TWENTY-FOUR: TWO HEARTS, ONE LOVE

For the next two months, Nneoma and Richard saw a lot of each other. They stayed together most weekends reluctant to part. Sometimes, they dined out but most times they were indoors, enjoying one another's company at Nneoma's residence. They shared jokes, problems and life in general.

On Sunday evening, relaxed on Nneoma's settee, they exchanged jokes and funny experiences, the epitome of a happy couple.

'I was very fond of having tea and bread for breakfast,' Nneoma told him, eyes alight with amusement. 'And there came a period of bread scarcity in town. Most stores were short of bread. My mother presented biscuits to me in place of bread and I refused because, I normally dunked my bread in the tea so the biscuits did not work.'

Richard smiled.

'I was around four years old then,' she continued. 'Chika was still a baby. That morning, my mother was busy and I wanted bread by all means. My mother gave me N 10.00 to go to the nearby store and see if they had bread.