Now your suffering continues..
Jogging along this path with Tayo made me remember the time during year two when my roommate Kelvin had dragged me up from my morning routine of meditation to the school field where i had literally passed out after we had jogged round the entire length of the field
I had promised myself afterwards never to engage in any sporting activity anytime soon, not after what my mother had gone through during the time – she had come all the way from Ijebu Ode to see her precious son in Kwara state
But today, I made a new friend, and i was eager to bond with him. Tayo was an interesting personality.
After watching him match past half way the parade field, with corp members laughing their lungs out at his funny parade – short, hefty arms going back and forth both sides of his wide, short framed body, I wanted to be friends with him.
I had laughed too, and would have even videoed him like some had done to circulate round the internet with the caption “Dwarf Corper causes stir in NYSC camp with funny match steps” if my phone camera were good enough.
What I loved was the tenacity of him- the way he unashamedly did his thing, without this feeling of low self esteem.
If anything, he was too confident in his own skin.
He would later say to me that he was an intentional person. Despite the difference in his body structure, he would never miss an opportunity to make impact and mingle
After the soldier dismissed us, i had joined the number of guys shaking hands with him, and laughing jocularly.
We walked out of the field together, my tall frame towering over his, and soon we were jogging along a road path with red dusty earth and spiky grasses on both sides, talking about everything like old time friends
He told me about his love for sports, and how he had been the recipient of several athletic awards in his alumni
If i would come with him, he said he’d like for us to go weight lifting somewhere
I stopped to catch my breath, inhaling and exhaling faster with each passing second, until i was on my kneels and the world started to spin.
By Mary Adole
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