Love's Second Chance

by Myne Whitman

  “Yes,” Efe looked down, “something like that. I told you about him when we first started dating.”

  “The guy from your university days?” He sounded doubtful.

  Efe nodded.

  Stanley bent towards her again and spoke in an earnest tone. “Surely Efe, the past should stay there? This guy didn’t appreciate you then, so how’re you sure things have changed? Look at me Efe, you know me. You’ve known me for the past four years, and we’ve dated about half that time. You can be sure I’ll treat you well. I’ll give you the whole world, if only you’ll let me.”

  Efe exhaled and removed her hands from his.

  “It’s not fair on you, Stanley, you deserve someone who will love you like that too. New information has come to light about our breakup, and I’ve realized I love Kevwe with all my heart. Good or bad, he’s the man of my dreams. Since we met up again, I’ve realized he’s all I’ve been looking for, all I want…”

  “Then why did you date me?”

  “I’m sorry. I never meant to hurt you. I thought we could help each other. Maybe I also hoped it would work out, but I never fell in love with you. Kevwe has remained the only man for me, and my heart belongs to him. He was there when we met yesterday… ”

  Efe watched realization dawn in his eyes.

  “Engineer Mukoro…” He nodded. “He must have heard me talking to you on the phone. Was that why he came up to Abuja?”

  Efe met his sharpened gaze. “I think so.”

  “Then he must care. But you don’t look like you made up?”

  “We haven’t. I’m sure of how I feel, but we have to work through some stuff.”

  Stanley leaned against his seat with an immense sigh, and rubbed his eyes for a long minute. When he spoke, his voice was low. “Don’t make the mistake many of us make. When you love someone, let them know. I’ve made the same mistake a few times myself, but after the last time, I decided not to repeat it. That is why I’m here.”

  Efe was surprised at is words. She’d thought Stanley would walk away, maybe rail in anger a little. But here he was, dispensing relationship advice to her.

  He must have caught the expression on her face because he stopped a little laughed. “Don’t be surprised, Efe. A lot happened while we were apart, and since you left the States.” He laughed again. “Long story, but I now accept that if you love someone, you’ll want them to be happy even if they are not with you.”

  “Thank you so much, Stanley.” She stretched out her arms and hugged him. Tears clouded her eyes, but she smiled. “I’m sorry if I caused you any pain.”

  “Don’t worry about me.” He laughed again and pushed away from the embrace. “Now call your guy and let him know how you feel. I’m going to the restrooms.”

  Efe reached for her BlackBerry and discovered it wasn’t in the usual pouch. She scrambled through her purse and the small carrier she’d be taking on the plane. The phone was nowhere to be found. It would be lying on her bed where she’d dropped it after talking to Stanley earlier. As she repeated the search, her thoughts ran into each other. What to do? She could use Stanley’s phone when he returned. But she didn’t know Kevwe’s number off by heart.

  She wiped her open palms over her tears and tried to concentrate. What alternative plan could she make? It was certain Kevwe would call while she was away. She hoped he went to the office too. Her colleagues would certainly not give him her contacts since this was a confidential trip, but they would share her whereabouts if she told them. Yes, she would call them. She berated herself again for forgetting the phone and cursed her stubbornness. There had been lots of opportunities to patch things up with Kevwe this weekend, but she’d allowed bitterness cloud her heart.

  “Have you called him?”

  Efe raised streaming eyes and blurted her fix.

  “Call your office with my phone,” he said without hesitation and handed it to her.

  Efe looked down at it and swallowed a scream. There was no network. She’d planned to call her office and leave Nneka’s number and instructions to give it to Kevwe if he called. As her mind emptied and then filled with more thoughts, their flight was called. She hissed and stamped her foot on the plush carpeted floor of the lounge.

  “We’ll keep trying,” Stanley reassured.

  Taking up her luggage, she followed him towards the boarding area calling herself a fool. Inside, she just wanted to curl up and die.

  Stanley’s words made so much sense. There was no need to hold his father’s actions against Kevwe, or allow the past overshadow the future. It gave her a measure of peace knowing Kevwe had always been true, and that neither his father nor her ethnicity would be a barrier to their new-found love.

  If Kevwe could meet her halfway, it was possible to purge the past away. Not that all of the past had been bad, there had been some spectacular moments too.

  **

  Around three that Monday afternoon, Kevwe decided to call Efe. Enough time had passed, so maybe she would agree to meet him. He punched in the numbers from her business card and put the phone to his ear. But there was no answer. He looked at the screen and repeated the process, but he was no more successful. In growing consternation, he made a call to her office, but that only yielded the information that she was not in for the day.

  He then called her cell phone and her office in turns, and also sent an email, but drew blanks in all. Finally, around six, he drove to the Hilton, and wondering how to soften her, he stopped at the Celebrations shop and bought a gift.

  At the front desk, the receptionist repeated what she had told him earlier on the phone: Efe was not available. His impatient snarl wiped the smirk off her face, and she directed him up to the administrative offices without another word.

  Her deputy, after Kevwe had put a lot of pressure on him, informed him of Efe’s business trip, revealing it had been an unplanned trip. The matter had come up without much notice and so she had left that same afternoon.

  He left the office, furious. Not at anybody or anything; he was just blazingly angry. No one knew when she would be back; it could be the next day, next week or next month, her deputy had said. With a rapid squeal of the tires, he sped out of the hotel. It hurt like hell that after coming so close to making up with Efe, things had stalled all of a sudden. He still had some work to do in Lagos, so he decided to return with the first flight of the next day.

  Frustration still dogged him three days later as Kevwe sat in his Lagos office. He tapped his index and middle finger on his forehead, lamenting his inability to do any meaningful design. Someone, somewhere absolutely had it in for him. Now he’d finally found Efe, they had conspired to take her out of his reach. He felt as if he would go through the roof.

  Her deputy had taken pity on him, or maybe the man had gotten tired of the disturbance since Monday. After Kevwe had called her office several times, Tunde, as the deputy had asked to be called, promised to call him the minute Efe returned. Kevwe couldn’t wait, and his frustration continued to mount with each passing day.

  His phone rang, and he pounced on it. “Hello?”

  Ofure laughed at him. “You thought it was news of Efe, right?” he teased. “Remember how you subdued your feelings for her after I found out about her? Now you can’t wait...”

  “What do you want?” Kevwe growled. He wasn’t in a joking mood as his twin should know. Ofure was right. Efe’s unavailability only fired his desire to see her.

  “I’m coming to Lagos for the weekend,” Ofure said.

  A smile bloomed on Kevwe’s face, but it was interrupted by a buzz from his phone. “Please hold on,” he told his twin, and pressed the button to accept.

  “Hello, is that Kevwe Mukoro?”

  “Yes? Who’s speaking?”

  “This is Stanley Adetiba, and I don’t have much time.”

  Kevwe’s hackles rose, and his good spirits fled. What did his rival have to say? Did Stanley call to warn him off Efe? If so, he would tell him that he was ready to do whatever he had t
o do to make Efe his own.

  “It’s about Efe,” Stanley said. “I was with her at the airport on Monday, and promised I would do this.”

  Kevwe felt his anxiety lump in his throat. Did Efe end up choosing Adetiba, and that was the message? He didn’t know what to think.

  “Do what?” he finally asked.

  “Efe cares for you, and wants a future with you but feels there’s a lot of baggage from your history. She gave me her parents’ address for you. Are you ready to take it?”

  Kevwe ran his fingers through his hair and heard the blood rushing in his ears. Efe still cared for him. She had not chosen Stanley. He placed a hand on his galloping heart as he wrote down the address. “Did she give you a phone number too?” he asked.

  “No. She wants you to visit and see what happens. And she hasn’t told them about meeting you either.”

  Kevwe thanked him before clicking over to his brother. “Ofure, are you still there?”

  “Yes, who was it?”

  “Stanley Adetiba, you remember him from the Sheraton?”

  “Yeah… yeah. What did he have to say?”

  “He had a message from Efe. She wants me to go see her parents.”

  “Sounds good. They live in Lagos, right? I’ll be there on Friday. Can you wait?”

  “Yes.” Kevwe knew it would be a task to put off the visit, but he’d rather go with his twin, so he would wait. He couldn’t help thinking of one particular visit to her family in the past, wishing Efe and him took that day’s discussion more seriously than they did. With hindsight, maybe it would have saved them some heartache.

  **

  15

  Lagos. December 4, 2009. 5pm

  On Friday, Ofure and Kevwe arrived at the address in Surulere, a large compound with a block of four flats painted pale blue and yellow. A young man of about nineteen washed a car in the space up front while talking with a younger girl. When he saw Ofure, who had stepped out of the car while Kevwe went to park, the eyes almost rolled out of the young man’s head. A bit more restrained, the girl also sized him up. Ofure noted there was no one else around, but the youngsters still stared when his gaze returned to them.

  “I should beat you into the ground,” the young man said, in a conversational tone.

  “Gbubemi, don’t.”

  The so-called Gbubemi ignored her, menace drawing tight lines on his body.

  It was then Ofure saw the signs. The girl resembled Efe, their facial features were similar. Realization dawned on him.

  Efe had been saying the truth. Her family apparently believed he, or Kevwe, had wronged her. She couldn’t possibly have lied to her parents. Ofure didn’t think so. “You mean Kevwe, don’t you?” Ofure asked the still bristling young man.

  “Aren’t you Kevwe Mukoro?” The young man fired back.

  “No, I’m not Kevwe,” Ofure tried not to laugh. “I’m his twin brother, Dr. Ofure.” He watched the other two relax, and added, “Kevwe is here too... but I assure you, you have no reason to beat him into the ground...” He was interrupted and didn’t get to end of the sentence.

  “Hello,” Kevwe greeted, striding up to them, “we’re looking for…” He froze at the expression on two of the faces staring at him.

  The girl had her hands on her mouth as she looked at the young man beside her, and shook her head. Kevwe followed her gaze. The man looked ready to do grievous bodily harm to somebody; his eyes were round with anger, his mouth thin. Kevwe watched him glance from Ofure to him, and was confused. He glared at his twin, what was this?

  Your future in-laws. A smile tugged at the corner of Ofure’s lips, and Kevwe smiled too. This was Gbubemi and Alero, all grown.

  “Kevwe Mukoro?”

  When Kevwe turned, the young man stood just a foot away. Kevwe stretched out a hand, the smile still on his lips. “Gbubemi, how are you…”

  He didn’t get to finish as a hard fist connected to his jaw.

  Pain and darkness bloomed behind his eyes, and Kevwe staggered but did not fall. Ofure held a struggling and shouting Gbubemi while Alero pleaded for restraint. Hands on his knees, Kevwe shook his head and determined he would endure even more blows for Efe. Seven years ago, his father had deviously separated them but now, Kevwe would allow nothing to stop him.

  When everyone had calmed down, Kevwe, holding his sore jaw, followed Gbubemi through their parent’s front door. The older Sagays sat together, watching television, but as soon as they saw Kevwe, the air turned hostile. Efe’s mother jumped to her feet in a flash, her eyes widening first in surprise and confusion, then anger as she faced him across the width of the sitting room.

  “Gbubemi, why is he here?” Efe’s father stood too, rounding on Gbubemi before Kevwe could take another step. Fury drew deep lines on the older Sagay’s face as he pointed a shaking finger at Kevwe. “You! Leave my house now.”

  Gbubemi leveled an angry glare at him. Kevwe hadn’t said anything, but insisted on telling the story only once, and in front of their parents. Now his tongue found it difficult to get unstuck from the roof of his mouth.

  “Why is he here?” their mother asked again. She held on to her husband’s arm, rubbing on it as she spoke. “Is Efe with him?”

  “It’s obvious she’s not.” Dr. Sagay stared from his son to Kevwe, and then pointed at Gbubemi, “Get him out of here.”

  If not for his wife, Kevwe feared the man might carry out the order himself.

  “Dad, they have something to say.” Alero stepped forward.

  Ofure appeared behind her. “Good evening, sir.”

  The pointing arm lowered, and Dr. Sagay’s eyes narrowed. His wife walked forward till she was right in front of them.

  “Good evening, ma.” Kevwe and Ofure said together.

  Kevwe tried to distil everything he felt into his voice. “We’re here to apologize to you and talk about what happened to Efe seven years ago.”

  Mrs. Sagay looked from one to the other and then nodded as if to confirm Kevwe actually stood before her.

  “An apology?” she asked.

  “I think your apology is to Efe…” Dr. Sagay muttered as he sat.

  “We know she’s out of the country. She gave me your address.”

  “Darling, let’s hear them.” Efe’s mother said, going to sit beside her husband. She whispered to him and then gestured them to sit too. “Kevwe, is this you?”

  By then, everyone’s eyes were on him, including Dr. Sagay. He didn’t talk, but Kevwe knew what was expected of him.

  “Yes ma, it is me. I have come to apologize for the past misunderstanding. I did not break up with Efe all those years ago. In fact, I had been in a fatal car accident and was unconscious in hospital at that time.”

  The horrible memories washed over him, but it was easier the more he talked. “It was quite a dreadful crash. The other vehicle was a huge truck and the driver was drunk to his eyeballs. The truck knocked us off the road and followed us into the bush. We smashed into a tree but luckily he didn’t run into us. They rolled farther into the forest and fell into a gully before the engine exploded. The driver died in the ensuing fire. My father’s driver also died instantly.”

  Soft gasps floated around the room from the women. He could feel their gazes, looking closer at his face, noting the scars that had not been there. Kevwe closed his eyes and dragged in a jagged breath. Ofure put a hand on his shoulder. He nodded to his brother’s silent words of concern as he continued. “I was trapped unconscious inside the car with my dead companion till eyewitnesses brought the police, the road safety officials and the fire brigade who finally cut me out of the wreck.”

  Everyone focused on him with bated breath, so he went on doggedly. “Everyone said I was lucky I didn’t have many major injuries, my right leg was broken only in two places, and the other limbs just had fractures, but from where I was lying, it was horrible. Some of my ribs were broken or cracked, and I had a punctured lung which the doctors feared might be infected.

  It was fortunate I d
idn’t have great cuts or gashes on my face and body except the few you see now.” Kevwe pointed to the scar on his temple, which could only be seen when closely inspected.

  He took a deep breath, and then seeing everyone quiet, he continued in a low voice. “Ofure had to leave his residency and come back. He accompanied me as I was transferred to the teaching hospital in Benin after more than a week in LUTH. When I regained full consciousness, I learnt from my father that Efe had deserted me because she couldn’t bear to see or live with my injuries. After months of surgery and therapy without her, I finally had to believe it.”

  “What?!” Efe’s mum snapped. “How could he or anyone say Efe deserted you? Your parents told her you did not want her anymore.” Mrs. Sagay spat out the words, only calming down when her husband called her name.

  Kevwe and his twin exchanged a brief glance. Mrs. Sagay may have accepted Kevwe’s story, and the sight of him and his twin in her home, but she wouldn’t stand for anything that maligned her daughter. Everyone was quiet then, and Kevwe mulled the words in his mind. He recalled the first time he’d met Efe’s parents. They’d treated him like family from the start. There was no way Mrs. Sagay would have made up what she had just said.

  Alero interrupted his thoughts. “I wonder how Efe would react if she saw you again. She would be so mad.”

  “She’s already seen us,” Ofure said.

  “How do you mean?” Dr. Sagay asked.

  “Ofure saw Efe two weeks ago, then we met last week and talked,” Kevwe confessed.

  “But she didn’t say,” Mrs. Sagay said in a confused tone.

  “It was just before she travelled,” Kevwe said.

  “I met her when I went to her office for a business report,” Ofure added, “I didn’t recognize her, and she did not introduce herself. The next week, she came to my hospital and found me together with Kevwe. It wasn’t an easy meeting.”

  “Oh, Efe, my daughter,” Mrs. Sagay sighed. “How she must have suffered. No wonder she didn’t tell us.”