This is a story (fiction or fact, you’ll never know 😀 ) dedicated to a good friend and fellow SARTian, Chinazaekpere Sallie Enwere. A sort of belated birthday wish to her. Enjoy 🙂

*

“Walter.” The call was a faint echo, as though resonating from a distance.

“Walter.” The voice was clearer now. “Na pikin you dey born inside there?” Even the mocking irritation was ripe and apparent as I blinked my eyes and looked around.

I was in a convenience room. Toilet cum bathroom. The countertop was a gleaming granite, atop which was arranged shampoo bottles, a cup stacked with toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste and a pile of shaving sticks. The ceramic of the bathtub and toilet bowl had the freshly-scrubbed look of attentive housekeeping hands, and there was a wicker laundry basket tucked away in a corner.

Somebody rapped on the door, and the female whocalled my name before said, “Bia, enyi a, born quick. I’m about to serve desserts.” There was a rustle of clothing from the other side of the door and the slap of slippers on the floor as she walked away.

I looked around again, my bewilderment deepening. I was in somebody’s bathroom. A woman’s. I’d obviously just made use of the toilet, because my belt was unbuckled and I didn’t feel any pressing sensation in my groin. And that was where my understanding of the situation ended. Questions careened through my mind with the mad rush reminiscent of zebras fleeing the hungry wrath of a lion. Who was this woman? What was I doing here? What was the connection between us? Were we longtime friends or was this the morning after of a one-night stand?

Only one way to find out. (more…)