Ever since the both of us met, we've been inseparable. The first time was at school. She had this checked red and green jacket on with her hair divided into two small afro cuts. I was standing on the line just behind her, reciting the Lord's prayer when a staff called her to the back of the assembly gathering and asked her to kneel among the offenders because she packed her hair to school on a Monday morning.
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I didn't even know she was in my class then. I was new and so was everybody to me. After school when I got into the school bus, she was seated there, her head turned to look out of the window, complete sadness etched into her expression.
I didn't know this girl as at then but I felt drawn towards her. I left the seat I took in front of the bus and went all the way to the back to sit with her. That incident awarded me a friend, a friend unlike any one I've ever had before.
Her name is Jessica.
Jessica and I have been best friends since we were nine. She had bulging eyes and short, curly lashes that made her look unbearably pretty. Oh, how I love her dimples sinking into her plum cheeks every time her lips curl for a smile. She was not just my friend, she has grown to be my soul sister.
I cannot possibly list the things Jessica and I have been through but perhaps, one or two can tell the story of how we have stood together over the years, through thick and thin.
Jessica was seventeen, and I, sixteen when her father had his first stroke. She lived on the island of Lagos and immediately he was rushed to the hospital, she took a cab that was headed for the mainland and came straight to my house because neither of us had phones.
“Treasure, my dad!”
I jumped up from the bed where I lay reading a novel when I saw that she was sobbing and ran to hold her close to my chest. She towered above me by a few inches but that wasn't a problem for either of us.
“What happened to him?”
“They said it's a partial stroke. He was fine before I went to weave my hair. When I came back, I saw some men from the estate carrying him into their car, that was when I grabbed a cab snd followed with my siblings.”
“He'll be okay, let's go”
My mother who I lived with then didn't have a problem with me going out so long as it was with Jessica, so after giving her a brief explanation of where I was headed, Jessica and I grabbed another cab back to the island.
I didn't know where the hospital was located but Jessica had said it was close to her house and since I knew her house, I knew the route we were taking was wrong.
“Jessie where is this man taking us to?” She shrugged and turned to the driver. She was the most outspoken among the two of us,
“Oga please what route are you taking to Unity hospital?”
“Madam allow me to focus on my job. When we get to Unity hospital I'll let you know” was the man's response. He didn't look like a bad person, he was putting on the usual branded jacket that taxi drivers usually wore, nothing seemed fishy about him, yet my mind did not know peace.
We sat in that car for almost an hour before I told Jessie that we may have to jump if the man continued driving through the unfamiliar roads.
After another ten minutes, we braced ourselves, held hands and opened the door of his car.
“What are you girls doing?”
“Stop this car or we will jump!” I cried out. The driver brought the car to a halt immediately. Jessica and I almost flew out of the vehicle, tumbling over ourselves in the process. We found our feet immediately and dashed off, running as far from this man as we could.
We had to cross the road to the other side, thankfully we had not given that first driver any money. By the time we asked around, we were told that we were miles away from our destination.
We were able to find our way to the hospital that evening but we never said a word of this experience to anybody.
I also remember when she went for a talent hunt in her church and sang “fall on your knees” in such a way that moved the entire church to tears. When she was pronounced as the winner, I kept shouting, “That's my girl! That's my Jessie!”
Today we're still the best of friends that exist. She is far away in Lagos and I am in Akwa Ibom state, but there is no day we don't call each other to pray and gist. Distance may separate us, but our experiences together, through thick and thin, bind us forever.
