THE PERFECT BET By Dozie

It finally stopped raining, the weather was chilled. It was the perfect evening for one of those impromptu strolls I took with the only friends I had at the time. We had done our usual ritual before going out in the evening; we had to keep warm and it heightened our senses. We admired and appreciated nature better.

After the almost unending walk, we decided to buy food at S.U.B. There’s no way guys will go to S.U.B and won’t admire the wonders of nature. Yeah, I’m talking about girls. We got to the popcorn stand first to cure our crippling munchies and to use that opportunity to observe anything in skirt that walked past. We stared at all kinds of girls with our eyes and mouths wide open; fat, thin, thick, plump, all pretty. I don't think any girl was ugly then. They all looked "hermosa".

She just walked out of S.U.B, phone in hand texting away. I couldn’t take my eyes of her. She had the perfect body, skin the color of caramel, she had a graceful gait; there’s not enough words for me to describe what I saw that day. Maybe it's the THC in me still appreciating nature, I thought, but no! She was beautiful. She wasn’t the prettiest we had seen that day but … you know that feeling sha.
The next thing I heard was “she impress you?” Chibello’s voice was deep as fuck, mine is like Dora the explorer’s voice compared to his. I couldn’t deny it, she impressed me. Even though I wouldn’t admit it, a blind man could see it written all over my face.
Chibello told me to go talk to her, Obinna supported but I wasn’t the
kind of guy to walk up to a girl on the road and start wooing. Obinna dropped one thousand Naira.
Ghen ghen! See these guys oo! What can’t I do for money? Just to talk to ordinary girl? But there was a problem oo! I didn’t know what to say. Suddenly the perfect plan clicked, man gather morale from nowhere. I decided to finally try the technique my nigga Victor Akoma had always suggested.
Omo the game was on oo! A game that I had no idea would change the course of my love life. A game that if I had known I wouldn’t have played. Not like I’m counting my regrets but if I had any idea I'd love anyone in school, nna maka chukwu fuck that one thousand naira.

I walked up to her and with my deep, sweet voice I shouted “Sandra! Long time, how have you been?”. Lame ba but I thought it was going to work. She looked surprise and with a smile on her face she answered “I’m not Sandra oo!” I still
insisted she was Sandra. Imaginary Sandra in pharmacy 2nd year that I met just in front of S.U.B last semester. The smile on her face was gone. “Guy I don’t know what you mean but I’m not Sandra, bye”. In my head I ran away but surprisingly I kept following her. I apologized for the confusion and swore she looked exactly like Sandra, with the same big braids, pink lipstick, beautiful face and thick. Of course I like thick girls. She just chuckled. I told her I was Dozie and I didn’t forget to add that I was in geology 3rd year, as if that was the automatic chick magnet. She was Adamma. The smile was back.
We talked a little about school and how the female son "Bobrisky" was getting mad props on social media then I went back to how "Sandra" gave me fake number that I called for almost a month and one aboki was always answering telling me ass alarm alaykum; I almost forgot to mention, Adamma had a pretty nice ass too. I didn’t know I could lie that well till that moment; she was actually laughing so hard I had to hold her hand. Damn! It felt so nice, so soft!
She said my Sandra was mean, that she would rather tell a guy she can’t give him her number than lie. I was virtually dancing, she just indirectly said you can have my number in a way she didn’t realize until I asked for it. “Ada, I hope you won’t give me a fake number now cos I’d like to continue this conversation later”. I guess she didn’t want me to feel disappointed twice so she said okay.
Chill, I left my phone in my house to charge! Chai! What is all this now? She
called the number out to me anyway, I still have it stuck in my memory 08090******. I told her I had some friends I left at S.U.B so I had to run. We said our goodbyes and goodnights and I zoomed off. I couldn’t afford to forget her number; it somehow became my mantra on my way back to S.U.B.

You know how you walk back to your guys when you know you have just finished work? You know now! That one sided walking step with your head cocked to the left and a very wide joker-like grin? Yeah that’s it. I didn’t say a word until I had typed the number into Chibello’s phone and saved it. Mans were all over me for details. That night I ate two santa and egusi soup with a chilled bottle of Pepsi, I also bought fried rice, salad and meat I would eat after my long walk back to Ikejiani, all thanks to Obinna’s one thousand naira.

A playful bet turned out to be how I met one of the most amazing persons I know. The evening was well spent. Hunger defeated; hunting successful!
I still owe my nigga Victor for the useful tip, although I won’t advice any guy to do that now cos these girls are something else these days. Dem go catch you even before you reach the apology part sef.

One day, I’m going to show this to Adamma and she’s going to laugh her brains out. I hope she doesn’t get angry cos I lied. Till that day comes, let’s just hope everything goes well between us. I pray oo!

Written By Dozie.