SEYI’S POV

My best friend and I couldn’t stop talking about how we were going to set the club on fire while we made our way to the nearest club in our street. “I’m after the girls. I’ve been horny for days now”, I said while imagining how my night with the girls was going to be.

“Oshe baddest! You be baba for the girls na. Your fine boy no dey waste for nothing.” Alex, my best friend hailed.

“Normal na, I no kuku get babe”, I said. “All of em are hoes. No saint anymore. I don’t want to chop breakfast again” I said as I recalled my previous relationship with Tessa. I remembered how I was madly into her only to discover she was cheating on me with a richer guy.

“Me bayii, no time for that gender. I just want to smoke, get high and fellowship with all the angels in Heaven.” Alex said
“Normal. A day without getting high is incomplete”. They both chuckled as they soon got to their place of destination.

Inside the Club …

The club was occupied with interesting non-stop action as ever. As usual, it was filled with people drinking and dancing to the loud banging music. I looked over at the counter and noticed that my best friend was already there ordering for drinks. I sighed and made my way to him. As I walked, I noticed some girls staring and winking at me. “Of course, I’m handsome”, I thought to myself as I finally got to stand beside Alex.
“Don’t tell me you’re changing your mind” He said to me as he gulped a cup of vodka.
“Nah. The night’s still young.” I said as I wondered what I could drink.

“Alright, don’t look for me”

I watched as he left with bottles in his hands and I sighed. Still confused on what to do, I sat down and began watching everyone. My high spirit seemed to be dwindling. I fixed my gaze on the entrance and then my eyes caught someone. She seemed troubled and her dressing, including her hairdo was very rough. She didn’t wear any make-up yet she was weirdly beautiful. I watched as she made her way to my side. Probably her boyfriend broke up with her, I thought as I tried to decipher why she looked that troubled. After ordering for her alcohol, she sat beside me and pulled off her heels.

“Hello miss.” I greeted her…

“Hey”, she said without looking at my side and aggressively gulped her drink.

“You know, I could ease your pain faster than the alcohol”, I said while cursing at my inner guts at how bad I was at flirting.
She finally turned to face me. “I’m going to die anytime soon and this drink in my hand is going to take me home faster. Not you, not anyone”, she said as she smirked.

“Die, how? You shouldn’t be wishing for that”

She looked at me and smirked again. I thought of wiping that smirk off her face with a kiss.

“I’m Seyi by the way”, I said as I stretched out my hands to her for a shake.

***
LOLA’S POV

I looked at his stretched hands and found myself taking it.

“Your name?” he asked as he smiled.
“Lola.”, I replied and frowned at myself for paying attention to him. My intention was to get drunk and helpless. I gulped another cup as I felt the heat of his gaze on me. “Pervert. They’re all the same”, I thought to myself and I made up my mind to ignore him.
“You came alone?” I heard him ask.
I ignored and focused on my drinking. Soon, I was popping open another bottle
“You know, you can talk to me. There might be a solution to what you’re going through”
I faced him and smirked again. “Even God couldn’t do anything”

The shock on his face amused me and I chuckled loudly, the effect of the alcohol already taking place. Minutes after, he still sat beside me, stylishly observing me. I ignored him and recalled the events that took place during the day. I had fainted and was rushed to the hospital. When I woke up, the doctor had told me that my COPD was already out of hand and that I was going to die soon. I had cried and tugged at his clothes but it was all in vain. The doctor had told me that all I needed was a miracle. “Life is worse than death anyways”, I said to myself as I stood up to order another bottle of Smirnoff. I picked up my heels and decided to go to a serene place.

You may also like: LOVE MY FOOT!!!

“Where are you going? Can I come with you?” Seyi asked.

“No. I want to be alone.” I replied and without waiting to see his reaction, I left.

After She Left…

My head banged loudly and I struggled to keep the ray of sunlight from entering my eyes while trying to reach for my alarm clock on the bedside table. Instead of a table, I met an empty space and I fell onto the floor with a loud thud. I winced in pain and fluttered my eyes open. “Where am I?” I thought as the room was very unfamiliar. I stood up quickly and reached for the door, but it was locked. Also, I searched my pocket for my phone and it wasn’t there either. Fear crept through me instantly and the thought of me being kidnapped began to rule my head. I sat back on the bed unsure of what to do until I heard the door unlocking from behind. A familiar figure entered with smile written all over his face.

“You’re finally awake”, he said. “I thought you were going to be out for days”
“Who are you?” I asked impatiently.
“We met last night at the club. Remember?”
“Oh, the club” I thought aloud as the memories of me going to the club and meeting him rushed through. “How did I get here?” I remember entering the club but I don’t remember leaving.”

“You wanted to be alone and you left. Minutes later, I came to look for you and I saw you lying down at the entrance. You had already passed out, so I canceled my plans and brought you to my room”.

I looked at him intensely and I found myself trusting and believing him.

“Thank you”, I muttered. “What about my phone?”

He went to his drawer and fetched my phone for me. I collected it and the time read past two in the afternoon. “Oh my God. I have to go”

“Ok.”, I heard him say quietly.
“Here. Give me your phone number so I can reach out to you later.” I said as I passed my phone to him. He saved his contacts on my phone and after a few inquiries, I dashed out.

***
SEYI’S POV

When she left, I thought of calling my best friend, Alex. Instead, I fetched my spark and an already rolled weed. I lit it and began to drag and puff. “This feels good”, I said and I found myself thinking of Lola. While she was unconscious all night, I couldn’t help myself from staring at the sleeping beauty and caressing her plump cheeks and at that moment, I realized she was meant to be mine and that I’d do anything to get her.
Later in the evening, my phone rang and it was a strange number. I prayed it was Lola as I picked the call. “Hello?”

“Seyi, it is Lola”

“Babe”, I replied happily. “I thought you were never going to call”
“I’ve been busy. Thanks a lot for today.”
“It’s nothing dear. Ugh, I was thinking if we could hang out tonight if it’s fine by you”,
“Okay.”

***
Later that evening we met up, talked about random things, walked hand in hand and from there we became very close. Two days after, we discovered we liked each other and started dating. I told my best friend about us and he was very happy for us. I felt like the luckiest guy in the world and all I wanted to do was to show her off to everyone.

LOLA’S POV – Struck with COPD, a Terminal Disease

If someone had told me a week ago that I’d soon fall in love, I’d have laughed hard at the fellow, but here I was thinking hard of Seyi every now and then. My phone dinged, it was a message from my doctor reminding me of my appointment with him. A reminder that I was infected with a terminal disease (COPD) struck me and my once excited mood got ruined. I thought of telling my boyfriend about it but the other part of me kicked against the idea. “What if he breaks up with me and go for someone else?” I thought aloud. I battled with my mind for about thirty minutes and I decided not to let him know.

Two hours later, I was in the office with Doctor Paul discussing about my health.

“Did you drink or smoke recently?” he asked me.

“Yes. I still drank last night” I replied.
He shook his head, obviously filled with disappointment. “I see you’ve made a deal with death already.”

“It doesn’t scare me.”

“What about your family and friends? What about your loved ones? If you eventually die, it’ll make them depressed.”

“My parents are very worried. They suffocate me with care and worry, that’s why I stopped living with them for the mean time.” I said, and Doctor Paul looked at me as if I was weird. “How long do I have before I die?”

“A month”, he replied as he wrote something into his jotter.

“Can I leave now?”

“Why? Are you off to somewhere?”

“Yes. I’m off to see my boyfriend.”

“Does he know about your COPD?” he asked

“No. We just started dating. I don’t want to ruin this. He might start avoiding me. I mean, who wants to date an unhealthy person?” I said

“You know he’ll find out sooner or later”, he said.

Not knowing what to say, I got up from the chair and headed towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow doc.”

“If you want to enjoy your relationship, ensure you stay away from what is killing you and we both know it’s smoking and drinking,”

“I’ll try my best doc”, I said and left.. From there, I headed to Seyi’s apartment. On getting there, I met him smoking.

Smoking is the Biggest Risk Factor for COPD

“Babe”, he said as he got up to embrace me in his arms. “I wasn’t expecting you today.”
“Why? You’re busy?” I asked and broke the hug to sit on the bed.

“Not that. I’m happy you’re here, babe.” He said and sat beside me and he was soon dragging and puffing the blunt he was smoking.

“I don’t want you to smoke again”. I said out of the blues.

“Why? You told me you were comfortable with me smoking”

“I’ve changed my mind. I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt”

“What if I don’t want to stop? These weeds and cigarettes make me very happy and sharpen my senses”

“I know the feeling!” I snapped. “It’s pleasuring but it kills slowly”

“I have no idea what got into you of recent, but if you are not comfortable with me smoking, you have no choice but to put with it babe.”

“No, there’s a choice” I frowned. “We can just breakup. I can’t put up with something that can kill you”

“Lola, what in the world got into you today? Why are you talking like this?”

“Will you stop smoking or not?”

The room was filled with silence as I waited patiently for him to reply. When I realized that his silence meant that he wouldn’t stop smoking, I picked up my bag and dashed out.

Two weeks after, I didn’t hear from Seyi again. It was saddening that he chose his weeds over me. The reminder of our last conversation rushed through me and I felt heartbroken again. I thought I was already with someone that was ready to give up everything for me but I was wrong. All of a sudden, I started wheezing and coughing. My chest throbbed and my head banged loudly. Everything around me became blur and I fought to keep my eyes open. Finally, I tried to scream but my voice had ceased and before I knew it, everything zoned out and I collapsed.

***
SEYI’S POV – COPD, an Adult Killer

“You don’t need to beat yourself for what happened to her”, the doctor said to me while I couldn’t control the tears flowing out of my eyes. “She knew she was going to die. I don’t know why she didn’t tell you.”

It’s been two days now since the death of my dear Lola. She died from COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) as a result of excessive smoking and drinking. No wonder she tried to stop me from smoking. The night she died, I swore to never smoke or drink again to honor her death. Also, I promised myself to live a life of regret for pushing her away. If I had listened to her, she probably would have shared her plight with me.

I wiped my tears and looked up to face the doctor. “Why couldn’t you save her?”
“I’m not God.” He replied. “There’s no cure  for COPD either. I tried all my best to save her”
I didn’t know what to say again as I continued to stare at the doctor. The doctor in turn stared at me and he seemed to try to read my thoughts.

Writer: Iwayemi Iyanuoluwapo Olubunmi
Ekiti State University, ADO-EKITI, Nigeria

She’s also known as Star Writer. A passionate writer who creates her universe with just ink and pages. The stars in turn blesses her always with stories of old and myths the world doesn’t know about. She loves reading, music, researching and science.