samlak
samlak The Painful Pleasure
*
Episode 19&20
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“Do you have a consistent prayer
life?” She asked. When I
heard the question, it was as if I
had been dreaming all the
while. What I thought the question
would be was “do you
love me?” But come to think of it,
how can a girl I’m meeting
for the second time ask me such
question? My love for
Aramide had probably affected my
psychology. Even if she
was so cheap, she couldn’t have
asked that question so
soon. Even Sandra can’t ask such
question. She discovered
that I was thinking for too long, then
she broke the silence. .
.
Aramide: Why are you quiet? You
really don’t have a prayer
life. Do you?
Me: (I was quite bewildered)
Actually, I do have a prayer life.
But it hasn’t been really consistent
since I came to school.
You know Awo is not really a place
you can pray
comfortably.
Aramide: Prayer isn’t about being
convenient. Its a sacrifice
you make in and out of convenience.
As a Christian, prayer
is very important. This is because
God is our father, and
without communication, we can’t have
a good relationship
with him. And the only way to talk to
God is through prayer.
Me: That’s very true. You told me
you both want to ask me
something and tell me something,
you’ve asked your
question, what did you want to tell
me? (Hoping for some
‘good news’.)
Aramide: You know what? For the
past 3 days, I’ve been
going to the sports complex to pray.
And if you don’t mind
we can become prayer partners.
Me: (I didn’t really like religious
activities, but agreeing will
make me closer to the one I love)
Why not? I would really
love to.
Aramide: If that’s the case, give me
your number. So I can
call you when I’m going.
Me: Alright then. . .
We exchanged numbers, and later on,
we got a bus. Her
hostel was Alumni, she got off the
bus when she got to her
hostel. “I will call you” She said.
I got to my hostel and told Mayowa
the whole story. He
made jest of me, and told me that
he had warned me earlier
about church girls. No matter what
he said, I was still going
to go anyway. If praying would make
me closer to the one I
love, I decided to become a prayer
warrior.
The following day? Aramide called
me as she promised and
we went to pray together. We prayed
for almost an hour.
That was around 8pm-9pm. That
became our regular
praying time after which we will go
to read. Aramide taught
me a lot of things (not academics). I
really gained a lot from
being her prayer partner. We were
always together from
8pm till 12am everyday. My
academics and spiritual life took
a new turn.
That made me love her so much, I
was literarily burning with
passion. “But what if I tell her and
she decides to stop being
my prayer and reading partner? How
will I forgive myself? It
is better to keep mute and not lose
her, than to to tell her
my feelings for her and lose her. If
she should tell me “NO”,
our relationship and closeness can
never be the same.” I
thought to myself.
So I decided to keep my feelings for
Aramide to myself, and
keep it strictly on friends basis.
Though it was really painful,
but I had to learn to control myself.
