Chapter 4- Ama/Bim.

"So, how was school today," Mama says as she comes to hug me.

"Ubochi Mma, Mama." I greet in my local dialect. Mama made it compulsory for us to greet in our local dialect. I can't count how many knocks I have received for greeting her 'good morning'.

"kedu, how are you." Mama replies with that satisfied look on her face. She goes back to her position and faces the TV. She seems so engrossed in the movie. I don't want to disturb her with my school problems. After having a shower, I join Mama in the living room.

"Have you eaten?" Mama says, still looking at the TV screen.

"No, I am not hungry yet. I'll eat later." My phone beeps, signaling me I have an unread message on whatsapp. Its an unknown number.

"How are you." The person sends.

"Who is this?" I reply almost immediately.

"Don't worry. I'll tell you later. Just come online around 10 Pm, okay?" 

Now I am confused. Who is this unknown person? Could it be Cynthia or Amanda. It could be anyone. I swear, If Bolaji is playing a prank on me, I will kill him. Its been two minutes since the last message was sent.

"Okay. I will try. Just tell me who you are, so I can know who I am chatting with."

The message has been marked blue, indicating the person has read it. My eyes are fixed on my phone. 

"Timmy, what's wrong with you? You just came back from school and the first thing you do is to press phone. Eh! Stupidity!"Mama snaps, pausing the movie.

"Don't you have assignments to do?" She asks.

"No, mama. We are almost done with the scheme. Our teachers hardly give us assignments these days," My eyes still fixed on my phone. Its been five minutes since the sender was last seen on WhatsApp. 

"In fact, give me your phone,now! I am talking to you and you cannot even look at me. What insolence!"

"Mama. But I was listening to what you were saying," I say in such a pitiful tone. Mama has always had a soft spot for me, so whenever I need something from her all I need do is to activate my puppy dog eyes and its done.

"Go and eat. When you are done with eating, you can come and play your video game. I am sure that's why you are here. I will soon be going out. Just know if you fail your exam, your Play Station 3, your phone and your bicycle will be gone and plus, you will be grounded for five years, good five years! When I come back we will talk about school, okay?" Mama says, moving her attention back to the movie.

Immediately, I dash to the kitchen to get my food. I can't afford anything happening to my phone. I carry the tray of food to the dinning and I relax on the chair. My mind flashes back as I eat my food. Harrison shouldn't have done what he did. I couldn't even thank Cynthia properly. I was literally counting the seconds till we closed. When we closed, I rushed to the car without saying a word to anyone. I wonder what Amanda thinks of me now. I can't believe I ducked like a little child when I found out she was there all along. I shake my head in regret. 

"Okay, I will be on my way. I don't know when I will come back. Be a good boy and don't wait up, okay?" Mama comes to kiss me.

"Okay Mama." I mutter. 

"Don't wait up. When you are hungry, you can call Bimbo to cook for you." Her voice sounds faintly now. She opens the door and leaves.

Bimbo is our part-time maid. She comes only when she is called for. She is about my age. She is beautiful and has a dark brown complexion. Dad brought her to Lagos mainly to further her education. In return, she got to help with the chores. Mama initially saw her as a threat, so she asked dad to send her back to the village. Dad blatantly refused which caused a drift between them that year. The only compromise they could reach is to put her in our Boys' quarters which is at the far end of our huge compound. She has her own kitchen and everything. Whenever we need her, we call the land line we placed there and she'd come right away. Otherwise, she stays in a different world. Mama goes to see her every now and then. I haven't seen her in a very long time.

      Now looking at the half-eaten beans and bread in front of me, my appetite suddenly vanishes. After throwing the food in the basin, I resolve to my video game.

"Wow! It's 6:00 already." I sit up, yawning and stretching at the same time. I clean the drool from my mouth. I must have fallen asleep. God, I am so hungry. I need to eat something right away. My stomach hurts.

I remember Mama telling me to call Bimbo whenever I needed food. I pick up the telephone and dial the number of the land line in the Boys' quarters.

"Hello. Mummy, is that you?" Bimbo's rather light tenor voice resonates over the phone. She must be in the bathroom. Her voice has really changed since I last heard it. It's now deeper and it sounds way mature now.

"yes. I mean, no. Its not Mama. Its T-Timmy. Mama said I should call for you when I am hungry." 

God! I am such an idiot! 

"Oh, okay. I am coming. Just give me like five minutes."

Her grammar seems to have improved exceedingly too.

"Okay. Take your time." I hang up the call.

Why the hell did I tell her to take her time? I shrug as I walk to the freezer, take out a juice from the top shelf. Mama hates it when I drink the juice without using a cup, it really pisses her off. What's the use pouring in a cup when you can drink it right from the top. Its like pouring a sachet water in a cup before drinking, totally absurd, right? 

The door bell rings about ten minutes after.

"Its open!" I yell. 

The door opens and Bimbo comes in. The sight before me is unbelievably magnificent. Bimbo has become a totally different person over night. Her brownish complexion has turned light skinned, her hips are now curvier and her face, prettier. She is on a tight singlet and a bomber short which makes her stature more enchanting. Oh my God!

"I am sorry for coming late, Timmy," Bimbo says as she closes the door behind her.

"Its----its okay. No problem." I stare at the wonder before me. Her singlet is a bit loose, revealing the upper section of her breast. Thank God my tight boxer short is on check.

"So what would you like to eat?" She says, slowly coming closer.

"Ehm. You can cook indomie and please, cook for two."

"No, thank you. You don't have to."

She is now very close to me. I can literally feel her breath touching me. She pouts her lips and looks at me straight in the eye.

"O----Kay. Anything y--ou want." I stutter, avoiding her eyes, trying so hard to hide my anxiety. I have never been this close to a girl before. What should I do?

"Okay, just give me five minutes." She pats my shoulder gently, stares at me for a while, smiles and goes to the kitchen. I let out a loud sigh. God! My heart was on my hands. She probably would be thinking I am such a big baby. There should be a manual for these kind of things. I can feel some sweat beads on my fore head.

"So, Timmy. How are you?"

Her voice echoes from the kitchen.

"I am fine, you?" I say, trying my best not to act too formal.

"I am good. What class are you now?"

"Well, I am in SS2, you?" 

God! Why do I keep replying like this. Timmy, come on, be jovial. At least, just this once. 

"I'm in SS3 now. I don't know if you heard?" She says.

"Heard what?" I reply almost immediately.

"I got promoted when I was in JS2, that's why I'm in SS3. They said I was too smart to be In JS2."

The food smells delicious. I can feel my stomach commenting too.

"Wow! You are lucky you were not in St. Peter's High. No matter how brilliant you are, you still remain in that class. They don't want to know if you are Albert Einstein's immediate descendant!" I say rather loudly. The noise from the kitchen compels me to raise my voice. I hate raising my voice, especially when I am trying to make an impression. I can hear her giggles despite the noise.

"I have always wanted to come to St. Peter's High. You are the lucky one, Timmy. Your dad used to tell me to make the best of what I have and to always be contented. I wish my dad could be just like your dad."

Whenever dad's name is brought up I often find myself getting angry. Maybe its because he left without considering to ask me if I wanted to come along, or maybe its because he used to shout at Mama whenever he came home late at night and Mama would cry herself to sleep, or maybe because he abandoned us and felt his only obligation as a father and a husband is to send us a fat bill for our allowances. Yes, I am such a lucky boy!

She brings out the food and places it on the table.

"No, you didn't have to serve the food, Bimbo. I would have done that myself." I say, getting up to take the tray from her.

"Don't worry."

Before I could get to her, she serves the food and hurriedly goes to drop the tray in the kitchen. It would have been immature to have chased her, so I return to the dinning table.

"Wait, what did you call me? Bimb-o?" She giggles.

She comes out of the kitchen with her face all sweaty. I can see some sweat beads on her body. Now I wish I chased her when I had the chance.

"Its Bimbo. It is pronounced Bimbor and not Bimb-o. You can call me Rose instead. That's my English name. That's what they call me in school anyway."

She uses a rag to wipe off the water from her hands.

"Oh okay," I say, scratching my head.

"You just sounded like a typical Igbo man!"

She takes out her handkerchief and cleans the little sweat on her face.

"But really, you've really changed o. You are way taller than you used to be and you are way handsomer now."

Its true I grew taller. I don't know about the handsome part. I can still remember when she was taller than me, with Dave being the tallest amongst us.

Mama would say,

"Timmy, when will you grow tall. See small Bimbo has already grown taller than you."

They would all laugh over it. When I grew taller than Dave, our family had already separated. It was only Cindy who would tease him about it over the phone. The rest were busy one way or the other.

"Thanks. You have really changed too," I say.

I can't believe I am the one blushing here.

"Really?" She gives me a funny look.

"In a good way or a bad way?"

She puts her hands on her waste and pouts her lip in that same way she did when she was close to me. I can feel some beads of perspiration on my forehead.

"In a good way, of course. I hardly believed it was you who walked down that door."

"Really? Thanks," She smiles, revealing her cute dimples. Dave and I have always had a soft spot for girls with dimples.

Especially Dave.

"So what else can I do for you, Mr. Timothy. It's getting dark and I have an assignment to do."

"If you say so." I mutter, wishing she could stay a little longer.

"If you want me to stay just say it and I'll stay."

"Really!? Are you serious?"

"No, I was kidding." She giggles.

"I can give you my number. When you need me just call. Its not a must I come here for strictly business purposes."

"okay then," I say.

I hand my phone to her, she types her number and gently hands it back to me.

"Okay bye," She walks slowly to the door, reaches for the knob and opens it.

"Is this your whatsapp number!" I scream. It was too late. She didn't hear me.

Wow, who would have thought Bimbo could turn out like this? I wipe off the sweat beads on my nose with my thumb.

I can't believe I was sweating in this air-conditioned atmosphere.

My stomach grumbles and I realize I totally forgot about the food on the dinning table.

I shuffle to the dinning table and I open the plate covering the food. The smell coming from the food has my mouth watering. Immediately, I balance myself on the Masters' chair, take out my spoon from the table and I dig in. The food tastes incredibly delicious. I think Mama should go out more often.

After clearing the table, I go straight to the couch in the living room. Its 08:30PM already and Mama hasn't come back. She did say I shouldn't wait up for her.

Realising I haven't stored Bimbo's number, I pick up my phone and to my greatest surprise, she stored her name as 'Rosey Love'. Wow! I don't even know what to say. I think she might like me. I'm not sure what I feel but what I know is, whenever she is close, I feel this intensity in my veins. I remember what Dave used to Say,

"Don't fall in love. Love is camouflage. What you feel for one, you feel for all. I am sure what you feel is just anxiety and nothing else."

After much deliberation, I decide to dial her number. I need to think of a reason to call, I need a perfect cover.

"Yes, I need to ask her for her whatsapp number," I say with a smirk.

That's the only reasonable cover I can think of at the moment. Well, it works for me.

The number is ringing, but she isn't picking up the call. I don't know why my heart is beating so fast.

She might be busy with something. I will call her later. I reassure myself as I hang up the call and continue my video game.

My phone rings at exactly 9:00 PM. I must have slept off again. But this time, I find myself on the floor with my game pad and my phone beside me. I pick up my phone and answer the call in my subconscious state.

"Hello, who is this?" I say, sounding like a wretched drunk.

"You called me earlier. I just saw your missed call so I decided to call back."

"I don't know who you are,Young lady."

I cut the call. I noticed the caller was trying to say something before I hung up. Well, I do not care. For now, all I care about is to get back to sleep. I move to the couch.

It's 09:15 PM and I can't seem to fall asleep. My stomach grumbles again as I stretch. Confused and half asleep, I walk to the kitchen to get some food. I can't seem to find the pot of noodles. She must have washed the pot when she was done.

Oh God! What will I do!

I walk to the kitchen door with my hands on my waste. I can still perceive the sweet smell of the noodles. It seems to be coming from the upper cupboard nailed to the wall next to the kitchen door. There are three shelves; The top-most, the upper one and the low one. There is no way she could have reached to the top most one without the use of a chair and there was no chair in the kitchen, so the top most shelf is out of the equation.

Now, the upper one should be partially possible if she had the strength to stand on her toes and I don't think she'd do that. She would call me instead. 

Relentlessly, I reach to the low shelf and I rummage till I touch a warm cooler deep inside the shelf.

She left some more in the cooler. Oh, how thoughtful of her.

After devouring the remnants of the food right there on the Kitchen cabinet, I walk down to the living room, pick up my phone and I relax on the couch.

Now curious as to who the previous caller was, I go through my call log. To my greatest surprise, it was Bimbo who called when I was half asleep.

Immediately, I dial her line and I stand to my feet.

"Hello, this is a wrong number." Bimbo obviously sounds pissed.

"I'm sorry. I believe I'm speaking to a certain Rosey Love," I say in a British accent. I have always been good at mimicking movie stars and the way they speak. The first time I did an Eddie Murphy accent in school, Bolaji went nuts.

"Rosey love? I don't know any-" She pauses. 

"Timmy, is that you?" I can hear her giggles loudly over the phone.

"No, Young lady. I don't know of this Timmy you speak of. I am Greg knots of Nottingham." 

"Yeah, yeah. I am sure you are calling because you saw the extra food I kept in the cooler and you've eaten it."

"yeah, thanks. How did you know I'd need it later?" I say, dropping the British accent.

"We all know you are a hungry monger and my intuition told me you'd need it."

"Thanks for that. You really saved my life there."

"So, what happened to Greg of Nottingham?" She giggles.

"Oh yeah. Young lady, You are a particularly kind one. I'll make sure to tell my great grand children about you." I say energetically, resuming my British accent. bursts into laughter.

"You need to teach me this your British accent. I love it."

"Of course, I will. I called to ask if the number you gave me is your whatsapp number." I whisper.

"Yeah,It is and is this yours? Why did you whisper?" She asks.

"Nothing really, I thought it would add more action to the unfolding scene."

Actually, I do not know why I whispered.

"Action man. You've not answered my question." She says sarcastically.

"Oh sorry, ma'am. Yeah,that is my whatsapp number. Alright,I have to go now. I'll chat you up, okay?"

"Okay dearie. Bye."

"yeah, bye." I reply. 

I can't believe my ears. She called me dearie.

"Bye," she says again.

"Goodbye."

"yeah, bye bye."She giggles as she ends the call.

I Smile as I throw myself to the couch. This might be a start of something beautiful. The door opens and Mama comes in.

Immediately, I rise to greet her. She kisses me on my fore head.

"Welcome, Mama." I say as I carry her bag for her. 

"Thank you, my son." She really looks exhausted. She lies flat on the couch and exhales a deep breath with her shoes still on.

"So, what did you eat?"

"Bimbo cooked noodles." I respond as I go to return her bag in her room.

"Oh, I thought you would not call her." Her voice echoes from the sitting room.

"I did. I had to. I was hungry." 

I say as I return from the room. 

"She has really changed, Mama .She is now beautiful." I sit at the other end of the couch.

"Was she ever ugly? She just needed a few touches here and there and plus, your dad sends her more than enough for her up keep every month."

"Timothy, how many times have I told you to lock the door whenever I'm not around and to switch off the TV when you are not using it and to also clear the table when you are done eating!?" Mama yells. 

Oh shit! I totally forgot. I rush to the door and I lock it immediately. 

Whenever Mama calls me by my name, Timothy, I know I have done something wrong. Whenever she calls me by my full name, Timothy Chidozie, there is fire on the mountain. Her voice is always very loud when she scolds.

I return to the couch. 

"Sorry mama. I didn't close the door after Bimbo left." I apologise as I squat to remove her shoes.

"Thank you, my son. You know,/you are the man of the house. You should act like one."

"Okay mama."

I hate it when she calls me that. Mama and Papa split up a year ago. We were all closer to Papa than Mama, so when they separated, Dave and Cindy chose to stay with Papa who promised to fly them overseas to continue their studies. I would have gone with them, but I couldn't leave Mama all alone. She would break down for sure. The day they packed their things wasn't funny at all. Mama begged Dave and Cindy to stay with her. She almost knelt down and wept before them. Dave and Cindy's minds were already made. no amount of tears could change that. I can still remember how Cindy wept and how Dave tried to console Mama as if it were yesterday. All I did was stay beside Mama, crying my eyes out. Eventually, they left the house and in less than six months, Papa flew them abroad. I still talk to them sometimes over the phone. It can never be compared to the same feeling as having them around.

Mama has already fallen asleep on the couch. I cover her with a bed sheet and I go to my room. Seeing Mama like this breaks my heart. I wish we were all staying together, as one big, happy family.

After having a shower, I lay on the bed, totally exhausted. My phone beeps, notifying me I have an unread message on Whatsapp. Its from the unknown contact.

Wow! It's 10:45PM already? It's true what they say, time flies. 

"Hi. How are You?" The person sends.

"Who are you?" I reply.

"Try guessing who it is?"

"Hey! I'm not in the mood for this! I'm sure its you, Bolaji?" 

Oh God! I shouldn't have replied that way. That was rude. Well, it serves Bolaji right for playing such pranks.

Its been two minutes and the contact is still typing. He must be typing a load of insults and angry stickers, typical Bolaji. I shake my head. 

"Its Amanda. How are you?"

Now I'm confused. Could it really be Amanda? Where did she get my contact from? Impossible! It can't be. Why would Amanda go extra mile to get my number?

"Yeah and I am Queen Elizabeth, the queen of England. Bolaji, wait till I get you tomorrow." I reply.

The sender sends a laughing emoji and continues typing.

"Its really me, Amanda. I got your contact from Harry. Swears."

Could it really be her? No one calls Harrison, Harry. Could it be?

No, it's impossible. If I fall for this trick, Harrison and Bolaji will mock me for the rest of my life.

"Okay. Send me a picture. If you really are Amanda."

Now, lets see what happens next. Lets see how Bolaji would manage to pull this one off.

Surprisingly, the contact sends a recent picture of Amanda. She is such a beauty to behold. Harrison must have gotten the picture from Amanda, after all, he is Amanda's cousin.

I know what to do,. I will play along with this farce. When they are tired, they would reveal the rat and go to hell! 

We chat till 2:00AM in the morning. Bolaji and Harrison must have worked together on this. For a second, I almost believed it was really Amanda. Who would sacrifice his/her sleep for a stupid prank?

"Good night. We'll see tomorrow." I send. I can't keep wasting my time on Bolaji and Harrison.

"Okay dear. We will see tomorrow. Good night and sweet dreams."

Of course, we will see tomorrow. When I find out its you, Bolaji, I will break your bones one by one. I reach for the socket and I plug my phone. At least, I won't be the only person dozing off in class today. I reassure myself as I go to sleep.