HER GREATEST ACCOMPLISHMENT

Chapter 7: master of lies

He had never seen her that angry. She dashed to the door and locked it pushed Dave down with all her might. And sat right on top of him. It was a confusing moment for him. The mind didn’t want any part of it but the body was already reacting to the stimuli-warmth emanating from her thighs was forcing his pintle to stretch. The illusion of self-control was still making him believe he was safe. He just lay there motionless as she punched him in the face then she started punching herself that's when his senses came back. His pintle collapsed. He was being set up and fell right in the trap. McAllen smashed herself on the wall tore her panties and set free one of her breasts. Then the real problem came in; she started screaming on top of her voice cuddled in a corner with her head between her legs. Tears filled his eyes. Dave got on his feet knelt in front of her pleaded for his life. Regrets on why he couldn't do one simple thing; listen to his parents on handling women. He knew no one was going to believe him. For two years in college he was already appearing in the administrations black books for s******g, body shaming and cyber bullying. When the door was kicked open Mrs. McAllen ran to the aid of the security officers. Dave was apprehended spend a night in jail but before then he was beat by a mob of angry students. His family showed up the next day and the lecture was all about "I warned you" he lost his dignity and even friends. His girlfriend never showed up. And twitter was all about him. The psychological torture was more painful than the physical torture. When McAllen decided to drop the charges he thanked her dearly but he lost his place in school. It was the best he could hope for especially when he was risking two decades in prison.

******End of flashback****

"Let's go see her", Dave said to Nick.

"What will you tell her?" He asked sounding suspicious. Dave just smiled, "Never mind you are a master of talking yourself out of anything aren't you?"

"Learnt from the best", Dave said picking up the key.

"After you bro", Nick said giving him the five knuckles.

"Okay engine warming up in two"

The drive was slow and noisy. Old school Hip hop blasting the speakers of Nick's Toyota premio. Nick was busy on his phone trying to recollect his thoughts and identify a direction in life. He was still confused on how he really felt about Tania. She wanted them to get married, at his age being tied on a girl for the rest of his life was just ridiculous but he also did not want to lose her. Girls like Tania were not easy to come by. And he was planning on marrying though not soon like she expected. They were few kilometers away from Tania's when Dave brought the car to a halt by the roadside.

"What? Why did we stop?" nick asked looking surprised.

"Yoh dude?" Dave called out from the window.

A young man in his late twenties and a beautiful woman were walking on the road holding hands. Looking so in love. Nick envied what they had. It was what he wanted with Tania but never had.

"Holy s**t! Is that Dave Carter?" James shouted happily.

Dave got out of the car. James and Anita were standing by the roadside. Nick was still seated on his phone trying to reach Tania.

"My man" Dave said giving James a brotherly hug.

"Been long how are you dawg?" James asked.

"Yeah man and who's your friend?" Dave asked checking out Anita who was so quiet.

It was a good question. In fact a perfect one to be asked at a time when Anita was suspecting him. James was going to manipulate the answer to buy her trust. Because there is one little secret he knew that most men don't know or they may know but don't use or maybe use it unknowingly. Women like what they hear. Which explains why men are pathological liars. Although women have come to learn the "introduce me to your friends as a wife" Trick it could save a man from being dumped. James needed all hands on deck even the antiquated of gimmicks.

"Not a friend dude this is my wife Anita", He said his right arm around her waist.

"Congrats man am...am still searching" Dave said in his defense before James asked. They all burst into laughter.

"And who's your friend?"

"Nick, we actually going to see his girl. She is grumpy you know how women can be", He said the last part in a low voice.

"Okay man we'll catch up some time later how long you around?" James said giving him his phone.

"I live here work in a small night club called the clove you can stop by sometimes", Dave suggested busy on the phone.

James was still playing safe. He stole a glance at Anita before answering. She nodded to give him the go ahead. One thing she had learnt not to do was controlling a man. Her personal discovery was that once you create a rift between a man and his friends you take away a part of his social life. And an idle mind is a devils workshop except in this case it will be a cheating workshop.

"That'd be cool bro catch you later", James took his phone back and the two continued with their evening walk.

The rest of the drive was silent. The two gentlemen lost in their thoughts. Dave was coming up with a plan on how to save his master. While the master was trying to find a way he could settle with her. His family and the reverend had already on his neck pressuring him to dump her. When he told his mum she had lost her job his mum said the meanest words he had ever heard her say. In fact his mum’s words were the reason he left home again after promising never to step foot there to crush in his father’s penthouse. They were ringing in his head every time he saw her picture so he ditched his phone. Tania might have been from a humble background but she was a strong independent black woman for her age she was better than many ladies he knew. His mum calling her a learned schnorrer was out of hand even for a woman who gave birth to him. It made him even wonder why women were fighting for their rights when they couldn't stand each other. No matter their relationship he was expecting respect to start among them so that men can learn from them.

"We are here now remember am doing the talking and I may turn on you a little but it's all a script got it?" Dave asked pulling over Tania's apartment gate.

"Affirmative" He said politely.

She wasn't expecting anyone to visit. Her phone was off since the other day. Whoever was planning on reaching her was to surprise her. Unless it was a job offer no surprise could have relieved her tension and bad mood that was surrounding her life. Not even nick himself. Tania was starting to learn self-control around him so that he did not control her even without being around. When the door was knocked she froze for a minute before went to get it. As usual Nick was lurking somewhere in the corridors embarrassed enough that he couldn't face her so Dave was doing the reconnaissance.

"Hey" Dave said. She had opened the door ajar blocking his entry.

"Hi where is he?" Tania asked raising her voice.

"Yeah about that... Can we come in and talk he'll be here when you promise not to over react"

"Deal"

Of course it was a lie. As a woman she couldn't promise not to overreact. Women and anger or what some call "noise" come from the same bloodline the only thing you can hope is to find one who knows when and why to froth. That's the reason their life expectancy is so high as compared to men. They don't keep their anger for long. The moment a shoe starts pressing on their toes they start talking unlike men who keep it in to protect their ego. Women may cry out scream and shout which psychological evidence proves helps to reduce tension and mental health disorders in the long run. On a good day you might find many women in a rage room than men. But cultural beliefs have come to alienate men and crying. Even the reverend once argued that since Jesus never cried-which raised a lot of concerns in the congregation since he was born like a human and normal human babies cry at birth-so there was no reason for them to cry. He called it weeping. One brave sheep mentioned Jesus had cried on the cross that was the last time anyone saw him in church.

Tania went to the kitchen to prepare them coffee. They were guests and self-control had nothing to do with extending courtesy to a man she loved dearly. Her keen observational skills possessed by most women in conjunction with their "Sixth sense" had already shown Dave was a little bit wasted from a hangover. They needed coffee to wake them up such that they didn't have to lie beyond limits.

"before drinking the coffee the sugar is enough we still need you two around NCDs are real", She warned taking a seat opposite the two gentlemen.

The talking and posture all portrayed her confidence and independence. They were seated in front of her not the other way. A couple of decades ago she could have been asked to use the floor instead but things had changed. And she was embracing the change by showing courage and authority. Dave and nick looked like little children in the headmistress's office save for the cups of coffee that they really needed to get sober. She cleared her throat to signal "The spokesperson" and Nick's personal lawyer, therapist, wingman and fashion designer that the floor was all his. She was going to “deal with Nick” later. The whole surrounding was ego depreciating for a staunch male chauvinist.

"We got drank yesterday and he misplaced his phone and just so you know I asked him to take a couple of shots", Dave said avoiding eye contact.

Even nick couldn't look at her in that moment. Her eyes were sparkling with a mixture of anger and sadness and he was the cause of both. He ditched her when she wanted his support the most and to make matters worse he had no convincing reason why he did it. Normal men could have said they were on an impromptu business meeting out of town or something like I got called to a three week seminar last minute. But he never worked. His father had worked a few years back so that Nick didn’t have to.

"Am listening", she said making a figure four with her legs.

The two looked at each other and then at her. They had not practiced up to that point but they were expecting her to forget the deal and shout or scream or even sob. Perhaps self-control was working but for how long? Or they were just good at telling lies.

"That's all", Nick said.

"Care to explain why you haven't checked on me for three good weeks?"

"He was visiting his grandpa in the village you know the network", Dave chirped in.

"Okay am not mad anymore", she said in relaxing tone.

They were left even more confused than before. Nothing is that easy. Convincing Tania that easily was a sign of a war hidden behind her warm smile. She was still angry and Nick had to find out why or else she was going to get angrier because he couldn't. Confusing right? One reason was that scary and now he was imagining what two could do. Dave stayed with them for thirty or more minutes and left for work. Nick would have loved to follow him but a man can only help you far enough. The rest of the path was to be treaded alone which was convenient because it involved s*x. Self-control lost the fight what a perfect way to ‘deal’ with a man. The master of lies was winning.