When A Playboy Loves

|| 28.

Utianle

Faith's car purred gently with me on the driver's seat, spinning the wheels like I did this often. An image from the last time I drove popped up briefly in my mind, a memory from a lifetime ago. My back was ramrod straight as I drove in through the big, black gates, slowly coming to a halt in front of a tree in the children's school.

A hand touched my back and I jerked forward, turning to face the accomplice. I offered Faith an ear-splitting grin when I realised it was her, going on to stick out my tongue at her when she shook her head. Asides from the initial fear that was caused by being away from driving for so long, this morning experience was exhilarating. I should have taken her offer up sooner.

I got out of the vehicle, carefully sizing up the different colours, models of cars parked in the large school compound that had unknowingly created a colour block. For the families who came with both parents, the mothers helped the children get to their classes while the fathers waited behind.

Pupils who didn't have the luxury of being driven trooped in, bags dangling from their shoulders as they conversed in pairs. Some of them made their way through a small, brown gate that separated the nursery school block from the primary block.

Esther stepped out of the vehicle first, followed closely by Emma. The beads she insisted on attaching to the ends of her cornrows jiggled with each step she took. They were as colourful as the letters used to write A is for apple, B is for ball on the large fence with pictures of those objects drawn beside it. But it only added to her beauty, my baby was growing up beautifully well.

She left us after a quick goodbye, taking off in the direction of the small gate. I watched her skinny, tall frame as if noticing her for the first time. Her uniform was a perfect fit. Her sparkling white socks contrasted so much with her black shoes like an aesthetic you didn't want to stop staring at. She had picked the shoes herself, now I knew why.

I could see the faint outline of the watch on her tiny wrist as she swung her hands back and forth. It was a gift from her father that she continued to wear even though it had stopped working. We never spoke about him but I knew she missed him. Sometimes I would catch her speaking to the watch like it was a person. Her own way of coping.

Waving at her retreating figure, I mimicked a high pitched voice, "bye-bye."

It was no surprise that she didn't turn back, the shocker would have been if she did.

Emma nudged me with his elbow, making me aware of his presence. I smiled. While his sister shied away from attention, he liked to be at the centre of it all and I was glad for that, however annoying he got. Esther's quietness could be quite unnerving.

Though he barely remembered his father, most of the memories he had of him being from pictures we showed him, he was the one to always talk about him.

"Will Uncle Kiki come and pick us today?" He laced his hands with mine, pulling me in the direction of his class.

Pretending to think about my answer, I shook my head slowly, "no."

"But I want Uncle Kiki."

"Me too," Faith interjected. She was leaning on the side of the car and I turned to glare at her. Thanks for the support, best friend.

"Uncle Kiki is busy."

"Let's go to his house."

This was not his first time of bringing this up, I had lost count of how many times he requested for Uncle Kiki and I was running low on promises to keep him from asking. In response, I quickened my steps, his class now looking farther than it actually was.