Never Forget You

Daniel was hiding in the kitchen. He felt like a little child running away from a teacher, his cane and a punishment agenda. But this time it wasn’t physical pain he was so worried about, it was the emotional one.

“You can’t stay here all night,” Aisha said, looking at him with concern in her eyes.

“I wasn’t planning to… it’s just until she leaves.”

Aisha dropped the empty tray in her hands on the counter and walked over to him, “Danny she’s been here for an hour and she’s still nursing the same cocktail I gave her when she walked in. I don’t think she’s planning on leaving any time soon. Or at least not until she talks to you.”

Danny peeped through the slit between the door and the broken jamb, looking across the bar. Mama just sat there, idly sticking her straw in and out of her drink. She looked anxious, yet she sat there, waiting. She looked up and he immediately drew his head back. He couldn’t do this, “I can’t do this.”

Aisha sighed as one of the cooks handed her back her tray now filled with plates of food, “Well you’re going to have to do something before Uncle starts to wonder why Sam is the only one manning the bar.” She slapped him gently on the shoulder and began walking towards the door. However, she paused and turned back to him when she got to the door, “Just… don’t let her get to you, okay?”

He didn’t reply, he didn’t know how to. When she pushed the door open, he leaned forward to look through, Mama’s eyes were on him. He leaned back again, feeling his heart drop to his stomach. Why would she do this to him? In his place of work no less. She was clearly uncomfortable too but that was just typical Mama, she had a knack for putting herself in uncomfortable situations. Unfortunately, she tended to drag those around her in them too.

***

“Please sir… it was just a misunderstanding… please…” Danny could hear the muffled yelling coming from the phone as he wiped down the girl’s table, it was clear she wasn’t winning this argument. He didn’t mean to eavesdrop but other people needed the booth and the girl had finished her meal almost an hour ago, “Mr Ugo… please…”

Mr Ugo? He knew a Mr Ugo from school but she didn’t look like a student from his school, she seemed too soft but then again what did he know? If that was the same Mr Ugo he knew then she didn’t stand a chance. He turned around and saw Aisha give him the eye. “We need the table,” her silent message was saying. “I’m trying,” his said in return. He turned back to the girl, about to say something but stopped when he saw the tears falling from her eyes. What was he supposed to do now?

“Are you okay?” he asked gently, she was off the call now but still staring at her phone like it had answers.

She sniffed and shook her head without looking at him. She looked lost and far from ready to stand up.

“Uhh Mr Ugo, doesn’t respond well to begging.”

“What?” she looked up at him and used the back of her hand to wipe her eyes.

“The head of student affairs Mr Ugo?”

She nodded slowly.

“He hates when students beg him, makes him angrier.”

She raised her hands in defeat, “I can’t believe this, I’m going to get suspended over a silly misunderstanding, he thought I was being rude to my lecturer but I wasn’t. I was just trying to defend myself.”

“Well, he only responds to his favourites. A group A students who work in his office, they’re part of the student council.”

She snorted, “I don’t know anyone, I just transferred here a few months back… who’s going to help me?”

She looked like she was about to cry again, so he blurted out his next words, “I can.”

The next morning Daniel took himself to student affairs and put his neck and position as head of the student representative council on the line for a teary girl at his uncle’s bar, “She’s new sir, I think she deserves a second chance.”

“Hmmm okay… I trust your judgment but if that girl ends up in my office again, it will be on you.”

“Yes sir.”

He was about to leave the man’s office when he stopped him, “I’m surprised you’re defending her considering her offence.”

“I just don’t think it warranted suspension.”

“Cheating has always come with a heavy price, if you don’t believe that maybe you should rethink your position in the council.”

***

“Hi,” Danny said with all his summed up confidence.

Mama smiled in that knowing way he was all too familiar with, she knew he would come out to see her, she knew he would talk to her, “I was wondering if you were ever going to come out, I was worried you won’t at some point.” She looked at the chair beside him, expecting him to use it.

He looked at the chair too but didn’t sit, he wanted to make this conversation as quick as possible, “Yet you stayed.”

Her smile slipped slightly, it was barely even noticeable but he noticed, he saw everything on her face, “You know me, always the optimist.”

He thought he knew her once but she proved him wrong, he knew nothing, “Mama, what do you want?”

She let out a breath and looked around, “This place looks different… that’s new,” she pointed at the huge fish tank they recently installed near the entrance.

Danny looked at Mama, she was stalling and he was curious why, “It was a gift to Uncle T,” he said, humouring her.

“Ohh… it’s weird that I haven’t been here in so long. Remember when I used to come every afternoon?”

“Yeah, you liked the smoky jollof rice.”

“No… I liked you…”

He shook his head, “Mama…” he said agitated, he was done with the small talk, “I know you didn’t come all the way from America to talk to me about Jollof rice. What are you doing here?”

***

“Daniel, what are you doing here?” Mama sat up on the hospital bed.

“I came to see you,” He replied gently, then he lifted up the nylon bag in his right hand, “I brought food.”

“You’re missing class, you don’t do that.”

He shrugged.

She leaned back on the bed, “How did you know I was here?”

“I heard a rumour about a girl fainting in the cafeteria.”

She looked down, fiddling with her fingers, “And you knew it was me?”

He moved to sit next to her on the bed, “I had been trying your phone all day and there was no response, so I was already worried.”

She shifted so that he could lay next to her, “They’re going to call my parents.”

“I’m sorry,.

“I’m not ready to leave yet… I’m not ready to leave school, I’m not ready to leave you…”

He felt his heart skip at her words, he knew they had a deep connection but this was the first time she had vocalized it. She rested her head on his shoulder, “I wish we could run away.”

“Where would we go?”

“America?”

He laughed.

“I’m serious!”

“But we could never afford it.”

“Hmmm… what about Ghana? It’s close by, we could take a bus there and the price of living isn’t too expensive. Have you ever been there?”

“No.”

“Ohh it’s beautiful and quiet, you’ll love it. Cost of living is pretty low, we could get jobs and live close to the beach, their beaches are so beautiful…”

“Woah slow down, Mama… what about your treatment?”

“They have doctors there.”

“It’s expensive.”

“I could get a job and my parents would pay for a few months before they figure out that I’ve left the country. Please think about… I’m just tired of being here, lets travel the world together.”

***

She took a long sip of her drink, “I came home a few months ago for my mum’s birthday but I couldn’t go back until I talked to you. I’ve been putting it off for months but I got a call today that my results were coming in a few hours so…“

“What results?”

She took in a breath, “They found another tumour… they’re running some tests now to see if they’re cancerous but I’ve been feeling faint for a few days so I’m not hopeful. I mean, I’ve only been in remission for two years, I always knew there was a possibility it would come back but I’m still scared.”

Of all the things he thought she was going to say, somehow he hadn’t anticipated that. His heart swelled at her words, he finally understood why she was here. She needed him again. He looked at her, even with her brows furrowed together in worry, her eyes filled with water and her face bare from any makeup, she was still so beautiful to him. He touched her shoulder and she immediately buried herself on his chest. He remembered this feeling so well, too well.

***

Daniel walked into the small flat across the street from Uncle T’s Bar and Grill, he’d been working there since his first year and in all his four years, he had never entered this place, he had no reason to. It was an ‘off-campus housing’ but it was one of the priciest so no one he knew personally had ever stayed here. Not until now.

“Hi, I’m looking for Martha,” he said to the security guard. The man nodded and pointed at one of the flats downstairs, he wasn’t sure which one but he took a chance and knocked on the first one he saw. He heard a muffled voice inside but he couldn’t tell if it belonged to a guy or girl. Then he heard the lock get undone and the door slowly opened.

“Hello?” she said looking confused.

“Hi Martha… sorry to just come over, I would have called but I didn’t have your number… I’m sure you don’t even want to see me…”

“Mama.”

“What?”

“Everyone calls me mama,” she said simply leaning on the door jamb.

“Ohh! Mama, I wanted to tell you I’m sorry, for the way I spoke to you, it wasn’t fair.”

She shook her head, “You don’t have to apologize… you helped me.”

“And then I yelled at you, so I do.”

She shrugged, “You were right I am a bad person, I should have told you the truth but I was just scared. I do that to people, take advantage of them, that’s why I don’t have any friends. You should stay away from me,” her eyes teared up as she spoke.

He shook his head, “No, I don’t think you’re a bad person and how could you have taken advantage of me when I was the one who offered to help?”

She tried to blink away the tears, “Thank you, for helping me.”

“It’s no problem, I can help you with everything, I have connections with all the lecturers. It comes with my title, there’s a lot of power.”

“Isn’t this misusing your power?”

“Not when it’s a good cause.”

“I’m a good cause?”

“You’re the perfect cause.”

***

“Sorry to interrupt but Danny, Uncle T is asking for you, he’s in the kitchen.”

Danny looked down at Mama still wrapped in his arms and nodded. He patted her on the back and she pulled away, “I’ll be right back,” he whispered then unwrapped himself, got up and followed Aisha to the kitchen.

When they had the door safely shut behind them, she turned around and slapped him on the side of the head, “What are you doing?”

“I’m talking to her like you asked.”

“That wasn’t just talking Danny, and I also said you shouldn’t let her get to you.”

He grunted, “Aisha you just don’t get it, she was upset.”

“Martha’s always upset, I’ve not seen her without tears in her eyes, that’s how she gets you. She sets a trap and you’re easy bait.”

“That’s not what she’s doing.”

“So you want to tell me you’re not feeling any feelings for her right now?”

He couldn’t say that so he said, “She’s changed.”

“Not from where I’m standing.”

***

“What do you mean you’re leaving?” Aisha put down her tray, staring at Danny intensely.

“I’m leaving, I already told Uncle T, today is my last day.”

“But what about the school? This is your final year!”

“I never cared that much about school, I want to explore the world, travel, live my life, I’ve never done that before.”

“And you’re sure this is you talking?”

“Ahh ahn who else can it be?”

“Your little girlfriend.”

“Yes, Mama and I are going together but I made this decision for myself, we leave for Ghana tomorrow.”

“Then what?”

“Wherever the moment takes us.”

***

“… From where I’m standing, she still looks like the girl who abandoned you in a foreign country after you gave up your life for her. She’s still that girl, you just forgot.”

Danny walked back to the bar to meet Mama, she was on the phone. He watched as she walked off to a quiet corner of the room. Aisha was wrong, she didn’t understand, his and Mama’s relationship, it was deep, they needed each other. No matter what happened, they would always come back to each other. This was proof that she could be anywhere right now and she came to him, even after two years of being apart, they were still connected. Always connected.

***

“You lied to me!” Danny yelled when Martha walked into the bar, “You cheated and you didn’t tell me even when I went to vouch for you like a fool. What kind of person does that?” he was fuming.

“I… I… I’m sorry I didn’t think…”

“That what? I would find out? That’s pretty stupid of you, I put my reputation on the line for you and it wasn’t worth it,” he should have known better than to be fooled by a pretty a face and a few tears, he thought he was smarter than that.

“Woah take it easy now, you’re making the girl cry,” Aisha said walking in, “Besides, people are beginning to watch,” then she went to attend to the customers.

“You should leave,” Danny said quietly.

Mama nodded slowly, “I’m sorry,” she said, “I should have told you, I was ashamed of it, I shouldn’t have done it in the first place.”

“So why did you?”

“I was just so scared of failing, otherwise my parents would pull me out of school. I can’t bear to stay at home, I can’t let my cancer stop me from living my life,” with that hanging in the air, she quietly left the bar.

***

Mama finally got off the phone, she looked at him, gave him a small wave and walked over, “That was the hospital,” she said.

“What did they say?”

“It’s benign,” she said and chuckled, tears were still in her eyes but he assumed that was from joy.

He grabbed her into a tight hug, he felt a little disappointed that she might not need him as much as he thought but he was relieved for her. She held him back tightly, at least she was here in his arms, maybe this was what they needed for their second chance.

“What now?” he asked as he let her go.

“I’m not sure if I want to go back to America, I think it’s time for me to come home.”

He couldn’t agree more but he didn’t want to show her his excitement so he said, “Good, maybe I would get to see you more.”

She smiled, “I’m so happy to hear you say that… to know you don’t hate me.”

“I could never hate you.”

She smiled, he leaned forward, he wanted to give her a kiss when she suddenly raised her hands, “I almost forgot, I have to call Kunle.”

“Who?”

She smiled shyly, “My fiancé, he’s been so nervous about all these, I’m glad I get to put his mind at ease.” She got up and walked briskly to the quiet corner. Leaving a confused Danny frozen in place.

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