If there is any justice in the world, I should have become an actor, looking at all the work I put in when I was a boy. If dreams come through, I should have been the best actor this country has ever had because that was all I dreamt about when I was a kid in primary school. In school, I fought for every leading role when it came to acting or poetry recitation. I wanted to be the name on everyone’s lips after the stage play so whenever I was given a role, I put in my best to shine, to make the other actors around me better and also make the stage play better.
It was the same in the church drama group. If I didn’t get the lead role, I’ll cry until my mom will take me to the director and asked why I wasn’t given the lead role. So when we played the birth of Jesus, I was Joseph. When we played the death of Jesus, I was Jesus. When we played the prodigal son, I was that prodigal son. I became so good, the church waited for me each time there was going to be a big stage play.
I went to SHS and pursued the same dream. The first question I asked my school father was, “Does the school have a drama group?” He answered, “Yeah, there’s drama club and I’m the organizer. Would you like to join?” I smiled and said to myself, “The universe knows what I want, so see the hands it placed me in.” I told my school father, “Yeah I would like to join. I’m an actor. My dream is to become the greatest actor the country has ever had so I’ve acted in every single drama my school and church have ever put together.” The one who said, “Don’t blow your own horn” probably didn’t know of me. I blew my own horn that day so, at the first drama club meeting I attended, my school father introduced me as “The greatest actor this school would ever have.”
I was in SHS two when the drama club put together a play about the prostitute who found God and changed her ways and later married the son of a rich man. I played the son of the rich man and Adriana played the prostitute. Adriana was my senior. She was a year ahead of me and was very beautiful. At that stage of my life, I didn’t know what love was. A lot of my friends were falling in love from left to right but the only love I knew was the love I had for acting. All through rehearsals, I looked at Adriana and saw a lady who knew how to act. She took her role so seriously that you might think she had been a prostitute before. We rehearsed for a month without any incident until one day the director said, “The scene will look better if you two kissed for real.”
Adriana looked at me and I looked back for a second and later dropped my gaze. She smiled subtly. Those watching started shouting, “Yes you have to kiss her. No fake kissing. Make it real.” My heart started beating faster. I’d never kissed a girl in my life and it had never occurred to me that my first kiss was going to happen in front of people. That’s what got me scared. Adriana looked ready. I looked scared. The director said, “Aaaand action!” Adriana leaned in, I closed my eyes and got frozen. I was expecting her lips but it wasn’t coming. I opened my eyes and realized she stopped midway and was looking at me with my eyes closed. Everyone burst out laughing. The director asked, “Haven’t you kissed before? Don’t you have a girlfriend?” I shook my head. He said, “Then you’ll kiss today.”
We tried again and this time we kissed. It felt so good I didn’t want to let go. She was pulling away and I was pushing in. When we separated, the director said, “Eiii Virgin gɔgɔme, you don’t want to stop?” That’s how I got my first kiss and got a new name, Virgin Gɔgɔme.
The rehearsal ended but the memory of the kiss lingered on my lips like a lip gloss. I didn’t want to brush my teeth and brush the taste of the kiss off. I didn’t want to even bathe. I went to bed and thought of the kiss all night. I wanted more. I wanted more of Adriana. I wanted her kiss more than the role I was playing. At dawn, I woke up and asked myself, “Am I in love? In love with my senior? No, that can’t be. I’m just being stupid.”
I met Adriana often on set and couldn’t look at her face because of the dark thought I had about her. We had a successful play. We didn’t kiss for real on set again. When we had to do the real play, I looked forward to the real kiss but it never happened and it broke my heart. She wasn’t a friend and the only thing that brought us together was that stage play. Once the play was over, I didn’t see her often until she completed school and left. She was gone but she still lingered on my mind as the girl who gave me my first kiss. Every now and then I thought of her and was in love all over again.
I completed school too but couldn’t go to the university right away. I stayed home for two years rewriting my failed papers until I finally got admission to Tech. One day on campus, I was wandering around when I saw a group of ladies coming. The one in the middle looked like someone I knew. Her wig was covering the best part of her face so I could only see half a face. I stood there until they got closer. Immediately our eyes met she stood still. “Do I know you?” She asked. I said, “Adriana?” She answered, “Virgin Gɔgɔme?” We burst out laughing. She said, “Take my number. Call me later and let’s talk. It’s been ages.”
When I called in the evening we couldn’t hang up. We spoke about our time in school, the stage play and the kiss we had. She said, “Do you know it’s my first kiss? People get their first kiss in a romantic affair but whenever I’m asked about my first kiss, that’s the only kiss that comes to mind.” I said, “Same here. I even got a name for it.”
She was in her fourth year and was about to leave campus. I visited her hostel often. She cooked and we ate. Sometimes we went out together. She has become a friend I could call at any time of the day. I was in love with her but I was taking my time to measure the temperature of our friendship before I make a move. She got busier with her projects. She was mostly out of campus during her last days in school. I thought I would propose to her the day she completes school but I couldn’t. She was gone before I could tell her anything. When she came back to campus again, she was coming for her graduation. That was when I proposed. She said, “Awww, you said it too late. I’m already seeing someone else. We met not too long ago. I’m sorry.”
My heart was broken. I regretted not saying it earlier. I called it missed opportunity but at some point, man has to learn to move on. I fell in love with a lady on campus. That was my fifth or so relationship, I don’t remember. Everything was going so well until she started acting up. One day I was in front of her hostel when I saw her entering a car. I called and she said she was out with friends. I asked, “Which of your friends drives black Mercedes?” She was quiet. I kept asking hoping she would answer me. She cut the call and later cut the cord that held the relationship together.
I was tired and off colour so I decided not to give my heart to anyone again until I was sure. I was in touch with Adriana but not the way I would have loved it to be. Each time we talked, it was about her relationship and how it was going. I couldn’t stand listening to her relationship stories so I stopped calling at some point. After school, I gave her a call. I jovially said, “You have to be at my graduation. No excuse.” She laughed. I didn’t think much of it. On my graduation day, I felt someone hugging me from behind. I turned and it was her. I screamed, “Oh wow, you came.” She nodded. She was the only person who was at the graduation because of me.
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After everything, I asked her, “So how is it going, you and your boyfriend?” She laughed subtly. “There’s no boyfriend. I’m alone now. It didn’t work out.” I don’t know what came over me at that moment. Instead of sympathizing with her or asking how and why it ended, I said, “Then this is the right time for us. I’m also single. He didn’t deserve you in the first place. Let’s be together. I’ll do everything to have you here forever.” She asked, “Are you serious? Naaa, I don’t think I can do that. I need rest from it all. I’m tired and emotionally exhausted.” I said, “Rest. When you retire from your rest, I’m the one you’ll be coming to. Promise me.”
It was during my national service when she called. She asked me, “If I say yes to you, what would be the plan? Where would we go right after yes?” I answered, “I don’t know for sure but there are things I’ll do. I’ll get a job, I’ll make you a priority, I’ll marry you when the time is right. It won’t be long but we have to be together first to be able to do all that.”
She said yes. She wasn’t with me when she said it. The following day, I travelled to her place to listen to her say yes to me. She said yes and we kissed again. It lasted longer than the first. The feeling was more intense than the first. Finally, we were in love and I said to myself, “Not all dreams come true but the ones we pursue with all diligent might not fail us.”
We celebrated our fifth anniversary as a married couple a few months ago. Our three-year-old girl calls her mommy and I call her my wife. Life hasn’t been easy but with her on my side, we laugh at the storm and plunge into a better day each day. We still talk about the first kiss when we are bored and don’t have anything to say. We wonder why we couldn’t become actors in the end. She said, “I didn’t dream of becoming an actress. It was something I did for fun.” I told her, “Mine was a solid dream that failed to materialize. But it’s not a total failure considering the fact that it led me to you. I didn’t become that actor I wanted to be but I’m here acting in a lifetime role as a husband, a dad and someone who loves what God has given him.”
The dream didn’t happen but I’m still grateful. Not all of us would have the chance to marry the girl who gave us our first kiss. I did and it’s the best thing that happened to me.
–Gɔgɔme
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