Be built, be fine, dress well, speak well, and at least you would have passed the first test. That was my way of auditing men. I was young and naive. I knew I wanted to explore but there was a cage refusing that.
Kene’s hostel was not too far from mine. His sister was also in my class. She was tall, beautiful, with a great body, spoke well and funny. She was a great girl though I didn’t like spending time with her. I always felt drained when I was with her. I didn’t like that feeling. I liked the times she made me laugh though.
But I didn’t meet Kene through his sister. I can’t even remember how we met – weird!
Kene was in the school’s basketball team and I was proud of that. Kene was tall, super huge and that meant extra cool for me. He spoke well too but wasn’t a good dresser. I always had to tell him “This your boot na wa o. Are you trying to walk through the gutter in Lagos?” or “Kene this shirt doesn’t fit with your trouser”. He always tried to please me as he started working on his dress sense.
Kene loved cartoons a lot and that was where I was a bit lost. Sometimes, he tried to discuss cartoons with me and I would just smile and stare. Don’t get me wrong. I watched cartoons but Kene was an expert! Even cartoons aired in heaven, he knew them all. But I wasn’t bothered. Kene was intelligent and we had great discussions a few times.
I didn’t like to go to his hostel for some weird reasons. The hostel was always dark, his room was too small and it was always hot. It wasn’t his fault, I knew, so I told him he would always meet me in my hostel. He didn’t have a problem with that. Kene had no problems at all. He was just there. He would look into my eyes and tell me I beautiful I was. How he was so lucky to have me. How I was his world.
“Waaaaaaaawu! Could this be me? Vic catch fire wherever you are o. This one na love in Tokyo” I thought to myself.
But there was something dark about Kene and it was troubling. I couldn’t place my hands on it though. I never did.
Kene was all shades of weird. Kene never said “I love you” to me for one day. He kept saying “I hate you”. When I asked why he did that, he said that was his own way of saying ” I love you”.
Mheeeen, was I uncomfortable! But yet, I stayed and we had good times together.
But something happened one day. Kene didn’t expect it but maybe I was still hurt or maybe I was looking for an escape route. Whatever it was, I was even shocked myself.
It was a few days to Val and I wanted to spend it with Kene. His friend, Max was in my hostel. I told Max I wanted Kene to come to my hostel so I could discuss something with him. Max’s response was the beginning of that problem. He said “If I hear say Kene come here. Call am na”.
I was confused. Why wouldn’t Kene want to come? Why is Max even in my hostel? It was a weekend. I knew Kene’s schedule so well. He wasn’t busy.
I called Kene. He picked up and said he was coming. 30 minutes passed and I didn’t see him. I called him again and I got no response. I called over 10 times and Kene didn’t answer. I left to my room. I didn’t know when Max left either.
Kene never came that day. He didn’t pick my calls. He didn’t return them either. Kene didn’t come until after 2 days. I was angry, disappointed and I honestly didn’t want to see him again.
The day he came, he met me downstairs. I asked him where he had been and why he hadn’t been taking my calls. Kene told me he owed me no explanation and that I needed to calm down.
Oluwa ooooooooo. That was the height of it. I’m not having another Vic drama. Hell to the NO!
I smiled. I told him that his decision was also fine by me. I started walking to the stairs leading to my room. The next thing that happened surprised me.
Kene shouted “Joy, come back here. I said, come back here”.
This is how it starts, I thought. By this time, people had come out of their rooms and were watching us from the balcony. To say I was embarrassed is an understatement. I was the almighty coded girl in my hostel so as my matter don burst, na better movie and gist.
I stopped, walked up to him, and said ” Please watch me as I walk to my room”. I turned back and went to my room.
He was angry. I was angry. One week passed and we didn’t see or hear from each other. He sent his friends to beg me. They practically followed me everywhere from school class to even my dance classes.
Kene was a good guy but that weird thing with him wasn’t romantic at all. The worst part is that the FBI in me couldn’t figure it out. It was my best chance to leave. Bye Kene.
I was on my balcony chatting with those downstairs and receiving fresh air. I had just come back from class and needed to cool off. People were walking in and out of the hostel but then someone walked in and that moment brought a huge change in my life.
He was damn too cute to be ignored. I loved his carriage. His smile was to die for. His accent? Perfect. He was not built but you could perceive his awesomeness from a distance. He exchanged pleasantries with his friend, Best and then he stole a glance at me.
To be continued…
