I used to know love
Now when they ask me,
I just reply slow,
And sound like an iPhone,
I do not know love, I am a robot.
I used to know love
Cos I had a fire
Passion and desire
Now all I require
Are circuits and wires
Jon Bellion (iRobot)
*****************************
Tori woke up with a banging headache. She checked the time on her phone still lying down. It was 11:47am. She never realised she could wake up this late but it was expected since she slept around 4:30am and had to wake up something between 5:30-6:00 because of that dream she had.
She tried to rise but her head hurts so bad she felt it splitting in her palms as she held it gingerly. She walked to the bathroom and ran water over head from the tap. While the water cooled her brain, she busied herself with her thoughts.
What was the reason she had that weird dream again? It had been fifteen years since she had the exact dream and she remembered how frightened she was. She was so scared she clung to her grandmother all through the night.
It was still so fresh in her memory because she had never had a dream as scary as that before. But what really made the dream super weird was she was having it again. The exact way she did the first time. And it had scared her like it did the first time too.
Is there really any meaning attached to it?
She turned off the tap after washing her face and staggered back to her room.
Great! The water only succeeded in making her feel cold cos her headache seemed to have worsened. She must have cried so hard yesterday.
There was simply no other explanation for this.... headache.
She sat on her bed and threw her head backwards gently placing it on the wall behind her, eyes closed. She thought of the dream again and she knew she needed to place a call to her grandmother.
'Grandmother, I had that dream again.' Tori narrated the dream to her grandma while she held her head like that would save it from the excruxiating headache.
All her grandmother did was give a deep sigh.
'Listen carefully to me Toriola. We have to talk. When do you think I should come to Lagos?'
'Right now, things aren't going exactly as planned. My accomodation is not even certain. It is as bad as that. Once I secure a place here, I'd come get you myself. What ever you have to say, can't you say it right now?'
'What I want to tell is not something that could or should be discussed on phone. Or why don't you just come home instead?'
'Grandmother, it's not that easy...'
'It would just be a day... '
'I' d let you know when I should be coming but the truth is I don't think it's anytime soon.'
'It's like you are not curious about your dream.'
'I think that could wait till whenever I'm ready. Alright. Goodbye. I love you.' she made a kissing sound then hung up.
She knew her grandmother was going to ask her to come home in order to give her dream various superstitious meaning. She wasn't going to let that happen. It's not like the dream is meaningful anyway. It looks senseless if she view it from a different point.
How could she push herself in a ditch? It made no sense to her.
Or maybe that's what she wants herself to believe. But no matter how hard she tried to convince herself her dream was pointless, a part of her knew there was something to it.
Something she doesn't want to know.
Events that happened the other day kept coming to her. Firstly, it was Richard, then she remembered she told Tobi everything about her relationship.
Her ex-relationship with Richard to be precise.
Well, so far so good. She wouldn't have to think about their relationship anymore. She wouldn't have to constantly brood on whether they are still together or not.
It hurts her.Yes, but she was just going to brace herself up and smile at her worst nightmare. There are some people she has to be strong for and Richard is not really worth her tears.
Even though she felt a lot relieved when she told him, even though she felt like a newborn baby when she was done talking to him, something still felt so wrong.
The Tobi guy was just a stranger a few days ago!
She hasn't even seen him!
How could she had let her guard down so easily!
She felt so much like a weakling.
She prays he doesn't see her as one.
She picked up her phone and messages popped up upon opening it. They were all from Tobi.
'Wakey Wakey sleepy head. I hope you are done crying now. I have absolutely no tissue to offer you if you aren't. I would have loved to but I used a whole roll myself after downloading the dictionary.'
Typical Tobi. A smile crossed her lips.
She tapped on the second message.
'Just a little humor to cheer you up.'
Then she proceeded to the next one,
'You shouldn't let anyone make you feel like that ever again and to cheer you up even more I'll be changing your name (which is actually a honour and you should be applauding right now) from Miss Lousy back to Bighead.'
Really? When is this dude growing up?
Then to the next.
'Good news! My mum already found out I lost the phone. She succeeded in squeezing it out of me and now, since there's little or no assurance I'd be in Lagos today and Tife (My sis if you must know) seems to have convinced my mum she'll be needing her phone for one made-up assignment, you would be meeting my mum and you'd be giving her the phone.'
Then the next.
'I know the good news in the previous text is actually a bad one for you (cos you've never met someone as great as me before and the only chance you have is slipping off your fingers sooner than you expected). I'd be saying my goodbyes now.
I've got a meeting to attend.'
Then the next.
'My mum's phone number and address.....'
She smiled after reading all his texts but she really didn't feel good about it all. She knows it should be good news for her too. She wouldn't have to worry about the phone getting stolen or something.
But she can't help thinking....
Were they still going to talk after giving the phone back?
Would he probably still send her his annoying and pretty funny texts?
Would he still call her to ask for the meaning of another word... Probably... Probably lungs?
She couldn't help thinking 'No' could be the answer to all the questions she just asked herself.
*************************
The collosal view was definitely breathtaking. If this is really Tobi's place, then his parents must be filthy rich. Tori took careful steps towards the house. The gate was opened so all she had to do was step in.
Her phone had went off. It went off after giving his mum a call that she was on her way. If the address hadn't been easy to locate, she'd probably be lost now.
It was getting late already. It was a few minutes to six and she would have been here in the afternoon if that terrible headache hadn't made her have another round of sleep. She felt much better after waking up though.
The door to the building was wide open but Tori still knocked anyway. It would be impolite to step inside someone's house without knocking.
A stuffy 'come in' amidst coughs was what she got as reply.
One step inside, and she was taken aback by the thick and blinding smoke that was emanating from somewhere she guessed must be the kitchen. That was where the 'come in' came from too.
She doesn't really need to be told something got burnt. The smoke and the smell has said it all.
She got choked by the smoke and a minute later was spent coughing and gasping in a whole lot of smoke all over again.
The amazing thing was she wasn't the only one coughing. The person in the kitchen was too.
Tori knew better than to go out and just leave. She knows the person in the kitchen needs help.
She coughed her way into the kitchen, rarely finding her way through the enormous smoke.
First step in the kitchen and her eyes widened at the first sight that welcomed it.The frypan on the gas cooker was on fire!
Like fire was actually dancing inside the frying pan and the lady in the kitchen was just coughing her intestine out.
Who does that?
Tori stepped forward without thinking, picking a rag from the floor she took the frying pan off the fire onto the tiled floor then she off the gas cooker after which she emptied a bucket of water on the burning fryingpan putting the fire out in the process.
As she panted like she just ran a race, she coughed too.
The next minute, the duo were standing outside.
Tori could tell she looked like crap. Her eyes must have redden so bad now. She was amazed the other lady looked quite fine despite the hazard she exposed herself to in the kitchen.
If this was Tobi's mum. She looked too young from what she was expecting.
'I'm thinking you are the lady Tobi said has the phone.' The lady coughing slightly.
'Yeah.' Tori replied holding her knees with her palms while she crouched
'Well, I'm Tobi's mom and It's a shame you have to discover I suck at cooking the first time we are meeting.'
I know right?
'Thanks for what you did in there. You are so brave. I wish I could approach a burning frypan like you did.' She added
Tori only nodded her 'you are welcome.'
'It was a fried egg go wrong. I already had the eggs in the frypan and it was cooking quite fine, I was going to add groundnut oil when that fryingpan just went up on fire.'
Seriously? Eggs in fryingpan before the groundnut oil?
She had never met a family so odd in her life.
'I was going to impress Tobi. There is this big thing I have to tell him and I was thinking cooking for him would put him in a good mood. I never knew I shouldn't have tried it. Just like I didn't do in the years that I've passed...' She said the last statement quickly but Tori heard without straining.
'Do you mean Tobi is coming back today?'
'Yeah, he called some minutes ago that he was already on his way. His sister went to wait for him at the airport. You didn't know?'
Fantastic! Her phone is dead!
'Well, I should get going now. I think it's about to rain and I'd just drop the phone with you.' She stood upright and unstrapped the small bag she had slanted across her chest to her side then produced the phone from inside the bag.
'Ermmm...' Tobi's mum said as she collected the phone from her. 'You know how to cook, right?'
Tori prayed it's not what she was thinking thinking.
'You won't mind helping me in the kitchen before you go? Please.' Then she gave her the puppy face.
Or did she just imagine she gave her that face?
Now she knows whose gene Tobi got all 'THAT' from.
©FIYAH
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