My boyfriend's lines were unreachable while he went on a trip to the Northern part of Nigeria and it got me worried. He was posted there for his NYSC and I convinced him to redeploy but he was so obstinate and I just let him be.
"Could it be network issues?" I pondered and was restless as I checked the time every minute. I called his siblings to ask if they had heard from him and their response wasn't helpful.
I got tired at a point and just committed him to God's hand. It's his first time travelling that far since we started dating and I was worried due to everything happening in the north.
"Jumoke, have you heard from Femi?" I asked his younger sister who is my friend too around 7 pm.
"No, we haven't heard from him. Please don't bother yourself because I am sure he is alright, Brother Femi is always like that," She replied.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yes, he doesn't bother about the people he left at home and we just wait until he calls since we can't reach him," Jumoke added and I didn't want to believe that Femi truly didn't make an effort to reach out to people we left at home.
I was really worried throughout the evening and falling asleep because of a problem. I was dosing around 2 am when he called and my eyes were cleared immediately.
"Hello dear," I said immediately after I picked up the call.
"Sweetheart, I have arrived there. We had a stop on the road and it caused the delay," He replied.
"Sorry about that, hope you are not too tired?" I asked.
"I am really tired and hungry, it's dark here and doesn't look like I will find any food," He replied.
"Sorry, dear. We were all worried about you and you should have just texted us to know how you are doing," I said to him and he just got pissed unnecessarily.
"Why are you worried? I am not a kid or are you monitoring me?" He asked and I was speechless for a few seconds.
"Is it bad to be worried that you travelled to a place that's not settled and I was worried?" I stuttered.
"You are probably having insecurity issues because I only put my phone on airplane mode just to save the battery. I didn't visit another girl," He replied and switched to video call which I declined because I was pissed as well. The call ended and I couldn't stop thinking about everything he said.
Femi is a sweet soul and everything that happened was strange to me. I concluded that he was probably stressed and spoke to his sister in the morning. Jumoke told me that that's just Femi for me, he can be really annoying sometimes.
A time came when I had to travel to Lagos and it was late in the night before the bus moved. I could have waited but took the risk and one of the passengers reminded me of what Femi did.
The thought of paying Femi back crossed my mind and I just turned off my phone until I got to Lagos. Upon getting to my aunt's place, Femi's call came in immediately.
"Hello dear," I sounded jokingly.
"Why did you switch off your phone? I have called you and even Aunty in Lagos but she couldn't even tell your whereabouts. You just got me worried," He replied.
"Really? Am I a kid that you are monitoring now?" I asked.
"What do you mean by that?" He asked.
"Oh, so you are doubting if I truly went to Lagos?" I asked.
"You are my girlfriend and knowing your whereabouts should be a big deal," He replied.
"Oh so you aren't my boyfriend and I shouldn't be worried when everyone couldn't reach you when you went to the North," I replied.
"That's different Lara, I am a guy and can protect myself unlike you, I don't want you hurt," He replied.
"This is just a taste of your medicine and I know you are doing this to your family as well," I replied.
"I am sorry if I made you worried but this is how you make everyone feel when you don't pick up our calls. We wouldn't be worried if we don't love you," I added and he apologized.
Surprisingly, he turned a new leaf. Femi would always call not just me but his family as well whenever he was on a trip.