On the night he met Victoria, he was not driving through any of these "red zones". It had been one of those hectic days when he closed from work four hours after most of his colleagues. He was not very far from home when he passed by a five-foot six size ten figure-eight lady in her late twenties standing by the bus stop. She had short hair and was wearing a simple striped long sleeve shirt and a pair of dirty jeans. Nothing really provocative. Her handbag was by her side and she looked quite pensive. On glancing at her as he passed he noticed she followed the car with her eyes and he felt the urge to stop. He did. Why did he stop? Maybe he was led by the Spirit. Maybe he felt she needed help. Maybe he needed company and knew he was not going to find any at home. Maybe he missed Zainab and wanted some temporary replacement. Whatever the reason was, he stopped. He stopped for a total stranger and had absolutely no plan about what he was going to do with the possible outcomes of his first step. Where could she be going? Would she want to sleep over? Why was she there at this time of the night? He made the decision to stop very abruptly and those few seconds between their eyes meeting and his stopping were certainly not sufficient for any detailed analysis of his decision to stop. He simply stopped. Spontaneity? Maybe. Stupidity. Well....
She walked towards the car gracefully as if she had expected him to stop. He watched her approach through the rear-view mirror and unlocked the doors as soon as she was there. She did not open, but stuck her head through the open window.
"Hi" she started.
"Hello"
There was a pause as though Philip was trying to decipher what he was supposed to say next. He must have seen this scene in a movie sometime in the past. A young single man picking up a stranger in the middle of the night. Love at first sight. Or was it just hormones making trouble in two normal humans at the right time of the night under the right circumstances. Who knew, maybe this was the way in which he would meet his future spouse. Deep in his spirit he knew it was not likely to happen that way. True love is built on genuine friendship. But how are friendships built? You have to meet someone don't you?
"Which way are you going?", Philip began.
"Korle-bu please..."
"Korlebu"
Korlebu. Now the trouble had begun. Korle-bu was minutes away. What was she going to do there at this time of the night?
"Yes please. My aunt is in hospital. Please can you help me?"
"OK."
'My aunt is in hospital'. That gave Philip the sense of duty required for him to drive thirty minutes away from home at 22:30HRS; he was helping this lady get to her aunt. This could be a life or death situation. It was worth it. Maybe he could even preach to her on the way there. Who knew.
"My name is Philip, what's yours?" Philip asked as soon as he spun the alloy wheels of the blue Toureg.
"Victoria"
"Nice. You live around here?"
"Not at all. I live at Mallam. I came through here because it was difficult to get a straight trotro [4] to Korlebu. I have suffered this night"
Philip could tell from her accent and expressions that she could not have gone much further than SHS. She looked simple too, no makeup, no special body cream apparently.... Her hair was short but seemed to have been curled possibly two months before, the dirty brown hue gave her away. He wondered to himself why he often met ladies who some would consider not in his class intellectually. Maybe because he was not deliberate in his search, maybe because he was not very sure what his actual requirements were. maybe because he simply was not ready for a lifelong commitment to a single person. There was too much adventure in him for that!
"Where do you live?"
"Just around the corner. I was on my way home..."
Victoria smiled. "Thank you very much"
Philip noticed she lowered her eyelids and eventually her face though he was not looking directly at her. That expression reminded him of what actresses do in Nigerian movies when they are supposed to be mimicking a village girl's bashfulness.
The road was as free as Philip had expected. As he made the right turn onto the stretch on which the hospital stood, he noticed the characteristic busyness of the Korle-bu neighbourhood. There was always activity this side of town, whatever time of day it was. The loud music, horns blaring and folk milling around the hospital. He slowed down as he drove through the hospital's gate parking skillfully on the red clay-gravel mix that formed the ground where the General Out Patient Department stood.
Victoria prepared herself to step out of the car.
"Hope you will wait for me?" she asked pleadingly, looking straight into his eyes as if she wanted to detect signs of dishonesty.
"Oh! OK"
Philip hadn't expected that. This favour was turning into an obligation. He could no longer refuse. 'Interesting how forward some ladies can be,' he thought to himself. 'You asked for it', said the other voice.
"Promise?". She looked straight into his eyes, again.
"Yes." Philip glanced at his wrist watch, regretting his benevolence and wondering what could come out of this adventure.
"I will leave my bag in the car,” Victoria continued. She appeared to have a trust problem or maybe she was much smarter than she seemed. She trusted him not to leave with her bag at least but did not trust him to keep his promise to wait. Philip laughed to himself as she stepped out. She certainly was interesting. On the other hand, maybe, there was nothing very valuable in the bag after all. Pads, handkerchiefs, make-up items.... Maybe she could afford to lose all that but not her trip back to town. He caught himself following her with his eyes as she walked into the building some fifteen meters away. The bright fluorescent lighting in the porch made all the activity quite visible. Nurses walking back and forth, patients lying on benches, and a few people standing around looking tired, sad, depressed or maybe just stressed. Philip increased the inclination of the driver's seat and relaxed. He moved the seat backup and tried to stretch. He certainly could use a good bed. He suddenly recalled he had picked up some dinner of sorts - freshly made fish and chips. Fresh but cold. He had picked up the order almost an hour before. He was not in the mood for food right then.
He had waited for about ten minutes when he noticed a familiar figure approaching his SUV. He had picked her up in front of a large church a few months before. She turned out a very pleasant and decent girl and they became friends after that. She worked at Korle-bu Teaching Hospital as a nurse. He never got over why she herself agreed to get into a stranger's car at 9:05 PM at night back then. Maybe she thought he was coming out of the church that evening. It was incredible how Philip always wondered why most ladies, born again or not, agreed to be picked up in a brand new, $40,000 air-conditioned SUV but never asked himself why he picked them up. If he did not intend to consummate the encounter either legally or illegally, why pick them up? In Ama's case, however, it turned out to be a very rewarding friendship. She had her expectations and once in a while asked him to visit her at the nurse's quarters, or take her out, but he did not go further than that.
"Hellooooo", she called out excitedly typical of her. Her dimpled smile was infectious, and she never lacked one on her smooth chocolate face. She never lacked words to say to him either, so the conversations were always exciting but never romantic and never sexual.
"What are you doing here?"
"How are you, Ama?", Philip stood and held her tight in an embrace. She was about a foot shorter and he seemed to swallow her up in their frequent embraces whenever they saw each other.
"I could never miss your car!". They laughed.
"So, what are you doing here at this time of the night? Hope all is well?"
"Yeah. A friend of mine came to see the aunt so I thought to help out"
Ama noticed he avoided using words that could give away the gender of this friend of her friend's and decided to stay the line of questioning that might make him more uncomfortable. She still had the smile on.
"How nice. Well, I am on night duty as usual..."
"How is it go
ing? It has been long since I laid eyes on you, you know."
"You have dumped me now!" she laughed.
"How is work yourself?" Ama continued. "Hope all is well?"
"We are doing great."
"When next are you taking us out?"
Philip laughed again. It amazed him how free they had become with each other in just a few months. She had called him up more than once late at night to drop her at home after some of her church meetings. She never came to his place though but was willing to receive him at her house once in a while. To her he was a great friend and possible suitor. To him she was a great friend.
"Soon"
"OK. We are waiting...". She winked and stretched out to take hold of his hand. She was still smiling, elated. Silence for a few seconds. Then she got a call and reached for the phone in the deep pocket of the scrub she was wearing, the call lasted half a minute and she was ready to get back to work.
"...See you then..." were her words. Still smiling, she hugged him again, swallowed up by his large figure.
"OK. Mmhhh"
"And wash your hands when you get home. Ha ha ha."
Ama had disappeared into the building just as Victoria showed up at the door. They must have missed each other by inches. Victoria walked briskly towards Philip wearing her won infectious smile, elated that Philip was there, waiting for her.
"I'm back!" she announced with glee.
Philip simply smiled, still reminiscing on his chance encounter with Ama. What could have happened if she had met Victoria? What needed to happen? She was not his girlfriend, was she? That was Philip's safety net: no commitments! It was more acutely put 'No spoken commitments'. Women typically interpret actions and translate them to words in their head, patiently waiting for the men that have been speaking with actions to finally voice out. When the man's actions change, it is probably as much a heart break as if he had actually made a spoken commitment. Philip had spoken to a lot of women and yet not spoken to any of them. His speech problem would finally result in a series of issues when he finally decides to speak to one of them.
As they sat in the car and got set to go, Philip snapped out of his trance briefly:
"How is your Aunt doing?"
"Fine ooo. She will be out of hospital on Thursday."
"Good"
"Will you come and pick me?"
Philip cringed. This lady was definitely too hot to handle. Asking for another pickup when the first uncomfortable one was not yet concluded.
"I am not sure. Let's see..."
Did he just tell a lie? Not exactly. A short silence and Victoria spoke up again. He could easily have named her Petra, the female apostle of Jesus who could not keep quiet for too long. She had adjusted her body a bit, facing him and resting her right thigh slightly over her left. Her cleavage was clearly visible through her shirt which had two top buttons open.
"Can we go to your place?"
"My place?" Philip's heart began to beat faster. Thoughts started racing through his head. His place? He could not afford that. This lady was just too strong for him, too uncultured, too forward. He would definitely not be able to control her.
"Another time," Philip concluded, keeping calm. Another lie.
"Why?"
Victoria had thought this was going somewhere. Why would he not want to take her home or even to bed. Everyone does it and this was a big fish. She would not let him go without a fight. Philip took a brief glance at her.
"Why do you want to go to my house? Isn't it late?"
Victoria looked away. What kind of naivety was this? She did not go to the university like him, but she was certainly much smarter streetwise, she thought to herself. Was she supposed to spell it out.
"OK. Just show me where it is"
Her countenance had dropped. Like a drowning man grabbing anything and everything, she was not struggling with him. 'I do not need to enter, just show me the house'. Philip though about it. His inclination to please everyone tugged at his throat. he could not bear offending this nice young lady. In a few more minutes he parked in front of his gate.
"Which one is it?" she asked, disappointed.
"This... " Philip pointed carelessly at his house. She didn't believe him.
"OK." Victoria was not smiling anymore. "So, will you take me home?"
It was almost 12:30 AM and she did not seem perturbed. She was obviously used to night life expecting a total stranger to drive her eleven kilometres at 12:30 AM in the morning.
"Do you live with your parents?"
"No. My sister."
"I see. Would she not be worried if she sees you being dropped by a man?"
Victoria laughed.
"But men drop her too now, besides she knows where I went. I even called her from my Aunty's bedside. And I am an adult, why should she be worried."
"I see."
After a few minutes of silence, Philip called a truce.
"I will drop you off at Kaneshie. Will you get a bus there?"
"At this time, I don't know o. I can pick a taxi"
"OK"
"You will give me some money for transport, right?"
Philip could not believe what he had gotten himself into. Money? Even Zainab never asked him for money. He drove into a petrol station at Obetsebi Lamptey Circle and stepped out of the SUV. This night ride was getting sour.
"Where are you going?" Victoria yelled.
"ATM" he called back without stopping. He was back in three minutes and handed her Fifty Cedis without looking at her. She stared at it for a few seconds and blurted out:
"It won't be enough?"
"What?" Philip almost burst out of physical body. This was just too much. 'Not enough?'. She wasn't about to cook a meal for him, was she. Whose fault was this. She must have raised her voice then:
"Philp why are you treating me like this now? Why? Are you going to drop me here and leave me stranded? it is not fair o. It is not fair!"
Philip chose the path of caution. He was right. He could not control this lady. he gently dipped his fingers into his pocket and picked another fifty-cedi note. She thanked him in a softer tone before the money got into her hands. But the smile was gone. Maybe she would have got a lot more if she had left his house six hours later.
The door was still open. The bright lights from the petrol station partly lit up the interior of the car and the engine and car radio were both talking. Once in a while a late-night driver on the express interrupted the quad briefly. Amidst the public privacy, Philip instinctively reached out and stroked her left breast with the back of his index finger then searched with his eyes for a response in her face. The red was there. No more smiles, no more anger just bright red faces longing for something that was so hard to give particularly on Philip's part. He shut his door and turned off the engine, amplifying the privacy. He reached out again and held on to her nipple softly. She broke into a shy smile.
"Let's go to your house" she whispered. He ignored her and reached for her right hand pulling it towards his right lap. Soon she felt his ascent. She pushed his hand gently away from her breast, he asked why without speaking, merely looking into her face quizzically.
"Blue balls..." she blurted.
"What?"
"You will get blue balls"
"What is that?"
She paused. How does a twenty-seven-year-old girl explain blue balls to a thirty-something year old man? She ventured, speaking softly and deliberately as if she was explaining something to a little child.
"When you stir up yourself and you don't have sex you get pains in your private part". She looked deep into his face as if she would have asked 'Do you want sex or not?'. He certainly did not want sex, a virgin at thirty-three, he was not about to fail God now. But had he not already failed? And that virgin matter? Was he really a virgin? He himself was not so sure.
___________________________________________________________
Lagos Nigeria, Early 80s
Philip was less than six years old, b
ut he remembered the incident like the colour of his left hand. Mgborie, his mother's third house help, a fourteen-year-old girl over a series of weeks had taught him what to do to excite her sexually. Who would have guessed something like that was going on under his parent's noses, in a house full of people? Philip learnt what to do without knowing what he was doing up to the point of penetration. He remembered the smell on his finger when he touched her lower parts, the hair, the warmth. the memories made the thought of sexual intercourse with any woman abhorrent. Utterly abhorrent. But it did not take his hormones away even. Neither did his faith in Jesus Christ.
____________________________________________________________
Blue balls. Philip pulled away and started the engine. Just when he was about to drop Victoria off they exchanged numbers. Why? If he could answer that question, then he would also have to answer all the others. Why did he pick her? Why did he take her all the way to Korlebu? Why did he touch her nipple? Why? Not everything can be explained. Not everything makes sense. Some things are just better forgotten.
As soon as he stepped into his living room those early hours, he heard the Silent Whisper "That was such a waste of time don't you think?". He ignored the Voice. He was ever so gentle. And why did His voice seem so distant during the actual close calls? Was He far away at those moments or were Philip's ears simply deafened temporarily? He could not sleep till about 3:00 AM. Depression. He finally slept off on the living room couch, while the television was on. He sought of missed Zainab. He woke up at 6:00 AM thinking about Ama and Victoria. Then Zainab, Abena and Helen. He remembered the last time he gave strangers a lift. He never did get their names.
Entangled: A Little Too Many, A Little Too Close Page 7
