Hibiscus

He was 19 when he met her
He wasn't ready for love in any way
His head was still in the cloud at the time
All his life he had enjoyed the benefit of his Father's wealth
They lived in a unique estate preserved for the rich
He attended the very best schools
He had his first car at 16
Everything was going to plan
Then his father suddenly took ill and died
Then the bank came and took everything
His father had taken some business loans and 
hadn't repaid before he died
His mother had enough to move them to a flat somewhere
Somewhere far from his friends and his life
Somewhere far from away from reality
It felt as if everything kept moving backwards
The good news was his admission
He got the letter just a few days before the stars fell from heaven!
That was how they came to live in that community
It was an ordinary community full of ordinary people
The landlord of the flat they rented was the richest man in the community
He had a block of eight cars and parked so many cheap cars in the compound
That was what made him seem rich
All the cheap cars that he stuffed the compound with
People would count and say "He had may cars"
All the cars put together couldn't but one of his late father's cars
He hated the new house and the new community and the new environment
He hated falling off the pantheon of the gods
He hated becoming a commoner!
He kept to himself in that community
He read novels, watched movies and whenever he needed company he would go back to the estate and mingle with his friends
He knew sooner or later he would have to face reality
He would have to let the past be!
The attitude of some of his friends had started changing
He was gradually being treated as an outsider
He couldn't wait for school to resume!
She practically sought him out
Right there on the street!
She was going to fetch water at the well 
She and three of her sisters all carrying buckets of different sizes
He was returning home from hanging out with his friends
She suddenly veered off her trail and bumped into him
It was a heavy bump that knocked the wind out of him
Instead of apologizing, she winked right into his eyes and smiled
Then she walked away!
He looked at all the roundness of her behind as she sashayed 
away like Cleopatra!
He wanted to follow her but held himself!
He didn't want to get entangled with these riff-raffs
He had lived in the community for three months and had 
deliberately made no friends
It would be the final nail in the coffin for him
Acknowledging that "This" was where he now belonged!
He didn't know why he stood outside his gate the next day
At about the same time
Sometimes you will be resisting something in your head
And be liking it at the same time in your actions
He was just in time!
She and her sisters were just getting round 
the bend towards his gate
As soon as he saw her, her face lit up
He didn't even know he had a smile on his face
She walked up to him and said "I apologise for yesterday
My sisters and I had a bet sometimes last week
We saw you walking down the street and I said I like you
They said you are too proud, you dont greet and you snub people
They said you would never stoop to talk to someone like me
So i decided to knock some niceness into you.
I hope you don't mind!"
He didn't know what to think
He was too young to get what was going on
She was younger than him but it seemed as if she got it
He was intrigued enough to stand outside his gate the following day
And that was that
Every evening by 6pm he would wait for her
they would greet and talk
She would walk away and he gets to admire her backside
Eventually, he invited her to his flat
His mother was thrilled
His mother had been worried about him and how he was taking to the changes
The sight of the girl was a relief!
They played scrabbles, chess, monopoly, checkers, word puzzles
They played LUDO, Sudoku, snake and ladder, "Animal, place, thing"
They read novels and watched loads of videos
Somewhere along the line, they became lovers
She had also been admitted into the University
The same University with him and they were both resuming 
in October of that year
For him, she was it!
His mother called him one evening and carefully told him about
pre-marital sex and pregnancy prevention
She didn't accuse of him of anything
She was a born again Christian and she wanted to
But she was scared for many reasons
While they were in the estate, she suspected that he had started smoking
cigarettes and a little bit of marijuana
Though he tried to be careful, she saw the signs
She had thought it would go worse after the disaster
She was afraid he would seek his escape from reality in drugs
But then the girl came along and she became his only vice
She felt it would be unwise to take that away 
He might head in another direction entirely
plus the girl is a good girl and her parents were decent
School resumed and they were practically living together
They were the sort of "item" that cannot be denied
Her mother would have preferred her to get into such a relationship
at an older age
But she also understood that her daughter was no longer a baby
She was an undergraduate and she must make her mistakes 
or her good decisions and live with the consequences
When they were going off to school
Her mother gave her a big pack of condoms
She wrote on it "This is not an endorsement, be smart"
They had no further discussion on the matter
Campus changed everything!
They were always together, she knew he loved her
But other girls were always looking at him and talking to him
he was a brilliant chap and within a few weeks of resumption
his department already knew him
He had a star quality
She was an average student of average looks
She was by no means ugly but the sort of ladies chasing him
were way above her league
She knew it was a matter of time
She told him this often "I know you were going to dump me eventually"
"I know you think you are strong now, but you will leave"
"I think you feel I am dragging you back by being with you"
"I think you will one day look back and hate me for holding on to you"
He kept trying to reassure her
"Babe, what's with this insecurity? Babe, I love you"
"I am here, nobody is chasing me, nobody is taking me away"
But she wouldn't be placated
One day he was in the library with her
A lady came to say hello
His babe hissed like a python!
It was so embarrassing!
He told her afterwards "Why did you embarrass me like that?"
She said "Now I am an embarrassment, Three years of being with you
I have now become an embarrassment! I knew your eyes were out there
I knew your heart had left!
Just do what you have to do on time
Let me find my level"
He didn't know what to do!
The options were terrible!
Leave her and hurt her or stay with her and cope with her irrational behaviour
He turned to his mother
His mother said "Show her love, show her you care, 
let her see her love in your eyes, you guys will be fine!"
She got to her final year
He was studying LAW and still had a year on campus
He took her to dinner one night
He told her to consider the fact that despite all the temptations
He never wavered for almost five years
He assured her of his love
Her face brightened up
Later that night, when they got to their flat
They saw her best friend waiting in the balcony
Though it was late in the evening
It was nothing unusual since they were on campus 
He didn't notice the awkwardness until later
They didn't really warm up at the sight on each other
He opened the door and walked into the flat
He left the two ladies on the balcony to talk
Soon he heard raised voices
He rushed outside just in time to see them trading blows
He didn't get it!
What could have happened?
Her friend kept calling her "A prostitute, husband snatcher"
He didn't pay much attention to it!
As her friend was leaving, she turned to him and said 
"This your girlfriend has used a charm on you!
She has slept with everybody right under your nose
But you were too foolish to see it"
He knew ladies can talk when they get angry
He was just glad the ruckus was over
They got back into the room, he didn't say a word
He showered and slept!
later in the night, around 2 AM, she woke him up
She said, "You are going to leave me now, right?"
He wanted to give her the usual reassurance but
he held himself!
Somewhere at the back of his mind he felt a restraint
The way she asked the question with an air of inevitability
So he asked her "How many guys have you slept with since
we were together?"
Silence! 
He couldn't believe it!
"How many?" He asked her again
"Sixteen" she stammered!
"Sixteen?" He echoed
"I thought you were going to leave me, I was trying to protect myself,
I was looking out for myself, I didn't want you to leave me clutching
at straws! I don't want to be a fool" She said 
"But sixteen!" He exclaimed
"See, it is not easy to go boyfriend shopping, all they wanted was sex
and after then they would walk away, I couldn't get one of them
to be faithful, and I knew you would find out one day and leave me,
I had to keep searching"
"WOW!"
"So how come you slept with your friend's boyfriend, was he 
also a potential husband?" He asked
"They had not started dating when I slept with him, that was
why this was so weird, I slept with the guy first and she was the
one accusing me of being a husband snatcher"
His head started spinning
He suddenly felt hot, like a volcano before eruption
She saw the change and fell on her knees in tears
"I am sorry, I am sorry, I was wrong! You were faithful
You were committed, I was a fool, I love you, I am sorry" she cried as 
she held on to his leg
He calmed down
The next day he told her to get to "Jaja" the campus clinic
He wanted an HIV test result
She brought it to him that same day
It was negative!
He forgave her!
They grew stronger in their love
The session ended, she went off to serve
He didn't waver!
He graduated and went off to law school
She travelled to the east to be around him
She didn't want him to be too far from her!
Then he was posted for service and she went to Kano with him
She waited faithfully, they were almost there
Eight years of love, what a sweet story!
Their love had crossed many boundaries
Societal, emotional and geographical
Their love stood the test of time
It was exactly how it should be!
He finished serving, they returned to Lagos
Now to get a job, get married and settle down
He got a job the very day he returned to Lagos
A very good job with a ligation firm
She got a job too as a librarian in a big organization
His firm gave him an apartment and a car
It was way beyond the stuff of dreams 
Six months after he started working
He proposed to a lady he met while handling a brief
A lawyer from another big firm
The lady said yes!
He had moved into the apartment the week before
And she had been buying stuff with the plan of
moving in with him!
They had practically lived together for nine years
It was unusual for her to be alone
He was her world and she was his!
He called her on the phone to break the news to her
"Babe, I will be getting married in a few months 
I met this glorious babe at work, I proposed to her and she 
said yes. 
I felt it is time we end this ride
I tried very hard but I just couldn't bring myself to trust you
The fact that you had followed me to the north and the east
proved my point! 
You didn't do it because you love and trust me!
You did it because you were insecure
You didn't  learn from the past and you didn't change
I gave you more than enough time but I will not willingly
walk into this kind of life for a lifetime!
It is time to move on!
I wish you all the best!
I love you!"
And that was that!
She called him several times, he would pick and insist it was over
She begged and pleaded
She swore to see a psychiatrist and do better
It was all water under the bridge!
He got married three months later in Dubai!

PS: The event happened in 2014
She got married in 2017 and has a son
His marriage was also blessed with two girls and a boy
They don't move in the same circle
She had not seen him face to face since he got married
She says she still loves him but had to move on
He says he loves her in a certain way but didn't 
a future with her