OBIANUJU
©️ Princess Juliet
Episode 16
Priceless Treasure
*
OBIANUJU
*
*
“Babe! hurry up!”Ademilade called out from the room “or do you want us getting late to school?”
“No!I am almost done”. I answered, gritting my teeth as I poured the last bowl of water on my b©dy …..
So here it was a Monday mid – morning and Demi and I were returning to school after a two-days “stay” in his luxury home…
stepping out of the bathtub, I reached for my towel and tied it around my w@!st as I returned to the room…
“At last!” Demilade who was sitting on the table muttered , were you planning on slee-ping in there?”
I smiled lightly, ignoring his sneer as I ambled to the be-d ….
He continued. should I come help you dress?”
Dress kwa! so he canfu-ck me like he did last night!
“No!” I simply replied as I picked up my undies from the be-d, facing him
“Can you plea-se turn around?”
“Why?” he asked and I rolled my eyes
“Isn’t it obvious, I want to dress”
he scoffed . ” so?i have seen your n-kedness , what else are you hiding? ….hmmmh ….Is it your pointed br£@st or you round…..
“Shut up!” I barked at him before he could spill out more nons-en-se and he laughed
“Aha! Aha! I got you there”
I hissed silently, what an annoying b©yfri£nd!
Towelling off , I put on the undies ; then picked up a short blue go-wn from the be-d and hurriedly changed into it …
“Isn’t this go-wn too short?” Demi queried
“Is it?” I threw the question back at him and he shrugged
“well! It is a bit manageable , but don’t ever wear it out at night”
“Okay sir!”
I re-moved the hair net and the long hair c@m£ pouring down ma-king me look like a “marine spirit”
All thanks to Adesewa!!
Speaking of which , I haven’t seen her nor heard her voice today
“Adesewa! where is she?”I asked Demilade who was looking into his phone
“School!”he replied and I nodded slowly
No wonder the house is quiet!
“she checked on you before leaving but you were still ……snoring”
I frowned. “snoring! do I snore?”
“No! but you did last night”
“hun!”. I furrowed my eyebrow, “that is because I was tired..erm….you know we both rocked the club last night”. I made an excuse for myself ….
“Sure we did!” he agreed , glancing at his wristwatch , ” Just hurry up so we won’t reach school late”
“Alright!”
quic-kly,I brushed the long hair , put on a “newly bought” white sneakers , gr@bb£d my alre-ady packed handbag as my eyes wandered round the room for the fancy nylon bag full of clothes….
“where is this bag sef?”I thought aloud
“It is alre-ady in the car”. Demi replied
“Oh!”
“So are we good to go?” he asked , jumping off the table
Yes!” I replied
Taking a last look at the room , we both walked out , climbe-d down the spiral stairs into the sitting room and met his ” parent” having breakfast in the dining….
“We are leaving!” Demi announced , his voice coming out harsh
what is wrong with him?
“Ade!”his father called , looking at him with a pleading eyes , “Can’t you stay till next weekend?”
Next weekend! No ooo!
“No!” Demi answered with the same harsh voice
His father smiled lightly. “Do you have enough money?”
“I have more than enough to buy you and your political colleagues”. he mumbled but I heard him clearly..
Chissos! Chissos!Chissos!Does that mean he is richer than his dad? ..
“What did you say?” his father asked
“I said I have more than enough”. he lied and I scoffed silently
What a brilliant liar!
“Alright son!”his father nodded , facing me
“And what about you Obianuju, do you nee-d anything?”
I wi-de-ned my eyes in surprise, how did he know my native name?…. oh!he must have overheard his son call me!
“No sir!” I replied with my tiniest voice
“Are you sure?”
“You heard her clearly dad , she doesn’t nee-d anything from you”. Demi bu-tted in rudely
I gaped at him in surprise
Is he insane or what? how can he be so rude to his dad?
I shifted my gaze to his father, expecting him to scold at him and to my surprise he didn’t, he just laughed over it ….
Unbelievable!now I un-derstand why Demi is so spoilt…
“Okay ooooo!Call me when you get to school”. his dad simply said
“Also make sure you face your studies squarely”. his step mom added, her gaze fixed on me
“And you too Juliet”
“Alright ma!” I answered, clinging to Demi”s arm as we walked out of the house ,heading for the garage …
“And don’t forget what I told you”. She called after me
“I won’t ma!”
“And what is that?” Demi asked, staring intently at me
I shrugged. “Nothing serious , just some advice”
“Advice!he scoffed , “erase whatever advice she gave to you, that woman is not to be trusted”
“Han! Han! but she is your step- mother now”. I queried
“Just do as I say”. he insisted , freeing himself from my grip as he opened the rear door to a white…oh my god! A Bugatti Divo! one of the world most expensive car…..Amazing!
“Is this yours?” I asked with my eyes wi-de opened
“Yep!” he answered popping the p
“And you gonna drive it down to Ogun state?”
“No! Musa will drive”. he replied and that was when I noticed the “Mallam” seated in the driver seat ….
“Kai! Na me go drive” .The Mallam , Musa repeated as if confirming Demi’s response….
So he had been listening to us!
“but why do you want this Mallam driving us?” I asked Demi in whispers as I climbe-d into the car , sitting beside him
he stared at me , confused
“I mean you have a personal driver right?”
“oh! Kingsley!”
I nodded
” yeah!but Musa is a better driver”
“Oh!
“And besides , Kingsley has to pick Adesewa up from school”. he explained and I nodded slowly, smiling
Adesewa! I am really gonna miss her!
“I nee-d Adesewa number”. I said aloud as I opened my hand bag, bringing out my phone..
“She have your’s”. he muttered
“how! did you give it to her?” I asked curiously and he sm-irked, ignoring my questions
“Close the door”. he simply instructed and when I did , Mallam Musa started the ignition as he drove slowly out of the house …
I leaned back , resting my head on Demi’s che-st as I switched on my phone for the second time in two days …
Immediately, Shakirat call entered.
“now it is time to receive query”. I thought within as I received it
“Juliet ooooo! where in the world are you?”. her loud voice rang throu-gh, “Ah! Yay! do you know how worried I have been?”
“I am sorry, I had… I tried to say but she cut me off
“No! No! No! No !don’t tell me that , I almost ran crazy because of you. Your brother and that your ugly roommate of yours were on my n£¢k and I even had to go over to Demi’s ap@rtment to look for you”
“I am sorry”. I muttered softly and she sighed de-eply
“Fine! apology accepted ! So where are you?”
“Demi’s home at Abuja!”I replied and I heard her g@sp
“But I am on my way to school”. I quic-kly added
“Ha! Juliet! You dey craze oo. So you mean you travelled to Abuja without informing anyone, not even me”
“It is not like that , I was scared of switching on my phone , you know I don’t want Rinzy to start questioning me”. I explained and instantly, i felt the stiffness in Demi’s b©dy
I gaze up at him , meeting his blank gaze
Did I say something wrong?
“Even though, you should have told me”. Shakirat insisted
“I am sorry bestie”. I apologised again
“It is alright”. She as-sured ma-king me smile lightly
“So what did my brother say ? was he angry? did he say anything like reporting to my parent?”I asked rushingly , I was too anxious to know
She laughed. “No babe! I covered up for you ,I told him you were at my place , that your phone was faulty and when ever he called , I gave a thousand and one excuses”
“Ah! thank so much bestie”. I appreciated, letting out a de-ep breathe I never knew I was holding…
“but explain better to him when you are back”.she added
“Alright!” I agreed
“Okay dear, my regards to your handsome b©yfri£ndand I hope he didn’tfu-ck you too….”. I ban-ged the call on her, laughing
What a crazy friend!
“You done hiding your relationsh!p?” Demi asked in whispers and I sh0t him a puzzled look
What is he saying?
“Are you scared of Rinzy knowing about us, like you are ashamed of me”
“Demi!” I called softly, searching throu-gh his gaze and swears, I saw the pain in his eyes
“Tell me one reason why I would be ashamed of you?” I questioned him and his face fell
“I don’t know .. erm ..you know .. erm I mean I am known as a flir-t”. he stuttered nervously and I bit myl-ips trying so ha-rd to suppress my laugh , i I have never seen him this nervous before….
Is he for real?
I exhaled de-eply. “No baby! I should be the saying all this , you should be the one ashamed of me”
“why should be ashamed of you? ..Hun.. tell me”
“That .. is . erm .. because.. I .. am .. asthmatic”. It was my own turn to stutter
He frowned. And did I complain?”
“No, but you know .. I tried to say but he hushed me by placing a f!nger on my p@rtedl-ips …
“I love you ”
I blu-shed and smiled , it was his second time saying that to me ….
“I love you too Troy”.
For a moment he looked surprised, and then he smiled
“Thanks mum!”
*
*
Ademilade
*
*
Finally! After a rou-gh eight hours drive , we got to Ijebuode and as per our agreement, Musa drove slowly into a noisy car park —Lagos garage to be precise and parked out in front; then he st©pped the engine, facing me
“Small Oga! we don reach!”
“I know, I am not blind “. I muttered , opening the door , careful not to wake Obianuju who was slee-ping ;then I alighted from the car and placed her gently in a laying position before closing the door ..
just so you know, She dozed off after eating the full plate of rice we got from an eatery..
“The keys?”I asked Musa who was alre-ady out and he handed it to me
“Drive well well Oga!”
“And you too , have a safe journey back home”. I bade , climbing into the driver seat and was about closing the door when a crowd of “agberos( touts)” c@m£ rushing to me
fuc-k! as if I knew this will happen!
“Twale baba! Twale!”
“This your car fine ooooo”
“Abeg reason us something”. They kept on hailing with their terrible voices …
hissing silently, I di-pped my hands into my pocket and brou-ght out a wad of cash
“help me manage this”. I begged, handing the money to the oldest among them
“Ah!You be correct nigga”. he hailed and with a nod , I closed the door , started the ignition and drove off
“Crazy!” I mumbled and that was the exact moment I heard a yawn from behind me and I stared in the rear mirror just in time to see Obianuju stretch….
Obviously! The noise from the thvgs woke her up!
“Demi!” she called softly, “what is going on?why are you driving? where is Musa?”
“he has left “. I replied
” Aha! then what about the car?Are you driving it to school?” She asked and since it was a foolish question ,i ignored it
“Oh! you are driving it to school”. She answered herself
I scoffed . ” You alright?” I asked to be sure and she nodded,brushing off the hair off her face
“Thanks goodness! I thought you were going crazy”. I tea-sed and she frowned, squee-zing her face like a baby
“I am not crazy, you are the one who is crazy!”
I laughed heartedly , her facial expression was priceless
hadn’t been I wasn’t driving, I would have taken a picture of her right now..
“Okay miss! so will you pas-s the night at my place?”
She shook her head . “I can’t, I have to answer all of my query first”
“Sure! you should”. I agreed
And with that , I stepped on the br@ke, increasing my speed as I drove over to her hostel…..”pretty queens villa”…
*
It was way past sunset when I parked in front of the plastered building and I turned off the engine, facing her
“So oooo, do you nee-d anything?”
She nodded ,smiling as she t©uçhed herl-ips”
“Bad girl!” I tea-sed as I reclined the seat a little to k!ssher ..
“Alright baby! I will call you”. She said ,opening the door and immediately , she shut it back
“Chai! see eyes”. she hissed and only then , did I notice the small crowd that has gathered just to stare at my car …
“And what has that got to do with you?”
“Can’t you see the way they are shining their eyes…. ah nawa oooo..” . She cl@pped her hands lightly , “all this village people…
I smiled lightly, hearing the smile in her voice
“Ignore them”. I told her and she nodded, gr-abbing the fancy bag as she alighted from the car…
“I will call you”. she said and began walking to the house …
I watched her till she climbe-d up the short step to the pas-sage and then I started the ignition and drove off , smiling….
*
*
OBIANUJU
*
*’
“Nawa oooo!” I muttered un-der my breathe as I walked throu-gh the long pas-sage to my room , “see the way they are staring at someone sef, do they want me to fall?”
“Wow!Uju! I love your hair”. a girl seated in front of her room remarked
“Thanks!” I mumbled , without giving her face
She was a known gossip and I hate gossips!
The door to my room was slightly ajar and I pushed it opened; walking in , I bu-mped into someone….. Funmi
“Ah! Uju! You wan kill … she paused, trailing off , her gaze fixed on my hair
“Bone straight! Is this not bone straight?”she screamed loudly and Faith who was in the kitchen rushed out
“Where is the bone straight?”she asked ,her piercing gaze lifted to my hair and the next thing that followed were her screams
“It is bone straight ooooo….ehen! Uju!how much did you get it?”
I ignored her ,dropping the fancy nylon on the floor as I faced Funmi who was dressed like she was going to a p@rty
“You going out?”
She nodded , smiling
“To Dave’s place”
Oh right! her dark knight!
“he do ask of you all the time and was seriously worried when I told him you have not been home for two days”
I stared at her, puzzled
“Worried! And why would he be?”
She merely shrugged. “I really can’t say but I think it has to do with something being my best friend ”
“Your best friend!”
“Yes, I told him you are my best friend”
I blu-shed lightly. “Awwww! you are also my friend but Shakirat is …….
“the first”. she completely and I nodded
“I am okay with that, at least you see me as a friend ”
“Not as a friend, as a sister “. I corrected and to my surprise, she gave me a quic-k hvg
“I nee-d to get going now and when i am back we will talk about your…..new look”. she tea-sed and i laughed
“Alright sis!” I coll@psed on the be-d as she rushed out of the room
“So what were you saying?” I faced Faith
She hissed loudly. “So it now you have my time ba…anyways! Arinze was here not quite long, you should go see him …..
“Alright!”
Standing up , I kicked off the sneakers and put on a white sli-ppers ; then I made for the door , opening it wi-der as I walked out of it ….
“Should I help you arrange your clothes”.Faith called after me
“Yes!” I answered as I walked out throu-gh the pas-sage, out to the balcony and met two fat girls talking in whispers
Seeing me, they paused to stare at me
“hmmmh! Uju! Uju! you are shining ooo”. The fatter between the two remarked
“I can see Demi is really taking care of you”. The second bu-tted in and I was quic-k to detect the sarcasm in her voice
“Thanks oooo!” I muttered, climbing down the short step; then I crossed the road to Arinze hall and met him outside,sitting down on a low bench with Daniella
“Good evening!” I greeted as he seized me up and down
“And where are you coming from?”he asked coldly
“Demi place”. I answered truthfully, only that i didn’t make mention of Abuja….
He scoffed. “Like seriously! After I told you to stay away from him”
“And why should I stay away from him?” I questioned him and there was a pause
I continued. ” yes tell me , why should I?
“Isn’t it obvious, Demi is a known flir-t who doesn’t give a d**n about your feelings”
“And yes! he also sle-pt with your girlfriend and you are still pained”. I added
“What!” Daniella g@sped in shock , staring at me like some horror movie as I continued ….
“You should put the blame on your cheap girlfriend because if she really loves you, she won’t cheat on you ”
Daniella stood up in a huff , facing Arinze
“I have heard enough of this, caution your sister or else ……
“Or else what”. Arinze cut in, “you acting like you are innocent, didn’t hefu-ck you?”
Her face immediately grew pale . “erm he didn’t erm he erm”. she spoke gibberish and Arinze hissed loudly, facing me
“Oh Jare! Mum was really worried, you nee-d to call her”
“Oh mum!” I repeated, feeling guilty all of a sudden “I will do that as soon as I get to my room”
“No call her now”. he insisted , unlocking his phone and handed it to me ; then he and Daniella resumed their shouting…
Chai! Uju! See what you have caused!
Moving away from them , I dialled my mum number and she picked it up immediately
“Arinze!” She called, her voice was so low
“It is Uju ma!” I corrected and she sighed in relief
“Oh! Uju! At last! Thank God! I have been trying so ha-rd to reach you. so now you have finally called, can you tell me the reason why you switched off your phone?”
I gulped down ha-rd in surprise, how did she know?
“I didn’t , my phone got spoilt”. I lied
She laughed lightly. “Quit the lie jare! I know you now or are you not my daughter again? the one with a fox br@in”
Oh right! She knows me too well!
“Actually ma, I was at a friend’s place”
“And you switched off your phone?”
“erm that is because the erm friend …….
“Is a boy”. She completely and I bit at my lowerl-ips not knowing what else to say
She got me there!
She scoffed. “hmmmmh!No ooo! this is not the daughter I trained,where did you keep all the advice I gave to you?”she half yelled
“but mum I am not doing anything bad”
“Yes you are! Why will you spend the night at a boy’s place?” She queried
“That is because I love him”. I blurted out and instantly, the line went quiet
“Yes mum! I love him”. I repeated, expecting her to flare up but she didn’t, instead she took a de-ep long breathe….
“So Who is this boy?Is he the same one who de-flowered you?” her voice was so calm
“Yes! but he is changed now, he apologised, he de-eply regretted what he did”. I defended Ademilade
There was a long pause and then she said
“Give him my number, tell him to call me”
“Really?” I asked to be sure I heard right
“Yes child , and do not forget I love you”
I smiled, now she is getting me all emotional!
“I love you too Mum”. I screamed into the phone , excitedly…..
*
*
Ademilade
*
I made a quic-k st©p at the barbing saloon to trim my hair before heading for home.
The drive back home was a tiring one and by the time I arrived, I was alre-ady feeling sleepy …
Parking, i climbe-d down the car, closed the door behind me and climbe-d up the short step to the balcony…
“Demi! Demi!” some guys hailed but I simply ignored them taking the house key out of my pocket and was about opening the door when I noticed it was slightly Ajar…
tsk.. tsk… tsk.. This is so annoying!
Pushing the door opened, I walked in to see Susanna laying on the Sofa as she watched the television…
I scoffed silently. what the hell is she doing here?… oh right! She has an extra key!
Seeing me , she got off the sofa and rushed to hvg me
“Demi! where have you been?I really missed you”
I pu-ll-ed out of the hvg to stare at her
She wore a long T- shi-t with no br@ and was looking so h0t….
“Do you like it?” she smiled s£dûçt!velyand before i could respond , she threw her arms around my n£¢k pu-lling me closer as she k!$$£d me…
Herl-ips tasted like poison and instantly, I pushed her away
“what did you Just do?”I skrie-ked , ru-bbing off the k!ss..
“I k!$$£d you”. her voice was so low
” I mean why did you k!ssme ? I eyed her coldly and she scoffed
“Do I disgust you now?”
“No, but I don’t want you k!ss!ngme anymore” . I stated
She stared at me surprised for a moment and then she swallowed ha-rd
“Don’t tell me it is because of that weak asthmatic girl”
“Yes! It is because of her”. I agreed , ” and I Ademilade is de-eply in love with her”
And with that , I slid the glas-s door, pushed the door to my room opened and walked in, bolting the door ….
I couldn’t stand staying in the same room with the loud mouthed bit-ch…
Coll@psing on the be-d, I took my phone out of my pocket , scrolled throu-gh it for “my pretty girl” number and when I saw it ,I cli-cked on it , typing
“Good night my priceless one”…….and yes that is what she is , My priceless treasure….
*
TBC