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The inside of the bus could easily be
likened to the mouth of a teething infant. The bus was empty except for the
front seats that had two men occupying them, plus the driver. The mate occupied
the back alone. As George made to board, the mate asked in Pidgin, “Massa, but
why? Ibi here wey e come chop love?” one could not really determine whether the
mate said this out of jealousy or something else. In about five minutes, the
bus pulled up at Coastal and George made his way on the dirt road towards his
home. His home was a bit of a distance yet from the junction and he welcomed
the walk. In fact, he needed the walk. His thoughts deliberately wandered on a
variety of things, while he made a conscious effort to keep his unholy thoughts
about Esther at bay. That last bit about him spending the night at her place
had just been by the way. He knew she would never go for it and it had gone
exactly as he’d expected. Still, a guy could dream, couldn’t he?
Esther and he had taken a course,
actually, two courses, Statistics 1&2,
together in their freshman year at the University. He had spent a whole year,
well, two semesters admiring her from afar and never gathered up the courage to
talk to her. She has such a striking resemblance to one famous TV star; Nana
Aba Anamoah of TV3 fame.
The first time they had a
conversation was five years ago. They had finished with their last Stats. 2 lecture and were walking out of
the lecture hall when her phone fell. The phone disintegrated into three parts;
the phone, its battery and its cover. She reassembled everything and switched
it back on. On doing so, she had to reset the date and time. As fate would have
it, he was the nearest to her at that moment and she asked him of the time. That
moment still features as a memorable one in his life.
“Hi, I’m George. George Oppong.” He said,
all the while trying to be cool. She smiled and said,
“And I am Esther Amponsah.” “I know.”
He said and almost kicked himself for revealing that bit of info. “We took Stats. 1 last Sem. too.” He continued.
“I know. I remember you. You are the
guy who almost gave the lecturer an apoplexy every time you opened your mouth
to talk.” She said amidst laughter. “Didn’t that attitude cost you a good
grade? With the lecturer, I mean.”
“Naah, Dr. Osei is pretty cool. I like
him.” By now, they had been walking comfortably towards the business centre of
campus.
“You know, you have such a striking
resemblance to Nana Aba Anamoah of TV3?”
“Yeah, I get that a lot.” But she didn’t
sound flattered with the compliment, instead, she sounded bored. Sometime later
after they’d become friends and he had nicknamed her, Nana Aba, she had gotten
angry and said she didn’t like the name. She didn’t like the idea of walking in
the shadow of a celebrity her whole life and that she wanted people to know and
like her for her and not because she looks like some TV star. So he had settled
for simply calling her Nana ever since.
That first time they talked, he had
forgotten to ask for her number and it was a dumb move he paid for dearly with
the incessant teasing he received from his friends. That was the last time he
shared anything with his friends, ever, about Nana. Not like the other girls
though. Yes, there were other girls in his life but Nana is the only one he
liked or loved that much. She was the only one he wouldn’t share.
The next time he saw her after that
was a month later when they were writing the Stats. 2 exam. After the paper, he had hung around furtively
searching the female faces to catch a glimpse of her. He did finally see her
and after the awkward first moments of a second meeting, he had asked for her
number. Since they were both without their cell phones then, she had taken out
her pen and written her number on his palm, just like many a Hollywood movie
had portrayed. George still refused to think about what that single act did to
his body physically. It was a real Hollywood moment. Esther, about a year later
when they’d started dating; for they had stayed friends for months before he
asked that they be more, had confessed she always dreamed of writing her number
on the palm of a guy she liked. Anyway, he in turn had written his on hers.
They have been star-crossed lovers
ever since. The only thing un-star-crossed about them was this whole chastity
thing Esther had going on, but he had learned to live with it, or at least she
thinks he has.
He rounded one last bend before he
got to his house and the street lighting there was non-existent so the place
was pitch black. It was through the silence and blackness that he heard a
sound, much like the whimpering of a hurt child. He headed in the direction of
the sound and when he neared it, he found it was a lady. An almost naked lady
with only panties and a bra for cover…………………..
Hope you love reading them as much as
I love writing them.
***************HAPPY NEW YEAR*************
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