TITLE: THREE GENERATIONS
WRITTEN BY: OGECHI ALABI
CHAPTER 71
They took the trip with Naomi and her lover, Dave. Dave was a great help at the borders, especially at the Nigeria-Seme border. He knew the best hotels to lodge and the fun places they could explore. Nwadiuto liked him; he was fun. He was also good looking, tall and very handsome. He was also younger than Josh, free-spirited and fun.
They connected, Nwadiuto and Dave as both of them shared the same adventurous spirits. The exploration to Benin Republic’s capital and the largest commercial city took almost the whole day before they settled down at a resort that evening.
They tried the food there especially the peanut soup. The resort had people lodging at that time too and they went at night for the high life. It was so much fun. They partied late into the early hours. They retired to their rooms.
The next day, both couples woke up very late. They went to see a popular farm they heard about and went for a boat ride. It was interesting.
Naomi and Dave were always together, ki-ssing and touching each other. It was a bit uncomfortable for Nwadiuto especially as she knew Josh was very conservative. Naomi had been respected by Josh, she knew the type of person he was. What she did in his presence to her was disrespect.
Josh didn’t see it that way. They had the discussion in their bedroom in Togo after they had bought some Ankara and drank some local drinks. They spent only one night there and were leaving for Ghana the next day.
Josh felt Naomi was in love and this was her way of expressing it. Nwadiuto had dressed quite conservatively just to please Josh. Naomi hadn’t. She wore shorts that showed a bit of her bu-ttocks and tops without a Br@ or Br@ top. Nwadiuto felt she was expo-sing her body to Josh too and told Josh she was respecting Dave that was why she hadn’t dressed the way she would have loved to dress.
“Do you. Enjoy yourself. I don’t care how you dress as long as you are not stark Na-led. She is doing this for her man and he seems to like it. I was even wondering why you have been covering up even in this heat”
That was the cue Nwadiuto nee-ded. She decided to play along with Naomi. She had a strong conviction Naomi wasn’t content with Dave and still had eyes for Josh. Dave, to Nwadiuto, was a play toy. He acted younger than her and didn’t appear serious.
It was in Ghana they had serious fallout. They lodged in a hotel in Accra and went to the nightclub to have some fun. Nwadiuto wore a fishnet un-der her Ankara shorts and a low ne-ck top which showed some of her b-oobs. She wore a belt and emphasized her tiny wai-st.
Josh didn’t like what she wore but he couldn’t say anything. He had asked her to dress the way she liked. As they met at the reception, every man’s eyes were on Nwadiuto. Dave couldn’t stop staring at her bu-tt and her b-oobs. Naomi was upset and she couldn’t hide it. She wore a tiny black dress which she couldn’t bend over otherwise she will be completely exp-osed. She had a model figure but didn’t have hips or bu-tt and her che-st was almost flat.
At the club, Josh had to be with Nwadiuto. He only allowed Dave to dance with her. Naomi was upset about that too. She wore her displea-sure on her face. She had an argument with Dave about it. Nwadiuto didn’t care. She was going to do worse as she came prepared.
That night, Josh couldn’t keep his hands off Nwadiuto. He told her he wanted their first time to be perfect but she was making it ha-rd for him to control himself.
“We should have come on this trip alone. I can feel relationships getting strained with this trip. Dave couldn’t keep his eyes and hands away from you. It made Naomi mad. If she pipes down on her dressing will you do the same?”
“No. I will dress the way I like. I feel there is more to you and Naomi than you are telling me. I strongly feel she still wants you and it makes me very uncomfortable. I may be wrong but that’s how I feel”
“There is nothing between us. Whatever happened before you entered the picture and out of respect for her, I can’t tell you”
“I knew it. I knew something happened. She has never liked me and all our conversations have been her trying to make me feel less; as if she can. You should have told me”
“Told you what? Did I ever tell you if I had relations with Ada? Have I ever discussed a lady with you? I don’t do that. When she came back this time, I made it clear to her I wasn’t interested. You were already on my mind when she came back. Nothing happened between us during this her stay. I will leave it at that”
“But you know she is still very much interested in you”
“I don’t think so. She likes this guy and he seems to make her behave like you or she is really enjoying herself. She enjoys him and she tells me he is quite good which is the opposite of me in some areas. There are some things out of principle I won’t do”
“She is having fun with him while waiting for you. Know this and know peace. I saw it clearly on this trip. I will continue to terrorise her; she would be the one to run”
“Don’t be rude or disrespectful to her”
“No, I won’t. Her man wouldn’t be able to take his eyes off my body; that I know for sure”
“Be careful please”
Later that afternoon, Josh and Nwadiuto went swimming at the pool. There were many foreigners on vacation in their hotel. Nwadiuto wore a bikini and tied a shawl around her wai-st. Josh wore his swim gear and shorts on it.
Nwadiuto and Josh were the only ones at the pool. They entered the pool and were having fun. Some foreigners and other holidaymakers joined them at the pool. Naomi and Dave joined them. Naomi had the figure many whites liked and it drew their attention. She also wore a bikini. Dave wore a swim trunk which was too ti-ght and showed too much. Josh didn’t like that at all; everyone could see the outline of his member.
They had been in the Olympic size swimming pool for a long time and so Josh decided they should relax outside the water. Nwadiuto came out in her bikini and eyes followed her backside. Josh didn’t realise he was in trouble until they began to receive drinks and food from well-wishers. It was annoying. Nwadiuto was enjoying the free stuff she received while Dave couldn’t stop prying into her bikini top to the irritation of Naomi. Josh didn’t care; he knew Nwadiuto wasn’t interested in seducing anyone but was trying to pay Naomi back. He decided not to get involved.
Later that night, they went to a restaurant recommended by a friend to have dinner. It was fun and also Nwadiuto dressed to kill. Josh warned her continuously that he was struggling with his self-control and she had a good laugh. He had plans for their first night and he made those plans for Cote D’Ivoire. He had researched the country and made plans for where they would stay. He had booked a room at the resort in as-souinde; that was where he intended the action would take place. He had ordered flowers. He also asked for bottles of wine and two baskets; one of the various pastries, biscuits, chocolate and drinks while the other had fruits and ice cream and yoghurt.
They were to leave very early for Cote D’Ivoire as the journey was about nine hours’ drive. It was agreed they would leave Accra by 8am in the morning.
Josh begged Nwadiuto to dress ‘reasonably’ so she agreed. She wore a long white gown with side slits and folded sleeves. It was unbu-ttoned to show some cleavage. She was shocked to see Naomi in trousers and a t-shirt. She wondered what happened. She suspected Josh had a word with her; she will get it out of him later.
The trip was interesting although Nwadiuto fell asleep early in the journey. When she woke up, she was talking to Josh and Dave joined in the conversation. Naomi was quiet during the journey; she didn’t say anything.
They stopped at a gas station to relieve themselves. Nwadiuto and Naomi went to the bathroom together. After relieving themselves, Naomi said to Nwadiuto, “Please can you kindly stop encouraging Dave to be disrespectful to me”
“How?”
“He stares at your body and talks about it”
“I don’t know how that is my fault”
“It is. You exp-osed your body for him to see. You know the kind of stature you have and there are certain things you shouldn’t wear”
“Like I should wear a dress to swim or boubou to the club? I didn’t come here with Dave; you did. If he disrespects you, it is because you allowed him to. You didn’t see me act out when you wore shorts that exp-osed your bu-ttocks and tops without a Br@. I knew my man would not be interested in what you were exhibi-ting. Unfortunately, you can’t say the same for your man”
“I don’t know what Josh told you about us. Josh can’t say he wasn’t interested because there was a time he was”
“I agree. It is a possibility. But has he been interested since I came into the picture? I seriously doubt that. I allowed you remain in that house because I was 100% sure he wasn’t interested in you. If you want to prove otherwise, you can do so. Your dog Dave, keep him in control. I will disrespect both of you if he looks at me lewdly again. He has you and should be content.”
Nwadiuto left her in the toilet and walked back to the car. She joined after a few minutes. Nwadiuto was angry at her effrontery. What was she trying to prove insinuating she and Josh had a Se-xual history? Who cares? She wasn’t smiling or friendly anymore. Josh asked her severally if she was ok and she replied, “I’m fine”
They stopped to eat but Nwadiuto refused to eat anything. Dave tried to talk to her but Naomi shipped him off with her. She stood alone by the car and took a drink. Josh came to join her. He asked her again if everything was ok. She said she was fine.
“This trip is the final lap of the fun. I have planned something special for today. Please, I beg of you, snap out of your foul mood. We can talk about whatever the issue is tomorrow but today is very important to me. I love you and no matter what, it will not change.” He pulled her close to him and planted a ki-ss on her li-ps in front of everyone. Nwadiuto was shocked. She held him and ki-ssed him again. She was no longer upset and whatever it was, it could wait until tomorrow.
They arrived at the resort and they got to their rooms. Everything was as he had planned it. She went to take her bath and Josh quickly organized the setting up of the room with the wine, the two baskets and the flowers. When Nwadiuto came out of the bathroom, she saw flowers first; a fresh beautiful bouquet of flowers. She saw the baskets and the wine in the chiller. Josh had rushed in to take a bath too.
He came out tying a towel around his wai-st. Nwadiuto was sitting on the bed with tears in her eyes and the flowers in her hand.
‘What’s wrong?” Josh asked.
“This is beautiful. Did you plan all this for me? I have never been loved like this before. I have never been surprised like this. I love it and it is making me emotional.”
“That was the whole idea, baby girl. I will surprise you always in our relationship”
“Promise? Promise you are not just saying this. Promise you will make me only cry tears of joy. Promise me, Josh”
“I promise”
She stood up, dropped the flowers on the stool and then took off her towel and came to Josh. Josh looked at her and said, “Promise me you will always Se-duce me like this. You will always be bold and daring. I don’t want to have a dull moment with you”
“I promise. Take me; I am all yours”
The intercom in the room rang several times but they were too busy to respond. Josh was gentle with her while he made his way into her. She was happy even with the pain. She was his and his alone at least for now. He couldn’t stop appreciating her for giving him the honour.
Finally, he picked the call. It was Naomi.
“Aren’t you guys coming down for dinner?” she asked.
“No, we are not. Enjoy yourself with Dave”
“Why aren’t you guys joining us?”
“What do you think? He asked as he dropped the call. He held Nwadiuto in his arms and they both fell asleep.
The hunger pangs woke them up much later at night. They ate from the baskets of pastries and talked for some time. They had a bath together in the bathroom and ended up staying there longer than they anticipated.
The next morning, they decided to leave the room to have breakfast at the restaurant and spend some time at the beach. They sat together and decided to talk about what got Nwadiuto upset on their way to Cote D’Ivoire. She told Josh what Naomi said to her and how it offended her. Why did she try to cast doubt on their relationship?
“She said there was a time you were interested in her. This worried me a lot because I had asked you about your relationship with her and you had always denied any”
“We had a brief Se-xual relationship during my troubled times. We got high and went wild. From what she said, she wasn’t high. We were friends that had a crazy weekend many years ago and she has always wanted us to relive those moments but I am not that person anymore. It was something that happened once and was never to happen again”
“You should have told me”
“I am not interested in her. I mean it. I have told her many times. I have discouraged her from throwing herself at me. I won’t ask her to leave my house because of it; I show her the utmost respect if when she feels she should be disrespected. She knows I am crazy about you that was why she said those things and you allowed it to affect your mood; you allowed her to win. She complained about your dressing to me and I told her you wore them for me and not for Dave. She should call him to order if she felt he was captivated by your body. After all, she dressed for Dave and you didn’t complain about it. She got the message”
“You should have told me”
“Why? There was no nee-d. In fact, I won’t mention this conversation to her. You never mentioned this to me. Don’t allow anyone steal your joy with their words or attitude. She is jealous of our relationship and believes you are immature for me. Well, I like you the way you are. I have told her that too. Ignore Dave if he tries to be overly familiar. You can point out to him he is making his woman uncomfortable. It will reset his Br@in”
“Thanks. You are right; I shouldn’t have worn my emotions on my sleeves. I’m sorry. At least I got you to ki-ss me in public. And, I had a very special disV¡rgining party”
“Come on”
“I’m no more a V¡rgin. I’m glad you were my first”
“And I hope to be your only”
“I’m not your only, Naomi had eaten from the sausage”
“This is why I didn’t want to tell you”
“I know now and will taunt you with it. If I had known before the party, there wouldn’t have been a party”
“That’s why I didn’t want us to discuss the issues yesterday. I knew it might spoil the surprise”
“I still love you though”
“The feeling is mutual”
Days later, Dave had tried dancing with her at the beach in a provocative way. Nwadiuto took offence. She told him he was the reason why she didn’t respect guys.
“Babe, you are hot. I love your body. Give me your number, I have a very good memory when it comes to numbers. We can hook up when we get back to Lagos”
“Are you stupid? What do you take me for?”
“You don’t have to insult me? I thought we had hit it off”
“How can you be with someone and be trying to get familiar with me. Don’t you know how to set boundaries? On our way from Lagos, you were all lovey-dovey with Naomi and now you disrespect her making her feel less. I won’t be used for your scam. You must be drunk if you think I want to be with you. I am with my boyfriend, so respect yourself”
“Naomi said he isn’t your boyfriend; the guy is just lusting after your body. He has a fiancé in the United Kingdom. Are you aware of that?”
Naomi walked up to them before Nwadiuto could answer him. “What’s going on here?”
“Your guy wanted my number because I have a hot body. And since Josh is just lusting over my body while waiting for his wife, Dave wanted to take his turn. Thanks, Naomi” and she walked away.
Naomi left for Nigeria that day with connecting flights. She abandoned Dave there. Dave talked to Josh, I didn’t bother to find out what happened but he too was gone by the next day.
She asked Josh three times if he was married or had a fiancé in the United Kingdom or anywhere. He denied it three times. She wasn’t convinced. She was worried he was lying to her. She woke up in the middle of the night, sat on the chair and wept. Josh woke up to meet her like that.
“Nwadiuto what is it?”
“I feel something is wrong. Why would Naomi say you have a fiancé if you didn’t? Are you deceiving me? What will hurt me the most is the loss of the friendship. I am a big girl; I should be able to survive this”
“How do I prove to you I don’t have a fiancé? You are crying over nothing and making Naomi win”
“I don’t care who wins. I want to be happy; happy with you. You haven’t shown me any insincerity since I knew you but why would Naomi say that to Dave?”
“Should we ask her? Will, that prove to you she made it all up? Will it make you trust me?” Josh picked up his phone and called Naomi. She picked up.
“Where are you?”
“I am at home. Dave is a big fool”
“Why? What did he do?”
“Didn’t your girl tell you?”
“No, she didn’t tell me anything. Is it the reason you left?”
“He was asking that girl for her number”
“Which girl?”
“The girl you are with”
“My girlfriend Nwadiuto? Why was he asking her for it?”
“I don’t know. Because he is a fool. He saw a young girl with arse and b-oobs and got carried away”
“Sad. She just asked me if I was married or had a fiancé in the UK. I was wondering what she was talking about. Did you tell her that?”
“Dave did. You told me you had a fiancé in the UK and I repeated it to him”
“When did I tell you this?”
“The last time I was in Nigeria. You told me we couldn’t be together because you had someone in the UK”
“I said that to discourage you then. But it is obvious I am with Nwadiuto now, so why tell him?”
“I was being stupid”
“I hope you know that. And I hope it doesn’t cost me this relationship”
“I’m sorry Josh. This holiday didn’t work out the way we wanted”
“It worked out for me. I am still here with Nwadiuto. I told you this Dave guy was bad news the first day I met him but you were carried away by his prowess. A loser is a loser even if he is excellent in bed. He turned you into an insen-sitive jealous monster. What you did will be too low for even Nwadiuto to do. If you were trying to get at me; you messed up big time.” Josh ended the call.
Nwadiuto didn’t care anymore. She laid on the bed with Josh and held him close. She didn’t want to lose him to anyone. She felt safe and comfortable with him. She shed tears again.
“What is it this time?” Josh asked.
“I don’t want to lose you”
“I don’t want to lose you too”