The first time I saw Franka was on Erica’s Facebook wall. She posted her to wish her a happy birthday. I remember zooming into the photo to look into her eyes. I recall telling myself, “She’s beautiful. Erica has friends like these and I’ve never met them?”

A year later, on another birthday, Erica posted Franka again on her Facebook book wall. This time I commented; “Happy birthday our beautiful friend.” Because she was tagged in the post, she came to react to my comment. It wasn’t anything but it meant a lot to me. So I went on her wall, checked all her photos and admired the beauty in her. I was tempted to write to her but I held on.

The next time I met Erica, I asked about her friend. She said, “You mean Franka?” I answered, “Yeah, Franka. I want to be her friend too. Is it possible?” She was frank and outright; “You want to be her friend or you want to chop her? Guys and fair things. You saw a fair lady yesterday and today want to be her friend. She has enough friends. She has a boyfriend too. So no, you can’t be her friend. Am I not enough friend for you?”

That’s Erica for you. If she said anything different, I would have said somebody had stolen her body and was using it for the good of humanity. She doesn’t hold back on her thoughts. She can be unfiltered at times but she doesn’t tell a lie. People don’t like her because of that but to me, it’s one of her best attributes as a woman.

I stopped trying to meet Franka through Erica. I went to her Facebook and sliced into her DM. I said, “Hello Franka, I’ve been seeing you on Erica’s wall. Erica is a very good friend of mine and I’m wondering if we could be friends too.”

A few minutes later, I received a message from Erica with a screenshot of my message. She said, “You see your life? You want to pass behind me and chop her but God is always faithful to her daughters. See how your sins are blinking on my screen. I’m your friend and so what? My friend, get out of her DM.”

My pride was hurt but I didn’t react. I went to Erica’s house after church one Sunday when I realized she didn’t come to church. I told her, “You know me too well to think I mean evil for your friend. I genuinely want to know her and be her friend. Allow me. Even if she has a boyfriend, it wouldn’t hurt for her to know another person.”

She opened up to me that day. She said her friend had been through a lot and didn’t want any more trouble for her. “If I introduce you two and it doesn’t go well, she would always blame me. She’s very soft. All she needs at this point is protection and not a boyfriend. When she suffers I suffer too because my ears never rest. That’s why I’m being protective.”

She asked me to make a promise. A promise to marry her friend in a year. It was the only way she would agree to let me see her friend.

I told her it wasn’t possible. “Anything at all can happen,” I said. “What if she doesn’t like me enough to marry me? I’m not talking about marriage or even a relationship. I’m talking about friendship for a start.”

She smiled at me and nodded mischievously.

A number called a day later and said, “I’m Franka. I’m sorry I sent a screenshot of our conversation to Erica. Forgive me but I wanted to be sure if indeed she knew you. She confirmed and gave your number to me. Here I am to say sorry.”

From apology came friendship. Out of friendship, love blossomed. Before we knew it, we were walking hand in hand on the aisle with Erica by our side as the maid of honour.

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It took us two years of commitment and dedication to get there. It might sound smooth but it wasn’t. We nearly gave up at some point but we had Erica who stood as the mediator between us, helping us through difficult moments and explaining our individual intentions to each other. She knew us too well she understood what we didn’t say from what we said.

We got married in 2018. In 2020 during the COVID, I shared a story a doctor friend of mine shared with me. It was about a patient who gave him COVID and how he recovered in the end. When I posted the story on my status, I added the photo of this doctor friend and wished him well. Erica came to comment, “Even COVID wants handsome men. What a waste it would have been.”

I asked her, “How did you know he’s handsome? He’s wearing a face mask.” She sent laughing emojis, followed by “Have you seen a doctor who is not handsome before? The one who saves lives can’t be ugly no matter who he looks.”

It turned into a conversation and exchange of funny memes and all. She said, “Link me if he’s single.” I responded, “You want to chop him abi? He’s a handsome doctor so you want to use him, right?”

She insulted me and left me on blue tick. I sent a screenshot of our conversation to Bismark, my doctor friend. He replied, “This girl is beautifully crazy. I want to meet her.”

It brought back the memories of the stress Erica made me go through before allowing me to meet Franka. She meant well. I wanted to pay her back in her coin. I asked my doctor friend, “You want to meet her as what? You want to use doctor plus handsomeness to do the do, right? It won’t work.”

He asked for photos and I sent them to him. The best ones. I even added videos. He said, “I love her energy. If she’s who I presume her to be then  we could have a long-term thing.”

I gave his number to Erica. I told her to call him and initiate the moves since she was the first to express interest. She saved the number but never called. Bismark kept asking of her. Erica didn’t call him.

I gave Erica’s number to Bismark and a week later, Bismark sent me photos of their first date. I showed it to Franka and she screamed; “They look good together. I hope something good comes out of it.”

Erica sent her version of the date story to my wife. She was in love and couldn’t wait to have a future with him. We made it a project, me and my wife to ensure the two of them get married. Every Sunday, we invited them to our place to hang out. We went out often as couples. We didn’t meet Erica unless she was coming with Bismark. When they had issues, we were quick to get in to resolve issues.

A year later, Erica got pregnant.

While Bismark was telling me about the pregnancy, Erica was on the phone talking to my wife about the pregnancy. I asked Bismark what he was going to do and he told me he was going to marry her as soon as possible. I asked, “Because of the pregnancy? He answered, “No, we were already talking about it before this happened.” When Franka asked Erica the way forward she said, “He told me to keep it so I’m keeping it. I believe he would do the right thing. I’m waiting.”

They got married when only a few people were allowed to attend a wedding. They had a very small but beautiful wedding that became a talk among our circles. I was worried the pregnancy would show but no one talked about it until they started doing the maths when Erica gave birth. It didn’t matter. They were in a beautiful place and that was all that mattered.

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The friendship continues. We have a circle—a circle of four that looks out for each other. We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries together. We take trips, the four of us. We make a toast for the future of us. We want our children to belong to this circle too, because it’s a good place to be—a place where you find love, support and maintenance from people who care about you.

—Darius

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