Adebolu was on the line.
Adebolu: Prof, I’m in a fat crap.
Me: You only call when you are in trouble. You still owe me a hundred bucks from—
Adebolu: Forget the hundred bucks, egbon. You how many naira you are saying? I loaned the money when the rate was 650 naira to one dollar. Now it is 1400 naira to one dollar. That’s an unpayable loan. It doesn’t take a brain surgeon—
Me: Fine. It’s a bad loan, I agree. But you can’t return to the same lender after a default. That’s the sweet part. Call only when you want to do a repayment plan.
Adebolu: Prof., I have a problem money can’t solve right now.
Me: And how is that my problem?
Adebolu: If I mention the person involved, it’s your friend’s first son.
Me: Who?
Adebolu: (Mentions the name).
Me: Oh my god! What happened to him? He just left Dallas just about two weeks ago to visit Nigeria. Have they kidnapped him?
Adebolu: No, prof. Baba calm down, joor! Abeg o! They don’t just kidnap people like that. He didn’t inform me he was coming to Nigeria. Actually, we hadn’t been in much contact since he left Naija four years ago.
Me: He is doing pretty good. He passed his medical exams and he is now practicing in Dallas. Bright kid. Handsome, easy going, unlike you.
Adebolu: Thanks, sir. We were best friends before he left Naija. But he was ignoring my calls after he arrived New Jersey, so, I stopped calling and we lost contact. Out of the blue, he called me three days ago, and said he was bringing his fiancée over to my place.
Me: That’s probably the woman he went home to marry. He told me about her. Loves her to death. Said something about her that would drive you insane with envy, so I won’t tell you.
Adebolu: But prof! When he brought the woman, she turned out to be one of my ex-girlfriends!
Me: Your ex-girlfriend?
Adebolu: Not totally x. I still considered her on my calling list, but we hadn’t spoken in at least a year.
Me: And XX brought the same girl to your house?
Adebolu: I was shocked, prof! She pretended she knew me only casually at UI (the University of Ibadan). And, as soon as I realized that was the game she wanted to play, I tagged along. True, we went to UI together and graduated same year. We were posted to Enugu for our Youth Service, and that was when we started checking each other out. It was during the passing out parade week that we became intimate. Every night, we ended up in my tiny 4 x 6 feet spring bed. Best sex I ever had my entire life. Anyway, after the ceremony, we parted. Short but sweet. We didn’t keep in regular touch. Then, last week, six years later, she walks in with XX to my house as his fiancé.
Me: So, what did you do?
Adebolu: I gave them food and drinks and had small talks with them. Apparently, she doesn’t want me to let him know, and he doesn’t know I had met her before.
Me: Then?
Adebolu: Nothing. She gave me her number before she left, and I gave her mine. She called hours later begging me not to ever tell him we were lovers or slept together. She said she told him she was a virgin, and it is on that understanding that he is going to marry her.
Me: Okay?
Adebolu: Prof, I don’t know what to do. That’s why I am calling?
Me: Give me some time to think it over, okay? It’s a dicey situation.
Should Adebolu tell XX what happened, or keep his peace?
Happy Children’s day!
