MY JOURNEY IN LIFE.
EPISODE 3
After checking into the room we spent the first 7 minutes in silence, cooling off the tension. When we were both relaxed we continued with the silence, waiting for the first person to make a speech. Whenever I looked at her, she would pretend to be looking at something else to avoid ma-king eye contact with me. And when she finally turned to look at me, I would do the same. So about 10 minutes more was spent in silence. Then I started talking.
“So how’s the hooker thing going?”
“What? What hooker thing?”
“Come on girl, I’m not trying to nas-ty or something. I’m just trying to make a good conversation here.”
“And calling me a hooker is your idea of a good conversation? I think I better get going right now in case you think you can just say anything to me because you paid for this room.”
“Oh no, you don’t have to do that! Okay, I won’t say anything again till we leave. It could be dangerous out there. You could have told me you didn’t want to talk, and I would just keep shut.”
“You don’t get it do you? I’m not a hooker!”
“Seriously? Then what the hell were you doing out there with the hookers by this time of the night?”
“This time of the night? It’s just after 11pm, and this isn’t my first time of returning home late. I return home after 10pm on Friday nights because my fellowsh!pholds a prayer meeting to pray and commit the weekend into God’s hands. We dismiss by 10pm. And what just happened today doesn’t take place this early. For some reason it did today and I happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Thank God I didn’t fall prey into the hands of the police.”
“(Smiling) Yeah, thank God I was there to rescue you.”
“(Laughs gently) You’re not serious. And you, what were you doing there? You went to pick up a hooker right?”
I didn’t want to tell her why I was there because of shame. After all, we’ll go our separate ways in the morning. So why should I begin to let her in on such information.
“Not really. I felt so bored at home. I had been slee-ping all day and there wasn’t any sleep left for the night. So instead of just lying on my be-d like that, I decided to……..”(Ogechi interrupted)
“I know! You decided to go there and get yourself a woman to keep you company till morning. ooOOhH’ Guys!”
“That’s not what it was. I just went there to have a drink and then, you know, feed my eyes a little.”
“Oh yeah? You expect me to believe that?”
“Of cause! How on earth could a man who went to take home a hooker be slee-ping on a ru-bber chair in a semi bar with a bottle of water in front of him? Haven’t you thought of that?”
“It’s possible you just fell asleep, or you could be waiting for a girl you had alre-ady concluded arrangements with.”
“No! None of that happened! Just like you, I was at the wrong place at the wrong time okay?”
“Okay, I believe you. (Turns away from me and whispers) wrong place at the wrong time my foot. (Speaks out loud) I nee-d to take a shower.”
“Yeah me too. You go first. When you’re done, I’ll do same.”
She got into the bathroom while I l@yon the be-d waiting for her to come out so I could also get in and take a shower. After we both took a shower, I asked if she wanted anything to eat before going to be-d. She didn’t, neither did I. There was no pajamas whatsoever so we went to be-d with the cloths we had on. Before we went to be-d we watched TV a little. She sat on the couch while I l@yon the be-d. It crossed my mind to switch and let her have the be-d in case we sle-pt off, but the be-d was so soft and comfortable to lie on, plus, I paid for the room and that was the first time I would be spending the night in such a comfortable place since I got to Enugu, so I should get all the comfort there was to get. I was still contemplating on whether or not to make the switch when she stood up from the couch and turned off the TV. Next thing I heard was, LET’S PRAY. I said okay and stood up without hesitation. We held hands, sang some worsh!psongs, and then prayed. After the prayer, she at once made way for the left hand side of the be-d and lied down, not minding if I was gonna sleep on the be-d or not. I wasn’t really sure of what to do, but I decided to lie on the be-d with her, expecting to get an objection from her but instead, she turned and faced the ceiling, closed her eyes and said goodnight. Good night, I replied. I was so happy she made no objections because I really wanted to sleep on that be-d.
By 6am in the morning I heard a tap on my shoulder. Wake up, wake up, she said. I stretched myself a little and went back to be-d. Wake up, wake up, she kept saying. Then I woke up still feeling sleepy. What is it? I asked. It’s morning, she replied. This is just 6am; allow me to sleep a little more. Besides, today is Saturday and the pay for this room expires by 12pm. So relax. Saturdays was usually my day off from my N5000 job. I didn’t know about her but I as-sumed she would also be free on Saturdays no matter what her occu-pation was. If she had somewhere to go, she could go ahead and leave. Why wake me up? She got up from the be-d and stood beside it, looked at me and said; LET’S PRAY. I didn’t say anything more. I got up and joined her and we prayed. After freshening up she wanted to make use of b©dy cream but there was none there. Oh! She exclaimed softly. What is it? I asked.
“I can’t go out without applying cream to my b©dy.”
“You shouldn’t worry about that since you’re going home from here. You’ll do that at home. Or will you skin change its color if you don’t do so now?”
“St©p kidding! I’m not going straight home. First I’ll go cash some money from the ATM, and then to the market to buy some stuff for the weekend. I might not return home soon enough depending on the queue at the ATM and the total time I might spend in the market. So I must apply cream on my b©dy to avoid some stuff like that. You wouldn’t know. You’re a guy.”
“Yeah, right. You’ll have to go home then and do so before proceeding with you plan.”
“Good idea, but my house is nowhere close.”
I didn’t know what else to say to her so I just proffered a solution that never existed just to appear to be kind and concerned.
“My house is just close by. I would have taken you there so you could make use of my cream if I had one. As it is now, na only Olive Oil I get.”
“(Cuts in) That will do! At least half bre-ad is better than none.?
“(My eyes wi-de open)What? Olive Oil? no no no. That is definitely not good for the skin”
“Don’t worry. It is my skin. I’ll wash it off before the day is half spent. I just nee-d oil on my b©dy. So let’s go. Let’s not waste much time. There is a whole lot more to do today besides going to the market. I also have to cook, clean my house and wash some cloths”
“Ehm…, ehm…, ”
“What is it? You don’t want to go now? If you don’t want to go now, just let me know so I can be on my way. ”
“(I stared at her, looking confused and then said); it’s not that I don’t want to go now o o, but eeh…..,,”
“But what? In fact, I don’t know what the matter is with you oo. I think I better get going. Thanks for everything.”
She made way for the door of the room and I rushed towards her, held her back and said; you see…, the truth is that I don’t have a place to stay for now. I just got into town ba-rely a month ago and have not gotten an ap@rtment yet. If I had known you were going to buy the idea of ma-king use of the Olive Oil, I wouldn’t have mentioned it at all. I was just pretending to be kind and concerned. You don’t have a place to stay? She asked. How then do you survive here? I mean like, where is your baggage? Where do you sleep, where do you have your bath and all that? Wait a minute, you live in a h0tel? No I don’t, replied me. That place you saw me last night is where I spend my nights. I then narrated everything to her and she took pity on me.
“So how soon do you plan on getting yourself an ap@rtment?”
“As soon as I have saved up enough money for that, let’s say two months.”
“(She went into de-ep thoughts for a moment snapped out and said) I live alone. I can’t bear the thought of letting you continue like this when I can do something to help. That would be against my believes. But that will only happen if you promise to be of good character during the period of your stay in my house.”
“Haha, don’t worry girl, I can take care of myself. I’d rather sleep on the streets than in the house of a girl who will have me live by her rules. What do I look like to you? Your kid brother? Kill that! I’m a big boy, and big boys don’t cry. I’ve been in this position before and I survived. Thanks but no thanks.”
“Hmmm, I see your ego is getting the better p@rt of you. I wish you would just un-derstand that I’m trying to help. Come on, you’re a guy, and I’m even offering to let you stay at my place. Isn’t that strange enough? It could be a very big risk because I don’t know you and what you’re capable of. But none of those matters because I’m doing this for Christ’s sake and I believe God will save me from any danger should you turn out to be undeserving of this kindness. But I can’t path ways with you just like that after what you just told me. Allow me to help. Just be of good behavior.”
“I don’t nee-d your help g..i..r..l. I can take care of myself. And I must tell you to be careful of the kind of kindness you show to people you don’t know. I could just be a member of an occult group seeking whom to kill and sacrifice to keep the money flowing, and then you show up like this with such offer? You would have succeeded in ma-king things quite easy for me you know? Be careful! I warn you. You don’t know who I could be.”
“Whoever you couldn’t be last night, you won’t be within the next two months. Besides, if you were anything that ugly, you wouldn’t be ex-posing yourself would you? So let’s go.”
(After much convincing words from her, I suc¢v-mbe-d. But I had alre-ady agreed to her offer in my heart the moment she voiced it out. Just that I didn’t want it to look like I was waiting for her to say that. It also amazed me that a girl would take a guy into her house to live with her without even knowing him. And that she said she was doing for Christ’s sake. Or could it be that she’s an agent of darkness looking for guys with bright future to destroy? Well, I’ll find that out soon)
“Seems you don’t want to let it slide. Okay, I’ll do as you say. And know for sure that I didn’t ask for this. This is so-rely your choice. I’m just pla-ying along because you said you’re doing it for Christ’s sake. I wouldn’t want you go against your believe.”
“(Murmurs) Egotistical fellow!”
“Say what?”
“(Sharply) Nothing. Let’s go.”
We left the h0tel room to the ATM. She withdrew some money and we boarded a bus to her residence. You are welcome to my humble abode. I hope you find it very comfortable. By the way, where are you belongings? She asked. I c@m£ here with just a school bag and I keep it in a sto-re at my office. I’ll go over there later on and get it. She raised her shoulders and said; ok then, let me prepare you breakfast before I head to the market. Thanks, I replied. She quic-kly prepared tea for me with left over bre-ad that was there. While I was consuming the bre-ad, she went into the bathroom with some set of creams and cosmetic. I wondered what would happen to her if she didn’t apply cream for one day. I used that time to survey the house she lived in. It was a self-contain. She had a set of electronics and a refrigerator in it, a be-d big enough for two, a re-ading table and wall hanger. I wouldn’t know what she had in her bathroom and kitchen. This kind of houses cost a lot in Enugu, so I concluded she must be a rich girl. After a short while, she c@m£ out of the bathroom glowing like a diamond in the sky. I stared at her in an unusual manner, and she noticed. Immediately, she dropped those cosmetic in its place and said; I’m heading for the market now. See you when I return. Okay, I replied. She got to the door of the room and st©pped suddenly, turned towards me and asked; I forgot to ask what your name is.
“oOhH! My name is Jesusboy”
“Like seriously?”
“Yeah, that’s my name.”
“Okay, enough with the joke. What’s your name?”
“I’m not joking. That’s my name”
“As in, that’s the name your parents gave you at birth?”
“Nope! I gave it to myself”
“And why would you call yourself Jesusboy?”
“Because Jesus is the one I claim.”
“(Kind of short of words for about 5 seconds) Okay Jesusboy, see you when I return from the market.”
“Okay, goodbye.”
She left shaking her head and smiling. I quic-kly got up to an-alyze her from the window. That was when I realized that she was a beauty to write about. She had long black hair, amazing curves and was about my height, probably my age. Her fair skin glittered at ma-king contact with the light of the sun. Her slow and gentle steps made the guys around take a second, third, fourth and fifth look at her. When I noticed these things, I was glad that I was gonna be staying with her for a while. I watched her until she boarded a bus to the market before I returned to the breakfast she had prepared for me. I couldn’t st©p thinking about her afterwards and couldn’t wait for her to return so that we could enter into some real conversation.
MY JOURNEY IN LIFE.
EPISODE 4
The evening met us eating vegetable soup together which she had prepared on her return from the market. While eating, we discussed about many things. My eyes were fixed on her face, as her smile made me want to tell all the jokes in the world. She treated me like a brother. She had no fear of me and attended to me as though it was her obligation to do so. I had never been in that position before. I only imagined it. Right then I found that there was a remarkable difference between imagination and reality.
We finished eating and she took the plates away. The TV set was on, the sound of the ceiling fan could be heard clearly, and she was talking to me and laughing all the while. She was a very joyful being. But in all that made sounds in that room, all I could here was echoes of angelic voices miming to heavenly songs as she was talking. I wasn’t listening to her. I could only see herl-ips moving. The allurements of herl-ips almost led me to overcome my conscience and fears. Just then, my phone rang, and my brief mind travel ceased. I answered the call. It was my mother calling to check up on me. I told her everything I hadn’t told her yet except that I shared the same room with a girl. A very pretty one at that. After the call, Ogechi and I conversed a whole lot. I told her about myself and she did same. It continued until about 10pm when she asked me to join her in prayer, after which we retired to be-d. (On the same be-d)
The next day was a Sunday. We prayed and prepared for church service. She was a member of Christ’s Embas-sy. I followed her there. On arrival, almost everyone we c@m£ across st©pped her to say a thing or two before letting her proceed. I bec@m£ more like a b©dyguard, having to wait until she was done with whoever she st©pped to converse with. It seemed to me like she was really popular there. When we got to the main building of the church, she handed me over to a pretty female usher who took me in and gave me a seat. I didn’t know where Ogechi had gone to. I expected her to sit right next to me in that church. Soon enough, the chairs in my row was filled and she still hadn’t come. I got my mind off that and concentrated on the brother who was taking the opening prayer. Midway into the service I couldn’t still l@ymy eyes on Ogechi anywhere in the auditorium. When the choir was called out to minister their song, I looked, and there she was among them. She hadn’t told me she was a chorister. The choir director introduced the song and handed the mike over to guess who; Ogechi. She was the lead singer. When she started singing, first thing that stood out was her angelic voice which made its way at once to my b©dy system to awaken slee-ping cells and tissues. While the congregation was getting blessed by the lyrics of the song, I was all the while admiring and adoring Ogechi. She was simply awesome. Her uniqueness kept unfolding as the days pas-sed.
After service, almost everyone complemented her for her performance during the choir ministration. I had to wait until all that was over. She introduced me to a couple of the brethren there as Jesusboy. They kind of marveled at me for bearing such name. And whenever any of them asked why I beard that name, I would say; because Jesus is the one I claim. Some of them would laugh to that while some others got short of words. However, they would all call me Jesusboy afterwards. They asked Ogechi how she got to know me, and she said; I met him two nights ago un-der an unseemly circu-mtance and he turned out to be a good acquaintance. I know that in no distant time he’ll be up and serving in one of the units here in church. She turned to me and said; right Jesusboy? Definitely! I replied. It will be my plea-sure to make myself useful to the Lord in this great house of worsh!p. They were all glad to hear me say that, and they commended her for bringing me to church. To some extent, I felt she was proud of me because of the speech I just made. I wouldn’t know since I never inquired.
In the evening that day, I wanted to hang out a little since I was alre-ady used to doing so every evening before I met her. I asked her if she had anything doing that evening and she said no. why? She asked.
‘I want to hang out a little. I was wondering if you would join me’
‘N..a..h., I’ll just stay at home’
‘Look, I know you’re reserved and all that. I also am, but once in a while you nee-d to loos£n up. And in case you’re afraid ‘What happened on Friday night might repeat itself, don’t be. I’ll be there to protect you if it does’
‘(She l@ythere on the be-d looking at me without saying a word, probably wondering what made me think I could save her from the police) Don’t worry. Go ahead. I’ll join you some other time’
‘Come on Oge, it will only take a while. I’ll be so bored hanging out all alone’
‘Then find some girl out there to keep you company. Like you said, it’ll only take a while’
‘That would have been a good idea if there was some girl out there as beautiful as you are. A pretty girl like you by my side will give me a memory to hold on to. You never know what you might derive from this time out. Just come with me, I beg you’
She still didn’t yield to my plea, but as soon as I went on my knees, it was like I had cast a spell on her. I couldn’t believe that the girl I had spent quite some time trying to persuade to hang out with me just cons£nted helplessly. As soon as I knelt down, she immediately jumped from the be-d and said; I WILL COME WITH YOU. She said that three times without me saying anything. I was greatly amazed! I kept that in mind. That seemed to me like her soft sp©t, and I planned that I would use it whenever she grew tough. So I rose to my feet and thanked her for agreeing to come with me. She told me to give her some minutes to change into something nice. She went into the bathroom and c@m£ out in a red go-wn that didn’t go down below her knee level, with precious stones glittering all over the go-wn.
‘You look extra ordinarily gorgeous’ I remarked.
‘Thank you’ she replied blu-shing
I stood there for 30 seconds staring at her with a grin without saying a word. I think she loved the way I was admiring her because she smiled all throu-gh the time. Then suddenly she raised her eyebrows, cl@pped her hands a few times and said; ‘HELLOO? CAN WE GO NOW?’ I gave her my hand, she took it, and we left.
AT A SIT OUT
‘What do you care for?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. Anything will do’
‘Okay. Waiter! plea-se get us two bottles of Legend Extra Stout’
‘Legend Extra Stout?’ She exclaimed.
‘Of cause! Thought you said anything?’
‘(Aggressively) Y..e..a..h.., but not alcohol’
‘Oh’ really? How was I supposed to know that? So now, what do you care for?’
‘You’re really crazy you know? I’ll take malt’
‘Waiter, plea-se change of order. Two bottles of malt instead. And tell that mallam to bring suya worth N1,000
‘Okay Sir’ said the waiter
‘Thank you’
‘Why did you change your order too? Don’t you want to drink Legend again?’ she asked.
‘I will if you will’
‘I don’t take alcohol’
‘Well, same here’
‘Why then did you order for it in the first place?’
‘Because……..(waiter interrupts)
‘Here’s your order sir’ the waiter said as he dropped our order on the table.
‘Thank you. (Turn to Ogechi) So Oge, you never told me you were a chorister’
‘Yeah, it never crossed my mind to do so. But now you know. You have a problem with that?’
‘Absolutely not. On the contrary, I love music, as well as singers. Especially singers like you who can pitch high’
‘Great! Thank you. I wouldn’t be wrong to as-sume you’re a chorister would I?’
‘Not exactly. You see, I do music, but I’m not a chorister. I’ve never been in a church choir or music group before, but I’ve recorded quite a number of songs’ I said, feeling like a star.
‘Wow! You’re a musician! Small world! I’ve always dreamed of the day my church choir will start doing studio recordings. I look forward to the day our songs will go global and t©uçh lives. We have so much to offer, and it has to go beyond the four walls of the church to the world at large. I just don’t know how soon that is going to happen. My choir director doesn’t seem to be as eager as I am to see that happen. And I’ll have to wait until he does’
‘You’re wrong. You must not be in a church choir to make that happen. You can always go solo if you are that eager to reach out to the world. Who knows if your choir director will ever buy the idea of getting your choir to record an albu-m? Maybe all he wants is just to minister in church. I’m not certain about that anyway. But that’s a thought you should take to heart’
‘(Ogechi pondering on what I just said) It had crossed my mind to do so. I just didn’t find the right motivation’
‘It’s finally here isn’t it?’ I said confidently.
‘I guess it is. But I’ve never recorded a song before in a studio. It’s all going to be new to me’
‘There’s always a first time. Besides, that’s not what you should be worried about. You should be more concerned about the writing and composing aspect of it’
‘That’s the problem’ she said sadly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Song writing is not really my thing. That’s the reason why I couldn’t do without my choir director. He writes our original songs, and I give melody to it’
‘That won’t be a problem. I’ll do the writing for you. It is a good thing you can create melody. And I’ll also as-sist in that, if at all you nee-d my help at any point’
‘How come you can do all that when you’ve never joined a church choir or music group before?’
‘I’m sorry you may have to direct that question to G.O.D’ I said, feeling funky.
‘Are you serious about this or you’re just pla-ying pranks on me like you did with the Legend Extra Stout thing?’
‘Of cause not! I’m serious. Like I said; I’ve recorded quite a number of songs’
‘I’d like to listen to your songs. If what you’re saying is true, then let me listen to them.
‘You still don’t believe me right? Okay doubting Thomas. My songs are all on the internet. I’ll give you a link to one of them. If you like them,
I’ll give you links to the others. Are you re-ady for the link?’
‘Just a second. (She reaches for her pus and brings out her blackberry z10) Okay, go ahead’
‘Title is ‘RISE & SHINE’; http://mb .naij. com That’s the link’
‘Okay Mister! I’ll do so before I retire to be-d tonight. Let’s drink up and get going. It’s getting pretty late’
‘Alright Miss! Whatever you will, that shall I do’
‘You’re a really funny guy’
‘And you’re the cutest girl I’ve ever seen’
We stared firmly into each other’s eyes after I made that statement. It was as if I had dropped the bomb. The longer we looked each other right in the eye, the closer our faces got to each other’s. Oh’ my gosh!!! Was this really going to happen?
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 5