The Tears of Ngozi

Chapter Three: Friend Indeed

     8:PM IN THE NIGHT

   The house was silent , the neighborhood became so quiet like there was no one existing again. You could only hear the crickets make noise and sometimes the passing of airplane’s over the rooftop of the house.

Nnenna woke up to see herself in a nicely furnished room . It had a flat screen tv , a cupboard for clothes to be hunged, a standing mirror and finally a beautiful bed that was very comfortable.

   Nnenna couldn’t remember getting into the room, all she could remember was that after eating in the living room , she thanked Okafor and stretched her leg to relax on the sofa .

 “   Could it be that I slept off? She thought to herself

   Okafor came in to check up on her and discovered she was already awake. “ Oh you are awake already” he said to her.

 Nnenna smiled at him , meaning she just woke up . Okafor asked her how she slept and if she had a lovely dream .

 “ Yes I did!, She replied back to him with a smile .

  Okafor couldn’t help but stare at her beautiful face, she looked even more attractive when she showered . He remembered lifting her up from the living room sofa into the guest room, and how her face shorne so bright .

 With her lips in a curved heart  shape like as if she was asking for a kiss from him. Still sleeping he opened the guest room with Nnenna in his Bossom .

   He remembered placing her on the soft bed and how she smiled after he placed her on the bed. like as if she was awake. But she was still fast asleep.

  He then hurried out of the room inorder not to wake her up.

     Now she was awake staring at him with her beautiful face and juicy lips . He felt a sensation from his head to toe and had to shake off his head for a while.  Nnenna seeing his actions asked puzzled ,

  “ Are you okay? She looked at him innocently.  

   That alone melted his heart and he replied back to her with an affirmative gesture. Nnenna then continued.   “ I am so grateful for your help and I understand if you tell me to leave by c**k crow tomorrow, you have helped me enough.”

   Okafor looked at her with a shocked daze  and then he replied;.

 “ No..No !  Please I want you to stay. “

   “ I want to take care of you till you put to bed ( give birth), if you don’t mind ?

      He asked her , expecting an answer.  But he was shocked when Nnenna burst into tears .

  “ Thank you so much.” She said to him .

   “ I don’t have anywhere to go , you are an angel that God brought my way .”

        Okafor knelt before her , consoling her not to cry and promised to look after her .

  Years later , Nnenna became accustomed to Okafors house. He fell in love with her and didn't know how to tell her . 

    He took care of the baby girl that would always smile at him whenever he carried her. He also fell in love with the baby.

   The baby loved Okafor so much that whenever he was sad, she would come to cheer him up.

Crawling on her knees with her teddy bear, She would place it on his head . Giggling and laughing , she would wave her teddy bear at him and place it on his head laughing . Okafor would then smile and take the teddy bear off from his head and hand it over to the baby.

   “ Ngozi! (Mama Ngozi was heard from the kitchen.)

    “ Ngozi , Okafor  isn’t in a good mood now .”

Ngozi was just a toddler and didn’t understand what her mum was talking about . Instead she crawled to her mum and was crying  , so her mum would carry her .

     They whole family lived like a happy family and Mr. Okafor, never treated Ngozi like  she was not his child , he took care of her like she was his daughter .  He loved her , took good care of her and gave her everything she needed as a child to grow.

   One faithful day,  Okafor returned home to see that Ngozi was playing around in the living room . He looked around in search of her mother , but didn't find her in the living room or kitchen or dinning. It was just 4 minutes past 5 and he was so exhausted.

 His mind didn't remember to check for her in the room because he wanted to make sure Ngozi was ok. So as he was about to pick up his phone and call Mama Ngozi,  suddenly a loud cry was heard from the living room .  Immediately Okafor rushed to the scene to know what was going on, only to find out that Ngozi had  hit her head on the hard ground of the living room while she was playing with her doll.

   Okafor quickly carried her in his arms and consoled her till she fell asleep in his Bossom.

  Okafor out of anger rushed to the room and found Nnenna sleeping . He wanted to wake her up and yell at her For leaving the baby alone in the living room , but when he beheld her face which was like that of sleeping beauty , he couldn't help but go back to the living room.  With baby Ngozi still in his Bossom, sleeping, he carried her to her baby court and placed her there. He then tiptoed out of the room , inorder for him not to wake the baby.

   He ran a warm bath and then he headed straight to the kitchen to dish the already prepared food, which Nnenna had prepared before she got exhausted and slept off.  It was a deliciously prepared meal of   Nigerian jollof rice and chicken, with some salad ( also known as cabbage) , placed on the side. He took the food to the dinning and said few words of prayer before eating. He was so attentive to his food, exhibiting some table manners . 

  Little did he know that Mama Ngozi had already woken up and was watching him eat his meal quietly. All of a sudden a mist of air blew towards her and she couldn't help but sneeze, drawing the attention of Okafor to her. 

  " Sorry for interrupting you" Nnenna said and was about to leave , but she was halted by Okafor who begged her to stay . 

    He asked her if she needed food and that he would go and dish the food for her. He also complimented her cooking and this made Mama Ngozi who was still silently admiring Okafor to laugh. Her laughter brought joy to Okafor. He was actually happy that he could make her smile after what she had passed through . He couldn't imagine any one as beautiful as Nnenna , going through such hardship and pain. Just then a cry was heard from the other room . 

    The cry of a child that needed her mother and was so hungry that she needed to suckle her mother's breast . Nnenna quickly rushed to the baby court to pick her up.  And then brought her to the living room in her baby stroller.

   Just then , Okafor was done with the meal and took the dirty dish to the kitchen to wash. He then asked Mama Ngozi if she needed some food to eat, so he could serve her.

   Nnenna replied saying she was filled up already from eating earlier before Okafor had returned .

  So he then came out of the kitchen and saw Mama Ngozi breastfeeding her baby .

  He quickly took his face away from Mama Ngozi, so he would avoid looking at her bossoms. He then took a newspaper and began reading.

  " Thank you for helping us" , a voice was heard . Okafor dropped his newspaper on hearing those words and then looked at her saying that it was his duty as a man and also a citizen to do what's right.

  " I'm also human , I can't imagine my sister or mother going through what you went through. "

   Okafor was forced to look at her pointed bossoms , while talking to her and he couldn't help but stare at it  and admire it , he then came back to his senses , shaking off the thought in his head .

   " It's my duty ma"  he said to her. 

 He wished she would start seeing him as someone who is here to stay and not a friend , he already was developing feelings for her and didn't know how to tell her that he wanted to marry her.

Nnenna smiled and replied ;

  " Honestly, you are my angel . The one God sent to calm me down. "

 Nnenna continued praising and acknowledging his help and intervention.

 " What would I have done if you didn't come to my rescue ? , She said it not expecting a reply , but to tell him that he was really an angel  that was sent to help her and her baby and that she was grateful.

   " I would love to take good care of you, if you don't mind".  Okafor stylishly said to get Nnenna's reaction.

 She just smiled and said , " You have done enough, for letting me stay in your house ."

  " You are a friend indeed." She ended her speech with that last statement.

  Only if she knew I wanted more than just friends, Okafor thought to himself.

  ****

One year later , Okafor decided to make his move on her and he wasn't going to be ashamed or shy .

  So he came back from work, feeling exhausted as usual .  He then called out Mama Ngozi's name to let her know that he was back  from work .

    Mama Ngozi came to meet him in the living room carrying Ngozi, who was sleeping at her back . She welcomed him, helping him take off his expensively customized suit .

 " I want to tell you something, " he said to Nnenna .

 Nennna replied, " Ok , let me run your bath for you first ."

   But she was stopped by Okafor who told her that he wanted to tell her something important and that the bath can wait.  Anxiously looking at Okafor, Nnenna then sat back in the sofa and was waiting for him to tell her what was so important that he couldn't eat or take a shower first.

   " He then came close to Nnenna , holding her hands and looking straight into her eyes . She became scared , several thoughts began springing up in her head . 

 " Does he want to send me away?

 " Did he loose his job and can't feed I and my baby , and wants us out of his house?

" Are the neighbors complaining?

  Those were the thoughts that came to her mind . She didn't know that she was far from it and Okafor wanted to  make his move and confessed his feelings towards her.

  " Hope I didn't do anything wrong?  , She asked him expecting a reply.

 He looked into her eyes , this time around even more intense and said to her,  I want to tell you something , and I am hoping you give me a positive answer .

  " Ok !" , Nnenna replied

  " I really love you and would love you to see me more than just a friend." He said to her, looking at her and expecting an answer from her.  She didn't say anything and then he continued;

  " I grew fond of you and Ngozi, and I'm so attracted to you ."

" I want to care for you like a husband care for his family, as you can see I'm single ."

He said to her waiting for a reply .

  She only stared at him in shock and didn't mutter a word, she  also grew to love Okafor and didn't know how to let him know, she didn't want to seem ungrateful or look like a gold digger.

   " Nnenna ! Please say something." He looked at her still holding her hands and said finally to her,

  " Will you marry me? He then brought out a ring , which was enclosed in a little silver box . She looked at him and suddenly tears began to flow from her eyes . Looking at him on one knee, she couldn't believe her eyes .  

" Is that a ring ? She thought to herself .

  With a smile and teary face she nodded and said yes! .

 After all he had been taking care of her like his own wife and also looking after Ngozi , like his own daughter. So she wouldn't do any good if she said no to him, because she also loved him too .  He hugged her, giving her passionate  kiss on her lips . He had been admiring her lips and thought of when he would finally place his warm pink lips on hers , and now he could .

  They got married in a court, did a family wedding and started a new life together as husband and wife.