There are a few distinctive things that makes us human and the ability to love and be loved isn’t one of them.

“He has apologized, he has explained everything. What more do you want him to do?” I asked looking straight at Titi’s embittered face.

“I want him to leave me alone.” She replied with tears in her voice.

I looked at the lady, three tables away from where we were seated and gave her the “mind your business” look as she hurriedly diverted her attention to the plate of food in front of her.

“Titi, why are you flogging a dead horse?” I continued. “The only thing I can see here is if you were already looking for a way out of this relationship in the first place and it would be too bad if one of my friends were to tie a noose around another of my friend’s neck just so she could come out and be painted as the Mother Theresa in this whole scenario. The guy had a slip of brain. It wasn’t like he cheated on you per say ‘cos everything he told you is true. The instant he realized what he had done was the moment he began pushing this June girl as far away from him as possible without…”

“Why did he do it in the first place” Titi cut in “if his manhood is itching him, what was I at home for? Has he ever complained that I starved him of sex? Don’t you see he tied a noose or whatever you call it around his own neck?”

All through Titi’s hundred and one questions, I kept on motion my hands in the “keep calm” sign and didn’t want to interrupt her so she doesn’t raise her voice.

“It’s like you don’t see that this is exactly what that lady wants to happen. She just came down to Lagos to scatter her ex’s happiness and needless to say that you’re his happiness. You think it was a coincidence you guys became friends? She’s just one drama queen who had all her stupid tricks mapped out. I’m sorry for you if you think she gives a f about you in the slightest. Forget it. Break up with him and she’ll start singing R.Kelly’s ‘that’s the sound of victory’. Stick with your man through his flaws and you might just have won a battle you never knew you were fighting in the first place.”

Titi looked at me for around a minute or two and as usual, I couldn’t guess what was going through her mind. If what I just said held any meaning and has touched the soft spot of her heart or if it was just being rebuffed by her normal stubborn nature… She shook her head.

“I’m not fighting anyone over Dave. If she wants to have him, she can go ahead. He’s all hers. Let her take him and do whatever she wants with him. I’m done with this stupid tug-of-war. She won. That’s it.”

I knew even Titi’s nature was just going to make my work difficult than I had planned it and persuasion wasn’t going to move her. I had to come at her from another angle entirely.

“Well, he’s confessed like a man. I hope you’ll honour your breakup with him by confessing as well.” I said with a straight change of tone.

“Confess what?… What did I do?” Titi replied looking at me with a mixture of sadness and curiosity.

“The day we both went to my place in the evening from the bar, the text messages you sent to me that you want me back, even though I knew you didn’t mean it, the flirts, the day my girlfriend busted in on us… Isn’t that worth confessing too?”

“But nothing happened!” She sounded really chocked up.

“Cos I resisted!”

“Oh!”

“You both need to forgive yourselves and push out all forms of third parties so you can rebuild your love lives from the scratch. Unforgiveness would just eat away your soul and before you say Jack, you’re down with one sickness or the other. Or you don’t know that unforgiveness can break up your physical body system?”

Titi frantically fought back tears and it was even more obvious from her little shaky movements in her seat.

“Promise me you’ll forgive him. Do it for the sake of the love you have for him. Promise me.”

With every barrage of reluctance and hesitation forced out of the way, Titi blurted out “I promise” and bursted into tears.

I grabbed her head and gave her my shoulders.

                        ****************

The directionless conversation was lifting, the atmosphere wasn’t bad either. The waiters were moving around the bar tirelessly carrying out their duties in the best way known to them. People were all over The Step Inn in numbers and a group of three guys and 5 girls wore the a matching top with “#TGIF” inscribed on the chest and their various nicknames behind it.

Dave was the only person drinking on the table as he slowly sipped his fifth bottle of  Guiness and the awkwardness could not just be over emphasized as we all coincidentally agreed to take a much needed drinking break as attentions were diverted to the bowl of sauced diced meat in the center of the table. I guess my friends must have gone to reason on my health talks when I tell them that a single bottle of beer contains over 20 cubes of sugar and continuous intake can cause you liver fat and damage your liver. I guess not on the health sermon though cos Doc and I were the only non-smokers on the table. No surprise for our Jamaican Mikey, a little surprise for Dave but understandably so, cos half of smokers are people who believe their very pressing issues would get blown away with the puff that comes after the drag.

Some people even believe the longer the drag, the more your problems are able to jump in like balls in a cannon and then… Poof! They get blown out. I almost laughed my intestines out when a lady told me her boyfriend always said that. Craziness and senseless thoughts might just have a beginning. There’s no end to it.

“What’s going to happen now that the etisalat guy has travelled?” Dave had asked me earlier and all I could do was slam the back of my right palm on my left. A sign, meaning “I don’t know” where I come from.

He continued to drink and smoke and we were forced into watching, as we couldn’t find the correct combination of words to make him stop an habit he had dropped over a year ago. Nothing seemed to penetrate the invisible wall mounted beside his ears. At an interval, he lifted up his head, looked at the rest of us and muttered partially audibly and with a really worn out voice.

“Guys… Errr… Errr… I’m very sad.”

“Hmmm.” “Yeah…” “We know.” We replied, nodding our heads in unison.

“Errr… Can errr… Someone call Titi and errr tell her I’m sorry?”

“I’ve done that.” I quickly replied.

“I appreciate it man… Errr… I just hope she… errr believes it… You know?”

I locked gaze with Doc, although I couldn’t tell who looked at whom first and he smiled. What for?… I didn’t care to know. All that mattered was how to transport Believe out of here peacefully and quietly to his place. Mikey’s attention was hardly with us and he was looking very much like a debtor or a criminal avoiding the cops.

“Guys… I’ll be right back.” Mikey said and left.

Dave already had his head on the table and arms wrapped around it, in the normal students sleeping style.

“I’ll be right back.” I said and left too.

The contrast of the breeze outside The Step Inn was nothing like the polluted, stuffy and thick version inside. I took a deep breath and checked my phone.

5 missed calls.

“What need could be that pressing that can’t wait?” I thought as I hit the screen and pinned the phone to my left ear.

“Hey… Whatsup dear?… How are you?”

“I’ve been calling you!”

“I’m hanging out with my guys and its kindda noisy inside. So I had to step out and call you back.”

“Really?”

“Yep… And what’s the ‘really’ for?”

There’s was silence for around a minute before Lizzy decided to continue the conversation.

“I need to see you Jay… We need to talk.”

“Talk… I’m all ears”

“Didn’t I just say I need to see you?” Lizzy snapped back like she was replying an insult or something.

“Alright. I’ll see you tomorrow. Ok?”

“Take care. Bye.” She hung up before I could say anything further.

I stood on that spot for about two minutes, staring blankly into thin air, with support from scattered lights here and there and Tuface’s Spiritual healing song when someone tapped my shoulder. I jerked a bit and turned around to see a short thickly built man, wearing a black round neck shirt, a blue jean and black boots with a cigarette in his left hand.

“I hope this man knows there’s a pen knife in my back pocket before he mistakes me for someone else.” I thought ‘cos incidents and stories like that aren’t farfetched from drunk peeps around here.

“Guy, no be your padi wear blue long sleeve with one white round neck inside?”

“Hmmm… Yes?” I replied seeing he just described Dave’s outfit.

“Henhen… And another one with black short sleeve and blue jeans abi?”

“Would you just get to the freaking point you dwarf and tell me if something bad is happening or has happened and stop wasting my precious time” I thought.

“Yes oga… Wetin dey na?” I sounded really impatient.

“Omo… Yawa don burst for inside o. E be like say that your friend wey where blue shirt don die sef. E no dey move oh and the blood ple…”

I dashed into the club and saw people gathered, trying to lift Dave up. The inside lights were a bit too dim but I saw a whole lot of blood on the shirt my friend wore and he was also looking lifeless.

I didn’t know when I put my hands on my head.

If little drops of water here and there can make an ocean, what name would be given to what little mistakes here and there makes?