Amina locked her bedroom door, clutching the sleek iPhone in her palm. The device felt alien yet thrilling—its glass surface cool against her skin, its weight like holding a year's worth of school fees. She traced the Apple logo with her thumb, marveling at its absurd luxury. *Ifeanyi gave this away like it was nothing.*
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQZQ89dpvIb
She tapped the screen, gasping when it lit up. The village preacher's rants echoed in her mind: *"Phones are white man's juju! They steal your soul with invisible fire!"* She rolled her eyes. The man feared radios, called bicycles "metal demons," and swore electricity was witchcraft. But Amina had read about power grids in physics. This was science, not sorcery.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpPwTrKWXbc
Her fingers fumbled across the icons. She opened the music folder first—rows of foreign names flashed by: *Taylor Swift. Celine Dion. Michael Jackson.* The tinny speakers crackled as she played a song, the English lyrics blurring into a melodic hum. She couldn't decipher the words, but the rhythm coiled around her, strange and intoxicating.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXF3r6bNuFg
Then she found the photos.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7lPqrU96d8
Scrolling through, she glimpsed towering cities—Paris with its iron lattice tower, Berlin's graffiti-clad walls, Nairobi's skyline at sunset. Ifeanyi stood in each one, grinning in crisp suits or casual wear, his confidence radiating even through pixels. But it was the *other* folder that made her breath hitch.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmYHtVrDmTe
Recycle Bin.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2WRqQllGi
She tapped it.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkMVbuCbzMo
The first image loaded slowly: Ifeanyi shirtless on a beach, his back to the camera, muscles rippling like carved mahogany. The next showed him facing forward—broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, his abdomen a defined map of ridges and shadows. His skin glowed under the sun, damp with seawater or sweat, his afro slightly tousled. Amina's throat went dry. She'd seen village boys bare-chested during farm work, but *this*... this was like the Greek statues from her history textbook, if the gods had been forged from fire and cocoa butter.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2hzoTErAJv
Her fingers moved on their own, swiping to the next photo—then the next. Each one more daring than the last. A low heat pooled in her belly. She glanced at her door, then yanked her bedsheet over her head, cocooning herself in the glow of the screen.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgPWbCI39IO
Under the fabric's veil, the world shrank to just her, the phone, and the hammering of her heart. She traced Ifeanyi's collarbone on the screen, her own fingers brushing lightly over her neck, then lower—
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyiY0pXwV7
***Tap-tap.***
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1PD8xmyY6M
Amina jolted, nearly dropping the phone. The sheet slipped away as a second knock came at her window. She shoved the iPhone under her pillow, her pulse roaring in her ears.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIPekxiQlYK
She yanked the curtain aside.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJQvcllQJ39
Emeka stood outside, shirtless again, his lean frame silhouetted by moonlight. Two pathetic chest hairs curled above his sternum—*two!*—like misplaced spider legs. Amina scowled, torn between slamming the window and yanking them out for interrupting her.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyRiIXWFos
"What?" she hissed.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvug3eoq9xz
Emeka grinned, oblivious. "I saw your light on. Wanted to check if you—"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmgwCqcfQT
"Shhh!" Amina glanced toward Ifeanyi's hut, then Grandma's. "You'll get us both killed!"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡniGuFdg8WI
But she opened the window anyway.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJC5srslswI
Two Boys, One Window
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnvyScBcaDE
Emeka's eyes zeroed in on the sleek iPhone box on the floor like a vulture spotting carrion. He bent to pick it up. "*Oya*, what's this?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD8NC3ml3l7
Amina snatched it from his hands, shoving it under her pillow. "My dad's new phone. I just kept the box because... it's cute." Her voice was tighter than a drumhead.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7n5W2Dqkq
Emeka wiped biscuit crumbs off his mouth with the back of his hand, squinting at her. "*Cute?* Since when do you care about phone boxes? Let me see the—"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Qejh5a1Ej
"*No!*" She kicked his shin lightly. "Why are you even here? And stop eating my biscuits like a starved goat!"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ121F8Urjy2
Emeka popped the last biscuit into his mouth, chewing obnoxiously. "*Mchew!* You're *oyibo* now? '*My biscuits*'—as if I didn't share my *akara* with you last week."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCaRoZp3p5h
Amina folded her arms. "That *akara* was stale."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvUo6nKiYjd
"Liar! You ate *three*—"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDr6X23155m
***Tap-tap-tap.***
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1qZh9bllgN
Both froze. Another knock at the window.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmbd8pQQZxC
Emeka's eyes bulged. "*Oshit!*" He dove under the bed, scattering biscuit crumbs like breadcrumbs for a very obvious trail.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeu1sJMDDPm
Amina yanked the curtain open, expecting Emeka's nosy little brother. Instead, Ifeanyi stood outside, his grin sharp enough to slice through the night.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZsSjJenMKC
"*Amina*," he purred.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIy7BCTG1Lo
Her stomach did a backflip. "Ifeanyi! What are you—?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKQKIKUvEA
"Shhh." He pressed a finger to his lips, then dragged an old wooden garden box—half-rotted and still clumped with soil—beneath her window. He dumped the dirt unceremoniously onto her mother's prized hibiscus, stepped onto the box, and hoisted himself up until they were eye-to-eye.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyFlX6mlgju
Amina recoiled. "Are you *mad*? My father will skin you alive if he sees you!"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV58xBUQn82
Ifeanyi leaned on the windowsill, unfazed. "Then you'd better let me in."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡywSxmK0H5m
"*No!*" She glanced toward the bed. Emeka's foot was sticking out. "I mean—not now. It's late."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8QLmVdxNVO
Ifeanyi's gaze flicked to the biscuit crumbs leading to her bed like a criminal's confession. His smirk deepened. "*Ah.* I see."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6fkWLwlcod
"See *what*?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcU9Qs3UkCE
"Nothing." He held up his hands, but his eyes glittered with mischief. "Just wanted to check if you liked your gift."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJud2GfpdYf
Amina's cheeks burned. The phone under her pillow felt radioactive. "It's... fine."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgN3jTZAQJv
"*Fine?*" Ifeanyi clutched his chest in mock agony. "I steal my father's iPhone, risk exile to the village of *No Electricity*, and all I get is *'it's fine'*?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKeuBe48djs
Amina fought a laugh. "You *stole* it?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXOfgQEEhNB
"Borrowed. Permanently." He winked. "Did you find the *special* folder?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv3LRSYyvyZ
Her pulse spiked. Under the bed, Emeka let out a muffled *"Eh?!"*
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP5PAI2o24N
Ifeanyi's head tilted. "Was that a rat?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVFrZQKPNKs
"*Yes!*" Amina slammed the window shut—but Ifeanyi caught it, his fingers curling around the frame.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZMSUklxYEg
"Wait." His voice dropped, suddenly serious. "Tomorrow. Meet me at the river. Noon."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJMpVuP4o5g
"Why?"
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxZSvGJMKFB
"You'll see." He released the window, stepping off the box. "Wear something... *less*."
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsAJGErfaSy
Amina gasped. "*Ewu!*" She hurled a pillow at the glass, but he was already gone, his laughter floating back like a challenge.
78Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd0FYX9GWgf
Under the bed, Emeka emerged, covered in dust and betrayal. "*Special folder?!*"
ns216.73.216.25da2
