Inner 9ja gal. #projectnigeria

Beautiful imperfections.

Ofures pov:

"hi stranger". I said mimicking him,  because i couldn't be original to save my life.

"h.. Hi.. Umm.. Hello". He stammered back.

I could tell he was visibly shaken to see me there. He did look handsome and smelt good as well. But his eyes looked like they had aged ten years since i last saw him. Classic hangover look.

"may i.... Come in?". I asked when we had stood outside for too long.

"umm, sure. Come in". He led me to the parlor, and offered me a seat.

"so what can i get you. Juice,...water?...".

"Emm, water is fine, thanks". Juice for make sense o!, because that sun dry my throat well, but i wasn'there to fraternize. He disappeared into the kitchen and appeared back with a glass of water. He placed it on the table in front of me.

"so, to what do i owe this pleasant surprise". He said as he took the seat opposite mine.

"i came to talk to you".

"so... Talk". He relaxed on the chair and i could see the outline of his torso through his flimsy singlet. I licked my lips and tried to direct my focus elsewhere.

"I'm sorry....".

"ofure, you don't have to be sorry".

"just let me talk, ifeanyi".

"okay". He sat upright, Thank God, because the view was distracting me.

"I'm a jerk. I of all people know how hard it is to open up, to tell a stranger your secrets. I shouldn't have reacted that way, I'm sorry".

"it's OK.. "

"still not done ifeanyi. Look, i spent all night googling your Ummm!, your... Well, your..."

"you can say mental illness ofure".

"Right, mental condition". He smiled a little at how awkward i was being. "i spent all night googling it. I know i still don't know enough, and i can't pretend to understand how you are able to live with it. But i understand why you were hurt yesterday. I would be hurt too, that was personal and you sharing it with me meant a lot. I'm sorry i messed it up and insulted you. You didn't deserve that".

"ofure let me you stop you there. The only reason i shared that with you. Was to burn this bridge, us. I just wanted to push you away so it could be easier to get over you".

"and did you".

"I'd tell you when i do". I smiled a little, something about what he said warmed my heart.

"i want listen, not just listen, i want to understand. Tell me everything, i promise I'd won't freak out like last time".

"ofure, i... ". I stood up and went to sit beside him. I put my hand on his and gave him a reassuring look.

"please, i want to know. Tell me everything, i promise not to judge". He looked at me for a while, then he took a deep breath and started to speak.

"it was about twelve years ago. I was 18 and my mother had just died, that was when my symptoms started to manifest. I experienced a whirlwind of emotions, i was extremely happy, but then depressed a few minutes later and this led to confusion as the sane part of me was trying to make sense of it. I was in the University at that time. Because of my illness i wasn't able to process my grief properly because my moods kept going up and down, so it stayed with me; months after my mother was gone. Anyway so one night, I'm heading back through the bush track to my hostel; from the canteen, when i hear struggling and muffled voices coming from behind the bushes. I go to see what is happening, and it was a man raping a girl. My brain immediately went into overdrive and instead of finding another way to get him off her, i picked up a huge stone that was lying on the corner and hit the back of his head with it. He immediately dropped lifelessly to the ground, and i rushed to help her up. When he fell besidee her, his hands no longer covered her mouth so she was able to scream out loud, and her scream attracted people. Pretty soon there was a whole crowd. It turns out the man was campus Security guard, someone who was hired to protect the students. Paramedics from the schools teaching hospital were called upon and they pronounced him dead: blunt force trauma. I was arrested and charged with murder. When thing got too heated, i was forced to reach out to my estranged father. He came through for me, you know money talkes, so he was able to have the records expunged and fly me abroad to start anew".