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Be careful of those you’re busy watching. Be more careful of those you know could

be busy watching you.

I looked around to the realization that I wasn’t in any park, neither was there any picnic nor any kidnapping taking place.

My phone rang again

“Hello?” My words came out with a huge sigh of relief, as I wriggled out of my sweat soaked t-shirt. I removed the phone from my ear to take a quick glance at the screen just to see “Private Number” as the caller.

“Hello sir”

I immediately recognized the voice and considering the fact that I just saw this person in my dream, playing a negative role, I hung up on reflex.

Ten seconds later, My phone rang again.

“One, why are you calling me with a private number? Two, what’s with the sir? Three, why are you sounding like you just won a case in court?”

“Sorry sir… I mean Jay. Well, I just accomplished the first phase of my mission. The target and I are now friends and you don’t expect me not to sound victorious…”

“Oh… Ok. Good job. So…”

“So what’s the next phase?”

“Get very close, I don’t care how you do it. Extract intimate information that can be used as leverage, learn what she’s up to and if possible, see to it that she stays on track according to what I discussed with you earlier.”

“Brief understood. Over and out…”

I didn’t reply

“…and yea. Agents don’t call with exposed numbers. Its always private. Bye”

I flung the phone aside and made my way like a drunkard into the bathroom. I stood for a couple of minutes, allowing the water run down my body to my feet. Without any motion whatsoever, I just stood stiff and pondered on what meaning the dream I just had held… If it had any meaning at all… And if it did, it sure wasn’t a good one.

I need to be very careful in dealing with both June indirectly and Kate directly cos women generally are slimy jealous beings who requires the exert of the extent of caution in dealing with.

“Trust a woman by putting her in charge…” An old friend of mine would say “…and she’ll return the favour by making you a servant”

As much as I tried not to, I found myself sailing of on the sea that channeled into my bathroom through the wall and scattered down beneath the shower metal head in a rather short while, I was off and could only hope to be back before…

                    ********** 6 years ago **********

I came out of the shower with water rolling and bouncing off my body in accordance to my movement.

“Here…” Titi said, handing me the towel. “…You’ll just keep giving someone mopping chores to do.”

“Sorry love. I’ll change”. I made to grab her from behind with my wet body but she quickly swerved out of the way. She gave me a mocking look and I responded by chasing her all around the medium sized room, jumping over stuffs all around. Titi’s athletic physique always made rough play exactly rough because she had both the strength and energy to handle my masculine energy to an extent. She was almost getting away for the sixth time of running round when I grabbed her left leg and she lost her footing. She landed on the bed and I on her. We both lay there breathing heavily while she particularly had her tongue out, trying to catch her breath. We looked into each others eyes and we both suddenly for no reason, let out a slight laugh.

“I love you Jay.” She said beneath her breath

“I love you too.” I replied moving my lips closer until it totally closed in on hers. We lay there, kissing and rolling over each other until the towel around my waist was beginning to bulge into an irregular shape.

I paused.

“What is it?” Titi asked as I interrupted her ascension into strange clouds. She really hated it whenever I did that.

“Nothing” I whispered as I made to kiss her again. She threw her face away in the opposite direction.

“I’m sorry”

“I understand. You’re trying to be careful right? No problem. I just hope you know when your carefulness gets out of hand.”

“Baby, we’ve talked about this. In life, you can’t be too careful and you know I’ve told you. Making out is for young adults, sex is for older adults. I’m doing this for us ‘cos you won’t remember how you enjoyed it when the result comes.” I had a persuasive look on my face, hoping that would aid in driving my point home. She tried wriggling herself out from under me but I had her pinned to the bed. She sighed.

“Ok what do you want?” I asked

“I want it!” She replied almost immediately.

“Ok. On one condition. I’ll not use protection. I’ll be inside you till I cross the finish line” I smiled mischievously

“Ha!… You want to kill me. If that’s the condition, I’m not doing again. Now stand up. See you at the next make-out.”

We both laughed and I rolled off her just as her phone vibrated on the trolley beside the bed. I handed the phone over to her and in three minutes of reading the text, her laugh vanished and her face was very straight.

“What is it love?” I asked kneeling beside her and instead of replying, she simply tossed me the phone. A text message was opened on the screen.

Titi, I look at you and I wonder what you’ll think you’re doing meddling in other people’s affairs and enjoying the company of their boyfriends. I’ve warned you about stuffs like this haven’t I?

Anyways, enjoy the merry time while it lasts. Good things don’t last forever and I’ll be looming around you, just in between you and your shadow.

Cheers,

Anonymous.

I read the message twice and pretended I didn’t see the usual fear in Titi anytime this “Anonymous” person sends the text and I guess what makes her more scared is the fact that immediately one tries the MTN number, it never goes through. Titi already called MTN customer care thrice to help her block the line, to no avail so she resolved to ignoring with the fear of the unknown and she stopped trying.

Nonchalantly I picked up my phone & dialed the number without any iota of expectation.

“Hello?” A shrill tiny voice said at the receiving end which shocked me at first.

“Could it be that it was just a kid playing a useless prank all this while?” I thought ‘cos the voice sounded like a five or six years old girl.

“Hi dear. How are you” I gathered the courage to mutter.

“I’m fine. Who is talking?”

“My name is Daniel and I’m a friend.” I paused a while to calculate how to proceed so I won’t scare off the little kid or lose her attention which was my most valuable asset at the immediate time. “Please can I speak to your… Or can you deliver a message for me?”

“No need. Sister Kate is just in the toilet. I’ll go give her the phone.” The little girl answered with a slight laugh in between her voice.

“No, no, no dearie. I’ll call her back in the next 5 minutes. That would be even before you tell her that I called. Can you remember the name?”

“No. Err… You said your name is…”

“Ok. Good… Bye.” I hung up as one of the most relieved persons on earth. “Jealous K!” “Ah!”… So she was the one behind all this rubbish and Titi’s paranoia. Titi is so going to skin her alive but I just hope I’ll be able to control the situation when the time bomb finally explodes. So it’s true when they say ‘every day is for the thief, one day is for the owner’.

Only at that moment did I realize Titi was hanging behind me, a very disturbed look on her face and her eyeballs sparked anger.

“Take it easy babe”

“Oh lord…” Titi scorned “I will so deal with this girl, for her life she go see phone ehn, she go pick race.”

“Take it easy sha.” I retorted, knowing she might not actually be completely bluffing.

“So it was that thing all this while. I will so deliver her from every evil spirit residing in her head.”

While I saw the sign of relief and victory mixed with frustration and anger in Titi’s voice and countenance, I took some time myself to imagine the extent some girls would go to portray a simple or rather complicated act of jealousy. Females can be very funny and unbelievable. Why go through all the stress to point out the fact that you aren’t unhappy with someone’s happiness, just because you want the source for yourself? Why make another person live in fear just because they have something you want rather than just vying and fighting for it. If it was yours, it would find a way to you and if it was never yours, you’ll never have it, however how hard you try. Well, that’s what I believe.

Why not live and let live rather than living to threaten others who aren’t even guilty of committing any offense to you?

“When jealousy follows the pathway of envy, it becomes a very dangerous disease

that won’t cease until it has eaten you all up.”

How Titi got hold of the supposed running Kate wasn’t an event I graced with my presence but other attendees reported it began with an insult sandwiched moral talk and ended with two very nasty slaps. I could imagine the shame and the intimidation her actions brought on her as Titi was the wild one you wouldn’t want to fight with. She does have regular Karate training and was a very active feminist.

“I hate to see women trampled on the society,…” She once said. “…and that’s the driving force to learning martial arts ‘cos sometimes, words and body language might not be enough to correct some heads…”

I heard a loud sound.

I jerked out of my ‘thinking land’ and stopped the running shower. I grabbed my towel and quickly out of the bathroom to know what exactly made that sound…

Nothing!…

It couldn’t be from my thought or just my imagination. I was sure I heard a sound in this room and looking round, I didn’t see one single thing out of place. I was starting to get worried when my phone rang and the inability to immediately locate it made me realize it was my phone that fell initially from the vibrating effect and no wonder, since I had flung it carelessly earlier.

I bent under the bed, found it and picked it up to see the annoying person who would spoil my phone just to talk to me and it appeared to be a strange number.

A part of me wouldn’t pick the call but I decided on doing otherwise.

“Hello?” I sounded as skeptical as I could be.

“Hello, please am I speaking to Jay?”

“Yes. Who’s this please?”

“Good afternoon. This is June and I’ll like to see you about something very important.” She sounded very straight and blunt.

I tried hiding the instant shock that gave me goose pimples and composed myself.

“What’s it about cos I’m very busy and may not be able to sit down and discuss this important issue with you June.”

“Actually. I sent you a text and I called ‘cos you didn’t reply.”

“Sorry about that. Alright?… I’ll check it now.”

I hung up, checked my text messages inbox.

“2 New Messages.”

The first was from June’s number and the second, from Titi. I frowned a bit and decided to read Titi’s own first.

4:20PM

‘I thought you said we were friends Jay?… You are not my friend if you know something that can harm me and you refuse to tell me about it. Its all good and let’s just say that’s how you payback for whatever offense I’ve committed against you.

As for your friend Dave, I’m returning his ring and breaking up with him cos I can’t marry a cheat and a liar.

I’m telling you, just so you know that you have a role to play in that.

Take care ‘friend’,

Bye.

In the unsolvable maze of truth, your greatest enemies are your conscience and your

gut.