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I’ll forever be grateful to the winds that blew me to Ikpa Road traffic light by 10pm on a hot sizzling Friday night. It was the 2nd of March 2015, the weather was unusually hot, I thought I could survive the night without electric fan but nay, my body was dripping in sweat even after I had stripped myself and was wearing next to nothing. I heard my neighbor Okon drive in so I went to talk to him, I asked him if he was putting on his generator so I could tap the current, (we did this often) he replied in the negative.
“It’s a Friday night remember, we’re going to the club, Adora is in the car waiting,” Okon said in a haste, struggling to open his door with hands filled with a bag of groceries and car keys. Adora was his girlfriend turn fiancée, everyone in the compound knew this.
Since I was left with no other choice, I threw on a big polo that was long enough to cover me upto my thighs, one of many things my ex boyfriend left behind, I carried my fuel jerry can and lazily strolled towards the traffic light where petrol and kerosene was being sold at black market price.
I met Udy packing up his petrol/kerosene rubbers and oil bottles, Udy was the fuel vendor, I had been his customer for the three years I lived in the neighborhood.
“It appears you’ve closed for the day,” I said looking as disappointed as possible.
“My dear, things too dey happen for this area,” he said in pidgin English. “Yesterday a place in Udoette was robbed when it was barely 11pm,” he continued, whilst loading his stuff into a waiting tricycle. Udoette street was the street adjacent to the traffic light, it was popular for all the wrong reasons in the book.I scanned the area looking for a possible solution to the undesirable blackout at home. The vendor directed me to another place, I wasn’t lucky as they had just kerosene left. It was as though several forces were against me getting fuel to put on my gen for the night. I was lost in thoughts when a black Toyota Avensis screeched to a halt, narrowly missing the small dirt-filled gutter and splashed dust and sand in the air, the breeze alone sent me flying, I fell down on my buttocks hitting the hard floor.
I tried standing up from the floor, but only succeeded in falling down twice, someone helped me up. Someone who I later found out was the careless driver of the Avensis. “Are you okay?” the man asked pulling me to my feet. I sustained bruises on my left leg and right hand. “You must be kidding? Do I look okay to you?” I snapped, forcefully loosening my hand from his grip.
“I’m sorry about this scene, I can give you a ride home if you don’t mind,” he said as he made to open the door of the front seat for me. “Please let me take you home,” he pleaded.
I didn’t say anything, I just picked my fuel jerry can and started walking home in a limp. I wasn’t about to be hypnotized by a strange reckless driver. I did hear of stories in the past of how one could be hypnotized just by accepting a strange’s ride, especially in circumstances like this where they almost try to hit you in order to gain your attention.
To boost my suspicions, the strange man got into his car and tailed me. I knew he was following me because the road was free of any vehicle, not even a tricycle or bicycle. At a point I slowed down in order to rest my leg, he did same. I was so scared. Who was this dude and why was he tailing me?
Well, I got home, he stopped the car when I branched my compound, my apartment was right inside a large compound of many cubicles, so he didn’t know which of them I entered. I ended up sleeping in my super hot room that night. First thing on Saturday morning, I packed some clothes in my kitbox and headed to my grandma’s house, she lived in a Government Residential Area, at least I was sure of constant power there and treatment to my wounds. Gram, as I fondly called her was a retired nurse.
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I spent two weeks at Gram’s place, I totally forgot about the ugly incidence until one sunny afternoon, I think it was a Saturday, my cousins suggested we go to the pool, I didn’t know how to swim but I followed them to avoid being stuck at home bored.
At the pool, since I was unable to swim, I sat in the mini-bar close to the pool, reading a novel I had brought. The waitress brought me a cocktail. “I’m sorry but I don’t think I ordered for anything,” I said looking up from my book a little bit confused. “No, I did.” A masculine voice behind me echoed. The man behind the voice emerged, he was tall and handsome with the neatest and coolest side buns I had ever seen. He looked familiar, I was sure I had seen him before, the voice sounded so familiar too, I was still trying to place where I had seen him when he spoke again, dazzling me with his deep overly masculine voice. “I didn’t mean to bother you, I’ve been staring at you since the moment you and your sisters walked in. There’s something about you…”
“That is what all of you say, now what about me!’ I snapped cutting him short.
“No it’s not that, I think we’ve met before, I wasn’t sure about that but you just confirmed it, this is exactly how you snapped at me the first time we met, I’m totally sorry about the circumstances that surrounded our first meeting.”
There’s nothing as charming as an apology from a sexy man, okay I just made that up, but whoever this dude was he was deadass charming.
“Well, I think I’ve met you before too but I can’t really remember where, so why don’t you go ahead and tell me what you’re apologizing for,” I said closing my novel, I’d never been so attentive in my life.
“It was the night of 2nd March, I almost knocked you down with my car, you were so pissed that you even refused a ride from me, you trekked all the way from the junction, do you remember me now?”
“Wow, you even remember the date, of course I remember you, but thing is I wasn’t pissed at you or anything, was pissed that I couldn’t find fuel at the junction, the case of you almost knocking me down was just an addition to my frustration that night. Secondly, I don’t jump into strangers’ cars, especially at night, so, apologies accepted.” Unlike me, the words rolled off my tongue so easily, as though I was under a spell or something. I wasn’t someone who’d say as much as three words to a stranger.
“Yeah, I remember the date very well, I’d always remember it, it was my ex’s birthday, I threw a party for her, only for a random dude to show up and propose to her, it was a bad night for me, that’s why I was so reckless while driving home, I was th…”
“Wait! No way! Oh my god, I’m so sorry about that.” I cut in immediately, I had never heard such thing in my entire life, I was amused! I couldn’t imagine what he was going through, coupled with the fact that he almost knocked me down and I was rude to him earlier, I found myself apologizing later on. No one deserved such hurt no matter what.
“Well, the deed has been done, it’s all in the past, I’m Michael, and you?”
“I’m Uka Amaka.”
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That was the birth of a new friendship. That day we spoke at length, it was as if we knew ourselves, I got to know more about Michael in the following months. After being friends for a month and some weeks, he asked me to be his woman, something I didn’t hesitate to accept, he was such a cool person, his humility endeared him to me. He was nice to a fault. I didn’t think any man could be so nice till Michael came into my life, I was always waiting for him to change, waiting for his other shoe to drop, no one can be this good, I kept telling myself.
Sometimes I could be so messed up that I can’t even put up with myself, but Michael kept putting up with me no matter what. “Why are you so nice?” I lashed out one day. He grabbed me by the shoulder, looked into my eyes and said; “Amaka, I’ve lost a good woman before, I lost her because of carelessness and youthful exorbitances, I promised myself that I’d never be so foolish again, you’re my answered prayers, you’re my life, I couldn’t imagine losing you because of little ridiculous insignificant reasons, I can’t even imagine a life without you, my life is vague without you in it, so don’t ever for one second think that I’d leave you, I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
Those way the same words Michael recited when he asked me to marry him two years later, the hall was filled with friends and family, it was my cousin’s wedding and I was her chief bridesmaid. Mike said he won’t be able to make it as he had business out of town, when the wedding reception was almost over I froze in my seat when I saw Mike walk up to the stage where the MC was, everyone knew what was going on except me, he said those words, I didn’t know when I started shedding tears, the screen of the projector that was a slideshow of the couples pictures tripped off and came up with the words “Amaka, will you marry me? Yes or yes.” It had my pictures littered all over it. Seeing my man on one knee and a ring made me cry the more, I messed up my makeup real good. Of course I said yes to him, he was my life, I was lost without him, I had never felt this way towards anyone before,I had written men off, Mike changed the narration, he proved that all men ain’t the same.
It’s another March and we just celebrated our anniversary, alongside a healthy little bundle of joy that arrived last November, our baby boy. We named him Michael jnr, he’s Michaels carbon copy.
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I’ve come to realize one thing in life, we will always find love when we aren’t desperately searching and hey, not everyone is your ex, learn to give people chance.
