A moment of change or More of the same(Awe Damilare) Nothing could stop the tears rolling down my cheeks! I thought people always said nothing hurts more than words and words cut deeper than a knife. Well they are awefully wrong, nothing cuts or hurts more than the beating I just got! No one can tell me otherwise! Was it the blows that poured like a heavy rain or was it the ground that was shaking beneath me like an earthquake was about to begin, or was it the way the blows landed like I was being stoned to death?! And you tell me words hurt more? Joke!!!

Who would have thought the person I shared a very hilarious moment with a few mins ago would do this to me without thinking twice! “Oluwafemi temi ni kan” hmmm… Surely not me. Not even the belt he used could have predicted it, or the shoes or the hand itself! No one! Nothing!

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My name is Nifemi Oladipupo, I met Femi like any other girl will meet a guy, or maybe under a different circumstance, but we met and that was it. Peju and Bisi, my then two closest friends, were dressing up to go visit “a new fish” like they always call their dudes, I was bored to death and Banji wasn’t helping the situation in any way! He broke up with me because he couldn’t stand my share of “friends.” I tried to let him know that because we flock together doesn’t mean we have the same feathers but he wouldn’t listen. He used this as his excuse and decided to call the 3 years relationship a quit! 2 weeks later I saw him with Mercy, the big chic in class. well it didn’t bother me for a while but little by little I started wallowing and missing him like hell.

Peju and Bisi tried their best but to no avail. They tried dragging me out of the house several times but I never yielded. So one day as they were about leaving I knew I had to leave the house.
“Can I join u guys?”
They both paused, looked back, looked at each other then back at me before Peju said,
“Did you say something?”
“Let me join you guys please” I said louder.
“Of course babes, at last” replied Bisi.
So we left, I had no idea where they were going and frankly I didn’t care. We got to an apartment and there we met 3 guys. They seemed to be responsible and I felt at ease. And that was where I met Femi.

You could call it love at first sight, or maybe lust, but either way I knew I felt one the moment I saw Femi. He was smiling when we got in, he held the smile throughout the introductions and all through the evening;
“Hey”
“Hello” I replied.
“Nifemi, right?”
“Yes”
“I see, in a way we are namesakes kinda.”
“You could say that” I said, laughing.
I knew I wasn’t just laughing, I was blushing as well, I could feel the colour rush through me. In a minute I started spilling.
“So you guys are friends right?”
“Peju and Bisi? Obviously, great friends we do everything together!”
“Really? But this is my first time seeing you though.”
“Yeah it’s because we don’t go to the same places every time. sometimes they choose one and I choose the other” I replied clueless of what was happening.
“I see… So u enjoy what you guys do together?”
“Of course, why wouldn’t we? We are friends, remember, best of friends”
“Wow, you sure love it from the way you talk”
“Yeah we do, we hang out together, live together, do everything together.”
“Hmmm, that explains a lot” he replied defiantly.

Whatever happened to my brain that moment I have no idea but I remember blabbing all through my conversation with Femi. Little did I know he was actually seeing me as a “runz” girl. We exchanged numbers and promised to keep in touch. Two weeks went by and I kept rushing to get my phone whenever it rang hoping it was Femi. I waited for his call everyday for two weeks but he didn’t call. So I decided to just call him myself;
“Hello” I said.
“Hey” a very husky voice replied.
Wow I thought! He sounds way better on phone.
“Did I wake you?”
“No, at all! Who is this?”
Oh! And there you have it Nife, he didn’t even save your number.
“Oh, erhm sorry, it’s me Nifemi, remember?”
“Wow, Nifemi I’m so sorry, did you change your number? I thought I saved it the other day” he said surprised.
“Well…” I said.
“So sorry about that and for not calling you, I’ve been pretty busy” he said sweetly.
“It’s nothing, was just checking my phone now and I saw your number and decided to say hello.”
“That’s so thoughtful of you, thanks. How’s Bisi and Peju? Together or they’ve gone to other places?” He said and sounded like he was laughing.
“Other places?, funny you, they are out somewhere.”
“Aii, hey you wanna grab a few drinks with me someday? Let’s say Saturday?” he asked.
Immediately my heart started beating fast. I could feel my blood rushing so fast.
“Saturday? Let’s see, well, I do have some things to do but I’ll clean it up later, Saturday is fine then.”

And that was the beginning of a very blissful friendship. We became great friends and almost inseparable. One faithful night Femi called me and told me he had something to discuss with me;
“Are you alright?” I asked when I saw him.
“Of course, but there’s something I wanna clear up” he replied.
“Okay I’m listening,” I said.
“What exactly do you guys do? I mean Peju, Bisi and you?”
“How? I don’t get it” I replied confused.
“You guys do things together right?”
“Yes…”
“You guys enjoy what you do right?”
“Where’s this going Femi?” I asked.
“I don’t get it, Peju and Bisi are runz babes, if you guys do things together that makes you one as well right?”
And it clicked the night we met, all the thrash I had buttered out through my being nervous just being around him were now being reviewed.
“No, no, no, it’s not what you think.”
I took my time to explain to him what actually went wrong that day and how it was just me blabbing. We moved on and continued our friendship. To cut the story short…our friendship turned into a relationship and he promised me heaven and earth, he told me how Banji wasn’t worthy of me and how it was his loss. He told me he wouldn’t dare hurt me and all he’s gonna give me will be happiness. I wasn’t foolish, but I was in love. I took his words for it and I didn’t care as long as I was Femi’s girl.

He introduced me to his friends and made it known to other toothpick legged girls he was in a real relationship this time.
He changed his line and told me he was ready to start afresh. My dream of my very own fairytale began. I fell deeper than I did. It was written all over the walls. I was madly in love. Everything went right…

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