The edge

He was not there to fight for or protect his own
He was far away in Kebbi state, serving the 
government
He had no idea whatsoever that the things
most precious to him was being taken away
from him by a scavenger
He was safe and secure in the future he
had plotted, planned and meticulously worked 
hard to make a reality
Everything was fine until he left
His mother and fiancee drove him to the
airport when he left Lagos
They were all the world to him
He was the only child of his mother 
His father died in Germany during a 
terrorist attack
He was thirteen when his father died
at the hand of terrorists in Germany
His mother didn't remarry
She got a huge settlement from the
IT company his father was working
for before he was killed
His mother was also a medical doctor
A consultant who travels a lot on
assignment with the World Health Organization
He met his fiance in the boarding house
They were both fourteen at the time
They started talking one day during
the inter-house sport
She was a spectator and so was he
They were both standing under one of
the trees in the school compound watching
the relay race when he asked her out
He had been eyeing her for several weeks
He didn't know why he liked her particularly
He had never liked anybody like that
Her presence heightens his senses
He was drawn to her in a crazy way
But she was one of those no-nonsense
student union fellowship girls
She was, in fact, the secretary of the fellowship
She was a total Jesus Freak
So he admired her from afar
But the inter-house sport brought out
a different side in all of them
He saw her attending to the athletes of her
the green house
She was one of those ladies in the background
giving athletes glucose, water and helping
them out with cramps and all
She was very good at what she does
He saw beyond the religion, he saw her heart
So that afternoon when he found himself
standing next to her
He chatted her up for the first time
She blushed immediately
He could see that she lost her composure
as soon as she realized he was talking to her
It helped a lot
His voice was shaky too
He didn't know what he was doing
They both recovered and had a nice conversation
She told him all the girls in the hostel would
go green with envy when they notice
that he was talking to her
He wondered why
She laughed nervously
She told her all the girls wanted to date him
They saw him as classy and very intelligent
He never saw himself that way
from her description, he was quite a catch
The information worked to his advantage
He asked her to be his girlfriend
She didn't say anything
The inter-house sport took all-day
Her house won
When they were retiring to the hostel
She was walking to the female hostel
in the company of other ladies
They were like 50
He stood watching her, waiting for a sign
She turned around
Right in between all of them and shouted
"So and so, I can see you are watching me"
He didn't say anything, he just waved
Then she said "The question you asked
me earlier, I am giving you a YES!
So you can go to your hostel now"
WOW!
He smiled and shouted "Thank you"
That was how they started
They were both in Senior secondary class 1
The relationship was very real
They started studying together and building
a strong reality
The whole school knew they were together
Neither of them cared
He took her home for the first time just
a few weeks before they wrote their WAEC
His mother saw the bond between them
and said "What you have is rare but do not
ruin it by making foolish intimate decisions!
Enjoy the friendship until it is ripe enough
to metamorphose into something golden
and beautiful"
They both gained admission into the
university the same year
She was admitted to study Computer
and information Technology
He was admitted to study Medicine
Many people expected their love to somehow
wane as it did for many others who started
too early
But it only waxed stronger and stronger
They were both somehow joined at the hip
Each mirroring the other's characteristics
and behavioral pattern instinctively
She graduated before him
She served in Gombe
She was immediately employed by an
IT firm owned by one of her father's friends
Her father was an architect by training
But somehow he became an industrialist
He was also a very rich philanthropist 
He came into money in the 80s and 
somehow built on the fortune by sheer will 
and wisdom
Her father married early but had
children quite late
Her parents waited seventeen years before
they had her and her siblings
She had a younger brother and another 
Sister
He was familiar with her siblings since their
secondary school days
They were his juniors at the time
Everybody knew where their story was heading
He graduated and they both decided to
get married before traveling abroad to pursue 
their Masters and start a family
They had both been together for thirteen years!
He graduated at twenty-seven 
He could have graduated earlier but for industrial
actions and all sorts of clogs in the wheel of the
Nigerian education system
Just the one year he owed the government
and they would be home free
He got to Kebbi State and settled into the
three weeks orientation camp stuff
They called each other every day
They always had things to talk about
They were that kind of couple
They talk about everything
Then his mother returned home from a trip
feeling ill
She was rushed to the hospital and
discovered to have symptoms of cancer
It was very disturbing
He waited until he was done with the orientation
programme
He rushed back to Lagos
He saw his mother there
Hanging in there, looking like a walking corpse
He couldn't believe
Just when he was about to settle down
and fulfill all his promises to her
His babe called him at the time
She was aware of what was going on
but he was too numb to cope
He shut her out
He needed some time alone
He needed to find a solution to the problem
He didn't see it until it was too late
His castle, the castle, the one they built
was being torn apart by a hurricane
He started calling his babe
Her number was engaged or busy
Whenever she picked his call, she would
be terse and closed and stone cold
Eventually, one of her younger sisters told
him about a guy
An "I just got back" guy from abroad who
had been writing Shakespearean poems and 
playing "Cassanova" with his woman
It was ill-timed
He was fighting two battles at the same
time
Two battles he dare not lose
He was at first very angry with his babe
Of all times, why would she allow the devil
when he was so vulnerable
But he sought counsel
he wrote to the brother in Jeans and T-shirt
He told him everything and asked him
what he should do
The Brother in jeans and T-shirt laughed and
told him to relax
He told him what to do
He told him how to chase the wolf away
He told him to fight the battle he must win
first and then return with his woman to fight 
the battle he cannot lose!
The Brother in jeans and T-shirt said 
Dont get all emotional and sentimental
Learn from King David and do what you must
"Just turn the counsel of Ahitophel to dust"
When he got home that night, he sat down
and had a talking session with the Holy
Spirit
He had a plan in mind and he asked the 
Holy Spirit to please execute it
Then he waited for three days
His babe called him
She was very distraught
"People had been spreading all sorts of
lies about me, it was extremely damaging,
imagine my father calling to ask me when
i became a wayward covenant breaker?"
He didn't say anything, "silence" seemed
to be more effective than busting out
in laughter!
The Ministering spirits had done as he
asked of the Holy Spirit
She came to see him that evening
For the first time she was not closed or
"in a hurry"
He explained what happened at that critical
time
It was an onslaught
The devil was determined to distract him
and make him lose both ways or at least in
one of the ways
He was lost but help came
They went to the hospital the following day
They met the brother in Jeans and T-shirt
with his mother
She was hale and hearty
All the tests had come back negative
It was just a scare
She didn't have cancer after all
They all prayed together
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt told his
babe it was natural for anybody who had been
in only one relationship for many years to wonder
what it would be like to date other people
and gain some "other" sort of experience
They were high school sweethearts and that
could be an advantage or a disadvantage
in future but it is foolish for one to anticipate
the future at the detriment of the present!
They had a good life together and promising
future
Why allow doubts and insecurity?
Why chase the wind when you have the whole
world at your feet?
She got it
She said "Suddenly, i wasn't into that guy again,
it was as if there was a feeling there and then the
feeling disappeared overnight! 
Then i received a message, a telling off by another 
lady who claimed the guy was her man.
That rubbished everything!"
The Brother in Jeans and T-shirt and her
man looked at each other and smiled

Ps: They got married in May 2018
They both live in Canada at the moment
She is four months pregnant
When her husband told her he sent the
message from the other guy's girlfriend 
Insinuating that the guy was cheating on 
her
She couldn't stop laughing!
Her husband had mastered the Art of War
by GSW

GSW's notes: You have the EDGE

There are battles a Christian
brother or sister would usually lose helplessly
The most common is a battle for love
When someone else has successfully turned
his head or her head
When the castle they built was turning to a
heap of rubbish
And hope was going stale
The Christian will have to accept it is no longer
God's will
He might fast or pray but more often than not
he or she will throw in the towel
The children of this world are wiser than
the children of the kingdom in this regard
It also happens in business
Ideology replaces wisdom for the believer
We forget we play by another set of rules