Nneka had just finished coating her face with layers of brown powder when her friend Chidimma walked into her room, looking rather dejected. “Neky, you won’t believe this…Stanley said he’ll be travelling to his villa to see his sick granny tomorrow”. Nneka busted into an uncontrollable laughter on hearing this. She laughed so hard that tears began to trickle down her chicks, exposing the several layers of her powder coating. “I tell you say that your bobo na scam..beta scam. Im no travel last weekend. E come be this weekend wey be val’s weekend. Besides, since when did Stanley start taking care of old ladies? All this yeye guys wey full una faculty. He’s probably broke at the moment”. On saying this, she busted into another session of scornful laughter. “ehen, lest I forget” she continued. “Josh is taking me out tonight, in case you want to come… or do you still want to keep crying your sorrows away?” Chidimma gave a long sigh and stormed out of the room, murmuring insults about how a mad dog was going to lick nneka’s face for mocking her. “I’ll bring back a plate of ice cream for you, I promise”! Nneka screamed, still laughing. Few minutes later, her phone rang. It was josh. She looked out of her window and saw Josh leaning on his or rather his father’s range rover sport. She quickly put on her shoes and hurried down to meet him. Describing josh would take a full chapter. However, to satisfy your curiosity, Josh was a 23 year old spoilt brat, who knew his way into any girl’s heart, no matter how tough. Nneka gave him a warm hug, and then a peck. “Did I keep you waiting?” she asked. “Not at all Hun”, I could wait till eternity for you. They zoomed off to jives, where josh was going to “spoil” her, as he had earlier promised.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Alvan, room 306 to be precise, Chike was seated on his bed bug infested foam which had patches here and there, thinking of his girlfriend, Ralchy (short for Raluchukwu). The words which she said to him that evening kept on ringing, like the disturbing sound of the rising bell of good old secondary school days, in his head. “Chyke, I love you, but I’m really getting tired of your excuses. You’ve never taken me out since we started dating, talk more of buying me a decent gift. You keep asking me to be patient and, God! You don’t know how difficult that is. I’m tired of receiving flowers from you every valentine’s day. Would it kill you to get me a phone or a shoe or a nice meal at frenzy? Tomorrow is yet another val’s day, and I promise that you’ll have to learn to live without me, if I don’t receive a tangible gift from you”, she said. While she was speaking, Chike couldn’t help but stare. He was dumbfounded. What pained him most was that he loved her, so very much. The problem was that he was the first child of a poor home of five children. He was running a small laundry business, but every income he got went straight home, for upkeep. He was schooling on scholarship. Ralchy, on the other hand was a damsel, I mean, a damsel. Chike could never explain how he ended up with a girl that pretty. He had a little sense of humor, quite alright, but that wasn’t enough for a guy like him to land Ralchy. Bottom line, he was a lucky star. As Chike sat on his foam that eve thinking of what to do to please Ralchy, the love of his life, he reached for his phone, and randomly selected a song. He plucked the ear piece into his ears, and John Legend’s this time was playing. “Lying alone in this room, all that is missing is you... Pick up the phone, won’t you come home. This time…” He was soaked into the lyrics of the song so much so that he was unaware of what was going on around him. All he could see at that moment was Ralchy.
Later that evening, josh dropped Nneka in front of her hostel, slessor. “I had fun tonight” she said, her arms wrapped around his neck. “Me too”, he replied. “I’ll see you tomorrow”, he added, and kissed her goodnight.
February 14, 2016 was finally here. A very bright Sunday morning, full of life. The chaplain at Christ church chapel seized that opportunity to preach on the actual meaning of true love, emphasizing the fact that there is a big difference between love and lust. In his words, “Jesus Christ is the one true lover, who loved you with everything he ever had, including his life. This means that that boy who has promised you heaven and earth, whom you are going to meet after this service does not love you, he just wants to get…you know what, and after that, the love disappears.” The sermon got to everyone in church that day, shattering so many plans and saving so many lives. However, nneka wasn’t present at the service. She had overslept. It is said that the death that kills a dog doesn’t let him perceive the odor of feaces. Chidimma dropped by her room on her way back from service to say hi. “Babe howfar na, why you no come church”, Chidimma asked. “My dear, I was so weak…I overslept”, Nneka replied. “Hmm, ok oh. How was your evening with josh?” Chidimma asked. “It was splendid, you missed out. Have you heard from stan?” “Yes”, Chidimma answered. “He sent me a lovely text this morning, and I’m satisfied with that”, she added. “Well, good luck with that”, Nneka replied, with a furtive look on her face. “Anyway, I just dropped by to check on you and to also say happy val’s day”, Chidimma said, as she prepared to leave. “Aww, thanks dear, you too”, Nneka replied. The two friends hugged each other, and parted.
Chike didn’t go to church that morning, he was still fighting to get over the fact that he would lose his Ralchy by the end of that day, if he doesn’t provide her a decent gift. He was staring at the roof of his room, with john Legend’s this time still playing when a thought flashed through his mind. “I could snatch someone’s phone and sell it for some money”, he thought. He quickly brushed that thought away from his mind, and decided to man up and speak to Ralchy. He planned to pay her a surprise visit and maybe read her one or two poems which he composed, “Perhaps she’ll give me another chance afterwards, he thought”
The day soon began to age. Students in the den were seen in pairs. Some preferred the solitude of the dark corners, while others preferred the chatter and laughter and gentle love songs in the restaurants. Some self-lovers were also seen treating themselves to sumptuous meals, without a partner to share with. Others were in their lodges or hostels, chatting and laughing on top of their voices. One way or the other, every lion and lioness in the den was partaking of the love in the atmosphere.
Josh drove his lady, Nneka to their normal joint. They had a lot to eat and drink with loud music to dance to. But it wasn’t going to end at jives. After all, it was val’s day. After their time at the joint, josh drove to his self-contained lodge, and the rest they say was history.
Chike was ready to face his giants. He was on his way to akintola to see ralchy, as he had earlier planned. When he got to ekpo ref, he saw a couple seated in a cozy manner. What attracted his attention was the iPhone that the guy was handling. That thought of snatching a phone quickly came back into his mind and this time, he couldn’t fight it. He sized the guy holding the phone and discovered that he could best him in a combat and also outrun him in a race. Obviously, he wasn’t thinking straight. He was going to snatch an iPhone from a guy and make a run for it, without any weapon. “Anything for Ralchy” were the words that he kept on repeating involuntarily. In a brisk moment of thoughtlessness, Chike pounced on the guy, snatched his phone, and scampered into the dark of the night. Coincidentally, the guy whose phone he snatched was Stanley, Chidimma’s boyfriend. He had returned late that evening from seeing his granny. He also returned with the new iphone6, a gift from an uncle who returned from his sojourn abroad. Stanley, however was not ready to part with his newly acquired iPhone. The moment he recovered from the shock of chike’s impact, he started screaming at the top of his voice “catch am o!…catch am o!...na thief o!”, he screamed as he ran after the thief.
Fortunately for Stanley and quite unfortunately for Chike, some group of boys were passing by. A chase quickly ensued. The faster Chike ran, the louder Stanley shouted, the more the number of boys chasing the so called thief. Chike had only made it as far as St. Peter’s chaplaincy when he missed a step and fell. He was about to blame it on the devil, as is always the case, when the first blow landed on his face. More blows followed and within seconds, about 20 single boned lions were delivering lethal punches and kicks to poor Chike. While in pain, he tried to remember the first day he met Ralchy, and how he had metamorphosed from a hardworking guy trying to survive the hard terrains of nsk, to a rogue for love. That alone tripled the pain of the mass beating and made him wail like an elephant in labor. Stanley came to take a closer look at the hoodlum whom almost embarrassed him in front of his babe, by snatching his phone. Behold, it was Chike, the laundry guy from room 306. “Chyke”, he called him, “so na you wan finish me…why you do me like this nah”, he added, at the verge of crying. He pleaded with the blood thirsty lions to tamper justice with mercy, adding that the culprit was his friend. Chike was rushed to a chemist at hilltop where his wounds were tended. He thereafter apologized to his friend Stanley, and narrated his ordeal to him. “I’m here because of ralchy”, he said. “Funny enough, I still love her, even more than I’ve ever loved her”. “Chai, my guy don crase o”, Stanley said to himself. Meanwhile, word about the incident had already gotten to Ralchy and she showed up at the clinic where Chike was being treated in a twinkle of an eye. She apologized, but that was more like crying over spilt milk. The damage had already been done, not only to Chike’s face but also his reputation. To satisfy your curiosity, Chike forgave her, despite what he passed through.
Fifteen minutes after josh dropped nneka off at her hostel, she discovered that she had left her purse at josh’s house. She called him but he wasn’t picking, so she decided to take a cab to his place. On getting to josh’s house, she caught him with another girl, half naked. She was too shocked to speak. She quietly picked her pause and left, slamming the door behind her. She got home in tears. Her world seemed to be falling apart. What started as a bright val’s day, was ending as a gloomy one for her. As always, Chidimma came by to chat with her and found her in pains. Nneka’s roommates had already left the room for her (Nneka) as they were tired of consoling her. Nneka narrated her ordeal to chidimma, amidst tears. “That mumu boy had the audacity to cheat on me, today of all days”, she said. “Take heart dear” Chidimma said. “I told you to steer clear of all this pick and drop guys wey full una faculty, but u no hear”. On saying that, Chidimma busted into a loud laughter. It was her turn to laugh now, and trust me, she made the most of it.
14th February 2016 had come and gone. 15th was Monday, the beginning of a new week. Everyone got passed the drama of the weekend, but the memories were never to be forgotten.
Written by Okoye Olisaeloka Ivy
University of Nigera Nsukka
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