Playing By Hearts

Sammy's work in the office felt easy because he was in a Friday mood. In addition to that he was dressed in a simple Nigerian traditional dress that was very easy to wear. He did not have to dress in a suit and necktie. As he attended to the last set of customers that came to the customer service desk, he thought of their usual meet-up after work. He would meet with Biodun, Alhaji, Austino, Darlington and whoever they brought along with them at Softrock cafe at the close of business. Sammy was the only single person among his friends. The rest were married but the rendezvous was for just the guys alone and they made sure that their wives knew it. However, most of them showed up to the meet-up with girls ranging from girlfriends, female colleagues, and sometimes even strangers. In most cases, Sammy ended up being the only person without a date. But he did not mind because hanging out with his friends was something he looked forward to all week long. This time around, Sammy brought his childhood friend Patty.

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The posse arrived at the cafe one after the other at some minutes past seven in the evening. The bar was not yet rowdy but the band was already playing Wrong Direction by The Passengers.

...I'd love to feel love but I can't stand the rejection. I hide behind my jokes as a form of protection...

By the time they were all seated and drank their favourite drinks, the bar contained more people, became noisy and the tempo of the music increased. As usual, each of Sammy's friends came with dates. The men all wore wedding bands except Sammy. So the girls seemed like their wives to every onlooker. As they drank, Austino stood up with his date and began doing a provocative dance. Sammy would have been embarrassed if he was not almost done with his bottle of Irish cream. By the time Austino returned to the table, everyone, including people who knew him from other tables had hailed him, "Austino Millenium" and he responded with an exaggerated bow. Sammy always wondered what the "Millenium" part of Austino's name was. In Sammy's opinion, one nickname was enough but to have a nickname and a nick-surname was a bit of an overkill but something else bothered him, so he shifted near Austino and whispered a question to him to only his hearing. But true to Austino's character he announced the question to everyone seated at the table.

"Sammy here wants to know how it is that I, a married man, could have girlfriends," he said and paused for effect as he looked around the table.

"Well, let me ask you, my friend, what is your favourite food?" Austino asked with a loud voice.

Sammy was slightly embarrassed to have his private question announced to the public but he just went with it.

"I like fried plantain and eggs," Sammy replied.

"Well, do you eat fried plantain and eggs for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day?" Austino asked, laughing loudly.

"Of course not," Sammy answered.

"Good. So how can you ask why I a man needs a girlfriend when he has a wife? Need I explain more?" he asked, presenting a very serious face. Sammy waved him aside and everyone laughed.

It was almost midnight when the friends dispersed. Sammy dropped off his friend and went home. He thought that his friends must have arrived home about the same time but Austino and Darlington did not go home. They had told their wives that they would not be coming back after work because they would travel from work for an out-of-town business trip. They had booked a hotel for them and their girlfriends for the weekend.

Meanwhile, Alicia, Austino's wife who ran a cake and pastry business out of her kitchen was exhausted from having to make and deliver cakes, do house chores and take care of their four-year-old daughter Isabella. She had just finished tucking Isabella to bed and returned to her room. She checked her mobile phone hoping to find a voice message from her husband, but there was none. The last time they spoke was when she left home to pick up Isabella from school and called him to know if he was at the airport yet. She checked her messages and found a text which read that he had arrived at his destination safely. He knew that she preferred voice calls to text messages or chats, but he would often send texts. She looked at the message for a minute and decided to call. He did not answer. She decided to let him call back whenever he saw her calls. She turned off the bedside lamp and was fast asleep.

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Alicia woke up to her ringing cell phone. She picked it up immediately thinking it was her husband but was disappointed to find that it was Ben on the other end of the line. Ben was her high school sweetheart that travelled to Norway after his graduate degree. He travelled to Norway to study for his Master's degree after which he was supposed to return and marry Alicia. His plans changed when he arrived there and discovered his love for nursing. He started his nursing degree. Alicia met Austino and married him. Since then Ben and Alicia had been good friends. Recently, Austino was becoming increasingly absent, so Alicia did not mind so much when Ben called to check on her. Their friendship was cordial. He told her about his intention to return home during the summer holidays in August. She did not think anything of it at the time but the closer that the date got, the closer both friends got.

Austino returned home after the weekend, but he was getting good at finding excuses that would keep him away from home. The more that he failed to see the sadness in her eyes, the closer she got to Ben. She tried to lie to herself that she loved her husband and that her friendship with Ben was an innocent one. By the time Ben returned, she knew that she needed every ounce of self-control to remain faithful to her husband. She informed Austino about Ben's impending visit. Austino trusted his wife and they both agreed that it was best if Ben came to visit Alicia in her home. Ben booked a hotel close to Alicia when he flew in. He stayed only a couple of days, but he spent as much time with Alicia as he could. He had looked forward to meeting Austino, but he was busy with work. At the end of his visit, Austino returned to Norway, and his friendship with Alicia was even stronger.

After Alicia and Austin had their second child Kosi, something changed in Austin, and he did not have to work all the time like before. He started inviting his friends over to the house on weekends. Alicia did not care what it was that changed, but she was glad to have her husband back. Kosi was a beautiful boy with coal-black hair and big, beautiful eyes. Everyone agreed that he had Alicia's eyes. Both parents doted on Kosi, and their love for the boy seemed to bring the family much closer.

When Kosi was ten years old, he was in an accident in school and fractured his left leg. Alicia was called by Kosi's teacher, and she quickly arrived at the hospital. The doctor said that the fracture involved the two bones and would require invasive surgery to clip the bones. As the medical team prepared for the operation, they found that Kosi's blood type was AB negative and the hospital did not have a suitable donor in their bank. Alicia wished that the husband who was O negative was there to donate for his son, but he had not arrived. She was not sure if she could give hers, but she had to try. The doctors found that she was B negative. Arrangements were being made for blood to be brought from a nearby hospital when Austino arrived.

"Please group my husband's blood for donation. He is O negative," Alicia told the doctor. The doctor seemed surprised, but he said nothing as he asked a medical technician to group Austino's blood. It turned out that he was indeed O negative. After Austino donated his blood, Alicia found the doctor she had spoken to earlier to find out if everything was going to work out.

"Doctor, I saw the disbelieve on your face when I suggested that my husband was a suitable donor for my son. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, your son is going to be alright," the doctor said carefully.

"But something is wrong, please what is it?" she pleaded.

"Nothing, except that it is impossible for a B negative and O negative parents to have an AB negative child. But as I said earlier, your boy is going to be fine," she said.

Alicia felt goose pimples all over her body, and she was speechless for minutes. Finally, she regained her composure and decided that she was going to keep that knowledge to herself as long as she lived.

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Authored by: @churchboy

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