In my part of the world, there are things we were taught not to do. Our parents instilled the fear of these things in our hearts as kids and somehow, this fear remains in our hearts till we become adults.
I was a very shy kid back then, and it's still one of the reasons why I have very few friends and don't attend parties today. Back then, I just watched my mates go to birthday parties and other functions in the neighbourhood but you can't find me in any of those gatherings.
Firstly, it's impossible not to notice me at an event because of my height and I don't like getting people's attention. I didn't like noise and was very terrible at interacting with my peers, I don't have much to say except it had to do with writing; I expressed myself better with my pen than with my mouth.
I had a crush in SS1 and was so silly to tell my mom about it. You can't blame me because she trained us to pour out our mind to her always so I didn't see it as a bad thing.
"Is that what I sent you to do in school?" She screamed at me that day and I was scared. I haven't seen her get so mad like that and it was clear that I had passed my boundaries.
Mom kept a close watch on me and I knew but there was nothing to hide from her.
My crush was my friend but we were completely on different levels of life because she came from a wealthy home and it was the opposite for me. Despite coming from a wealthy home, Omowunmi was humble and lovely.
The long holiday was approaching back then when she announced in the class that she would celebrate her birthday in a grand style during the holiday and she wanted her classmates to be present.
"George, I hope you won't miss my birthday like you did during other classmates birthday," Omowunmi asked me after the general announcement she made.
"No, I won't," I replied but my eyes said otherwise and she could see through me.
"Don't even dare, George. We will stop being friends if you don't come to my birthday," She replied.
A lot of things played out in my mind that day, and I made up my mind to attend. A few days before the party, I started thinking of what to gift her but couldn't figure it out.
The little money in my piggy bank wasn't enough for anything tangible so I kept pondering on what to do. Meanwhile, going there empty-handed wasn't an option so I continued pondering over what to give to her as a birthday present. I felt pressured all through the night before the big day and while thinking, something crossed my mind.
"Why not just write how you feel about her? The amazing soul she is and how blessed I am to be her friend," I thought.
Immediately the thought crossed my mind, I got a piece of paper and started putting words together. It took me some time because I was dosing in-between but I finished it before sleeping. In the morning, I transferred the writeup to a clean paper and packaged it in an envelope but I didn't mention it was from me.
Before noon, I had prepared myself and just set out after Mom permitted me. I got some cheap chocolate bars we ate in school back then and just put them in the envelope.
Upon my arrival at the birthday, I met my classmates and different people I didn't know. I was very uncomfortable and wished Omowunmi didn't use our friendship as a threat. I barely stood up from my seat but made sure that she saw me and also dropped the gift not directly to her before I left the party.
A few days later, we met in the neighborhood and she told me about a note she found in her gifts.
"I wish to know the person," Omowunmi repeated this several times but I couldn't tell that it was me. I feared it would be the beginning of something my mom warned me against.
We both pondered over who could have sent it and gave up after a while. We were best of friends throughout secondary school and she relocated abroad to continue her education, it's sad we never got to hear from each other again. It's over a decade and I still cherish the beautiful moments we shared as friends.