If You Asked Me - PART 2

IF YOU ASKED ME WHY I woke up so early on a Sunday morning something that I rarely did except on rare occasions I would tell you it is because I was taking someone to church, and not just someone, but rather a sister. I always arrived late in church and deacons never hesitated to show me where I would sit. Most of the time, I always found the pastor already on the pulpit getting into the depth of his subject for that day. If I was lucky I would be early to even attend the worship service.

Before sleeping I had said a short prayer and left my phone plugged to the charger on my wall socket. It must have been about 5:00am when I woke up. The light was on and my phone was charged to 65 %. If you could have seen the smile on my face you would smile too because I always carried an infectious smile with me. Sometimes it was a genuine one and other times it was cunning one.

Sunday was a weird day because you could be back to the house early or late in the afternoon but cooking lunch would be an impossible affair. So, I always ensured I took a heavy breakfast for the sake of staying strong throughout the entire day no matter what time I managed to get back from church. My version of a heavy breakfast was porridge and at least 2 ‘KDFs’ (very heavy duty mandazis). These ones always came through in securing the stomach from attack of hunger especially when the pastor seemed to be taking longer in the sermon. The only predicament they caused was you would get comfortable to end up dozing off throughout the entire service.

Time passed quickly and by about a half past six I was out on the road heading to the bus stop to take the vehicle to another side of the city where I would take another one to be able to get her place. Somehow the weather almost made me upset when it behaved like it wanted to rain. I was already far from my place and having to go back to that place for an umbrella did not seem like a good idea because I feared running out of time. For the first time I was already time conscious on a Sunday. For sure the power of a lady is something else in making you get into stuff you never thought of till someone would take you for a drug addict.

On Sunday mornings there were fewer passenger vehicles on the road and most were not even half full so they had to stop at every bus stop to hoot for potential passengers. A journey that would have taken like thirty minutes took thirty minutes in the first part of the travel and an hour and a half in the second one. Good for me she was not too late or too early because at the time I was approaching the last bus stop she texted me that she was just from taking a shower. She was fast in responding to SMS messages something that was very encouraging. Some people often relied on WhatsApp and Messenger even at such times when it would be hard to communicate on mobile data. I always found social media disruptive when traveling about the city. You could have it snatched from you or you could pass the place you were to alight.

“Please wait for me there at the stage where you by the mini supermarket” She said as soon as she picked my call. I found an empty space outside the mini supermarket and stood there. This part of town looked a bit muddy than my place which meant it rained the previous day. I kept myself busy with Hill Climb game on my phone something that for a fan of cars and hills made me pass time quickly. I even played it even when traveling upcountry.

“Hey Gary” I heard her behind me. I turned to a short brown lady smiling the best smile I had ever seen for a long time.

“Oh Victoria, God bless you” I managed to salute her.

“Amen brother, long time.”

“Are you ready for church?” I managed to ask her because I expected her to have a handbag with her but she didn’t as much as she was fully dressed to go out. Looking at her from the head to the toe something was striking about her that I felt like saying but I could only manage to say “You are so smart” to which she smiled again and replied, “Thank you, you are smart too.”

She was almost my height and slim unlike how she appeared in her childhood photos. Her baby face, well arranged white teeth and dimples on her cheeks were some of the things that made her smile infectious. I may not have the best words to describe my childhood friend who was standing a few feet from me, but then looking at her one would be forgiven to fail to catch the vision of beauty as a person.

“Let’s go to my place” she said as she pointed the way she had come.

“Now! Won’t be late for church?” I couldn’t help asking.

“I just came to pick you, I prepared breakfast for two”

“I took breakfast at my place before leaving”

“Is this something we are going to argue about here on the road? Just come with me my place is not far” She made it clear to me and started to lead the way. I would be a fool if I just stood there and did nothing. Ladies were so good at being persuasive. They talked less and swung into action almost like immediately when they were serious about anything. Who would you be to put up a wall to that?

As we walked side by side I could not help noticing my tie matched her dress. It was funny that to me and for once I felt like it was just a coincidence but I assumed it didn’t send any signals to me.

“Did you put on that tie on purpose?” she asked me and laughed. I wanted to answer her but she added “Just kidding Gary, I know it’s just a coincidence. We will just go together like that to church.”

As much as I had taken a good breakfast at my place my friend made it a must that the breakfast she had prepared I had to take it to her satisfaction no matter what. She had baked some mandazis and made some tea.

“I baked them this morning” She said as we sipped tea slowly. So today I was going to get to church with a more than full stomach. Oh my! I tried my level best not to disappoint her knowing first impressions counts even for an old friend. A lot had changed since our childhood.

“Oh! You are a wonderful baker I must say” I congratulated her as I kept glancing at the amount of mandazi she had put for me verses what she had put on her plate. “But you are not fair at resource allocation for sure”

“Ha! Ha! Ha! The cook always eats less or did you forget that?” she said as she laughed. I was starting to realize she laughed a lot and at times she laughed at her own statements. All I did was tag along with a small laugh or smile even if I didn’t see the humor in what she was laughing.

I think I must have forgotten the time keeping and as she washed the utensils I leaned back and made myself comfortable on her bed which had been our seat all along. I felt lazy and started wishing it was not a Sunday.

“Gary! Wake up we will be late for church” I heard Vic say near me she was knocking my left foot with hers and so I woke up feeling very bad to have to stop the sweet sleep I was already into. I didn’t realize that I had slept very a little last night thinking about this day and it was the main reason why I was able to be up so early at 5am. As a hard working ambitious young man I often hated sleep for time it took away from without consulting me. I fastened my belt, my trouser and tie and started to move to the door.

“Just a moment please” She said. She came up to me and adjusted my tie wiped some cotton off my coat before moving aside to examine me. “You are now okay, you don’t just come here and leave like a hooligan, what would people think about me?” Again, she laughed.

We found an almost full van and bordered it. We were forced to sit at the back sit and off we left for church. This time round we went traveled because it seemed to be around the time when everyone else was headed to church. We couldn’t talk much in the crowded van apart from exchanging a few side glances from which I could tell that she equally impressed as I was with her. I am sure she had a lot of questions in her mind for me just as I had for her for the time we were growing up.

It would be an hour later when I would be seeing the church building. The unknown awaited me there because I didn’t know where I would be told to sit and if maybe who would see us that time. I had tried to make sure we got there at different times so that we could sit at separate places by visiting the wash rooms and taking my time there but she would let not me do it. She was waiting outside the door when I came from the there.

“I think you will find empty space at the front” said the deacon who was at the door when we got there.

“Since we are going to sit in front would you mind if we sat in different places please?” I was quick to suggest that to her just before we made to go in.

“No, you can’t afford to bring me to church then abandon me to sit wherever!” she was quick to protest. I was sure she was afraid of loosing the sight of me in such a big congregation. I had no option but to have her sit by my side wherever I chose to sit. I often wondered why married couples often got to sit in different places but we who are not even into anything are made to sit side by side which would now leave an impression. I hated it as much as I love it.