The Series Of My Life - Season 1 - Episode 112

4 years ago

The Series Of My Life - Season 1 - Episode 112

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APULIA: A small town of about 4000 people was located beside the atlantic ocean in the northwest region of Portugal.

The cab from Braga had dropped us near the bus station. There was no railway line.
I had paid the cab fares and collected her phone number. I told the lady driver to expect my call in three or four hours so that she would come to take us back to Braga city.
Jenny and I walked across the only major road in the town and headed down to the ocean. We got near the ocean and perched on a rock. The deep blue water stretched into infinity.

Jenny was scared. The waves from the ocean hit the rocks occasionally and sometimes it looked like it would jump up and sweep us away into the ocean.

I opened the bottle of Hennessy I bought from the Morrocan man and gulped down a large quantity directly from the bottle.

I handed it to my baby girl who sipped a little and decided that it wasn't worth drinking.
Right there, on top of a large rock facing the mighty Atlantic ocean, in the small town of Apulia, I had fallen in love with Jennifer. She had fallen in love with me too.

It was written all over her face. She had surrendered herself to me long ago. She had left all hopes and held on to me as if I was her hero.

I had finally succumbed to nature after resisting the temptation for weeks.
She was the closest thing to me for long. I had learnt to trust her as time went bye.
*I remembered when I had decided to chase her out of my life. I had left €1200 on top of my bed inside my room in Lisbon. I had intentionally left the money there and went downstairs. I had told her that I was going to Rossio to buy something in Colombo. Colombo was a 30 minute ride from my house.

I had walked down the street and entered a bar very close to my house. I had purchased a glass of Johnny walker and sat at a place where I could see every movement in and out of my house.

I was hoping that she would take the money and vanish.
I was half way through my drink when my phone rang. It was Jennifer.

*Great! I had caught her. She must have ran away with the money and called me to tell me*

'' Baby, you forgot your money on the bed'' she had said.
Damn!
'' What money'' I had said out of disappointment.
'' There is some money on the bed, check your pocket, you must have thought that you put it there'' she had said.
'' Oh my God!, keep it for me'' I shouted.
Being a very sceptic person, I had thought that she didn't run away because she had nowhere to run to or because Madam Grace was looking for her then.
I planned my second trap.

We had just arrived in MONTIJO area of Lisbon where Jose had helped me find a self-contain apartment in the students hostel.
I had told Jennifer that I was going to send her to Germany. I had made the calls in her presence and arranged for a look-alike document to help buy flight tickets to Berlin.
After the call, she had said that she can't go alone to Germany. She had said that she can't leave me and go anywhere. I had lied to her that I had a wife in Africa. She didn't care or she didn't believe me.

I had tried some other minor methods to scare her away but she had defied all of them and lived with me.*
All those moments flashed past my mind at a very fast pace. I had nothing to say rather than to kiss her and that was exactly what I did.

However, there was only one problem. I had just gulped down a large chunk of alcoholic. Why didn't I feel this love all those while when I had not taken any spirits? Why after Hennessy; that french poison.
Making judgements under the influence of alcohol has always had large negative after-effects.

Whatever the reason was, I was feeling in love at that top of the rock in Apulia, every other thing should hold on. The last time I felt that way was back in Africa with a Ghanaian girl.

If anything had happened to me in Braga, Porto or even Lisbon, Jennifer would have been the person to know first. The responsibility of telling others what happened to me would have fallen on her shoulders.
Knowing what Africa was, some people from My Place and some friends would have even accused her of killing me. Africa. My dark beautiful continent.

I turned around and looked her in the eyes and slowly said '' I love you''
She looked at me and kept her gaze on my two eyes.

'' I know the circumstances that brought us together wasn't ideal for the ordinary human being but I believe you are an Angel. God sent you to guide and be with me in this time of troubles'' I said.

Before I finish what I was saying, she had started crying.
She placed her head on my shoulder and cried for minutes. I didn't bother asking her to stop for I knew it was tears of Joy. Yes, I was semi-prophet. I knew it was tears of Joy.
When she finished crying, took her phone and put two phone numbers in it.

I showed them to her and told her that one belonged to Johnson, a friend of Mine in Germany. I asked her to call him and ask of me if my number stopped connecting anytime in the future.

The second number belonged to my elder brother in Onitsha. I told her the same thing I said about Johnson. We spent an hour or thereabout on the rock and walked to the sandy shores of the mighty Atlantic ocean.