THE COMPANY WE KEEP.....cntd

THE COMPANY WE KEEP
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She looked at me in an awkward manner before she proceeded to answer. “His name is Mutale, the guy who went to get you at your gate.” She said with an insisting tone in her voice. Certainly, there was something she knew that I was yet to find out. For the next few minutes that followed Norah and I had a conversation on various topics about youths.
By how she looked, I could guess she was a teenager but what made me not so sure was how powerful she articulated issues as we spoke. Finally, I threw in a question that I needed a lot of help with. “Hey Norah, can you have non-believers as friends?” I asked softly. She looked at me and went silent for a couple of seconds though it seemed like hours to me. “No you can’t.” Norah said confidently.
I wanted her to shade more light on the matter but she was silent after that. I didn’t want to look weird so I kept quiet as well. “Hey Jane, have you read 2 Corinthians 6. I think starting from verse 14 if I’m not mistaken.” I couldn’t say no, instead I just told her I would look it up on my phone.
“We are here!” The driver shouted as everyone behind exploded in screams of excitement. I got out of the car, as I was heading to the entrance Norah called out to me. “Is it okay if we can exchange numbers?” I smiled because I was so glad she asked, I then got my phone. “Are you active on WhatsApp?” I asked her. She shook her head in agreement.
“The cover of your phone is arresting. Where did you get it?” She said as she looked at my phone. ‘Arresting!’ the word echoed in my small head. “What do you mean by that?” I asked. “Oh, I mean its attractive. I will send you something concerning your question probably tomorrow.” She added. It was then that I noticed the number of people who were entering the church, the crowd was that of when people are leaving a stadium after a national football match. Maybe it was just me who over reacted to the estimation of what I saw.
I watched as the tall guy who over wore his perfume, who I now know as Mutale waved at Norah in an energetic manner. “We can go now.” I said. Hoping we would find a place to sit inside. When we were finally inside, both of us stood for a minute, personally I was paralyzed by the beauty of the colorful sight that was in front of me. I looked at Norah and she was no different from me, I guess we were both stunned.
As I was busy feeding my eyes with the view that was ahead of me, a familiar face popped up. It was a lady from my Church. “Hello, I have been looking out for you. I have a seat for you.” She said with a bright smile on her face. Maybe I wasn’t the only one who was thrilled with the decorations in the Church or was she just required to wear a smile as an usher? I called Norah so that we could follow the usher as she led us to the mid-section where she showed us our seats and left.
“Jane, it’s almost 6am we need to go and wait by the bus.” Norah said. she sat down, so excited and sleepy at the same time but that wasn’t a problem. I guess the person who said, “time flies when you having fun” wasn’t wrong at all. It had been 12hrs of shouting, jumping, singing and new experiences. I got my handbag, without wasting time I was ready to walk out of the Church feeling blessed with a refreshed smile on my face.
There were a lot of people outside waiting for buses and some were starting off on foot. The Lord knows that was the last thing I would want to do. I got my phone from my bag, I had put it on silent during the service. “Norah can we take a selfie?” I asked as we walked towards the bus. We took a couple of pictures as we waited for Mutale to arrive. In a blink of an eye everyone we came with was there except Mutale. “Sorry for keeping you guys waiting.”
He opened the doors and everyone was eager to enter since the morning breeze wasn’t very friendly, others were dozing while standing. Norah tapped my shoulder as she pointed at a lady who had sat on the ground. The scene was amusing such that both of us started laughing. “Hurry up guys!” Mutale shouted as he entered the car. “Jane you can take the front seat.” He ordered. As much as I wanted to say no I thought of how it would look in front of everyone. “See you on the other side.” Norah said. I knew she was implying something but I was now feeling tired from all the jumping and shouting.
I got in the front seat. Even though Mutale was busy in front, his perfume was still strong. “Mmh is your perfume original?” I whispered to myself hoping he had not heard me. I turned around to check on the others and most of them were sleeping, those who were talking were barely awake and their voices sounded like they were in slow motion.
“Did you enjoy the meeting?” Mutale asked warmly. I wanted to ignore him but found myself explaining every single detail of my experience. He laughed as I marveled at the attendance since it wasn’t what I expected. I got my phone so that I could unmute it, “wow!” I exclaimed as I looked at it. I had 5 missed calls and they were all from Monica, 5 doesn’t sound like a big deal but with Monica in the equation this was major because she never calls twice unless something is up. How could I not have seen it while we were taking pictures?
“Is it okay if I make a phone call?” I asked Mutale before I could press the green button. “Sure you can. Is it really necessary to ask?” he added with a smile. He was like those people on ZAMTEL ads, his smile just said a lot without him saying a word.
“Hey dear, how are you?” I asked quickly when Monica answered. “Am not okay. Did you go to church? Are you home yet?” Every sentence that followed was a question. Something really got to her this time around, she was usually a blissful soul after a successful weekend. She made it seem like she was from some secret mission every time she outlined what happened. “Yes I did. Am actually in a car going home. What’s wrong love?” I asked as my concern levels were now rising. Mutale then coughed, I was pretty sure he thought I was talking to a guy because I used the word “love” and “dear” throughout my conversation with Monica.
“Why didn’t you invite him?” Mutale asked as I hang up the phone. “Him?” I said as I laughed. “I was talking to my friend Monica; you actually know her.” Was that a sign of jealousy or concern from Mutale? That’s a question I wasn’t able to answer because I knew nothing about him that could make me nail his thoughts.