3: City of Paris

Chapter 3: City of Paris.

Before my arrival in Paris, i had heard so much about the city. I had taken out time to check the maps of the vast city.
Paris had numerous underground Metro lines like Berlin. The roads in Berlin were a little wider than that of Paris. The reason was that Berlin was demolished during the WW2. As a result, Berlin had undergone rebuilding which prompted the German government to widen the roads. But Paris remained what it was from the 18th century, though one could see the maintenances and slow rebuilding of some roads and structures.

Paris was also a city with huge nightlife but since i was still suspicious of Naomi and her motives, i decided that i wasn’t going out that night. We were going to hang in there inside the hotel.

”So how was the sex with the customer who took you away from me” i asked out of jealousy.

She explained that the white guy wasn’t good at fvcking. He was a below average guy who didn’t last for more than a minute before releasing his sperm but would want her to stay and chat with him for an hour or more.

I wanted to be angry over how easily and freely Naomi explained those things but on a second thought, i remembered that she wasn’t even seeing me as a friend. To her, i was just another customer who had agreed to pay and sleep with her.

I liked Naomi. She was young, lovely and naive.

”Where do you live Naomi” i asked after sipping some more Johnnie W.
She took the bottle of whisky from me, kept it on the table and declared that i had had enough for the moment.

”I stay with my friend Lisa in a hotel where we pay €40 every day” she said.
The hotel was not far from where we were.

”Why not find a room somewhere in town and pay for a month since you people live here” i said.
She explained that they were looking for a house but they had only succeeded in finding three bedroom apartments which they can’t afford to pay for.
She also explained to me that she was still balancing €45,000 to the woman who brought her to Paris. It was the same old story Jennifer fed me back in Portugal. I had nearly died in the hands of Madam Grace in Portugal if not for luck and some clever moves.
Here was another one of them telling me that she was balancing €45,000 to someone. I didn’t have that kind of money anyway and even if i did, i wasn’t going to just hand it over to a woman who will use it to sponsor more teenagers to Europe and the crime goes on and on.

”Are you still going to give me the money or should i go” it was Naomi.

”Sweetheart, you are not going anywhere. You are mine now. We are going out together to search for a house for you” i said.
She looked at my face and said nothing.
”The €150 will be part of the house rent when we find a house for you. I will complete the rest but first of all, i want you to live at a decent place where i can be visiting you all the time” i said.

The offer was a new one to her. Peharps she didn’t believe someone could do that for her.
The truth however, was that i needed someone who knew Paris very well. He or she would be leading me around town because i wanted to explore Paris. It was going to cost money naturally.
I was lucky that it was going to be a girl. Some other side benefits would come too; benefits that wouldn’t have been possible if my guide was going to be a man.

”I am hungry, lets go out and eat” Naomi said as she got up and threw her bag on the bed.

We went downstairs and walked Down to Guy Moquet where a new Chinese Restaurant had been opened.
We sat down and ordered for Rice.
After eating, Naomi took me to the hotel where she lived with Lisa, her friend.
Lisa was home when we arrived. She was a tall slim yellow girl of about the same age with Naomi. She was also from the same Edo state of Nigeria as Naomi.

”So it was you who kidnapped Naomi since yesterday and refuse to let her go” Lisa had joked as soon as we seated on the single bed in the room.
We all laughed.

”She is a beautiful angel and she is going to live with me here in Paris” i said.

”Wait! wait! wait! What is going to happen to me if she goes to live with you”. Lisa asked.
I told her not to worry since she was coming to live with us.

Maria called me while i was still inside the hotel room of Naomi and Lisa. She asked when i was coming to Napoli. I told her that i will think about it and get back to her.

I wasn’t going to Napoli anymore, atleast not in the foreseeable future. The major reason for Napoli visit was Maria. She was a woman just like the two ladies who were with me when she called. She was far older than them and frankly i preferred girls between 18 and 24. Maria was above that. Girls between 18-24 were easier to manage. The marriage pressure wasn’t too big on them yet but as soon as a Nigerian girl clocks 26, and above, she won’t think of anything else except marriage.
Since i wasn’t settled yet, it was going to naturally be a mistake if i think about marriage. All along, i had always planned to get married when i am settled back in Nigeria. I liked Nigeria so much more than anywhere else in the World. If i had wanted to get married while still on the run, i would have gone for Jennifer or Ify. Those two were the ones that really came as close as possible.

After spending time with Lisa, Naomi and i left to a small bar in mercadet where her co-workers frequented. There were numerous girls standing on their various spots waiting for men. They all looked as we held hands and walked down to the bar.
Apparently they believed that Naomi had somehow managed to capture one money machine whom she was going to drain and abandon in no distant time.
Little did they know that things never worked that way in the World of Ozoigbondu. Little did they know that i could spend €1000 just to find my missing €10.
It was only a matter of time before they find out that one of them was going out of the street for as long as i remained in Paris.
That was my intention.