The Garden

Sitting in the heart of the most affluent area in the bustling city of Lagos is a stunning urban green space which in the month of December becomes the heart of special events for three very different people. The Garden - when you walk in you are greeted with a neon metal archway which carves out the path to a clearing covered in grass, the trees in the clearing are so tall with countless fairy lights draped all over them, the seats are the most vibrant colours with wooden structures built to enclose them perfectly and space for blankets for the most perfect picnics. Beyond the clearing is a greenhouse stocked with plants of various types and velvet couches to relax in, a stunning fountain made up of a round hedge with rocks around it and a gift shop painted in bright pastel pink, lined by flowers and vines while the outdoor seating for the gift shop has umbrellas of numerous colours suspended in the sky above the seating. It almost feels like being in a fairy dream, it might be the feel of the fairy lights or the bright colours or even the gift of having so much greenery in a city that’s plagued with pollution. 

One of those massive trees, coated in fairy lights was the witness to three of the sweetest examples of the human experience.

To say Efe was nervous would be the understatement of the century. As she sat in the back of her car and waited for Wale to text her that he was here. She was running countless worst-case scenarios in her mind; what if he doesn’t show up? What if he shows up and it’s so awkward? What if their incredible conversation was just a one-off? She tried to prepare herself for everything that could possibly happen but she knew that she’d failed because at this moment she didn’t feel the least bit prepared. This was why she tried to avoid romance at all costs, she was a factual person who loved a clear correlation between the cause and the result. She especially hated any situation where the outcome was entirely out of her hands and left up to some romance gods dictating who gets to like who and who gets left all alone in love with someone who doesn’t even know she exists. Alright, maybe she was being a bit dramatic but rightfully so, so much could go wrong today. She began to wonder why she let Amina talk her into this mindless endeavour. As she was about to text Amina a furious message asking her why she let her go through with this, her phone lit up with a text:

‘I’m here, where are you?’ And her heart instantly skipped a beat.

She replied that she was coming out of her car and he said he’d meet her at the gate. It felt like her heart was going a mile a minute and she worked really hard to calm herself down but it did not seem to be working. When she got to the gate, there he was. Gorgeous as ever and greeted her with a smile once his eyes met hers. Well, so much for being one for the facts because all rhyme and reason left her at that moment and was replaced with this giddy feeling that she could only think of as butterflies even though to her, the concept of butterflies were ridiculous and she assumed that it must just be indigestion and those who had experienced it must have all been confused. But right now, looking at him she hated to say her argument has been proved false.

“Hello” He said and pulled her in for a hug. She wasn’t much of a hugger but she was very happy to give in to his embrace at that moment. He smelt like sweets which was so weird because she thought sweet scents were supposed to be feminine.

“Hi” She said as she pulled out from the hug.

“I hope you weren’t worried that I wouldn’t show up, unfortunately punctuality isn’t my strong suit”

“I definitely wasn’t worried,” She lied.

“I somehow find that hard to believe, you didn’t strike me as the type to be late ever” She wondered how he did that, saw her personality for what it was and made observations free of judgement.

They walked in through the archway and Efe looked around and was in awe of the environment.

“Wow” She breathed out.

“I know, it’s so pretty. When my mum told me about it I was like I have to come here”

They settled in the seats under this massive tree and Efe almost felt like she was in a movie. The conversation was a bit shaky at first, Efe couldn’t really get out of her head and was unintentionally giving rather curt replies to Wale’s several probing questions. He didn't stop trying to engage her though and eventually she fell into a ease with him just like she did when they met a week ago. Efe was very reluctantly dragged to a games night at one of her only two friend’s houses and was attempting to keep to herself like she usually did but her competitive nature won out and she found herself almost violently participating in all the games. Amina and Tola always brought out the parts of her that she didn’t want to shine to the outside world. While she got her drink in the kitchen once they had taken a break from charades Wale walked in and just started speaking to her. The whole experience was very strange to her, she wasn’t often singled out to be spoken to in such a comfortable manner because she was frequently called ‘intimidating’ but here he was being spoken to by a man she actually found attractive. He was talking about the game and how she was an asset to their team and asking her how she got some of the most obscure answers, she wasn’t exactly responsive but he almost carried the conversation for both of them until they fell into an ease and she found herself speaking more than she did with anyone. And that was exactly what was happening now, on this sort-of date that she was unsure how she agreed to. She found herself telling him details about herself that she usually didn’t tell people she’d had just one encounter with and even occasionally asking him questions and being genuinely interested in his life and things he had to say, which she often forgot to do with people, her friends almost always reminded her to ask about them and their days. She couldn’t help but wonder what would result from this connection, if it would actually amount to anything or just be a fond memory of a fun date but she didn’t feel as worried. She was almost excited at the countless possibilities. How terribly out of character.

Kelechi had missed his sisters. That was not news to him. 4 years away from your family would do that to you, when he remembers how excited he was to leave Lagos finally and go to school in a different country where he would be open to so many experiences, he almost laughs at the eagerness of his younger self. Not to say he was wrong by any means, but not enough people told him about how lonely it could be or how not having a support system of people who truly love you unconditionally could take its toll or about how seasonal depression is real or and can be all-consuming or how he couldn’t complain about any of it because his parents had given up so much for him to leave in the first place. But here he was, home for the first time in the longest time having a picnic with his favourite girls in the world and he couldn’t help but be overwhelmed, for so long he dreamed of this comfort and ease. Sometimes it was hard to get out of his head and be grateful for what was going on around him but not in this moment, he knew to be more than grateful for where he is. 

“What are you thinking of there?” Ifeoma asked, nosy as ever.

“The day you mind your business, hell might just freeze over” Ifunanya teased.

He looked around at the luscious scenery and up at the huge tree that had the shade which protected them a little bit from the sweltering Lagos heat which he could really appreciate in this moment after being in a place that was in the negatives for most of the year.

“Anyways as I was saying, Kelechi listen! I was obviously elected to be a part of the SRC and then we had to plan the Christmas party and it was definitely the most stressful thing I have ever had to do like I was so overwhelmed” Ifeoma said, and Kelechi had to really rack his brain to try and remember what on earth she was talking about.

“How can you say planning a party is the most stressful thing you’ve had to do?” Ifunanya said and laughed, “what type of life are you living?” She added.

And Ifeoma, ever ready to back herself, said “an eventful one clearly.”

“But Kelechi, won’t you gist us about what you’ve been up to, tell us some special stories? how can we go out together, just the three of us for the first time in years and you’re just letting us ramble on and on about mundane things we’ve been doing that we’ve told you about over the phone a million times” Ifunanya asked, and he wondered where he would start from. Which story he could think up that wasn’t somehow clouded by the way he was struggling most of the time.

“I obviously like hearing your stories, if not would I be sitting here listening?” he asked them.

“Yes you would, always trying to spare our feelings like we’re still babies” Ifeoma said.

“You’re kind of still babies in my mind, I feel like my image of you two has just been suspended for 4 years”

“If you think I’m still the same person I was 4 years ago you’re in for a shock” Ifeoma added, and they all laughed.

“I’m definitely not either” He said with an unintended shadow of darkness seeping into his voice. He hoped his sisters didn’t notice but from the look in their eyes he knew they could hear all the things he wasn’t saying.

“You know you don’t have to be so strong for us all the time” Ifunanya said and looked at him intently.

“I feel like you’re always carrying so much and trying to shelter us from it, maybe it’s the plague of being the first child or because you think boys need to be strong or you think we won’t understand because Ifeoma is still in secondary school and I literally just started university. But, you can talk to us and complain to us and tell us it's hard or you’re tired or you don’t know how you’re going to go on, and we can just listen, love you and be here. You forget that you’re not in this alone and you have built in life partners who are more than willing to be a sounding board for you” She said and held his hand. Ifeoma came and snuggled close to him and he didn’t know when he started to cry, which was so unlike him, he never really let himself cry and really feel his emotions, he just tried to push them down. But in that moment, with his favourite people it felt really easy to let go and just cry. His sisters didn’t say anything, they were just there and they loved him, which was all he’d wanted for so long and was more than enough.

It had been such a long day. Remi thought getting out of her house and having a change of scenery might help her gain some inspiration and push her out of this writer’s block that she really couldn’t see a way out of. So after hour long research on aesthetically pleasing places in Lagos that weren’t restaurants she came across The Garden, and it seemed to be exactly what she needed - gorgeous, quiet and open late. She was also a very devoted plant mom so the idea of picking up something new for her room was very appealing to her. She made sure she took her laptop as well because people watching often provided the inspiration she desperately needed.

When she looked around at the picnic area there were two girls and a book under a tree in the spot that she had her eye on when she saw the pictures on the website but they looked like they were packing up so she decided to go into the greenhouse to pick up a new plant in the hopes that by the time she came out they would be gone. Remi thought the greenhouse like every part of this place was stunning, she looked at the many options for plants she could get and after quite a long period of stewing and indecision she decided a baby cactus was what she was feeling. She walked back out towards the clearing and her eye caught the adorable little fountain and she stopped and stared at it in the hopes that some sort of poem would come to the front of her mind. Maybe something about the flow of the water? Or the importance of greenery? But nothing came of it and she couldn’t help but feel dejected. 

She made her way to the seat she had her eye on, happy to see the family had left and she met another girl there. She thought briefly of just getting another seat but the girl looked kind enough, she was so sure that she might switch seats for her if she asked. 

“Hi, sorry to bother you but I would really appreciate it if you could move seats because I’ve had my eye on that seat and it could really help me out” Remi asked. The girl looked like she thought about it for a second.

“Yeah that would be a bit of an inconvenience as I’ve already settled” She motioned to her open laptop and her coffee that she’d set on the floor. Remi fought the urge to roll her eyes.

“I could help you move your things, I just really need this seat” The girl looked like she was thinking about it again.

“Why?”

“Excuse me?”

“Why do you need the seat? Maybe if your case is good enough, I’ll move for you” Remi was visibly exasperated at this point but she thought about how the ambience of the seat was perfect and decided to tell this stranger her story. She told her how she left school to be a poet and her parents thoroughly disapproved so she had to move out and squat in a friend’s spare room, she told her how she hadn’t be able to write anything for months and she would jump off of third mainland bridge if it meant she could write even one poem again and she told her how she felt like a change of scenery could make all the difference and how the seat being right under the tree with a clear view of the sunset might stir up something in her, and the girl just listened. She didn’t interrupt or even react so Remi felt more crazy the more she talked, her mother’s voice even rang in her mind about how this stranger could just use her information and curse her or something but desperate times won out.

“Hmm” the girl said at the end of Remi’s schpiel. Remi just stared incredulously, wondering if there was any way the girl could be serious.

“I’ll let you sit here, but only if you let me read some of your poems. If you have any that is, seeing as you have writer’s block and all” Remi thought about how there was like a 95% chance this girl could be some kind of sociopath but she could use fresh eyes on some of her older work. 

“Sure, why not?” Remi answered and the girl moved her laptop and coffee then sat beside her on the grass. 

“My name is Dara by the way” The girl, well Dara said as Remi looked on her laptop for the poems she would show her.

“Alright, here’s one” Remis showed her ‘Blooming’ her favourite poem she had written in the last year and watched Dara intently as she read.

To Remi’s surprise Dara gave her interesting and enlightening feedback like she actually knew what she was talking about so Remi showed her another, then another, then another and before she knew it she was reviewing all of her recent work with this girl who she found out was doing her master’s degree in English and actually from an academic standpoint knew what she was talking about. Remi took Dara’s comments on, and even wrote some stuff down. 

She came in search of inspiration from the earth and here she was getting valuable insight from a stranger, a stranger she might actually like. Before she knew it, they were talking about their favourite poets and styles and what got them to fall in love with poetry. It was one of the most stimulating conversations Remi had experienced in ages. When they eventually had to say goodbye, she left The Garden way more enlightened than she had anticipated as well as with Dara’s contact details, so it wasn’t just a new poem on the horizon, perhaps a new friend who loved what she lived for as well.