Jumobi moved and yawned. “I think I should get to bed now.” The silence was getting to her. Before, she never noticed it in them, but with what Alex had just revealed to her, she couldn’t stand it. She regretted that Chidima talked her into spending the night.
Chidima got up happily. This night, she was scoring a point. “Your room is ready.”
Jumobi said goodnight to Alex and made to get up, but he drew her back and kissed her on the cheek.
“That is a complete goodnight. I pray your sleep will be free of ghosts.”
Chidima threw him a killing look at what he said but he didn’t notice.
*****
Jumobi followed Chidima. Her mind wasn’t at rest that she was here to stay the night. For five years, she had kept her distance away from them as best as she could. Yes, she and Alex worked together, but she controlled the extent their friendship went to. She saw Chidima more regularly at the times she knew Alex would be out. But one mistake she never did was to spend a night under the same roof with them. She never could bring herself to do it.
“We should be celebrating your spending the night here,” Chidima’s thoughts ran alongside Jumobi’s. She opened the door to the bedroom and they stepped in. “I will get you a towel and a nightdress.”
“Chichi,” Jumobi stopped her. “Why don’t you want to tell me what’s wrong?”
Chidima hesitated. “There’s another woman in his life.”
Jumobi was quiet. Then she laughed uneasily. “That’s absurd,” she said. “No,” she shook her head. “I know him and there is no woman. Where would he even have the time with the kind of work we do?”
“So he is lying to me? Because I am not a fan of assumptions. I didn’t make this up. He told me himself.”
Jumobi hated the way Chidima was glaring at her. “I don’t know what to say.”
“I do,” Chidima put it. “Just why the hell didn’t you marry Bolaji?”
Jumobi’s mouth fell opened.
“Oh yes girl. That guy is crazy about you,” she held up her hand when Jumobi wanted to say something. “Let me finish. You are going to say you don’t love him. What if you can’t get who you love? Won’t you settle for someone who loves you? You are twenty-eight…”
“And still young, Jesus! Stop this.” Jumobi sat on the bed.
Chidima sighed. “All I am saying is that I love my husband and I wish that we could be happy,” she said gently. “That isn’t too much to ask for.”
Jumobi was quiet. What was Chidima driving at?
“I was reading this book just yesterday about a couple,” Chidima continued. “They are the perfect definition of love. But for many years, he never told her the truth about the child he fathered. The circumstances would have driven her away from him if he had, or she would have forgiven him.” Chidima laughed. “Love is funny, you know. Love should be truthful right? This guy was stupid enough not to tell her. Why?”
Jumobi buried her head in her palms and sighed. She hated parables and Chidima was using one now. “Oh God!”
Chidima smiled. “I will get your towel and nightdress,” she said and left the room.
THREE
Jumobi gave up a lot for Alex and Chidima because she wanted them to be happy. Chidima especially, because she couldn’t betray her friend.
They grew up together in the same neighbourhood. Alex was nine. Jumobi was seven and Chidima was six. They attended the same primary school also, but only Jumobi and Chidima were in the same class.
Because of his nature when he was younger, kids loved being around Alex, and the girls were his favourite because like him, they were very intelligent. He even gave them lessons most times.
Alex was soon removed from the school, when his mother couldn’t continue with the high tuition fees. His father had died when he was six, and he had a younger sister that also needed the mother’s attention. He went to a public school. From there he got a full scholarship to the secondary school. He was in the boarding house.
Alex then, would always write letters to Jumobi. Apart from the fact that they were friends, he liked her a lot. Whenever he was home for the holidays, he would spend a lot of time with her. She seemed more mature than her age. Anyone would think they were age mate.
It continued this way. He would always write to her. She never replied any. He was unconcerned about that. All he cared about was that he kept her in his memory by always writing.
As he grew up, he began to discover that his feelings for Jumobi were more than just feelings of friendship. He never had the courage to tell her, because he had no idea how she would have felt considering the fact that they were good friends.
Then one day at school when he was writing his final exams, he got a letter from her. The only one she ever wrote to him. The contents of the letter told him all he needed to know. She missed his presence. He made up his mind that he was going to make his move the next time he was home.
He got home and everything took a different turn. His courage failed him whenever he was with Jumobi. One day, he had gone out with fifteen-year-old Chidima. Jumobi had been on an errand and wasn’t home when he called. Out with Chidima, he couldn’t contain his excitement. Chidima noticed and they talked at length that afternoon.
*****
Jumobi had gone to Chidima’s place. She wasn’t home. Then she left to Alex place. She met his younger sister outside who said they were inside. She instantly knew Chidima was around. She entered the sitting room and it was quiet. She knew they were in his room. She headed for the room. They always spent time together in there. The three of them.
Jumobi knocked on the door lightly and pushed it opened without waiting for a reply. The shock that visited her was unexpected as the two figures on the bed jolted apart.
She was speechless at first, then quickly apologized and walked out. She went home, her heart forgotten. Her first heartbreak at sixteen.
*****
For months, Alex didn’t go near Jumobi. He didn’t have the heart. He didn’t know what to say or how to explain what happened. She wouldn’t believe him. He simply kept away from the street she lived in with Chidima. But Chidima didn’t make it easy for him. She always came around, and he couldn’t stop her. They were friends. She apologized about what happened the other day, and they forgot about it.
*****
Jumobi could avoid Alex, but she couldn’t avoid Chidima. They lived on the same street and they were friends; even their parents were. She ran into Chidima at the chemist shop. Chidima would not look at her. Jumobi went over and said hi. Then Chidima smiled and they talked as if nothing happened. They walked back together.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jumobi said as she branched into her compound.
“Tomorrow?” Chidima asked.
Jumobi looked at her. “We are going for choir practice, aren’t we?”
Chidima smiled. “I’m not. Have a date with my boyfriend tomorrow.”
Jumobi giggled. “Your what?”
“Alex.”
“Oh,” Jumobi smiled and said goodnight.
She didn’t see Alex again until he left for the university. Any news about Alex, she heard from Chidima. They were very close and everyone in their age group knew Chidima and Alex were an item.
One day, she got a letter from Alex. The first he would communicate with her since she walked in on him and Chidima. In his letter, he explained that nothing happened. They only got too playful. That he cared about her, Chidima was just a friend as always. He made a lot of promises Jumobi had to admit would be difficult for him to keep, because of Chidima. She knew how Chidima felt about Alex.
Chidima didn’t know about the letter. Unlike before, Jumobi would tell her that Alex wrote. That was then. Now she had a sixth sense about such information and how to preserve her friendship.
Alex would come from school on vacation and Chidima wouldn’t leave his side. He had to play along with her. He didn’t have the heart to hurt or embarrass her. As for Jumobi, he knew
she understood what was happening. Soon, he would get Chidima to grow up. So he thought.
Surrounded with lies and a friendship Jumobi and Alex knew was sham, they grew up.
Chidima would do everything to make Jumobi feel alive. She would introduce Jumobi to every guy. Jumobi simply wasn’t interested in any of that. She simply concentrated on her studies. She was bent on leaving school with a first class.
Once they got into the university, she forgot all about Alex. There were too many activities to keep her busy. But most times, especially when Alex came to visit them at school and Chidima left with him, she would feel very lonely.
*****
About four months before her final exams, something happened. Chidima had traveled home to bury her maternal grandmother. Jumobi couldn’t accompany her friend because she had to write a make-up test that she missed while she was ill and on admission.
Alex came to see her. He wasn’t her best friend. She accommodated him because of Chidima. She couldn’t be his friend because it hurt her a lot that her heart couldn’t let go of him. But she knew she would never be the reason why he broke from Chidima. They were good together. She had admitted that much to herself over and over again as time passed and he stopped telling her what she didn’t want to hear.
She had been surprised to see him because she knew he was aware that Chidima was away. “She isn’t here.”
“I know,” Alex had said.
She was about leaving the room to be with another friend down the hall.
“I came to see you.”
“Why?” Jumobi asked him. “You and I know that we are not friends. Chidima is not here. Why should we pretend we are something we are not?”
Alex had hesitated. Then he shook his head. “Can we talk?”
“About what?”
“Us.”
“There is no us.”
“You will convince me over dinner. After that I won’t bother you anymore, if you so desire and we wouldn’t have to pretend to Chidima either, because I will tell her the truth.”
She had looked at him. Eventually, she gave in. She was also tired of the sham. Let Chidima know the truth that she and Alex weren’t friends.
Dinner turned out differently. Jumobi heard what she couldn’t believe about his relationship with Chidima.
“Then why have you been together so long?” she had asked.
He shrugged. “Chidima is fragile.”
Jumobi laughed at that. They talked at length. She realised how much she missed him. They had stopped their conversations over the years because they couldn’t come to terms with themselves.
While he was driving her back to school that evening, he told her he was going to tell Chidima the truth.
“Don’t,” she advised him.
“But I love you.”
“I don’t love you,” she lied. What she wouldn’t do was hurt Chidima. The girl was already planning their wedding.
Alex had stopped the car. “What?”
That had annoyed the almost twenty-three year old Jumobi. “What did you expect?” she blew up. “That I would sit and wait for you my whole life? First and foremost, we never had anything and will not have anything with each other. Chidima loves you.”
“We are not talking about Chidima, but us.”
“There is no us!” Jumobi threw.
“Then what happened to you?” he asked.
That stopped her. “What?”
“You’ve never had a boyfriend.”
Jumobi fell silent, then she laughed. “You are right. I guess I am waiting for the right person.”
“Me?”
Jumobi didn’t say anything for long.
“Tell me the truth Jumobi. Tell me you don’t love me. That you never did. And I will forget about you forever and settle for Chidima. All these years, I have suffered in silence, you have no idea and I can’t tell you. Just tell me.”
She sighed.
“I guessed as much,” he whispered when she said nothing. “Come home with me,” he added silently.
“I don’t know.”
“I do. She isn’t here Jumobi. For years she kept us apart. We have now and forever, because I am through with living a lie.”
He didn’t drive her back to school. He turned around and headed for his place.
They needed no words. That night he made her a woman.
*****
With her heart in her mouth, Jumobi waited for the day Chidima would walk into the room red eyed and call her a betrayer. That day never came and she never saw Alex again after the morning he dropped her off at school.
Chidima had returned that very day and her life with Alex had continued. Alex didn’t come visiting anymore, because Chidima started staying over at his place.
Exactly four months after the last time she saw Alex, they visited her in the hostel. Chidima had finished her final exams two weeks earlier. Jumobi still had one paper to go.
They visited her and after their departure, her life died. She wasn’t sure what she had expected. She wanted Chidima to be happy, yet she wanted her dreams fulfilled. How could that be? She had sat dazed after Chidima in all her excitement told her that they were getting married.
“You’re kidding,” Jumobi said after a long hesitation.
Chidima laughed. “God, no. Ask him.” she faced Alex. “Honey, tell her.”
Jumobi met his eyes. He couldn’t look at her. “Wow,” she said.
Chidima didn’t understand. “We wanted to surprise you.”
“You did,” Jumobi said, her eyes drifting to Alex. He wouldn’t look at her again. She felt like a fool. He had gotten to her that night with words, just to get her on his bed and she fell for it. “I should be happy for you,” she said gently.
Chidima had hesitated. “Are you alright?”
Jumobi nodded. “Just a headache.”
“I have a favour to ask,” Chidima said. “Will you be by my side? My Chief bride’s maid?”
Jumobi opened her mouth. She looked at Alex. Was she going to be at the wedding?
“Oh my God, you are going to refuse!” Chidima almost cried.
That got to Jumobi. She forced a smile. “What? If I don’t do it, who will?”
Chidima had smiled from relief.
Then the wedding came months later and Jumobi was convinced the more that Alex fooled her. He fitted with Chidima. She couldn’t begrudge her friend. She hoped the marriage would be fruitful for her friends. Alex fooled her, but for Chidima, she would forgive him and move on with her life.
As they took the vows, she took hers. “Do you Jumobi Adeniyi promise to let go of the memory of Alex Okafor, so that he can have a peaceful and happy life with Chidima Obiora, for the sake of your friendship?”
In her mind she answered. “I do.”
FOUR
Jumobi remained on the bed after Chidima left the room.
After school, employment had been hard. Chidima had convinced Alex to get her a place in his office. Jumobi tried to resist. She didn’t want to be near him because she didn’t want him to apologize to her. But what would she tell Chidima? The job was already waiting for her. Her parents heard of it and had thanked Alex profusely before she had even accepted it. She had no choice so they started working together. Thankfully, the job left them little time to talk. But gradually, the wall melted from her heart. She began to say hi with smiles, and somehow, the three friends from childhood returned.
As she sat there on the bed, she wondered what Chidima was getting at? Was she insinuating that Jumobi was the reason why they weren’t happy? For one, Chidima never knew about her feelings for Alex. For another, Alex never loved her. And why did Chidima ask her why she didn’t marry Bolaji? Was Chidima feeling insecure about her being single? “Why must Chidima think I am the destroyer?” she thought aloud.
And Alex had said earlier that they’ve not been happy from the beginning. Was that true? If yes, how did it turn out to be five years today? She buried her head in her pa
lms. What were they doing to her? She raised her head when the door opened.
Chidima entered with a towel and a nightdress. “You would need a bath I suppose.”
Jumobi watched her. For the first time, it dawned on her that Chidima was her friend, but she wasn’t Chidima’s friend. It’s all been a pretense. Somehow the veil on Chidima moved, leaving the ugly countenance on her face naked. Jumobi shuddered.
Chidima dropped the towel and nightdress on the bed. She stood and crossed her hands across her chest.
“Why did you ask me to spend the night?” Jumobi asked, almost in a whisper.
Chidima bit her lower lip. “I want my husband.”
Jumobi looked up into the cold eyes that were staring at her. “What…”
Chidima laughed. “I’m telling you he is in love with another woman and you say I lie.”
“Chichi I …”
“Let me finish!” she cut in as she turned away and walked to the window. “Alex doesn’t know what he wants at his age,” she turned around so she could see Jumobi’s face. “You and I know that, don’t we?”
Jumobi didn’t say anything.
Chidima cocked her head to the side. “I thought we were friends. Very good ones?”
Jumobi shook her head in wonder.
“I should be relaxed that you are there to protect my back in my absence, shouldn’t I?”
Jumobi stayed dumb.
“How could you allow my husband fall in love with another woman, Jumobi?”
Jumobi was getting tired.
“He doesn’t love me. He never did. I have been living my life in hopes because I was too scared to accept reality that I can’t have him. I did everything just to keep him with me.” Chidima walked back and sat on the bed. “You know sweetheart,” she placed her hand on Jumobi’s shoulder. “If he had been… you know, maybe… interested in you once you see,” Chidima swallowed. “I would have let go of my fantasies. We never would have married. I would have been satisfied you know, that I was losing him to you, but then … but then, the circle of friendship preserved.” She took her hand off Jumobi’s shoulder and rubbed her palms together. She shook her head. “I’m obsessed with our friendship. I can’t let another woman have him.” She looked at Jumobi immediately, the daggers returning to her eyes. “You allowed him to fall in love with another woman.”