BACKLASH

Although Prisca was inactive on social media, she couldn't help but notice messages swarming into her DM. She ignored them at first, thinking it was one of those people who just wanted to mock her.

The messages kept on coming, every morning, some afternoons, and every night, before she goes to bed.

She read the messages one day and she burst into happy tears. The messages were heart-warming, but her sadness was too strong to force a smile on her face.

Diri constantly reminded her of his love for her person and her music. He would sometimes send her some of her songs he listens to whenever he feels sad or depressed. He kept telling her that he loved her and was waiting to hear from her.

Prisca was very amazed even though her face didn't show it. It felt nice that someone still cared about her despite the shit she was going through.

Nevertheless, guilt and grief had a strong hold on her soft and feeble heart. A kind and sympathetic message didn't make much of a difference. It didn't get her fan base back, it didn't re-unite her with her family, everything was still as it was.

She gave Diri a short reply, tossed her phone on the bed and laid her head on her pillow brooding.

****

Jeffery's words about getting a physical girlfriend lived rent free in Diri's head. Loneliness was dealing with him, feeding on his mind and making him look weak and vulnerable.

Diri had had a handful of romantic encounters, but there was one that still made him somber, that was with Tasha.

Now here's a backstory of their sweet yet tragic romance:

Diri and Tasha were close friends in college. They eventually ended up in the same University, studying different courses.

To Diri, Tasha was more than a friend. He had always loved her since they were both in college, but his shyness made him keep his feelings to himself.

As days passed, his feelings for Tasha grew stronger and he prayed that some kind of miracle would happen. And Yes! It did.

Diri was accosted on the way to his apartment and was looted of his mobile phone, laptop, and some money he had with him. He went to Tasha's hostel and told her his plight. She comforted him dearly and promised to get him a new phone and a new laptop.

Diri thanked her profusely, telling her how sweet she was. Tasha reminded him of the several times he would give her his lunch so she wouldn't go hungry.

This led to discussions of College experiences, and there, like magic, Diri told her what had been lurking in his heart for years. The atmosphere was very much heated when Tasha said she felt the same too.

There, seated on a bench in the cool of the evening, the love-stunned duo locked lips. Diri could vividly remember the look in her eyes when he told her he loved her.

From that day on, they both had a thing. Their love and obsession with each other was indescribable.

They both graduated from the university and served in different states, but yet their love lamp stayed lit. Its flame never seemed to fizzle.

Things started becoming ugly when Tasha got involved with some she-demons she called 'her new friends'. Diri never liked them and they never liked him either.

A while later, Tasha's change in character became very obvious. She complained at the slightest thing and started up quarrels.

She would leave the house most times and come back very late, most times she never came back at all.

It didn't take long before she broke ties with Diri, labeling him as an 'incompetent man and a never-do-well'. Diri was in a deep state of depression. He wasn't himself for months. It got so bad that he fell sick at a point.

He managed to get better, but his heart still ached. He summoned the courage to move on, considering the fact that Tasha was far gone and less concerned about him. He had two more relationships but they didn't work out.

Diri felt he needed a break from love, so he gave himself a very long one, till he could find a person fit to fill the void Tasha left in his heart.

Whatever he felt for Prisca was magical and was attributed to her personality and her music. He missed that feeling of being loved but he found it in Prisca's songs.

****

Diri woke up one morning, rubbing his eyes with his hands as he got up from his bed. He said his morning prayers and headed to the bathroom to wash up.

As soon as he was done, he went downstairs to the kitchen to make breakfast. He had barely gotten into the kitchen when he heard clinking sounds.

He walked in and saw a lady making tea on the counter. "Good morning," he greeted.

"Good morning," she replied, still making her tea, "I hope you don't mind that I am using your kitchen?"

Just as Diri was about to answer, the lady turned and looked at him. Diri took a few steps back, his heartbeats were so loud and fast that one could hear them on the way to the kitchen.

The lady had a thorough stare and gasped, dropping her teacup and shattering it into small bits.

"Tasha!" Diri called, staring ambivalently.

Jeffery walked into the kitchen, looked down at the broken teacup, and asked, "Are you hurt?"

Tasha ignored the question and asked, "Where do you know him from?", pointing to Diri.

"What? He's my guy, is there a problem?" Jeffery asked. Tasha walked out of the kitchen, giving no reply.

Jeffery turned to Diri who was still caught in a frenzy and asked, "What went down between you two? Was she rude? Did you tell her anything?"

"That was Tasha," Diri answered, his eyes red with fear.

"I know her name is Tasha. What happened between you two?", Jeffery asked further.

"She's Tasha! My Tasha!" Diri answered.

Jeffery's eyes shone with surprise and utter shock. Diri walked out of the kitchen and Jeffery followed behind him.

"This could be some kind of misunderstanding, are you sure she is the one?" Jeffery asked again, still confused.

"She is," Diri answered, rubbing his head with his hand.

He bit his fist as he began to process what Diri said to him. How could this be? He asked himself.

He followed Diri to the balcony and said, "Look, am sorry man. I know how bad you feel. If it were me, I wouldn't like my day to start like this. I had no idea at all. You've only spoken about her but you never showed us pictures. If I knew she was the one, I could have passed."

"Couldn't you just stay a day without muff diving? Your misdeed has cost me my morning sanity," Diri answered, sighing softly.

"I am very sorry, it's just that I brought the wrong girl. She was at the party I went to last night, she dresses so hot and sexy that I just wanted to hit…" Jeffery stopped when Diri gave him a cold stare.

"Alright, I'm sorry," he continued, realizing he had said too much, "Let me go talk to her."

"Don't bother, you will just make matters worse," Diri said.

Jeffery paid no attention to Diri and walked briskly to his room.

****

About an hour later, Diri knocked on the door of Jeffery's room. He walked in when he heard "Come in" from Tasha. His heart pounded rapidly as he made slow steps. Though he was still deep in that state of ambivalence, he summoned courage and sat down on the bed.

Tasha, who was busy with her mascara, smiled broadly and said, "We meet again. Quite unfortunate."

"I guess. How have you been?" He asked

"Well", she answered, staring at herself in the vanity's mirror, "I have been doing well for myself. I'm alive, rich and I have my own apartment."

Diri bowed his head and bit his lips, Same old Tasha, he said to himself.

"How about you? I suppose you have a woman in your life now?" Tasha asked.

"No, I don't," Diri answered quickly,

Tasha laughed loudly and asked, "Are you serious? I heard you had a thing with some girl like that. Was that true?"

"Yes, but we didn't work out," Diri answered with his hands clenched together.

"Poor girl, poor girl," Tasha said, combing her hair.

"You and Jeffery," Diri said as he cleared his throat, "do you both…"

"No, not at all," Tasha cut in sharply, "This is just a one-time thing, saw him at a party yesterday and lucky for him, I needed a good fucking and he was just the perfect person. Your friend is not interested in love, you should know that."

Diri gulped hard, rubbed his palm over his face, and asked, "So you won't see him again?"

"No," She answered, "Even if we meet again, I won't come here again, now that I know you stay with him. We'll go fuck somewhere else."

Tears were at the brim of Diri's eyes. He remembered how principled and decent Tasha was, now she had thrown all that out the window and wants to get in bed with every man in Lagos.

After a brief moment of silence, he said, "It was hard for me to move on. I got sick after you left. I felt like I lost a huge part of myself like some of my body parts had been taken away. Most nights, I just remember how sweet we used to be, so I can smile and feel less lonely."

"You were a very principled woman. I know that the power of your social circle has had its toll on you, but I want you to know that I can give anything to get you back. I still love you…"

Just as he was about to finish, Tasha chuckled and said, "Well, it's sad to know you can't have me because you have nothing to give."

"Why do you hate me this much?" Diri asked, tears cascading down his cheeks.

Tasha turned towards him and said, "I don't hate you at all Diri. You are a good guy and I respect you for that. You have good dreams and visions of which I sought to make my own, but they ended up being too bleak for me."

"I needed a much more comfortable life so I switched lanes. Work on yourself Diri, add colour to your life, and stop crying over spilled milk."

She dug her hand into her purse and brought out a large bundle of cash.

"Here's seventy thousand naira," Tasha said, handing it to him, "Use it to have fun this weekend. Go have some shots and possibly get laid. You need it."

She got up from the chair she sat on, pecked Diri on the cheek, and walked out of the room.

****

It was 7:50 pm. Diri sat on the balcony, staring at the night sky. He couldn't stop thinking of what happened that day, he kept wondering why Tasha chose to behave that way.

He jerked back to reality as Jeffery walked into the room with two glass cups and a bottle of red wine.

"Nothing makes an evening cooler than red wine," he said, giving a glass to Diri, "Consider this a peace offering."

Diri smiled and turned away, holding up his cup for Jeffery to pour some red wine into it.

"You took her home?" Diri asked,

"Yes, she asked me to. She told me about your husky chat. The lady is a bitch," He answered.

"Look man, I'm sorry. Didn't know she was your girl. If I knew she was the one, I wouldn't have brought her to the house," Jeffery continued.

"It's okay, it wasn't your fault at all," Diri said, sipping from his cup.

"She told me some things, although she asked me not to tell you, I feel you should know, so you'll get over this feeling," Jeffery said, adjusting to the edge of the chair.

"Okay?" Diri said, sitting up with keen interest.

"She told me about your relationship with her, how special you were, and how you used to treat her. She also mentioned that she still has a thing for you deep down but she wants to challenge you to be the best version of yourself."

Jeffery continued, "All the hurtful things she says to you are purely intended, to hurt you and spur you to action. She said she cried when she saw you crying. Diri, she said she still loves you, but she doesn't want love now. She wants money, lots of them. What a bitch!"

They both started laughing, "She did say she wants you to move on and be happy, and you should also let go of old memories and make new ones. I saw sense in those words and I think you should take that advice," Jeffery said, sipping from his glass.

Diri smiled and nodded, "Cheers to happiness," he said, holding up his cup.

"Cheers! To a happy life and more bitches," Jeffery said, clinking his glass cup with Diri's.

The two men laughed loudly and drank more wine.