The Reunion (Fiction)

It just rained so the loam blanketing the earth were still moist as I took a stroll to the Secondary School which I had graduated from; My prints on the marshy floor followed me like my conscience.

It was a Reunion! You know how Reunions go, Seventy percentage of once-mates trying so hard to outdress and look better than their colleagues to leave an impression that they've achieved and done something yielding with their lives. Most times, Its a lie! 

I particularly didnt concentrate on what I wore because I knew I'd dress fine however. Yeah, I bluff sometimes. 

I got to the school premise in about few minutes, still timid, I scrubbed off the droplets of water staining the smoked window of a car standing just opposite the house we used to buy yogurt and scotch-bread biscuit when we were still in school. 

Those days! I would make sure I remained just a little cash till the closing hours to get Yogurt and biscuits and maybe lend someone else money to get his and pay me back with Yogurt and biscuits too. I had nursed this habit throughout my secondary school days because a supposed Big boy then had accused me of having oju kokoro. 

The Big boys in my set were the first to use Nokia express music and android phones. For so long, I had thought so much about why they came to school with towels which they stuck a half of its length in their back pockets while the other half dangled along as they walked. Then I finally got an answer, Those perfumed handkerchiefs--when not in their pockets--housed their phones. Either they wanted the phones to smell good or maybe they were scared their precious gadgets could be stolen, I couldnt figure. 

I was enjoying the old memories and adjusting my countenance in front of the mirror when a voice interrupted. 

Lex!

Firstly, Mama didnt know I bore lex. I had stolen the name from a small ville character because a friend said we shared resemblance. 

'Hey Man! You have grown so big' he muttered.

I smiled but I'd wanted to slap the life out of him. I really didnt know why I couldnt handle hearing that from a mate. I shook his callused palm and immediately I thought of this nigga slapping my face. I joked in my head

'He must be a carpenter or probably works at the saw mill'

"how do you do?" I responded.

"I'm fine Thank you. Fine Boy!"

Thank God, I had learned how to conceal the reddening of my cheeks,

I showed indifference and fronted other small unnecessary talks. I could blush later. 

He had his arm across my shoulder; held tightly to himself (another thing I hate) and led me into the school's main gate. 

'Wow! My school has really developed' I thought for a jiff. 

I saw familiar faces whose names I clearly couldnt remember but unwilling to ask because they all seemed to remember mine. Then I had to find a way of blending

Hey Baba Kilon shele nah? and since we all kinda replied to Baba, our names were gradually extincting. Mama once gisted me about a couple who--over the years-- forgot each other's names.

'Maybe Parents ought to name their kids their favorite words' I laughed at this thought and skipped it. 

It was fun and my predictions were right, I buffed within, questioning if my middle name was not actually octopus; 

Exactly as predicted, those who outdressed others were present. 

Few hours to the supposed commencement of the Reunion get-together, I was already bored but I was  pretty skilled at hiding it, I decided to take a walk outside the school premise. I walked out of the School gate and resumed the reminiscence of my happy secondary school days. 

I took several minutes outside and thank goodness I saw my colleagues emmigrating the school compound. 

They must have finished the reunion I thought excitedly. I was handed a package which I didnt open like everybody else. Why do we do such anyway? I dialogued with myself. Would it be so awkward if you check out a packaged meal right in front of those who gave you? but instead, I clinched the nylon into my finger and said my Thank you like everybody else did. Courtesy is overrated! I thought. 

We started walking to a buddy's place which was nearby. We reminisced about how his dad had been unnecessarily harsh on us. We literally thought he was a soldier. After we had disturbed his nap some afternoon, He fumbled about coming to our various homes with koboko and whipping us regardless how our parents would feel about it. 

I was plunging deep into my thoughts when the sound of a key squeezed into its lock hauled me back to life. I didnt even notice we'd gotten to our friend's place. I asked after his kid twin sisters and he said briskly they are fine like he had expected that question. 

His Sisters though were the finest girls in our school. They were so identical, It took me a long while to figure who Taiye and Kehinde was. Well, Taiye was kinder and more lively so I finally got to differentiate them with how often one smiled than the other. Taiye, I had secretly admired through out my secondary school days. She was dark and had the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen. God had beautifully picassoed her. Her nostrils could hardly accommodate her tinniest finger and so as her small mouth, I thought, couldnt swallow hefty morsel. I really wished I saw her again. I'd love to see how beautiful she'd grown because beauty grows or dies. 

I was trying to re-gather how she looked when a feminine voice flew into my ears. I imagined if that could be her but  I gave up on that after I checked other blokes around and no one seemed to be alert, they were busy devouring the rice and chicken escorting it's passage with chilled coca cola, others who were done eating--guzzled down beer directly from its bottles. It must have been a perfect way of ending a meal for them. I thought, 'Lex! You have been reading many books and its messing with your head. You are now hearing strange voices'. I remembered that Mama sometimes mentioned that whenever you're called when no one is around, you mustn't answer. But I wasnt called and I didnt answer. I thanked Jesus for a second;  adjusted the way I was sitting and hoped the dreadful thoughts repositioned too. 

I opened up my package and thanked goodness again that it wasnt a bomb, It's possible I'd wronged any of the organizing committee members who would like to revenge. 'I am really crazy' I laughed at this thought now, unscrewed the cover of the cold beverage and started stylishly sipping. I thought I had overcame that feeling of imagining everybody concentrating at the silliest thing I do but I was wrong. I remembered a book I had read that assured me that everyone is trying to right a feeling that disgusts them, I snubbed and enjoyed my soft drink and a sweet savored atmosphere. 

An Hungry man is an angry man and vice versa. After eating, Our vessels needed life again so we rerouted the course of our discourse to Life. Everyone started talking about what had been going on in their lives. Now that was a section I hated! I hoped something or someone intruded before they start realizing I had not actually participated in anything except holding my hand and a coca cola. 

It continued for several more minutes when one of the twin walked out from one of the rooms. I nearly screamed. 

'Hey!' she said to everyone reluctantly and immediately I knew she wasnt my Taiye. She was fully dressed up; shut the main door behind her as she disappeared. I thought of asking after Taiye but I ignored, She could have reluctantly answered that too. 

Shortly, Taiye came forth too, she looked like she was just waking but my goodness! she looked as pretty as ever. She smiled; greeted everyone seated and sauntered down to the kitchen. I watched her ass follow her and I felt a bone. 

This is an omen! The universe certainly wanted me to tell her that she had always been my crush and maybe have a relationship. I reminded myself of how much I hated thinking about falling in love. 'They usually didnt end well and i'm actually normal when I dont belong to someone else' I thought. 

'Lex!' Someone hollered at me that he was about leaving. 

E go be bruh I said then we shook hands.

Few minutes after, everyone decided to start going. It was a nice meal and the intentions were to go home and sleep though most would not say that.

We started saying goodbyes and most exodused, leaving just the twins' brother and myself. 

We chatted baloney for a while as he saw me off and shortly; to make my plot go well, I suddenly searched my pocket and pretended my phone wasnt in it. I asked him if I could run off to his place as quickly as possible to fetch my phone. 

'Just a minute' I promised.

I convinced myself on my way back to his place that I had a friend and Universe was his name. He knew exactly what love meant and he had seen many pursuit for love: The successful and the woeful. He had given me another chance and I gotta make use of it this time. 

I slid open the entrance door and found Taiye sleeping on the couch. I thought for several minutes if waking her up was the right thing to do or not. Before I could consume more minutes thinking, I tapped lightly her calf and she woke up immediately. 

Her glance drained all the energy I had amassed, the words I had just rehearsed left me but I struggled to keep calm. 

You don F up I heard my thought saying out loud and I perceived her hearing.

I wanted to start with 'I have always loved you and I think I still do' when I heard another voice which sounded like my grandma calling me for morning devotion.