The Phone Call (Reloaded)- Part 4

Seun and I fixed a date for the wedding and started preparing…
About a month to the wedding, I got a message from Bayo that he was coming to Nigeria for about a week and would be in Lagos.
I didn’t know what to make of it. So I replied by wishing him a safe trip.

A few days later, he sent another message asking if he would see me…I thought about this for a while and confided in my sister who told me I could go since we are friends but I should only meet with him at a public place like an eatery or restaurant.
I wanted to tell Seun about this, but his past reactions to anything Bayo discouraged me.
 
Exactly one week to my wedding, I got back from the bathroom and saw a missed call on my phone. It wasn’t any of my contacts and while wondering who it was, a text message came through.

“Hi Bidemi, I’m around.
Got in late last night but didn’t wanna disturb you.
E ku ipalemo o…when will I see you?
Can’t wait.
Love, Bayo”.

I was petrified and almost dropped the phone…
Actually, I had thought Bayo was bluffing all the while.
Should I call him?
Should I tell Seun?
Should I just ignore him till he leaves?
I was really confused…so I decided to call my sister but her phone was switched off.
 
Bayo must have glued his thumb to the redial button as my phone kept ringing but I didn’t pick up…I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him. Then he sent two more messages

“Bidemi, I’m sorry to barge into your life again
I just want to see you one more time even if it’s the last time.
That’s my reason for coming to Nigeria.
My family has no idea that I’m around”.

Followed by

“I’m sorry if I had hurt you in anyway but I just want to see you one more time…is that too much to ask for?”
 
After reading these messages, my mind went back to how nice Bayo was to me and how sweet and loving he was. Besides, I had always said that he took a part of me with him.
Maybe it won’t be a bad idea to see him again…of course I had seen some of his pictures after he left; but to see him in person again?

I had a lot of confusing thoughts in my head at the same time…emotions flooded my heart and they started running wild.
 
I remembered the last time I saw Bayo and what happened that day.
He was the only guy I had ever been with…Seun and I already decided that we would wait till our wedding night. The most we ever did was a very short kiss the night we got engaged which he even said he was sorry for.
 
Bayo called a couple of times again but I just ignore my ringing phone. I left it on the bed and wouldn’t pick it up. I sat on the edge of the bed confused and perplexed as it dawned on me that I was never really over Bayo.

I got up, picked up the phone and CALLED HIM BACK.
 
He was very happy to hear my voice and we planned to meet at Tastee Fried Chicken at Opebi, just to catch up and talk for a while.
 
Not long after that, Seun called to see if we could go see the hall decorator but I told him I had to take care of another thing…that he should go ahead without me.

In my mind, the plan was to just dash down, see Bayo and come back…I got to TFC at 4pm and met Bayo there. He was looking so handsome and that smile, wow.
We hugged and sat down. As expected, it was a long talk…every passing minute was more interesting than the previous. Bayo explained what had happened to him and how his Ghanaian roommate had set him up in a huge drug-related issue and gotten him in trouble.

How his dad had to come to the United Kingdom to get him a lawyer and how he was almost expelled from that school.

How he was this close to a jail term for something he did not do and how an accomplice came forward to confess the conspiracy in the nick of time.

That was his real reason for not keeping in touch back then. And although he was discharged, he wasn’t fully acquitted..which was why he had told me to find someone else because he wasn’t sure of when he would be able to return to Nigeria. His lawyer fought this for years until every charge was eventually expunged from his record.

He told me how he never for once thought he would be alive to see someone else marry me…
How he tried to but could not date anyone else even after he had reluctantly let go of me.
I asked him why and he responded
“Because they’re just not my Bidemi”.
 
“Do tell Seun he is such a lucky guy…luck does not even begin to describe it.
If I could turn back the hands of time, he would not be the one standing next to you, exchanging vows.
That would be me…
That should be me but it is what it is” He added
 
I smiled and said some nice things about Seun…

”You set the standard pretty high and for me to have chosen Seun, you should know that he’s a good guy too”.

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Picture Credit (c) Linda Ikeji's blog
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental   

© 2013 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved

The Phone Call (Reloaded)- Part 3

Nine months later, I got a letter from Bayo…
I was already beginning to take my mind off the whole thing when my dad got back from the post office on that day and handed me an envelope. I immediately knew where it came from because of the Royal Mail stamp.

In the letter, Bayo apologized for being incommunicado for so long…he had gotten into some kind of trouble and had to sort himself out. However, he didn’t give details.

He also told me about electronic mail (e-mail)…how it would make communication easier between us and how to open an account at a cyber café.
The e-mail thing actually made it easier to reach him and once in a while we would even chat on Yahoo Messenger.

There was a day he asked if I was still waiting for him…I was shocked at the question and got very upset; because I had not dated any other guy.
I had a lot of guys disturbing me but it was as if Bayo took my heart with him and this was in my final year. I was so angry that I stopped chatting with him, logged out and left the café.
 
He called me that weekend and explained himself…
How the trouble he got into wouldn’t let him come to Nigeria anytime soon and how he didn’t want to make me wait indefinitely.

How it was a very hard decision but he didn’t want to be selfish and how he loved me too much to waste my time and life by making me wait without a clearly defined time frame.
 
He sounded like he was gonna cry as he talked and kept asking if I understood his standpoint. It was as if something sharp pierced my heart…I didn’t know what to tell him.
He wouldn’t hang up…so I told him not to worry about it; that I’ll be fine.

“I promise to put marriage on hold just for you…I will not get married until I am sure you have been taken”
 
“You don’t have to do that” I told him
 
“Let me bear that burden of waiting, hoping to meet things the way I left them…and if I don’t, you have no reason to feel guilty.
That’s the best I can come up with” he responded, as I hung up.

I didn’t totally get over Bayo…he was that good. I tried dating this guy in my class but the moment he mentioned his plans to travel abroad, I broke up with him. I gave one flimsy excuse and just dumped him.

I graduated and proceeded on Youth Service.

I was posted to Rivers State and didn’t really date anybody during the program.
I was being very careful…although my mum kept pressuring me.

“You’re not getting any younger…if one Bayo will not 'do', a thousand and one others will” she would tell me.
 
I was lucky to get a good job in Lagos and I moved there.
GSM phones had started operations in some parts of Nigeria by this time…Bayo would call once in a while and we’d catch up.

I started attending this Church that introduced me to a different kind of Christianity…we were just nominal Christians in my family but the moral standards were very high.

I gave my life to Christ and became a worker at the Church.
It was during my workers’ training that I met Seun. He was the class president…I noticed his smile because it reminded me of Bayo. He must have felt the same way as he walked up to me after the class and introduced himself. We talked for a while and he asked for my number, which I gladly gave to him.

There was this thing about him that made me wanna see him again. He called later that evening and that was it. It was as if, God sent me another Bayo. All the qualities I loved in Bayo was in him, plus some more…a complete gentleman and a genuine child of God. We started dating and I could tell he was serious and knew what he wanted.
 
We courted for about a year and after he had met my family, Seun popped the question.

It was such a well thought-out, romantic proposal that I just couldn’t say no. He had arranged with my boss (they’re friends) to schedule a fake meeting at a high brow hotel on the island. It was supposed to be a dinner/meeting with some of our big clients, so my boss told me to be dressed for the occasion. I had spoken with Seun before leaving for the meeting…I wanted to know where he would be later in the evening and he told me he was headed for the mainland because he had to meet with the president of the Youth Group at the church. I promised to call him after the meeting. I got to the hotel and as I entered the room for the supposed meeting, I saw my friends, Seun’s friends, my boss, my immediate elder sister, our marriage counselor and some people from the church. They all dressed formal and as I was still wondering what was happening; Seun stepped out of another room, went on his knees and asked if I would marry him.
 
“Yes I will” I responded with tears in my eyes…and the party began.

It was a beautiful night and the engagement ring? Wow.

How he was able to pull this off without spilling kind of baffled me because he never kept any secrets. There’s nothing about his life that he hid from me…even all his past relationships (when he was still a bad boy). I also told him about Bayo but I noticed that anytime I got an SMS or a mail from Bayo (we were still friends) Seun’s countenance changed, so I stopped talking about Bayo altogether.

I had also told Bayo about Seun and he would ask about him anytime we talked or in his messages. He even told me he was happy I found love again.

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Picture Credit (c) Potentash
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental   

© 2013 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved

The Phone Call (Reloaded)- Part 2

Not long after that, we had a break in school, I believe it was a strike by our lecturers and it was on for a couple of months.

I had missed Bayo so much and although he would call me on the landline like every evening, I just wished I could see him. I lived in Ibadan but he lived in Lagos.
 
He paid me a surprise visit after about a month…it was a surprise because we had talked a night before and he never said anything about visiting. This was a guy that had never really been to Ibadan but he was able to find his way. He said he found my address through the Telephone Directory.

I introduced him to my sisters (I had told them a lot about him and they were already dying to meet him), he also met my mom but my dad wasn’t home ( It’s not like I would have introduced him to my dad anyways. “The love no shack me reach that level”).

He brought a bowl of ice cream which fetched him the nickname “Ice-cream Guy”.
 
After the strike was called off, I rushed back to school but Bayo didn’t show up until after a week. Nothing made sense until he came. I had missed and wanted to see him so badly.

He arrived finally; it was on a Tuesday evening. I was in my room when I heard my hostel friends laughing and shouting “wọn ti dé o” (he is here).

Before I could get to the door, Bayo was already knocking. I opened up, saw him and just jumped at him. I broke a lot of rules that day but Bayo kept his cool…he stayed a gentleman and didn’t go all the way. He said I was letting my emotions cloud my better judgment. I was just too happy to see him and was ready to show it.
 
He stayed till very late and I almost cried when he was about to leave.

“I’m here now…will see you tomorrow” he told me when I wouldn’t let go of his hand at the bust stop.

I believe that was how we started dating…we both felt it and went with the flow. We were inseparable and like the best couple on campus. Bayo was either in my room or I was in his…we lived like five kilometers apart.
 
There was a day we were studying in my room, Bayo looked in my eyes and said

“I’ll never hurt you…I couldn't even if I tried”

That statement melted my heart. He didn’t even have to say it; he had proven it time after time. I threw caution to the wind and broke those rules again but again, he had more self-control and we ended up not doing “it”.

In my 2nd year…middle of 2nd semester, Bayo had travelled home that weekend and on arrival, came straight to my hostel.

The look on his face could freeze the sun.

He said we had to talk, so we went to his house.
He told me his dad had secured admission for him in a school at the United Kingdom and would be travelling very soon. It came as a shock to him too because his dad wanted it to be a surprise.
 
I was blank and didn’t know what to say for almost thirty minutes…the thought of Bayo not being there just couldn’t find a place in my head.
When I finally opened my mouth to talk, I cried instead.

Bayo held me very tight and comforted me…he didn’t have many words that day. I’m not sure what happened next but before I knew it, one thing led to the other and we went from holding each other to kissing passionately and sleeping with each other. Right there with tears in our eyes, Bayo deflowered me as we held on to each other.

It was his first time too…I slept in his house that day. I stared at the ceiling all night…my mind was busy with probabilities and statistics.

How could something so perfect be ending right before my eyes?
I had heard different stories about boyfriends that traveled abroad, making all the promises in the world, but it was just a matter of time before distance killed the feeling.

My eldest sister had had a similar experience…her first boyfriend traveled to the United Stated and promised to come back for her. After a few letters and phone calls, the relationship fizzled out.
 
It was as if Bayo was reading my mind because the next morning, he sat me down and we talked for a long time.

“You know I love you with all my heart…right?

You know I wouldn’t allow this, if it was within my power…right?

When my dad told me about it, I was more of confused than excited and it’s because of you.
As he broke the news, the first thing that came to my mind was ‘us’.

I’ll do my best to make this work, I promise...but if you are scared of waiting, I’ll understand”

He went on and on but I didn’t say much…I wasn’t prepared for it, even in my wildest imaginations so I had nothing.

When I got back to my hostel, my hostel friends knew something was wrong.
They started asking all sorts of questions…I never bothered to answer them.

I could only confide in Bukky, my course mate/roommate. She told me to follow my heart (whatever that meant) but also warned me to be cautious.

Bayo had three weeks before traveling…we spent it together. It was like spending time with a close relative that was dying from a terminal disease.
 
Joy and sorrow had coalesced and it was a perfect union, I enjoyed every moment spent with him but my heart broke with every passing second because it drew me close to the inevitable.

Bayo wanted me to come to the airport with him but I couldn’t handle it…so I said my goodbye at my room and it hurt so bad.

I cried for a whole week after he left. By this time, my hostel friends had known what was happening and they were there to support me.
 
They told different stories, from fictitious to ridiculous, of how love conquers everything, including distance. I just nodded along and silently prayed in my heart that God should help me.
 
I got a letter from Bayo about 3 weeks later and it was like a letter from God Himself, hand delivered by an angel…I read it over and over and over again.
There were lots of promises and declaration of love in the letter…he also sent his phone number.
 
I would call him once in a while from the NITEL payphone on campus.

My first day at home, after my 2nd semester exams, Bayo called me and we talked for over 3 hours. It was so nice to hear his voice again…he had a lot of “gist” for me.

How the University system there was totally different from the Nigerian system.
How he had problems with his Ghanaian roommate who in his words “just couldn’t stand Nigerians and their arrogance”.
 
It felt so good and I was reassured that we could pull through...there was even a time that Bayo even sent me gifts (lots of gifts) and cards through a friend that went to the UK for vacation.

We kept at it for about a year, then the frequency of the calls and letters started waning.

I would call and get Bayo’s answering machine…I would leave him messages.
I would leave detailed messages, stating when I would be home so he could call but no calls came.

It was beginning to look like what my sister experienced but I just didn’t wanna believe that Bayo, my Bayo, could do that.

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Picture Credit (c) Stephanie Daily
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental   

© 2013 Lanre Olagbaju All Rights Reserved