IX

"The thing is I really like Segun but what if our relationship goes the same way as his previous ones? That means the death of our friendship too, because there's no way I'll remain friendly with an ex." She was having this discussion with her sister Deola, Segun's sister Tope and her friends Kemi and Bola in the bedroom on Sunday. "How am I going to act when I see him tomorrow at school? He might be wanting an answer and I don't have one for him yet."

"I know my brother, and can I just say that he didn't take this decision lightly. He must have weighed the pros and cons and must have concluded that this was going to be the only possible outcome. I promise you that he loves you alot and he's always talking about you - 'Bimbo said..' that's the nickname we tease him with. I'm not just saying this." Tope said.

"He's just going to have to be patient and give you some space, till you decide. Personally, I knew this was going to happen one way or the other. Have any of you girls noticed the way he beams whenever anyone mentions her name or how he behaves around Bimbo? At least he's not missing a brain cell or two. My sister has been more than a girlfriend to him, she only getting the 'title' now. Deola joked.

"Ah Ah, very funny! Why does he have to complicate things?" Bimbo groaned. "The decision is up to you. You have to be sure if you want the extra 'aggro' that comes with being a girlfriend or remain as you are. It wouldn't hurt to ask him to wait till after exams. Remember he's off to university next year and that comes with a whole new experience. And we know for one thing that you wouldn't want to be his 'secondary school' girlfriend. Kemi said.


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"Segun I would say yes to you now, but if you hurt me or deceive me in any way, I will make you pay. I will not be a doormat of any kind. I say yes because I choose to and the same honesty that made our friendship last all these years is what I still expect from you. If at any point this relationship isn't working then we'll come to a mutual agreement to end it before it turns ugly. I don't know if it's too early to say 'I love you' yet, but I trust you enough to share my heart. Please don't let me down."

Segun replied with a wide grin, "I promise, I won't." and proceeded to envelope her in a big bear hug.

VIII

After having a rather delicious plate of BBQ chicken and some fried rice. Deola left to order them ice cream, leaving Segun and Bimbo a chance to talk. "Oh thanks for this, I really enjoyed hanging with you, tell me, why haven't we done this before?."

"Err.. because you have girlfriends, and no one wants to see their boyfriend having a good time with another girl if she's not his sister! Idiot boy." Bimbo teased him.

"Which brings me to why we're here. Titi and I broke up because she couldn't understand the nature of our friendship and when I tried explaining she mocked me and said that I was hiding behind the cloak of friendship because I was too scared to make it more. It has taken me some time to process what she said and now here we are. You know things about me that would put even my mother off but still you don't judge me. You've always been there for me and the times we spend together are always the best. Everytime I see or experience something new, I think to call you first and when I see something on the telly, I want the night to pass quickly so I can tell you about it in the morning. The point is Bimbo, I think I've loved you for a while now, will you be my girlfriend? I promise I'll never hurt you." He finished with a rush.

Taken aback she laughed nervously and joked, "Wow, that was quite a speech there. I never knew you had that many words in you. As for being loved... what's not to loved about me? I'm great!" Smiling, baring all her teeth and raising her hands. Well, this has come as a surprise, I was thinking it was something more serious. I will think about everything you said and will let you know my decision soon."

"But Bimbo... " just then Deola returned with ice cream for them and the discussion couldn't be continued.

VII

Bimbo sighed.. "I've only just fallen asleep and it's morning already" She shifted off the bed and headed into the adjoining bathroom. She brushed her teeth, took a shower and dressed in a loose-fitting dress and headed downstairs. She took a detour on her way and popped her head in the doorway to her parents' bedroom.. "Knock, knock are you two kids decent?" (It was a recurring joke that their parents were kids because of their antics).

"Goodmorning daddy, goodmorning mommy" Bimbo said kneeling down in greeting. "Hello darling ", they replied in singsong. "Did you sleep well?" Bimbo leapt into the bed and cuddled them saying " Yeah, eventually I did. What's for breakfast? Any requests? You know it's my turn today". For the last month, the older kids had been taking it in turns to cook weekends and this was her first.

"Surprise us with something fabulous, nothing too complicated.. We don't want any kitchen practicals!". The two years prior, Bimbo had taken Home Economics and the results hadn't always been edible. Ever since, she watched like a hawk whenever there was any cooking and made notes. Deola received high praise last weekend so this was going to be her time to shine.

"Okay, I'll call up when it's ready." She kissed them both and headed downstairs to start on the cooking. "Now that's what I call good cooking!" Said Chris, imitating one of the popular ads on the telly. Bimbo couldn't have been prouder, she had made some tasty omelette, boiled yam, and sausages (Satis Beef) then some fruit salad to go with it. Next, the world! she thought to herself.

"Dad, Mom would it be okay if I go out for a few hours later in the afternoon, Segun's taking me somewhere, I don't know where exactly but when he comes by later you can ask him?"

"Ooohh... her elder brothers teased, she's got a date at last. We were starting to get worried about you. Alleluia! Don't worry dad, we'll give him the third degree when he comes. We'll put the fear of God in him."

" Boys, behave! I don't think we have anything planned for the day, but make sure you check in with us and take Deola with you, she'll keep an eye out for you. But you have to be back by half six." Her mom answered before her dad could say anything. Bimbo was regarded as his favourite so chances that he would have agreed to let her go out were slim if he had anything to do with it.

"Thanks dad,mom. I'll just make a start of the dishes and then I have another surprise for you all."

VI

Bimbo couldn't sleep, all kinds of thoughts were passing through her mind that she eventually gave up on sleeping and dragged herself to the den. She put on the stereo and grabbed the headphones so she wouldn't wake the rest of the household. She browsed through the audio CDs that were neatly arranged in folders on the shelf and picked the self titled album by Toni Braxton. She absolutely loved the vocals on this album and her favourite track was #10 'You mean the World to Me'.

Bimbo settled into the sofa with a Mug of Horlicks and listened to the music playing till she finally drifted off into sleep. She woke with a start when her dad who had wandered into the den noticed her sleeping awkwardly and nudged her gently to go lie down in the bedroom.

Saturday Brilliance shone through the window and fell softly around Bimbo's sleeping form. TY bounded onto the bed and licked her face where it was exposed on the pillow.

"Eeeuw.... get off me you crazy dog!" Bimbo exclaimed and Deola stood by the door laughing. "Wake up sleepyhead, it's your turn to do the breakfast this morning, the boys are stirring so you know very soon they'll cry murder if there's no aromas coming from the direction of the kitchen." They always had big family breakfasts at the weekends since it was the only time her whole family were together and didn't have to rush off to work or school.

She had six siblings, her two elder brothers, Chris and Toto were in the State University and always came home on the weekends, her elder sister Deola was in the same year as Segun and her twin younger siblings George and Gia were in elementary school.

Bimbo's parents were just the coolest ever. Lyn her mom, was one of the most sought after fashion designers in town and had clients from various walks of life and different countries, but always made it a point of duty to spend the entire weekend with the family. She made the best outfits for them and they were always the capture of everyone's eyes at parties, church or any other social functions they attended. She baked the loveliest snacks and had fun things planned always.

Dad, Bimbo thought to herself was the best! Tunde was the most charismatic figure she knew, all her friends loved coming to visit because he told the most amazing stories of adventures he'd had from his youth. He was a very busy man, with business portfolios which spanned the length and breadth of the country. This meant he travelled alot, though he never stayed away for more than two nights at a time. He always came back with gifts for everyone. Bimbo wondered how he did it all, he was always available for everyone no matter how busy he got. His phone never stopped ringing long enough during the time he was home. But on weekends, the rules were - No calls, no emails, no business Just Family Time.

V

Bimbo couldn't think of anything else on the ride home, and wondered for the umpteenth time what his cryptic talk was going to be about. After getting home, taking a shower and settling down to do all her assignments (she preffered to do them the minute she got home so she could have a pretty relaxed weekend and not worry about meeting deadlines on Sunday).

"Hi Kemi, did you get home alright, how's little Shola and de folks? I'm calling as per our plans and also to let you know that we'll have to hang on Sunday instead 'cause Segun's taking me out tomorrow. I could cancel if it's a put-out for you or maybe you'd prefer we postpone to next weekend. I'm really sorry." Bimbo said.

"No trouble, I'll text Bola to let her know.. Eh Eh! Segun's taking you out? When did you start that one?". Bimbo replied,"Noooooo, it's nothing like that, I think something's bugging him and he wants to tell me without distractions plus there's nothing wrong with having a nice meal too, abi?"

"Well if you say so, let me know how you get on, I've got to go now. Shola's pulling the telephone cord.. Mwah," Kemi hung up.

IV

Segun then launched into a speech, " Would you mind if we sat down for a minute?". This must be pretty serious if he wants to sit, thought Bimbo. "Well get on with it then, the suspense is killing me".

"Bimbo, let me start by saying I'm sorry if you feel this is out of line, but the truth is I to like you alot, you're one of my closest friends and you know me better than most people. I would like to take you out tomorrow..Alone..Ah! don't give me that look... Just as friends I have something really important I have to say and I want to be in a neutral environment.

Well, there's no harm in going out with just him, thought Bimbo. They were good enough friends and she fielt safe with him, not like he would jump her bones. Besides that, she deserved to be treated nicely, she did more for him than any of their other friends so if one of the perks of friendship was having a nice meal now and again she could handle that.

"Sure no problems" Bimbo replied. "As long as you're not asking me to poison Titi. Titi was his ex-girlfriend and they'd had a major bust-up and it wasn't pretty,and she wondered when he would give her the details about it.

"It's something to do with her actually, so come prepared!" Segun joked.

III

In his Final year, Segun eventually summoned up the courage to speak his mind. Bimbo was in SSS1 then and had blossomed into a very beautiful young woman. She had many admirers among her classmates and even in the other senior classes but still she remained aloof about dating.

They still were tight friends and hung out between classes and lunch breaks and even the teachers had noticed their closeness and referred to them as 'Oko ati Iyawo' (Yoruba meaning 'Husband and Wife'). They had become some kind of legend and whenever they were spotted one without the other they were always questioned.. Where is ...?

One breezy Friday afternoon just as school had finished Bimbo was waiting, chatting with some of her classmates, Kemi and Bola about plans for the weekend. She noticed out of the corner of her eye Segun approaching. He had such a look on his face that she knew something was up.

"Sorry girls, I have to catch up with Segun, if you don't mind. I'll call you later after dinner so we can finalise our plans for tomorrow." Bimbo said her goodbyes and blew kisses and waited for Segun to reach her.

"Hiya, Bimby what's up with you? Did you get the results for your Geography project today?" Segun asked. Bimbo had taken a project about discussing naturally occurring highlands in Nigeria and she had discussed the Mambilla Plateaus in Taraba State (then Plateau State). She believed she had done such a great job and expected high scores and she hadn't been disappointed!

"Why! You trust now, at first Mr. Adeniran couldn't believe I did all the work myself and asked me several questions before awarding me marks. This means I have to work harder next time because now I have a standard to maintain." Bimbo sighed.

"Ah great! A1 material", Segun laughed. "Does that mean you'll help me when I write my SSCE? I'm banking on you for Biology, Geography, Maths, it's a shame you're not a Commercial student, I could've used you for the rest of my papers too."

"You're not serious, lazy bones. You better not disgrace me oh!" Bimbo laughingly replied. " But let's leave that for now, I noticed you had a look, what's up?".

II

Segun started skipping school - his exams were coming up and he couldn't be bothered studying. He started having randon flings which was completely out of character, and at one stage was even arrested for vandalisation of property.

He wouldn't open up to anyone about the hurt he was feeling and seemed to push everyone who had ever cared about him away, his siblings were so worried even though they were dealing with much the same stuff themselves. Bimbo decided she had to do something about it, she couldn't stand to see him this way.

Trust Segun acting true to form, he resisted, abused, dissed her at every turn, but she wouldn't give up and eventually wore down his resistance. They got pretty close during which time with her help he was able to process his emotions and came to a good place.

She mobilised the entire school to help with some of the funeral arrangements and organised a rota of friends so he was never alone at any one time. She was an immense support to him and the rest of his family welcomed her as one of their own and were grateful for her help.

After the funeral she never left his side. She even helped him study for his forthcoming exams. Life was back to normal and Segun was getting better, the pay-off came when he did brilliantlly in his exams.

All this while unbeknownst to her, Segun had taken notice of how Bimbo had stood by him in his troubles and he said a silent 'thank you' for having her in his life.

I

They had been childhood sweethearts, from the first moments they met, there had been an instant familiarity about them. These days, the story was entirely different. Bimbo remembered wiith a pained expression on her face...

It all started right when she gained admission into secondary school. Segun though two years ahead of her had made quite an impression on her young mind.

'Do you know where I can find my sister Tope?' He'd asked her but she had replied quite rudely 'Do I look like I know where she is?

At this point it must be said that Segun's Sister Tope was actually friends with Bimbo's elder sister Deola. And since the first meeting that day they always taunted and teased one another and that later developed into friendship.

The friendship was such that Bimbo gave Segun a hand in picking likely girlfriends and choosing gifts for them at Christmas and easter and Valentines. Àll through those early years in school she was widely known as his 'partner in crime'.

He in turn gave her advise about boys, though she wasn't particularly interested in any boys at the time. She was more an egghead and was quite firm, so the boys in her year were quite intimidated, it also didn't help that her elder brother was a Senior Prefect then.

Then the unthinkable happened.. Segun's dad died and he went into Self-Destruct mode.