CHAPTER TEN

Dennis helped with other things after hitting the nails, the girls had been so grateful and Dennis had been so happy in spite of the labor and the sand that fell into his eyes, he had developed a rapport with Jane, what wouldn’t he do to be in her good books? Dennis would always ask Joy after Jane and Joy would always tell him Jane sends her regards. Before long, they had started dating and Joy was the mediator, always putting in good words for both of them, depending on who asked and who needed it. Jane would leave home under the guise of visiting Joy but it was Dennis who benefited more, while her things would be in Joy’s room, her ' whole self' would be in Dennis’s room, cooking, gisting, loving. She would return to Joy’s room at night to sleep and wait for another morning to come. Joy had teased one night when she asked who it was she really came to visit. Jane had smiled and said ' my friends, it’s sort of killing two birds with one stone.’ Joy had jokingly said ' like seriously!, so me and Dennis have turned into birds Right!, It's all good,' and they laughed. 

It was during one of such visits that she had invited Dennis to her church for a seminar about women. Dennis had given her an excuse but she knew he was lying, it was a Saturday afternoon and she knew watching football was what would keep him from coming. She had left angrily and had been so surprised when she turned and saw Dennis in the congregation, she had not imagined he would leave football to honor her invitation, then she realised Dennis truly loved her. 

But these things don’t last, these relationships that start in school seldom last, the slang word in school is ,"meet in school and part in school". Some relationships that begin in school strive to cross the finish line but most don’t. Girls don’t age at the same rate as men, so for a man to spend so much time to graduate, get into the labour market, find a job, do good for his parents, meet up other responsibilities before thinking about marriage, the lady would have met a man who has gone through all these things before her man and is now established already. Or maybe, just maybe, there are lots of people to meet and choose from after school,, wherever job takes you to, where you settle and all. 

 Dennis and Jane would have crossed the finished line but some things are just beyond us, some opportunities too good to turn down. In her final year, she was given scholarship to study law in Canada, her uncle a politician had made the way for her. It didn’t matter that she would start all over, who would care about it, who would not leave to study abroad with better opportunities? Dennis encouraged her to take the opportunity, she suspected he was pushing her away but he had assured if he were in her shoes, he would go, the best thing to do would be to keep all fingers crossed and see what happens afterwards. 

   After Dennis’s graduation from university, like most graduates, he got a teaching position in a private school. He had referred to it as a ' Bus stop' where most graduates wait before finding better jobs, he had also wondered what would have been the fate of most graduates if not for these private schools, ' God bless these private schools,' he had said.

A few years after teaching in the school, an old friend of his dad who was also a pastor got a teaching job for him in a missionary school in somewhere in neighbouring state. He had left because the pay was better and it came with accommodation. Dennis settled in quickly.  The beautiful weather, the mountains surrounding the town, the abundant fruits and vegetables, the beautiful girls and the hard-working boys, the cheap price of foodstuffs and accommodation. He realised the boys had perfected the art of shoe making were now making quality shoes, he learnt about the beautiful dances. He had heard a lot about this city but he was now experiencing it for himself,  Dennis fell in love with the town. 

   It didn’t take long for Dennis to find a girl friend. Chundung a beautiful girl had been one of the reasons Dennis settled there quickly and easily. She would cook meals at home and take to Dennis in school. She had taught Dennis how to eat gwate, a local dish prepared with vegetables, bones and acha. He had changed her name to ' Chu baby' and she loved it when he called her that. It hadn’t been a serious thing for him when it started, it was purely for the company and what boys would call sidechick. Chundung on the other hand had truly fallen in love. A university student, Dennis found out she was his match academically. She had also gone to good private schools and spoke good English which only complimented her beauty. Chubby and gap toothed, Chundung had a dark skin which glowed, when she smiled, she brought heaven to earth. Most girls would bleach their skins to become fair but she didn’t, she knew black was beautiful and she was black and beautiful. She had been born without a silver spoon but being the youngest and only female  child, her older siblings tried to put one in her mouth, they provided for Chundung and treated her like an egg. The care and affection eventually rubbed off on Dennis who would benefited from some of the things she got food, money etc. Sometimes her friends wondered what she saw in Dennis, but that was love, love blinded others and only the one who had fallen would see why he or she had fallen in the first place. 

 Chubaby had been in a relationship that had gone up against a brick wall and she knew it. He had been a fellow student who pretended to be in love but had been leaning on her mainly for support. Even she saw the signs, glaring signs which showed she was giving more into the relationship, she held on hoping for the best at the same time waiting for another lover to come. So when Dennis came, he was easily accepted.

“I’m your host, so allow me show you round the beautiful town,” she had told him one day.

“Really? In that case, I will be looking out for the adventure”