Episode 10 - toothpaste or tomatopaste?

I don't know when you pulled the trigger but I have fallen in love with you – the message that Kolade typed to Grace on his WhatsApp. The lad waited for a reply but it surprised him that she was already offline and so the text was marked as sent. He rolled over his bed and put the phone on a stool close to his head. 

"Ogbeni, come and buy toothpaste for us." Mrs Adeyemi shouted from the sitting room. 

He came out sluggishly, trying to keep his smile secret but his father caught him while doing so. 

"Bring that phone and go get the paste. You children of nowadays, you like to commit your destiny into a small mirror they call smartphone. Come here!" His father beckoned on him. 

He quickly lock his phone and gave it to him. He took the money from his mother's purse and went out of the house. 

On the street of Akoka, his mind was filled with the sleepless nights he had whenever he and Grace chatted. She was a funny, witty, nerdy, lousy lady whose fingers like to use demystified emotional inanimates called emoji to respond to messages.

They are both freshers in the University of Jos and got to know each other when he was looking for a book while she was looking for a pen in the admission block of the school. It was as if two worlds met, according to him. Ever since then, they have never stopped talking. From hello, Hi, to 'have you eaten', 'tell me what happened at home'. Their journey has gone a great length within the space of three months.

Taking a good look at both of them and one would find introverts with melancholic temperaments but when the world goes online, you will find warriors, good with words and emotions.

He crossed to the other side as the path he was treading became a dead end. He walked few seconds more and got to the shop he was going to. 

"Good morning here."

"Good morning." A young child came out to meet him. 

"What do you want Uncle." He asked in a rather cool tone. 

"I want to buy paste"

"What type of paste?"

"Tomato paste of course. Do we have any other type of paste."

He paid and was given his paste. Guessing that she would have replied him, his heart was racing as he fled back home. 

"I'm back. This is the paste." He said as he gasped for breath. 

"Come here, you this boy. What am I seeing on your phone."

He was startled and fear ran down his spine. "How did you know my password."

"Who doesn't know that it is your birth year,"

"What am I seeing. A lady keeps sending some red and yellow round balls to you. What do they call it again?"

'Emoji Sir.' He was already shaking and trembling.

"Haa! I love you!" His father screamed as Grace passed across her reply with word. 

"You Kola, I love you, to a girl. In your first year in school?" He paused to drop his glasses on the table.

"What do you know about love, you this small boy. Despite all the morning devotions we use to do, all the warnings I gave you before you left for school, you want to be in a relationship!"

"You are not even scared, when I was like you, I dare not see a girl not to talk of conversing with one. The devil has put me in trouble, evil spirits have taken over you." 

He was blank, completely empty of words and acts; whether to beg, whether to change the narrative, he did not know what to do. He just stood like a lifeless brat, a log of word that was long dead. 

"Kola, where is the toothpaste."

"Toothpaste? I thought you said tomato paste mummy." He said with a teary tone and dull eye. 

"Tomato paste ke. Don't you know we sell tomato paste in our shop. What kind of nonsense is this. In fact, how many did you buy."

'Four ma.'

'Haa!' his parents laid their hands on their head. 

"I have been watching him all the while" his father interrupted. "Ever since he came from school, he has been smiling unnecessary, always with his phone rolling on the bed."

"A girl has taken over your head! You can't even think straight again. I'm in trouble." His mother cried. 

At that point, he knew he was in for it. Caught by his father, misinterpreted by his mother. He knew his father would beat him but he doubted, since he was in tertiary school. 

"There is nothing he can..." 

That thought was interrupted by an heavy slap from his father. His ego sank and his pride was defeated. He wanted to hide it at first but couldn't. Tears dropped and he started to weep like a baby.

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Written by Jegede Samuel Whyte 

Edited by Livingwitness writers 

Copyright of Livingwitness.