| It Was February 14, 1999 - An Inter-Cultural Love Story |
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| Written by Phil Tam-Al Alalibo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Thursday, 14 February 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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It Was February
14, 1999 - An Inter-Cultural Love Story
By
It was February 14, 1999,
on the campus of University of Lagos, Idi Araba, where Chidi, a third year medical
student, asked Bola, his girlfriend, in her second year of medical school, to
meet him at a nearby park later that day. On campus, that evening, lovers and
couples were gallivanting, maximizing the opportunity afforded them by Cupid,
the love goddess, to confess their love to the special one in their lives.
Nothing mattered to these lovebirds on campus on this day but love itself and
all its attendant emotions. Evidently, most of the gentlemen had since
concluded plans on the actualization of a romantic evening with their dates.
Later that night, the Student Council planned a nice party where all the students
could attend with their dates. It was an all-night affair billed to be filled
with romantic treaties.
Chidi was not to be left
out of this hormonal craze as he too planned a nice and romantic evening with
Bola. It was the first Valentine they were spending together as a couple and
the significance of this was never lost on him. Hidden somewhere in the park,
was a bouquet of red roses he had bought earlier that day from a flower shop in
Ikoyi. Also hidden in the same location were two tall bottles of Champaign, two
wine glasses and a bunch of freshly picked cherries well sealed in a plastic
container sitting in a beautiful brown basket. Next to the brown basket was a
picnic blanket on which they would sit, talk and gaze into each other's eyes
under the enchanting Lagos moon. Under the blanket was something else, which
Chidi planned to reveal that evening to his love at an opportune moment.
For him, it was a perfect
plan for a perfect evening. Determined not to be outwitted by Bola, he went to
the park a few minutes before she was to arrive to ensure that all was set for
his epic date. A few minutes before 6 p.m., Bola arrived in her Nissan
Pathfinder given to her by her lawyer father on the occasion of her
twenty-first birthday. She was looking splendid and beautiful, in her earthly
dark color like a melting pot of chocolate clad in a mud enclave, a true
daughter of the earth. She had braids on her brainy and well-shaped head that
flowed down mysteriously on her slender and shapely shoulders supported by her
5 foot and 8 inches frame. There were beads in them of assorted colors that
abundantly complimented her glazy eyes, which likened those of a mischievous
pussycat.
Her dress was charming, a
sleeveless light blue dress that hung well above her knees with a generous
split down the backside that occasionally revealed the seductive legs of a
goddess as she took her queenly steps in slow and calculated herky-jerky
strides. Chidi had never seen her in braids; this was a new look especially for
that evening. Although his sisters had an assortment of braids, he was confused
as to what type they were. He thought, at one moment, perhaps, they were
Senegalese braids, and at another moment, he thought, perhaps, they were French
braids. But after several seconds of embroiling in palpable confusion as to the
nationality of the braids, he concluded that, at least, he couldn't be wrong
about the fact that the braids spoke French whether they were Senegalese or
French.
Soon, he abandoned those
thoughts and immediately extended a firm embrace to the princess before him.
"You smell very good, Bola," he whispered still locked in a firm
embrace with the love of his life. "Thank you, 'Chibby' (her nickname for
him) and you too, those must be Obsession you have on, right?" "Yes,
I know you love the scent," Chidi said as they dis-engaged and looked into
each other's eyes for the first time. He melted at the pair of gorgeous and
mysterious eyes that seemed to be attacking him veraciously and in fact,
undressing him. He thought as to why he couldn't resist those eyes of this lady
of infinite beauty. He thought privately why he had not met her much earlier.
Where was she in his first year? Where was she in his second year? But he was
not about to allow time to be an issue, he was determined to make full use of
the time they had together.
Walking at a snail's speed,
he led her to the main entrance of the park where many lovers and couples had
already claimed their territory for the evening. A few feet from them, they saw
a couple locked in what seemed to be an endless display of affection, peering
selfishly into each other's eyes. He remembered what his father said to him
about youths of nowadays flaunting their affection; how he advised him to be
focused in medical school and not be distracted by what he called the “Eves” in
Nigerian universities.
Bola took her eyes away
from the romantic couple and turned to her man –
"Chibby, you haven't
told me in a long time that you love me" she said holding his hand as they
walked romantically across the main entrance of the park.
"Do I have to say it
before you know?" Chidi returned in jest, holding back a smile.
"Yes, I want to hear
it from you always, everyday, when I am asleep, when I am awake, always,
always, I want to hear you say it," Bola insisted, looking at him from the
corner of her glazy eyes.
"And if I say it and
don't mean it", Chidi returned still holding back smiles.
"I will kill you
then."
"So you have a mean
streak in you?"
"Yes, I can be mean
when I want to, but I cannot be mean to you, my best-friend and my soul
mate." she revealed as she held tighter to her man.
"So what do you love
about me, Bola" asked Chidi almost in a cynical tone.
"Everything, the way
you smile, the way you kiss, the way you talk, the way you whisper into my
ears, the way you treat me like a princess. I didn't know that a Nigerian guy
was capable of this type of love until I met you. I like the way you care about
me, your personality, your faith and the way you put me above other women."
"How do you know that I put you above other women? Maybe, I have one or two other women besides you out there.” He braced for her reaction.
"How do you
know?"
"I am a woman and I
know when you have your heart in our relationship. I know that you cannot
have anyone else. Chibby, women know these things - it's called
instincts. You men don't have it and that is why we always know when our men
are not faithful to us.”
"Is that so? You mean
all you women have become psychic?"
"Yeah, yeah,
yeah," Bola yelled, laughing generously and exposing her beautiful white
teeth that appeared to be whiter than the white in the Nigerian flag.
"You know what,
Bola?"
"Yes, Chibby."
"You’re so right. It's you I love; I've no other woman out there. How can
I when I have you? You know your classmate, Mope, asked me to go out with her
just a few weeks ago, but I confessed my love for you in her presence."
"What did she
say," Bola asked, a little surprised that Mope was interested in her man. "O', poor thing, she can't have you."
"Yes, she can't
because you have me already," he uttered while checking her face for
reaction. She smiled broadly and looked up to him as if to confirm that
statement with a kiss. He obliged without hesitation and obliged yet again. She
knew that he was a very good catch and wondered privately how many more of her
classmates and friends had asked him for a date that he was not telling her, knowing that
men could be selective in the information they pass on to the women in their
lives.
But inwardly, she felt lucky that he was hers, all 6 feet 3 inches of him were hers. She was determined to live for the moment and absorb all its pleasantries. "You're so sweet, Chibby”, she said with insatiable love dripping down her eyes. "You mean sweeter than honey," at this, they both laughed with Bola tapping Chidi lightly on his broad and imposing shoulders that were connected to a chest that could serve as a runway for a jumbo jet in need of an emergency landing. He continued, after the laughter subsided, meaning to affirm his love
for Bola.
"You know that I've
never loved another woman like I love you. You're always in my thoughts even
when I'm with my friends. I dream about you always and they have all been very
sweet dreams."
"Are you sure Chibby
that it's me you dream about and not some girl in VI or Lekki?" (Laughter) "Tell me Chibby, what
do you love about me?"
"Everything Bola, you
are a complete woman. Look at you, you are so beautiful, dark like mother
earth, and equipments on your chest, pointed like the guns on the torpedo of USS Iwojima."
"Quit describing me
like that or the guns will shoot you...,” they both laughed again with Bola
slapping him on his shoulders in a playful gesture.
"Wait, darling, I've
just started..." but before he could continue, they happened upon the spot
Chidi had chosen for the evening. He stopped abruptly, asked her to close her
eyes as he took out the blanket to spread on the ground. Her glazy and
captivating eyes were still closed when the Romeo littered the blanket with
twelve fresh roses and neatly placed the cherries on the plate with the bottles
of Champaign and the glass strategically set on the blanket. "Can I open
my eyes now," asked an impatient Bola like a little girl expecting a
present. "Wait, not yet," came the response. Chidi wanted to make
sure the scene was perfect. This was not a time for mistakes that would portray
him as an amateur lover. He reached down underneath the blanket and took
something and hid it in a piece of cherry.
Walking quietly to Bola, he
asked her to open her eyes. When she did, she was taken away instantly and her
spontaneous screams attracted other couples around who looked jealously in
their direction. She jumped a few times with the palm of her hands covering her
mouth to subdue any further screams that might come inadvertently. When she finally
found a moment, she queried - "Chibby, what is this," with
her left hand put loosely in front of her mouth. "Where did you get all
these roses from and the Champaign, cherries, wine glasses and blanket?"
Without any further words coming from her, she collapsed into his arms as he
led her to the blanket. She took off her casual slip-on shoes and sat down as
the sweet caressing Lagos Atlantic wind provided the soothing balm. He sat
opposite her for this was his moment and he made no mistakes about it. He seized
it with both hands and with the veracity and convincing agility of a wounded
lion going after a prey.
"Bola," he said,
presenting her with a rose; "You know that we have been together for a
almost a year now. We have overcome an assortment of adversities. People said
because we are from different cultures and ethnic group our relationship would
not last. They said our cultures are different, that we do not speak the same
language – they are wrong, we speak the language of love. I've come to realize
that there is no other woman I rather spend the rest of my life with. When I
look at you, I don't see a Yoruba woman, but a beautiful Nigerian woman, a true
African ebonness. I've found true love and I don't want it to get away."
At this unexpected
confession, tears rolled down her eyes like the steamy waters of Bar Beach.
Quickly, she had become emotional and the rose he gave her moments earlier had
dropped from her hand unto the blanket. Before long she was inching closer to
him, for his speech was music to her ears. Chidi pressed on, "Bola, will
you marry me," he asked expectantly. More tears rolled down her cheeks,
she could barely look him in the eye, he waited anxiously, for down deep in his
inner sanctuary, he wasn't sure of her response. He knew that Nigerian ladies
could be very unpredictable in such matters. He remembered the talks he had
with his father about Nigerian women regardless of their ethnicity being
unpredictable. He thought about the experiences of his friends who have had
their hearts broken when they asked the same question. Would he join their
ranks? Would she say no because they adhered to different identities? Would she
say no because she wasn't ready for such commitment? Would she say no because
she loved someone else and saw her relationship with him (Chidi) as one for the moment?
An assortment of thoughts populated his mind worsened by her demoralizing silence and
for a moment he was regretting asking the question.
But at last, she muttered and he waited with a nervous presence. "Yes, Chibby, yes, Chibby, I will,” she said in a barely audible voice. At this, they collapsed in each other's arms with the warm flow of emotions incubating their love. It was Chidi who found the presence of mind to offer her a piece of cherry after he wiped her tears with the back of his palm. Before she could gather herself, he gently placed the cherry on her lips and asked her to smash it without swallowing. She smiled and wondered why he had given such strange instructions. Moments later, she reacted surprisingly. "Chidi, what did you put in this cherry? There is something in it." He acted surprised and asked her to open her mouth so he could take a look, when she did, he pulled out a diamond engagement ring and in one swift move, sealed his love. Happy Valentine! ___________________________________________________________________________
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 24 April 2008 ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Posted by Robot| 13.02.2008 22:49