BEING ME (PT 1)

The four guys walked faster as the girls came into view. They couldn’t take their eyes off the girls. Each of them made a mental note of what they would say to the girls. Jide, of course, was the only who wasn’t caught up in the rhapsody of emotion. It was as if he wasn’t there. “Jide, don’t mess this up. The girls are four in number and so are we” Bayo said to him. “And what am I supposed to do?” Jide asked. Before he could an answer, the three guys walked to three of the girls, leaving him with one of the girls. It felt so awkward. He didn’t know what to say to the girl or what she expected to hear. He looked at the other guys and admired how so relaxed they seemed to be with the other girls. For loss of what to say to say, he asked for her name. “My name is Esther, and you are?” “Jide” he replied. After what seemed like forever, she asked “won’t you invite me to the party tonight? We can go as a couple.” The bells rang in Jide’s brain. He knew what going to such parties meant-all that loud music, smoking, the girls suggesting all sorts of things with their body; the worst of all being that the local gang hung out there and he didn’t just want to have any contact or problems with them, those guys are deadly. The two times he partied with them, he came home asking himself if he enjoyed it or if he simply avoided being called a sissy by the other guys. The deadline for the writing competition he signed up for was in two days and he intended to work hard on it tomorrow but he wouldn’t be able to do so if he attended the party. Now, standing before the girl, he didn’t know the answer to give. He looked back to see the six paired and all looking at him, as if saying, “Jide, don’t mess this up.” He didn’t want the girl to feel bad, seeing she asked the question he was supposed to ask: he didn’t want the group to taunt him: he didn’t want to miss the deadline of the writing competition. He just stood there and said nothing. Esther, having waited for ages for Jide to reply, walked away. She didn’t know if she should feel embarrassed or feel pity for a guy who couldn’t hold his own.

Caught in such a situation, what would you do? We know that the right thing was to miss the party and meet up with the writing deadline: he could always attend another party the next week, next month or whenever. But standing before the girl made a lot of difference, not only would his group taunt him, his reputation was also at stake. Everyone in the neighborhood and in school would know how weak he was. On the other hand, Jide has always seen himself as a great writer. Joining these writing competitions brought him closer to his dreams. They were preparing him for his future. So it’s like this-his future against what everyone would think of him.