once upon a time

 

I looked at my wristwatch for the umpteenth time. Women keeping men waiting is a norm, true. Still, I couldn’t for the life of me now phantom how I had tolerated the extent to which she took liberty with this tradition. And for six good months. No doubt, those six months had been good, really good. Recently however, I had the feel of  a man who’d been rudely awakened from bliss. Couldn’t deny to myself that I hadn’t always suspected it to be just what it was – a dream.

An average of twenty-five minutes. That was about how long it usually took her to get from her dorm room on the second floor to our rendezvous – the closest mini-park; even when I’d called her an hour before hand. It really was barely a stone throw away, and yet she’d now kept me waiting for forty-five minutes. In the old days, when I was still head over heels in love, I would have by now grown frantically worried.

“Had she tripped while coming down the staircase?”

“Had one of my ex-girlfriends finally given in to jealousy and accosted her at just this moment?”

“Or had one of those idiot drivers who buzzed around campus at unbelievable speeds buzzed into her and she was right now writhing in pain at the health center, unable to communicate to me her distress?”

Blood Bond

Whenever they talk about it, they say I was raped. But I don’t agree. When I tell them that, they say I’m in denial.

The truth is that there was no physical coercion; no clothes were torn off. In fact, he never touched me.

And also, he was a gentleman. I guess that was the problem. He conducted himself with the utmost propriety. It wasn’t that he was trying to be deceitful, that’s really how he was.

We met in a most ordinary manner – at a bus stop. I’m not sure what was different about him. I turned and he was there. Thus began our whirlwind romance.

The hilarious thing was how everybody loved him. He was sweet. The kind who loves your mother and plays with your younger siblings. And he was a looker.

I’m lying on the floor, bleeding. He is sitting in a chair and smiling at me.

Fight & Flight

It wasn’t meant to sting, but it stung nonetheless. Not the whispers behind my back, not the thinly concealed mockery, but the words flung at my face. An accusation begging denial. My breathing comes in short gasps, and I cannot find the words to refute them. The accusations hang in the air, and I let them, sagging my shoulders in shame.

My sigh is one of despair. This is all I can do to stop the groan of sadness rising up within me. My first thought is to run and hide, but that won’t do. Nor will my next thought – to throw caution to the wind and fly like a kite without a home.

“You think too much!” he yells at me, as he unsuccessfully tries to slide his hand between my thighs.
“You need to let go and experience things…” his murmurs meet my unyielding lips.

Fifteen Knows

Blood_Rose_by_SmokingM8

 

“So, you like this boy?”

“No dad. I’m in love with him.”

Chris gave a short laugh.

“You say it like there’s a world of difference between the two.”

His daughter was now frowning her upturned face at him.

“You know, during my time we never used “in love” except when it was a really heated relationship. And yeah, when we were also much older. You know, marriage kind of older.”

He put on a smile just as Christy’s smile burst into her most outrageous girly laugh.

“Dad, you sure can’t be serious.”

She laughed again, while he tried very hard to keep the smile on.

“Come on! I sure won’t be talking marriage for like another ten years!”

living memories (I)

The Mercedes was standing on its nose. Staring back at me through the windshield was the freshly resurfaced asphalt of the 3rd mainland bridge. Somewhere at the back of my mind, the thought registered, that normally, if I looked to my right I should be able to catch a glimpse of the only swimming pool at the University of Lagos.

I felt the equivalent of a mountain slamming into my butt, thighs and lower legs all at once, and my upper body swinging back into a vertical position. The highway was again spread out before me, and there was this blue sedan careening drunkenly right in front of the Mercedes. It’s tail end was right beneath the front bumper, as if it had shot out from beneath….

my faithless lover

How can U love me
And not know me?
Pray for my success
Yet ignore my prowess?
Blade in my heart;

I bleed behind my smile.
Love still, just like I lie.
It is for you I sought to win,
But your love stings like sin.
Why persist in this fight?

To become victor & alone?
But already I’m all alone
Cos’ my dreams are not yours
And for me, defeat lies in yours.
Two hearts, worlds apart

Bound by love; crushed by same.
I desire glory; your fear is shame.
I would risk it all for that one chance.
You’d rather accept what is; not chance.
Your creed: to fantasy, give not flight.

For my every win, U review every fail;
A thousand cannot but leave a trail.
I would freshly set sail, bless me.
Build ships instead, you tell me.
Faithless love, where is your light?

To love & be loved
Every human has craved.
Withers for most to mere fantasy
Or merely a tool to mime ecstasy.
For me? Breath of life; light to my path.

My Bestfriend Girlfriend

The account which follows is purely a work of fiction and so also are the characters in it. The author insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that any resemblance to an actual event or individuals is pure coincidence. All that follows is entirely the product of my imagination 🙂

Nkechi is a lil crazy; I’ve always known this. But there are times when I wish she’d just keep her madness to herself. Like last night.

She isn’t exactly my girlfriend. Oh well, she kinda is. I mean, how do you describe a girl who says to you “I love you” with very erratic frequency, but steadfast consistency over the space of four years. Back when we were in school, she once whispered it in my ear while my parents were less than a foot away.