The
evening met us eating vegetable soup together which she had prepared on
her return from the market. While eating, we discussed about many
things. My eyes were fixed on her face, as her smile made me want to
tell all the jokes in the world. She treated me like a brother. She had
no fear of me and attended to me as though it was her obligation to do
so. I had never been in that position before. I only imagined it. Right
then I found that there was a remarkable difference between imagination
and reality. We finished eating and she took the plates away. The TV set
was on, the sound of the ceiling fan could be heard clearly, and she
was talking to me and laughing all the while. She was a very joyful
being. But in all that made sounds in that room, all I could here was
echoes of angelic voices miming to heavenly songs as she was talking. I
wasn’t listening to her. I could only see her lips moving. The
allurements of her lips almost led me to overcome my conscience and
fears. Just then, my phone rang, and my brief mind travel ceased. I
answered the call. It was my mother calling to check up on me. I told
her everything I hadn’t told her yet except that I shared the same room
with a girl. A very pretty one at that. After the call, Ogechi and I
conversed a whole lot. I told her about myself and she did same. It
continued until about 10pm when she asked me to join her in prayer,
after which we retired to bed. (On the same bed)
The
next day was a Sunday. We prayed and prepared for church service. She
was a member of Christ’s Embassy. I followed her there. On arrival,
almost everyone we came across stopped her to say a thing or two before
letting her proceed. I became more like a bodyguard, having to wait
until she was done with whoever she stopped to converse with. It seemed
to me like she was really popular there. When we got to the main
building of the church, she handed me over to a pretty female usher who
took me in and gave me a seat. I didn’t know where Ogechi had gone to. I
expected her to sit right next to me in that church. Soon enough, the
chairs in my row was filled and she still hadn’t come. I got my mind off
that and concentrated on the brother who was taking the opening prayer.
Midway into the service I couldn’t still lay my eyes on Ogechi anywhere
in the auditorium. When the choir was called out to minister their
song, I looked, and there she was among them. She hadn’t told me she was
a chorister.
The
choir director introduced the song and handed the mike over to guess
who; Ogechi. She was the lead singer. When she started singing, first
thing that stood out was her angelic voice which made its way at once to
my body system to awaken sleeping cells and tissues. While the
congregation was getting blessed by the lyrics of the song, I was all
the while admiring and adoring Ogechi. She was simply awesome. Her
uniqueness kept unfolding as the days passed. After service, almost
everyone complemented her for her performance during the choir
ministration. I had to wait until all that was over. She introduced me
to a couple of the brethren there as Jesusboy. They kind of marveled at
me for bearing such name. And whenever any of them asked why I beard
that name, I would say; because Jesus is the one I claim.
Some
of them would laugh to that while some others got short of words.
However, they would all call me Jesusboy afterwards. They asked Ogechi
how she got to know me, and she said; I met him two nights ago under an
unseemly circumstance and he turned out to be a good acquaintance. I
know that in no distant time he’ll be up and serving in one of the units
here in church. She turned to me and said; right Jesusboy? Definitely!
I replied. It will be my pleasure to make myself useful to the Lord in
this great house of worship. They were all glad to hear me say that, and
they commended her for bringing me to church. To some extent, I felt
she was proud of me because of the speech I just made. I wouldn’t know
since I never inquired.
In
the evening that day, I wanted to hang out a little since I was already
used to doing so every evening before I met her. I asked her if she had
anything doing that evening and she said no. why? She asked.
‘I want to hang out a little. I was wondering if you would join me’
‘N..a..h., I’ll just stay at home’
‘Look,
I know you’re reserved and all that. I also am, but once in a while you
need to loosen up. And in case you’re afraid ‘What happened on Friday
night might repeat itself, don’t be. I’ll be there to protect you if it
does’
‘(She
lay there on the bed looking at me without saying a word, probably
wondering what made me think I could save her from the police) Don’t
worry. Go ahead. I’ll join you some other time’
‘Come on Oge, it will only take a while. I’ll be so bored hanging out all alone’
‘Then find some girl out there to keep you company. Like you said, it’ll only take a while’
‘That
would have been a good idea if there was some girl out there as
beautiful as you are. A pretty girl like you by my side will give me a
memory to hold on to. You never know what you might derive from this
time out. Just come with me, I beg you’
She
still didn’t yield to my plea, but as soon as I went on my knees, it
was like I had cast a spell on her. I couldn’t believe that the girl I
had spent quite some time trying to persuade to hang out with me just
consented helplessly. As soon as I knelt down, she immediately jumped
from the bed and said; I WILL COME WITH YOU. She said that three times
without me saying anything. I was greatly amazed! I kept that in mind.
That seemed to me like her soft spot, and I planned that I would use it
whenever she grew tough. So I rose to my feet and thanked her for
agreeing to come with me. She told me to give her some minutes to change
into something nice. She went into the bathroom and came out in a red
gown that didn’t go down below her knee level, with precious stones
glittering all over the gown.
‘You look extra ordinarily gorgeous’ I remarked.
‘Thank you’ she replied blushing
I
stood there for 30 seconds staring at her with a grin without saying a
word. I think she loved the way I was admiring her because she smiled
all through the time. Then suddenly she raised her eyebrows, clapped her
hands a few times and said; ‘HELLOO? CAN WE GO NOW?’ I gave her my
hand, she took it, and we left.
AT A SIT OUT
‘What do you care for?’ I asked.
‘I don’t know. Anything will do’
‘Okay. Waiter! Please get us two bottles of Legend Extra Stout’
‘Legend Extra Stout?’ She exclaimed.
‘Of cause! Thought you said anything?’
‘(Aggressively) Y..e..a..h.., but not alcohol’
‘Oh’ really? How was I supposed to know that? So now, what do you care for?’
‘You’re really crazy you know? I’ll take malt’
‘Waiter, please change of order. Two bottles of malt instead. And tell that mallam to bring suya worth N1,000
‘Okay Sir’ said the waiter
‘Thank you’
‘Why did you change your order too? Don’t you want to drink Legend again?’ she asked.
‘I will if you will’
‘I don’t take alcohol’
‘Well, same here’
‘Why then did you order for it in the first place?’
‘Because……..(waiter interrupts)
‘Here’s your order sir’ the waiter said as he dropped our order on the table.
‘Thank you. (Turn to Ogechi) So Oge, you never told me you were a chorister’
‘Yeah, it never crossed my mind to do so. But now you know. You have a problem with that?’
‘Absolutely not. On the contrary, I love music, as well as singers. Especially singers like you who can pitch high’
‘Great! Thank you. I wouldn’t be wrong to assume you’re a chorister would I?’
‘Not
exactly. You see, I do music, but I’m not a chorister. I’ve never been
in a church choir or music group before, but I’ve recorded quite a
number of songs’ I said, feeling like a star.
‘Wow!
You’re a musician! Small world! I’ve always dreamed of the day my
church choir will start doing studio recordings. I look forward to the
day our songs will go global and touch lives. We have so much to offer,
and it has to go beyond the four walls of the church to the world at
large. I just don’t know how soon that is going to happen. My choir
director doesn’t seem to be as eager as I am to see that happen. And
I’ll have to wait until he does’
‘You’re
wrong. You must not be in a church choir to make that happen. You can
always go solo if you are that eager to reach out to the world. Who
knows if your choir director will ever buy the idea of getting your
choir to record an album? Maybe all he wants is just to minister in
church. I’m not certain about that anyway. But that’s a thought you
should take to heart’
‘(Ogechi pondering on what I just said) It had crossed my mind to do so. I just didn’t find the right motivation’
‘It’s finally here isn’t it?’ I said confidently.
‘I guess it is. But I’ve never recorded a song before in a studio. It’s all going to be new to me’
‘There’s
always a first time. Besides, that’s not what you should be worried
about. You should be more concerned about the writing and composing
aspect of it’
‘That’s the problem’ she said sadly.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Song
writing is not really my thing. That’s the reason why I couldn’t do
without my choir director. He writes our original songs, and I give
melody to it’
‘That
won’t be a problem. I’ll do the writing for you. It is a good thing you
can create melody. And I’ll also assist in that, if at all you need my
help at any point’
‘How come you can do all that when you’ve never joined a church choir or music group before?’
‘I’m sorry you may have to direct that question to G.O.D’ I said, feeling funky.
‘Are you serious about this or you’re just playing pranks on me like you did with the Legend Extra Stout thing?’
‘Of cause not! I’m serious. Like I said; I’ve recorded quite a number of songs’
‘I’d like to listen to your songs. If what you’re saying is true, then let me listen to them.
‘You
still don’t believe me right? Okay doubting Thomas. My songs are all on
the internet. I’ll give you a link to one of them. If you like them,
I’ll give you links to the others. Are you ready for the link?’
‘Just a second. (She reaches for her pus and brings out her blackberry z10) Okay, go ahead’
‘Title is ‘RISE & SHINE’; http://m.naijapals.com/music.php?id=33247 That’s the link’
‘Okay Mister! I’ll do so before I retire to bed tonight. Let’s drink up and get going. It’s getting pretty late’
‘Alright Miss! Whatever you will, that shall I do’
‘You’re a really funny guy’
‘And you’re the cutest girl I’ve ever seen’
We
stared firmly into each other’s eyes after I made that statement. It
was as if I had dropped the bomb. The longer we looked each other right
in the eye, the closer our faces got to each other’s. Oh’ my gosh!!! Was
this really going to happen?
To be continued.