Walking Away

His girlfriend suddenly came up 
with the idea of him moving out 
of his parent's house and renting 
a place of his own 
She said it casually one Saturday 
afternoon 
They were in his bedroom, in his 
parent's house when she suddenly 
said she felt unsettled being with 
him in his parent's apartment 
They had met four years before at 
a polytechnic 
He was studying Business Administration 
and she was studying Accounting 
They didn't have to see each other's 
parents at all, she was his world and 
he was her world 
They both spent three years in that school 
and left with the National Diplomas 
She gained admission into a federal University 
the following year while he gained admission 
into a private university 
He would have applied to be admitted to 
the same school with her but the school 
was not offering the course he wanted 
to study His school was not too far away 
from her 
It was just an hour drive away and they 
could see each other as many times as they 
both desire 
The problem was he had to stay in a male 
hostel in the new school 
She couldn't come and play "wife" as she 
was doing when they were at the polytechnic
He tried very hard to keep up with their 
relationship via phone call 
They spoke practically all night during the 
free midnight call season and he didn't 
stay too long on campus without 
seeing her
He made sure he saw her every two 
weeks 
She rented a room around Abadina area 
in her own school, thatwas their loft 
She also visited him in school often but 
she didn't like the idea of sitting down in 
eateries and talking across a table 
She was the clingy type 
The type that had to be assured of love 
through physical contact as often as 
possible 
Their life at the polytechnic was the ideal 
life for her 
The new arrangement felt more to her like 
she was visiting him in prison 
They were both in their early twenties and 
he knew it was a phase that would last 
only three years 
He tried his best to reassure her of his 
love as often as possible but the distance
was a big problem 
One morning, a few days to his 300 level 
first semester examination, she called 
him and asked if he could rush down 
to see her 
"Why?" He asked 
She got angry immediately 
She felt he should have known what she 
wanted without her having to spell it out 
They had lived together before and he 
should know how things are with her 
He told her he couldn't come down that 
morning, he had tutorials and all 
She hung up the phone and refused to 
pick his calls for three days 
When she eventually picked, she refused 
to talk about the episode rationally
A week after that she asked him to 
please rent a room close to his school 
where they can both be meeting 
whenever she wanted to be with him 
He didn't see any reason for that 
He would be graduating in less than 
a year from that time and they both 
can get on with their marriage plans 
Both families already know each other 
and neither of the two families had 
any complaint 
In actual fact, her mother and his 
mother met once and they became 
very good friends 
That was how secure their relationship 
was 
It was surely heading for the altar 
A few months later, during the first 
semester of his final year, he left his 
hostel in the middle of the night to 
see a friend in another friend who had 
his class notes but stays in another hostel 
He saw some guys, the born again kinds, 
praying just around the bend towards his 
destination
He had never been a religious person 
He believed in "live your life and let me 
live mine religion" 
He suddenly felt drawn towards the 
team praying 
He ignored the feeling, went to see his 
friend as planned and was on his way 
back when he felt the urge to join 
them again! 
This time he didn't resist it 
He joined them and started praying with 
them 
The leader of the team asked them to
 join hands and they all started praying 
He couldn't tell how it happened but 
he got filled with the Holy Spirit and 
started crying profusely 
He had always been a very easy going
and kind-hearted person by nature 
He grew up in a home where 
Christianity was filled on the forms but 
not practiced 
He had never been to church or even 
been curious about religion in any way 
According to his father "Religion was 
the means through which wicked 
people convince themselves that they 
can be forgiven of their wicked ways. 
Good people don't need it" 
So he had kept away from religion as 
much as possible 
He was led to Christ that day and he 
began to pray in the spirit 
When he got to the hostel that morning, 
he slept like a baby and later rushed 
to class 
After class he rushed to the fellowship 
meeting, it was his first and he found 
himself really excited about it 
He joined the first time members and 
had a long talk with the fellowship leader 
He was curious about everything and 
really wanted to know as much as he
could 
He joined the prayer team and made 
friends with a class mate who told him 
so much about Jesus 
By the time he got to the hostel that 
night, his babe had called over thirty 
times 
She used to be the center of his universe 
but something had happened to him. 
Something wonderful!
He apologized to her and told her he 
had been busy all day but he couldn't 
tell her about his newfound faith in Jesus 
Somehow he knew that would be the end 
of their relationship 
The Holy Spirit began to work on his 
heart in a way he couldn't explain 
He simply stopped deriving pleasure 
from many things he used to enjoy 
After three weeks of keeping his faith 
a secret, he finally told her 
He just had to He wanted her to share 
the joy bubbling in his heart 
He wanted her to become a partaker 
of the sweet melodies of God's 
presence in his life 
She listened to him and kept quiet 
until he was done talking 
When he asked her what she thought 
of his new reality, she said "You will 
get over it in a few days" and hung up 
He believed her 
She was wrong 
He didn't get over it 
The next time she called him, she 
asked what time he would be coming 
over for their fortnightly visit 
He had forgotten all about it 
He was supposed to be with the 
evangelism team that weekend 
He told her he wouldn't be coming over 
No more pre-marital coitus for 
this young man 
He didn't say it as sensitively as he 
should have 
She sent him a text message afterward 
complaining that he had become distant 
and mean since he found this religion 
of his 
He apologized and promised to do 
better going forward 
The whole month went by, he didn't travel 
to see her 
She didn't come to his school to see 
him too 
He was asleep one afternoon when
he saw her in a vision 
He was with a young man 
They were at an eatery 
They had just finished eating 
The young man she was with asked 
her to take pictures with him 
They started posing 
The last pose he saw was her on the 
young man's laps and he grabbed her 
from behind 
He jerked awake 
He picked his phone and sent her 
a message "I can see that you have 
moved on with your life without 
saying goodbye. I wish you well" 
He expected her to ask him what he 
meant and not to joke with hot water 
She replied "There is no point 
denying it. It's over" 
And that was it
By the time he graduated they had 
become strangers and so had their 
parents
Their mothers conveniently became 
strangers again and everybody moved 
on 
He got married in 2014 
She got married in 2017
Ironically, she got married to a pastor 
He got married to a medical doctor
Both marriages are blessed with
children
When she was asked why she left him
she said "There is a way i see him and
there is a way I love him. I cannot
change that.
We cannot suddenly not have sex
again
That wouldn't have worked for me
When i met my husband, he was a
pastor
He was sure of his path
I made up my mind to marry him
after five years of waiting
I just needed to be sure and when
I said yes, i knew it was what I
wanted, not something foisted on
me"