I rarely find myself surrounded by nature. When I say nature, I am talking about streams, rivers, mountains, forests, and all that. Although, now that I think of it, my school, the College of Health Sciences, was situated inside the bush, literally. You can find trees and bushes all around, a few yards from the students’ surroundings. The afternoons were always hot, and the evenings were always cool.
I had two favorite spots. The first one was in front of the hostel, where a very large tree was located. At night, if I am not reading, you will find me there, seated with someone I ended up falling in love with years later. We’d share and talk about everything from music to movies, comedies, and our studies. We'd laugh for hours, and rarely do our conversations get deep unless one of us is going through a difficult or hurtful experience.
My second favorite spot was by the roadside. There was a paved road on one side of the college that linked it to the main campus. You can get to the main campus in a ten- to fifteen-minute drive.
I find myself sitting there most times, as people don’t come through that place at night. I used the opportunity to reflect on what was going on around me. My friendships, my courses, my lover, and my family occupied my thoughts most of the time.
I like to listen to the sound that crickets make while I sit there. The soft, cool breeze causes the leaves of the trees before me to sway in whichever direction the wind goes; you could literally hear it—the sound of wind rustling the leaves. I only have memories, as I haven’t been there in about six years.
It was at this very place that I found my then-boyfriend cheating on me with a close friend of his. I had just walked there from class because I needed a break from reading. I plugged in my earphones to listen to one of my favorite gospel songs, titled ‘Na You’ by Dunsin Oyekan and Kim Burrell. God! I love Kim Burrell. I sat on the stump of a felled tree, and I was there wondering why my boyfriend hadn’t called, and I checked the time to see that it was midnight. He usually comes to check on me in class before heading home, and he hadn’t come, nor had he called. I sat for barely fifteen minutes when I heard the sound of loud laughter coming from the bush ahead of me. Immediately, I removed my earphones because I thought that I was alone and was worried for my safety. That area is barely lit, and you can only see the surroundings through the reflection of the moon or a light bulb positioned a few meters away. The other option is to use your phone or flashlight. I saw the shape of two people walking out of the trees and heard them laughing and talking. Let’s call these people Mary and Samson.
‘I have always wanted to do that with you’, Mary said, laughing out loud.
‘What did you want to do?’, Samson asked. ‘You mean this?’, he asked as he leaned down to kiss her.
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t because that voice was familiar. I could recognize it in my dreams. ‘That is my boyfriend's voice’, I thought. And my vision in a barely lit area suddenly became clearer. I could see that it was him. He had a weird taste for colored shoes, and he was wearing shoes colored yellow and blue. They couldn’t see me from where they stood as I sat in the dark. They were still kissing when I picked up my phone to dial my boyfriend. I had to call him twice before he picked up. Laughing out loud. I still remember clearly.
‘Hey baby girl. How are you?’, he asked.
‘I am fine. Where are you? I have been waiting for you’, I said softly.
‘I am close. I will come and meet you in class’, he replied.
‘Really?’, I asked as I stepped out of the shadows and walked towards them.
‘Shit!’, he said as he saw that it was me. ‘How long have you been there for?’
‘Long enough’, I replied softly.
I stared at them for what I assumed to be a long time and made my way back to the classroom, packed my belongings, and took a suicide walk back to my house situated off campus. It was a suicide walk because I was walking alone late at night in a not-so-safe area.
That incident kept me away from my second favorite spot. Anytime I pass by that road, I remember it. I forgave him, though. Love makes one blind, indeed.