WHISTLING BEAUTIFUL

CHEATING FIANCE

2024-07-29T02:12:00.000-07:00

Thirty three year old Lauren, a marketing executive in one of the top firms in Durban, South Africa, had an amazing life. She was hardworking, very intelligent and successful in her career. She was loved by many, especially her family and close friends. She loved going to brunches on the weekends with friends, the merry girls, she had been friends with them since elementary school.

Lauren was strikingly beautiful and heavy on the fashion sense. She glowed so radiantly. She was every man’s dream, but she decided to settle for one man. The love of her life, who swept her off her feet at a Christmas party.

Damina Williams was everything Lauren wanted in her husband. He was about six feet tall, handsome and wealthy. She landed a hot catch. He was the CEO of a tech company.

They hit it off at the Christmas party and followed up with a romantic date on Christmas eve. Lauren knew Damina was the one. He spoiled her, they went on spontaneous weekend getaways to Johannesburg, Paris, Dubai, The Amalfi Coast, The Hamptons, Ghana, Lagos and other beautiful places. They spent beautiful moments together and took photos for social media, at the envy of their over one hundred thousand followers.

In the yatch on Amalfi Coast

They were in Greece when Damina decided to pop the question. She knew a proposal was coming, but she didn’t know how or when. She was expecting one when they were in Maui, Hawaii. Her friend Jennifer had advised her to get her nails done, but she came back ringless. The next trip was to Venice in Italy. She even took one of her favorite red dresses on the trip, so she could wear it to a dinner outing, but nothing.

Lauren had never been to Santorini. It was what made the proposal different and beautiful. The iconic white buildings and beautiful views were worth it. Dinner was at Ambrosia Restaurant in Oia. The restaurant had a beautiful view and romance inspired setting. A table was set for two with a bottle of champagne. Lauren ordered a Shrimp Risotto, while Damina ordered a Shrimp Tagatelle. Damina waited until they finished dessert, he went on one knee and proposed. Lauren looked at the beautiful ring while he gave a short speech that made her cry. She said yes!

Lauren looked forward to planning her wedding all her life. She was very detailed and threw herself dedicatedly to the task of planning her wedding. The venue, flowers, the catering, photography. Her friends were excited and helped out as much as they could.

The vineyard in Durban was the location for the wedding ceremony and reception. She wanted the venue because of the view, perfect for pictures, and a lot of room for the guests to move around and dance. She paid a popular Nigerian DJ to spin Afrobeats and Amapiano. Her dress was made in Italy, it was custom made with perfect details. She was excited to spend the rest of her life with Damina.

Lauren began to notice changes in Damina’s behavior during the wedding planning. He started canceling dinner dates, claiming to be busy on a work project. These became frequent, he had canceled three dinner dates in a row. Lauren found it absurd. She was scared of bringing up the issue, she thought she was nervous about the wedding and everything was making her sensitive, but Damina was always looking forward to going on dates with her, even if it was to grab coffee.

She also noticed he appeared distant and distracted. She remembered sitting in the living room sorting through the invitations and planning the seating chart. They were supposed to do it together, but he appeared to be working on his laptop. He seemed to be typing on the keyboard, but his focus was lacking. He seemed deep in thought. Lauren noticed.

“Hey Dee, do you think we need gold envelopes for the invitations to give them a regal look? I am not feeling these white ones,” she asked.

Damina looked up. “Whatever is best babe,” he replied.

Lauren frowned and put the invitations on the coffee table. She walked over to where he was seated on the couch.

“When did you start leaving me to make decisions on my own, are you okay?” She asked, sitting beside him.

“I am fine Lauren, I just have so much on my mind with the wedding coming up and the demands from the company. I have to keep my head up, but I am good.” Damina replied.

Lauren nodded, but she was not convinced.

“I understand.” Lauren replied. There was silence. They both knew they were not being sincere with each other. Lauren was not convinced, and Damina was not telling the truth.

“Listen Lauren, it’s a lot going on, but we can do this right,” Damina said, looking into her eyes. Before she could say anything, he leaned over and kissed her on her forehead.

“Sure,” Lauren replied. “Let’s take a break this weekend.”

Damina nodded. “Sure,”

Lauren was not convinced about the break either, she had the nagging feeling that something was wrong. She went to bed with that feeling on her mind.

As Damina got ready for bed, he watched her in bed fast asleep. His mind was racing. He wanted to tell her what was on his mind, but he was scared. He was scared of hurting her. The happiness they had built over time would come to a heartbreaking end. How long was he going to allow what was on his mind to eat him up? He was going to walk into the marriage carrying the secret to his grave. Could he do that? It was only a matter of time until things came out into the open.

Lauren decided to do brunch at The Breakfast Room with her childhood friend Vanessa. She was the maid of honor. Vanessa sat in front of Lauren, wondering what was going on. She got the message from Lauren before going to bed that they needed to talk, and it was urgent. If Lauren trusted anyone with inside stories, it was Vanessa. Vanessa’s integrity was solid.

“What’s up?” Vanessa asked, staring at her best friend intently.

“I want to talk about Damina,” Lauren said.

Vanessa sighed.

“I am listening,” she replied.

“I don’t know what is up with him, but after the proposal, he became a different man, and I am scared.” Lauren said.

“What do you mean by he became a different man? In a good way or a bad way?” Vanessa asked.

“I don’t know if it is bad, but his habits have changed,” he cancels dates. He is distracted, there is something that doesn’t feel right, but I can’t place a finger on it,” Lauren said.

The waiter came and set their plates on the table.

Vanessa looked at Lauren.

“Do you think we are moving too fast?” Lauren asked. “I mean, the whole wedding preparations are stressful. Should we call off the wedding, I don’t like walking into a new chapter of my life feeling so unsure.”

Vanessa hesitated. She picked up her glass of orange juice and then locked eyes with Lauren.

“I have to be honest with you Lauren, there is something I need to tell you about Damina.” Vanessa said. She had to let this out. She had been holding this back for so long. She felt so much guilt helping her friend plan a wedding she knew may not happen or the marriage won’t last.

Lauren looked at Vanessa, wondering what it was. To her knowledge, Vanessa liked Damina, so what could be the problem?

“Really?” was all Lauren could say.

“Yes, I need to tell you before you make your decision.” Vanessa replied.

Vanessa glanced around the cafe with an uncomfortable look on her face.

“I should have told you this a long time ago,” Vanessa began. Lauren stared at her childhood friend confused. She didn’t want to believe that there was really a problem. She wanted the problem to be from her end, a one-sided problem that didn’t exist, a problem that was all in her head. From the look of things, the problem was beginning to sound like something much bigger than she would be able to cope with.

“I have heard certain things about Damina.” Vanessa began.

“You listen to rumors and gossip?” Lauren said. She was in denial. She made up her mind that whatever Vanessa was going to tell her won’t be the truth.

“Not exactly, can you hear me out please?” Vanessa said calmly. She could tell her friend was beginning to get anxious. This was the scenario she was trying so hard to avoid, because she didn’t know what she would do when Lauren heard the news and lost it.

“I saw something the other day that bothered me.” Vanessa continued.

Lauren rolled her eyes.

“What did you see Nessa?” Lauren asked.

Vanessa looked at Lauren. She heaved a sigh and continued.

“I saw Damina at Arthur Kaplan,” Vanessa began.

Lauren shrugged. Arthur Kaplan was the jewelry store. It was the most expensive store in Durban for high end diamond jewelry. Her ring was from Arthur Kaplan, so what was the big deal?

“And?” Lauren asked, giving Vanessa the side eye. She felt her stomach forming anxiety knots, but she decided to be calm.

“He was with a woman,” Vanessa replied. Her voice trembled slightly. Lauren could not believe what she heard. Was Vanessa thinking this little piece of information would move her to tears? Was this low-key jealousy?

“I mean, there is more than one woman in the world,” Lauren replied.

Vanessa knew she was being defensive and sarcastic because she was in denial. She hated situations like this, but she didn’t want her friend to walk down the aisle.

“Stop being silly, I am serious. The woman I saw him with was not an ordinary friend, there was PDA, and they held hands a little more intimately.” Vanessa said.

Lauren was in disbelief. Vanessa could be telling the truth, but she didn’t want to accept it. She shook her head in disbelief.

“Are you sure?” Lauren asked.

Vanessa nodded slowly. She knew the impact on Lauren’s emotions was a hard blow, but she was glad she had offloaded the guilt.

“You are sure he was the one you saw?” Lauren asked.

Vanessa looked into her friend’s eyes, “Yes Lauren, I wish I could say I made a mistake, but I stalked them for a while at the jewelry store.”

“When was this?” Lauren asked.

“A month ago,” Vanessa replied.

He had proposed a few months ago, so the excuse of trying to surprise her by having another female validate his ring choice for her was out of the question.

“If you saw the lady, would you identify her?” Lauren asked.

“Yes,” Vanessa replied.

Lauren nodded thoughtfully. Her mind began to race back to the strange occurrence. His absent-mindedness, the dates he canceled, a lot of things she noticed. Her gut feeling was correct. Something was amiss.

“Why did it take you so long to tell me?” Lauren asked.

Vanessa didn’t know what to say. Lauren, for the first time in a while, was happy and void of toxic men. She was madly in love with Damina, and she didn’t want to come in the way of her happiness.

“You were happy with Damina, I didn’t want to start anything, and then I started hearing more about him.” Vanessa said, avoiding eye contact.

“Heard? From who?” Lauren asked.

“People talk Lauren,” Vanessa replied, not knowing what else to say.

“Yes, but who are the people, are they our friends?” Lauren asked.

“Yes,” Vanessa replied. “They have seen Damina and the woman together. I am sorry Lauren, I know this is not what you wanted to hear.”

Lauren flinched. “We are supposed to be getting married, how do I navigate this?”

THE JEALOUS EX

2024-07-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

Giselle sat on the edge of her bed, scrolling through her social media feed on a hot and humid Thursday afternoon in Lagos.

She was accustomed to mindless scrolling and getting news updates from influencers, her family and her friends. She was about to continue scrolling when a picture caught her attention and made her stop. She was shocked.

Timi, her ex boyfriend, was smiling happily, his hand wrapped around a beautiful young woman. She looked high maintenance, her skin was glowing, her hair was popping, her outfit was expensive. They were at a dimly lit restaurant. It did not look familiar, the caption of the Instagram photo.

Giselle’s heart skipped as she stared at the photo. She and Timi were once a happy couple. They shared everything together, and the memories came flooding back. It was eight months since the break up. They were both ‘No Contact.’

There were times when she felt like picking up the phone and calling, but then she changed her mind. His ego would be stroked, she didn’t want to do that. She was also scared of rejection. So each day passed, without reaching out, without hearing his voice. It was hard for the first two weeks, then she made the resolve to move on. She thought by now she would have passed the phase of reacting like this, but seeing him with someone else hurt. This woman was definitely more beautiful than she was, what do they call people like that, “the upgrade?”

Giselle didn’t think she was bad looking herself. She was five feet seven inches, with smooth chocolate skin. Her beautiful skin was the result of her skin care routine. She didn't joke with it at all. She had high cheekbones, soft lips and beautiful eyes. She had beautiful, long and natural hair. Giselle knew she was fearfully and wonderfully made.

Giselle’s eyes were fixated on the photo. She could not believe Timi walked away and didn't look back.

Did he even mourn their relationship? He had suddenly moved on to another girl. It was so unfair. She buried her face in her hands, she could not bear to look at her phone screen anymore. She began to cry. Her body shook as she sobbed into her hands.

“When will this pain end?” Giselle whispered to herself as she wiped her eyes. Giselle had previously convinced herself that she was over Timi, but clearly she wasn’t. She saw a photo of him with another female, and she was here crying like a wimp.

She needed to give other men a chance, like Charles from church, who would do anything to chat with her. He clearly wasn’t her type, but he could be a good distraction. She didn’t want to hurt him, and if she didn’t see herself going far with him, it was better to stay away. The folks from her church were another type of spirits she didn't want to deal with.

She picked up her phone from the bed and looked at the photo again. The warmth in Timi’s eyes told her he had moved on and found happiness without her. She scrolled through Timi’s Instagram profile. She saw new photos and him. He looked so good. The girl was tagged on the current photo. Her name was Jasmine202. She clicked on the profile page. Thankfully, it was public. She scrolled through and saw the exotic photos on her page. Jasmine was well traveled. The photo dated two weeks before the current date, she went to the Amalfi Coast. The orange dress she was wearing in the photo hugged her curves. She had on a straw hat and sat in a yacht. There were other photos from Miami, Vgeas, South Africa, Seychelles. The list was endless. Jasmine was living the life that Giselle wanted, but could not afford.

While she was scrolling, a notification popped up on her screen. It was a text message from her friend Sandra asking if she wanted to go out to dinner. Giselle responded positively. She was ready to download the new found discovery to her friend over dinner.

Giselle met Sandra later that evening at the Cross Roads Restaurant, which was a Tex Mex restaurant in Victoria Island. It was a Thursday evening and the nightlife activity for that day was snap it, sip it, post it. They were greeted by the ambient lightning and the hum of conversation from other patrons. The decor was modern and inviting.

While they sipped on their drinks. Giselle decided to initiate the conversation about the photo.

“Timi posted a photo of him and his new girl,” Giselle began.

“Oh really, that must be painful. Why do you even follow him on social media, you need to disconnect,” Sandra replied.

“It is painful, the whole thing hit me hard. I thought I was over him, but seeing the photo brought me to my knees. I haven't found it in me to delete him from my social media.” Giselle replied

“You need to do so, you need to heal, it is not easy to see an ex move on especially while you are still in the healing process,” Sandra said sounding concerned.

Giselle didn't want pity, she needed a solution. An action plan.

Before she could say anything else, the waiter came with their food. She didn't need to discuss her feelings with Sandra at this point, because she wanted to offer healing and comfort. Giselle needed revenge.

to be continued

THE MIDNIGHT MARKET

2024-07-16T12:47:00.000-07:00

Lilian wiped down the tables. The restaurant was about to close in thirty minutes. She had taken this job to support herself. She was a graduate student studying biochemistry. She lived in Berkeley, sharing a room in a house with two other young girls.

As she wiped the tables, her thoughts wandered. This shift was longer than usual. Time seemed to move slowly. She had homework she needed to complete before going to bed. She stared at the time on the big wall clock close to the register. It was a few minutes to midnight. She needed to get going. Her boyfriend George was not answering her calls. She would probably Uber home, the last train left at 11.30. She lived two miles away, but didn’t feel like walking. She pulled out her phone from the back pocket of her jeans and tried to call him again for the fifth time. The call went straight to voicemail. She wondered where he was and what he was doing. She noticed a change in his behavior lately. He didn’t spend much time on the phone, he began cancelling dates last minute.

“He is probably seeing someone else Lilian, I hate to be the one to break it to you,” Pamela, her Chinese room mate, told her while they played dominoes on Saturday evening.

“If he is seeing someone, maybe he should break up with me, so he can move on with his life.” Lilian replied.

“It’s not that simple, men do not like initiating break ups, just like men don’t like filing divorce. They want the woman to do it, they would rather remain in a miserable marriage than file for a divorce.” Pamela said as she took a sip from the lemonade in the mason jar beside her.

“It’s a cowardly move in my own opinion,” Lilian replied.

Lilian picked up her backpack and bade the chef Timothy and the bus boy Idris goodnight. As she walked outside the restaurant, George’s familiar Toyota Camry was parked outside. She was relieved. She didn’t need to call an Uber.

She opened the passenger door and sat in the seat. She looked at George, who had an expression on his face she had never seen before.

“Are you okay?” Lilian asked.

“Hello, for starters would be nice,” George replied coldly. She sensed the coldness in his voice, but she could not understand why he was cold to her.

“What is the problem?” Lilian asked.

“We need to talk,” George replied.

“I am listening,” Lilian replied.

“I am tired of the relationship, we need to end this,” George told her.

Lilian’s heart sank. She knew something was wrong, but contrary to what Pamela said, he called for the end of the relationship. It was obvious he was no longer interested. She saw the signs. He was always short with her, he got angry quickly, he canceled date nights. He made excuses. It was a lot of things. She was not sure what to say, but one thing for sure was, she was relieved. Tears began to form in her eyes, she held them back from spilling onto her face. She didn’t want to give George the satisfaction of seeing her cry. She wasn’t going to ask questions either, who she was or why the break up. It was not worth the hassle. He clearly didn’t respect her. She had so much ahead of her. Her father always told her that God would not let your yesterday be better than your today.

“Thank you for everything, goodbye,” Lilian said as she opened the passenger door and walked away. She heard George calling her name, she didn’t look back, neither was she going to answer. George stepped out of the car and yelled her name. She kept walking briskly, each step was a little faster. She decided to walk home. The tears began to fall down her cheeks. She wanted to be strong for herself, but her heart decided to bleed a little.

Lilian had taken a leisurely walk to her house once. When she was still exploring the neighborhood during the pandemic. There were so many emotions going through her mind. It was a painful break up, even though she was relieved. George was definitely seeing someone else, and she wanted no parts in his shenanigan.

She was sure the route she was going was correct, but suddenly she saw beautiful bright lights.

What street was she on? She checked for the street sign and saw Post Street. Yes, she was familiar with Post Street, but she had never seen the bright lights. The illumination was attractive, and it picked her interest. She slowly walked towards the lights. The road began to form a turn, and it stretched, making the lights seem closer. It was a market. She had never seen this market before or heard of it. The surprising thing was how late the market was open. The path was lined with light, the vendors stood behind their wares.

There was an old woman at the entrance. She was shriveled, about five feet tall with gray hair.

“Hello young lady,” the old woman greeted, exposing her gums as she smiled. She only had three teeth.

“Hello,” Lilian replied.

“Welcome to the Midnight Market,”

“Yes, I have never seen this market, and the lights led me here out of curiosity. I followed the lights.” Lilian replied.

“Interesting, well there are rules you need to know,” the old lady said.

Lilian nodded slowly. She turned back to look. All she could see were lights. The road behind her no longer looked familiar.

“Rule One, you have to come here with the intent to buy. You cannot come here out of curiosity or intent to harm or cheat anyone,” The old lady began.

Lilian didn’t have a problem with the rule. She had some money, the only thing was she hoped the goods were not too expensive.

“I hope to buy something.” Lilian replied.

“Good,” the old lady replied nodding slowly.

“If you don’t buy anything, you won’t be able to leave the market,” the old lady replied.

It was a strange condition. What if she didn’t find what she wanted to buy?

“What if I don’t find anything I want?” Lilian asked. She did not think the condition was fair.

“You will find what you need in this market,” the old lady replied. “Secondly, do not touch the item unless you intend to purchase it, if you touch an item without purchasing it, you have automatically placed a curse on it, and whoever buys it will have bad luck, it will also bring bad luck to the market.”

Lilian had never heard anything like that before. It was a strange market. She wondered what was sold. She didn’t see clothes, shoes or purses. There were no groceries either. It was oddly strange. She saw a vendor selling lanterns. Another vendor was selling ear buds. They were from a unique brand, because she had never seen the brand before. She decided to visit each vendor to see what was being sold, before she could make a decision. She realized there were not many people at the market either.

“You can only buy one thing, so make a wise decision before making your purchase. If you try to buy more than one thing, all the purchases will void out, and the custodians of the market will lead you out, and you will never come back here again.” The old lady informed her.

Each rule got weirder as it was told. She looked back, but the road out of the market did not look familiar. Was she dreaming?

“Next rule, you cannot tell anyone about the market, the market only shows up once a year in a random place, so if you try to come back here tomorrow, the market will be gone. If you tell anyone about the market, you lose your memory, and other consequences associated with your purchase will begin to happen to you.” the old lady said with a stern look on her face.

A cold feeling came over Lilian. She should have ubered home. Now she was in a strange place.

“And finally, you must leave before dawn. If you don’t leave before dawn, you will be stuck here until the next appearance, which will be about a year from now.” The old lady said with an air of finality.

Lilian looked at the time, it was 12.32 am.

The old lady gave a smirk. “Time does not work here, when you see the vendors packing up their goods, know it’s time to leave, the time only works for visitors when they are not in the market, it stopped as soon as you walked into the market.”

Lilian sighed.

“Do you understand everything I have just told you?” the old lady asked.

“Yes,” Lilian replied nervously.

The old lady made way for her to walk into the market.

to be continued

DIAMOND DYNASTY

2024-06-28T02:50:00.000-07:00

Finally on KDP

The first 13 installments have finally become a book and made it to Amazon KDP and it is free to download today and tomorrow.

Enjoy!

Diamond Dynasty

THE PATERNITY TEST AND OTHER STORIES (FREE KINDLE DOWNOLAD)

2024-06-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

The Paternity Test and Other Stories is free today on Kindle Unlimted, Please feel free to download

The Paternity Test and Other Stories

CHOCOLATE

2024-06-03T12:27:00.000-07:00

Have you read one of my first published stories?

It is so old, I don't' believe I wrote it. Check it out on Kindle.

Chocolate

CONFESSIONS OF A CHEATING WIFE

2024-05-29T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hello, dear readers!

I am thrilled to share some wonderful news with you all. After months of hard work, dedication, and your unwavering support, my story series has finally been transformed into a book form.

What started as a series of short stories shared here on Medium has grown beyond my wildest dreams. Your feedback, comments, and encouragement have been a constant source of inspiration. It’s because of your love for these tales that I decided to compile them into a book, giving them a new life and a broader audience and making it much easier to read.

Even though the series has not ended, I decided to break them into bits while compiling it into a book form for uninterrupted reading.

This book is more than just a collection of stories; it’s a testament to the incredible community we’ve built together. Each story reflects not only my imagination but also your thoughts, ideas, and feedback. It’s a collaboration in the truest sense. The book is available now on Amazon,

CONFESSIONS OF A CHEATING WIFE (THE AFFAIR Book 1)

A gripping tale of a woman who finds herself in a web of infidelity and deceit. Rose of Sharon is married to a man who…

amzn.to

THE LADY IN MY PEW

2024-05-26T00:15:00.000-07:00

I had been home and streaming church online since the pandemic. It felt good to be back in church. I was happy to see the members of my cell group physically. The Zoom meetings were great, but group hugs and cheek kisses were greater.

Naomi, a lady I had the biggest crush was heavily pregnant and had gotten married during the pandemic. I should have made the move, but I did not. She smiled nervously at me when she saw me. I nodded. We both understood. The usher who looked dapper in a black suit ushered me into a seat in one of the pews close to me. I sat down and observed what was going on around me.

There was an excited chatter around me. Most of the members were happy to see each other, giving hugs, excited shrieks at how tall children had grown, the newlyweds, the expectant mothers.

Nothing new had happened in my life, so there was not much to celebrate or share. I got promoted at work, my girlfriend Shelby left me during the pandemic. She began to morph into a completely different person from the vivacious and caring girlfriend I knew her to be. My cousin suspected that there was someone else. She gave no explanation. She packed up her things one morning and was gone by the time I came back. She left a note on the kitchen counter letting me know she left my key under the mat. I felt empty for a few days. We were together for two years, I felt like spending the rest of my life with her. She seemed to be the perfect one.

The choir stepped onto the podium which signaled that it was time for service. Some people began to scramble into their seats. The music began to play and the lyrics to the song flashed along the big screen. A woman with two young children came and sat in the pew with me. She smiled at me, and I nodded in acknowledgement. The whole church stood up in their various pews and sang along with the choir. The ladies in their emerald green choir robes sang and danced excitedly on the podium. They were most definitely excited to be in church and sing. They rendered a few songs and a short prayer, and we sat down.

As I sat, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, I had a message from James, he was running late to church. I responded telling him it was okay, and I would save him a seat beside me. I pressed the “send” button. A few minutes later, the head pastor stepped on the podium, we all clapped excitedly. He smiled. The usher appeared on my pew with a breathtakingly gorgeous woman. She had on a white, lace blouse and a high-waisted black skirt. Her full figure was highlighted. She looked like she wore a C cup bra, she had a twenty-four-inch waist and thirty-six-inch hip. She made eye contact with me, I smiled nervously, and she placed her iPad and Gucci purse on the chair and then proceeded to sit. The scent of her fragrance hit me in the nose. She was a magnet. Attractive in every single way.

The sermon lasted thirty-five minutes, we shared the grace and we had to greet the people who sat around us and wish them a great week.

The lady with the two children held onto my hand as she wished me a blessed week. I wanted her greeting to end quickly. The young, bald man sitting in the next pew was talking to who I wanted to shake hands with and greet. His eyes and locked with hers and I did not want him serenading the beautiful girl with the interesting fragrance. I pulled out a two ten-dollar bills from my wallet and handed them to the children. The mother thanked me.

I turned to face the lady who sat to my left, she looked at me and smiled. She told me her name. Erica. She was a first-time visitor and wanted to come back again next Sunday. I told her it would be a great idea. I brought out my phone to give her my number when two little boys ran towards us screaming “Mommy”. She turned round and let them run into her arms. My heart dropped. She had kids, but no ring. They were twins. She handed me a business card and asked me to call her. I took the card. If she wanted me to call her, I would. She had an air of mystery about her that made me curious. Before I could say anything, my friend James tapped me on the shoulder.

THE PATERNITY TEST

2024-05-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

"I am sorry,” she said as she sniffed amidst tears.

I could not believe what I heard. My wedding is in two weeks, and my fiancee is standing in front of me with the confession that can make me walk away right now.

I can’t. I had been through so many relationships, and Victoria was the best thing that happened to me in a long time. Why did she do this? I loved her so much. Why would she betray me? She betrayed me for a few minutes of pleasure with her ex.

It would have been bearable if the story had ended with sex between them. The goodbye sex because she was getting married and would be restricted to sex with her husband for the rest of her life, or maybe her marriage.

She was three weeks pregnant.

I was excited.

I wasn't sure it was mine, she said it was mine.

“Victoria, why would you even do that? I mean, am I not enough for you?” I asked, I was trying to hold myself together, but the tears began to roll down my cheeks.

She was crying.

“I understand if you want to call off the wedding,” she responded as a tear slid down her cheeks.

“No, I am not calling off the wedding, it’s in two weeks. I just want to know what got into you to make you get into his bed and have sex?” I asked.

I could punch her right now.

She looked so fragile, standing right in front of me begging for her relationship.

I mean, why wouldn't she run back for last minute sex with him? If she had her way, she would be married to him instead of me. He came from a family of social elites. Victoria didn't fit in. They match made him with someone of their own social standing and threw Victoria out like dirty water in a dish. She was hurt.

Then she met me.

I was the scapegoat for her pain. It took a lot for her to love me. She kept making excuses why she couldn't love, because she was scared of getting dumped. It was a frustrating few months, but with time she came to love and trust me.

I thought we were in a good place, and then this?

We got married two weeks later, as planned.

She was such a beautiful bride. I almost choked on my tears while we exchanged our vows. A part of me was still hurt by her betrayal. The part of the wedding ceremony where whoever objected needed to speak or hold their peace was the longest one minute of my life. We had to wait on anyone crawling out of the closet to object to do so. Thankfully, no one did.

Two years later, our daughter June turned two. She was a feisty little girl with beautiful brown eyes and hair pulled into two ponytails everyday for school. She was two going on twenty. She was the boss of the house, giving myself and her mother a run for our money. We had a dcotor’s appointment and showed up at the General Hospital.

We ran into Victoria’s ex, the one she slept with before the wedding. He was cordial. Victoria seemed uncomfortable. I gave him a firm handshake and made eye contact, but he kept staring at our daughter, June.

“Beautiful girl,” he said, not taking his eyes off her.

June looked at him and blinked. She pulled out her sunglasses from her little red bag, the one she would not let go off.

“Thanks,” Victoria replied and pulled June closer to her.

“You are welcome,” he relied with a smirk. “She could be mine, you know,” he continued.

“Excuse me,” I retorted before Victoria could say anything.

“I said she could be mine, let me guess, she is about two years old, and the timing is about right. She has my facial features, especially her forehead,” he responded.

If we were not in public, I would have punched him. It was the audacity to claim June. He was disrespectful.

“She is not yours,” Victoria replied.

“How are you sure? There was me and there was him,” her ex replied with a smile.

I couldn't blame him. Victoria’s promiscuity put us in this situation to receive insults from her ex.

“Enough,” I said in a loud voice.

A few heads in the crowd turned. I ignored them.

“So you think June could be yours?” I asked icily, looking into his eyes.

“June is not his,” Victoria said firmly.

“Be quiet,” I told her angrily.

If she was faithful, I would not be reeling from insults from her ex. This was a challenge.

“I have no doubt, she is mine,” he replied.

“Really?”

“Yes, we can take a DNA test if you want,” he suggested.

If looks could kill, he would have dropped dead by now.

“Is that right?” I asked.

“Sure,” he replied confidently.

For the first time, I realized that June may not be my child. Experiencing doubt like this as a married man was disheartening.

I agreed to take a DNA test.

It’s been three months.

I moved out of the house. Running into Victoria’s ex ruined my marriage. It was not the same after that.

We both took the DNA test to confirm if I was June’s dad or if he was. It was apparent Victoria didn't use protection while sleeping with him.

I was foolish to continue ahead with the wedding. This was not supposed to be a Jospeh and Mary story, because Mary was a virgin, but Victoria was a harlot.

The tests came back. He was not June's father.

Neither was I.

Check out the complete book:The Paternity Test and Other Stories

THE SOUND

2024-05-22T15:31:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, we are cashing out big,”

Sophia told her sister Tonia with excitement and anticipation.

Her sister, Tonia, could feel her excitement and was eager to hear the news. Sophia had been working hard for years to build her business, and she was finally seeing the fruits of her labor. She had opened a luxury fashion boutique that sold high end designer pieces. She got a loan from an old friend to get the business started, and it took her three years to build her clientele and four years to pay back the loan.

Sophia had faced a few challenges along the way. One of the biggest challenges she faced was when her accountant brought embezzlement to her attention. Someone was embezzling her money from the store. It was a large sum of money, to the tune of eight thousand dollars, and Sophia was devastated. She soon found out the culprit was the store manager, Lucia, a young twenty eight year old from the Bahamas. It quickly became clear that Lucia had a taste for the finer things in life, and had become greedy.

But Sophia was not one to take things lying down. When it came to her money and her business, she was a woman of action. She had a few miscreants on her payroll who would take care of any debtors who failed to pay up. As it turned out, Lucia suffered the same fate as many of the debtors- she was picked up at a night club by one of the miscreants, posed as a wealthy patron, and taken away in a black Mercedes Benz. She ended up in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, bound up in ropes and tortured.

“I am so happy for you,” Tonia replied.

“Dubai is the destination for celebration,” Sophia said as she stood up and admired herself in the white sleeveless top and brown cargo pants.

“I am in,” Tonia said excitedly.

“Once the transfer is complete, I will start the planning,” Sophia informed her.

Tonia nodded.

Sophia knew that the money was going to reset her life. It was the breakthrough she had been waiting for.

Sophia returned to her luxury apartment a few hours later. Tonia hung out with her and went to the sushi bar with her friends afterwards. Sophia longed to go home, take a shower, relax and watch a movie. So many thoughts ran through her mind as she drove through traffic to get to her end of town.

There was no place like home for Sophia. She walked into her apartment. The living room was dark, and she immediately turned on the lights. She walked into her bedroom and took her clothes off. Fifteen minutes later, she was in the shower. She let the water run through her body as she lathered herself with soap. Thoughts of the money that would be deposited into her bank account was largely on her mind. She had given her all in the business to succeed. Most of her friends were envious of her and thought that she had a man sponsoring her expensive lifestyle. She wished their envy was justified. She could not explain why different men kept jilting her. Every time she got close to getting a ring, she got jilted. The last man she dated had an accident on the freeway and died on the spot. She gave up on her dream of getting married after that on focused on her business.

After taking her shower, she settled into bed and fell asleep watching a Korean movie on Netflix. She was tired and also excited for tomorrow. By 10 am, she would be a hundred thousand dollars richer.

At 2am, she heard a sound, it was like music playing, first a soft melodious whistle, then soft beating of a drum. The sound was familiar, she had heard it before, first when she was ten years old, another time she was sixteen, when she was twenty one and after that almost every year. She knew the rhythm. She opened her ears, even though she kept hearing the sound, the tv was turned off, her speakers were off, the windows were closed. Where was the sound coming from?

Sophia woke up with a pounding headache, she didn’t know when she drifted back into sleep, but she woke up at almost 11am. She had fifteen missed calls, some were from the shop, other calls were from her sister Tonia. She was tempted to check her bank account out of excitement, and maybe Tonia was calling her to get an update about the transfer of funds. She decided to call the shop to know what the reason for the call was. Her new sales manager, Sharon never called her unless there was an emergency or she had a transaction that needed higher authorization.

Sharon picked up the phone on the first ring.

“Good morning Sharon,” she greeted.

There was panic in Sharon’s voice.

“Madam, the store was broken into,” Sharon informed her.

“Burgled?” Sophia screamed out loud.

“I have called the police and they are here taking reports, if you don’t mind coming to the store, they would like to have a word with you,”

Sophia knew the drill, writing reports and filing insurance claims.

“That’s fine, Sharon how much worth of goods are missing, do you know?” Sophia asked.

Sharon paused.

“More than ninety percent of the store is gone, i can literally count what is left in the store,” Sharon responded.

Sophia’s heart stopped for a minute. Tears began to roll down her cheeks. She was not sure why this was happening. The money was supposed to be an addition, she had new merchandise that she had set her hearts on filling her store with, now she had to start from scratch.

Before she could say anything, she heard the tone that sounded an incoming call and excused herself from the call, telling Sharon she would be on her way to the store. It was Tonia calling.

“Sophia, wake up, I have been calling you,”

“Girl, I have no choice but to be awake at this point,”

“I am so sorry about the news, this is so heartbreaking,”

“My whole inventory is gone, I don’t know who did this, but I am ready to make whoever pay,”

“Your inventory? What are you talking about?”

Sophia was confused.

“My store got broken into, isn’t that why you are calling? Was Sharon able to get a hold of you?”

“The store was broken into?” Tonia asked in surprise.

“Sis, right now, i don’t have time for long talk, I have to go to the store, can you meet me there?”

“I am not aware of the store being broken into sis, but I heard the awful news and I was calling to see if it affected the money,”

“What awful news? What money? What are you talking about Tonia?”

Tonia paused. She didn’t know how well her sister would take the news, but it was too late to pretend everything was okay.

“Kenneth Dagbo is dead.”

Sophia screamed.

FOR THE SAKE OF BRAZILIAN HAIR

2015-12-10T22:27:00.001-08:00

So i have this friend, we were having a discussion one day and she was telling me about the guy she was dating and how conservative he was with money unlike most other guys she had dated. He told her that she had very expensive taste and tried to help her spend rationally. It is true sha... this my friend can spend money like she is drinking Eva water.
She told me that he said her "exotic weave" was expensive and it was better for her to get her natural hair done at the shop since it was long and luscious and that was where wahala started.

"Why is he telling me that my Brazilian hair is expensive, shebi he saw me with it the first day he met me and he liked it, now we are dating, ordinary eighty thousand naira to buy hair, he is telling me story, please there are other men out there willing to spend more on me, if he is not interested, he can leave"

I didn't even know what to say right after she made the comment because

1) They were in a committed relationship, He had already met with her parents, she already told him the type of ring she wanted, all that was left was the perfect proposal.
2) This chic was making six figures and had a steady job.
3) She is over thirty years old.

This brings me to my point. The first point made him a potential husband, not a boyfriend, not a chewing gum boy or boyfriend and he cared so much for her, he also tried to help her to be rational. This was my response to her.

"Darling if you have a good job and you are out of school and over thirty years old and you are crying because you did not get 80K to buy your weave and you want to leave a potential somebody, the juju somebody did for you must be working"

She didn't expect that response from me. We kept talking and then i explained it to her.
This is what i mean. We females were brought up under the notion that a man has to take care of our needs.
It is very correct.Keyword NEEDS not WANTS, even if it is wants, something he can afford. That is the role of a HUSBAND.
As a boyfriend, it is up to him to do that, he doesn't have to if he doesn't want to.
A man who loves his lady will show her that in a thousand ways and more. Ladies, pay attention to how he treats you, Exotic hair doesn't always prove love.
This is my fair judgement, if a woman is at least thirty years old, has finished school, has a job, she has no business begging a man to buy Brazilian, Malaysian, Chinese or whatever citizenship of hair she decides to put on her head. As a woman, hair is part of grooming, take great pride in maintaining your hair yourself, begging a man for money at that age to buy hair sounds to me like a man asking a woman money to cut his hair, i know in monetary value they are different but it sounds like that to me. Every relationship is different but while dating abeg do shakara small.

COS EVEN YOUR BOO GET A BOO

2015-10-26T23:24:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if it is me, or the nature of man has truly changed. This blog post was a little hard for me to write because it also personal too.

I remember when I was growing up, love seemed to be something often dreamed about, it seemed perfect when two people felt the same way about each other, when they shared their dreams and goals with the ultimate purpose of spending the rest of their lives together

Nowadays, the idea of falling in love is like reading “Alice in Wonderland” where Alice kept chasing a rabbit that kept running away and only for her to find out that her whole adventure was just a dream.

Is it hard to find a good man nowadays or are the ladies of this generation no longer wife material because it goes both ways. A chic could be looking for a man who would give her a decent relationship, a great time, movies, vacation, dinner, family , sex, etc with a commitment or something like it but not be wife material. Meanwhile there could be another man ready to trade it all and give her what she wants but she most likely won’t be interested

Harrysong came up with this song “Even your boo get a boo”

It is a song that most people will sing with joy because there is a lot of truth in it. The lyrics ring true these days

If you are in a relationship, is it just both of you? is there a third party? are there more tenants in your relationship? Have you ever tried to find out or do you wholly trust your partner, after being played twice, I make sure that I have my GPS positioned properly…… (that’s my secret now).

I was once in a relationship after a year of breaking up with the dude, I found out that there was two of us, the whole time and I was the side chic, He never truly broke up with the ex who seemed to be lingering, it was very heart breaking to find out I was a side chic.

All my life, i never prayed to be a side chic but i unknowingly became one and the best decision i made was remove myself from the equation and let him be someone else's headache.

There was another one who had an extra two females and he ran all of us like a dating service and every side chic always had to fulfill a need, either financially, emotionally, sexually, mentally, physically.

This type of dude is who I will always call a Fuckboy.

As a female I always come 100. I know my worth and value as a female and I have stuff to bring to the table so why do I have to be a side chic?
If a man has intention of keeping one woman and intends to play the field, he needs to let me know so i could go, if I choose to stay then it is at my own risk, a lot of females are not open minded, most of it stems from insecurity and the fear of being inadequate, late twenties and early thirties tend to pose a lot of pressure on females because their friends are getting married and having babies.
So it brings me to the question Why cheat?

On Twitter @Echecrates wrote that cheating is a choice,

A cheater chooses to cheat with someone else over their partner. It is a choice.

Choices do come with consequences. What type of choice will a man make when it comes to cheating?

Eche also wrote

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

All the way. Sometimes you look at a man’s partner, then you look at the woman he cheated with and you are like.

“Wait what is going on here?”

A man will have a classy woman with a good head on her shoulders, really beautiful and hang out with some chic that on a normal day you won’t dream of seeing him with. Why? It is a matter of choice, there are many reasons why a man would cheat and on that note it is always a matter of choice. Women cheat too but it seems worse for women because we live in a world where double standards are practiced and for the woman cheating is a very bad idea.

There is a story on Linda Ikeji blog about a side chic who sent a text message to the wife of her “boyfriend”. If I had to judge the man his side chic is childish, she has nothing to offer, maybe sex but its temporary and that to me is a waste of time.So this man left his wife for his very personal reasons and decided to be with a chicken head who had the audacity to send text messages to "The First Lady of His Home". What she fails to understand is that she will always be a sidepiece, the woman has "investments" in the marriage which include children and what they built from scratch. She made the house a home by giving him a family.

Anyway please your boo shouldn’t have a boo that isn’t you, if your boo has a boo please be single or find someone who wants what you want too, there is nothing better than loving somebody when somebody loves you back.

THELMA THINKS

2015-10-21T02:14:00.001-07:00

So over the weekend I got to read the answers to some of the questions that I tagged a fellow blogger in. I got the biggest shock of my life. Usually you don't know the type of effect you have on someone till they tell you, it could be positive and it could also be negative
This one was positive and it was also a shocker for me. I also read it with a sense of pride, each word struck me, well composed and well written, she needs to start getting paid to write recommendation letters for people.
Anyway Thelma is like a younger sister and a good friend. I have known her for almost two decades now and it still seems like yesterday. She made my mind go back to when i was younger and writing was an addiction for me,back then my classmates would fight over having a "turn" to read, some of my notebooks came back not only with dog ears but coming of staplers or something, most importantly the book was read.
Thelma i hope you get to read this but the last time i thought of doing a book collabo with you, that was almost 3 years ago, you wanted to blog, and you are doing AWESOME!!I am very very proud of you. I just never knew i had an ounce of influence on you.
Anyway fellow bloggers step you blog game up, if you cant be Oprah or Linda Ikeji please make a name for yourself at least. Cheers

Check out Thelma's blog
Thelma Thinks

BLOG AWARD FROM SHARON SALU :SISTERHOOD OF THE WORLD BLOGGERS

2015-10-11T22:38:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone
Its been hectic, working on a book currently and the setting of the story requires a lot of research.
Besides that life is awesome but i have decided to create a blogging schedule so i don't fall behind.
I got nominated by Sharon Salu
An amazing author of a couple of books i was privileged to read
Bewaji's Ankara Adventures
Wura's Woodin Adventures

I am yet to read the read the rest, there are about 4 aso ebi adventures but i read
The Piano Book

Check her out, her stories are Amazing!!!
She is also a QCOG!!!

Here are the rules

Thank the blogger who nominated you, linking back to their site;
Put the award logo on your blog;
Answer the ten questions sent to you;
Nominate five blogs;
Make up ten new questions for your nominees to answer.

Here are my answers

1. Why do you write/blog?

I write because i have a story to tell, play with characters, determine their role in the story and eliminate them if need be, i love playing God on paper. I blog because i love media, ranting instead of making a new status on Facebook. lol

2. What is your favorite color?

Red. It is a fire color, very attractive, my show off color, i love red nail polish and red lipstick.

3. If you could invent one device that could change the world, what would it be?

I cant think of any right now, maybe one that would bring people back from the dead. A machine that can cure cancer... the world needs a lot of things.

4. What books did you read that made a profound effect on your life?

Waoh.... i cant answer that.

5. What languages can you speak apart from English?

Yoruba and Igbo

6. Name one song you cant get out of you head.

Pleasure Principle by Janet Jackson.

7. Hugs versus Handshakes: Which do you prefer?

None especially handshakes, after observing some people's hygiene habits with hands, i would rather give a friendly wave.

8. Which country would you love to visit?

Australia

9. Complete this sentence.. The world needs more........

Geniuses and readers.

10. Complete this sentence... The world needs less....

Liars and ungrateful people

I nominate the following bloggers

1.Toinlicious

2. Honeydame

3.Atilola

4.Thelma Thinks

5. Myne Whitman

Here are my questions

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?
2. What does your last text message say?
3. Can you taste the difference between Pepsi and coke? Which do you prefer?
4. Make a confession about anything.
5. Name one item on your bucket list
6. If you were another person would you make friends with yourself?
7. What is your secret weapon to lure the oppoiste sex, boyfriend, husband, potential?
8. What do you want to know about the future?
9. What would you change about your experience in secondary school
10. Scary movies or happy endings?

I want to read your answers please share the link with me..
Yay!!

GIVING OUT CELL NUMBERS AND BB PIN

2015-09-16T20:16:00.003-07:00

This is one thing i have been trying to rant on for quite sometime.
Is it me or some people find it convenient to just give out someone's cell number or BB Pin without asking them?

So i met this dude at a party one time. For starters i wasn't feeling him in the sense that i just saw him as part of the mix in the crowd, was 99.1% sure that i wont see him again after the party, i think he was trying to strike a convo and i made a rude comment, you know when you replay the convo in your head one would have assumed that he would not talk to me after that, but guess what when he was leaving he came to say goodbye and the following morning. I got a BB request. It was him.

One of the Judas's called "a friend" gave him my PIN.

Okay i am sure you are like "it shouldn't be a big deal"
Maybe it isn't, some hunters make sure they go for the kill and won't rest till the get it, my "friend" just handed me like prey.And not only that she downloaded "gist" about me like, the guy already thought he knew who i was before getting my PIN.

This is a personal issue. I really have a problem with people giving out my cell number or BB Pin or any personal info without contacting me first. If i had to ask, i wouldn't mind if you asked the BB pin owner or cell owner as in "She asked for you number is it okay if i gave it to her?" Yes or no would work. Unless your cell number has been on a flyer, is standard on a website or published as a business point of contact i wont give it out. You wont hear " I got your number from Lola". Trust me you would have gotten a text first or i would have called you.

It is the same chic who gave out my PIN that is now lamenting out of self pity that she introduced the guy to me, maybe if she had asked me what had ensued between the guy and myself before giving out my PIN, she would have been in a better position to judge.
Anyway what are your thoughts.
I really want to know.

ARE YOU OWNED OR DO YOU OWN?

2015-08-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogville,
i haven't blogged in a lonnnnnngg time. I have totally killed my resolution about blogging more frequently but i actually need to really have something to say not just recycle news.
I have been attending weddings and yes most of my MATES are getting married and i am just sitting here FABULOUS and ISH!!
Anyway 2016 is coming..... God is faithful

So in other words i have a question that needs to be answered on my blog. Terry Bams, a relationship coach asked a question on Twitter

"In a marriage, should your partner have access to all your things? (Cell phone, social media, bank account,etc)"

This is a very simple question and it could also be very complex.

My answer to this question is NO.

Lately from my own observation some couples miss the individuality part of their person, once in a relationship everything starts becoming "us" which is how it should be but eventually they start losing their individuality. Not everything necessarily has to be joint or shared maybe except food. LOL.

DEAR FUTURE HUSBAND

I WILL NOT share my cell phone information including my text messages or call logs with you, my social media password and information is mine, my bank account is also mine except we open a joint one.

SIGNED

WHISTLING BEAUTIFUL

Okay, let me break this down, unless i need to show my spouse something on my phone,
he has ABSOLUTELY no right to my cell phone unless it rings or i have a message , i don't need to share passcodes if i decide to lock my phone anyway, my phone has the fingerprint feature so even what God has joined together our fingerprint will never be the same

I have nothing to hide, absolutely nothing so i don't need him logging into my Facebook page as me, i wont go on his either, we opened accounts separately, these are individual social accounts not joint, after spending most time together in the house, why do we have to meet on social network, i have a cousin who is VERY ACTIVE on social media, he has controversial Facebook statuses with probably over fifty comments a day, but guess what, his wife is not on his Facebook as a friend, not because he has anything to hide but for one they have a relationship behind closed doors not open to the media or those ex girlfriends who want to know the level of intelligence his wife would show, at first i didn't understand why he i that, but today i totally respect it because through pictures of his wife that he has on social media, everyone has to respect that she is the mother of his three children.

The bank account issue we can share a joint bank account which has a portion of out income going there to maintain the house, i refuse to use my earnings to fund habits,unless they are talents so each can spend money however it leases, if i decided to splurge on Victoria secret underwear, i just need to make sure that there is money in the joint account to pay the electricity bill or buy enough food for the pantry. Giving my spouse my bank information will not make our marriage last longer.

The point here is are you owned or do you own, For anyone who is brave enough to share their lives in this format with a spouse that is what i call owned, just like property, your spouse owns everything, you cant have a sense of privacy, they check your emails, know that you spent $40 on Jamba Juice this week,spent $250 on a Michael Kors purse when they asked you for $100 and you refused, they also know that your ex who is happily married and has four kids liked your picture on Facebook, you are always obligated to an explanation, sometimes these things are so irrelevant and trivial they spark up huge arguments, if only you had kept some things as your own.

They don't have to be shared , but they shouldn't be hidden either,there is nothing wrong with them knowing you have an account but if you don't have to share you shouldn't and the reason shouldn't be that you are hiding something

You should own, your own cell phone, social media page(s), bank account an other things that don't necessarily have to be shared like food, or the bed.

I own my stuff, i own me,

My spouse is and will always be, my better half.

PS: To all those ladies who also believe that having the key to your boyfriend's apartment means you are the keeper. There is always a spare key, Make sure you are not the spare key.

SICKLE CELL DISEASE. THE STIGMA AND MISCONCEPTION

2015-06-19T08:08:00.000-07:00

Kyrian and Ada were lovers, they were like best friends, they decided to spend their lives together until they both found out that they carried the sickle cell traits and it was possible to have a child or two, maybe three that would have the sickle cell disease, so they end their love affair of a few years.

While the decision sounded wise, there are other ways to deal with the stigma that comes with either having the trait or having the disease.

Sickle cell anemia is a blood disease. It is usually inherited from carrier parent(s). It is a rare disease that occurs in people of African or African American descent. It can also be found in some Middle Eastern countries and also Asian countries like China. It occurs when a red blood cell is sickle shaped as result blood flow is restricted and it causes damage to vital organs. The normal red blood cell is biconcave in shape and the surface area allow for blood flow across it.

The first misconception I need to correct is sickle cell trait and sickle cell disease; these are two related but different words. A person with the sickle cell trait is known as (AS) genotype, here the person just has the trait and it takes mating with a person who has another (AS) trait to have a twenty five percent chance to have the sickle cell disease (SS). A person who does not carry the trait is referred to as (AA).I have heard a lot of people refer to the trait as equal to having the disease it is not true.

The stigma that lies with the misconception is one of the reasons why education for this disease is not rapid, a lot of people bask in the highest level of ignorance even when there are enough information outlets about this disease. About thirty years ago, the stigma of this disease was almost on the same level as having HIV. It was said to have no cure but another thing is that it was not a sexually transmitted disease, neither did a carrier’s condition get worse just by having the disease. Two lovers would stop dating or try to get married as soon as the information about carrying a trait was disclosed as though all their children would come out carrying the disease. A lot of African parents would discontinue a relationship when the information was disclosed because they didn’t want cases of burying children. The truth is out of every four children, one would carry the trait, it is a twenty five percent chance, so what if all the children came out normal or just the trait?

It is sad that a this rare disease has killed a lot of relationships, if two people are brave enough to continue their relationship against all odds and decide to get married, the fate of their children inheriting this disease is in their hands.

There are two ways of early testing of the fetus to know what to expect, the first is using a method called Amniocentesis is a procedure in which the amniotic fluid of a pregnant woman is tested in her third- fourth month of pregnancy for this genetic disorder, a needle is used to withdraw the fluid which is then analyzed for the trait, the other method is using the Chronic Villi sampling which is done in the second month of pregnancy, the mother’s vagina has samples taken out with a needle, the genetic information from the mother is also the same as that of the baby and the information is taken to the lab to be analyzed, if the outcome of the analysis proves that the baby will have the disease then they can make the best medical decision as the deem fit with the help of a doctor.

Proper education and public awareness will reduce the ignorance and common misconceptions of this disease and step up finding possibly permanent cures to this disease.

SO I HAD A BIRTHDAY

2015-03-26T00:28:00.001-07:00

The ladies, we painted the place RED!!!

Hmmm..that time of the year came around again and I turned 31. Yes I said it, its my real age, no camouflage or nothing..I have grown from that skinny QC girl to a full fledged woman...I am thankful for my life, my family, awesome friends , health. Experiences, blessings and lessons.I thank you my darling readers and fellow bloggers for encouraging and inspiring me. I had a pretty awesome day with four of my friends and my brother.

Table Manners

Friends since Elementary school, isnt it so cool that after 22 years we are still friends

Crazy fun filled evening

Birthday girl on her birthday behavior

my shot of Patron..Birthday Tradition

7 DONT'S OF FINE DINING

2015-03-17T02:42:00.003-07:00

It is just plain common sense to go out to eat and have a great time but there is usually that awkward moment when someone in your party/ table decides to do something awkward and you are left with the disgrace of just that plain embarrassing moment. We don't all have like minded friends and since we have to accommodate other people's differences.

1. FAMOUS PEOPLE/ CELEBRITIES: Imagine seeing Kim Kardashian, T.I, Pharrell or Beyonce( i mentioned their names because i would love to run into them somewhere, someday) at the restaurant where you are eating, you are tempted to get up and take pictures or just simply acknowledge them. PLEASE DON'T. They are mere mortals like you who are also feeding the mongrels in their stomach, please let them do so in peace.

2. PRICES: It is not until your friend decides to take you to the most expensive restaurant you realize that your debit card wont work or you haven't paid rent for month, then you start complaining about the price of the desert or a plate of food, if you go out to fine dine please hold your wallet, it should contain enough cash or money on your plastic mode of payment to cover food or tip. You don't dine out everyday and when you do please make it a pleasurable experience. If you ever get invited to a restaurant to fine dine, you can check the menu online which would indicate the price.

3. PHONE CONVERSATIONS: We are all guilty of cell phone etiquette anywhere, it has become a culture, even at social gatherings, those colored screens staring at our faces but at the table please put the phone away and enjoy the meal. I have also decided to minimize taking pictures of my food but how can i stop when the chef prepares meals that look like they should not be eaten?

4. CHILDREN: This rule applies to children under ten years, most of them can only scream and run around, please if they cant be well behaved in public then i regard them as "socially unacceptable" at a restaurant, leave them at home. It is sad to see children running around who have parents that have absolutely no control over them.

5. SEPARATE CHECKS: This is great when you don't want to pay for gluttons who order the whole world and don't want to pay so in order to avoid drama you ask for a separate check, please do this when placing your orders not at the end, it allows for proper bill preparation.

6. RUDENESS TO WAITSTAFF: If there is one thing i cant stand is rudeness towards wait staff, they are people too and also remember that your food is in their hands, you want to eat a proper meal and let it digest properly.

7. TIPS: The people who work at restaurants don't make enough money and most of them depend on tips from your patronage, please be kind enough to give a generous tip if you got great service, don't have $15.75 and tell the waiter to keep the change.

25 GET TO KNOW ME TAGS

2015-03-15T22:28:00.002-07:00

I would love my readers to get to know me on a personal level not just reading the things i write, a lot of bloggers have awesome personalities and fabulous writing,i got his beautiful idea from Megan Has OCD.com. Here i am, read about me

1. What is your middle name?: Sekinat… Shocker right, my parents used to be Muslim.

2. What was favorite subject at school?: English. I used to love reading books and write essay composition

3. What is your favorite drink?: Arizona Half Icedtea and Half Lemonade.

4. What is your favorite song at the moment?: I don’t have a favorite song, I love Old school R & B. Anita Baker is my favorite and “Same Ole Love” is on repeat.

5. What is your favorite food?: I don’t have a favorite food but i love eating great tasting food, i love to cook.

6. What is the last thing you bought?: Gas..

7. Favorite book of all time?: I love reading books, i particularly dont have an favorite books but i love Sophie Kinsella’s work, EDJ and Sidney Sheldon

8. Favorite Color?: My favorite colors are pink, black and white

9. Do you have any pets?:I don’t like animals, i am terrified of them so i don’t have an pets.

10. Favorite Perfume?: My favorite perfume is Dolce and Gabbana Pour Femme

11. Favorite Holiday?: My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, i prefer it to Christmas because it is not commercialized.

12. Are you married?: Nope not yet, but i am dating someone.

13. Have you ever been out of the country, if so how many times?: I have been to Germany and England

14. Do you speak any other language?: I speak English fluently as well as Yoruba and Igbo which are Nigerian languages

15. How many siblings do you have?: I have a younger brother, just one sibling.

16. What is your favorite shop?: JC .Pennys and Kohls. I love H & M for jewellery

17. Favorite restaurant?: My favorite restaurants are BJ’s and Apple bees.

18. When was the last time you cried?: I cried about two weeks ago at a friend’s mom’s funeral

19. Favorite Blog?: I have a lot of blogs i love reading, no favorite one yet though

20 Favorite Movie?: I dont have a favorite movie

21. Favorite TV shows?: Empire, all day everyday

22. PC or Mac?: PC

23. What phone do you have?: I have a Samsung Galaxy III

24. How tall are you?: 5’10″

25. Can you cook?: Yes, I am a great cook. It is not negotiable

What other questions do you want to ask? I will answer.

10 THINGS I LEARNED FROM READING GENTLEWOMAN

2014-12-17T12:21:00.000-08:00

GENTLEWOMAN is an awesome book written by Enitan Bereola.
I believe that every female should read this book and males too.
Here are few things i learned from reading the book

1. Overly caring what everyone thinks is the perfect way to live a meaningless life, but lets face it, not caring for yourself and others isn't living at all.

2. Society cannot function without the presence of a lady. First and foremost children come into the world from a lady.

3. When you chase a man, he is running from you.
4. Do not offer the least and expect the most
5. Class cant be purchased, people should be able to tell what you stand for by the way you carry yourself, not the purse you carry.
6. Pretty might open doors but intellect lets you in don't be stuck outside with your pretty ass.
7. Don't take everything personal, sometimes people's problems with you is really their problem with themselves.
8. Don't correct a stranger who mispronounces a word, instead use the word correctly in your response and that person will get the point.
9. Sometimes the king is a woman.
10, Quit blaming this all on karma. Karma is only a bitch if you are, my friend.

This book also offers, grammar etiquette, the talk about sex, make up and proper grooming, decoding flowers. style. food and nutrition. It is an excellent buy. Ladies. Fix your crown

I think you should look inside the pages and buy it

FOOL FOR LOVE: £50000 ON 99 IPHONE 6S TO PROPOSE TO GIRL FRIEND

2014-11-12T14:52:00.000-08:00

Wonders shall never end. I have seen all sorts of foolishness but nothing greater than what i read today on The Telegraph UK.
A man spent fifty thousand pounds, about 17 years salary for an average worker, to buy about 99 Iphone 6S to propose to his girlfriend, and she said NO.
Sounds like he got 99 problems and she wont be WON.
Dang, that's really cold, truthfully . I don't blame her for rejecting the proposal.

1. How many phone calls does she want to make with 99 Iphone 6 S?
2. Why didnt he buy her a ring? Were all 99 phones supposed to ring?
3. After spending fifty thousand pounds on useless gadgets what will their wedding fund be like?
4. After the wedding what will the marriage be built with? Iphones?

Please if he didnt have anything better to do with his money, he could have just given it to charity, Not all women are after material possessions especially 99 Iphones. With his dumb mind he could have bought her a car.
I need to figure out this individual, i need to buy cheap iphones as Christmas gifts

ROAD TRIP TO TEXAS

2014-10-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

So, last month I took one of those once in a while road trips, I drove to the south from California, it was a 27hr drive to Texas. I had friends to see, actually old classmates and it was fun to see them again. Also my cousin who had just recently moved to Houston. So the route was Tracy

The rental car Ford Focus

Los Angeles Financial District night view

Cactus in Arizona

The border between New Mexico and El Paso Texas

In Houston on the way to Sugarland.

Still in Houston looking out of the window from the passenger's side.

Backroad going to Richmond Texas, looks like those roads on the expressway in Nigerian movies.

Wazobia, my lifesaver, about 40mins from the house but i shopped here like i had not seen Naija food in ages.

ST Louis Sugar, business partner with garri since long time ago. It actually costs more than regular sugar in the grocery store.

El Paso Texas, where the freeway has this color which reminds me of Mexico

I ran into Wowo boys at Belvedere, a Nigerian club in Houston

Class reunion with the girls, it was a swell time

Lakewood Church pastored by Joel Osteen, it was a must go for me while i was out there.

I was impressed by the magnitude of the church and how orderly everything was from ushering to parking, to seating.

I was invited to lunch made by my friend.

I had an awesome time in Houston and i am looking for the next road trip i would be embarking on.

Baby's Age

2014-10-15T01:06:00.002-07:00

I grew up in the time when a child's age was calculated in years. I moved to the United States in my late teens and realized that it was calculated in months until it sounded too much, anything past 24 months is already a pet peeve for me. Why cant you simply say the child is 2? Some say "my daughter is 29 months" i really don't have time to count. Maybe i should tell you my age in months, about 360 months, does that sound appropriate, will your math immediately kick in or would i have to hand you a calculator?I guess i would just look stupid saying so,

A lady brought her cute little son to my job,he related well with me and was very observant, i asked

ME:How old is he?

WOMAN: He is 17 months

There was an awkward silence as i tried to do the mental math in my grey cells which are no longer math accurate, (after college my math skills only applied to counting money)

ME: A year and five months.

WOMAN: Is that 17 months?

I gave her the look, the one that had to put her in check.

WOMAN: I am sorry i don't count it like that.

ME: When did he turn one?

WOMAN: He turned one in May

ME: So he will be two next May.

WOMAN: Yes

ME: Okay, that sounds right

I ended the conversation.

The development of a child in the first few months of the first year and maybe six months into the second year is important, after that please start counting in years, i don't think i would sound right telling someone my son started cleaning up his toys at 50 months.

What do you think?

TWENTY NINE FREEBIE

2014-10-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone. My book of short stories is going a free download October 13th 2014 from 12am - midnight
It was published on March 29th last year, a few days after my 29th birthday, hence the name.
If you have a kindle or any kindle related apps feel free to download it.
There are about 10 unique stories in there
I want to give everyone the opportunity of reading it.
Please don't forget to share with your friends, enemies and families.
Please leave a review let me know what you all think.

THE BOOK TWENTY NINE BY LOLA OSENI.