When Taiye is done riding me, she falls asleep with my whatchamacallit still inside her.
When I wake up, it is past midnight and my left leg is getting cramped. I stamp it on the floor to get the blood flowing and Taiye rouses. I kiss her on the lips and her eyes flutter open.
“Let’s go to bed,” she said, rising and pulling me up.
She didn’t close the door to the bathroom as she sat down to pee. I watched her wash herself down there with water and soap as I pulled off my tee shirt.
“Man, I used to shower every night before I met you,” she said as I joined her in the bathroom.
She brushed her teeth while I peed, then she handed me a brand new toothbrush.
“I like to kiss when I wake up,” Taiye said and then I ruined it all by saying something stupid.
“So, which man did you buy this tooth brush for, surely not me.”
“Don’t be a dick,” she said and snatched the toothbrush from my hand.
“Babe,” I cried. “That was a joke.”
“That was a stupid joke, man. I think you should leave.”
“What? Seriously?”
“Yes, seriously,” she said, covering herself with her towel.
I know I should have begged and said I was sorry but Taiye was looking so pissed I just picked up my tee shirt and left.
My room felt lonely all of a sudden. Just a few days and I was getting used to the warmth of a woman.
Sleep was gone so I picked up my phone and dialed Chi on whatsapp. She was five or six hours behind in Ottawa and since Taiye came into the picture, I hadn’t called her.
She was happy to hear from me and we spoke excitedly for a while. School was out and she was indoors with her Indian flatmate.
“All we do is drink tea and sweet wine. She supplies the tea and I supply the wine. How about you, I bet there is a woman. This silence is anuta agbogo, achupu agadi kind of silence,” she said, segueing between Igbo and english.
“Nne, rapu’m aka,” I said in Igbo as I debated whether or not to tell her about Taiye. It was too early I decided and too close home. Women, Chi might start wondering when it really started.
I told her to stay safe with a promise to call again, soon.
Chi and I met on a flight in from london. We shared seats and hit it off immediately. She was one of the smartest people I had ever met. An engineer, she knew a lot about a lot of things from politics to architecture, literature to medical sciences, robotics to AI.
“How do you know so much,” I asked half way through our flight.
“I am a sponge. I read everything, absorb fast and I never forget,” she told me sipping her red wine.
“Okay, if you are so smart tell me what I am going to ask you next?”
Chi had laughed before responding.
“Dude, I told you I am smart. I dind’t say I was a mind reader.
“Try though,” I said laughing.
“Ok, you are going to ask me to go out with you,” she said and she was spot on.
The age thingy was a concern. She was was 26 and I was almost 15 years older.
“Age is just a number,” I said to her on our first date. “Go out with me and it will be the best decision you make this year.”
“Wait. That is taken. I aready applied for my PhD. That is the best decision I took this year.”
“Ok, second best decision,” I said and leaned in for a kiss.
She was smart, homely, a good lover and brilliant cook and I would have married her if not for that blasted PhD. No one passes over a full scholarship with Teaching Assistant position at Carleton, so once it was time, I knew I had to let her go.
I read a bit then I switched off the light and called it a night.
I woke late, checked my mail and social media feed. My sister had sent me a message.
“Zeal when you wake up recite Psalm 91. I have sent it to Aramide too and the kids. God must protect us from the noisome pestilence at this time.”
I sent her my thanks and recited the psalm. My Lekki client had sent a mail to say they were suspending work. She moaned about the bank loan and all what not.
I checked WebMD, CNN, and other news outlets for COVID-19 updates then I exercised.
I had just stepped out of the shower when I heard knocking.
I peeped. Taiye was standing there in her bum shorts and stripped top and just seeing her I felt myself stir. The girl had my number.
I opened the door and she had a tray arrayed with breakfast.
“Can I come in,” she asked.
I stepped aside and she came in. I shut the door and walked past her as she set the tray down on my center table.
I was naked and creaming my body when she walked into my room. She stood naked, silhouetted by the door, her beautiful body daring me not to react. I did not want to accept her back so easily but my body was a traitor. By the time I turned to look at her, Mr. Man was standing at full mast.
Taiye, didn’t say a word, she took me by the hand then led me to the full length mirror in my hallway. She placed her hands on the side of the mirror, parted her legs and jutted out her bum.
“Let’s do that thing you like,” and I obeyed like a sheep being led to slaughter.
We were lying in my bed, our feet resting on the headboard, when Taiye brought up the issue from the night before.
“I know you can be direct, Zeal and I like a man who speaks his mind but sometimes you leave me confused. The other night you asked me whether I was catching feelings. It was a joke, I know but it’s been what, two days? And then you accuse me of sleeping around? I don’t know you like that, man. I always thought you were hot but right now, we are stuck. This could be cabin fever manifesting as lust. I like some respect and I will like to get to know you before we decide what we are doing. But one thing I know for sure is that you have a beautiful dick and I haven’t had enough of it yet,” she said and turned to kiss me.
I kissed her back then pushed her gently away.
“I just want to say that I am sorry. I put my foot in my mouth and it won’t happen again.”
Taiye listened to me with a funny look on her face but when she said nothing after I was done I gave her a funny look back.
“I don’t believe you,” she said leaning on an elbow, her right breast brushing against my arm.
“Why?” I asked.
“You said you put your foot in your mouth, right?” she asked and I nodded.
“Well, if you want me to believe you, you have to stick your third leg in my mouth,” she said and laughed.
“You are not serious,” I said.
“I am. As serious as a heart attack.”
And so I rolled over and stuck my pingolo in her wide open mouth.
By the time Taiye had her fill, the tea and eggs and toast had gone cold. I heated the tea then as we watched CNN, I boiled rice while the stew thawed.
That was when we learnt that Boris Johnson, the British PM, had tested positive and before the day ended we would learn that Chioma, Davido’s girlfriend, had also tested positive and Femi Otedola had donated N1m to fight the pandemic.
The @ncdcgov announced on twitter that the number of positive tests for COVID-19 haad climbed past 70.
“Zeal, before next week ends, the number might get to 1,000,” Taiye said as she snuggled into my arms. “I am scared now. Are you not you scared.”
“I am very scared,” I told her as I pulled her close.
We spent the rest of the evening drinking whiskey and watching Narcos on Netflix and hoping that news of a vaccine in Canada would be true.
I was so freaking worried I forgot to call to call my kids.
