Part Forty-Seven (E shock me)

                                    

                                          

Part Forty-Seven
                          
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Hassan's POV 
                          
I groaned and turned over on my bed when I heard the sound of my phone's ringing tone. 'Who could be calling at 2am in the morning?' I thought to myself when I glanced at the wall clock in my room. 
I wiped the sweat that has formed on my forehead and neck region, the breeze seized and the environment became warm, added to the fact that electrical power failed since last night. 
                          
I picked up my phone, musing to myself as to why I didn't switch it off before going to bed. It must have slipped my mind, but I hoped that whatever this person had to say was that important, to require calling my line at this time. David's name was flashing across my screen, so I quickly tapped the green call icon to answer, before the call ended. 
                          
"Hey man, what's up? Why did you call by this time?" I questioned, making sure to keep my voice low to avoid waking anyone else in the house. 
                          
"I was going to wait until morning but I couldn't sleep, I had to talk to someone. And no other person could come to mind except you," he answered. Yet, I sensed that he was having a difficult time in saying anything. 
                          
"Glad to know that I'm the best person to wake up at midnight, even when I'm single," I tried to say something sarcastic to lighten up his mood, but it didn't work out. 
                          
"Man, I really don't have time for those jokes right now. I called to tell you that I saw my father today,"
                          
"What do you mean by that..."
                          
"My real father," he cut me off, successfully giving me the shock of my life. 
                          
His real dad? For all I knew about him, David always claimed that he knew nothing about his real father, that he might as well be dead to him. Now, he's calling to tell me that he met his dad, as in, in person. 
                          
"Tell me everything," I instructed. 
                          
"Can we do a video call instead, I'd like to feel distracted while I'm talking," he demanded, but I couldn't fulfill his request.
                          
"Dave it's still early and quiet around here, what if a member of my family wakes up? Let's do a voice note and chat on WhatsApp, okay?" 
                          
"Alright," he agreed before he ended the call. 
I laid back on my bed and switched on the data connection, the messages flooded in steadily until they stopped. 
                          
We texted each other back and forth until he told me how he came home- brooding and angry at what played out between him and Nnenna, when he stumbled upon his mother arguing with a stranger. After he confronted his mother about it, he was told the truth about the man. I felt for him, I really did because if I was in his place, I don't know how I would have reacted upon finding out that my father has always been alive- someone who I couldn't even care if he was dead. I promised David that I would drop by his place tomorrow after  prayers at the mosque. 
                          
The next day, after the entire family prayed in the mosque, I took dad's permission to visit David, so, he dropped me off at the nearest bus stop to his place to find my way. I walked briskly to the direction of David's house. The torrent rays of the sun was heating up everything on the surface of the earth beneath, including my poor skin. Yes, I'm dark complexioned, but I don't want a skin that screamed 'suffering'.
                          
I pushed the doorbell button twice, and in a minute Ikenna opened the door. He was stark from upper body to his hair but wore red, white and black-striped boxers to cover his junior man. I couldn't even put on just singlet and boxers outside my room in my own house, so I envied that some people could at least feel comfortable in their houses.