Tina remembered how her friend Prisca came to her house and deceived her into following her to see a friend, claiming that they wouldn't stay long—just for a few minutes.
Prisca begged, "Please, Tina, come follow me; let us go see Sharon. I promise you, we won't stay long—just for a few minutes. Please, don't say no."
Tina agreed, and she followed Prisca out of her father's house, heading to see Sharon. Prisca knew that if she had told Tina the truth about considering dating Patrick, Tina would not have agreed. Tina had kept saying that she didn't want to have a boyfriend. She didn't want to lose her virginity or disappoint her poor mother, who had been struggling to feed her and her two younger brothers ever since their father abandoned them all and ran away with another woman, leaving them without any trace of his whereabouts.
As they stepped out onto the village road, Prisca stopped a bike man and dragged Tina to get on the bike with her before Tina could change her mind. When they arrived at the apartment where Sharon lived with her elder brother, Tina scanned the front view of the house, already feeling uncomfortable. She saw a dark man step out of the house, walking up to the compound exit gate to meet them.
Tina could feel her heart beating loudly in her chest as she saw the guy approach them, and he hugged Prisca excitedly as they greeted each other before he left. Tina became very uncomfortable as she noticed the way the guy had stared at her with desire before he left. She told Prisca, "Prisca, why don't you just call Sharon on the phone instead of us going into the house? Just tell Sharon that we are outside waiting for her."
Prisca already knew that Sharon was not yet at home, and she replied to Tina, "No, Tina, we have to go inside the house to wait for Sharon to arrive first."
Ignoring the suggestion to call Sharon again, Prisca walked up to the front door of the house and unlocked it without even knocking for the homeowners to step out. Tina gulped as she stood aside, staring at Prisca, blaming herself for following her without knowing the way back to her own village.
As Prisca opened the house door to go inside, she paused and said to Tina, "It's not safe to stay out here alone, Tina. Come inside. It's Sharon's brother's house. Let's wait for Sharon to arrive."
"Sharon's brother's house?" Tina frowned as she repeated Prisca's words. To the best of her knowledge, Prisca had never told her that they were going to Sharon's brother's house. Tina had thought they were going to Sharon's family house to see her.
Tina frowned, subtly blaming herself for following Prisca; she didn't even know the way back home to her father's house, and she finally followed Prisca into the beautiful house.
Prisca was thrilled to see Sharon's brother, Patrick Scott, a handsome black man around 25 years old, wearing only shorts as he stepped out from the kitchen and into his living room, not expecting to see Prisca. Patrick's eyes lit up when he saw Tina too. He was just wearing a boxer and hadn't anticipated Prisca visiting his house with Tina.
Patrick remembered that he had tried wooing Tina several times, all to no avail, as Tina kept rejecting him, telling him she was not interested in a relationship. Prisca immediately rushed up to give Patrick a hug, which made him fall backward onto the nearest blue couch behind him, causing Prisca to sit on his thighs and unintentionally harden his member as she stared at him sweetly.
Patrick's eyes were glued to Tina, who stood nervously beside the entrance door. As Tina refused to move away from the door, Patrick excused himself from Prisca, saying, "Prisca, why not sit on the couch? Let me properly welcome you and your friend. She looks so uncomfortable, and I'm still cooking too."
"Okay, Patrick," Prisca replied sweetly, finally moving away from Patrick's thighs to sit on the next blue couch beside him.
Patrick stood up from the blue couch—he had about seven blue couches in his living room—and smiled as he walked over to meet Tina, who was still avoiding eye contact. Patrick remembered how he had tried to woo Tina multiple times, but she always refused and ran away from him.
Patrick had spoken to one of his younger sisters, Sharon Scott, about having her talk to Tina on his behalf.
Sharon attended the same government-owned school as Tina, but she refused. As Sharon was corrupt, sleeping with different men at the age of 16, appearing more mature than her years despite being slim.
Sharon bluntly told him, "Me and Tina are not friends, and you don't expect me to walk with that local champion. So I cannot speak to her for you."
Patrick remembered begging and bribing his younger sister, and she finally introduced Prisca to him. But in Prisca's mind, she thought maybe he wanted a relationship with her. Patrick recalled seeing Prisca and Tina walking down their village road together whenever he drove home to see his parents in his village. He lived outside their village in a nearby city, which was different from Tina's.
Patrick had even asked Prisca, "Prisca, I want to ask you, what about that fair-skinned yellow friend I used to see you walking with on the village road?"
Prisca thought he was just inquiring and replied, "You mean Tina Praise? Tina doesn't have time for guys or any relationships. Just forget about her. Tina is always at home taking care of her brothers or doing her homework; I cannot bring her here to see you."
Patrick knew that Prisca thought he wanted a relationship with her, but he was aware that Prisca was a cheat, like Sharon, sleeping with different men for money too. He didn't bother asking Prisca any further questions about Tina, but he kept giving Prisca gifts to give to her friend whenever she visited, telling her to try to bring Tina around whenever she came to his home again to see Sharon—and here she was.
Patrick finally approached Tina and spoke to her, "Hi, pretty lady, I'm so sorry that your friend doesn't want to introduce us so we can get to know each other better. I'm Patrick Scott. Come, have a seat."
Patrick gestured for Tina to sit on one of the seven couches in the living room, but she remained rooted at the door, staring at his face and remembering that she had seen him before. He was among the guys who had been disturbing her for a relationship.
Tina looked at Prisca's face, but Prisca averted her gaze in jealousy, rolling her eyes away and focusing back on Patrick. Patrick gestured for Tina to take a seat, but she still stood by the door, not replying until she heard him repeat, "Have a seat, please."
Finally, Tina moved away from the door and walked to sit on one of the couches in the living room that was closer to the exit door. She felt afraid and scared to be in a man's house.
Patrick smiled as he watched Tina finally sit on one of his blue couches. He was still wearing only his boxer, his chiseled masculine chest bare.
Prisca stood up from the blue couch and walked up to meet Patrick. She held his right arm with both hands and told him, "Why not leave my friend alone, Patrick? Let's go inside and enjoy ourselves since Sharon isn't home yet?"
Patrick frowned and stared at Prisca's face. He knew that all Prisca ever wanted from him was sex and money, and he had refused her advances several times, only asking for Tina. Yet Prisca didn't want to give up, hoping he would date her.
Patrick finally excused his arm from Prisca's hold and told her, "No, Prisca, why not make your friend feel comfortable? Let me go inside and get you both some drinks."
Patrick swiftly excused himself from Prisca's embrace and went into the corridor to put on his clothes and get some drinks for them.
