TABLE FOR TWO

This romantic story centers on some unfounded traditional beliefs regarding marriages between the Esan people and the Bini people of Edo state and how these beliefs creates hurdles for two love birds

Chapter One

 

v = u + at

s = ut + 1/2 at^2

v^2 = u^2 + 2as

 

I looked up at the black board as uncle Kingsley wrote the formulas on it, the letters seemed like they were dancing in my eyes, reminding me of the choreography for Michael Jackson’s thriller. Just above the letters was a sub heading, it read 'Equations of Motion' and just above that sub heading was the main heading 'Physics'

I stared at the letters that formed the words physics like I had seen a ghost, I couldn't help it, I caught myself asking myself for the umpteenth time, what exactly was I doing in science class?

I was still trying to answer my question in my heart and was quite oblivious to uncle kingsley’s teachings as he tried to explain what the various letters in the equations stood for, I guess he observed I wasn't paying attention because the sound of his voice mentioning my name suddenly jolted me out of my world of thoughts.

'You, Emmanuel, what's the S.I unit of velocity',

The question sure took me by surprise, I heard myself reply

 'You mean me, sir?'

He shook his head and replied in sarcasm 'no! minimie chin chin'

The whole class burst into laughter as he continued

'come on, stand up there and answer me, what is the S.I unit of velocity?'

Truthfully, I didn't know but somehow I heard someone whisper what I thought would certainly be the right answer, and I stood up, straightened myself and answered 'Joules'

Uncle Kingsley couldn't hold his surprise, his face wore a very mocking expression as he exclaimed 'he said joules!'

The whole class burst into wild laughter as I stood there, head bowed in shame, staring at my feet as the question kept thumping at my heart 'what was I doing in science class?'

Now pause and rewind, let me introduce myself.

My name is Emmanuel Oseremen, Am esan by tribe, I was born and bred in the ancient city of Benin, I was born into a family of seven children, five girls and two boys, I was the first son and third child, my younger brother was the last child, My family wasn't well to do either, I wonder why my Dad had so many children in the first place, he was a civil servant, my mum was a petty trader and somehow they struggled to make ends meet although ends nor dey ever gree meet. They were able to send us to school, at least they could afford private school tuition fees, although private school different from private school sha, God's Favor group of school was one private school that wasn't so expensive and so it became our choice. Now my parents didn't have so much money but at least they could provide our basic needs, we all lived in a rented three bedroom flat, one room for parents, one room for the girls and one room for the boys, and okay truth be told na only me nor too know book for my family, all the others were scholars, winning scholarship and all, but I don't know why o, I was just an average student, at least out of forty in a class, I always found myself between the twenty second and twenty fifth position.

Ok. Enough of the boring family history, fast forward to the present... zoooom.

Okay this was my official first day in S.S.2, by all indications, as a not too good student, shebi I should have jejely respected myself and moved on to arts class, at least in those courses I still managed to secure grades of Cs and Ds, but seriously, I carried myself to science class and on the very first day at class, I was already being made a laughing stock.

As I bowed my head in shame, staring at my haggard looking sandals, I heard Uncle kingsley ask someone else the same question he had asked me, I didn't even bother to know who he pointed to but as she began to speak, I raised my head to look at her.

'Sir, the S.I unit of velocity is meter per seconds' as uncle Kingsley motioned for everyone to give her a round of applause, I was totally lost in her world as I stared at her, I stared at her continuously from the time she started speaking till when she sat down, this was no ordinary girl, this was the most intelligent girl in the class, this was the most beautiful girl in the class, this was the same girl that I had crushed on for four years of my life and now I suddenly remembered what I was doing in science class.

 

 

Chapter Two

 

Her name was Benedicta, she was a sweet Bini girl and she was my reason for being in science class.

Okay, how many of you were ever told by your teens Sunday school teachers while you were in secondary school that it's impossible for you to fall in love in secondary school, that the only thing you can feel is infatuation?

I know I have many witnesses in the house

Ok another one, how many of us heard that story that all secondary school relationships were bound to end at the gates of the school on the day that the couple graduates?

Yea, I can see some more witnesses in the house.

Okay, that was the dilemma I found myself when I first discovered how badly I was crushing on Benedicta, my eldest sister, Ose was like my best friend, I wasn't so close to my immediate elder sister Omo as we were always fighting. Ose was about three years older than I was and she was the head girl at God's Favor secondary school while I was in J.S.S 1, she was a scholar as well, she was at the top of her class and I remember the shock my class teachers always felt whenever they discovered for the first time that I and Ose were blood related.

You know that feeling when you tell your class teacher that Ose was your elder sister and they would even threaten to flog you for lying.

Anyway, make we leave those matter, God has a why for everything, to some he gave sharp brains and to some others en, maybe not sharp brain but something priceless as well.

Okay back to Ose, I can remember the long hours of guidance and counseling I suffered in her hands the very first day I told her I liked one of my classmates.

She spoke for so long en, that I began to wish I hadn't liked Benedicta in the first place, Omo, come and see preaching,

'Emmanuel, it's impossible for you to truly love someone at this age'

'Emmanuel what do you think you know about love?'

'Emmanuel you are just thirteen, it can't be love, it is lust and infatuation'

'Emmanuel those kind of things always end at the school gates'

'Emmanuel this kind of feeling comes from nowhere but the pit of hell'

'Emmanuel.....'

Trust me, she must have mentioned the name Emmanuel over a million times that fateful evening, my guy, by the time she was done en, I had vowed that I will love no other again, except God and I was going to serve him alone'

I thought it should have been so easy to let go but the feelings just wouldn't go away, I sure couldn't tell anyone again about it, So I had my feelings bottled up inside my heart, slowly eating me up and wondering how I could ever muster up enough courage to speak to the smartest girl in my class.

And that was how I carried on with my hidden feelings for Benedicta and I was quite comfortable with seeing her face and listening to the sound of her voice every day in class until the end of S.S. 1 when suddenly we had to move to separate classes, Ideally, I was meant to be in the Arts class and she was sure cut out for science class, a true doctor in the making.

That was when it dawned on me that I wasn't going to be seeing her as often as I used to again because the science class block and arts class blocks were quite far from each other as the school Admin had decided to move science class to a different building where the laboratory was located to enable science students gain easier access to the science laboratory.

God knows how much I thought about this decision, God knows how shocked my parents, siblings and teachers were, when I announced that I was headed for science class, but despite their warnings, despite their advices, I defied all odds and found myself in science class and here I was on the very first day of the class being an object of mockery for uncle kingsley.

God knows how much I wished I were possessed at that moment, so I could choke him on the spot.

'See yourself? You are one of the oldest persons in this class, yet you don't know anything, I wonder what you are even doing in science class, sit down there, Mr. Joules'

The whole class burst into laughter again as Uncle Kingsley finished me all the more with his hurtful words, I sat down in shame, indeed I was one of the oldest in the class, I repeated a couple of classes while I was in primary school I was seventeen years old in S.S. 2, meanwhile most of my classmates should have been within the age brackets of fourteen and fifteen years old. I was really hurt but what hurt me the most was the fact that Benedicta was also in the class, I would have cared less if She wasn't in the class, now all my hopes of ever having a conversation with her had been dashed to pieces by this evil man that called himself my teacher.

Various subject teachers came and left and by the time it was break, I knew my greatest undoing was coming to science class, I could smell the spirit of failure hovering around me but somehow I chose to remain in science class despite the danger of failure that loomed ahead.

I chose to remain in class while others went out for break that day and maybe that for me turned out to be the best decision I had ever made in my five years of schooling at God's Favor group of schools.

 

Chapter Three

 

I laid my head on the table as every other person went out for break, I was still quite shy because of the events that transpired earlier in the day, my head would have being bowed on the table for about five minutes when someone tapped on the table like he or she needed my attention and wanted me to raise my head.

Okay I know in your heart, you really think it was Benedicta that tapped on my table right?

Who dash monkey banana, this is not Nigerian home video jorh, I raised my head and behold it was Louis the bully that was tapping the table. Come to think of it, Louis was even older than I was o, Louis already had beards and I was still more knowledgeable than he was, yet that discriminator of a teacher named me among the oldest and dullest in the class.

Everyone knew how Louis the bully liked to make trouble, I had always avoided him like a plague but it was obvious he had come for me this time around, he was standing with two other bullies, Peter and James, I just stared at them as I knew I should expect nothing from them but trouble.

Louis mimicked the voice of my Physics teacher and asked Peter, 'what is the SI unit of velocity?' and Peter replied trying to mimic me

'Me Sir?' and Louis replied

'No! Minimie chin chin'

He so stressed the minimie chin chin in a funny way that if I wasn't the one being teased here, I would have laughed too, they all began to laugh in a very exaggerated manner and I just kept staring at them in embarrassment wondering whether to cry or fight back.. Hmmm, hold on a minute, fight back keh, abeg o, I wasn't ready to die, nobody had the guts to fight with Louis, the size of his chest was the kind that mothers warned their daughters about.

My only option was to cry or just continue watching in embarrassment but just then something miraculous happened, a voice popped out from behind them.

'You all should be ashamed of yourselves, if that's the best you can do with your time'

Our eyes all turned towards the direction of the voice and behold it was Benedicta, I swear at that moment en, I felt like Guinevere and she sure looked like my Lancelot in knight's clothing, Louis looked like he was going to say something but his mouth opened and closed again, he knew better than to engage Benedicta with words, he also knew that if he as much as laid a finger on Benedicta, all the male teachers would have him for breakfast, lunch and dinner, Benedicta was the school's highly priced asset, no one dared get into trouble with her, she was like the children of Israel of ancient times.

She sighed and walked straight to her seat as if she dared any of them to speak up. Louis and his goons shamefully left me in peace and went out for break, now it was just I and Benedicta left in the whole class, it suddenly seemed the gods had given me a chance to speak to her after all, she sat on her seat, reading a book but I swear I was hundred percent certain she wasn't concentrating on what she was studying, she was sure expecting me to say something but I don't know what happened to me, I couldn't find my voice, every time I tried to say something, I would open my mouth and no words would come out and that was how I was trying and failing o, till it was break over and everyone returned to the class, naso I take miss my first golden opportunity.

The second time I had a one on one opportunity to speak to Benedicta was second term during our school's inter house sports competition.

Okay, first term ended and I didn't do well academically, of course there was no magic that would make me do well na, wetin person nor know en, e nor know jorh.

I secured quite a no of D's and E's but to God be the glory I didn't get an F for the first time in my terminal results life. And I even managed to secure two B's this time. Agriculture and Economics blessed my results with B's.

Trust me, even when my parents were busy complaining about my bad grades, I prided myself that at least I had improved, two B's and no F was a big deal to me o.

Anyway second term began and soon we were preparing for the school inter house sport competition, okay just so you know, though I wasn't so blessed academically, I was really really blessed sportically, if there's any word like that.

Inter house sports competition was always my time to shine, I was one of the best racers in the school as well as a very good footballer, so what I didn't have in my head, I guess I kind of made up for it in sports.

I was in green house which was also the school house and Benedicta was in pink house, I always found an excuse to sneak out to pink house during rehearsals with the excuse of going to see my friend Egbe. I and Egbe had being friends since our junior secondary school days and we were the perfect examples of 'birds of a feather, flock together' as in two of us nor know book en but we were sportsmen to the core.

Now because Egbe and Benedicta were in the same house, they usually had conversations once in a while, but anytime I was with Egbe and Benedicta came around, I would just freeze, I couldn't say anything to her and I guess she saw me as weird too so she really never said anything to me either.

But for me, I was contented with just seeing her face, she wasn't into sports, her own job was to cheer her team mates while they engaged in the competitions.

The final day came for the inter house sports competition and for most part of the races, I and Egbe were totally leading everyone else, at a point, it began to seem like the competition was all about Egbe and I until we had to run the final leg of 400m senior boys.

I and Egbe were leading the others as usual and Egbe was ahead of me at about an arm’s length and suddenly I tripped on God knows what and in a bid to gain my balance, I staggered forward and mistakenly clipped Egbe's leg and he went off the floor and landed with a mighty thud, that is what happened but that is not what the audience saw.

In the eyes of the audience, I had cleared Egbe off the ground because he was leading me in the race.

You can imagine the scene that played right before my eyes that afternoon, I suddenly became the devil's incarnate, no one believed what I had to say, even my friend Egbe didn't believe that it was a mistake, I was disqualified from further participation and it cost green house a lot of marks too, eventually green house came out third out of four houses that competed, Pink house came out first and the whole school was agog with their jubilation.

No one wanted to talk to me, I suddenly became evil Morgana, even my house members were mad at me, the teachers and students alike avoided me like a plague, it was as I sat alone on the field grieving my loss after the competition that Benedicta came to me.

I saw her coming but I kept my head bowed, I knew she was coming to give me her own round of brutality because she liked Egbe too.

She got to where I was and stood in front of me, I didn't even bother to raise my head, the words she spoke afterwards, I swear I never expected those kind of words from her

 

Chapter Four

 

'I know you didn't do that on purpose, I know you aren’t that kind of person too, if no one else believes you, I do'

I looked up at Benedicta, I sure didn't expect those words from her, if it had come from Egbe, it would have been totally understandable, as those were the words I had expected to hear from Egbe, but coming from Benedicta. It totally left me speechless.

I had so much to say to her at that moment but when I opened my mouth to speak, only two words came out

'You do?'

She nodded and replied, 'yes, I do believe you'

I kept on staring at her, I really wanted to continue speaking but no words were coming out of my mouth, the dumb founding effect she had on me was back again in full force, She stood there waiting for me to speak up and after a few seconds of embarrassing silence, she spoke again 'I just thought I should let you know though'

And she began to walk away, I tried to say something but my mouth opened and closed, she stopped and stared at me for a few seconds, I knew in her heart she would have concluded that I was really weird, she turned back and walked away.

That was my second opportunity to speak with Benedicta and I had blown it away again, maybe I needed deliverance, maybe something was wrong with me, I knew I was the shy one but this level of shyness had become really embarrassing, I could have conversations with other girls but why couldn't I just speak to Benedicta?

I had no one to confide in, I refused to confide in my eldest sister Ose, who was already in her fourth year in the university, I wasn't prepared for another round of ministrations, neither could I tell my immediate elder sister Omo, she would mock me to a state of regret, so I chose to suffer in silence and patiently prayed and waited for another opportunity to speak to Benedicta and as if to punish me for the opportunities foregone, the opportunity never came again till our graduation from secondary school.

I guess after our encounter at the inter house sports competition, Benedicta truly began to see me as a really weird person and she began to avoid me, she stayed away from me all through the remaining part of S.S. 2 and throughout S.S.3, although I occasionally caught her staring sometimes but whenever our eyes met, she would wear this straight face that passed a message of 'hey weird one, stay away from me'

It wasn't easy for me but I was contented with seeing her face every day, I really didn't like holidays because it meant I couldn't see her, and that was how I wallowed in frustration and unprofessed love throughout S.S.2, S.S.3 and even throughout the period of our senior school certificate examinations.

Finally, our graduation ceremony arrived and it was all pomp and pageantry, I remember my parents couldn't buy me a new suit, but they provided a new shirt for me to wear for the occasion, I had a black trouser and a black suit but they were of different shades of black, I already had the suit a long time ago before I sewed the trousers and since it was compulsory for everyone to put on a suit for the ceremony, I had to wear mine like that

Egbe came to my house that morning so we could go together, he was wearing a brand new white suit, I swear I was jealous and that was when I first began to feel intimidated. I remembered how many times I had to look at myself in the mirror and convince myself that I wasn't looking so bad.

Egbe had to practically drag me out of the room that day as we found our way to the school where the ceremony was to take place.

Immediately I got to school, a strong wave of inferiority complex hit me, everyone looked awesome and totally cool in their new clothes but I kept telling myself that I was the most poorly dressed.

The ceremony went very fast for me, my own was 'abeg let them close, so I can go home' and then, it was time for awards and prize giving, Benedicta won the awards for Best science student and overall best academic student and it was when she walked up to the podium to receive her award that I saw her for the first time that day.

OMG!

Benedicta shouldn't have been called a human being. That girl was simply an angel in human skin, she wore a wine colored trouser suit and in simple terms she was simply amazing, maybe she was the kind of girl that Bruno Mars hoped to catch a grenade for.

I always knew Benedicta was beautiful but I had never seen her in all her beauty and glory as she appeared that afternoon, My mouth hung open and I couldn't take my eyes off her as she received her prize and walked back to take her seat, I was still staring, oblivious of all other activities in the hall when Egbe tapped me, 'oh boy, you nor dey hear your name?'

It was then I returned back to earth, I won an award after all, my name was being called as overall best in sports, I went forward and received the prize but from that moment till the end of the ceremony all that was on my mind was Benedicta and how I could speak to her because it was obvious to me that if I didn't do it on that day, the chance would never ever come again.

I eventually had my chance at the close of the ceremony when everyone was busy snapping pictures and saving memories with loved ones that they might not see again in a very long while,

Everyone wanted to snap with Benedicta, especially the junior students, she was a role model to many, I just stood in my corner observing her from a distance waiting for the coast to be clear, and just when it seemed clear, I rushed up to her before someone else would take the spot again

I approached her from behind and started speaking 'please can I snap with....'

I suddenly stopped talking as she turned around to face me, her spell had fallen upon me again

She looked at me and smiled, I guess she understood that I had lost my voice, 'you want to snap with me?'

I nodded in the affirmative, she smiled again and teased, 'Aww, am so fortunate, our enviable overall best in sports wants to snap with me' as she continued smiling, I smiled too, it suddenly seemed her spell on me had broken, suddenly my mouth opened and for the first time in my life I began to talk freely with Benedicta, you would not understand the Jesus joy that filled my heart that evening.

We snapped a couple of pictures together, we had a lot to talk about or maybe it was more like, I had a lot of answers to give to her questions, she wanted to know so much about me, why I had always acted like I hated her, I couldn't believe it when she asked that but I still couldn't tell her how I really felt about her, I only laughed rather loudly and awkwardly and told her that I couldn't have hated her, that I was just shy, she continued to ask so many questions about me until suddenly a rather tall, well dressed, handsome boy showed up and there were two other well-built guys with him too. They stood in front of us, and the tall guy spoke to me, his words pierced my heart like an arrow.

'Hey young man, what do you think you are doing here all alone with my girlfriend?'

Chapter Five

 

I heard his words perfectly but the only word that my brain seemed to register was the word 'girlfriend' I didn't know why but it suddenly seemed to me like the very earth under my feet was giving way, maybe an earth quake was about to take place.

The guy wore a very serious look on his face and somehow I sensed that the look was actually overly serious, I turned to Benedicta and she was laughing, and I began to wonder in my heart, what the hell was funny to Benedicta about this situation, did she think this was another edition of 'Bovi, man on fire?'

I turned to face the guy again and this time, he was smiling, suddenly they all began to laugh, I guess the confused expression I wore on my face was worth the laugh after all, it was Benedicta's voice that ended the confusion for me.

Emmanuel don't mind my brother and my cousins, meet Austin my elder brother and my cousins, Osas and Otas, I looked at the three guys, now they were smiling broadly, the one that had spoken whom she introduced as her brother stretched his hands towards me for an handshake as I received it, he smiled and whispered, 'hope we didn't give you a heart attack?'

I smiled too and shook my head signifying that they didn't. As I shook hands with the cousins, I felt this inner peace that only Jesus could give. God knows that some minutes earlier my heart was probably beating at the rate of 200 beats per minute.

Benedicta introduced me to her brother and cousins too, 'you all, meet Emmanuel, my classmate'

Austin's eyes suddenly brightened as he winked at his sister, 'oh, this is the Emmanuel you have always been talking about?'

I could observed that Benedicta immediately became shy as Austin mentioned that, she suddenly wore this facial expression of 'I will kill you when we get home'

Austin ignored her facial gestures and continued 'so, you are the boy that my younger sister wouldn't allow me rest for, wow, good to meet you, I have heard so much about you'

He shook my hands again and looked at his wristwatch, 'oops am sorry, I would have to take my sister away now, my mum would be worried, maybe you can come to the house and visit one of these days'

Then he turned to Benedicta, 'Oya madam let's go o, I nor dey for your mama wahala'

Benedicta stood up to leave, just then she brought out a piece of paper from her bag scribbled something on it with her pen and handed it over to me, 'call me o' she shook my hands again and ran after her Brother and cousins who were already going towards a parked car, I suspected that was the car they came with.

As they drove away, she waved at me, her elder brother did too, and as the car exited the school gate I began to have the same thoughts that you are having right now.

'What kind of an elder brother was that?'

Naturally an elder brother would even try to shield his sister from male friends, infact if I were in his shoes and the girl in question was my younger sister Iguehi, I knew how stone faced I would have appeared when I arrived the scene, definitely I would have given the boy some elements of attitude, but here was an elder brother that wasn't only friendly to me, he even invited me over to their house, Omo, I swear, fear begin catch me small small o, if na you, you nor go fear?

Egbe suddenly appeared to interrupt my thoughts 'Guy, na here you dey since wen I dey find you, abeg make we dey go house, you nor dey look time?’ I looked at my wristwatch, it was a quarter past 6. As we left the school to get commercial transport, Egbe couldn't stop talking about how much fun he had, how many girls he snapped with, how many more he hugged, infact he was feeling so victorious as if hugging a girl was one kind of conquest, but I really wasn't listening to him, all I could think about was how I was going to call Benedicta first thing when I got home.

I didn't have a phone, she didn't have a phone either but at least I believed with the phone number she gave me, I could reach her quite easily.

When Egbe alighted from the bus at his bus stop, it was a big relief to me, at least now I could be alone with my thoughts, Egbe wan use talk destroy my ear drum.

When I got home that evening, I was so so anxious, I couldn't wait to speak with Benedicta over the phone, my mum was out and it was only her phone I could use because my Dad's phone en, nor go there o, we labeled his phone 'touch and die'

My mum didn't return that day from the market till about past 7pm, for the first time I was anxious about my Mum! See me asking my elder sister Omo, over and over again why my mum hadn't returned, infact Omo became suspicious of my intentions because according to her and she was right, there were times my mum returned home from the market at about past eight, so why was I suddenly so concerned that she hadn't come home at 7pm.

When my mum finally arrived I rushed to her and welcomed her, I could see the shock in my mum's eyes, I didn't do that regularly and she knew it, somehow she knew I was up to something 'hmm, Emma, this one wey you dey rush come welcome me so, hope I dey safe o'

I smiled and replied 'Haba, person nor go welcome e mama again?'

She smiled and continued 'hope your graduation ceremony went well?'

Before I could even answer her, my younger brother ran out with the plaque I was given 'mummy, they gave Brother Emma award'

He handed over the plaque to my mum, my mum was all smiles, she tapped me on the back and told me she was proud of me'

As she began to arrange some of the stuffs she bought in the kitchen, I took her phone from her bag and ran inside my room, I wanted to be sure there was enough airtime before I called because it would be a bad first impression for my airtime to go off while I was still on the phone with Benedicta,

#124#

Naso, I dial am, when the screen showed the result after processing my request, Omo, I wan cry! She had 0.00 in her account balance, ha! No time, I rushed to Mama Jennifer's shop, her shop was opposite our house, luckily for me, her shop was still open, I bought one hundred naira airtime because I only had two hundred naira with me at that time, I wanted to save a hundred naira, I ran back to the room and loaded it, immediately I loaded it, two messages appeared on the screen, one was from Glo, the other was from Glo BoroMe, the one from Glo read thus

'Your recharge was successful'

I didn't care to read the other words that followed.

The second one from Glo BoroMe broke my heart

'Dear customer, you have being deducted N100 towards clearing your Emergency Credit, your Emergency Credit is now fully settled.

What!

I held my head, so my mama borrow credit with this phone before?

Chai! And now they had deducted my hundred naira.

No wahala sha, I just had to speak to Benedicta that evening, I ran back to mama Jennifer's shop, I was lucky, she was already packing but she attended to me, I used my leftover one hundred naira to get another airtime.

When I got back to my room, I loaded it, I received a message that it was successful and I checked the account balance to confirm the money was intact. Now I was ready to call Benedicta, I went to my wardrobe and got out the black trouser, I dipped my hands into the pocket to get the paper that she had handed over to me but it wasn't there.

E first be like joke to me, I searched all the pockets of the trousers, even checked the suit pockets, I even went as far as checking the pockets of clothes I didn't wear that day, I went outside, checked the floor of the sitting room, checked the compound but there was no sign of any paper anywhere.

I went back to my room, I was really frustrated at this time, I searched the trouser pocket again, I searched the right pocket, I was very sure I had dropped the paper there.

I felt a hole in the pocket, then it dawned on me, the paper had probably dropped from my pocket. Now I could guess the how but only God knew the where and when it dropped.

Now all my hopes of ever speaking to Benedicta was gone, for the first time in my life, I felt like hurting myself, I took my mum's phone and replaced it in her bag.

As I lay down to sleep that night, as stupid as it may sound, I silently prayed that I didn't wake the next morning because the only hope I ever had of speaking with Benedicta again was gone forever.

 

Chapter Six

 

The days that followed were totally unbearable for me, I wasn't myself and every member of my family could tell, even my Dad that naturally didn't care about anyone called me and inquired if everything was well with me, of course it had to be well na, I wan tell my papa say na girl matter dey do me? Na outright deliverance session go begin, e go use slap tire me.

That was how the first two weeks rolled by, and I couldn't get in contact with Benedicta.

I searched for her on Facebook but Facebook provided me with thousands of Benedictas and none of them was my Benedicta.

God knows how much I tried in that first two weeks, I asked about her from all my ex classmates that I encountered but none of them seemed to have a clue, even Egbe knew next to nothing about Benedicta. Our school's year book only carried our names and faces, the school had stopped including contact details for security reasons. That is what they said though.

And so like play like play, I watched the first two weeks go by, with absolutely no clue as to how to get to Benedicta and I was quite sure she didn't have a clue as to how to get to me too.

But praise the Lord somebody, a miracle happened on the third week, (kinda synonymous with the fact that Jesus rose on the third day abi? Hehehe)

I was already giving up hopes of hearing from her, I had gone to the Cyber Cafe to browse because as I didn't have a phone and my mum's phone was a Nokia torch light phone, my only means of accessing the Internet was from a Cyber Cafe.

I had spent over half of the time, browsing Facebook and other unnecessary stuff when I decided to log into my yahoo mail, I had not accessed my mail in a very long while, after all, na who wan send me mail na?

As I logged in, I checked my inbox and believe it or not, there I was staring at a mail from Benedicta,

OMG!

O pogeny, miraculous, metaculous, santaculous! I couldn't believe my eyes, I clicked open the message with the speed of Vin Diesel in fast and furious, the message was even over one week old, meaning she had found a way to get to me all this while and I had been jonzing.

The message was rather brief but it contained all I needed to see

'Hey, Emmy! Hope you are good, being expecting your call, anyway now I have a phone, so you can now easily reach me on this number, 08038584863, please call me as soon as you receive this'

(Meanwhile all those of you dear readers that copied this number just now en, don't bother o, e nor go connect 'tongue out')

 

As I stared at the number on the screen, I couldn't believe my eyes, the joy was too much for me to take, I found myself humming softly to the scripture union song 'I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves even me'

Omo, no time to waste, I got out my writing pad, as I wanted to write out the number, my system went off,

Chai! My time had elapsed, I didn't even know I had already used up one hour in that short time.

I didn't have any other money on me, and I didn't have money in the house either, as I was still contemplating what to do, a bright idea struck me, I would simply wait for the next person that would want to use the system and beg for about two minutes of his/her time, that should be enough for me to write out the number.

Forty five minutes later, I was still waiting, of course cyber cafe business wasn't booming anymore na, smart phones had come to steal the market, who even went to cafe sef? Except people like me. I was almost giving up when a mean looking guy walked in to buy time, Omo, fear catch me as I begin reason how I go take beg this guy for time o, because one simple look at his face en, you could tell that 'he nor get joy'

The guy looked towards me and asked me 'which of the system dey browse well?'

I saw that as a good sign and pointed to the one I had used, he went there and took his seat and I approached him quickly with all the humility I could muster

'Sir please, could you....'

Omo, the guy nor let me talk finish o, naso he stop me for midway

'See abeg, I nor get money for you o, abeg go outside go beg, here nor be begging zone'

Shuu!

I just stood and stared at the guy, he didn't even look at me when he spoke, so this guy just look me, reason me as beggar, I was almost getting angry o but I co-ordinate myself, after all I was a beggar na, I wanted to beg for time on his system, all na still beg na, so I swallowed my pride and spoke again

'Bros abeg nor vex, nor be money I want o, abeg I fit get two minutes from your time, I wan quick copy one number, my time expire as I be wan copy am'

The guy looked at me and thought about it for some seconds before he replied 'okay, no wahala, but you go wait make I first finish wetin I dey do, I go give you the remaining time'

Hmmmm, I breathed down heavily, that would mean I would spend some more time at the cafe, but a beggar had no choice, so I accepted the offer, Omo, when my guy logged in, my eyes popped wide, this guy bought three hours’ worth of login time and he expected me to wait till he was done, Chai! This world is wicked sha.

You won't believe that this wicked guy finished all the time,

Yea, he did o, I kind of slept off on the chair that I sat after I had being waiting for him for over two hours, I didn't even know when I slept off and when I woke up, he was standing up from the chair and when I asked him about his promise, he was like

'Oh, my guy nor vex, I just forget, doe! And he left me and walked out of the cafe'

As I watched him going away en, God knows how many curses I laid upon him and his generation!

What!

I waited for you for three hours and at the end of the day, you gave me stories, God punish you there!

The cafe attendant had being watching the drama all along, she understood my plight and I guess an angel touched her heart because she had pity on me and volunteered to allow me free five minutes on the system to access my mail and get what I wanted.

She was a small girl o, maybe she had just finished secondary school too like me but I wan use 'thank you ma' deaf all her ears.

She gave me five minutes on the system and I logged in and to God be the glory, I successfully copied the number from the system. I thanked her again and left the cafe, the time was already far spent as it was, it was past 6pm already.

I practically ran home because if my Dad got home before me? That would be another matter entirely

Luck was on my side, I got home a few minutes before my Dad and I didn't have to wait very long before my Mum showed up.

Meanwhile I could have as well used Omo's phone o because she also had a phone but that my sister dey do like winch, she might decide to call the number again in my absence just so she could know who I called. So My Mum's phone remained the best option.

Few minutes after my mum returned, I disappeared again to my room with her phone, I was in luck again, and she had over two hundred naira air time on her phone.

I got out my note pad, I had held the notepad very close to my heart since the time I wrote Benedicta's number inside it. I didn't want what happened the last time to happen again.

I dialed the number and patiently waited as it rang

'grin grin' 'grin grin'

It rang a couple of times and the call ended, I dialed again and waited, this time it rang only once before I heard a response from the other end

'Hello, who is this?'

 

My immediate response was in my heart and it was an exclamation in my native dialect

Abamena!

I froze as I heard the other voice on the line, I didn't freeze because the voice sounded rude or anything of such, I froze because the voice I expected to hear wasn't the voice I heard.

I expected to hear a female voice but what I could hear at that instant was a deep male voice

 

Chapter Seven

 

When I heard the deep male voice, my immediate instinct was to end the call and I followed my instinct and ended the call.

I guessed it was probably network that diverted my call, I waited for another two minutes and dialed the number again,

The male voice responded again

'Hello, who is this?'

Ha! I chose to speak up.

'Hello, good evening sir, please can I speak to Benedicta?'

There was a pause on the line for a few seconds before he replied

'Oh sorry, she went out to get something, she will be back soon, you could call her later or you could leave a message for her'

The person on the other end of the line was really courteous,

'Please tell her Emmanuel from God's Favor group of schools called'

'Oh, Emmanuel! Don't worry I would do just that, I would make sure she calls you back, this is Austin, Benny's elder brother, how are you, hope you have being good'

I suspected the first time that it had to be Austin, although the voice didn't sound familiar, maybe because I heard it over the phone but the manner in which he spoke kind of reminded me of the day I met him in school.

I replied him

'I am fine and I have been good too, thanks for asking, please just tell her I called'

He assured me he would before I eventually ended the call.

I was all smiles when the call ended, even though I hadn't spoken with Benedicta, I felt so happy that her elder brother liked me, to me that was a very good sign.

I got busy attending to some domestic matters, I had even forgotten that I was expecting Benedicta's call, I was in my room arranging some clothes when my younger brother brought my mum's phone to me that someone wanted to speak to me.

I dived the phone with so much speed that I am quite sure my younger brother would have wondered if I was high on something.

'Hello!'

I almost stammered as I said it

'Hello Emmy'

Okay! Let's hold on a second here, or rather let us observe one minute silence for me, because at that point en, I practically died!

God! I have always heard Benedicta's voice but that voice I heard on the phone did something to me, my heart stopped beating for a second, and my earthly body practically encountered a transfiguration as I at that moment counted myself among the angels singing hosanna in the highest.

I guess I would have been completely lost in my world of fantasy had her voice not reminded me that I was still an earthly being.

'Hello, Emmy are you there?'

'Yes Benny, I am here, being a really long while, for a moment I thought I wouldn't hear from you again....“

And blah blah blah, the call lasted for over ten minutes and it was her airtime o, but it seemed she didn't mind, she had so much to talk about, she laughed when I recounted my story of how I had crossed many hurdles in my bid to get to her. In turn she told me how she had waited endlessly for me to get to her, she confirmed to me that she didn't have a Facebook account and the only way she thought about getting to me was through email, there was an assignment our computer teacher gave us while we were in S.S.2 to open email addresses, she was in charge of collating the addresses then, that was how she got my email address and she had sent me that mail hoping that I saw it and God had answered our prayers after all.

She was so much fun to speak with, when she had to go, she regretted that she had to go but it was important, her Mum needed her for a chore at that moment.

Before I slept that night, I composed a very beautiful sms and sent to her, she replied it sweetly too and from that moment, I knew it and confirmed it that a chord had being struck in our hearts, there was more to us than just friendship, all we needed to do now was wait for the perfect time for nature to take its full toll on us.

That was how what I termed 'the great phone conquest' began with us.

We didn't have so much money to spend on calls so what did we do? We took the wise route, we began to sleep in the day and stay awake at nights, she had an MTN line and since I didn't have money to buy a phone, I simply bought an MTN sim, and all I needed to do was steal my mum's phone every night and swap her sim with mine.

We spoke to each other every night from 12.30am to 4.30am non-stop. These days I wonder what we were always talking about sef wey nor dey end.

If you ever made night call here, raise your hands!

Hehehehe, I know many of us did, how many of us remember those times when we had run out of things to say, then we would na be asking very unnecessary questions like 'what are you doing now?' 'Are you lying on the bed?' 'Is your head on the pillow?' 'Are you closing your eyes?' 'What color is your wall?'

Hehehehe, Omo, e happen to us well well but we loved our night calls all the same and we couldn't wait for midnight everyday so we could talk for hours on end.

I knew my younger brother always felt disturbed but e nor fit talk na, na me be Bros na, my mum and Dad soon noticed that I usually didn't have enough sleep at night because I always slept at morning devotion but no matter what they said and how they said it, nothing could come between me and my night calls.

 

After a few months, our JAMB and WAEC results were released, of course we all made our WAEC, we too know book for God's Favor group of schools na, hehehehe, after all the teachings and malpractice in the exam hall, whoever didn't pass that WAEC en, I doubt if the person would ever pass WAEC in his/her life o.

JAMB was the distinguishing factor, it was JAMB that separated the sheep from the goats, and Benedicta made her JAMB and got admitted into the University of Benin to study Science Laboratory Technology, although she wanted medicine but that was what she got.

Yea, you got that right, I didn't meet up with the cut off mark for any university but miraculously I qualified for a polytechnic and I got admitted to Delta State Polytechnic to study Fisheries Technology, Omo see name of course, na Engineering I be apply for o, but that was what my jamb score could give me and I accepted it with all my heart o.

 

I and Benedicta continued to be in touch with each other, our friendship didn't sway to the right or to the left, it was still burning hot like a wild bush fire in harmattan and all those while we still hadn't been able to see each other because her parents were rather over protective of their daughter and they didn't allow her go out on her own.

 

When it was time for me to go to school because Delta Poly resumed for that session before University of Benin, she invited me to come over to her house as her elder brother was around and her mum might be comfortable with having her male friend in the house as her elder brother was around.

So two days before I was meant to resume school, I put on my very best clothes and visited Benedicta's family at Etete, Gra, Benin city.

I was received well by Benedicta and her elder brother, infact en, it began to seem I was his own friend, he was practically stealing the conversation until Benedicta had to remind him that I was her visitor and not his, we were still catching up on general gist when the mum came out of the room to join us for a few minutes, she had a smile on when she came out, she asked me a lot of questions, even teased and made me laugh at some points, then she asked my tribe.

 

When I told her I was Esan by tribe, I observed her reaction, she couldn't even hide it, her countenance dropped, I wasn't really sure but I thought I saw anger in her eyes, she didn't ask me any further questions, she just turned around and went into her room without any words, I could observe that Benedicta and Austin seemed surprised too, Austin went after her immediately, Benedicta seemed uncomfortable too but she put on a smile as she tried to probably make me feel at ease, the next thing we heard was her mum's voice calling her name, she went into her mum's room and I sat there waiting and wondering what I had said wrong, I only said I was Esan and it started to generate these chain reactions.

After I had waited for about ten minutes, Austin came out to meet me in the sitting room, he wore a sad expression and he really tried to be polite when he said what he had to say so I couldn't blame him

'Please Emmanuel, you have to leave now, maybe Benedicta would explain to you later but right now, please just go'

I opened my mouth to say something but he wasn't even looking at me, he had already opened the door for me to leave.

I hesitated for a moment but I could understand that this wasn't his own doing, so I stood up to leave, as I got to the door, he spoke again

'I am really sorry about this, but my mum doesn't want to ever see you here again'

I walked out of the house still staring confusingly at him, he said sorry again and closed the door

As I stood outside the house, Austin's words reechoed in my head

'I am really sorry about this but my mum doesn't want to ever see you here again'

I just couldn't understand what I had done wrong by identifying where I had come from.

 

Chapter Eight

 

When I returned home that day, I just couldn't be myself, so many thoughts crossed my mind, I just couldn't understand why Benedicta's Mum had acted that way after she discovered my ethnicity.

I would have called Benedicta immediately on the phone but I didn't have a phone and my mum wasn't home so I had no phone to reach her with.

It was until my mum returned at about 7pm that day that I was able to speak with Benedicta on the phone.

Immediately I dialed her number and it connected, she began to apologize over the phone, she was really sorry about her mum's behavior but she still wouldn't explain the reasons for her behavior, no matter how hard I pressed, she simply told me to forget about it that eventually her mum would come around and that it really wasn't a big deal.

I didn't find it very easy to accept but I had no option, I had to accept what Benedicta told me.

Two days later I moved to school and a few weeks after, Benedicta resumed school too, our friendship continued to burn brightly, no obstacle tried to come between us but it was just plain platonic friendship even though somehow, we both knew we wanted more than just friendship.

I made sure I got a phone during my first week in school so I and Benedicta could always be in touch with each other.

Hmm, thinking about how I got that phone sha, hehehehe, I remembered we had studied a novel in secondary school and in that novel, a kid had found a way to extort money out of his parents by lying that they had to buy a book titled ‘religious kappa’ hehehehe, that was my clue. I had to simply create a non-existing book in my head that was worth the financial value of the phone I wanted to buy and of course my Dad didn’t play with our education. When I demanded for the money for the book, he handed it to me willingly and that was how I was able to get the phone. Praise the Lord somebody.

Back to Benedicta and I. We really couldn't see much of each other as we schooled in different states, the only times we could officially hang out was during holidays and most times our holidays usually fell on different periods so in conclusion, we didn't get to see often but our phone conversations continued to boom.

Okay fast-forward... zooooooom

Our friendship didn't encounter any major leap or change in direction until many years later when we were to go to serve our country in the NYSC scheme and somehow we had to go in the same year. By this time I had obtained my Higher National Diploma in Fisheries technology and she had obtained a B.Sc. in Science Laboratory Technology

Her parents had contacts, very good contacts that could make things happen. Unlike my parents that didn’t even have con, talk more of tract. Anyway, she was posted to Lagos state for her NYSC. As my parents didn't have contacts, I was posted to Zamfara state for my NYSC. After all, their slogan was 'farming is our pride' maybe the government wanted me to go and perfect my fishery skills there.

Now, this was the first time that we were really going to be far away from each other. Though we schooled in different states, Edo state and Delta state were quite close. This time, it was much more farther, Lagos and Zamfara, Omo, the distance wasn't child's play, over twelve hours, I already zeroed my mind that I wasn't going to see her or even see my people in Benin until after NYSC because I wasn't a fan of long distance travel at all.

And so in the spirit of what I would call 'Having a date that should cover us for a year' I and Benedicta decided to hang out at least to spend some time with ourselves just before we went ahead to serve our country'

 

I chose the venue, it was phenomenal restaurant and bar, one of the nicest bars in GRA, I knew one of the attendants there and I arranged a special spot for ourselves, I wanted the evening to be an evening she would always remember, it was a special table for two arrangement, If we had to go for NYSC and we weren't going to see ourselves for another one year, then I really had to do what I had planned to do that evening.

I got there before her, our date was for 7pm, but I arrived there at about past 6pm, I wanted everything to be just right.

She already knew the place from the directions I gave her, it was about 7.15pm when I saw her walk towards me looking as extraordinary as she had looked during our graduation from senior secondary school.

She wore a red gown that perfectly complemented her ebony skin and overly accentuated all her curves and edges. I swear at that moment, I was uncontrollably lost in her world, as she walked towards me in slow strides, my heart kept on panting as the deer pants for water.

When she eventually sat beside me, the enchanting smell of her skin threw me into a state of hopeless bewilderment and I would have been completely left in the other world if she hadn't touched my hands and whispered into my ears

'Honey, I am sorry I am late“

 

Two things struck me, first was the way she touched my hands, there was so much to that touch than meets the eyes, it was a rather over romantic touch, I felt the shivers as her fingers ran over mine, secondly was the fact that she called me “honey'

In all our years of being together, she had never called me honey, it was obvious that she was apparently in the same mood I was, somehow our hearts had always worked as one, right from the day we had clicked during our secondary school graduation.

At that point, I couldn't wait any longer, I just couldn't hold myself any longer, as I was about to speak, the attendant brought us a bottle of wine, it was the special wine that I had requested for the special meeting, he dropped the wine and the glasses on the table and left.

I popped the wine and we both laughed because of the funny sound it made, as I poured some of it into her cup, I looked up at her and she was staring, there was something in her eyes, I didn't need a sorcerer to tell me, it was love, Benedicta was in love with me just as much as I was in love with her.

I already planned the whole day and had even written some lines that I intended impressing her with but as our eyes created that connection, I just couldn't hold myself any longer, if I didn't speak those words at that moment, I was pretty sure my heart would burst, we were both looking into each other's eyes, the dim light in the bar, the soft music and the coldness in the air conditioned bar all combined to create the beautiful feeling that was slowly overwhelming us.

As I opened my mouth to speak, she opened hers to speak too

'I love you Benny'

'I love you Emmy'

Our words rolled out almost simultaneously and as if it was all pre planned, we stood at the same time and caught ourselves in a well-deserved emotional hug.

That was not the first time we hugged but that was the first time we shared a hug that was so intimate, she held on to me like I was life support and I held unto her like she would break in pieces if I ever let her go.

For over five minutes, we didn't say a word to each other, we were just lost in our world, lost in each other’s arms and ignoring the whole world.

All my life, I had never felt that way for anyone, the love I felt for Benedicta couldn't be explained in words, I just knew that I had found the woman I wanted to spend my life with, I knew at that moment that I had found my true heart desire and the mother of my kids.

When I eventually found my voice and began to pour out my heart to her in words, all she could do was hold on to me much more closely as she began to sob softly.

We would have remained like that for over ten minutes before we eventually could let go of ourselves, it was obvious we had kept our feelings in check for too long and if we hadn't unleashed it that evening, it might have swallowed us.

I couldn't wait or rather we couldn't wait, on that evening, I proposed to Benedicta, we didn't just want to date each other, we wanted to be married as soon as we could, she confessed just how much she had loved me even from secondary school (I hope those Sunday school teachers that always told us that all secondary school relationships ended at the school gates can see this one now o, hehehehe)

Back to Benny and I. It suddenly seemed we had always been made for each other, there was so much to talk about but we chose to bask in the quietness around us that was being fueled by the deep and overpowering waves of emotions that was shooting up all around us.

On that evening, right at the table that was meant for two, we vowed that we would be together forever, we vowed that nothing would ever come between us and we wrote our destiny with our own hands, we were going to be married right after our NYSC, we had taken our step of faith and we hoped God would back us up.

 

That was our prayer, those were our heart desires but we sure didn't anticipate the wars that came at us from all sides right after our NYSC year.

 

Chapter Nine

 

Time flies when you are having fun or so they say, that can also be interpreted to mean, 'time crawls when you are not having fun'

And that was how NYSC became so long in our eyes en, that at a point we began to feel like the children of Israel of ancient times that spent 40years in the wilderness as opposed to the few days they should have spent ordinarily.

All good things had an end and in the same vain, boring and long things also had an end, nothing could stop it, NYSC had to come to an end too.

And after a whole year of not seeing each other, I and my special jewel returned to our beloved city, and what better place to have our long desired reunion but the same place that had served us just before we had to part.

Phenomenal restaurants and bar at GRA was our special hang out joint, my friend, the attendant once again secured a special 'table for two' arrangement for us.

We couldn't hide the joy that was in our hearts as we hugged that evening, indeed it was a long and painful one year, even though we didn't fail to speak to each other every single day for the one year we were apart, it could never be compared to the joy of seeing physically the one you loved, indeed Celine Dion was right when she penned down those lyrics

'Goodbye is the saddest word, I have ever heard'

We had our special 'table for two' prepared before us but we spent over half the time in each other's arms swaying gently to the soft tunes that rolled out from the speakers at the bar, many times we became the center of attraction for other guests at the bar, but who cared, we were in love, and we didn't care about anyone, all that mattered to us, was our love, and we were ready to let that our love shine, even brighter than the fiery stars of Avalon.

We concluded that Benedicta would meet my mum the day after. All the while I hadn't mentioned her name to my mum, my mum didn't even know I was in love with anyone, every time she tried to broach the subject of 'my relationships' I always found an excuse or the other to avoid responding.

That brings me to the subject of mothers and marriages, why are mothers always clamoring for marriages? Infact left to them, one should even marry before you are done with your tertiary education. You just round up your tertiary education and before you know they are already making the subject of marriage your breakfast, lunch and dinner. Anyway my mum wasn’t exempted from that clan of mothers, infact if they had an association, I am quite sure she would have been the president. And that was another reason for my happiness, I knew she wouldn’t bother me again, now that I had found the one I wanted to spend my life with.

I was packaging Benedicta as a surprise for her, I knew my mum would love Benedicta, infact I wondered if there was any mum alive that wouldn't wish to have a daughter in law like Benedicta.

Benedicta visited my house the next day, and true to my predictions, my mum loved her, I was correct, no woman alive wouldn't want a daughter in law like Benedicta, she was beautiful, intelligent, respectful, haba! Her qualities full basket throw way, she was wife material, fifty yards.

It was a Sunday, my elder siblings weren't home, my Dad wasn't home either, infact I didn't want him to be home sef cos the man dey sabi put sand for garri well well.

I knew very well that if my mum approved of Benedicta then that was all the approval that was needed, my Dad would definitely succumb to her. In such matters, he really didn't have a major say.

Benedicta didn't stay for a very long time though but the time she spent was worth it, she and my mum really didn't speak to each other much as I hadn't introduced her as my fiancée at the time, I only told my mum she was my childhood friend, and I did that because I wanted my mum to see her and get to know her from an unbiased point of view before I would let her know that I intended marrying Benedicta.

I and Benedicta spent the time gisting in the sitting room, the first time my mum came out, she welcomed Benedicta and asked her some general questions about school, her ambitions and stuff like that.

The other two times, she really didn't say much to her, she just sat at the dining and many times I could observe her looking at Benedicta with rapt attention and admiration, I didn't even need to ask her, I could tell she liked Benedicta already.

After I saw Benedicta off and returned back to the house, my mum was waiting for me in the sitting room, as I entered, she broke into a smile, I knew she couldn't wait for me to tell her the good news.

'Mamito, that's the girl I want to marry o'

She smiled broadly again as she heard my words

'Emma, Emma’ she hailed me, 'I always know say you nor go fall my hand, give me five'

I accepted her high five invitation, as she continued speaking

'The girl resemble beta pikin, I just like her from the moment wey I see am, who be her people self? Where dem come from?

I smiled broadly as I replied 'she is from Urhonigbe in Orhionmwon local government'

My mum smiled all the more broadly, but there was something rather odd about this smile, she came towards me and tapped me on the back, the question she asked afterwards, I am quite sure I didn't understand it, she said

'My pikin, If you enter your house one day see say snake and Bini woman vanish enter, wetin you go do?

I shook my head in a way that showed I didn't understand where she was heading with the question

She smiled again and answered her own question

'My pikin, na me be your mama, I go tell you wetin to do, you go carry stick en, you go pursue the Bini woman first, e better make snake dey your house, than for Bini woman to dey your house'

She shook her head and wore a very serious face this time around

“My pikin, stone wey person see dey come en, e nor dey blind e eye'

With that she walked away and went into her room as I stood there speechless and trying to give meaning to the hard words I had just heard from my mum

 

Chapter Ten

 

Okay, this wasn't funny anymore, if it was my Dad that had raised these objections to my settling down with a Bini lady, I would have understood to an extent because we all knew he always had too many reservations concerning any tribe outside Esan, my two elder sisters were already married and they were both married to Esan men, my younger sister Iguehi was dating an Etsako man, my dad frowned at it at the onset but my mum prevailed over him.

This was the first time my mum was frowning over a relationship and this was the very first time I was observing that she had certain reservations towards Bini women, this was really hard for me but I motivated myself that she would come around, this definitely was one of those times when she was just trying to be very careful but I was quite sure there was no cause for alarm, she would definitely love Benedicta with time.

And that was how I motivated myself and continued in a relationship that my mum didn't quite approve of.

I and Benedicta continued to see each other, I didn't even tell her anything at all about what my mum had said, when she asked me what my mum thought about her, I replied with a question 'do you really think there's any woman in the world that wouldn't desire a daughter in law like you?'

She smiled broadly, and my heart beat skipped for a moment because for the first time I had lied to her, though I convinced myself that it really wasn't a lie, I simply didn't want to allow her see the realities on ground, I didn't want to instill any fear in her, I was quite sure we could work this out and just like it always happened in fairy tales, we would live happily ever after, but my sixth sense should have told me that this was no fairy tale.

I got a job two months after NYSC as a facilitator with a project management firm, the headquarters was in Lagos, I attended their classes while I was serving at Zamfara and being one of the best graduating students, I got an offer to work with them and by my own choice, they posted me back to my base to work in their Benin city office after my NYSC.

The pay wasn't really on the high side, but it was quite reasonable for a polytechnic graduate with a lower credit, my CGPA was 2.55, I barely managed to escape a pass ni.

All the same, I rather did well with project management because it had nothing to do with the sciences, maybe that should have been my field after all, if not that I had forced myself to become a science student for the love of a woman.

Meanwhile, Benedicta got a job too right immediately after NYSC with one of the new generation banks, Her parents had contacts and aside that she was beauty and brains too, and that was all the bank needed, I know you are wondering what a science lab technician was doing at a bank, my dear, it's also for the same reason that a mechanical engineer teaches five science subjects at a private secondary school for the sum of 10,000 naira monthly.

There were no jobs as such in the country and one just had to fit in anywhere o, because if you were really going to wait for the ideal job that would suit your qualifications, you might just have to wait till after the second coming.

Benedicta was employed as a marketer with the bank but she rose very fast, her parents had contacts and so getting big clients for the bank wasn't really a problem for her.

Her bank work really didn't come between us in any way, I guess it was because she was a marketer and she always had a way of meeting up with her targets so she had more spare time to herself than many other bankers, she could always leave the office with the excuse of going to visit a client.

I had some initial fears when she got the job because I knew just what marketing entailed most times especially for a beautiful lady. Most times one could get tempted to give in to the lustful demands of some male clients who were willing to help meet targets but would only help upon satisfaction of their selfish desires. I had my fears but Benedicta quickly proved to me that she wasn’t that kind of girl, she was a strict and disciplined girl and for her such clients were always a no no. She would rather lose the deal than compromise and she always reminded me that her love for me superseded every ambition and every desire. She always made me understand that she would rather quit her job than jeopardize what we had and of course my fears were quickly allayed, I could see for myself, Becky really placed our love above every other thing in the world. Becky loved me and it wasn’t just words of the mouth.

Meanwhile my job was more of a weekend travel job, weekdays spent in the office were usually for study, research, trainings, seminars and meetings, our weekends were meant for travels, I had to travel most weekends as facilitation took me to different states every other weekend, so it was always travel time on Fridays to return on Saturday evening or Sunday morning, except a few times when I had to take classes in Benin, but that didn't happen very often.

Now, Our love continued to burn brightly, we were doing well for ourselves, at least I could afford a decent accommodation, and though I couldn't get a car, I was saving up for our marriage. Benedicta on the other hand was doing very well, in three months, the bank gave her a company car, she still lived with her parents though but she was doing better than I was and she too had saved much more in preparation for our wedding.

I somehow chose to ignore the signs or let's say I was trying to postpone the evil days, I knew that soon, I would have to face my fears, I knew that her Mum didn't want me, she knew that too but we believed in our love, love conquers all.

I knew my mum didn't want her but I kept this part all to myself, I was quite sure I could handle my mum, I just wanted us to be ready for the wedding before I would have that special talk again with my mum.

And we continued basking in the ambiance of our love for another six months with little or no dealings with our families, I couldn't visit her home for reasons we were already acquainted with, she always wanted to visit but I always found a way to stop her from visiting, at a point, she became uncomfortable with my excuses but I always knew the right words to say to her, I didn't want my mum to embarrass her in any way, I wanted to sort out every single detail before there would be a meeting with the family again.

And when I was very sure it was time to face my fears, I decided to have the special one on one discussion with my Mum.

It was a Friday evening, I was free from traveling that weekend, so I visited my family house with the hopes of staying over for the night.

I had a close session with my mum in her room that night, my dad traveled so we had a long time to discuss, I explained to her just how much I cared about Benedicta and just for how long I had loved her, I made her understand just how loving and caring Benedicta was, I made her see all the outstanding characteristics that probably she hadn't been opportune to see, I made her understand that tribe or ethnic group didn't make a person, I pressed on to know why she didn't want a Bini lady but she really didn't give me a good explanation, she simply said something about 'Bini women not making good wife materials'

All the same, I was quite sure I was able to open her eyes to quite a number of advantages that were apparently inherent in getting married to a girl like Benedicta, though she didn't give me any feedback that night before I left her room, I could tell by the reason of her quietness that she was really giving thoughts to what I had discussed with her, when I left her room that evening, I felt triumphant to a level, I had made very good points and I felt I was slowly buying my mum over to my side.

 

I went to bed smiling sheepishly that night, I could smell victory or so I thought, and I guess that aura of victory so clouded my mind that I never anticipated the drama that my mum put up the following morning.

 

Chapter Eleven

 

It all began early that morning even before we had our morning devotion. At about 4.30am, I overheard my mum praying in her room as the boys' room shared same wall with hers.

I couldn't get everything she was saying though she was praying loudly and obviously she wanted me to hear the contents of her prayers, at a point, I began to understand the subject matter of her prayers, she was calling on God to frustrate the efforts of all her enemies that were trying to pull the wool over the eyes of her first son. She was asking God to disappoint the enemies that were trying to cause her first son to make a major mistake in marriage, she was praying for holy ghost fire to separate me from every evil relationship. And so the prayers continued, I couldn't bear it anymore, I put the pillow over my ears as I began to wonder if she hadn't considered any of the things I had told her the night before.

The second drama happened during our morning devotion, after our general prayers, when it was time for her to conclude the prayers, she once again prayed that God would open my eyes and prevent me from falling into a ditch.

At that point, my anger was beginning to rise slowly, it was rather becoming annoying that my Mum still held her own ground so strongly even after I had taken out time to carefully explain my own points to her.

I simply ignored her, I didn't want to have any argument with her whatsoever, and I just wanted to leave so that I would have enough time to reflect on my thoughts.

As I was still inside the boys' room putting my stuff together and preparing to leave, I heard my mum calling out my name from the sitting room, it was past 10am, I went into the sitting room and there was a certain girl sitting on one of the chairs in the sitting room.

'Come and meet Omozele, she is the daughter of Elder Oyakhire’ Omozele smiled and rose up to greet me, she bent her knees as a sign of respect as she greeted me, I hadn't met her before, but I knew her Dad, he was a friend of my dad and I knew he had many female children, though I had never really met any of them before.

I answered Omozele's greeting but I was quick to notice that she was very pretty, she was fair in complexion and had very beautiful eyes, she was also tall and I couldn't help but observe that she was smiling very beautifully too.

'Omozele just finish university o' she turned to Omozele, 'Ehen, wetin you read again self?

Omo smiled and replied 'accounting' my mum nodded and continued, she study accounting for university of Benin'

I looked at my mum as she began introductions, then she turned to Omozele, 'Omozele, go and greet Emma na'

I wanted to reply that she had already greeted me but before I could even say a word, Omozele came closer to where I was and stretched out her hand for a handshake, I accepted it and she held on to it in a rather warm way, my mum continued with her introductions o, it seemed she was trying so hard to create a connection between I and Omo'

'Let me go and do some work in the kitchen, abeg, Emma keep her company, I dey come o'

My mum stood up and left the sitting room, leaving just I and Omozele, I didn't know what to say, my first instinct was to leave the sitting room too but that was the first time I was encountering Omozele, I didn't want her to have an impression of me as rude, so despite the fact that I didn't want to, I had to sit with Omozele to have discussions that I really wasn't interested in.

She was a great talker, she asked so many questions, infact she had so much knowledge on a wide variety of topics and for a moment, I must confess I began to enjoy her company, my mum showed up some minutes later and I was free to excuse them so I could go pack my stuff and return back to my house.

By the time I was set to go, when I returned back to the sitting room, she had left, somehow a part of me wished she was still there, that was rather strange though but I dismissed the thoughts as irrelevant.

My mum was still in the sitting room though, I tried to avoid talking about anything after the dramas she had put up that morning, we just had general talks and she gave me general advice and asked me to always take care of myself.

As I made to open the door to leave the house, her voice brought me to a standstill

'Emma my son'

The way she spoke made me turn around to look at her

She had so much emotion in her voice as she continued

'I know you are old enough to make decisions for yourself but I am your mother and I want the best for you, you will not marry that Bini witch, not when I am still alive, that's why I have found a wife for you, you will marry Omozele and the gates of hell will not prevail against your marriage'

Did I just hear my mum right? Did she just call my precious Benedicta a witch? I was so angry, I knew if I said anything at that moment, I would probably regret it later, I simply turned away from her, opened the door and left the house, as I closed the door, tears dropped from my eyes, for the first time I could really see that the mountain that stood before I and Benedicta was indeed a mighty one. I loved Benedicta but I loved my mum too, at that moment I began to wish I had never fallen in love in the first place.

When I got back to my house that day, my head was bursting with different thoughts, I knew I was angry but I didn't know what I was really angry about, I had never for once imagined that I would have to face challenges because of a marriage partner. I loved Benedicta so much, I couldn't even consider living without her, and even thoughts about it were scary and heartbreaking.

I was still lost in my world of thoughts when my phone rang, it was Benedicta, I answered the call, she wanted to go get a gift for her dad as his birthday was close and she wondered if I could tag along with her to help her pick a nice gift, of course I was available and I told her that.

About an hour later, we were both in her car headed for the supermarket, she wanted me to drive as she happened to be rather tired as a result of the week's job. I obliged her but as we drove to the supermarket, I observed that a certain car was tailing us, Benedicta didn't observe it, she was sleeping for most part of the ride, she was really tired, I could observe for myself. I didn't mention it to her that a car was tailing us because I didn't want to scare her, I rounded many curves and bends that I naturally wouldn't have rounded but the car was still hot on my tail, I drove into a rather lonely street, probably so I could get the car off my tail, yet it followed closely and just when I was about to draw Benedicta's attention to the car, it suddenly moved with speed, overtook and parked right in front of us, I didn't predict that happening so I couldn't have escaped it, I quickly stepped on the brakes of the car as we came to an abrupt halt. I couldn't do anything, we had been cornered.

The next thing I saw was the two front doors of the car open simultaneously and quickly, I didn't know what to expect but my years of watching home video at least provided me an insight, this was exactly how an attack happened.

Benedicta had opened her eyes now, she was in shock just as I was, she was still trying to adjust herself to understand what exactly was happening, I held her hands and told her to be calm, the safest thing to do in a time of danger was to remain calm and calculated and that was exactly what we did as we waited for the occupants of the car in front of us to show up.

 

Chapter Twelve

 

'Uncle Uyi'

That was what Benedicta whispered in surprise as a man stepped out of the car from the driver's corner, the other person that stepped out from the passenger side was a woman, I didn't need Benedicta to whisper who she was, and I knew her. She was Benedicta's mum.

They moved quickly towards us and the man she had called Uncle Uyi suddenly wore a surprised face when he saw Benedicta in the car.

'Ha!' Omosigho, so it's you'

(Omosigho was her native name, only a few relations called her by that name too)

'We saw your car drive by and as you weren't the one driving, we had some concerns and we had tailed the car to this point, I was even about to call my boys but it was your mum that stalled me, she wanted us to be sure before involving externals'

I and Benedicta stepped out of the car, she greeted her uncle and her mum, I greeted them too but I could observe that her Mum was staring at me, it seemed she was trying to recall where she had met me before.

'Emma, meet my uncle. Uncle Uyi is a high ranking police officer, and this is my mum'

I greeted them again as she introduced them, then she continued, 'Mum, Uncle Uyi, meet my friend Emmanuel'

Immediately she said that, I guess it clicked in her mum's head, the expression on her face switched to one of recognition and then the anger set in.

'Wait o, Benedicta, is this not the same boy I warned you about many years ago?'

Benedicta remained quiet, I took the initiative and remained quiet too, Uncle Uyi simply looked on in surprise. When Benedicta's mum observed that she wasn't getting any response, she moved towards me and asked me directly 'are you not the same boy that came to my house many years ago? That same Ishan boy?'

I was contemplating whether to answer or not, when she suddenly barked at me, 'young man when I talk to you, you respond. Answer me'

'I nodded in confusion'

I didn't expect her next action, she suddenly turned towards Benedicta 'what did I tell you about this boy? Benedicta you will not kill me before my time, get into the car, I am taking you home'

With that she grabbed the keys from my hands and got into Benedicta's car, Benedicta appeared very confused, I could see the confusion in her eyes, she was obviously scared of her mum and she certainly didn't want to just get into the car with her mum and leave me hanging there on the road.

Uncle Uyi was rather confused, he couldn't really understand what was happening.

'Benedicta am waiting for you, I said get into the car now'

Benedicta looked at me, there was tears in her eyes, I nodded and gave her the go ahead to go with her mum, she was reluctant but one look again at her mum, and she had no option but to get into the car, her mum spoke her native dialect to Uncle Uyi and drove off, Benedicta's head was bowed, I could tell she was crying.

Uncle Uyi looked at me, it seemed he didn't have anything to say to me, he began to walk towards his car, then he suddenly stopped and turned towards me.

'young man, if you would take my advice, I would lend it to you, if my sister wants you to leave her daughter, then you must do so, trust me, you don't want to be in trouble with our family'

After saying that he turned around and went to his car, got in and drove off.

I stood there confused, angry and really sad, I swear I had never been that confused in my entire life, I walked a little distance before I could get a cab that would take me home, as I got home, I lay on the bed, my head was clouded with troubling thoughts, my world was quickly falling apart.

 

I should have being on the bed for about an hour when my phone rang, it was Benedicta, I answered the call and she began to apologize over the phone, she was in tears, she apologized countless times over her Mum's behavior and tried to make me understand that her Mum had temper issues.

She promised to see me the next day, after all it was a Sunday and we had dedicated our Sundays to having our special table for two sessions at our favorite restaurant and bar. Once again she assured me that everything would be fine, she promised me that nothing would ever come between us.

I felt better after she ended the call, I tried hard to believe that everything would be fine but deep down I knew it wasn't going to be so easy.

The next day, at about 3pm, I was already at phenomenal restaurants and bar, I was sitting at our special reserved table for two corner waiting for Benedicta to show up.

A few minutes after, I saw Benedicta coming towards me but she wasn't alone, there was a man walking beside her, on a more careful look, I observed that it was her elder brother, Austin.

They got to the table, I had to get an extra chair for Austin, and so our table became table for three.

Benedicta was wearing a rather bright smile, she seemed happy and I could feel the happiness all over her face.

She had barely sat down when she broke the news to me, she had finally been able to convince her brother to join forces with her and at the moment, he was on our side.

That was also good news to me, at least, I had the support of one member of the family, which indeed was good enough for me.

She made me understand that she had come along with her brother so that they could share with me, their plans on how we would eventually win every other member of the family.

Austin did most of the talking, he made me understand that he was only involved because he loved his sister so much and her happiness was all that mattered to him, he reiterated that the task ahead was quite difficult but there was light at the end of the tunnel. The plan was that we would secretly begin to win the hearts of all the major stake holders in the family including his dad and when we were able to achieve that, we would combine forces to cross the last mountain which would be his mum.

I didn't mention that there would be any problems from my own family, right there and then I had decided that I would handle my mum's resistance and I was quite sure I could handle it alone, there was no point sharing that part with them, they already had a lot to worry about as it were.

Their own plans appeared rather easy but in our hearts we knew it wasn't going to be as easy as it appeared, but we had faith and that was all that mattered.

We had some drinks and food afterwards and it was done in a state of merriment, we had suddenly forgotten our sorrows, Austin was back to that natural self that once liked me.

Austin for the first time shared the story of how his mum had forced him to end his relationship with his university crush. Her name was Katherine, she was also a bini girl, he recounted how he had told his mum about her and how upon hearing she was a bini girl, his mum had vehemently kicked against the idea. He had tried without fail to convince his mum but his mum wouldn’t hear of it. It was obvious she had a personal grievance against the bini people generally, he had however given up when he saw he couldn’t convince his mum. He had broken up with Katherine afterwards but he confessed that he still had a large vacuum in his heart. He had never been able to forgive himself for letting Katherine go, no one had been able to effectively fit into that special spot that Katherine had occupied in his heart. He admitted he was a coward then and he wasn’t going to allow the same thing happen to his sister, he was going to stand with her all the way, that was his promise to us and I swear it was really re assuring. Becky never knew the story before he shared with us, so the story came as a surprise to both of us but we were really happy to have Austin by our side. He suddenly seemed like a messiah to us. We were really putting so much of our hopes on him, we probably forgot that it would have been far better to put our trust in God rather than man.

When it was time to leave, they offered to drop me off at my house and Austin decided to use the opportunity to also know where I lived.

Austin had come with his own car, they took me home and dropped by so Austin could know where I lived. They followed me into my compound and into my house, they didn't spend much time though, it was just a courtesy visit for Austin.

As I saw them off to the gate, on their way out, there was a tap on the gate and when we opened the gate, there we were staring at two women that had decided to come to my house uninvited and not just uninvited, they had come at the most unreasonable time that they could ever pick to visit me.

 

The two women standing outside my gate were my mum and Omozele.

 

Chapter Thirteen

 

I had failed to tell Benedicta about my mum's position on our relationship so I couldn't blame her for wearing the very bright smile that she wore when she saw my mum at the gate.

'Good evening Mummy, it's good to see you' there was so much life in her voice as she greeted my mum, she suddenly went forward and spread her arms like she wanted to hug my Mum, I knew I should have stopped her to save her the embarrassment but she moved rather too fast.

'Hey, just hold am for there, carry your dirty hand keep for your body'

My mum's response shocked Benedicta so much that I saw her body vibrate as my mum spoke and continued speaking.

'Wetin good about the evening, tell me, wetin good about the evening? When your work na to dey waka up and down dey visit another person husband, and now you dey greet me good evening, leave my son for me o, Bini witch, leave my son for me, I take God beg you, abi e nor tell you say e don already get wife? Na e wife stand with me so, leave my son for me ooooo'

I felt embarrassed beyond words, even Omozele that had come with my mum felt embarrassed too, I could sense that she didn't anticipate my Mum doing that.

I looked at Benedicta, her facial expressions had changed from one of shock to one of grief, the tears was running down her cheeks freely, her brother Austin was obviously angry, I could sense how hurt he was to see his sister treated that way.

'Benedicta, let's go, am taking you home'

'Yes o, take her home, and if you love her, tell her make she leave my son, we nor want Bini people o, we don't want, leave my son alone'

My mum continued creating a scene as Austin gently pulled Benedicta away and led her to the car, I tried to stop Austin but the way he looked at me, I cautioned myself, there was murderous anger in his eyes, somehow I knew I had lost his support for our relationship, now it was back to square one or rather square zero.

 

After Austin drove off, it was Omozele's turn to react, obviously she didn't bargain for any of the events that had just transpired.

'Mama, I am sorry, I have to leave now'

My mum looked at her in surprise, 'but you never even enter house, where you dey leave go'

Omozele looked at me, there was tears in her eyes too, she was a woman, I guess she could somehow relate with Benedicta's pain, 'Emma am very sorry about this evening, trust me I am' with that she turned and began to leave.

My mum began to call her name but she ignored and went away, My mum turned to follow her but just before she ran after her, she looked in my eyes and told me 'you will never marry that girl, no son of mine will marry a Bini woman' with that she turned away and ran after Omozele, as she called her name after her.

 

God!!

What kind of temptation was this? I felt like disappearing from the surface of the earth, in my entire life, I had never anticipated that I would have to fight relationship wars. I had seen so much of it in Nigerian home videos, I had laughed over so many funny relationship wars, especially the over flogged one where the parents of the girl were rich and the boy was poor and the girl’s parents kicked hard against the relationship. I had watched many twists on TV but I never for once anticipated that I would have to fight relationship wars at any time in my life. This was seriously heart breaking, I didn't want to go back into the house, if I did I knew just how dejected and devastated I would be, sitting all by myself and basking in difficult thoughts, so I went out of the house and took a stroll, maybe that would help me relax a little.

I called Benedicta five different times at different intervals but she refused to answer my calls. I couldn't blame her though, she had never anticipated that kind of embarrassment and I guess it was my fault too, maybe I should have warned her about my mum beforehand.

I was back in my house and the time was 9pm when I dialed Benedicta's number again, it rang for some time and just when I was beginning to think no one would respond again, someone responded but it wasn't Benedicta, it was Austin, he didn't speak much but his message was clear. He didn't ever want to see me around his sister again, she had suffered enough embarrassment from my family as it were already and he couldn't bear to see her hurt, he even threatened to hurt me if I came close to her again and with that he ended the call.

I continued staring at the phone after Austin dropped the call, so much was happening in my head, this was indeed very hard for me, there and then I made up my mind on what to do, I knew I loved Benedicta so much but again I didn't think I could allow her go through all those pains because of me, I was going to let go of the relationship not because I was tired of fighting but because of the love I had for her, I was a man yes, but I couldn't stop the tears from running freely that night as I lay on the bed.

 

The next day after work, I visited Egbe, somehow he had remained my only close friend since after secondary school, I had made up my mind on what I wanted to do but I still wanted to share with someone that had always being there.

Egbe already knew about our relationship and the obstacles we had been facing, he had always warned me from the beginning to let go of the relationship as the families didn't want it to happen.

He had always reminded me about the fact that marriage was a union of two families and not just the two parties involved. His own take was that 'if your family didn't support your marriage, then it already had a shaky foundation and a fall was eminent'

When I told Egbe about the most recent development and the decision I was about to make, he supported me and encouraged me to end the relationship before it got to a fatal point for both families.

I got home that day and called Benedicta thrice, still she wouldn't take my calls.

I considered visiting her at her office the next day and I did during my lunch break but I was told she wasn't on seat though somehow I felt she was, since I had seen her car parked outside the office.

Meanwhile, I had also sent her a couple of apology sms before then but she simply ignored them.

Benedicta was killing me slowly but I really couldn't blame her, most people would have reacted that way, I had not in any way prepared her for the kind of embarrassment she received from my mum that Sunday evening.

Benedicta didn't take my calls through out that week, neither did she respond to any of my sms, she suddenly went off line too because none of the messages I sent on social networks delivered either.

I was lying on my bed on Friday night, this was the fifth day since after the episode with my mum and Benedicta had refused to talk to me for these five days, I was meant to travel to Owo, in Ondo state, the next morning to facilitate a training, but I couldn't even prepare for it, I was totally restless on my bed, now that I had decided to let go of the relationship, Benedicta wasn't talking to me anymore, I began to wish I had listened to Egbe and let go a long time ago, maybe it would never have got to this point, I was still deep in thoughts when my phone rang, it wasn't a known number so I ignored it, I wasn't really in a mood to speak with anyone I didn't know.

The phone rang again two more times but I ignored the phone and out of anger switched off the phone and that was one mistake I made that still haunts me till this day.

 

Maybe if I hadn't switched off my phone, maybe if I had just answered that unknown caller, maybe, just maybe I would have been able to save Benedicta that night.

 

Chapter Fourteen

 

I woke up rather early that Saturday morning, at about 4am, I was already up and trying to put my lecture materials together since I really wasn't able to do it the previous night, I totally forgot my phone was still switched off.

It was until I had already boarded a bus from Ugbowo road and our bus was already on its way to Owo, that I remembered I had switched off my phone the previous night, the time was about past 8am at this time, my session was for 10am, Benin to Owo was barely over one hour so I knew I would be there just in time for my first class.

By the time I switched on my phone again, there was no network coverage as we were already traveling down the high way.

It was when our bus got into Owo that network returned, and I knew that, by the familiar beep on my phone.

It sounded three times but I dint check immediately, more often than not, those sms always came from network providers so once again I didn't bother to check on it, I naturally concluded that I would do that when I alighted from the bus.

And when I alighted from the bus, I totally forgot about the sms.

I rushed to the venue for the class, I was on time as usual, I began my session around 10.30am, had two sessions before I took a break, it was during the break at 1.00pm that I decided to try Benedicta's number again, as I got out my phone to dial her number, I saw the messages on the screen, three messages.

The first one was from my network provider as I had predicted, the other one was from a client I was supposed to meet on Sunday, and he was canceling the meeting and scheduling another day for it.

The third message was from a rather strange number, the moment I read the message I froze on the spot, it suddenly seemed like someone had shot me with a stun gun.

I read the message again, it was straight to the point.

'Emma please we need you in the house as soon as possible, Benny has totally lost it and it seems you alone can save her right now, please come down as soon as possible'

I read the message over and over and over, I guess I should have read it over ten times, I couldn't make any sense out of it, what was the meaning of 'Benny has lost it'

I scrolled through my received call log and confirmed that the number that had sent the sms was the same number that had tried to reach me the previous night.

I immediately dialed the number, it rang the first time and no one responded, when I dialed it again, it was switched off.

I dialed Benedicta's number, it was switched off too.

From that moment, I just couldn't be myself anymore, my legs couldn't stand steady anymore, I suddenly felt fever all over, I still had a two hours class to handle but I apologized to the participants and promised to make it up to them the following week.

How I left the class and found myself at the park that afternoon I couldn't understand, all that mattered to me at that point was getting to Benin and getting to Benedicta's house.

If I had my way, I would have used a flight at that point, but there was no aircraft flying from Owo to Benin city, the extra hours I spent at the park waiting for the bus to be filled was excruciatingly painful, after forty five minutes we were only nine in an eighteen seater bus, I was already cracking my head hard thinking about what to do when an Audi sports car drove and parked on the main road beside the garage calling for passengers to Benin city.

I didn't even stop to think about it, neither did I care about the one thousand naira that I had already spent buying the bus ticket, I immediately got off the bus and switched to the cab, three other passengers followed suit, it seemed they had been waiting for me to make the move because the moment I moved, they moved also and joined the cab. In less than five minutes two other people joined the cab and we were good to go.

The cab driver charged one thousand five hundred naira, other passengers complained but after the complaints they still paid up, typical Nigerians, I didn't even have the heart to complain, the only thing that mattered to me at that moment was getting to Benin city as quickly as I could.

Okay, this was not my first time in Owo, the very first orientation they usually gave us facilitators whenever we were going to facilitate a training in any western state was to always avoid cabs. Cabs had their numerous dangers from kidnap to robberies to money making rituals, to over speeding and careless drivers and the likes of it.

I very well knew about these warnings, infact I was one person that always sounded these warnings to my colleague but at that moment, I didn't heed my own warnings, I boarded a cab when I of all people should have known better.

Our cab left Owo barely ten minutes after it appeared at the park, meanwhile when I looked into the bus I had been in, there were now eight passengers, apparently only three people had joined the bus after I and the others switched to the cab.

I shook my head and thanked my lucky stars that the cab had showed up when it did.

As we drove onto the main road, my heart hadn't stopped thumping fast, all I could picture was myself in Benin and in Benedicta's house, I guess that was what clouded my brain and I guess that was why I didn't see the warning signs that were glaring all around in the cab that I boarded.

My cab set off for Benin at about 2.30pm, ideally we should have been in Benin latest 4pm but as fate would have it, we never got to Benin City that day.

 

Chapter Fifteen

 

If thoughts of Benedicta and Benin city hadn't taken over my brain entirely, then maybe I would have observed that the cab was in a bad state, whenever the driver tried to switch from one gear to another, he experienced a level of difficulty, that was a warning sign that I should have probably heeded since I sat at the front seat, I guess I also should have observed that the car brakes weren't responding properly. Whenever the driver applied the brakes, it took some extra seconds for the car to fully come to a halt.

As if those signs weren't bad enough as it were, I should have also observed that the driver oozed of alcohol, he had definitely been drinking and his breath spoke volumes of that fact but still I ignored the warning signs, I only had Benin on my mind.

Considering those observations and in addition to the fact that the driver drove quite recklessly, an accident was inevitable and we really should have expected it.

 

The driver attempted to overtake a lorry that was in front of us without any warning, two things were wrong with the driver's move, first was the fact that he didn't even horn or give the Lorry driver any form of notice, secondly was the fact that he chose to overtake from the wrong side and in the process of the overtake which was coupled with shouts of disapproval from passengers, the lorry driver who was quite ignorant of the fact that a car was trying to overtake from behind, swerved to the right and its impact on our cab shot our cab off the road into the bush and the next thing we could remember was our car tumbling into the bush and I guess I blacked out because I opened my eyes to find myself in the hospital.

 

I woke up on the hospital bed, we were still in Ondo state, and apparently our cab hadn't even traveled any reasonable distance before the accident occurred.

The nurse that attended to me confirmed to me that I was brought into the hospital unconscious, my head ached badly, it was bandaged too, I guess I had hit my head hard on something and had passed out.

There was no loss of lives though and it was a miracle, the driver and one of the passengers were totally unhurt while the rest of us sustained minor injuries.

I guess mine was even the worse as I had been the only one that had passed out.

I suddenly remembered I had a mission, I looked at my wristwatch, it was past 5pm, I told the nurse that I had to leave immediately as I had something very important to attend to, she declined politely on the grounds that I needed to rest and also be observed for some time, before they would discharge me.

I couldn't accept that, I asked to see the doctor, and I did see him, he had the same view as the nurse, still I wouldn't hear any of that, I just had to be in Benin city that day, it was until he mentioned the fact that I might even be suffering from internal bleeding without my knowledge that I calmed down.

I guess my fear of suddenly dropping dead was quite greater than the burning urge I had in me to return to Benin that same day, so despite the burning desire in me, I spent the night at the hospital.

The next day was a Sunday, I left the hospital as early as the first light of day, the hospital didn't charge me any fee though, it was an hospital created out of one of the schemes of the Ondo state government to help accident victims, so accident victims received free health care especially when it was a rather minor accident.

 

My bus arrived Benin at exactly 8.30am, in less than an hour, I had scrubbed myself clean and changed clothes and I was at Benedicta's house at a few minutes before 10am.

I hadn't been there in a long while, there was so much change, the house had been rebuilt, it was now bigger and much more beautiful, and they now had a security man at the gate too. Meanwhile Benny's number was still unreachable and the other number that had reached out to me the previous day was also unreachable.

I knocked at the gate and the security man opened the gate, he stared at me for a while as if he was trying to determine my motive. I introduced myself as a friend of the family and demanded to see Benedicta, He made me understand that they had all gone to church and I could check back in the evening.

As he closed the gate, I felt a certain relief, at least it meant that all was well with my Benedicta or so I thought.

I chose to hang around and wait at the gate till whenever they showed up, I really couldn't just leave, I was so anxious to see the family, I really had to understand the events that had transpired in the last two days.

I should have been sitting and dozing there under the shades outside their gates for over three hours when the horn of a car startled me.

I quickly got up from where I was and walked towards the car, the door opened and Benedicta's Mum stepped out of the passenger's side, the driver wound down and I easily concluded he was Benedicta's Dad, I had never seen him before.

Benedicta's mum walked towards me, I suddenly became scared, I remembered the two encounters I had with her and I could foresee another rough experience coming up.

When she got to where I was she took off her glasses and that was when I observed her eyes, she had been crying, her eyes were swollen, there was so much sadness in her face that it broke my heart.

When she opened her mouth to speak, it wasn't the voice of the hard woman I heard anymore rather it was the voice of a Mother that would give even her own life for her daughter.

She looked at me again and spoke 'you are Emmanuel, aren’t you?'

I nodded

She looked at me again 'you are the same Ishan boy that my daughter loves so much and would give her own life for'

That didn't sound like a question so I really couldn't provide any answer.

She looked at me again, now the tears began to form in her eyes, her next words stole the very breath off my nostrils

'My daughter loves you so much and would give her life for you, yet when she needed you the most, you just weren't there for her'

I didn't understand what she meant but I knew that these were really heavy words that meant deep things, I opened my mouth to speak but I couldn't, now the tears was running freely from her eyes, I suddenly had a premonition that the worse had happened

She looked at me again, shook her head in regret and spoke again

 

'If only you had showed up that Friday night, maybe you would have been able to save her, now my daughter is gone and it is all your fault, I would never forgive you, never'

With that she turned and walked slowly to the car as her husband wound up again.

 

I stood there in complete confusion, I really was lost here, I couldn't bear to imagine what could have happened to my dear Benedicta. As their car drove into the compound, I ran after them, she couldn't just leave me like that in total confusion.

 

Chapter Sixteen

 

The security man tried to close the gates as he saw me approaching but I ran with speed and was inside before he could close the gates.

Benedicta's Father parked the car and practically jumped out in anger as he walked towards me

'Young man what kind of show are you trying to create here, haven't you done enough already?

His wife came up from behind him and wrapped her hands around his shoulder, it was her own attempt to calm him down because he calmed down and stopped talking.

She walked towards me and asked rather politely 'okay, what exactly do you want now? “

I answered her almost immediately, my voice was all shaky, and I didn't want to believe that it was what I thought that had happened to Benedicta,

'But ma, am sorry, when you say gone, what do you mean?

She looked at me as if she was rather surprised that I wasn't even aware of what had happened to Benedicta.

'So you mean you are completely ignorant of all that had happened to my daughter since Friday night?

I shook my head but as I made to speak she continued, this time there seemed to be a certain level of hope in her voice as she spoke but her voice was low as if she was talking to herself.

'Then there might still be some hope for our daughter', she turned to her husband as if she required his approval to speak to me, he nodded as a sign that she could go on and she turned towards me.

'Young Man, I didn't know before but now I know just how much my daughter loves you, I know I have also kicked against your union but I do desire one thing from you, if you can bring my daughter back from the world she resides currently, then you have my support for your union'

Her voice was shaky but I could see it in her eyes, she meant everything she said, but that still didn't change my confused state.

It was until she gave me a complementary card that I began to get a grip of what could be happening, the card was a doctor's complementary card, for a private hospital too.

As I received the card from her hands, she continued 'please go now, maybe you might be able to save her, we are counting on you.

I looked at her Dad, he nodded also as if to confirm the fact that they were counting on me.

I still couldn't quite understand but I chose not to ask questions at least for a start, I could assume that Benedicta was in a hospital, reasons I wouldn't know but I had an intent to find out,

As I turned to leave, the Dad suddenly spoke 'why don't we even take him there? The faster he can get to her, the better for us all'

And with that he got into the car again and at the signal of her mum I got into the back seat and the car zoomed out of the compound and began the ride to the hospital.

It was while we were inside the car that the mum filled me in on all that happened in my absence.

 

The day she had forcefully taken Benedicta home was the day it all began, for the first time in her life, her daughter had stood up to her, Benedicta had told her without mincing words that if she couldn't be with me, then she would be with no one else, she had made her mum understand that her soul was knit to mine and there was really nothing anyone could do about it, and for the very first time also in her life, she stopped talking to her Mum.

The mum also made me understand that she had completely ignored Benedicta because she felt she would definitely come around, it had become worse about a week ago when she had returned home with her elder brother crying bitterly.

She had refused to talk to anyone, she wore the gloomy face all day even when she left for work and when she returned home.

Her mum and dad tried without success to get her back to be herself but it all proved abortive, the mum even changed her mind and decided that she was willing to give the Ishan boy that she loved a chance after all but nothing seemed to work on Benedicta.

Her bouts of depression grew worse every day, late in the night on that Wednesday she had screamed loudly in her room and when they ran to her, she was looking at the wall and mumbling what no one understood, they were able to calm her down and send her back to sleep.

It happened again the day after but on that particular Friday that they had tried to get to me, that was simply the worse, she was acting like a zombie, staring deep into the wall and mumbling incoherent words, then occasionally she would scream and demand for me, and when they observed that I was probably the only one that could save her, they tried to reach me and all efforts to reach me had proved abortive that was why they had to rush her to the hospital that Saturday morning.

The doctor confirmed that medically there was nothing wrong with her, he couldn't really describe what it was scientifically, he classified it under spiritual and emotional sub headings and prescribed that they allowed her remain with him for some time so he could observe her closely, he also mentioned that if they probably had been able to get me to come around the Friday night when she was screaming my name, then maybe it wouldn't have degenerated to the point where all she did was stare into outer space without speaking a single word.

The events took me by surprise and once again I found myself hating myself for not taking my calls that Friday night and even switching off my phone.

We got to the hospital and they led me into the ward where she was but not before I had seen the doctor, who suggested that I go into her room alone and maybe, just maybe a miracle would happen.

I entered into the room, she was the only one inside, and she sat on the bed and was sitting facing the windows with her back turned to me.

'Benny, my love'

When I spoke, I observed that she stiffened but she didn't turn around

The doctor had advised strongly against touching her so even though I felt a strong urge to turn her around so I could see her lovely face, I had to stick to the doctor's advice.

I called her name again but she didn't turn around, she was wearing a white gown, she looked so much like a patient that had been there for a very long while, even though she didn't turn around, I could see that she had grown very pale, she had indeed been bearing this grief alone.

When I observed she wasn't going to turn around I decided to speak.

'Benny, firstly I would want to apologize for not telling you about my mum's position on our relationship, I swear I love you so much baby, I never wanted anything that would make you feel bad and I had intentions of handling that before that embarrassment had to come up, am so sorry baby, words wouldn't be enough to express just how much I care about you. I didn't just fall in love with you, I fell in love with your body, soul and spirit, there is no me without you, am an empty set without you, a union and intersection of our sets would produce a unit set because there's only a single element in that set, and that element is 'US'

'Benny my love, we need you to come back to us, please'

Now my voice was really cracking up, the hurt I felt deep down was slowly consuming me, I ignored the doctor's advice and walked towards her, I touched her shoulders, she shuddered when I did, I turned her around to face me, the tears were dropping from her eyes but she was still staring blankly at me, her face had grown very pale and almost lifeless, I could tell just how much pain she had been through.

 

'Please Benny, come back to me, please Benny, just tell me you love me one more time'

My words seemed to fade into the air as she didn't respond and all the while she had her gaze fixed on me.

I was still holding her shoulders, staring into her eyes when I heard a voice from behind me, 'young man, I told you not to touch her'

I turned around he was the doctor, he used his hands as a signal 'come on, we have to go now, leave her alone as she isn't responding to you'

'OMG! I felt like dying as I took my hands off her shoulders and walked towards the doctor, he led me out to meet the parents, their eyes bore so much hope as we came out of her room but one look at my face made them understand that I wasn't able to help her, their countenance dropped immediately, the doctor began to lead us down the passageway as he tried to console us that she would be fine.

 

Just then we heard the door behind us open and we turned almost simultaneously towards the door and behold it was my Benedicta, she had tears in her eyes as she said the words that till this day, I always remember

 

'Emmy my love, I am never ever going to leave you, you mean the world to me, I love you with all my heart'

 

I couldn't control my emotions, I ran towards her with all the strength I could muster and swept her off the floor in a well-deserved hug, the mum and dad ran towards us and joined the hug chain too, the smiles on our faces was indeed immeasurable, there was something really awesome to be happy about

 

Our dear Benedicta had returned to us

 

Chapter Seventeen

 

'You can't be serious'

Those were the same words I kept repeating as Austin and Benedicta shared their unbelievable story with me.

It was five days after the hospital experience, it was a Friday night and I and Benedicta had agreed to meet at our regular Table for Two spot but she had showed up with her brother Austin again, our spot was fast becoming a 'Table for Three' spot.

We were sitting, laughing together and having drinks when Benedicta dropped the shocker, she told me that everything that had happened to her from the last time till the hospital was all an act that she and her elder brother had decided to pull off to win their mum over.

It was absolutely incredible, infact I chose not to believe it, it was until Austin began to give me details of everything that I actually began to believe the story.

Austin made me understand that after the encounter with my mum the other day, Benedicta couldn't just be herself anymore, he could see just how hurt his dear sister was and again it became obvious to him just how much she would suffer if we couldn't be together.

He was still thinking about how to help our relationship when Benedicta's reaction to his mum that night gave him a very good clue.

He had seen just how worried his mum had been for Benedicta when she had responded to her in that manner and when she had stopped talking to her.

His mum was deeply worried for her daughter and he immediately got the clue that if Benedicta could only extend that act and even slip into a severe case of black out all because of the one she loved, then his Mum would have no option, if marrying an Ishan man would save her daughter, then she wouldn't mind.

I listened in awe, as he told me about how he sold the idea to Benedicta and how she had embraced the idea, they had gone ahead to involve their dad and the doctor in the plans too, the dad never had issues with ethnicity based marriages but because he wanted peace to reign he couldn't really stand against their mum, so when they sold the plan to him, he really loved it and everyone had done their own part to ensure that the plan achieved its aim and indeed it achieved its aim.

 

I didn't know what to say, Benedicta just kept smiling. As I looked at her, my love continued to increase for her in leaps and bounds.

 

I had to comment

'Okay, why wasn't I included in the plans too?'

Austin laughed before he replied,

'So that you will go and spoil the plans abi?

My guy it was better you didn't know anything jorh, so that it could be very real'

I couldn't help it, I just had to laugh, and Benedicta’s voice cut my laughter

'And you almost wanted to spoil our plans o, when you refused to take your calls that Friday, if not that my genius of a brother Austin had already made back up plans and since the doctor was already in on our plans we just had to skip the stage of your arrival and move onto the hospital stage and I guess it made the movie all the more interesting sha'

She began to laugh and we all joined in the laughter, it was a well-deserved laughter and we really needed it to relax our nerves from all the stress that we had to endure over the past weeks.

 

Now one river had been crossed, we had one more river to cross, my mum hadn't changed her position yet.

And that was why we had gathered at our special spot, we were ready to discuss, plan and execute mission two, and trust me this mission had no option but to be successful because we had three things in our favor.

We had the brains, Benedicta was pure brains and beauty, We also had the point man, Austin was the kind of person that could provide all the logistics needed for any plan to work out and more importantly, we had the insider, I was the insider, I knew my mum in and out and like they would say in Benin, na rat wey dey inside house dey tell rat for outside say food dey house, so I definitely would know the kind of plans that would work on my mum.

And so the three of us put our heads together, the Brain, the point man and the insider, it was time to come up with a plan that will override my mum's default setting, my Dad wasn't a problem, whatever my mum stood for was what he would ultimately stand for.

It was indeed a brain storming session but at the end of that meeting that day, we had come up with a plan and trust me as an insider I was very sure the plans would work and guess what? It worked because fast forward to six months later, we were having our introduction ceremony.

Hehehe, guess what!  we decided to have an outdoor introduction ceremony as opposed to the regular 'inside the house' intro.

And guess what again, what better place to do the ceremony, than that same special table for two spot that had played a very special role in our lives.

 

Phenomenal restaurants and bar was our venue, it was a family thing and we decided to have that part of the hall all to ourselves for that occasion. So phenomenal bar hall 1 was occupied by just our families for that evening and our special table for two spot was where our chair, mine and Benny's chair, was situated.

Ours was a modern introduction ceremony, it was more of a get together and less of the regular traditional rites that always accompanied it. Infact we skipped all those regular settings jorh.

There were lots of drinks and food, the families had got to know each other, my mum and Benny's mum were sitting together and laughing very joyfully, I looked at them and smiled

'Imagine the two people that never wanted their children to be together, now they were basking in the ambiance of the union'

I was sitting with Benedicta on the same spot, that special table for two spot that had always being there for us'

My siblings except my two elder sisters were all present too, my Dad and Benny's Dad were having their own conversation too, Austin was busy reading a piece of paper, and just when we least expected it, Austin stood up and called for everyone's attention.

We all listened to him, he cleared his throat and began

'Good evening everyone, I am glad we are here present to celebrate with our dear daughter and son, I am also glad that today, there is a union between the Bini people of Edo state and the Esan people of Edo state.

'Someone once told me that if you see an Esan person and a snake, you should kill the Esan person before the snake'

He laughed out loud and we all joined in the laughter, then he wore a serious face and continued

'A few months ago, this would have been a mere dream and an impossibility save the efforts of two people that were willing to die for their love and an elder brother that was willing to go to the ends of the earth for his sister'

He smiled at Benedicta and I and continued

'Please if you would excuse me, I would like to invite the soon to be couple to join me up here, we have a confession to make'

 

Chapter Eighteen

(The Final Episode)

 

I was a little skeptical as I stood up with Benedicta to join Austin in the spotlight, I really wasn't sure if we should be doing that? What was Austin thinking by the way, what happened to 'old things are passed away and let bygones be bygones?'

I looked at Benedicta but it seemed she was in on the plan too as she seemed very relaxed and comfortable.

We joined him on the centre stage as we became the centre of attraction, everyone's eyes were glued on us, their ears waiting anxiously to hear the confession.

Austin began

'For a very long time in the history of the Edo people, there has always been this unfounded division between the Ishans and the Binis, especially when it came to issues of marriages. The average Ishan man believes that the Binis are not a good ethnic group to pick a marriage partner from and the average Bini man sees the Ishan people as wrong choices in marriage.

These unfounded beliefs have grown so much in our hearts that overtime we even came to accept it as laws in our hearts and for many years, so many families have been fighting hard to uphold a tradition that never really had any logical foundation and this has also led to lots and lots of heartbreaks, pains and tears in the lives of many that had been caught in this web. I myself have suffered from this unfounded belief’ he looked towards his mum when he said this but she avoided his eyes and looked away. He smiled and continued speaking.

If you will all permit me, I would like to ask a few direct questions', he turned to his mum and asked 'Mummy please with all sincerity can you tell us why you kicked hard against the union between Benedicta and Emma?'

His mum appeared a little embarrassed, she obviously wasn't expecting her son to take her on like that in public, now all eyes were on her and for a moment, I caught her dabbing her eyes with an handkerchief, I guess there was a tear or two in there, she couldn't really speak up, the hall was quiet, I looked towards my mum, she was wearing a sad face now, obviously she was in the same category, they both belonged to the set of people that believed in upholding a tradition that never really had a foundation.

After about a minute of painful silence, Austin continued,

'I would take that to mean my mum really never had strong reasons why these two couldn't be together'

Then he turned to my own mum, 'mummy maybe you might have had some strong reasons why you thought Benedicta would never make a good wife for your son'

Now it was my mum's turn to be embarrassed, she shook her head in the negative, of course she had no reasons, and she just belonged to that general set of people that had a general belief that Bini women were evil so no one should marry them.

Austin continued

'I am sorry, I am doing this but indeed this should be a lesson for us all, marriage is never about the beliefs or the premonitions, marriage most times is about the persons involved, haven't we all heard of irresponsible children from responsible homes and vice versa?

Even if we all had proofs that our family was a family of wolves, wasn't there a slim chance that Benedicta here could have as well not being a wolf?

I never knew Emma's tribe before I loved him, I can also recall that my mum liked him before she got to know his tribe, so does tribe have a way of automatically changing people into what they are not?'

The hall was really quiet now, the mood had quickly changed to one of sadness, the two mothers were the saddest of all, and at a point they couldn't even raise their heads.

Austin continued,

'I saw the kind of fire that burned between these two love birds, I saw with my eyes, love in its purest form and I decided to stand for it despite my mum's take on the relationship'

Now I said we had a confession to make, on this backdrop, I make this confession'

And so Austin began the story of how we had met at the same spot we were now having our introduction and how we had planned to make things work out, he went on to state how he and his sister had played a fast one on their mum and how she had bent to the will of nature and love for her daughter, he also went on to state how we had planned and carefully carried out something similar on my mum, the inclusion of the prophet who had met her on the way and warned her to stop fighting against destiny and how he had given her three signs to watch out for and how I had carefully made sure the three signs came to pass just the same way the prophet had prophesied,

hehehehe, I was the insider na, making those things happen was rather easy, the first sign of one of her jewelry disappearing to reappear after three days was a piece of cake for me, the second one about her husband coming home drunk two days later was a little bit hard but I had bought my Dad over, though it was hard to convince him, he succumbed after much pressure from I and Benedicta, he loved Benedicta too.

The third sign was to be the icebreaker, she was meant to see Omozele, the girl she actually intended me to marry, three times on the same day with three different men, this part was particularly difficult but Austin had his way with words, before we knew it, he had become friends with Omozele and somehow he made it happen.

It wasn't strange then when my mum called me a few days afterwards and demanded to meet Benedicta.

 

When Austin finished his story, the two mothers really didn't have much to say, the few months we had spent as a family already had opened their eyes to the fact that they were blindly kicking against a beautiful union right from the onset.

It was Austin's mum that spoke first, she apologized to everyone and thanked us for going the extra mile for what we strongly believed in, my mum did same too and gradually, the liveliness and happiness returned to the hall, indeed everyone was happy, it was a great day for us all.

The wedding date was set and guess what, Austin was going to be my best man, sounds odd right but I doubt if I could have had a better friend than Austin, he practically saved our relationship and most probably saved my life too because till this day I still wonder if I could have had a life outside Benedicta.

 

Okay as I write the last paragraphs of my beautiful story, we need your help here, I mean I and my future wife Benedicta, we are having a little argument on how the reception should be, she strongly insists it must be at Phenomenal restaurants and bar, at the same hall where we had our special table for two session, okay I agreed to that one, but she just came up with something else now o, she says we should tag our marriage reception 'Table For Two'

I have not heard where they tag marriage reception o, is it an entertainment event?

Abeg tell me what you think, because I have my own doubts on that one o, meanwhile I have to run along now, the wedding planner just arrived.

 

Thank you for reading our story and to everyone out there who is having a relationship that's facing obstacles at the moment, please don't give up, hold your ground and stand strong, love is all that matters, if you both strongly believe in it, if you join hands together, you can make it work. Have a lovely day and always stand for what you believe in, Love is all that matters.

 

The End

Author's Note

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