#MyAdaobi
written by Chipappii
pure fiction
Episode 1
My village was a relatively small one with a population of about 1700 people. My father was a high ranking member of the Igwe’s cabinet and as such has just been invited to come to the village for an important event. The governor of our state was coming into the village for a visit and also to take the hand of a daughter of the land in marriage. It was indeed a great occasion which required the presence of every notable member of my village.
I had managed to convince my father to take me along with him to the village, not really because i wanted to meet the governor, no, that was far from my concern. My sole reason was based on a matter of the heart. A girl i had fallen in love with the last time i visited my village which was over 2 years ago.
Her name was Adaobi and she was the only daughter of her parents, of course she had 3 other brothers who were all her elders. I fondly called her Ada.
I met Ada when my family visited my village for the Christmas celebration back in 2014. I had gone to the village borehole to fetch drinking water for our house. Having come back from the “CITY” i made sure i set a class between me and the regular villagers. With earphones in my ear and one jerrycan, i set out for the borehole which was a short distance from our house. I arrived at the borehole to meet a short line of gallons. I had to put mine in line and stand aside. I kept myself busy with my phone, chatting away on 2go with my friends. Whatsapp hadn’t become popular back then. The sun was hitting hard and i had always been uncomfortable being under the sun. Ada happened to be the owner of the gallons in front of mine. I walked up to her and Touched her. She looked up at me and i was dazzled by the beauty in her face and her eyes were out of this world. Her bushy eyelashes were dope enough to put the fixed ones to shame and her finely cut, bushy eyebrows needed no eye pencil.
She was Ebony black in complexion and her skin shone like a polished Italian leather shoe.
“Please help me fetch that gallon behind yours when you are done fetching yours, i will be under that tree” i said to her looking her straight in the eyes.. She didn’t say a word, she just nodded, i murmured my thanks and left to hide from the sun under the tree.
Sitting under the tree, i decided to take in the rest of the details. She was wearing a black gown which hugged her body and outlined all the features of her body perfectly. Her figure was the shape of an hour glass, her b—–s were full and stood firm while her hips wasn’t too much or too small, they were perfect with her a-s curving out moderately. Her sumptuous legs were a bit bowed which were really cute on her.
She fetched her cans, fetched mine and motioned to me to come for it. Soon we were on our way home. She had two of her cans inside a wheelbarrow she was pushing. I was dragging mine along with my hand, switching it from left to right at intervals. She walked before me and i followed. I watched as her hips swayed from side to side and couldn’t take it anymore. I increased my pace and caught up with her.
“Hey, wait” i called her and she stopped, dropped her wheelbarrow and faced me.
“which side are you going to” i asked and dropped my gallon. She pointed in the direction of my house. I dropped my gallon into her wheelbarrow and took over the pushing myself while she walked beside me.
“So, don’t you talk? ” i asked her as we moved. She smiled revealing her dimples and i fell in love with her more.
” I talk” she replied still smiling and looking ahead of us. She didn’t try looking at me.
“So you are shy then” i continued while looking at her.
“I don’t know” she said. We continued walking in silence. We soon got to the gate to our backyard. I stopped and removed my gallon from the barrow. She took back the handle and was about to leave.
“What’s your name” i asked her.
“Adaobi” she replied.
“Can you show me your house? ” i asked her.
“It’s just down there” she said pointing further down the path.
“okay, Ada can i see you again” i asked her.
“Why do you want to see me?”
“Nothing, i would just love to”
“Okay, you will see me when the time comes” she said still not looking at me.
“Hmm, can I help you push the barrow down to your house?” i asked
“No” she retorted.
“why?”
“my parents won’t like it and i really have to go, they will be waiting for me” she said picking up her wheelbarrow.
“Okay, i will come looking for you, bye” i told her and picked my gallon of water.
“Okay o, goodbye” she said and wheeled off her barrow as I went inside our house.
[]I didn’t see Ada again for over two days and in between those times, i was tempted to go out looking for her at her house but thought twice about it when i remembered what she told me about her parents.
On 24th night, my father decided we would be going for the night vigil in my village church. We were Catholics.
At the church, i made sure i sat alone and far from other members of my family. I took a seat in the last pew at the far end if the church where i would be able to observe everything happening within the church. The church service started by 10pm and everything went slowly like it always did at Christmas night vigils. I was always on the lookout for Ada or anything that looked like her. It wasn’t until during the offering time that i saw her. She was on a white fitted gown and had a black hooded sweater over it. Her hair was covered by a head warmer. I followed her around with my eyes and made sure i found out where she sat. I focused my attention on her right until service was over. Service was dismissed at a little after 1am and everywhere was already rowdy with the sounds from people, noises and flashes from fireworks. I got up from my seat and went after Ada as she was heading towards the exit door along with the crowd trooping out of the church. As i was struggling hard to wade through the crowd, i lost sight of her, she had disappeared into the sea of people. I walked out of the church building feeling very disappointed. I scanned the whole place with my eyes and couldn’t make her out, dejectedly i walked to where our car was parked and everybody was there except my dad. We all wished each other a merry xmas. I leaned at the boot of the car and started searching around for my father. I found him standing with the Rev Father who had officiated the midnight service and at their far right was Ada. She walked down to where i was and passed, she probably didn’t know i was there.
“you guys should go without me, i’m coming ” i said to my people and ran after her before they could ask where i was going.
” Why do you keep disappearing and reappearing?” i asked as I caught up with her. She turned to me and smiled
“Merry xmas” she sang out.
“Wish you the best, where have you been since” i asked
“Nowhere, why do you ask? ”
“Nothing, just that I’ve been looking for you for a long time now”
“Hmmm, where and where did you look for me ”
” Everywhere ” i said and we both laughed. I held her hand as we walked home. We took a lonely path, we needed no distraction. It was obvious we were into each other but i didn’t want to tell it straight to her that i liked her, i just wanted to let things play out by itself. I walked her to her house and we stood by their thatched fence and talked for some while. It was obvious we didn’t want leave each other’s company. Eventually i had to let go. She turned reluctantly to walk inside, i stood and watched her with love in my eyes. I called her back and hugged her. She pecked me on my cheek and we both left for our various destinations.
TBC
