Omonfonma Favour Ehinomen
“Dee, feed my love!” she declared, hand outstretched. Distraught, I leaned on the wall. I stared at this wonder of mine declaring her love to me. I, a man in my late 30’s receiving an overwhelming gift of love from this girl who was barely 18. So, instead of baring my carefully hidden love for her, I looked at her in an elderly fashion, brows furrowed, obscuring the hurt in my eyes. Coming close, I held her hands. “Smarty” as I fondly called her, “…this isn’t right. I am rather too old for you. You haven’t even seen the world.” I stressed in distress. “Moreover, what I feel for you is a deep affection, but only as a friend.”
Silence ensued as my mind played back how we became friends- from being an uncle in church, her Sunday school teacher to be precise. You see, from the start, I was interested in the state of her spiritual life, then I took interest in her education and of course, her intelligence and curiosity piqued my interest. Consequently, I became a very good friend of her family. More excruciating was the fact that she understands me so well; even some folks in my age group did not stand a chance. She was a light that infiltrated my cocoon, and I was becoming a boy…
Bringing me back into reality, I heard, “Dee, feed my love!” More assuredly, I looked at her and said “I do not love you.” Wincing at my lie, I watched her bite her lower lip, lowered her gaze and left the room. I felt a cold shiver run through my spine, but I withstood it. This is for the best, I concluded.
For several weeks, Smarty begged me to “feed her love” but I avoided her as much as possible. Unknowingly to me, Smarty had been asked to choose between a University in America or the prestigious Covenant University here in Nigeria and she had resorted to stay before my confession. I watched Smarty leave for the Airport in tears. I can’t forget the long piercing stare at my soul. Almost voiceless, she said “Dee, feed my love”. With this, I turned and left.
After four years, here I am at the Airport, waiting to pick Smarty. She was through with school and her parents had entrusted me to pick her. Settling on a chair to wait for her, excitement in my heart, proud of my achievements in the past years, I couldn’t wait to show her what I had achieved for us. Yes, “US”. I was going to tell her how I felt ’cause it never went cold.
At that moment, I saw Smarty approaching, beautiful, tall, radiant, mature, elegant… but wait, she was blooming. An aura of peace cascaded her like a waterfall. I walked towards her. Meeting her face to face, I searched her eyes hoping to find my love, but her response gave me the answer. Beaming, she said “Hello Uncle Dotun, how have you been?” I was thrashed out of space, this wasn’t pretense as I knew her too well. My girl was blooming. I stared at her till my eyes rested on her fingers, she was engaged! Everything I wanted to say evaporated from my memory. Recovering from the shock, I laughed pretentiously. “Ahn ahn, Folake, O ti di big girl o!” And then, I watched as she threw her head back and laughed that throaty laugh that was once reserved for me.