My name is Mike Addo’, he said cutting through my thoughts.’ I leave behind your house. I see you by the roadside most mornings having a hard time finding a means of transport to school so I decided to help out. I promise not to harm you so feel free. Anyway I am reading accounting at Baptist. I am in my final year. What about you?’
‘My name is Adwoa Yinkah, I’m in my second year, Administration’, I ended.
There was a moment of silence.
‘You need to wake up early to get transportation to school because it is usually a hard struggle here in Afrancho’, he chirped in.
‘I hear you, thanks for everything’ I replied.
We continued in silence. I could sense we had nothing more to talk about again. He switched on the air condition in the car just to make me comfortable, I presumed. As soon as we got on campus in Asafo, I got down and thanked him again. I could feel him watching me.
A weeks after my encounter with Mike, we bumped into each other at the entrance of the school’s library. It was around 6pm. There were a few students left in the school’s library complex. Mike had two huge books sticking out of his blue backpack. He was dressed casually in a polo shirt with jeans and matching sneakers like the first time I saw him. I admired his sense of style-again. We stared at each other, lost for words before he enquired how I would get home. I shrugged. He offered to take me home. I was glad I saw him.
On our way home, he started a conversation. This time, I loosened up and spoke freely with him. We had a good laugh about school stuff. He offered to take me to my doorstep. I could not say no. I enjoyed his company. We exchanged numbers and kept in touch till the end of the school year when he completed. I saw him almost every morning when he was washing his dad’s car and in the evenings when he was feeding his dogs. They were German shepherds and they frightened me a lot. But he always said they would do me no harm.
My parents got to know him. My dad said he was a nice fellow.
Mike suggested one Saturday that we should go see a movie premier on campus. My parents amazingly said I could go. It surprised me that my overly strict dad had given me the chance to go out with a guy he barely knew, but I was thrilled since this would be my first date ever!
After hours deciding what to wear and leaving my room a mess, I put on a cream doll dress with brown flat shoes and a matching brown handbag. He wore a pink shirt and blue denim with some nice sneakers. We looked good together, at least, the stares we got as we walked through town said so. Though the sun was shinning brightly, the smile I carried on my face was brighter. The premier was set to start at 5pm but we decided to get ice cream after getting our front row tickets. Afterall, we had over an hour to the start of the premier. At the ice cream parlour right opposite campus, we bumped into my distant cousin, Ralph. Ralph was the same height as Mike, but a bit darker like myself. He had changed though, with his huge muscles drawn in his body hugging shirt and a very funny moustache. He gave me the mischievous smile I had always known and I ran to him like a little girl.
