did not know him, something just felt wrong. I mean, why would Aisha and Obinna be together?. We'd agreed never to keep information from each other.
"Hey, Rem...I mean heaven. Are you there?"
"Yeah...yeah I am. And I know him."
"How?"
"He saved me once from them...it was at a party."
"Uhm, okay. Is that all, Heaven?"
"We dated for a little while."
"I'll have someone run a quick check on him. See if he's clean, okay?"
'Yes, I really wanna know if he's clean.' I thought.
"Yeah, you should" I said instead.