When A Playboy Loves

|| 69.

King

I adjusted on the couch, eyes blurry from the time spent reading and rereading comments on our posts. Junior walked into the living room with a smile. The fool has been smiling since his woman came home. If I had known Faith's presence would make a huge difference, I would have told her about Emma myself but I was glad Junior did it. I looked around for my woman and there she was with Uche and Cynthia.

Whatever Cynthia said made Uti laugh and my lips twitched. Her laughter didn't sound the same like it did in the past but hearing her laugh almost as freely as she used to do before was great. It was big progress.

With the trial coming up once we landed in Calabar, I had expected her to be moody but she had been everything but that. She was in charge of the banners and ads we made.

#justiceforEmma was now a popular slang on Naija Twitter. It was also everywhere on Instagram. We even had a Facebook group dedicated to it. I suspected Uche might have had a hand in that because it showed up after he commented on creating one.

Junior plopped into the space beside me without an invitation. He was with his own laptop. Everyone was in the parlour doing their own thing. Faith was focused on the screen of her phone. I could bet she was either correcting or lecturing someone who was advising against coming online to create awareness. We had received so many of that statement. Some threats too. People were weird like that. Most of them loved their oppressors.

"What's up?" Junior asked.

I looked away from the screen I had not been focusing on. Too many comments on Twitter, Facebook and even Instagram. Too many jobless youths online making our posts about them, arguing over nonsense.

"Nothing much." His gaze trailed to Faith and he smiled. She looked up and waved. My guy turned into a moron, smiling sheepishly. "Will you propose to her?" Junior's head jerked in my direction and my voice lowered. "I will be getting married soon. Tomiwa too. Uche is already married. Umar is Umar and..."

"It's just me," Junior finished on my behalf. I nodded. He got the memo. I wasn't pressuring him but when you find the right one, you wouldn't want to wait so long before getting them off the streets. Junior massaged the lines on his forehead. I tapped on my keyboard and the screen came to life. "Do you think she wants to get married? I don't know if I can handle that."

"It mustn't be now."

Our gazes redirected to the topic of our conversation. Faith. She was looking up at her friend who was done talking to Uche and Cynthia. Uti strolled towards Faith. The two sat cross-legged on the floor, talking and laughing. Esther was indoors. We never let her participate in this. Maybe when she was older and wise enough to understand, we would tell her how we got justice for her baby brother.

Faith's gaze flickered to me. Uti eyed me and turned away. Junior and I shared a glance. They had to be talking about us. They did it again. Stared at us, then laughed. This women. I dumped my laptop and carried Uti on my lap. Her laughter tickled my ears.

"What are you two gossiping about?" I asked.

"We don't gossip," Faith answered.

Faith winked at Junior and he nodded. So much for bro code. I shifted my attention to the minx on my lap. Her stomach wasn't swollen like Cynthia's yet but the doctor said she was fine. She was still allowed on flights but a few more months into her pregnancy, she wouldn't be able to fly again.

Uti toyed with the collar of my shirt. "Baby daddy," she said. I pouted and she placed her lips on mine. Her arms spread over the room and her eyes welled with tears. "Thanks."

"For what?"

From my side eye, I could see Faith and Junior chatting about something intense. They stood up and walked out of the parlour and I wondered if he was going to propose to her now. Uche and Cynthia were also gone, leaving me and Uti here alone.