Chapter 4.

"Onyekwa?" Iyke asked, looking up from his video game, as Chris bulldozed his way through the door, carrying a disheveled lady.

Her long hair fell over her face, hiding her features. Flora was enjoying the lift as she comfortably snuggled into his arms like a baby. He had a solid, muscular torso. Very dependable.

"Someone I met," Chris replied succinctly, carefully dropping Flora on the sofa.

Iyke abandoned his video game to see for himself. Since when did Chris start bringing women home?

"I met her in front of Guinea Casino, being given the beating of her life," Chris explained, as if reading his mind.

"Hmm. So you became the knight in shining armour?" Iyke smirked, peering into the Lady's face.

Chris grinned. "I'm a gentleman." He headed for his room to change his clothes. "I know you're deft at using that old first aid kit and a few ice packs."

"Flora?" Iyke called, surprised.

Chris stopped halfway to the bedroom and Flora's eyes flew open. Iyke stared in bewilderment. For the love of God, this was Flora.

"What...the hell?" Iyke asked nobody in particular.

"You know her?" Chris wasn't getting the whole drama.

"Lily's friend na," Iyke said, turning to give him a quizzical look.

"Huh?" Chris was confused.

Well, he never really had a good look at the lady, or he had simply forgotten what Lily's friend looked like. Last he saw her was about 2 years ago, when Lily was in 200 level.

The Flora girl had followed him around like a lovesick puppy and he'd only pitied her. He didn't have any feelings for the poor girl. He hadn't seen her again since he started dating Lily, who never seemed to show up with her friend anymore.

"Hi, Iyke?" Flora muttered, feigning surprise.

"Yeah, it's me, Iyke."

Iyke helped her sit up. He was elated that she still remembered him. They were all silent. The two men stared at her. She was beginning to fidget when Chris finally spoke up.

"So, what business did you have with Flames? Why did he want to kill you?"

Iyke's eyes widened at the mention of Flames. He reclined on the adjacent cushion and listened attentively. He loved real action stories. They were more enjoyable than the ones in movies. He suppressed a chuckle at his silliness.

Flora's brain was going 360 degrees in quick succession. What to do? What to do? Tell the truth? Hey, are you okay in the head? Want to demolish everything she worked for? Telling the truth was totally out of question!

Now, wasn't this her perfect chance to finish up the bitch? Flora closed her eyes and said a silent prayer for forgiveness. At least she still had a bit of conscience left. But she wanted Chris desperately and she must have him. Iyke mistook that for pain and reached out to squeeze her hand reassuringly.

"Well, it's not really something I want to talk about. I don't want to paint my friend black," Flora began, withdrawing her hand from Iyke's.

"Your friend?" Chris asked, coming to sit beside her on the sofa.

"Yes... Lily," she confirmed, shifting uncomfortably. "Please can I get a glass of water?"

Iyke jumped up to do her bidding before the words left her mouth. Flora almost rolled her eyes in derision. Whatever was wrong with the guy anyway? She wasn't here for him.

"What did she do?" Chris prodded. He wanted to hear every detail.

"No, really... I know what she means to you, so..." Flora broke off, shaking her head in unrehearsed pretence. If she knew Chris at all, he wouldn't stop until he heard it.

"It's okay. Trust me," Chris reassured.

Iyke was back with the glass of water. He handed it to her and took his position again. Flora wished the dude would just get lost or something. She gingerly took a sip, wrapping her sweaty palms around the cool glass.

"Please, I must first apologize for the breakup, on her behalf. I tried to talk her out of breaking up with you, but she said she's gotten what she wanted from you and doesn't need you anymore. So you see..." Flora recited as slowly as the deceitful words came.

Chris was now looking murderous. "Go on," he said through his teeth.

Flora looked everywhere, but at Chris. The sitting room was simply gorgeous and large. Everything had a touch of glamour. Even the tiniest piece of furniture was neatly polished. Two padded arm chairs huddled together near the piano like two people in an intimate conversation.

Two sofas and four other cushions occupied the centre of the parlour. They were all dark blue, with matching throw pillows. The floor was tiled. Shiny, dark blue tiles. The curtains were dark blue, with white ribbons gracing their edges. They had flowers drawn on them. White lilies, Flora noted with envy.

Flower vases were arranged in a circle of four, at each corner of the room. They were white lilies too. The petals reached out to fondle one another. There was a large, flat screen TV mounted on the wall, two large vases of white lilies were on each side, with a decoder, DVD and video game pads below. Was everything here about Lily? Either she decorated the house by herself or Chris just had too much of Lily in his head to do a decent decoration.

But Lily had sworn that she didn't even know where Chris lived and he had promised to bring her over when he had furnished it to his taste. Lies! She mentally added that to the list of Lily's sins.

A desktop PC sat on a table at one corner of the room, with a vase of lilies on each side of it. The door adjacent to it led to the dinning room. There was another stupid vase of lilies at the center of the dinning table and a vase at each corner of the room, as far as Flora could see. She cringed with fury and hugged a throw pillow to her bosom. No doubt, Lily had been coming here. She decorated the whole house as if she co-owned it with Chris, Flora fumed unreasonably.

"...It's alright if you don't want to talk about it," Iyke was saying gently.

She jerked with a start, recovering from her reverie. "What?"

"Finish the story," Chris said brusquely, casting Iyke a glare.

Flora had forgotten where she stopped in her tales. "Oh, okay. Yeah. Lily told me that her boyfriend threatened to deal with you if you ever call her again. I just wanted him to leave you alone. It's enough that she broke up with you because of him. So... I... Like, you know her boyfriend gambles a lot. So I went to confront him at the casino for making such threats on top of the hurt she's already caused you. It was just unfair. I had to get involved. Everyone is human."

She took a sip of water and took a deep breath. One lie always needed about ten more lies to cover it up. "So, she asked her boyfriend to teach me never to poke my nose into other people's affairs." A gulp of more water. It took a lot of creativity to tell lies comfortably.

Iyke stood suddenly, relocated to another sofa and lay down. He rested his chin on his folded hands as he watched her. She spared him a quizzical glance and continued.

"Her boyfriend ordered Flames to throw me out. Thankfully, that was when you came around," she finished hurriedly, feeling relieved when she was done.

"So what was all that about 5 thousand naira then?" Chris asked, confused. He really wouldn't be at his best mood if he had dashed a rascal his money for nothing.

Flora was seriously sweating now and the air condition was somehow making it worse. "Oh...that. I owe Lily 5k, so her boyfriend asked Flames to collect it from me or beat me to pulp if I didn't comply immediately. I'm sure he intended to gamble with it."

Flora bit down on her lower lip. She had never been good at lying. It was always written all over her face and she couldn't meet people's gazes while lying to them. Thankfully, her long, artificial hair covered most of her face and nothing could be detected past her swollen eyelids.

"Iyke, get the first aid kit," Chris muttered, breaking the silence.

Flora gave a silent sigh of absolute relief. He bought the story. She mentally ticked herself on the forehead. She was perfect at planning. And for Chris to find her when he did! What good luck. Surely, fate was working in her favour.

"I threw away the kit. The thing is older than Methuselah. Should be about fifty years or more," Iyke said cautiously, averting his gaze as Chris glared at him. In his present mood, Chris could do anything.

"That's my grandmother's kit. First in my village. It was her gift to me. She inherited it from her mother."

"Precisely my point!" Iyke interpolated.

"I will take you to the hospital," Chris said finally, making for his room.

"I could try to find the kit sha, if you will agree to send it to a museum. It's worth it," Iyke called after him, struggling to suppress laughter.

Chris ignored him completely and slammed the door shut. Iyke sat silently, staring at Flora. She shifted uncomfortably.

"What? She snapped with irritation.

"Nothing. If I didn't know Lily personally, I would have swallowed the tale wholeheartedly. And if I didn't know you're her best friend, I wouldn't believe a bit of it." Iyke liked to pick his words when he was asking a silent question.

Flora took the cue. "Are you trying to say that I'm lying?"

"I wouldn't dare," he said tersely, going to pour himself a glass of orange juice from the fridge behind a small room divider. Another stupid vase of lilies was on the fridge, Flora noted with disgust.

"The evidence was there. She sent a text with her contact, warning Chris off. But for me to believe she's as barbaric and evil as you paint her is a different story altogether." Iyke gulped down his orange juice, made to pour more, then discarded the idea and drank directly from the can.

Wasn't this guy ready to do her every bidding just minutes ago? Why did he become scary and cold all of a sudden?

"You are free to believe whatever you like. I just want to tell you that you can never completely know anyone. People are not always what they seem," she said curtly.

Even though she had convinced the main man, she knew that this guy here had a lot of influence on Chris and could endanger her plans.

"Besides, what else would one need from a man after he has paid her rent for a whole year, bought her everything she needs and an iPhone 11? She simply got what she wanted from him and then moved on," Flora finished with a scoff.

Something clicked in Iyke's brain. Here was his revenge; the iPhone 11. The bitch wasn't getting away with the iPhone 11. He would be damned if he let her. Flora was right. All these gold diggers always appeared very nice at first. Once they'd achieved their aim, they'd ditch you without the slightest hesitation.

"Flora," Iyke called, with bright eyes. "You have an assignment to do."

Seconds later, they had orchestrated the plan and decided the fate of the iPhone. Flora couldn't have been more pleased. She was almost vibrating with excitement. She had the two men by her side now and the stupid iPhone 11 that Lily showed off all the time, would soon be hers. What more could she ask for?

Iyke left to find out why Chris decided to hibernate in the room. Wasn't he supposed to take Flora to the hospital? Hope he wasn't expecting the resurrection of that old kit, because there was no way Iyke was letting his ancestors live with him in the same house.

He met Chris typing furiously, with brows furrowed and jaws clenched. Then he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and clicked the send button.

"Whatcha doing?" he asked curiously.

Chris smiled. That same sad smile he'd adopted since the breakup.

"I gave her a piece of my mind." Chris jumped up and put on his shirt. "Is Flora ready?"

"I thought you deleted her contact?" Iyke asked again. This wasn't good for Chris if he intended to get over the bitch. Yeah it wouldn't be easy. Chris had laid his heart bare. All of it. And the wound when it came, was deep.

"I realized it's stupid anyway. I have her contact off hand," Chris said, leaving the room to get Flora.

Iyke gave him a sympathetic pat. No woman, dead or alive could do this to him. He had made and discarded so many plans to teach the bitch a lesson. This latest one was the final.

To be continued...

Glossary:

Onyekwa:(Igbo) Who is that?