Crossroads

by Feyisayo Alao

“A penny for your thoughts birthday girl, and what on earth are you doing away from your party? Don’t tell me you’ve found something more amusing than your birthday party?” Nike teased her friend as she and Michael stood at the doorway watching Lara, staring into the night sky. At the recognition of her friend’s voice, Lara, was about to give a snappy retort until she noticed Michael and so she restrained herself.

  “No, no, no! It’s nothing like that. I just wanted some air and began to appreciate the Maker for his wonderful gift of creation.

  “Just look at the many beautiful, twinkling stars in the sky. They, just make me wonder, you know?” Lara said looking once more into the sky, “Come on, join me for a minute.”

  At the invitation, Nike grabbed Michael’s hand and drew him towards Lara. They sat together in the garden’s reclining swing and talked. Nike and Lara sat at the edge with Mike comfortably nestled in their middle.

  They argued merrily over many matters that really didn’t matter like why cats chased mice and why cats and dogs can’t be friends. After a while, Nike excused herself to go make a call to her parents to inform them that she was still at Lara’s place.

  As she left, Mike smiled, “I do think Nike is trying to make sure we are alone together.”

  “Yes! I do agree,” Lara acquiesced. “Even since we’ve been friends, Nike has been trying to set me up with one person or the other.” Lara said as she looked into Michael’s eyes before looking quickly away. His presence was captivating and alluring, but that was just it. A fine guy needs to have something up there, so let’s see the stuff he’s made of. I won’t get carried away. She spoke some sense to herself. Her head was spinning slowly until his voice brought her back to reality.

  “Sure. So, what did your boyfriend get for you? I would like to meet him one day to tell him how lucky he is,” Michael was saying.

  “Come of it. If you’re trying to ask if I have a boyfriend, I must say, you’re doing a bad job of it. But to answer your unasked question, out of the loveliness of my heart, no! I don’t have a boyfriend,” Lara said, almost matter-of-factly.

  “Seriously?” Michael said with a hint of a smile on his face showing he was pulling her leg, “How will such a beauty like you not have a boyfriend, eh?”

  “Well, if you would like to know, Mr. Nosy it’s simply because I haven’t found someone who truly understands me. Also, I don’t see it as a necessity for a young girl like me. I have to set my priority right. By the way,” Lara said, turning slightly to face Mike, “what about you?”

  “Actually, we have that in common. I realized ladies came around because I was popular in my former school and they wanted to boost themselves somehow. So, no and I’m aiming at getting straight ‘A’s in all my subjects. I promised my dad that.” Michael answered.

  “And what exactly made you ‘popular’ in your former school?” Lara queried,

  “The fact that I was a football player and the top goal scorer for the school team, being a striker and all,” he replied.

  “Wow! I can just imagine all those girls flocking around you like happy geese, clinging to you left, right and everywhere,” Lara teased, eyeing him slightly.

  Sharp as he was, Michael understood what he was up against so he quickly answered, to turn the tables around. “What makes you think that?!”

  “Elm… elm” Lara stammered, knowing she was stuck with no escape route. So she resolved to say her mind and face the consequences. “Okay. Well, obviously, you’re very handsome; you’re charming, humble and fun to be with.”

  “Thank you so much. The compliment is well taken. But I must say here too that you’re quite the angel yourself. Beautiful, dazzling and permit me to say, very attractive.

  “Ok! You do know how to flatter a girl, don’t you Mr. Michael Davis,” Lara sarcastically replied.

  “It’s no flattery at all. It’s the truth. You are very beautiful and attractive, gentle and very caring,” Mike said, resisting the urge to draw closer to her than he already was.

  “Yeah right, Boost my ego, and inflate my head. But I’ll tell you that not everyone will agree with you,” Lara agreed. “People usually read me off by saying I’m proud and egoistical, or that I’m Miss Riche – Rich with no feelings. They say all sorts of things about me when they haven’t even taken time to know me. And it hurts so much.” She was looking so sad and it touched his heart that she felt this way.

  This time, Michael drew closer to her and held her hand in his.

  “If it’s any consolation let me say here and now that I also thought the same about you when I first saw you. But upon meeting you, you’ve changed my mind completely as I’ve found out who you truly are. No one will ever know the real you until they take the time to know you. So you don’t worry, Okay? Just give it time. They’ll come around soon, just as I did.”

  He was so supportive and encouraging, she couldn’t disagree. She smiled and cheered up and waved back at the security guard who was waving at them both to say, ‘Hi!’ They chatted on and it was a productive one. Michael was challenged by the wisdom in every word Lara said. Sometime later, Michael looked at the time and realized that the time was running against him. Reluctantly, he stood up to leave.

  “Well, I guess I have to get going, but, elm … can I still see you in school on Monday?” he asked.

  “Of course,” Lara responded smiling. Then added, “That is, if you consider us as being friends.”

  “I do … and … I’m grateful.” Michael answered, “now that we are friends, we’ll get to share some mind blowing ideas with each other right! I bet I have a lot to learn from you because you’re different.” After a brief silence, Michael said,

  “Happy birthday again. Thanks for everything. I’ll be seeing you Have a good night … Yeah, I’d better go,” and quickly turned and headed to the door, leaving Lara alone, smiling and feeling slightly disappointed that he had to leave. Inside, Michael scanned the room for Nike and took time to reflect on his time with Lara. Silently, he realized he had fallen head over heels for Lara. Who would have thought such a thing was possible, he thought to himself, ruffling his hair with his hands.

  “Hey, day-dreamer. Where have you been?” Nike said jolting Michael out of his thoughts.

  “I returned to the garden and saw Lara alone. She said you left a while ago on your way home, so I had to say my goodbyes too. So, if you’re ready, we can head out now.”

  “Sure. I’m ready. I hope you enjoyed yourself?” Mike said as they made their way through the crowd, greeting friends as they went out.

  “It’s my best friend’s party, what would you expect? I had a fabulous time. What of yourself? Did you have fun? Or meet anyone interesting?” Nike asked, pulling her coat over her dress, to keep warm.

  “Well, if you really want to know, I had a splendid time myself. And I did meet someone, thank you very much. So I hope you are satisfied now,” Mike answered her.

  “I have no idea of what you’re talking about,” Nike said, with an amused smile as she hooked her arms with Michael’s.

  Early the next day, everyone woke up to get set for service. The party had gone till about eight thirty. When all the guests had left, soft music was played till ten to end it all. Those who slept over were family friends. Lara sat up in her room with girls, gisting, laughing and having fun, while the boys remained downstairs, in the living room either watching television or talking. By midnight, everyone was tired and retired to bed. By 6.00 am, Lara was already awake helping out in the kitchen while her siblings and friends ironed, cleaned up the house and prepared for service. Church was wonderful; they had a fabulous time singing, dancing and appreciating God for their lives. To crown the celebration was the great sermon. By afternoon, Lara was so tired, she went to her room immediately after lunch to sleep, for the rest of the day and only awoke again for dinner.

  The three friends spent weekends visiting one another’s houses, solving puzzles, playing scrabble, monopoly, chess and card. They also ofte
n watched their favourite TV programme ‘Super Story’ together and gisted about sports, their parents, future plans and bored Mike with talks on cooking, latest hair styles, perfumes and fashion magazines. They argued about favourite movies, music artistes and cartoons.

  “I love Barbie cartoons,” Lara said.

  “Me too. The Barbie Princess Charm School, Barbie and The three Musketeers, Diamond Castle,” Nike answered.

  “Hmm...Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus, The Barbie Diaries....”Lara nodded.

  “Ok! I think I’ll deviate from the norm. I prefer Walt Disney’s Aladdin, The Lost Empire, Pocahontas,” Michael interrupted

  They all decided to inform their parents of their picnic plan at The Peak Golf Resort at Oke Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State. It was to come up the next weekend. Three parents agreed and all preparations were made.

  On Saturday, Lara, Funmi, Alex, David and Helen packed their picnic bags. Nike, her younger ones and her parents also got set. Mike, Aderonke and Richard got in the car and all roads led to The Golf Resort. They went on boat cruise, laughing and chatting. The families got along well. The men played golf talking about what women want. The ladies came up with creative ideas on keeping their homes together. Everyone seemed to be happy with children hiding in the midst of the bamboos and seeking one another. They shared and ate, exchanged gifts, jumped on rocks and splashed water. The parents discussed growing up days, what they did for a living and how things had changed. Families danced and sang along with the music played as they packed, got into their car and went home.

  As time went on, examinations drew near and everyone strove to do well in their academics. The principal had the habit of announcing the best and worst three students in each class, so everyone did their best as much as possible to avoid being part of the worst three students. Many students figured that they could at least make it to the average range and be okay, if it was impossible to be part of the top three. Beyond the humiliation of being known as one of the worst students in class, the principal made sure each one of them received several strokes of the disciplinary master’s cane, and that was enough incentive to do well in school. All this paved way for healthy competition in classes and many people sought to be among the best three students.

  Lara did her part like everyone else but this didn’t deter her from writing poems and songs while studying. Michael wrote less due to the fact that he was in the science class. He needed more focus. Lara and Nike did their best to encourage him by waking him up with calls at night to read. He also went through past questions after group discussions.

  One day, Lara saw a billboard in school, asking people to submit poems and rhymes for a competition with very high stakes and rewards. She submitted the very funniest poem she had written at the time which was on “Chickens” and was pleasantly surprised when, one day at the assembly, the principal announced her name as the second best student with a write-up. Her prize included a scholarship grant to study in a prestigious university in the United States of America, along with a generous amount of money. She was so awed and overwhelmed, she was speechless. The three of them were; Chinedu Okolie, Lara Williams and Jennifer Hassan.

  When assembly broke, students from all classes came to congratulate Lara and wish her well. Nike and Mike were not left out.

  “Our very own Miss Shakespeare, what an honour to stand in your presence! But if I may be so bold as to ask, what on earth possessed you to write on chickens? I mean wasn’t there anything else to write about?” Michael queried amusingly.

  “I actually didn’t think much of it. I just submitted my silliest poem. Who would have thought it would rank as second best in a competition?” Lara answered back, smiling to her two friends.

  Just then, Nike saw one of the teachers she had an appointment with and excused herself.

  “I just thought of the funny and weird way chickens are – the way they dance on their thin legs, their colourful feathers and the noisy sounds they make all the time,” Lara continued saying, addressing Michael, who was smiling encouragingly at her.

  “So, sweet girl, what’s going to happen?” Michael asked.

  “Happen? I don’t under…” Lara began to say until she realized what he was saying.

  “That’s true. I’m going to be leaving and moving away. I know my dad’s going to be happy. He got promoted a while ago to establish a branch of his firm in the U.S. but hasn’t been chanced to do so because of my education here. I don’t think anything will change his mind from going now”.

  “Don’t worry about it. I believe in the working hand of fate and I know that what will be, will be. So, can I give you a hug now?” Michael said with a smile and open arms.

  Lara went willingly into his open arms and they were both content for the time.

  Later on in the week, the organizers of the poem-writing competition, arranged for the school to be visited by the lady who had just won the nation’s “Writer of the year”. It was an exciting day for all the students and teachers alike-especially for upcoming writers and poets like Lara. The lady spoke passionately about writing and encouraged them in many ways. She signed autographs, answered questions and took photographs with them. Her final words would ring constantly in Lara’s mind.

  “It takes creativity, imagination, interest and determination to succeed.”

  That encounter really fuelled Lara’s zest for writing as well as inspired her in many ways.

  The school’s annual Games week also came around, while preparations were still on for the examinations. All the teams had prepared but it wasn’t enough to earn them top place in the competitions. Their cheer leading squads cheered them on, anyway.

  Chapter 6