Dike clutched his phone tightly to his ears as he drove along the busy city of Lagos.
"Yeah, Jenny I've tried convincing them but they wouldn't just listen. They believe it's against our culture."
"Are you sure you're trying hard enough?" Jenny who sank into her office chair said, she fiddled with her pen while spinning on the mobile chair."
"Trying hard enough? I'm literally killing myself over here trying to o convince my both parents about you. I can't..." There was a momentarily silence.
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"You can't what?" she asked gently, fixing the phone tightly to her ears.
"I'll call you back." He hung up.
"A uniformed police man gestured with his hands just a few distance ahead of his lexus car.
He knocked on the side window, "Could you pull your window down?" his voice was as polite as ever.
"Sorry sir," Dike hastily pulled it down.
"You know why I pulled you over, right?" The police man asked.
"Yeah, I do." Dike said, forcefully squeezing some notes of cash into the policeman's hand through the open window.
"Ah! My chief. Thank you so much. Next time don't make calls while driving." He then leaned over the car covering the driver's side as he whispered, "I hope she's worth putting your life in danger, heh?" His laugh seeming quite contagious .
Dike reciprocated with a fake laugh "You're a really funny man. And yeah, She's worth it though." He winked as he drove off to meet his parents.
"Mum, I'm back!"
"Really? How was your day?" His mum asked with a smile on her face. She tied a long wrapper across her body, the usual way an African parent would do.
"Uneventful. The company is in good shape and we're thriving as usual."
"Oh I see," she nodded in response.
"Just met a corrupt cop while coming back."
She chuckled "oh don't mind them, it's Nigeria for you." She said with a grin on her face
"He told me Jenny was the reason he pulled me over." His face widened into a smile, as he fixed his gaze at his mom, trying to observe her facial expressions.
"We've talked about this before Dike." Her smile suddenly faded. "She's a white woman for heaven's sake, how will she connect with our culture, language and way of life."
"Love is the only connecting pathway mum." He replied, while his Mum worriedly paced around the living room.
"I don't like the idea. And I don't support it."
"But Mum..."
"Please I need to get something to eat." She quickly interjected and walked towards the kitchen murmuring words under her breath.
"I knew it!" He said heading towards a different direction, to his room; Mumbling inaudible words under his breath.
The cool evening breeze swept through the room window, flipping the pages of the novel he read as he lay on his bed.
He fought with the wind, fighting to keep the pages open.
He read out some words from the novel...
"Love was the thing that made him look at her like she was the only girl in the world."
The authors words, Chimamanda Adiche, resonated with him as he pictured Jenny, the only girl who could make his emotions flutter.
He wore a smile on his face before his phone rang, interrupting his daydream.
"Hey, guess who it is?" The familiar voice asked as he picked up.
"Who?"
"Your biggest nightmare." A slight giggle could be heard.
They burst out into waves of laughter. It was Jenny on the line.
"So how's California? He asked, unknowingly swinging his legs in excitement.
"It's boring without you."
"Awwnn, I'm blushing." Dike replied with a smile that could eat into one's soul.
"So ummm..." She tried arranging her words.
"My parents, right?" He prompted gently.
"Yeah, what did they say?"
"It's still the same response..."
"I'm coming down to Nigeria tomorrow."
"Just like that? Don't think that's a good idea to suddenly show up."
"You can't be so sure until you try." Her words as convincing as ever.
"Hmmm... Alright, we'll plan it together. He said, succumbing to her idea.
They went on and on spending hours over the phone as lovers would. It was a true love story, but his parents were like ice to their burning love.
After returning from work the next day, Dike stepped into his house and watched his parents sitting on a chair playing "ludo," a Nigerian game involving two dices.
"Ahem" he cleared his throat.
His Dad swiftly shifted his gaze from the ludo board to his only child, who stood a few centimetres away, directly in front of the entrance.
"Tadaa!" He exclaimed, sliding to the side exposing a fair-skinned beautiful lady who had a flower ribbon inserted into her long coiled hair flowing over her shoulders. Her smile was as warm as the sun. Her scent covered the atmosphere, giving a form of freshness to its ambience.
"Okay, so I assume you are Je ..."
"Jenny ma'am," she steeped forward extending her hands for a shake.
There was an awkward pause as his Mum stared at the hands for a moment, as though contemplating if she should go ahead or not.
"Call me Mrs Udeh." She shook her hands with a welcoming smile as she returned the greetings.
"And you're Mr..." She extended her hands yet again.
She walked over to the Dad who sat still on the chair holding the dice in his hands as he deeply observed her.
With an angelic smile She furrowed her eyebrows as his Dad was lost in his thoughts, staring blankly at her.
She then gestured downwards with her eyes, at her outstretched hands.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I'm Mr Udeh." He shook her hands which had been hanging for some few seconds.
"I'm sorry. My mind travelled."
"No it's fine. I should be the one apologizing for distracting your ludo."
His eyes widened in bewilderment. He
wondered how she knew the name of the local game they had played.
"I've learnt so much from your son in a year."
Dike's parents looked at themselves in surprise, their eyes slowly aligning in agreement.
"You've learnt a lot indeed." Dike's Dad who fiddled the dice between his fingers, said, while nodding his head.
Dike's mum walked over to her husband, who at this point, had his gaze fixed on the astonishing woman his son had brought home. Her display of interest in their culture was just as amazing as her smile.
"Yeah, that's right," her husband nodded as she whispered into his ears while leaning over his chair.
"Umm..You know what? We should have a celebration right here, right now." Dike's mum, said, after the little interaction with her husband, her grin was a subtle sign that made Dike's mind somewhat relaxed.
She served meals, drinks and wines of all sorts on the rectangular table where they all sat. She pointed to the meal she served Jenny...
"And this right here is what we call..."
"Egusi soup." Jenny gently interrupted. Her British accent made it more interesting.
"Wooooww!" Everyone said in excitement, clapping their hands as their interests grew so wide in the foreigner who seemed like a likeable, loving person.
"Which country are you from again??" Dike's Dad chipped in ...
Meanwhile, Dike who sat just beside his beautiful damsel watched with a smile that seemed not to wade.
That was a sign from heaven, the beginning of a great start.
There was a light at the end of the tunnel. And with Bob's Marley's "Everything's gonna be alright" playing in the background amidst the cheers and inaudible laughters ...
Dike's day couldn't have been any better.
