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.*
36Please respect copyright.PENANA9ePVddWsrs
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANA1dQvWI5uRR
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAStp1SBnvza
Then she found the photos.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAMU9bIGw1vf
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAyiVFAQxmTl
Recycle Bin.
36Please respect copyright.PENANASArHWPBGii
She tapped it.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAMCwDxaMXlQ
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAoBfYvgN0Qp
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAM6EwBLJwrX
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—
36Please respect copyright.PENANAenrhhY5Jcv
***Tap-tap.***
36Please respect copyright.PENANAGwbLdzjP9f
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAa6Y8Vz3lfm
She yanked the curtain aside.
36Please respect copyright.PENANApwNYdI5xDR
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAI8ixBZjfb5
"What?" she hissed.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAdFxt9v7L4h
Emeka grinned, oblivious. "I saw your light on. Wanted to check if you—"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAOfNVXcVTUG
"Shhh!" Amina glanced toward Ifeanyi's hut, then Grandma's. "You'll get us both killed!"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAMEnXbl6Mi1
But she opened the window anyway.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAAaxEXuhh8W
Two Boys, One Window
36Please respect copyright.PENANARNfj9Z7WDW
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?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAKQLci0UQ59
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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAdyFic3m5Mk
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—"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAToMj3RVQkE
"*No!*" She kicked his shin lightly. "Why are you even here? And stop eating my biscuits like a starved goat!"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAkbauCp7wEz
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."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAOk83sz2MQQ
Amina folded her arms. "That *akara* was stale."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAZivhpsXCi7
"Liar! You ate *three*—"
36Please respect copyright.PENANA7b1RN3A7hA
***Tap-tap-tap.***
36Please respect copyright.PENANAWLuuYJgx0i
Both froze. Another knock at the window.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAB4D55VVjfn
Emeka's eyes bulged. "*Oshit!*" He dove under the bed, scattering biscuit crumbs like breadcrumbs for a very obvious trail.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAEB5Oa5Pv86
Amina yanked the curtain open, expecting Emeka's nosy little brother. Instead, Ifeanyi stood outside, his grin sharp enough to slice through the night.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAm7bjcT6Ir0
"*Amina*," he purred.
36Please respect copyright.PENANABwNmREmmgl
Her stomach did a backflip. "Ifeanyi! What are you—?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAfkjMulxwHe
"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.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAcHeZWxgpEu
Amina recoiled. "Are you *mad*? My father will skin you alive if he sees you!"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAW3fAbErd0G
Ifeanyi leaned on the windowsill, unfazed. "Then you'd better let me in."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAWGB8fJW8s3
"*No!*" She glanced toward the bed. Emeka's foot was sticking out. "I mean—not now. It's late."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAG1NpQEwgI6
Ifeanyi's gaze flicked to the biscuit crumbs leading to her bed like a criminal's confession. His smirk deepened. "*Ah.* I see."
36Please respect copyright.PENANA7mBT6LzRow
"See *what*?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAbizHtK1l8I
"Nothing." He held up his hands, but his eyes glittered with mischief. "Just wanted to check if you liked your gift."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAK4wq4CFcn5
Amina's cheeks burned. The phone under her pillow felt radioactive. "It's... fine."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAWrx0CzgJXa
"*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'*?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAdddzlrcbJz
Amina fought a laugh. "You *stole* it?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAuC7jd0XytM
"Borrowed. Permanently." He winked. "Did you find the *special* folder?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAYcwNTTfrQ3
Her pulse spiked. Under the bed, Emeka let out a muffled *"Eh?!"*
36Please respect copyright.PENANAecChgraHNX
Ifeanyi's head tilted. "Was that a rat?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANANk7emYa5Z9
"*Yes!*" Amina slammed the window shut—but Ifeanyi caught it, his fingers curling around the frame.
36Please respect copyright.PENANA6BsIWNvNbB
"Wait." His voice dropped, suddenly serious. "Tomorrow. Meet me at the river. Noon."
36Please respect copyright.PENANAw68rHs37m7
"Why?"
36Please respect copyright.PENANAfZu5QJTzy0
"You'll see." He released the window, stepping off the box. "Wear something... *less*."
36Please respect copyright.PENANACbIm6u7fBG
Amina gasped. "*Ewu!*" She hurled a pillow at the glass, but he was already gone, his laughter floating back like a challenge.
36Please respect copyright.PENANAhmQMLgoPyz
Under the bed, Emeka emerged, covered in dust and betrayal. "*Special folder?!*"
ns216.73.216.166da2