After that fun filled weekend, Shade and I became very close. I was not stupid; I knew the implication of getting involved with the Baale's daughter, who was a fiancé of the son of an Oba, one of the powerful Obas in the area.
So, we kept our affair a secret. I did not tell even my closest friend at Adura, Ebuka. In public, when others were around, we acted formally around each other. But when we were together, we could not keep our hands off each other. It was that intense. We had regular dates out of town, mostly in the state capital or in Lagos.
It was not everyone that was fooled though.
One weekend, as I got ready for a date with Shade, Ebuka entered my room.
"Are you off to Lagos again? When did you become this close to your parents that you have to visit them every weekend?" he inquired. "You hardly hang out with us anymore- you are always off to one place or the other. Or do you have a secret lover you are hiding from us?" he added, eyeing me suspiciously.
I smiled smugly.
"You are just a busybody! Can't I visit my parents anymore or you think I'm like you who sees your people once a year?" I retorted.
He was not convinced.
"I know you, Francis. From the look in your eyes, I can tell it has to do with a lady. Keep hiding her from us. One day, your secret will be revealed. And you know what Ibim will do to you if she finds out you are seeing someone else. She will kill you!" he stated.
He was right about Ibim, my girlfriend of a year. She was the jealous type who liked to keep tabs on me.
"The fact that you are going so far away from me should not be a license for you to be fooling around with other ladies. I have my ears to the ground and I'll find out if you are cheating on me," she had warned when I was leaving Lagos for the youth service. She had visited me in Adura once since my posting there. She would have loved to come more often but her job kept her busy.
Anyway, as I got more involved with Shade, my relationship with Ibim took a back seat. I still cared about her but it was not the same as before. Shade was the one on my mind all the time and I always looked forwards to being with her.
We continued to see each other regularly in secret until she suggested we should go public with our relationship. It was about two months before the end of the service year. I was amazed at how time had passed so quickly and the one year service programme was drawing to a close.
"Soon, your youth service will end and you'll leave Adura. What will happen to me then? I'll come with you to Lagos! I'll tell my father about us, that we love each other and we want to be together!" she said.
We were at one of our regular rendezvous points in the state capital where we had spent the night.
"You can't do that, Shade! At least not now. What about your fiancé?"
"Forget him! I don't love him. I barely tolerate him. He's proud and full of himself just because he's a Prince. He doesn't own me! I'll tell my father I'm no longer keen on marrying 'Dayo. It's you I want to be with," she stated.
But I knew it would not be as easy as she put it. From what I had heard, such long-standing engagements were often difficult to break as there were other people and interests involved not just the couple alone.
"Don't do anything rash for now as that might create more problems for us. The best thing is let me finish my service here, then let's see what happens from there," I advised.
"Ok, darling. As long as you don't run away to Lagos and leave me all alone here. You know I can't live without you. You are my life now," she said, hugging me tightly.
I kissed her, reassuring her that we will work out a way so we could be together. Already, a plan was formulating in my head as a way out of our situation.
How was I to know that events were about to unfold that would render whatever plans I had useless and make me scamper for my life...
TO BE CONTINUED
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