HE TOOK MY LIFE AND GAVE ME HIS

My eyes met his for the first time, through the caressing breeze and the warmth of harmattan, with the intoxicating aroma he brought. I thought destiny was why our paths came close and my time is near! To love, but I was wrong.

He stood by the seashore, flexing his biceps and triceps, I’ll be lying if I denied that he wasn’t looking hot. “Here comes the love of my life!” I had thought. Heartbeat! My heart thumped as I stared at his six-pack and athletic body. I closed my eyes and I began to visualize him embracing me and his sweet scents wouldn’t stop moving closer to me. I enjoyed the scent of his body for more than five minutes, and it seemed as though he had hugged me. I was having fun with my fantasy when I heard something. Wait, didn’t he just clear his throat? As soon as I opened my eyes, I saw him standing in front of me. He most likely discovered me gazing at him and he came to meet me. Oh my God! I couldn’t believe he was there.

“Eerrm”, I stuttered. “Hi, I am Chris”, he stretched forth his right hand and smiled lightly. Gaaaad! Why so foinne! “This is your better half”, my heart echoed and this put a smile on my face for one hundred and twenty seconds. I stood watching him. His hand was still stretched but I was lost in my fantasy and I didn’t realize that until he spoke again, “What’s the name?” “My bad!” I hastily took the handshake. “Omolara”, I smiled like a fool. “Nice!” He snapped and his smile widened which revealed his deep dimples.

We both strolled together on the sand and zeroed in on the serenity of the beach. I would have offered to go home with him only if no one would question my morals, as getting to know each other was insufficient. Goodness, please! I was not a bad girl; rather, I was a workaholic who lacked love and social life, and my parents wouldn’t stop asking me about my love life. I had only ever loved my father all my life, but when I met Chris, the story changed. I was 102% certain that I had fallen head over heels and indeed, Chris was the man I’d been petitioning God for.
I could recall last Sunday when Pastor Ebenezer dropped his typical fire-for-fire prayer points. He emphasized that we spinsters should diligently pray for a good husband. It was a bit fun watching other single sisters in the congregation stamp their feet on the floor and pray hard, and it became funnier when my Mum pinched me and whispered, “beere fun ti ẹ” meaning “ask for your own”.

Chris was that black guy with cute pink lips, he had a powerful aura that made me yearn for his touch every time he was around. He was rain with magic in every droplet. So warm and sweet that I got addicted to him. Since I met him things changed for me drastically. I was an expert at hiding that part of me because I had always been a church girl all my life and my usual daily routine had always been Office _ Home _ Church, but Chris changed that. He didn’t like church girls. Most times, he took me clubbing and made me drink with him while we dance under the colored lights. It was as though he hypnotized me, my dressing mode changed and I stopped attending church programs except for the mandatory Sunday service which was even made mandatory by my parents. Everyone asked themselves what had gone wrong with me. My parents thought it was a spiritual force and invited the pastor over for deliverance, but all was futile. I had to leave my parents’ house and rent an apartment in the town because staying there became too oppressive at some point. In any case, I was 26 years of age and was mature enough to get things done all alone. I liked the fact that no one knew where I was living because it allowed me to be as free as the wind.
I was intrigued when I set out on a new adventure. Chris taught me to roll his rizlas over the course of a few nights, and the two of us would smoke till we both choked. I lost my job and moved in with him and it was no surprise that I got addicted to him, and he became a horrible habit of mine.

My feelings for Chris derailed me, he was a good bad guy whom I so much enjoyed his stay in my life until he asked for a break and wanted me to move out of his house. What? I had nowhere to go; I couldn’t go to my parent’s house, and he was aware that I didn’t have a job either. I pleaded with him to let me stay at his place till I secure another job yet he wouldn’t tune in. Everything I did put me in his bad book, and he suddenly didn’t want me around anymore. He starved me for days and drove me insane. The Chris I knew would never go a day without drugs. He started abstaining from drugs. He also said that I was not good for him and that I was deteriorating his growth.

“Lara, I don’t feel us no more. Can’t you see? We are not good for each other. I need time to figure things out and I don’t want to string you along.”
I watched Chris getting up in the middle of the night to pray, he also prayed in tongues the night before he sent me packing. How???

Was this some kind of nightmare? Chris met another lady with whom he would love to spend the rest of his life. Getting to know this twisted like a knife in my chest. But he promised that I would always be his number one, however at that point, blast! We were over and done and I was no longer the best person for him. All I ever did was try to be whatever he said he need, but that only made me lose my good ways.

Amphetamine became my favorite drug because it always gave me a long-lasting high. I freaked out when I discovered that Chris was getting hitched in a congregation setting. How? He despised churches, but he has recently stopped drinking and doing drugs. My God! What a devil in human form! He was a sweet portion that slowly killed me. My addiction worsened over time. I couldn’t go a day without drugs and I began to lose touch with reality, even when I thought everything was under control and I refused help from friends and family, in reality, I was spiraling out of control.

All I ever did was fall in love and give my all which I shouldn’t have. Did I try inviting Chris to my church? I never even once reprimanded him or talked him out of his bad ways, I accepted him for whom he was and changed myself in the process. He played me for a fool, despite the fact that everything I did was for him. Our love became every hue of wrong and he took my life and gave me his. He already found a new girl now_ living the life we both planned. I can’t help but feel guilty and resentful toward him for the rest of my life.