"Would you love me forever darling?, Even when I am old and wrinkled?"
I asked Dami, having the wildest smile on my face and staring into his eyes.
"But of course my love, I would love you for eternity. Have you forgotten when you're old and wrinkled I'll also be old and wrinkled?I'll be with you forever my dear, no matter what."
My heart melted immediately. How couldn't it? Dami always had the best words to make my heart beat faster for him.
"Stay away from my daughter, you son of a witch!" I was so shocked at how my mother found out where we were. This was supposed to be our secret spot. Before I could let out any word, Dami's mother also arrived.
"You are the one to tell your daughter to stay away from my son. She's a distraction to him. A witch, just like her mother."
His mother dragged me to the left while mine dragged me to the right.
How we got here?Let me rewind for you to see.
It wasn't always like this. Many years ago, Dami's family and mine were really close friends but all it took was for a misunderstanding to break that bond of friendship. His grandmother, Sarah, and my grandmother, Phyna, were very close friends but then, a very handsome bachelor came to the village and had eyes for Phyna. Things were going well with them only for a village gossip to meet Phyna and told her that Sarah was seeing her man and was currently at his place. Phyna felt so betrayed that her best friend would do this to her and so, with the quest for vengeance to hurt her friend, she quickly moved and went to the large farm which Sarah's family owned. It was the largest farm in the village and was known for how well it yielded crops. Many industries came from far and near to make different proposals on how to get the land but to no avail. Phyna went to this land and set the whole farm ablaze. Sarah felt so crushed that her friend would do this to her and that she didn't even bother to ask her if the rumors were true. They became bitter and didn't want to hear anything the other person had to say. The enmity started from there and they took an oath that the two families would never have anything to do with each other ever again.
But we can't help or avoid who we fall in love with, can we?My mum told me the story but her version though and I got to hear the other side of the story from Dami who got it from his mother.
The women were too proud to actually listen to what the other had to say and despite the fact that I've tried to set them up several times, it all fails. I have even tried to let go of Dami so that I can make my mother happy but I just can't. The flames of love dancing inside of me can only be quenched by Dami and no one else. He makes falling in love so easy and I've never felt better all my life.
"Would you love me forever darling?Even when I am old and wrinkled?"
Well you've seen this before and so, when Dami's mum dragged him away, my mum also dragged me away raining all kinds of curses on his family. We arrived at the village head very soon and I saw that Dami's mother also dragged him here. Two of us stared at each other with dread in our eyes. We knew what was going to happen and before we could protest and rush back home, the village head, Obi, came into his chambers.
"You all again? I am tired of hearing complaints about your families. It is obvious the family rivalry can't stop so Dami and Teni, I hereby ban the two of you from ever being together. Both of you can't ever be together and you must accept that fact."
"Thank you Obi for your kind words. You will live long"
The mother's felt so satisfied and I felt so crushed and broken. Obi was our leader so anything or any law or ban he places is final. I looked at Dami and it was as if his world was crumbling before his eyes. I have never seen him so broken and before I could reach out to him, my mother dragged me away.
I spent days in the house sobbing and crying so hard. I just lost the love of my life. I soon got a message from Dami that he wanted us to meet for the very last time. It was night already so I decided to sneak out. The moon shone its light on my path and allowed me to navigate through the bushes. The crickets made loud noises and birds of night sang different songs. I reached the spot we were to meet and saw Dami, he looked so miserable not that I looked any better though.
Thunder started rumbling and it was obvious it was about to rain. We stood there under the shade just staring at each other when Dami spoke.
"I know it's irrelevant to things but like, the rain is about to fall" I stared at him confused but he continued
" The rain has always been my safe space and it's as if the clouds are letting out things I can't. Tears. And it's as if the water flowing just washes away some emotions. The breeze for some weird reason makes me happy and takes my spirit away and I feel content. The rain is beautiful really, and it just gives me time to think about everything that has happened."
The rain had started falling at this point and tears were rolling down my cheeks. I had nothing to say and so I took to my heels, I turned back halfway to look at Dami and saw he was on his knees sobbing and he looked into my eyes. It was our last goodbye and so I continued running back home and never looked back.