Beautiful Poison (A Nigerian Love Story)

Chapter 9

The Begining



David didn’t call Chandeline that night.

He told himself it was because it was late, because she’d looked tired, because Amaka had been hovering with that sharp, bored expression that made people want to leave faster. The truth was simpler: he made a habbit of not calling ladies immediately. He called it doing shakara.

So he waited.

At 7:42 AM the next day, he stood in the bathroom of the Kurudu terrace, his foot propped on the edge of the tub, and dialed. The phone rang twice before she picked up.

“Hello?” Her voice was low, cautious, like she wasn’t sure who was calling.

“It’s David,” he said. “From yesterday. On the road near that school.”

There was a pause. Then, “Oh.”

Not rejection. Not enthusiasm. Just ‘oh.’

He exhaled. “Are you free this evening? I thought we could talk properly.”

Another pause, shorter this time. “Ok”

“Where would you like u to meet?”

“A1 spot. You know it?”

“I know it.”

“Seven o’clock.”

She didn’t say yes. She didn’t say no. She just said, “Okay,” and hung up.

David spent the rest of the morning in the Academy lecture hall pretending to listen to a facilitator talk about asset tracing. He signed the attendance sheet at 8:05, asked one question at 9:30 to look engaged, and was on an okada by 10:17.