Episode One
God forbid!” Onyinye exclaimed as she got up from the sofa. “God forbid,” she said again. She had just dreamt that her boyfriend, Adedamola, broke up with her.
Onyinye had the ability to foresee things before they happened through her dreams. Many of her friends had nicknamed her Josephine, the dreamer girl, seeing as she enjoyed telling people what would happen in the future.
However, this time, she was really terrified. It was a really bad dream that she could not afford to let materialize. She was seriously in love with Adedamola and she couldn’t dare to imagine what would happen if he broke up with her. It had been nine months since they started dating and those months had been the best months of her life. Already, she had envisaged their future together; their dream house, children, everything.
Onyinye paced briskly and thoughtfully from corner to corner of her living room before she returned to sit on the same sofa she stood up from. Abruptly, she stood up again, walked toward one of the windows in the living room. She stood by the window for a brief moment before she decided to lift the window blind. Then a cool harmattan night breeze streamed into her living room together with a cacophony of background noises.
Of all the background noises, she chose to concentrate on her neighbour’s lullaby song to soothe her crying baby. She tried to fix her mind’s eye on her neighbour and her cute baby girl, but her mind’s eye was a very stubborn one, it would not stop flashing back the dream. Angrily, she walked out of the living room, but before she did, she turned angry eyes at the sofa as she vowed never to sleep on it again. In her room, she tossed her pillows, pulled out her bed sheet, bent over her bed, looked underneath to search for her mobile phone. She was desperate to speak with him. She knew speaking with him would definitely alleviate her anxiety.
For several minutes, she searched her bedroom for her phone until she realised she left it on that same sofa in the living room. When she found it, she gazed curiously at their picture on her phone’s wallpaper. It was taken two months ago at his parents’ wedding anniversary. At the party, she met his very charming family members and was glad that they liked her despite the rumors that Yoruba parents often do not support their children choosing their spouse from other tribes.
As she dwelt on his parents’ kind gestures towards her, she felt relieved but the thought only lasted for a brief moment as the dream drifted to her mind again. She paced nervously around her room as she dialed his number but couldn’t reach him. Thousands of ugly thoughts started forming in her mind. She tried to alleviate her anxiety by bringing to mind the romantic words he spoke to her a few hours ago when they chatted on the phone.
After she dropped her phone, she went back to bed but she couldn’t sleep. She spent the night thinking of what she would do to prevent the dream from happening. That night, she made a decision that she would smile and respond gently rather than argue with Adedamola. He loved arguing. She had told him several times that he could have been an impeccable lawyer.
Seventeen hours, twenty minutes and fifty-five seconds after her dream, Adedamola was standing in the doorway after Onyinye answered the door. She gawped as she looked him up and down. Oh no! He looked exactly the way he appeared in her dream. He was wearing a blue and white striped Polo Assn shirt on a blue jean trouser. His tightly shaved head, his posture and demeanor were exactly like how she saw him in her dream. Not even an iota of difference.
“Onyinye! What?” He asked, stepping into the living room. When he looked back, he was surprised to find Onyinye at the doorway, still holding the door. “Onyinye!” Adedamola shouted, interrupting Onyinye’s thought.”
“Good morning,” she said, still looking taken aback.
“It is afternoon,” he said, walking into the living room. He walked back to the doorway, grabbed the door and shut it gently. He held her hand as they walked together into the living room. When he was about to sit on the same chair just as he did in her dream–she quickly led him to another chair. “Onyinye, what is wrong with you? Do you realize that you are acting weird?”
“I know.” She laughed. Quickly, she changed the subject matter to wipe away the curiosity painted on his face. When she mentioned the idea of fixing his lunch, he quickly showed his disapproval and suggested they have their lunch at a restaurant close by.
“Why?” her voice was loud, almost like a woof.
“What?”
“Why would you not want to eat here?” her eyes popped wide as she asked.
“Umm, I just want us to go out…it’s been long we did that. Do you have a problem with that?”
“No! It is fine. It is fine. Fine.”
She walked into her room thinking of the dream, trying hard to figure out if they had lunch in her house or a restaurant. But she couldn’t just remember that part. Maybe she never asked him about lunch in her dream. Maybe the dream was just irrelevant. She tried to talk herself not to believe in her dream. Yet, she selected the clothes that didn’t look familiar to the one she wore in her dream. Back in the sitting room, she caught him staring into space. Fear gripped her heart when she remembered she saw him do that in her dream but she chose not to dwell on it. She slid her hands under his and wrapped them around his back. “I love you,” she whispered into his ears, pushing her troubled thoughts to the back of her mind. He smiled before he said, “I love you too.” ‘Not more,’ Onyinye said to herself.
They left the house with their hands entwined. While they walked quietly, she wished she could read his mind. He looked like he had numerous thoughts crowding his mind. He stared briefly at her before he opened the door of his car for her and until he shut the door he didn’t move his gaze from her face.
At the restaurant they had their favorite meal, eba and vegetable soup, in silence, which was very unusual for them. The sound of people talking and laughing in the background made the silence awful to Onyinye. Beside them were two lovebirds, holding hands as they talked and chuckled. Their amusing voices made her very conscious of the heavy silence between her and Adedamola. Several times, she looked up to him, but he seemed to be oblivious to his environment. His head was bowed before his food like he was not aware of the two lovebirds’ peal of cheerful laughter or her nosy eyes on him. She watched him edgily as he swallowed each morsel of eba slowly.
“What is wrong?” he asked when their eyes met, breaking the silence that had weighed on her.
“Finally, he speaks!” she retorted, holding his stares “You have been quiet. Too quiet,” she added to buttress her point.
“Onyinye, what do you want me to say?” He laughed.
“But you are not always this quiet.”
After they finished their meal and had their table cleared, they sat in silence for a full minute until it was ruined by Adedamola. “Onyinye,” he said softly, and then paused for a while before he continued. “You really mean a lot to me.” He grabbed one of her hands as he spoke. This gesture made Onyinye nervous. She had seen in movies how guys act eccentric when about to propose to their girlfriends. He was starting to behave like one of them. As she thought further, she was relieved from her initial fears and filled with hope.
Once Adedamola dipped one of his hands into his pocket, her heart lurched. She knew she would scream so loud once he pulled out an engagement ring from his pocket. The moment she had waited so long for had finally come, she thought. However, his right hand emerged with a candy. “Oh sweet!” Onyinye heard her voice. She had not felt the word coming out of her mouth. When her eyes met his, she tried to wear a smile, but she was not so much of a good actress, so she had a lopsided grin on her face. When he asked if she wanted some, she shook her head dolefully and then he put the unwrapped candy into his mouth.
“Dear,” he said and her heart began to race again. “I will be away for a while.”
Instantly, Onyinye became as cold as a dog’s nose.
“I’m leaving the country this month for the United States.”
“Alright.” She didn’t believe she had said that. Alright to what?
“I don’t understand.” Finally, she spoke the right words.
“For how long?” She asked.
“Maybe…..two or…more than two years. Honestly……I don’t know.”
She drew a few shaky breaths to calm herself. “So what about us?” She could hear her voice trembling.
“That is the reason we are having this conversation,” he replied.
“Okay,” she said, even though “okay” wasn’t the appropriate word at that moment.
The silence between them was heavy and brooding. It was ruined several times by Onye’s long sighs. Adedamola placed his hands lightly on her shoulders but his hands didn’t calm her tensed nerves.
“What about us?” She asked again, still in shock.
“I am tired of this countryyyyyyyyyy” he drawled. “I want the freedom to pursue my music career without distractions. My dad wants me to join the family business after NYSC, but I am not interested. The only way I can abscond from this misfortune is by leaving this vicinity. I could pursue my music career easily in the States without any distraction. I don’t mean you would distract me, but I just want to focus on my music career. You know…..I also don’t want to be selfish because I know you have your own career path laid out for you here in Nigeria. I just think maybe we should go…
“Please, don’t break up with me!” She shouted. Adedamola was forced to swallow the rest of his words
“Just calm down,” he implored. After he had the courage to speak, he continued. “I am-” his voice trailed off. “But-”
“But what?” Tears welled up in her eyes.
To be continued……………………
Mariam Adeleke
