Yetunde returns to Ife:

Over the next few weeks the time seemed to go by fast, and for the young Yetunde, she would often later remember those days as some of the best days of her life.  A warmth suffused her every thought, and each day it seemed as if the sun shone brighter, and she imagined that the whole world was a happy and a wonderful place.  She eagerly awaited Tokunbo’s calls which came in clockwork regularity each evening on his way home from work.  As he made his way through the Lagos go slow down Ikorudu road from Lagos Island to Ikeja, he had plenty of time to chat and plan for their future together.

The long strike by the lecturers of the institutions of higher learning had ended with an impasse.  The governing body of the Nigerian University Commision had promised to investigate and institute reforms which would adjust the salaries of the lecturers to take into account inflation and other cost of living increases.  To Mr. Tokunbo Ajayi the resumption of the Univerisities was a double edged sword. On the one hand, it meant that he could no longer see Yetunde on a daily basis, but on the other hand, he was happy for her, as she needed to finish her first degree, and thus be able to get on with her life.

The final evening they had spent together had been an emotional one.  For Tokunbo Ajayi it reawakened  his fears of abandonment; although it made no sense, for Yetunde was as different from Toyin as night is to day, yet he could not help but imagine any number of scenarios about what could go wrong with their relationship now that she returned to Ife.  He imagined that maybe the love she had declared for him had been purely circumstantial, or that her reassurances of her not having a steady boyfriend at the University campus were some how fake.  And, as such, he worried that he might find that their love could not stand the test of time, nor of distance.  However, he had fully assured her of his determination to pursue the relationship faithfully.

the evening before she left he had visited her at her aunt’s house, and they sat alone beside each other in the formal living room with only a light shining from the table lamp beside the sofa. And when she was unaware, he would steal a glance to survey her features, and her profile, so as to emblazon them upon his mind, thinking that if he could watch her now then he would have his fill, in his mind at least, of the solace of the familiar features that warmed his soul and had rescued him from the brink of despair.  He did not say much, for there was little to say, or rather there was so much to say, but it was all the same things that reverberated in his mind, that he wanted to savor every last moment of this day, and that he would miss her dreadfully; and lest he should appear boring or repetitive, or worse still desperate he cautioned himself from saying what his heart was weeping about inside. And as such he was silent; and she too could feel the somberness of his mood, although perhaps because of her youth or her inexperience, she had not quite as many fears, and was convinced that the man Tokunbo was real, and honest.

He sat beside her and held her hand peacefully in his, and he said finally to her,

“I will miss you, Yetunde, only too soon after we met we have to part..”

She smiled, as smiles came easily to her, “You say that as if I am about to embark on a long journey, across shark and pirate infested seas. Ife is not quite so far,”

He was unable to smile back and still holding her hand he went on,  “ No not quite shark infested seas, perhaps something worse- the armed robber infested highway between lagos and Ibadan; I am not sure if I would have chosen the former or the latter!”“We will meet, I will come to Ife every weekend until you graduate, and we can spend time together.”  Then on an impulse, which he himself could not fully understand, he bared his soul to her after knowing her for barely eight weeks.

“My dearest Yetunde, I know this may sound brash to you, that I should say this so soon into our relationship, however, I would not have it any different. Although I have not declared my suit to your father or your uncle, I think it would be safe to say that our feelings for one another are not a secret.  And I have not yet had the opportunity to make a formal proposal, but will you accept my proposal for marriage as a secret understanding between us, a state of affairs which unfortunately we will not be able to regularize until my divorce from Toyin is finalized?”

The young girls eyes opened wide, and she seemed uncertain of what she had heard, or in disbelief she wanted to ascertain that she had indeed just a received a proposal for marriage.

“Could you clarify what you are asking of me?” She said.

“ I am asking you to marry me. My dearest will you do me the honor of marrying me.”

And she became confused, and in her shyness she averted her gaze from him, and looking down at the ground she said nothing. Then he continued,

“ I know this seems premature, but in defense of my suit I must say that we have known each other for the past eight weeks, and I do not know how you feel, but for me this has been the best time of my life.  What can I say? When I sit beside you it is as if our spirits are in perfect harmony, and there is sometimes not even any need for words, for our communications are non verbal and in spirit.  Now I think I understand why they say that the body dies, but love lives on for ever.  For to me the understanding of love is that it can not be constrained by time, place or a finite thing. Please do not hold the secrecy needed at this point against me, as I must finalize the divorce before I present myself to your family as a suitor…”

And then he stopped in mid sentence as it seemed that she had not understood what he was saying, and she still made noresponse looking down at the ground. And then after a period of time which must have felt like a year to him she slowly replied.

“ I have to think of this, as I am not sure of anything now. I need to time to think of everything.”

And on this note they had parted their ways.

The trip to Ife:

Two weeks after Yetunde had returned to Ife, Tokunbo left work early on a Friday afternoon and was trying to beat the Friday rush hour traffic out of Lagos heading for Ife via the Ibadan expressway. He was hoping to arrive at his destination before dark.  The traffic on the Lagos Ibadan expressway was backed up, as a lorry had overturned and was blocking one lane of the carriageway.  He arrived in Ife after night fall, and he drove directly to the female hostel where he parked his car by a side road.  As it was a Friday evening at eight o’clock There was a near traffic jam in front of the hostel with Rolls-Royces parked beside Mercedes Benz’s, and Toyota SUV’s were all competing for valuable space.  Emanating from the hostel could bee seen young female students dressed in their white silks and Chiffons carrying their over night bags on their way out for the weekends.  Under a tree could be seen a pot bellied man waiting for his own student girlfriend.  Tokunbo walked up to the gateman and was told that the visiting hours were over and that he would not be admitted.  He then had to hang around waiting for a girl who was going inside to carry a message to Yetunde to ask her to come out and meet him at the front of the building.