Love in Bojangles

"It's Jane meteor", Jane laughed, touching the hem of her purple skirt. "Not meteor" Chibuike Will, her brother, was in front of the steering wheel of the car. He was smiling, his flashy dimples hollow. His hair was in a cute African style Afro. "Meteyorr joor..., I still can't believe they call you that in school", he said. Jane huffed and sighed and turned to the window, her too hiding a smile that fought it's way out any. "Duh". She had missed Chibuike so much; he was her favorite older brother. There were Kene and Osita too but they both lived outside with their respective families. Chibuike was still a hustler though, but he lived with his family in Translek, Bojangles in Port Harcourt. He ran a restaurant- Williams Touch, while his heartrobe, Cath, a twenty year old belle, managed a saloon house downtown. Their son, Izunna was still in nursery one and schooled at Bright Future International. Chibuike was a tall, quite fair man. He was such a a beauty. He was hardworking and persistent. Their mother, Ekpereamaka raised her four kids alone because you see , the father died when her first son, Kene was four. She used to spoil Chibuike so much then, that his elder brothers were always jealous of him. But ever since Chibuike dropped out of school in SS2, and ran away to Port because his mother refused to approve of a relationship he used to have with one certain school girl, Noreen., that Ekpereamaka stopped being so caring anymore. She concluded that her son had betrayed her and she wouldn't accept him back even if he returned. Chibuike was on the lucky side of life though. He had started by working as a sales boy in a certain restaurant, Norten Eatery, till he saved up enough to open up his Williams Touch. His business bloomed after sometime and he was able to win a woman's her once more. He didn't marry her yet, but they had Izunna any way and lived together in Bojangles. When Ekpereamaka called to tell him that Jane was coming over to spend the holidays, Chibuike agreed immediately. He had missed his little Jane so much. He missed Mama too. But he didn't tell her till the call was over. That morning, Jane had entered a bus from Onitsha, where she lived with her mother, Ekpereamaka. She arrived at Port part at around five o'clock in the stand luckily for her Chibuike was there just in time to pick her up. "How is Izunna?", Jane asked, facing her brother once more."I can't wait to meet your family". "Izu is fine", Chibuike said, smiling and yet frowning at a reckless overtaker, his head tilting steadily to a side. Jane admired her brother Chibuike keenly. Chibuike had a charm. He had been a gentleman from the start and she wouldn't blame anyone who fell for him at first sight. Chibuike left home since she was eleven. Now she was seventeen and it all still seemed like yesterday. "What about Noreen?", Jane asked again raising and lowering her eyebrows quickly, an eager expression on her face. Chibuike laughed." Noreen...?". "Yeah", Jane turned to him . "Noreen Ugwu. The girl you were..." "...Ah ah", Chibuike stopped her. "Norr left", he said after a while. "She couldn't wait- I told you this, over the phone Jane" Jane's eyes widened in surprise. "I actually thought you were just being a jerk ". The look on her brother's face now was broken, hard, angry. "You mean she left, and...", she paused. "...and what?" "... and we'll, she is still Norr to you?" Chibuike was quiet for a while, but soon, he was laughing softly. "She keeps in touch though. She calls once in a while " Jane nodded and kept her face straight. "You know, back then with you and Ekpere, it was like you two could kill for each other " " Yeah. Back then. Norr had always been hot headed and impatient. But I still don't regret leaving. Ekpere wanted to control my life. Never signed up for that" They drove home quietly. Chibuike Williams and his family lived in Translek, a less busy part of Bojangles. But it was a beautiful place. The place was laden with lots of story buildings and terraced houses with lots of alleys. It was a four bedroom flat. Jane loved the posh decor and fancy dandelions that decorated both the interior and the outside. Jane was quick to take some photos before they got into the house. Chibuike's woman, Cath, welcomed Jane warmly. She showed her the room that was prepared against her arrival and introduced herself to her. "I'm Cath. Call me Cath" Jane winced playfully. "I know. Chibuike talks about you all the time. But it's Cath as in Catherine right?" Cath smiled. Jane could immediately see what attracted her brother. Cath was tall, slender, just as fair and as long faced as Noreen. Heavy bust and hips. "Yeah love. It's Ca-ther-rine. You know, Will has been crazy about your arrival since his mom called. And I still can't believe he has such a damsel of a sister." She was showing Jane around the house. "He shows me your pictures always. But you look dashing in real life." Jane thought she sounded like someone she used to know. She too couldn't believe she was the woman who always came by to greet whenever she face timed her brother. She was more appealing in reality. As soon as Cath gave her some space, she scanned the room addressed to her with interest. The room was fancy, just like a room she always dreamed of. It wasn't like the one in Onitsha. The only exception was that the one in Onitsha was more spacious and allowed her to practice her dance but the one here on Boj was small. She couldn't even backflip in it. But it's smallness had an attractive vibe, lovely wallpapers painted on the walls, patterned ceiling, colourful floor tiles. The room was very bright with a large door length window bearing flower vases at the base. The curtains were puckered to a side. She fell into the bed. It was perfect, springy. soft, comfy. She grabbed her pillow and giggled. Soon she was taking a lot of pictures. After unpacking her clothes into the wardrobe and placing her toiletries and facials on the drawer that sat close to her bed, she left to check the bathroom out. She met three year old Izunna at the dining table. He had been sleeping She spread out her teeth at him and shook his tiny hands. She was sitting right next to her brother at the table as they ate dinner of beans and yam. She whispered to him that Cath was beautiful. "...and is a good cook too" Jane didn't know Chibuike was blushing until Cath asked him what he found amusing. "Nothing", Chibuike replied shyly, his eyes hovering on nothing else except his food. "Just know you've got a naughty head of a sister". "I'm not naughty bro!, Jane snapped, her head ducked backwards."I'm not ". Chibuike laughed. "We'll see ". Jane watched Cath absentmindedly as she ate with half of her attention on Izunna. at the other end of the table. "How is William Couch?" "It's Touch", Cath corrected immediately, standing, to wipe off the mucus under Izunna 's nose. "Gosh. Touch?" Chibuike nodded, chewing. "Yeah, Touch. What's wrong with that?" After a while, Jane said,"...all my friends at Genesis High knows my brother owns a huge restaurant in Boj called William Couch". Cath was laughing. Chibuike joined in the laughter. "Huge?" Jane tore him a glance, then smiled dirty. "Say no more. It's huge. Yes it's huge because that's what Ekpereamaka told all our neighbors and her market friends. And her market friends told their market friends. So it's huge bro". Chibuike wore a surprised expression on his face. "Ekpere brags to her friends about me?". "Will??? ", Cath singsonged with a cautioning gaze. "She's your mom". Chibuike faked a cough. "Ekpere doesn't like me anymore. She doesn't see me as her son". Cath was smiling, holding a spoon of beans over Izunna's face. "Forget him Jane. When next you call mom, tell her Will misses her like mad". Chibuike gave Cath a serious stare, then, it melted into a soft chuckle. "That's a lie ". "Of course ", Jane noted sarcastically. "It's a lie, but Ekpere hears it". "I wished you both wouldn't ever get along ", Chibuike complained playfully. "Me and Jane, you mean?", Cath asked. Chibuike nodded. Cath laughed. "Damn you, I love her already". That night, the power was out so Jane turned on her rechargeable torch light and laid on her back on the bed.When she switched on her phone she saw three missed calls from Ekpere. She called back. It took a few for her mother to come on. "Hi mom" "How are you Jane?". "Fine mom. U?" "I'm fine. How is Port?" "PH is all good. And I know you wouldn't ask, but would want to know, Chibuike and his family are cool, and didn't I tell you? he misses you so much" There was a pause at the other end of the line. Noises. It seemed her mother was greeting someone. Jane imagined she was sitting in front of the house to enjoy the breeze as she always did most evenings. "So what were you saying", Ekpere asked. Pause. "Nothing mom. Love you. Take care". End of call. Jane left the phone on her belly and heaved a sigh. She was exhausted. It had been a long day. Then she brought up her phone again to check if Neddy has replied her last message. Her head felt heavy when she clicked their chat page on WeChat. Her message was still the last. J- U didn't come to Sheen Hall as u promised. What's with u? K- ... Kennedy was her boyfriend. They met in their school dance team since her fourth year in Genesis High and had been into each other since then. He began to act weird after they were done with their exams that year; he gave silly excuses whenever she asked to hang out, he didn't text her back sometimes and was barely even at home. She had invited him to Sheen Hall, the town hall in their metropolis; Dobakor in Onitsha the day before yesterday to tell him she was travelling and he said okay. But he never showed up. Jane has gone to the paper factory where his father worked to look for him since he wasn't home. She still didn't find him. She reasoned cluelessly that maybe, something was up with him but she probably had no idea; Neddy was never like that. He was a warm nice guy, lofty, not so handsome and all. She loved Kennedy. She wanted to leave another text for him. But before she could conclude what to type, she got a notification. It was from Nora, her bestie back home, from Genesis High too. N- Jeez Jane meteor!!!!, those photos are bomb. Z dat really ur bro's home? Tell me evrth!!!! U got there already? How's big bro? How's Boj?😱😱😱 J- Easy Nora. Boj's cool. A bunch of nixies here. Bro's fam is damn cool. N- Wow. His lil kiddo? He gud? J- Izu. He's a mf ing angel. Sooo cute😘 N- 😲😲😲😲😲😲 wow. J- Noraaa? N- Wt?🙄 J- Can u hlp me check on Neddy.😁 N- 🤦Xup dis tym bb? J- Nothing huge. Jxt no show since Sheen H. N-Omg😱😱😱😱 ur joking. Since Sheen H??😱😱 J- Yh not replying my texts. Check f his ok🥹🥹🥹🥹 N- okay sure. Bye😎 J- nightie 💙💞💞💖🔥