The boxing festival came around but it left me one of the best gifts ever. At that particular moment I couldn't come to this conclusion but the future became brighter for me because of this man. Initially I never wanted to think much of it since I had been in similar situations where I got to welcome new friends in my life but they ended up leaving me alone as if I never existed. Many of them never told me why they stopped being my friends but most of them said that I was the boring type. Indeed no one would love to be friends with a man who was still under the protection of his parents and was practically being ordered left and right by his parents about this and that. I treated Medard's advances as the usual advances knowing he'll walk out of my life any time soon just like the others

To be sincere I've never complained about how I was raised since I witnessed how tough it was for my father to come back from the gates of death. However, somewhere across my life I began questioning my values

First, it wasn't bad to be a believer but was it okay to be an extreme believer?

I dedicated my 19 years of life to extreme belief and this costed me a lot

Friends!!

Social life!!

I feel I missed a lot because of a life my parents chose for me instead of a life I gladly would have gladly chose for myself. These ideas had never crossed my mind until on that day.

I practically never saw Medard again since the boxing festival until the night of the new year eve. As usual I spent the whole day in prayer halls and when the night whispered its presence I was all burnt out. 

I slowly rode my bike home with a gloomy face from all the day's hustle and all I thought about was my bed. My bed has always been my best friend and comfort that helped me shy away from all the worries of the world. It was the only place that could accommodate the real me.

As I rode towards our house I saw a figure of a person hovering around our gate as if he was waiting for someone.

The moon was high in the sky and when its light shone on that figure, I immediately came to a stop just a few meters away from him. I never thought that I'd see him again and utmost in front of our gate. I stood there for quite some minutes as I stared straight into those emerald eyes that brought life to my heart. I'm sure you'd think that I'm bragging or something but this dude was so handsome. He had a foreign feel to him making him look elegant and classic. I really want to know more about this man. I really want to know about him. I want..

He interrupted my wild thoughts when he called me by my name 'John' and for the first time I felt my name sounded so beautiful when called. I forgot to mention something and that is; Medard had an accent and him calling my name with that accent made it sound so elegant. My soul almost flew out of its body

It had been more than five years since I last had a friend who looked my age. The only friend I had at the age of 26 was my immediate boss and supervisor at the Botanical Research Facility, Mr. Gary. He was initially my professor at University before hiring me in this facility.

So that night when Medard visited me, I was partly over-whelmed and curious about his visit. He told me that his family had moved in, in the Malindi estate and he had stopped by to say hello. He said he briefly met my mother who told him I wasn't home and that's why he decided to wait outside the gate.

My cheeks grew hot and were almost dripping with blood from being too red. I really didn't know this feeling but it kind of felt so good "Is there something you wanted to ask?" I tried to act calm as I asked.

He moved closer standing in front of my bike as he replied "I just wanted to let you know that I'm around and..." his hands dived into his pockets fishing out a phone then gave it to me "Can I get your number?"

Fireworks that could have probably been seen by the whole world went out all over my head. I was son happy that I didn't waste time and shamelessly typed in my number without any second seconds and even went on to clear my schedule "You can always call me. I'm always available. Anytime...anytime. Just flash and yeah..." 

I stopped talking when I realized how big of a lie I had embroidered. My holiday was ending on the 4th January and to be honest as long as I was at home I was always busy. My parents always made sure that I was occupied. They always said 'a mind that ain't occupied is a temple of the devil'. I then thought about how my parents would be looking for me if I never reported on time for prayers and indeed the moment I thought of that; I jinxed myself

The front gate opened and my dad walked out.

My heart began pounding, feeling the blood rush down from my head to my feet. His tiger eyes glared at me as if he was a tiger eyeing a cub that was misbehaving.

Medard stared right back at my dad and turned to me saying "I'll call you when I need to know about the Malindi estate. My family is new and so I wanted to familiarize with the place" his voice wasn't too loud but was enough for my dad to hear. He winked at me as he turned and left

I just shot him a slight gaze before turning to face my father who only said "Come in"

My back twitched as I walked in after him.