By Mawuena Agbozo
Hey, wait up. I froze immediately I heard his voice. I felt like a high voltage electric current just run through me. All my senses and body fluids halted for a moment.
It was as though junior officers had met and were saluting their topmost officer. I had been sneaking glances at him during the whole of Bible study. As much as I was listening to Pastor Ephraim teaching on giving your life as a sacrifice to God, my eyes couldn’t stay away from that angle of the church.From where I sat, he had long legs nicely fitted in well-tailored trousers. Which from afar seemed to have the popular Presec finely pressed lines popping out. His head was a mass of curled hair that looked like a sumptuous plate of Indomie. The shiny nature akin to the precious fried egg you usually top up your Indomie.His neck sat gracefully on shoulders that were just the right size of broad. Not too wide like a ‘Mr. Ghana’ one, neither was it skinny like the ‘I don’t have food’ ones. He was indeed a beauty to behold. And to top up the fineness, he was paying rapt attention to what was being taught. Taking notes, nodding his head continually and muttering some words under his breath. I tried to focus on the pastor, but you could say my old ways just probably idolized another fine boy.
Today was my first day stepping away from my old lifestyle. I had tired of the constant breaking myself into tiny bits. Distributing it to several people like a water distribution tank taking water to parched lands.All of me wanted to stop and speak to him, but I couldn’t bring myself to, knowing my immediate past. I understand the whole “old things are past and all things are new” applies to Christians, but maybe I am too new and messed up to get that privilege? Much as I found myself willing to wait and speak with him, my legs obeyed a different command. As I weaved through the throng of people in a bid to disappear from his sight. With a few more steps, I was almost successful when a little girl came running to her mom and tripped me.I calculated my fall to happen in about the blink of an eye and had prepped my mind to quickly pick myself up, dust off and move on. Blink, blink, blink. I didn’t fall, what happened? Looking down to ascertain why I didn’t fall, I saw one of the prettiest little girls I’d ever seen smiling at me with an outstretched cute hand waiting for a handshake.I had always loved children and hoped to have mine someday, but today I couldn’t bring myself to love this little girl. I was too dirty to touch her innocent little hands. What if I ended up polluting her with my already dirty former life? Just maybe there was still a portion of that life leaking through my fingers?I smiled back at her and made to move. But it was as though, the little girl had been sent. She blocked me from moving, I tried going the other way and she did same. I slightly raised my eyebrows, shook my head, then squatted and did what I naturally do when I meet extremely cute little children. I pulled her cheeks, shook her outstretched hand which I figured would be tired by now, then asked her name.Cherry? That’s a pretty name for a pretty little girl, where’s mommy? She pointed at a very beautiful woman with natural hair held into a loose pony with a smile as wide as her daughter’s. She had chocolate skin that glimmered in the dull light.You know that shiny gleam when you eat chocolate that’s slightly melting? That’s how her skin was. And she had the nicest set of teeth I’d ever been privileged to see. Even though I was usually complimented about mine, hers was by far the nicest. I muttered under my breath, “this is a real church beauty”.I waved her hi and made to move on when I saw him. You remember the fine boy we described earlier? Well, it turned out Cherry and her beautiful mom were his trophies if I should say so. It then dawned on me that Cherry’s mom had been two seats behind me and was close behind me when we closed. So Mr. Fine boy was reaching out to his wife, not me.Ouch, that hurt so bad. I gave a sheepish smile and waltzed out of the building, making sure to hold on to the little pride I had left.