By Lechi Eke
A fat black car with tinted glasses purred to a halt near the VC Lodge. Not long after, the occupants spotted Ulari walking with her usual long languid strides to a quiet corner of the lagoon front popularly known as LF. She made her way to the foot of a yellow coconut tree and lowered her slight bulk on a stone bench. Placing her bag and file beside her, she brought out a small Bible, read a little portion and then closed her eyes in prayer. The occupants of the car gave her ten minutes and then got off to join her. She was unaware of them and did not open her eyes until they were upon her. Not willing to frighten her, J called out to her before lowering himself beside her on the stone bench. The unexpected voice and the sudden shadow falling in front of her made Ulari start with fear.
“What do you want, J? I’m praying,” she said then she saw his companion, a lady in military booths and mufti and she became a bit more courteous. “Hi!” she said.
“Don’t bother about her, she’s deaf and dumb.”
Ulari looked at the masculine lady and then cast a questioning glance at J.
“I’m kidding. She’s Nigerien,” J said. Ulari considered it and shrugged.
“How did you know I’d be here?” Ulari asked.
“That’s my thing, to find out ’bout people I’m interested in.”
Ulari let it pass. She had been reading about relationships from a book she found in the library. From it, she had found out lots of things about girl-hunting as the book styled it.
“Didn’t you go to work?” Ulari asked him, her eyes narrowing.
The lady stood a little bit beyond them, closer to the dark and shimmering lagoon waters her back stiff and erect.
“You’ve totally disorganised me. What’s it all about?”
“Bukky’s my best friend, besides…”
“It isn’t about Bukky, you know it.”
“What’s it then?”
“You tell me.”
“J, I don’t have the time for …”
He consulted a heavy white-stone-studded platinum watch around his left wrist.
“You still have 40mins before your next lecture,” he said but he knew it was not what she meant.
“Okay, so you now have my timetable but it won’t work. I wasn’t raised to have relationships with guys. I’m a complete novice in that area and I don’t want to learn it now, so please don’t hound me.” She sounded definite revealing nothing of how she felt while looking at her watch, a tiny brown thing in cheap leather.
By now J knew he misread Ulari initially. She was not bashful but a determined little madam who had a way of keeping her eyes down that was quite blood stirring to him.
“Do you know what it is to be disorganised, to work absentminded? To get ready for
work and find yourself driving towards Unilag, and not realizing where you’re going until you’re there, and it isn’t where you set out to go?”
“We can’t have all that we want in life. I apply some discipline,” she said.
“Alright I didn’t want to repeat this but you force me. I learnt you want to invent something, be a superstar or something; we’ll do it together.”
Ulari chuckled. Does it not sound like what her sister, Chioma’s husband used to lure her into the subservient life of a maid? J had heard it from Marfi who heard it from his wife who heard it from Bukky.
“Are you kidding me?” Ulari cried. “Men don’t want women to achieve anything –they want them as chattel. Please leave me alone.”
“Why are you treating me this way,” he said. “You know my intentions are good.”
“So are mine!” Her voice was firm and unbending.
He stared at her in something akin to confusion and sighed noiselessly.
“You have ten minutes before your next class.” He turned abruptly and began to walk away. His lady friend turned as swiftly like one with eyes at her back and followed him. Inwardly, Ulari cried out, “Wait! I don’t care for the class. Come and sit with me!” But she did nothing of that sort, but sat still trying to calm her thudding heart listening to the engine of the car driving away from her. Her lips moved in a soundless rhetorical question, “Why am I like this, Lord?” And her heart thud painfully against her chest. Tears stood in her eyes.