sincerely yours

CHAPTER 2

It began as whispering in the air . The day had been beautiful and the sky was like a dome of plasma-blue. The clouds had looked like airy anvils drifting under the gleaming disc of the sun. Shortly afterwards,the clouds began to gather . It started raining, very innocently. Autumn's dismal rain that embraced everything in its compass ,like an unromantic story from life itself that has no crescendo, no climax , but which nevertheless is overwhelming.

Michael had visited the Mowan supermarket to pick up a few things. He turned his gaze to the black lady at the extreme. Ruth…what is she doing here? This is definitely the second time ahh. She was beautiful, an epitome of female beauty. She was making a careful selection when he approached her."Hi" he said, waving his hands.

She took a few steps backward , with her heart almost strangling her, she headed down to one of the aisles to the beverage section. Why is he here in texas? Why is he here at the supermarket? He's here to see you.No way she dismissed that immediately.

She turned around, he was still there right there standing behind her back. His gaze was unwavering and intense. "Hey" she flicked a smile.

" How have you been, you changed a little bit" he smiled " like you look hotter " he teased.

" Thanks" She said, refusing to be flattered by the man she left many years ago. He looked good too in his chunky Nike knit sweater, track pants and white sneakers. He stared at her eye to eye, her heart pounding at a frantic tempo and for some reason she blushed furiously under his steady scrutiny.

" I met you sometime at the bank. I guess you barely recognized me".

" I did " she said"I am pretty surprised. The man I met at the bank was way hotter than you" she laughed."Are you in Atlanta on business?" She asked.

" I work here in Atlanta." he said " I work for the IRIM."

"Wow i'm impressed"

"Why"

" Stop asking me why. You have always wanted this ".

"Yeah but at the same time kinda complicated at the moment" he said" Have you worked here for long? his voice low with a hard concentration in her.

" I work with St. Dunes at Peachtree."she said.

" Mummy" jaymone appeared behind the shelf, holding a spiderman toy made from rubber." Mum i got spiderman" said the little boy while making a display of how spiderman flys with a web.

" Your son?" He asked

" Yes " she replied with a wry smile as Micheal bent down to the size of the boy.

"What's your name kid?" He asked.

"His Jaymone" Ruth interrupted " Jaymone met Michael, my old friend. You know this is not the right time to talk to a stranger ." Ruth pulled Jay up into her trolley.

"Here's my card, " Michael said, giving her his call card. ``We could meet again, you know."

Ruth shaked her head as a sign of rejection. "Am sorry we can't "

"Why"

" Because we broke up and besides I really don't want this. I just happy you are good that's all"

" You broke up with me because…"

" Because I gotta take care of my shame." she interrupted.

"What…….! look Ruth i wasn't asking you for a date or something okay but at least i could call you. Just take the card" he said, giving it to her slowly. She took the card.

" It's nice to see you again. Stay safe " she tapped his right shoulder and left.

after all these years, out of blue she jerked into my life again and still doesn't remember she owes me an apology…wtf.

A week later……

Mom, please relax.I got kicked out of office ikana agwa 'm okwu nwaanyi (you are talking about a woman i should marry)" kahil hissed changing the phone position to his left ear.

"Ah ah how come..kee ihe emere?(what happened?)"

"Been having issues with my acting boss for months now .. Can you believe he got me a job with a high pay so I could leave IRIM"

"High pay?"

" Yes sixty thousand dollars...changed to naira it's...."

"Almost Twenty-seven million " she interrupted.

"Mama I feel betrayed" he said ....

" Hmmm betrayed..my son onye a mere gi ihe oma mana o maa...27 million naira aburu obere ego ihie..(this person did a good thing for you. 27 million naira is not a small money)" she said " you re working for the money even if they transfer you to Nigeria obodo mmebi, ana akwu gi millions it's better nah..(Nigeria is a spoilt country and you are paid millions its better)"

"I know mama but"

" But what?.. accept fate and move on . Assuming he sacked you and left you with nothing nko..Iburuzie file gbaharima na obodo ndi ocha ( you now walk around the streets of America looking for a job)." She sighed "Every disappointment is a blessing.leave the company for him. He knows you are greater than him . Ochuru(wants) side competition"

" Mama hapu nke ahu ..ndi obodo kee way?(mom leave that aside..how is our country men doing?"..he laughed knowing she would start to criticize the Nigerian government.

"Mama all will be fine.I will send you money tomorrow "

" Ome na dollar nwa'm(He who deals in dollars )" she praised him.

"If I send you Dollars, Naira will run mad."

A few moments later his phone beeped, a message from an unknown number popped "Hey how about dinner tonight".

"So she finally accepted,"he hissed and called the number.

"Hey kahil it's Nia.Nia Clifton" a female voice said.

"Wtf" he said to himself having known the message wasn't from Ruth..Nia has been a friend for the past six months now he once had an interest not knowing she was married already.She was black too from South Carolina ."How u doing?"

"Am cool.Hey you got the message?"

"Lately" he said.

"Bills on me" she laughed.

"Don't worry I 'll take that,"he said.

"Why don't you let me do this once," she said." Nothing just let me be the one to spoil you" he chuckled.

"You know we've been best friends "she said.

"Emmm.. yeah of course"

"So by 7:00pm I wanna see yo ass at church's chicken fast food downtown"

"Yes ma'am" he laughed.

7:00pm

The night was cool and the rain drizzled.

Kahil was seated already at the table while he waited and there she was coming straight to him.Nia felt quite confident of her appearance,knowing fully well her black dress would be suitable for any occasion.its style demure while still managing to show the perfection of her figure, she was thick .Her breast firm and up tilting the slenderness of her waist was emphasized by a thick black belt on her hips narrow in the pencil -slim styling of dress .

Her legs were long and smooth ,her slender ankle's shown to advantage in the high-heeled sandals she wore.A slender gold chain about one of her ankles .Her long black hair secured on the top of her head leaving her neck slenderly vulnerable."Heyyyy look at you.you look amazing tonight"

"Thank you" she flicked a smile , dimples popped in . He wondered about a girl with a cute smile ,white teeth, dimpled cheeks ,smart , and sexy. What else in the world would she ask for.She was happily married and everything was perfect for her.

A waiter approached ."orange juice or probably lemonade will be fine"

"Always been Chicken sauce and orange juice" she smiled and the waiter turned away.

"Yo, you gotta eat something " she said

"Nah am good " he said slowly.

"So tell me ,how have you been?"she asked

"Being cool just got kicked out from work so I gotta manage " he shrugged.

"Why?"

" They want me out of the way."he said"Ima just say I got sold out"

She laughed"sold out to who?"

"Got an option to work for THE JULIAN'S and still losing the job with IRIM" he inhaled

"So sorry" she said feeling so concerned."So what are you gonna do about it?"

"Ain't got a choice"he said"still tryna make some time for myself"he added. The waiter was back .A full fried spicy chicken coupled with sprinkles of well cut green lettuce, tomatoes, beacon was dropped on a ceramic tray on the table.He filled their tumbler then left.

"You never told me about your family," he said.

"Family crumbled "she inhaled.

"How?"

She exhaled heavy , bit her lower lip"With hindsight I was bound to think that my own dysfunctional family had fallen to pieces right around the time my mother died." She said

"So sorry," he said.

"My mom was an alcoholic: unpredictable,manipulative,self-obsessed.Her personality became huge when she was drunk,her happiness magnified a thousand fold by the alcohol.More affectionate".

She inhaled deeply accompanied with a silent hiss .

"But as the drinking progressed,things turned to

disappointments,disgust,disease.Where she had been fun, she became sullen ;where she had been loving and caring ,she became distant only to attack me with insults." She took a sip from the tumbler."I can't say I minded that. My father remarried when I turned twenty and step mom has been a mess all these years."

" She wasn't a good one?" He asked.

"Yeah" she said .."my life changed then .you know sometimes people laugh when I tell them about my wild youth"

He laughed"how wild"

"Like you laughing" she squeezed her face"not the bit about my mom dying ,not when I tell them I was a dope head, that would regularly trash our house with parties.That my first three years at the university were spent sleeping with pretty much anyone that would have me."

Kahil laughed helping himself with a piece of meat"you were kinda the hot chick girl" he said

"You're laughing," she laughed."Look at me now. My sleek ,chic conservative clothes, my understated make-up, my high elegant shoes.They can't believe I ever did anything rebellious in my entire life. My husband always says he fell in love with me because I looked like a librarian"she boosted out with laughter.

"But deep down you naughty Billie". Kahil said.

"Been a naughty girl all my life" she coughs."you read books don't you?"

"I could count over six hundred books this little head of mine have read"he smiled."Not bragging though"he shrugged.

"Don Quixote," she said.

"Don Quixote de la mancha by Miguel de chavantes or are you talking about a book I have yet to read?"

" He wants to be a knight like the characters he admires in old stories but when he tries to copy their adventures.."

"Makes so many stupid mistakes" he raised his brows then smiled.

"I like that. "she said "not the brown thing.your enthusiasm for book's pretty cool" she continued."you read love books do you? .

He waved his head to say no.." it's been a long time" he said." Love doesn't work for me."

"Why do you say so? I loved you like I still do but we are not meant for each other".

"Not you Nia. Have been that way " he inhaled been seeing my ex lately but her attitude ain't cool for me to come close.``

"Was she rude?"

"She got a kid "

"She's married?"

"Single mom.." he said

"What if " she said thinking."what if this was your chance to make things right"

"Things right? How? She broke my heart the very moment she spread out her legs for another guy and that kid came through"he inhaled " I gave her my contact card and she hasn't not a message or a drop call"

"Man, what if she doesn't want you any closer probably because she feels guilty and doesn't want to make further mistakes having you around? From the look in your eyes Mich you still love that lady..her sassy ass should be grateful you know. But you can get her back if you want. You can change that bad history and every damn s**t that happened back then .I don't know her or what she's gonna look like but I think you're still gonna be the perfect person for her. It's all time." She held his hands.." love wasn't my thing then till I met Darc Clifton. He made me believe that not everyone deserves me but the very one person that can live with my flaws.you see kahil..you are going through a lot now of emotional stress . Love is physical man." She stared at him"we could speak an immense amount about souls and sympathy and understanding and devotion.All beautiful things in their way,and possible to be enjoyed at a distance from one another.All the things which make passion noble .But without love which is passion,these things feelings dwindle and become duties presently.Love is tangible .it means close to close .To be clasped, to be in touch with one another and that's what you need!".

Her voice was low, so concentrated as to be startling in contrast to the drip of the rain outside ,and her eyes half closed and gleaming burnt into his brain.

"Am inspired" he shaked his head smiling.

"Don't mock me"

"Nah i wasn't" he replied "am only happy the love books you 've been reading really have a great work on you ah mean like where did all that speech come from?"he laughed.

"I get it love ain't your thing " she sipped from the tumbler.

" It isn't, am really happy it worked for you. Seeing you happy and still attractive "

"Am flattered " she blushed

The morning walk was over for Ruth, she jogged past a group of teenage boys playing basketball in an open court, further on she passed a step aerobics class consisting of a handful of diehards exercising to trim dance teachers instructions. She moved into her house grabbed a towel from a bin and stepped into her room where she stripped off her sweaty work out clothes, then headed to the shower.

She lathered her body and laughed at herself. " I really feel miserable,"she said to herself. Even after all these years she missed him." I just don't want to keep hurting you. Haven't I done enough already? You deserve better than this. I just can't say that to you ah" she scrubbed staring at the mirror. Even if i find my way back to his arms he wouldn't accept my son.i

I don't think he will love me again. What if he gets back at me. God…

Her mind was blowing, she was thinking fast.. "I guess I have to avoid seeing him, " she said to herself.

After washing her body , she let the warm water from the shower drill her out. She rinsed off, toweled dry and put on clean white jeans and a blue turtleneck sweater. She checked her image in the mirror, she was fit and pretty, no doubt about it, but her lips didn't pull a quick smile as they once had and her eyes looked haunted. She opened her drawer to put in place her makeup tools when she had a glimpse at Michaels card..she picked it up. It's been a week and three days since she saw him at the supermarket. She inhaled deeply putting the card into her phone pouch .

She moved to Jaymones bedroom."Hey " she said.

"Good morning mum" Jay rubbed his eyes, as she kissed his forehead.

" You must be hungry?" She said " let's go grab some burgers".

The drive to Macdonald's was a five minutes drive. Jaymone jumped out of the car" be careful" Ruth said quickly before getting out of the car. Attached to Macdonald's was a roadside park filled with a conglomeration of slides and swings. A dozen kids screaming around the park." Mum, can we sit at the park?"

"Of course," she said.

She ordered three burgers and two cans of fresh orange juice. They sat at the park.

A sky blue beemer jeep pulled up and parked by. Michael came out and he needed some burgers to work, he didn't make breakfast early enough.

" Mom, isn't that your old friend?"Jaymone asked in between a bit.

She turned her gaze to his direction, of course he hadn't seen them yet.

"Enjoy yourself," she said to her son.

After a few minutes he was out and again walked to his car, turned and waved at her. God she skipped heat . Michael approached in a few seconds " Hi, you guys must be having a lovely time here" he said .

"Yeah sure we are" she said, trying not to get in contact with his eyes.

"Is that hotdogs you have?" Jaymone asked excitedly.

" Yeah , those are hotdogs. " He said "I should probably be on my way to work. I just wanna say hi " he said, facing Ruth.

"I guess you should get going,"she said.

"Can I have some hotdogs?" Jay said in-between bites.

"Yes of course " Michael replied, handing over a well package hotdog.

"My son doesn't eat hotdogs " Ruth stopped him.

"But he asked for it "

"And I said NO"..damn the authority was there..

"But Mum..i want it"

"Shut up!" She let out a scream of invective." We are going home now" she dragged Jay by the arm.

"Why not let him play with the other kids? " Micheal said.

"You shouldn't come here to lecture me on how to take care of my own child. "

"Ruth" he called holding her hand and in a split second she slammed his face with a slap. It happened so fast. He held his face as he let her go.