Just a few minutes away from the airport, Chuka and Folarin checked into the hotel most early travellers often used, after making sure Seyi successfully booked an Uber home. They got two separate rooms, but Chuka went with Folarin to his first. He knew he couldn't leave him alone just yet. As Folarin settled in, Chuka checked the fridge for alcohol. Nothing. This apparently wasn't that kind of hotel. It was more like an upgraded motel. Chuka picked up the intercom and dialled the number that was indicated as the bar on the sticker beside it. When someone picked up, he asked for a bottle of brandy. It was too late to eat anything.
He put the phone down and looked over at Folarin. He was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring into thin air, his back to Chuka. Chuka went over to sit beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Discuss or distract?"
Folarin looked at him. "What?"
"Do you want to talk about it, or do you want to be distracted until morning?"
Folarin sighed. "I don't know, man."
Chuka let out a sigh of his own. "Okay wait, what's the likelihood of her just dying like that? Out of nowhere?"
"People die out of nowhere all the time, guy."
"Yes, but that's usually from underlying problems they didn't know they had. Momsie actually knows what's wrong and she's treating it."
"But she's stubborn. She's not that religious with her check-ups. Even when I go over to take her, a lot of times, she has one excuse or another. One meeting she has to attend; one dispute she needs to resolve." Folarin let his head fall into his hands. "I should have been more insistent. I should have forced her."
"Eiss! Why are you talking in past tense? Are you okay?", Chuka chided.
"Chuka, I'm fucking scared."
Chuka paused. He was very afraid too but expressing that wasn't going to do either of them any good. "Who called before? To tell you?", he asked.
"Somebody from the hospital. I'm guessing a doctor or something."
"The person don call you again?"
"No.", Folarin said, then checked his phone again just in case he might have missed something.
"That's a good sign nau. If anything had happened, they would have called back to tell you."
Folarin thought about it and let himself be soothed by the fact that that actually made some sense.
"Okay so, if your phone doesn't ring again between now and when we get there, then it's safe to say there's nothing to worry about until we see for ourselves. Abi?"
"I guess."
"Nothing like "I guess". Dem for don call you." Someone knocked at the door and Chuka got up to get it. "And if they couldn't reach you, they would have called me. We're both emergency contacts on her phone; you know that.", he said as he opened the door and took the brandy he ordered at the door and paid for it.
Folarin let out a deep breath as he rubbed his head. "I guess you have a point.", he said, relaxing. "But what the hell is she even doing in Akure. She didn't even tell me she travelled."
Chuka headed over to the table where the glasses were laid out. After making sure Folarin wasn't looking, Chuka picked up Folarin's phone from the table, where it was charging and discreetly put it on 'Do Not Disturb' so his phone wouldn't ring out the whole night. Even if there was bad news, there was no use getting it while they were still several miles away.
"It was probably impromptu. Maybe work stuff."
He poured them both a good amount of the brandy and handed one to Folarin. "Guy relax abeg." Chuka said. "No go dey tink tink make you sef collapse. I go just leave you for here, carry mumsie go cruise."
Folarin let out a small laugh. "Fool."
He already felt a little better.
Chuka flipped through the channels as he drank, trying to find something for Folarin to watch while he tried to fall asleep.
"Oya nau." Chuka said, putting the remote down and heading towards the door.
"You dey go?
"Yeah."
Folarin hesitated. "You for chill small.", he said, looking at the TV.
He was trying to play it cool, but Chuka knew it meant Folarin didn't want to be alone just yet. So, he circled back and went back to the chair by the bed, took his shirt off, and settled into the soft armchair, drink in hand.
"You get cloth for bag wey I fit wear tomorrow bah?", he asked Folarin, suddenly realizing he was planning to go on a trip with absolutely no luggage.
"Sure." Folarin replied. Thankfully, neat freak Seyi had ensured Folarin got the clothes he had worn throughout, dry-cleaned at the hotel before he packed them back in his suitcase.
They sat quietly, drinking and watching the television, laughing at intervals. Shortly after, Folarin started to nod off, the glass still in his hand. Chuka got up and took it from him, pouring the rest of the liquid into his own. "Guy, sleep."
Folarin mumbled something sleepily then lay down on his side and zoned out. Chuka sat back in his chair. He would just finish this movie and then go back to his room. It actually wasn't bad and Annie was a supporting actress in it. Everything else aside, the woman was packing one hell of a bunda and it was made to be gawked at.
Two hours later, Chuka woke up freezing. He realized he must have fallen asleep at some point and the AC had made the room extremely chilly and incompatible with his shirtless-ness.
Sleepy and cold, his own room suddenly felt like it was a thousand miles away and here was Folarin's bed, that still had a lot of space in it. So Chuka went over, got in under the covers, and lay down on the other side, with his back to Folarin's. He looked at the time on his phone. It was 2am and the flight was for 7. He could still catch a few Z's before they had to leave for the airport.
The next morning, Folarin woke up to an odd sensation. He felt like he was wrapped in something. It wasn't just the covers; he knew what those felt like. This was different. He felt an oddly comforting heaviness around him and a warmth in his back that was a nice contrast to the cold from the AC. Folarin opened his eyes and looked down to see Chuka's arm around him, the sound of his sleeping breaths in his ear. He could feel every heave of Chuka's chest against his back as he filled his lungs with oxygen. What the absolute fuck? They were spooning. Chuka was spooning him. A wave of embarrassment washed over Folarin. His first thought was to throw the arm off him and promptly get out of the bed. But that would wake Chuka up and lead to an uncomfortable confrontation or just a generally awkward situation. It was very unlikely he'd done this on purpose. He had probably been feeling too lazy to go back to his own room and the chair must not have been very comfortable to sleep in.
Maybe I can carefully move his arm without waking him.
But Chuka had never been the heaviest sleeper so the likelihood of pulling that off was slim. Best not to risk it. So, Folarin decided to let Chuka wake up 'first' and fix the situation. He would shut his eyes and pretend to still be asleep, then make a movement or a sound that would wake Chuka up before him. Folarin shut his eyes and prepared to execute the plan. And then Chuka moved, taking in and letting out a deep sleepy breath and pulling Folarin into an even closer snuggle, burying his face in his neck.
Folarin froze. He looked down again at Chuka's tattooed arm wrapped tightly around him, the soft breaths from his nose tickling his neck. Folarin wasn't sure what to think because, it felt...good. It was odd. Embarrassing. Masculinity-threatening. But good. Unlike anything he had ever felt before. Maybe just a few more seconds., Folarin thought. And exactly a few seconds later, the alarm Chuka had set went off, rousing him slowly awake. Folarin snapped his shut with a quickness, immediately pretending he was fast asleep. Chuka blinked his eyes awake and was hazy for a few seconds before he suddenly realized what he'd been doing and immediately took his arm off Folarin. What the hell? When did that happen? He got off the bed and walked around to Folarin's side, before tapping him. "Fo', wake up."
Folarin fake-yawned and sat up.
"5 don nack. Make we sharply baff." Chuka said, picking his phone up from the bedside table and shutting the alarm off.
"Oya nau." Folarin got off the bed and grabbed his travel bag to get clothes to change into. Chuka reached in and grabbed a polo shirt and a pair of boxers. He pressed them to his nose. "Clean abi?"
Folarin looked at him. "What if they weren't? Na so you for sniff my balls."
Chuka kissed his teeth as he got his key off the table and headed to his room.
Shortly after, the guys headed out. Chuka made the arrangements for his car at the airport parking lot and then went to join Folarin at the departure hall. The flight was 30 minutes late, which gave Chuka a chance to buy a few clothes at one of the boutiques in the hall, but soon enough, they were on their way to Akure.