I still remember how you used to make me feel dumb; my mouth becomes mute whenever I see you, and I feel stuck like a statue whenever you walk past me. Often, I would imagine myself spending quality and romantic time with this person, but whenever Mum screamed my name and I opened my eyes, I would be faced with reality, waking up from my slumber of thoughts.
Going out to get something, mum would warn me never to talk to guys, and as an obedient child that I am, I'd ensure to always form a straight when I walk past this person. In my country you can never hide from a guy who has an interest in you; he will always find you no matter what.
Tony and I met in the weirdest of situations, and then I was still in high school. Mum didn't want me mingling with guys, so she had to send me to a girl's school. And often she would be like
"You will get pregnant if you get close to guys." Now, these were her words; she would always ring them in my ears to the point that when she said them, I'd assist her in completing the statement. Back to my love life.
Coming back from school on a cozy quiet evening with my friend, I heard a voice
"You dropped your money," the voice said.
Money? I wasn't holding any money in my hands, so how come I dropped something I wasn't holding? "So impossible," but then I needed to see who was teasing me like that. I turned slowly to find out who it was. Behold, the moment I turned, I saw this dark-skinned, tall guy with the most beautiful set of teeth I've ever seen; they were so white that I would see myself In them.
"Is this a human?" I questioned myself as I stood stuck to the ground; my eyes started rolling the moment I noticed he was walking closer to me. I imagined the ground opening to shallow me because this moment was what I couldn't handle.
My eyes were fixed on him as he took those steps slowly, and that smile he developed started giving me goosebumps.
"Hi," he said snapping his finger
"Hi," I replied, being waked from my slumber of thoughts.
"How are you doing?" He said flashing that dazzling smile again.
"I'm doing great," I replied, holding my skirt tightly.
"My name is Tony and what's your name"
"I'm Tari" I muttered feeling my body vibrating nervously
I could tell he noticed my nervousness and decided to let me continue my journey home. I got home with this wide smile on my face as his name echoed in my head.
"Why don't you just call me Mrs Tony already?" were the next words that came out of my mouth when I greeted my mum.
"Mrs Tony!!!" My mum said looking puzzled.
Immediately I heard the voice I knew it was the wrong person that heard my thought.
"Who is Tony?" Mum asked with her eyes fixed on mine.
"Tony is an incredible character from a novel," I replied, biting my nails.
Mum bought the story and I was the happiest human at that moment. The following day, I passed that same route hoping to see Tony, as I frequently turned my head, searching for him; unfortunately, I didn't.
"Maybe he isn't staying around," I said, walking slowly as I kept turning my head around. If I was gonna spot him.
I kept on passing in that direction till one fateful day, Tony and I met again, and this time around, we had enough time together as he walked me to a spot closer to my house because of the fear of my mum (you can say it's the beginning of wisdom).
We exchanged our final pleasantries for the day and went our separate ways, after that day, Tony and I started seeing often. Seeing him every day makes my heart beat faster and slower at the same time. I could share anything with him, and the good thing about him is his listening nature; he became my safe space because he listened to whatever I had to say.
The more I spent time with Tony, the more my heart kept racing and telling me I'd found something special. As time went on, I realized Mum's words about boys kept fading away as I found a boy that I was so obsessed with.
Tony made a little difference in my life; I started seeing things from a different perspective. I don't know if the word "boys" has a different definition because my mum's definition and what I was experiencing with a boy were entirely different.
The more I got close to Tony, the more I never wanted what we had going to end. You can say Tony and I were a match made in heaven. I kept seeing my lover in secret till the day he announced he was moving to another city.
"I'd be going to Lagos state tomorrow," he said.
Immediately, I felt my heart stop for a while because I couldn't imagine myself not seeing him for a single second but then the reality before me stated that I wouldn't be seeing him for God knows when.
After saying those words, he hugged me tight, so tight that I couldn't breathe. Then he kissed me, those soft lips of his that tasted like sweet candy. Now that was my first kiss.
Though the moment didn't last like I would want to but I was happy at that moment in my life; I felt a sense of belonging and a perfect match that was meant to be for a specific period in my life
Thanks for reading 🧡