Chapter 15
600 Words
Long Distance Relationship
David finished his course in Abuja with the kind of relief that made him want to kiss the EFCC Academy gate goodbye.
Five days of pretending to care about asset tracing, three days of limping because his foot still complained about that fall on 4th Street, but Chandeline… Chandeline was what made the trip to Abuja all worthwhile.
“Oya o!, It’s time to go” Daniel shouted on the last day, tossing David’s bag onto the backseat of the Uber. “Kano is calling”
They drove back to Kano that night, arguing about leverage, about Chandeline, about why Matilda had sent a voice note at 2 AM saying “I miss you, come see me.”
David hadn’t replied. He’d listened to it three times instead.
---
Back in Kano, life settled into its ridiculous rhythm.
David was still serving as an officer, which meant mornings in snazzy suits, and evenings trying not to fall asleep while Daniel drew trend lines on his laptop like a madman.
Daniel came twice a week. Tuesday and Thursday, like a forex doctor making house calls.
“Alright, Mr. Millionaire in Progress,” Daniel would say, dropping his bag on David’s dining table. “Today we learn why you lost two hundred dollars on a Tuesday. Again.”
“I didn’t lose it,” David said. “It’s just temporarily in the market’s account.”
“That’s what all my exes said about my money,” Daniel replied. “They’re still holding it.”
They’d spend three hours arguing about stop losses, with Daniel yelling and David pretending to take notes while actually thinking about whether Chandeline had eaten.
Chandeline was 400 kilometers away, but she called every night. Long-distance relationship, if you squinted hard enough.
“Did you eat?” she’d ask.
“Yes,” David would lie.
“David, you sound like you have garri in your mouth.”
“I’m eating garri. Healthy.”
She’d laugh, and for ten minutes he’d forget that he was a mess and that his life was four girls, one unfinished property, and a friend who charged him for forex lessons in beer.
---
Then David invited Matilda.
It seemed like a good idea at 1 AM. Matilda had been consistent, she was in Abuja, and Kano wasn’t that far. Two-hour flight, or six hours by road if you hated yourself.
“Come visit,” he texted. “I miss your cooking.”
Matilda replied in ten minutes: “On my way Saturday. Don’t eat anything till I arrive.”
David told Daniel, who stared at him like he’d grown a second head.
“Bro, Chandeline is calling you every night,” Daniel said. “And you’re flying in Matilda?”
“It’s not like that,” David said. “I just want to see if there’s something there. Closure.”
“Closure looks like an Abuja girl bringing suya and sleeping in your guest room,” Daniel said. “Be careful. Kano is small. Embarrassment travels faster than NEPA light.”
David ignored him.
Matilda arrived Saturday at 3 PM, with a small suitcase and a cooler full of food. She kissed David on the cheek, ignored Daniel’s raised eyebrow, and went straight to the kitchen.
By 6 PM the flat smelled like jollof and fried plantain. Daniel ate two plates and left, muttering about “men who collect girls like stamps.”
Matilda stayed the night. Nothing scandalous happened. They watched a movie, talked about her job, and fell asleep at 12:30.
David thought he’d gotten away with it.
- Writer
