The call came around 11 p.m. when we were sleeping. They were numbers without a name. I didn’t know who was calling and their reason for calling at that late hour. That was the reason I picked up the call. He asked, “Is that Kennedy?” I asked, “Is there something you want Kennedy to do for you?” He answered, “Yes. I want you to give the phone to Jennifer. I’ve been calling her phone but it’s off.”

I paused. I looked at Jennifer sleeping naked in my bed and peacefully snoring and wondered who could be looking for her at that ungodly hour. I asked who he was and he answered, “It doesn’t concern you. Just give her the phone.” I cut the call. I didn’t know who he was but I wasn’t going to tolerate any disrespect from anyone in a night I should be cuddling with my girlfriend.

He called again and then again until I put my phone on silent. In the morning, I showed the number to Jennifer and she screamed, “How did he get your number? Who gave it to him?”

It was her ex-boyfriend, Ali. I knew about him before I started dating Jennifer. She told me about him, what she went through with him and how they finally broke up three months earlier. She told me Ali wasn’t ready to let go so he kept coming back once in a while to ask her to be in his life. I told her, “He’s doing that because you’re still single. Once you’re in a relationship, he’ll back out.”

Jennifer said yes to me but Ali didn’t back out. That call in the night was his first attempt to drown our relationship. I called him that morning in the presence of Jennifer. I asked who he was and why he was disturbing my night. He told me to be careful because the woman I was with had a boyfriend. Jennifer snatched the phone from me and started screaming at him, “And who’s that boyfriend? You? You’re joking. What about “It’s over” don’t you understand? You think I was made for you?”

While Jennifer was screaming on the phone, Ali calmly begged her to calm down. “It hasn’t gotten to this,” he said. “Just calm down and let’s talk. I called him because you were not picking up my calls. Please don’t be angry, let’s talk about this when you’re home.”

“How did you get his number?”

Jennifer kept screaming. Ali continued begging her to stay calm. I sat and watched the drama unfold. She cut the call abruptly and asked me to block the number. I did. I asked her, “So what next?” She was shaking with anger. She told me, “Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

She handled it, or so I thought.

She threatened him with the police. She spoke to mutual friends and asked them to speak to Ali. She spoke to Ali’s elder brother. They all agreed Ali was outstepping his boundaries.

They dated for four years. If he loved her the way he thinks he does, then why did they come to an end? Four years is a lot of chances to make things right.

We were in a restaurant at the corner of my place one night when I saw this tall guy walking towards us. He was looking at us while coming so I was convinced he was coming to our table. Jennifer’s back was facing him so she didn’t see him coming until he mentioned her name; “Jennifer, can we talk?” His voice sounded familiar. His face looked like a face I’d come across. The tiny voice in my head screamed, “Ali!”

Jennifer jumped out of her seat and started leaving. Ali followed. I didn’t. It would have been a lot of drama and I lived close by so most people around there knew me. I sat for a few minutes but the minutes looked like eternity. When I got there, Jennifer was in a Taxi and was about to call me. She said, “Let’s go.” I sat in the taxi and we left. He didn’t try to stop us. He stood there watching while the driver moved. Jennifer broke down and cried.

“Who’s telling this guy my whereabouts?” She asked. At first, it was a call. To date, I don’t know how he got your number and now he’s here. How does he get to know?”

Her friends didn’t know about me yet so it was unlikely the information would have come from them. We brood over the questions until she got to her mother’s house. She didn’t go to her place. She was scared Ali would come around. We stood outside, planning on what to do to kick him out of the scene.

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She asked me, “Are you going to leave me?” “Why will I?” I answered. She said, “I’m scared you’ll give up on me because of him. Please, entertain no doubt in your head. He’ll be over soon. This won’t happen again.”

It happened again.

This time, he came looking for me. A number called. I picked up the phone and it was him. “Can we talk? I mean man to man? Jennifer shouldn’t hear about this.”

It was a sunny Saturday afternoon when we met in town, a place close to a police station, just in case something went wrong. He was towering over me but didn’t look like he was going to harm me. He spoke gently, almost pleadingly. He said, “She doesn’t know what she’s doing. She’s with you just to punish me and I get it but I’m talking to you as a brother that Jennifer is emotionally wounded. She’s not thinking straight and you’re just a result of her confusion.”

I listened to him keenly, almost falling in love with his personality and the way he chose his words. He said, “As far as I’m around and not giving up, I will always be the storm that rocks your boat. You can’t be her anchor in this that’s why I’m pleading with you to leave the scene so she can fall back to her clear mind.”

I asked him why they broke up. He told me he wasn’t going to talk about it. I told him, “The last time she wanted to make it a police case, I was the one who stopped her. If you persist, she will have no option so I’m also advising you to stop this antics. She’s not confused. Until you showed up, we were just doing fine.”

I called Jennifer to tell her everything. She was angry that I didn’t tell her before the meeting. She asked me, “So what should we do now?” I answered, “Make it a police case. From the way he talks, I think he’s not going to leave you anytime soon.”

This conversation was over two weeks ago, she still hasn’t reported him to the police. When I ask about it she tells me he wouldn’t come again or we should wait until he comes before she reports to the police. Her change of mind is giving me a rainbow of doubts. And my gut tells me she’s talking to Ali secretly or planning something with him. Her reluctance is making me worried and I’ve told her about it. But she tells me, “Don’t worry. Everything is under control.”

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Telling me not to worry worries me. What’s happening that I don’t get to see it? How’s she keeping him under control that I don’t know about?

Nothing has changed between us. He’s still lovely—the same Jennifer I knew right from the start but I feel she’s keeping secrets. From the way she texts often when she’s with me to how she talks on her phone low-key makes me wonder what she’s talking about and who she is talking to. But she says I shouldn’t worry so I try not to worry. It’s hard but love is patient so I’m trying to be patient.

–Kennedy

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