"..." Part 6

What do we have here? Gasp! A continuation!

* * *

It was Sunday afternoon. They had just attended the late morning service at Ade's church. Gina claimed she was Christian ... yeah. She identified with the Christian 'race', but she wasn't serious about it. Until Ade started taking her regularly over the past few months, it had been almost two years since she'd 'paid God a visit'. She was a pro at dodging wedding ceremonies and making entrances at the receptions. She had felt that she wasn't good enough for Jesus-business. She was doing too many of the things that people who attended some churches back in Nigeria had been banished for. She tried to avoid 'annoying' God by coming to church, probably after a one-night stand.

Ade had said a lot to her about how God's forgiveness worked, and convinced her that she was always welcome at church. It worked.

Now, she hadn't mised a Sunday service in 5 weeks. This particular one, the preacher talked to them about the fruit of the Spirit. He stressed that the nine components are not nine different fruits, but nine 'seeds', so to speak, of the same fruit. A Christian's goal is to request grace to live a life that exhibits all the different seeds.

At the end of the service, Mr. Popular Jingo Ade, took Gina with him on his meet-and-greet-my-folks-in-church tour. They were heading towards their car in the parking lot when Ade's cell phone rang.

"Mum!"
. . .
"Mummy ki lo de?"
. . .
"Noooo! God! No!"
. . .
"When, Mummy? Who's there with you?"
. . .
"E je ki n ba won s'oro"
. . .
"Auntie . . . Auntie e pele. What happened?"
. . .
"Ok. I'll talk to her. Please pass the phone to Mum"
. . .
"Mummy, it's going to be OK. OK? I'll call you back in about 3hrs.

Gina was sure it was bad news. Ade had walked away from her as his expression changed. He has his head turned towards the sky; he shielded his eyes with one of his hands. He was crying. She feared the worst - Death. His father and mother were in good health. His maternal grandparents were still alive too. She saw him end the call and bend over with his palms just above his knees, to prevent himself from falling over. She went towards him, and put a soft palm on his face.

"Baby?" she asked quietly.
"My Dad."
"I'm so sorry."
Ade was trying so hard not to break down. She watched him as he held his head backwards trying to blink away the tears. Gina took the keys from him, and led him to the car. They sat in the back seat. Ade cried more that he expected to. Gina simply heldn him. Every few minutes, she would wipe his face, and then hers.

After about 20 minutes, Ade spoke up. "G, do you mind driving?"
"Not at all. Where do you want to go?"
"Londe's house."

Gina couldn't find the right words throughout the drive. She simply reached for her boyfriend's left hand and held him. She didn't want to disturb his thoughts anyway.
"Gina, I love you. I'm going to say it every time I have the opportunity. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
"Good."

* * *

Ade had composed himself by the time they drove up the driveway of Londe's house. He couldn't get himself to call her about coming over though...

"Ade, what do you want me to do?" Gina asked as she pulled the key out of the ignition.

"I don't know..."

Londe could tell that something was wrong as soon as she saw her brother. She turned to his girlfriend.

"Gina, what's going on?"

Gina turned to Ade, and then mumbled something about finding the bathroom.

Ade sniffed, "Sis, Daddy . . ." was all he could get out before he broke into sobs.

Carlos ran out of the room when he heard Londe scream.

"Londe?" Carlos scanned the living room, "what's going on?"

"Their Dad passed," Gina offered, returning from her very short bathroom break.

"Baby..." Carlos reached for his wife.

* * *

Gina made some tea while Ade and Londe spoke to their mother in one of the other rooms. These were the kinds of things that confused her about God. Why let these beautiful people who loved him so much be so hurt? Their father wasn't even ill! He just slept . . . forever. She remembered learning as a teenager that God worked all things together to good, but, what good could come out of losing someone so dear?

She wiped off tears she hadn't relaized were falling and picked up the tray of mugs as she heard Ade and his sister walk back into the living room.

"Here, have some Chamomile tea and sit."

Londe managed a thankful smile before plopping herself into her husbands arms.

Ade took the loveseat next to them and motioned to his girlfriend, "Come here."

She put down the tray, picked up her own mug and joined him. Four of them sat in silence for a while. Carlos offered to say a short prayer when Ade and Gina got up to leave.

* * *

Ade pulled up at Gina's apartment block at about 8:30pm. The car rolled to a halt but neither of them made any attempt to get out of the car.

Then, as if controlled by a remote, Gina shifter in her seat, drew closer to Ade and kissed him. He was shocked at how sudden it was, but he appreciate the gesture. An alarm went off in his head however, we he felt her hand underneath his shirt, as she started to climb into his seat.

"Gina, what are you doing?" he asked as he pulled himself away from her. Her eyes were closed, and he realized that his fingers were still in her hair at the back of her head. "Gina," he called again softly, retrieving his hand from her.

When she finally spoke, she was embarrassed. "I'm sorry. . . I thought - I don't know what came over me".

She hurriedly wiped at a lone tear on the left sire of her face, staring at the hem of her skirt.

"Good night, " she whispered as she pushed the car door open and ran into her apartment building.

Ade waited until he saw the light in her flat come on before driving off. He looked at the backseat of his car through the rearview mirror, half expecting to see his mother shaking her head.

"But nothing happened!" He spoke into the silence.

he pused on the Power button od his car stereo and welcomed the sounds of Seal's 'Dreaming in Metaphors'. He ran his hand over his prematurely balding head and let out a sigh as he eased onto the highway.