A Kiss is a Promise Ch. 02

This is the second installment of a previous story of the same title. I'd upload a third part soon enough. There is a bit of foreplay but no sex, so wankers sorry to disappoint. Please I could do with more constructive criticism, because with your approval I hope to publish the full story as a giveaway. As usual, thanks for dropping by.

*****

"You're a coward."

I looked up from my laptop which was on the coffee table where I was editing a manuscript for a client. Clara had just entered the living room with a tray containing brunch and had a scowl on her face. It was Thursday morning. I didn't have lectures today. Apparently, neither did Clara. I'd settled on working on a new client's story draft while she took care of a few house chores.

I'd told her all about the date with Diane when I got back, and when she asked when I planned on seeing her again. I'd told her Thursday. She had a seminar presentation by midday. Well, it was past ten and I hadn't even had my bathe. I didn't even look like I planned to anytime soon. But leave it to Clara to badger me about my decision to stay away from her. She'd been at it since she overhead me calling Diane to announce that I wouldn't be coming to see her presentation.

I shook my head at Clara. "Don't be silly Clara. Do you know how much it cost me to get four new tires? Those guys flogged me with your cutlass! Just because of..."

"Say it! Just because of a girl whose company you enjoyed."

"It's not worth it, trust me." I went to the dining table to get a food mat and return to set it on the coffee table in front of me. (I like eating in the sitting room; maybe because I like watching TV while eating so much it has become a habit. If you wrinkle your nose at that, dear reader, then go ahead. I hope it doesn't shrivel while you're at it. The house is mine to do as I please). I took one of the two plates containing yam porridge from the tray.

Clara left for the kitchen to get two sachets of cold water from the refrigerator there and put them on the tray when she returned. She sat down on the couch to my right. "You've seen her, what...twice? The first time, you told me there was something about her that pushed you out of your normal aloofness, enough to make conversation and get her phone number."

"Leave it alone, Clara!" I growled as I set my laptop aside to eat.

She went on like I hadn't spoken. "The second time, you came home that evening so pumped up and excited after hanging with another human being - a female for that matter. It is a side of you I haven't seen in a long time and I have sorely missed. She was worth seeing again that day, was she not?"

I sighed, struggling to keep my voice on the right side of its edginess. "Her boyfriend threatened you! Did you not hear them? I love my peace and quiet." Diane had gotten quiet as well when I told her I wouldn't come to her presentation after all.

"So, a bunch of guys bully you once and you turn your back on your chance of being with someone that makes you happy? You're a coward, cousin! A spineless..."

"Enough!" I shouted, banging the table while getting to my feet. The table was in no danger of breaking. "I may deserve all the happiness in the world, but it's also my job to protect you."

Clara paused but her eyes gave no hint she was backing out of the argument. Instead she got to her feet, her shoulders high. She wasn't as tall as I, but she put what little height she had to use.

"I won't say I know her. But if you wouldn't give her the benefit of doubt, and yourself the chance to know if she is worth it in the long run... then maybe, she deserves better. You want to protect me? Then be happy while at it." She removed one of the sachets of water and placed it on my table mat. She carried her tray and walked back into the kitchen.

I sat down and stared at my food and my laptop beside it. So much for putting in some work this morning...

Akwa Ibom State University wasn't a turf I usually prowled. Still, finding Microbiology Laboratory III was as easy as asking directions of the right person, in this case, a cheerful security man at the main gate. Diane and her group had just climbed a little podium at the front of the large laboratory. She, like the rest of her crew was dressed formally. Her black suit and knee-length skirt were snug, enough to be modest while accentuating her hour glass figure. She wore reading glasses today. A couple guys in her group were setting up a projector screen, a third was connecting a laptop to the slide projector. Someone passed Diane a microphone. A secret thrill went down my spine when I realized that she was the speaker.

The rest of the lab was half filled with students - colleagues in other groups, juniors, friends, etc. The seminar supervisors were at the front row going through their papers and waiting for the group to begin. She began, introducing her topic - Forensic Mycology; the use of fungi in criminal investigations - as a hitherto un-researched area of study in this part of the world. I would've agreed with that, except I know Nigerian undergraduates to be too lazy to find themselves a fresh, untouched topic. Remember I'm not a betting guy, but I'll wager she began the exact way whatever research work she and her group copied introduced their presentation. Nonetheless, our law enforcers are too busy negotiating bail money and collecting rogers on the highway to bother about forensic mycology. What is the use of research if all observations, results and recommendations would do is adorn the resource centers of their various respective departments in the institution? (Don't get me started. I'm not a fan of the Nigerian formal education even though I'm going through one).

I can tell the point she noticed me. Even though I was no longer paying attention to the presentation, I noticed her pause. I looked at her and found her looking at me. I smiled and waved at her. Her serious demeanor softened a bit but she continued. I paid more attention now, and caught her gaze come my way every now and then. I noticed something else. Or someone... He looked away as soon as I met his gaze, just like he'd done at the cinema almost a week ago. When he looked back at me, I was still watching him.

He got surprised when I suddenly started making my way through the crowd to the place he stood. I don't know why I did it, I just did it. He started to back away but changed his mind. He stood his ground. However, I was now sure...he had to be one of the guys that had come to my house to slash my tires. I could tell Diane was distracted by my movement, I'm sure she had cause. She needed a quick cue from one of her group to continue and ignored me for the rest of the presentation.

"You've got nerves, coming here." He whispered in my ears. It wasn't the voice of Diane's boyfriend. Neither was it the voice of the one that had flogged me with my machete.

"What would you do? Report to her boyfriend, like you did at the cinema? Or come to my place tonight and slash my tires?"

His eyes widened at that. I knew him now. My slasher-man. Perfect.

"I'm just here to cheer a friend. I don't want any trouble." I said innocently.

"We'll see." He said and moved away.

The seminar ended soon after and the rest of the students in the laboratory started trooping outside. Diane and her group were being congratulated by some of their peers. Our eyes met and she nodded. I joined the ones going out and walked back to my VW PASSAT parked outside the block of microbiology laboratories. I unlocked the car and was about to get in when...

"Obaino!"

I turned around and searched among the throng of students milling about the u-shaped block of laboratories. I felt my eyeballs pop out of their sockets. The guy walking up to me with hubris written all over his face was...No, my vision had to be deceiving me...

"Autch! No freaking way!" I whispered in disbelief at the tall, lanky guy hurrying across from one of the other laboratories on the block. He had a laptop bag in one hand and was wearing a white laboratory coat that came down to his knees on top of his ash t-shirt and blue denim trousers.

"My God! Is this really you?" He was bounding the rest of the way now. I shut the half open car door and opened my arms. There were too many emotions to express, but all we did was hug. It was quite a long hug, as bitter memories we shared in a previous life washed up to the surface. I swallowed mine back down like regurgitating meat coming up a thirsty throat. We were smiling when we released each other.

"Long time, brother," Autchman said.

"I'm no longer a brother," I replied. It was only right to put the status quo up straight up. "I quit the night I graduated."

"I know. Eddie told me."

"Eddie! Eddie and Aniekan! Who knows where those guys are now?"

Autch shrugged. "We all school here now. I flopped my medical exams and had to change schools. I'm managing microbiology now... year two. They were caught cheating in their exams and expelled. They are here now...political science, year two as well"

I was surprised at that bit of information. "Oh boy! A whole lot has happened since I quit! Last time I saw you all, you were cuffed in police trucks waiting to be taken to jail."

Autch laughed. "I remember. We were caught selling marijuana. The last time I saw you, you were dying in the back of an ambulance with bullets inside of you."

My lips tightened in a grim smile at the memory. "Good thing you didn't have the smack on you, else you might have been prosecuted... but let's not talk about that. I'm back on my feet. The past is behind me." My roving eyes fell on Diane searching the now dwindling crowd for me. I whistled at her. She turned in a different direction. Autch chuckled when he caught on...

"I won't say I'm surprised...Nothing but a woman would bring you down to State."

"Any one listening to you will think I'm a player."

"Are we all not? What kind of girl will fall for a guy with no game?"

"Abi?" I laughed at his rhetoric. I've always known Autch to be bright upstairs, but he always let extracurricular activities derail him. Diane looked in my direction finally, I waved her. She smiled and walked in my direction. Autch gave me a quick surprised glance, now he'd seen her face. I caught his eye briefly before he looked away. Something was up, but there was no time to ask him what it was. Diane arrived.

I introduced her to Autch who went out of his way to act like he didn't know her. Hey! I'm not as dumb as I act. He and I exchanged phone numbers though, and Autch continued on his way. I turned my attention to Diane. She'd taken off her lab coat and was just on her formal clothes.

"You came after all..." She had that smile that makes my heart melt.

I nodded.

She took my hands in hers and interlocked her fingers through them. "What made you change your mind?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I wanted to see you again. Seeing you in action was... you could have made some bucks selling door passes to your lecture."

Diane made a face at me even though she was amused. "Even though you didn't understand a word I was saying."

I laughed. "You could tell!" She nodded.

"Well, you can explain it to me some more while I treat you to lunch. How about that?"

She shook her head apologetically. "You told me yesterday you weren't coming, so I already arranged to have my celebratory lunch with my group members. We are going to Kilimanjaro."

"Oh! That's good! Of course, you all need that." I brushed my disappointment aside. "Maybe we can hang out later in the evening...or tomorrow Friday."

She watched me for a few moments. "You're not angry I turned you down?"

"Why should I be?" Indeed, why should she be baffled that I seemed okay with her turn down? Her excuse wasn't flimsy. I didn't have any claim on either her or her time. The rest of her group had exited the lab by now. They signaled her to hurry up.

"Tomorrow will be good," she said releasing my hands. "Meanwhile, I want to ask you something before it skips my mind. That guy you went to stand with inside the lab...how do you know him?"

She looked like the answer would mean a whole lot to her. Still, I didn't know her angle. I put my hands in my trouser pockets and thought fast. She didn't ask if I knew him, but how I knew him. Which meant it was obvious he and I had met before. "He was at the cinema. He was watching us...or rather you." She looked away. Guilt. "How do you know him?" I asked.

She narrowed her eyes at me, like she could peep through my skull if she tried. Her group members called for her again. She took a couple steps back. "Don't believe everything you hear about me...especially from him or anyone. I'll call you later this evening." I watched her go join her group.

Saved by the bell, I thought. I got into my car and drove home.

My building was a rented two bedroom bungalow building at the dead end of a single asphalt lane. This lane ran through a sparsely populated residential area and ended at the plastered, unpainted walls surrounding my house. I recognized the red salon car parked ahead as the Camaro. I frowned. I slowed as I drew level in order to get a clear glimpse of the driver's face. He had a baseball cap that was pulled low over his brows and was faced down so I couldn't see his eyes. He had a diamond stud on his visible ear.

I drove past the red Camaro at a snail's pace and continued towards the gate into my compound. I could see the big YETI padlock in place - sign that Clara wasn't home. I didn't recognize him, however my instincts screamed trouble. He alighted from his car just as I pulled up in front of my gate. I reached under my seat to slip a knife into my hands. It was an old seven inch switchblade with a bent tip which I hid under my car seat this morning. I've had it since my final degree program year - when the cult wars had shut the school down for a full academic year. It felt too familiar in my hands even though I hadn't used it in a long while. I alighted too, hiding the knife behind my wrist. I shut the door after myself and turned to face him as he approached.

First thing I noticed about him was his Adam's apple. It was a little bigger normal size...like a receding goitre lump. If I swung at his neck, I won't miss cutting his throat. The rest of him was fit. He easily stood thirty centimeters above me, and I was 6"3. He had gorilla arms, but the rest of him was lanky. I had more muscles beneath my starched shirt.

I faced him with something akin to anger on my face. Fear and submission must've been what he expected because when he didn't get the appropriate response, he slowed down and a cautious light lit his eyes.

"No more masks? Thank God! I'm not good with guess work." My tones were mild.

He glared at me with knit eyebrows. "This is your last warning Mr. Obinna Osondu...stay away from Diane."

"Give me a reason? Slashing my tires was a childish prank to keep your girlfriend. I've got new ones as you can see."

His fair-skinned face shone even more in his astonishment. The next moment it darkened to a scowl. He was one ugly hell of a dude now. He made to move in on me, but stopped when he saw me expose the blade I'd kept hidden behind my wrist. I took a few steps forward, waving the knife at him. He stepped back.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Now, I'll forgive you for slashing my tires. But the next I find you or your friends close to me, my sister or this house, I'll call the police on you! Capisce?" I imagined the pink pus that would spurt from his goitre if i stuck him. That would've been ideal in a former life. I wasn't a twenty-two year old undergraduate anymore.

"This isn't the last of this. You're going to regret pulling a weapon on me. I'll make sure of that." His icy stare told me he meant it. I wasn't afraid of him, but I knew my cousin was in danger. Damn her, I thought as I watched Diane's giant 'boyfriend' walk back to his Camaro. He entered the car and drove away, wagging a finger at me. I returned to fetch my key bunch from the ignition.

I called Autch right after I got settled in enough to get myself a beer. "How convenient that I ran into you today," I began.

"How do you mean?" He asked. I heard him exhale smoke... the weed man in him was still there...

I narrated the tire-slashing episode and this afternoon's scene, I described my affronter and his car.

"I know the guy," Autch confirmed.

I was relieved. "I suspected as much."

He paused. I could hear him drag in his smoke. I anticipated his next question. He was a born skeptic. Skepticism saves your life, he once told me. "Why would you think that?" Autch asked.

"You knew Diane more than you let on..."

Autch laughed, "Still noticing everything, huh? I'm glad none of those bullets fucked up your observatory."

"No, it didn't..."

Autch sighed. "I'm not saying there is something wrong with the girl... but her boyfriend is..." Autch sighed.

"...the guy in the Camaro... are they still together?"

"Does it matter? That's Bishop Junior's cousin - the new TUTU capone."

I swore as I scratched my side at that, at the point the bullets had missed my ribs. Violent memories itch badly, they say. Bishop Junior. I chuckled at the irony and got off my chair to pace. I heard his joint crackle as he dragged on it and wished I could relapse for a day.

"Yeah, funny right?" Autch sounded somber.

My eyes fell on my forgotten Heinekeen. I took it for a couple swigs. "Tutu bastards!"

"That beef is over... M.J is dead and you don't want to be starting something,"

"This is none of Bishop's concern," I said. "Not that I won't like to shoot lead in between his eyes."

"I was afraid you'd say that. I'm enjoying this peace, even if it's shaky at its best. You're out, Obinna my friend...Stay out..."

"FUCK YOU! FUCK HIM TOO! HE KILLED REGINA! IT COULD'VE BEEN ME IN THAT CAR!" I felt hot rage sear through my face and I threw my beer bottle on the wall with the last of the beer in it. Great! Now the carpet was going to smell.

"True... but don't forget that you gave Ubong and the rest of us your word you won't pursue it any further! That was part of the truce we all agreed. You got bedridden for three whole months for crying out loud!"

I had no reply for that. Of course it was entirely my fault. My parents died while I was in my sophomore year. I ran into Ubong, who was head of the Maccabees, a street gang that dealt drugs. He took a liking to me and paid me to run certain errands, which when I did so well, he started allotting drug quotas to me to dispose of. I brought in Autch who brought in Aniekan and Eddie (we were the only students in the gang). I needed the money more than they did though because unlike them, I had to sponsor myself through my remaining years in school. In my bid to expand, I crossed boundaries into Bishop Junior's Tutu turf and that pretty much started the gang war. Bishop wanted my head. He got my then girlfriend's instead. I blew up his meth lab and cleaned out his warehouse drug storage. He set my friends up and put me in a hospital.

"I admit," Autch was saying, "Diane's a nice piece of ass, but her relationship with Bishop's cousin is always off and on. So, even if they are off right now, sooner or later, they'll get back together."

"What's Bishop's cousin's name?"

"Back the fuck off, Obinna!" Autch barked.

"That's not his name, Uchenna."

Autch sighed and told me all I needed to know about Marshall Junior as Bishop's brother was called. The more I thought about it, I formed myself the beginning of a plan. First, i had to make sure she was worth the hassle. I had to make sure it wasn't just because she was a hot piece of ass.

Clara had texted me that she preferred spending the rest of the week with her girlfriends at the school hostel. I couldn't agree more. It was an unspoken fact that she'd be safer on campus. It was past dusk when I fired up my laptop and found an online flower shop with a local address. I ordered for pink lilies to be sent to Diane Ekong's address and paid with my Naira Master Card. I drove there and arrived just in time to see the delivery van leaving. I parked by the fence and stared at my wrist watch as I waited. My cell phone rang seven minutes later. I took it out of my pocket and answered.