It was beach day with Copa Cabana at Tarkwa Bay. I work sooo hard, I wanted to goof off. You know how they say you regret the stuff you didn’t do more than the stuff you did? Yeah. I had looked forward to this day, even made scenarios in my head, but like I always say, it is the hope that kills.
I made arrangements with Ope, my colleague to pick me up so we could head to the boat terminal together. The plan was to leave the house by 9 am. We eventually leave by 11:30 am. (Just know that women are scum and will disappoint you every chance they get). We would be linking up with Niyi at the boat terminal. Niyi and I attended the same secondary school. Ope and Niyi attended the same University.
I hadn’t seen Niyi in 8 years so I was confused as to what we’d have on the conversational menu. It was an itch I couldn’t scratch; very uncomfortable. The top three things that usually spring to mind are work, sports and the COVID-19 pandemic.
I am socially awkward sometimes and very quickly. I get very disinterested in conversations after a while. Most of the time, I fixate on the features of a person’s face and then I get lost in the conversation but I am currently learning the big 5 when it comes to social skills; the friendly chuckle, the vocalisation of sympathy (Awww), the vocalisation of surprise (Oh, wow!), the coy smile and the interested look that says “tell me more”. (Even when deep down, I mean the opposite).
We get to the terminal after some trouble. I use the term ‘trouble’’ because I live in Nigeria where the word “inconvenience’ has really lost all meaning. We whizz past the crowd and find a sitting area. Ope calls Niyi to join us.
During childhood, friendship is basically about proximity. Who your friends are is usually a direct function of how close your houses are, what school you attend, who you sit next to in class. It is basically a game of chance. But as you grow older, it becomes different. It is no longer who you are seeing 5 times a week. It is someone you actually make time for. This was the case with Niyi and I. We were pals, we played chess together, exchanged DVDs and video games, shared embarrassing stories and now, we barely know a thing about each other.
“Friendships are unique relationships because unlike family relationships, we choose to enter into them. And unlike other voluntary bonds, such as marriages and romantic relationships, they lack a formal structure. You wouldn’t go months without speaking with or seeing your significant other (hopefully), but you might go that long without contacting a friend.” This explains the point in the preceding paragraph.
Many define friendship as being there for each other but in reality, you rarely have time to spend with your most valued friends, whether because of circumstances, or the age-old problem of good intentions and bad follow-through. It an irony when you think about it.
Apologies for the digression.
Niyi looks exactly the same. He now wears glasses, as smart as ever, he plays the trumpet (this was a truly shocking revelation) and is a computer engineer who does some photography on the side. In case you were wondering, I didn’t drop the conversational ball. We hit it off quite well.
