SHORT STORY || Our Different Paths

God had sent a man to Nineveh but he went to Tarshish. That was Bamidele’s story. Like his name, I thought he would come home with me. I thought that every whisper of his name from my lips would draw him in and make his feet glued to my path. He was adamant. He should have been named Adam. What was I thinking? Who knew that the little boy with whom I played sùwé would become the man of my dreams? Was it because we built the foundations of our lives together? Our mothers were in and out of each other’s houses. I had called his name every day since I was five.

This is why. This is why it was easy for me to think he must have gotten used to the sound of my voice, so much that he would want to follow.

Last week Tuesday, I saw the unfathomable. It was Bamidele’s wedding invitation. Was I missing something? I looked closely to read the name of the bride; it was “Faith Adebimpe”, not Adefolake. So no one was really planning the wedding as a surprise? The wedding colors were gold and wine. Those were the colors we discussed as teenagers. I wanted anything gold and he liked anything wine, but I guess he meant colors of different weddings…

It is five years after now and I realize that Bamidele should not have come home with me, even when I wanted him to. He made the right decision. Today, as I scroll through Instagram, I smile at her hashtags – #mommyinfluencer #adayinthelifeofbims #powercouple #BimBam. When I rub the bump that my most flat tummy has become, I understand that we had different paths all along, and one of us needed to be adamant. One of us needed to go first to Tarshish, so both of us could eventually arrive at our different cities of Nineveh.