MY MILITARY BOYFRIEND AND I
CHAPTER FOUR.
Setting up the gas stand, wiping my hands on my apron I was shocked to see Christophe “Christophe you’re early today. The puff puff is still sizzling. What brings you here?”
Smiling, glancing around.
“Your stand has become my refuge, Ann. Amidst the chaos, the scent of fried dough and beans feels like a moment of respite.” He said as he approaches.
“Oh! Wow! Thanks for the compliment Christophe.” I served him his food then he dragged a bench and placed beside and started devouring his meal.
“Hope you’re enjoying the meal though?” I asked.
And he nodded in affirmation. Taking a bite of the sizzling puff puff, trying to cool positions of it.
“What do you think of This crisis? It’s been five years since it’s started.”
“Hope keeps us going. It’s the thin thread we cling to when everything else unravels.” Pauses, “You know, my grandmother used to say, “In the darkest nights, even a single star guides lost souls.”
I sent him a warm affirming smile “wise woman. And what about you, Christophe? What keeps you going”
Looks into the distance “Duty, perhaps. The uniform weighs heavy, but it’s a shield too. I protect, even when I don’t understand why. And then there’s…” hesitated
“camaraderie. Brothers in arms, they say. But sometimes, I wonder if we’re just brothers in suffering.”
i poured him a cup of water “Suffering binds us, doesn’t it? Like the dough and the oil… it’s in the mixing that magic happens.” Hands him the cup “Here, drink. You look parched.
Takes the cup. “Thanks. You know, Ann, I’ve seen things.” Looks devastated.
“Things that haunt my dreams. But this place, your stand it’s a pocket of normalcy. A reminder that life exists beyond the chaos.”
“Normalcy… or illusion? We laugh, we talk, but the shadows stretch longer each day.”
Touches her pendant, a tiny silver bird that her elder sis had made for her and Kemi. “Kemi used to say, Even in war, birds sing.” She believed in hope, even when bullets rained down.”
Chris was the first ever guy I befriended who came from the other side of the country. He was fun to talk to, kind hearted and also a story teller.
He once told me a story about a certain mama Christina.
“Ann,” he began, “have you ever heard of Mama Christina?”
I glanced up, flour dusting my cheeks. “Mama Christina? The woman who’s son killed a police officer?. Yeah I saw that on news report.”
Christophe nodded. “Exactly. But her stand isn’t just any stand. It’s Achombo— this meal was the heart of our neighborhood.
Back then” That spot was a magical spot. It was a place where strangers meet and become friends. It was the only meeting point between enemies.
“Magical?” Ann laughed. “You military men and your stories.”
“No, really,” Christophe insisted. “Even our popular boxer Francis Ngannou, visited it. He swears by Mama Christina’s puff puff. But that’s not the best part.”
“ I know places like that often bore a lot of criminals. If mama Christina indeed had that population then am sure she made a lot of money. But what of the security?”
“The security “Christophe said. “Mama Christina has four grown sons who looked more like giants and thugs. They’d go to any length to keep their mom’s business safe. I’ve seen them sprung in action.”
Ann’s eyes widened. “You mean they—” leaves her mouth wide open in shock
“They protect her fiercely,” Christophe said. “there was a time when a guy ate and refused to pay. He kept coming back, borrowing from Mama Christina, threatening to lock up one of her sons if she didn’t keep giving him food on credit.”
I shook my head. “A police officer, no less. He thought he could get away with it .”
“Exactly,” Christophe said. “But then Romaric one of Mama Christina’s sons heard about it. Confronted the man. The officer threatened to lock him up, as usual. But Romaric didn’t back down. They quarreled, and it ended in a fight.”
Ann leaned in, her eyes wide. “What happened?”
“Romaric took out his knife,” Christophe said, his voice low. “Stabbed the man five times. All that was left was his corpse.”
my breath caught. in shock “And Mama Christina ?”
“She wept,” Christophe said. “But she also held her head high. Her sons—her giants—they’d done what needed to be done. Achombo remained safe and business was booming.”
“But at what cost?” Ann whispered.
Christophe looked out at the fading light. “Sometimes, safety demands a price. Mama Christina’s puff puff feeds more than thousands of hungry bellies. It feeds hope, justice, and the unbreakable bond of family. To her everyone that came there , she took them as her children. When the police threatened to close her business down she had so many people who supported her”
As the shadows deepened, Ann wiped her hands on her apron. “And Romaric? What happened to him?”
“He vanished too,” Christophe said. “But rumor has it he’s still out there. A silent guardian of Mama Christina’s Achombo.”
Ann gazed at the gas stand, at the simple sign that read “Puff Puff and Beans.” “Maybe there’s magic here after all.”
Christophe smiled. “Perhaps. And maybe, just maybe, our meeting here was all fate too” he smiled and left leaving me blushing..
.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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