Tongue tied – Part I
First time I fell in love with her was in class 3, end of term. It was ‘Our day’, and our teachers decided to organize something nice for us. They told us we’ll be having a play(drama) and cultural dance. They told us to bring beads and any traditional cloth we had. I got some Kente and beads from my mother. It was really beautiful. So I took what I had to school. The other kids brought theirs too.
Our teachers went round to inspect what everyone had. Then I was called out, along with Talata Adwoa Konadu. The most beautiful girl in our class. In class, she sits two seats in front of me, and I could stare at her all day, and she was smart too. She had this beautiful voice that could make snow fall in Ghana. But the sad truth is, even though we were in the same class, we hardly spoke to each other, I was a very shy kid. Tongue tied.
The rest of the kids were grouped, some were traditional dancers, the chief’s elders, the chief’s guards, a linguist and some extras. The play was simple, the chief with his queen, elders, a linguist, guards and dancers. And I was picked to play the chief, all I had to do was to look kingly, smile, and wave with my queen next to me. So I was dressed like a chief, in my kente and beads, with a crown to match. Then Talata was brought out, everyone was dead silent when she walked in smiling, dammmn!! She was looking like an angel.
I was the happiest boy that day, cos I knew she was my queen, and she’ll be sitting next to me. The play was going on well, until one teacher came over and whispered something in our ears, she said, “you kids should talk to each other, say something to his ears sometimes and be smiling to each other, so that people will know it’s real okay, don’t forget to smile oh, and you Cle, be waving your hands, okay”.
It was hard at first, cause I was super shy!! But I gathered courage and whispered something in her ears, I said, “you looking beautiful”, she smiled and said, “thank you”. About 5 minutes later she also whispered something in my ears, “you looking handsome”, that was when I realized I was in love with her.
A picture of us was taken and we both got a copy. When I got home I gave mine to my mum to frame it up for me, so I could hang it in my room. One time I was playing in front of my house when I saw Talata pointing at me to her mother, I thought I had done something wrong so I run inside my house. The next day when I went to school, I asked her why she was pointing at me, she said, “when I took my picture home my mother asked me who was the boy I took the picture with, so yesterday when I saw you outside, I was pointing at you to my mother, that’s all”. I was relieved!
In class 6, her parents moved from my hood to another place, so I only saw her when she comes on holidays at her grandmother’s place. She had grown into a pretty young girl, and I always admired her from afar. It’s been a while I saw her, and it was always difficult to talk to her, I was scared and shy, I wasn’t sure how she’d react, so I always stood afar to admire her, daydreaming. I never got to talk to her.
I had passed my BECE, my results were really good. And I got my first choice school. I was all excited, I was leaving home for school, and I had heard how secondary school boarding was fun, so I couldn’t wait to go. I had gotten everything for school, and dad was packing everything in his car. I went to say bye to mum, before leaving the house. Just when I left the house, right in front of my house, I saw Talata walking by, I was startled! She saw me, waved at me, I waved back, then she started walking in my direction, my heart started pounding very fast.
I didn’t know what to do, I wanted to run back into the house, but I stood firm, as she came close she said, “hey”, and I replied, “hey”, then she said, “You leaving for school”, and I replied, “yes”, “which school?”, she said, “Wesley Grammar School”, “oh really, I heard it’s a nice school”, she said, then I asked, “how about you? you not going?”, “I am, I only came by to say goodbye to my grandmother, she asked me to come over for something before leaving”, then I said, “oh cool, so which school?”, “Aburi girls”, she said, then I said, “that’s a good school”, she said, “yep”…then she said, “Good luck, I guess I’ll see you around during vacations”, and I replied, “yeah yeah, take care”…The way I was happy eehhhh
I couldn’t stop thinking about her, I snubbed numerous girls for her, I told them my heart belongs to another girl. I wanted to see her, I had so much to say to her, but I didn’t know what to do. Then I got an idea. I decided to write her a love letter, I took a week to select the words for this letter, so that she’ll love it. I took out a piece of paper and started writing:
Dear Talata, I love you…Oh, no! Don’t laugh! It’s not funny. It is the seven colours of the rainbow: red, gold, green, blue…… that have given me the opportunity to pen you this missive letter. The brightness of the sun has given me the warmth to jot down these words …. How are you and your family? By the grace of God, I love you…
You are the only sardine in my chop box, the only mosquito in my net, the sugar in my tea…You are the dot in my “i”. I love you 99%; just add 1% to make it 100…. I love you like harmattan pawpaw… By the grace of God hope you love me too. I need to pen-off here with much greetings….Greet your family for me. And as for penning-off, freshly Ghanaian, your Madina boy. I can’t wait to see you this vacation.
your lover,
Guess Who?
(your class 3 chief)
I was really proud of myself, I knew she’ll love the letter, so I sprayed the letter with a perfume before posting it. I felt very elated!
First term was over, we were given 2 weeks vacation, and I just couldn’t wait to see Talata. I knew by now she had received my letter, read it and have fallen for me. During my two weeks at home, I played outside my house, hoping to see her, since she told me she’ll be coming over to her grandmother’s place for the vacation.
It’s been a week now, and I still haven’t seen her, I was becoming worried, cause I’d be resuming school very soon. But I never lost hope, cause I knew she’ll by all means come around to say goodbye to her grandmother like she did the other time. Time really flies, two days till I go back to school, and still no sign of her, my heart was slowly crumbling, but I told myself I still had 1 more day, and I’m sure she’ll show up!
It was time to go back to school, but before I left I deliberately went to spy at her house just to check if she was back and I wasn’t aware of it. I went over to her place, pretended I was walking by, but sneaked over to spy over her wall, the house was very quiet, seemed no one was around, until I saw her grandmother sleeping peacefully on her porch. I waited out for like 15 minutes, hoping Talata would just walk out. But no one came out. I was heart-broken. I had this feeling she didn’t like my letter, and to that effect refused to come over to her grandmother’s place, to avoid bumping into me. With a broken heart, I went back to school.
Second term vacation soon came, I came home, but still no sign of her. I spent 3 weeks at home before going back to school, and still no sign of her. I went back to school. Third term, end of year one vacation, I had this weird feeling I was going to see her. Our Vacation break was one month. I spent one whole month playing in front of my house, hoping to see Talata just one more time! But she never showed up!
The truth is, I had spent a whole academic year thinking about a girl, and it had affected my studies, my grades were very poor, so I told myself, I’ll make it up for second year, and I did. I started studying hard. I was doing all my class assignments, homework, revising my notes and doing all class activities. By the end of first term, year two, I was top of my class. All my hard work paid off!
My parents were really proud of me, so I decided to keep on with the hard work. Our vacation break was only a week, so I intended to have a little fun by playing football with my friends at a park in my neighbourhood. I was really enjoying myself until I heard a familiar voice calling out my name from a distance, “Cle, Cle, Cle”, then I turned back, it was Talata! She was holding a paper, I had this feeling the paper was my letter, she was walking towards me.
I freaked out!!! She wasn’t smiling at me, she had this weird look on, I could only think of the worst, I knew she was going to cause a scene, and my friends were present, I had only one option, I started running towards home!!!
Part 2 drops soon…..
