In a rage, Ame jumped down into the water beneath them, causing a huge splash of salt water to settle on her and Philip with some entering his partially opened mouth which was his shocked reaction at her impulsive behaviour. "You dare to, Philip Omagbemi!" Ame cried angrily as she hit him with her feeble blows continuously until he overpowered her and held her in an embrace. She began to weep as he rocked her. The waves continued to pound on them as Ame continued to weep. Philip carefully led her out of the water and onto the shore where he made her sit down. Her clutching at his shirt pulled him down with her and so he made her lie down with him on the cool sand of the beach.  "I'm sorry, my love. Please forgive me," he pleaded as he patted her back affectionately. He knew he had touched a raw spot and that had hurt her deeply.  Of all the things she hated most, it was the fact that she was an Obasogie. That n

Dapo was quite taken aback by her speech. He merely opened his mouth and closed it without any word coming out of him. From behind them, someone called Ame's name and she turned and then squealed in delight as she ran past Dapo to get to the caller.   It was Philip Omagbemi!   The transformation in Ame was rather amazing. She flitted like an excited schoolgirl as she got scooped up and twirled in the air by her Romeo. Dapo watched' horrified as Philip took Ame in his arms and gave her a long, passionate kiss.    He didn't wait for the kiss to end as he turned back angrily the way he had come. The humiliation was too much for him to bear. He knew it was time he left before the love struck Ame burst his bubbles.    Dapo went hastily to the party area and soon found his mother amidst her clu

The passengers boarding the next plane were told to line up before another counter. Philip too followed them and joined the short queue. He had been travelling for the past ten hours. It seemed like years ago since he left the Murtala Mohammed International Airport back home in Nigeria. He had checked in early at the 'MMA', as the Murtala Mohammed International Airport was called for short, so as to familiarize himself with the rudiments necessary for his journey. He checked for the umpteenth time to make sure that all his documents and scholarship papers were intact and gave a nod of satisfaction when he confirmed that he was ready for the journey. He didn't have much luggage, unlike many of the passengers travelling with him. How some people saddled themselves with unnecessary frivolities! A woman with more luggage than four able-bodied men could conveniently carry was arguing heatedly with the officials, and causing a scene, claiming all

Philip was startled. Crime?! He shuddered visibly. He looked at the young lady who had introduced herself as Shua again, took in the grim appearance of the armed guard beside her and licked his dry lips. "I don't understand," he said simply. The lady, who was probably in her early thirties, nodded, then pointed to Philip's bag which she had placed on the table before them when she came in earlier. "This...your bag..." Shua said and Philip, who didn't know whether that was supposed to be a statement or a question, merely nodded in affirmation. Then she continued, "Bad thing found in your bag." She didn't seem to make sense. "Bad thing?" Philip repeated foolishly as he looked at her strangely, and then at his bag. What was she talking about? Was this why he had been detained and made to miss his flight?! "What bad thing?" he asked, trying to maintain his cool. He could tell that these were a non-Englis

Ame was beside herself with grief. She refused to be comforted. It was well over four weeks now that Philip had left the shores of the country and he was yet to get in touch with her. Her father had made enquires to ascertain that there had been no plane crash and even though there had been none, Philip had not yet reported at the Charles Darwin University, where he was on a full tuition paid scholarship to study neurosurgery for three years. It was as if he simply vanished from the face of the earth. About five days after Philip's departure from Nigeria, when Ame had not heard from him, it had taken the combined efforts of her father, Segun and even Osahon, as well as Ego, who was calling incessantly from London, to stop Ame from jumping into the next available plane and heading out to Australia in search of her lost love. Only Rosa had been unaffected. As far as she was concerned, Philip's absence was a good riddance to bad rubbish. She pretended to empathise