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The beeping sound from my phone woke me up from my sleep, “isn’t it too early
to wake someone up with a text?” I thought as I sat up from my bed and sluggishly picked up my phone
“A message…..” I asked myself,
“From who?” I thought to myself
I opened my phone with a sliding gesture and I felt a shiver run down my spine.
Unknown: Meghan I’ve been kind enough,
I demand the money you owe me now
Or else you’d leave me no choice but to
take this the other way
“Darren, Please I beg you,
You know that I
don’t have the money now
and if I do I would
Have
paid you by now”. I replied
Unknown: I don’t have time to listen To your pleas
Meghan, You have twenty four hours
And your time starts now.
I sighed, “Why did I have to take a loan from you Darren,” I thought as I gently placed my phone back on my side table.
“Now I’ve lost both my sleep and my rest of mind” I said loudly as I bent my head and pinched thebridge of my nose.
“Twenty-four hours to repay thirty thousand dollars” I thought to myself.
“Meghan….Meghan…Meghan” I called out to myself in dismay
“why me!!” I screamed before I began to cry, drops of tears came running down my eyes as I
couldn’t hold it anymore.
“I Wouldn’t have borrowed that money if it wasn’t for momma’s surgery…it would have been better if she survived after the surgery but she didn’t…..ooooh momma why me……” I said
sobbing and choking on my tears.
Darren was supposed to be a friend, I bumped into him the day momma’s kidney surgery was due, I didn’t want to ask him but I had no choice my mother’s life was at stake and she was the only family I had left, he was a rich guy in his late twenties; probably too young to have such riches that all he does is squanders his money on women and alcohol for his peers, He’s been trying to get me since he set his eyes on me and honestly I have no interest for him. I know why he’s putting pressure on me, it must be because he knows I can’t afford to pay him back and
in return he’d ask me to be his.
“I can’t believe he wants to buy me with his money” I thought “I rather jump from
a cliff than sell my dignity for such a cheap price to someone who doesn’t even deserve it” I thought with disgust. I just graduated from college and the job I have right now could barely pay my own bills talk more of paying thirty thousand dollars in twenty-four hours.
“why isn’t life better for me?” I asked myself.
I hadn’t realized a storm was brewing until a thunderclap shattered the evening still, startled I
jumped from my bed and sluggishly strolled to my dressing table where I sat down and picking up my hair brush, I brushed my silky fiery red hair removing imaginary nuts from it, a thunderclap rumbled again startling me as the hairbrush I pulled through my hair knocked my scalp painfully, I laid my brush carefully and went to one of the windows pushing aside the gray curtains I looked out watching as menacing gray clouds had massed in the sky, obliterating
the stars, the thunder rolled again and lightening flashed briefly illuminating the beautiful environment below.
“how do I pay you back, Darren….I know what
you’re capable of…if I refuse I know You’d take me by force” I
thought as I began to cry again.
The sound of Demi Lovato’s – Love me song and the loud vibrating sound from my phone filled the room.
“Who could that be?” I asked myself, without thinking I knew it was Darren calling again, He’d remind me of his money every dying hour that passes and how much time I had left, he loved
to see me helpless and I must admit that right now I’m more helpless than ever.
Moving from the window where I stood I turned to face the Oakwood table placed carefully beside my bed and picking up the call without looking at the screen I answered:
“ I heard you, Darren could you
just please give me a break…please, I beg you…it’s the least thing
you can do!” I shouted
“Meg….who’s Darren and what are you talking about….” . He asked with confusion in his tone
“ooooh no” This isn’t Darren, I made a huge mistake, this is Mark my only Ex, He’s probably
calling to let me know he’s moved on..”Like I need more pain right now” I
breathed out.
"Hello…Meg..
are you still there?” He asked again
“Ohh, Sorry Mark, it was a huge Mistake I
thought you were someone else, so How are you?” I asked,
“what’s wrong Meg… And Don’t think .....of lying to me…Tell me who’s not ..... ...... giving you a break and wait…Darren…..Isn’t that the Rich guy who ....... stays at your street…Is He still.... pestering you? He asked with concern
“it doesn’t matter Mark Now tell me why did you call me?
And make it quick….tell me that you’ve moved on so I can go ahead with my own life mark!!!”i shouted in anger
“What are you talking about Meg…. Are you out of your mind…….why would I................. call you to tell you that I’ve moved ..................on….or does that still matter to you?” he asked me.
Although I felt like I was venting my anger on him but that wasn’t the case, deep down inside
me I knew it….I regret leaving Mark with every inch of me, and yes whether he
moves on still matter to me…it matters to me because I still love him and I
don’t want him to start a new life without me.
“Meg….You’ve zoned out again…answer ........ me….do you still care about me? .......about us” He asked
“I rather not talk about this mark… it doesn’t matter” I said
Suddenly, A crazy yet willing-to-try option for settling Darren entered my head and at this point in time I can do anything to repay Darren without offering him myself. Moreover, If there’s one person I can always confide in its Mark…Apart from the fact that he’s my Ex, but he’s also the only person I have around me I can call a Friend. “Okay…there’s no harm in trying..” I said trying to encourage myself.
“Mark, can I ask you for a favor?” I asked hopefully
“Sure,anything for you Meg” he answered
Can you please lend me thirty thousand dollars i promise to repay you” I said politely
“Sure" there’s no problem with that I can .......... give it to you now but…..on one .......... condition!”He said
“What..!!”I answered feeling anxious
“Right now I’m at your door talking to you, ........... if you could open the door let’s talk face to ........... face. He said
“Mark…you’re really funny..You at my doorstep by this time…stop kidding okay and be serious…now tell me… what’s the condition” I said as I rolled my eyes
But he didn’t reply and the line went dead. I reluctantly walked to the door and clumsily turning
the door knob open with my right hand as I held my phone to my ear with my left
hand. “If I open the door and no one is there… You’ll increase the money your lending me to fifty…. You hear me?” I said loudly but I got no reply.
As the door swung open I gasped in shock as my phone slipped from my hand. I suddenly lost my balance as I felt my leg warble.
There Mark stood drenched in the rain, his clothes stuck to his body, his earth brown eyes
staring at me. “Won’t you let me in “ he asked a still dumbfounded me, “Sure…come in” I
said as I gestured for him to come in and he walked in with water dripping from
his body. “Wait…….” I heard myself say
“What happened” he asked me as I just ran past him into my bathroom and came out with a turquoise colored towel which I handed over to him to dry himself.
“Thanks….but you didn’t tell me you still cared” he said to me in a surprising voice.
“It’s not that….I just don’t want you to wet my home” I lied to him.
“ Your clothes are still in the wardrobe…change so you don’t catch a cold” I found myself telling
him
“I thought you don’t care…why bother if I catch a cold or not if you don’t care” He asked me
even if he knew deep down inside him that I cared, he just wanted me to confess
it to him.
“Fine, Don’t change your clothes….it’ll dry anyways…so what is it you wanted to talk about?” I
asked him
“oh...Yes about that…………… God, you cried Meg why?” he asked me
“Me….cry??? pfft I didn’t cry….. my eyes itched and I put a few drops of Chloramphenicol in them, uhmmm the drops rolled from my eyes and I left them to dry….” I lied to him and
watched as he raised his perfectly trimmed left brow and cocked his head sideways.Whenever mark does that it means he doesn’t believe me.
I was so bothered about getting my loan paid that I forgot the traces of tears I left to dry on
my face.“Okay I cried….What about that” I asked him
“Oh please Meg… cut the crap would you…what Kind of deal do you have with Darren Meg…..What did you collect from him that’s making you behave this way?” he asked me in a calming tone which seemed to have taken part of my problems off my shoulder.
“Well…. When mum’s surgery was due….i didn’t have where to turn to and I couldn’t afford the funds myself….i had no family left…..she was all I had and I couldn’t lose her” I said as I felt my eyes flood with tears.
“Why didn’t you come to me meg, you knew perfectly well that I would help you?” he asked me
“Because….because I thought you wouldn’t want to see me anymore after I accused you of seeing someone else….. even if I was wrong…..i was just too proud to admit it” I confessed to him and let the tears roll freely
“and since I knew Darren had been stalking me lately I approached him and asked for a loan….he didn’t hesitate to hand the money to me because he knew I couldn’t repay it
back and now he threatens me…..that if I don’t pay him back in twenty four hours then I can settle him the other way” I ended my explanation.
“what other way?”he asked me
“well…..he could have me if I couldn’t repay him….he wants to buy me off” I said with disgust in my tone.
“That’s why I asked for your help because I can’t pay him back ” I told him
“But…meg why did you have to go to Darren of all people to borrow… I mean….What on earth were you thinking?......that he was generous…that he wasn’t going to ask back for his money….didn’t your mother warn you about him?” he yelled at me
“I just thought that…that he was a friend and that he didn’t mind helping me” I answered in a
low tone.
“Meg…… Darren is not a friend….someone who lends you money and threatens you later after
knowing how helpless you are isn’t a friend….someone who takes opportunity over
you when your weak isn’t your friend meg” he said
“Does that matter?” I asked him
“Meg…of course it matters to me, you matter to me more than I matter to myself…anything that
could make you cry matters to me……remember that one time then in third grade when Billy the biggest kid in school kept picking up on me and always bullied me you stood up for me, something not everyone would do, but you did for me and I’ll never forget that…….i waited forever for a chance to repay you for what you did for me but you never gave me a chance to” He said.
I felt my heart bleed, he remembered the day I stood up for him…that was like twenty years ago
and he still remembers. Staring up back at him I watched as he used the rim of his shirt to clean his eyes,
“Omg are…… you crying?” I asked him in both surprise and shock
“You don’t know what that day meant to me meg!......I had a lot of people I called my friends
but only you stood up for me, do you know what that meant?” he said staring at
me with his earth brown eyes and I nodded ‘no’,
“It meant that all those times I surrounded myself with people whom I thought were my friends but none of them were, because if they truly were my friends they would have fought
for me the way you did…..” he said and warm droplets of tears left my eyes,
rolling down my cheek and to my chin. That was surely the sweetest thing I’ve
heard my entire life.
“You should know the difference between a friend and a mate Meg…..anyone can be your mate but not anyone can be your friend” he said and I felt those words sink into me.
“Come here” he said gently and pulled me in for a hug which I melted into and I breathed a sigh of relief against his neck, although his clothes were still wet I didn’t care because This was the first time I was hugged in six full solid months and for the first time throughout the night I felt all my nerves relax like I had no problem.
The sound of Demi Lovato’s – Love me filled the room making me break my hug with mark and leaving mark I walked over to where I earlier threw my phone and picking it up I read
the name of the caller. “Darren” I whispered loud enough for mark to hear me and he nodded at me, after making a sliding gesture on my phone screen and I put the phone on speaker mode.
“Meghan….it’s 5am in the morning you still have seventeen hours left but in case you still
can’t make up the cash…you know where to find me” He said and disgust
filled me.
Mark who was now inches away from me collected the phone from my hands and spoke:
“She has the money ready, text her your bank details and she’ll transfer it to you” mark said to the phone.
“and who are you?” Darren asked
“I’m a true friend of Meghan, someone whom she can always rely on,I don’t mind jumping a cliff on her behalf and do you know why……….because that is the true meaning of friendship.
Unlike some people who take advantage of others weaknesses” mark said
Suddenly there wassilence for a moment and I felt my heart skip a beat
“You know what….just tell Meghan not to ........ bother about paying me…..i
don’t need ...... the money anyways” Darren said and disconnected the call.
For a moment I felt as if I was just dreaming and I couldn’t help but scream as I jumped on mark
and engulfed him in a hug. “Ohh mark” I said sniffling
“what would I have done without you?” I asked him and he just laughed
“ meg..” He said with a serious face
“ All you had to do was ask a favor from the right person…..instead of battling this problem all on your own, look wasn’t it your mum who always said ‘a problem shared is a
problem solved’… Darren might be gone for now but that doesn’t mean you won’t meet new Darren’s along your path in life. But you have to know the difference between such people and real friends. A friend doesn’t mind going the extreme for you, a friend is someone you can always rely on, someone who is like food to your soul, someone you know is highly irreplaceable. And when you meet such people, never take them for granted because true friends are the hardest to find but once found you’ll find true happiness..….Meghan Davison…..I love you, I mean I have always loved you from the very first day we met at first grade, and till date I still do. I know I can always rely on you whenever I need anything.” He said and I could hear my heart beating a thousand times faster than it’s normal rate.
“Is he asking me out again……”I asked myself
“Do you mind starting an ‘US’ again?” he asked with hope ridden in his eyes. And taking a deep breath “No.....I don’t mind at all” I answered
“I thought i lost my last family when mum died....but i forgot i still had one family left...you. Sometimes Obstacles come in our ways just to make sure we set things right and make the
right choices…..the sacrifices you made for me today by showing up under this storm to understand what problem I had, by fighting my battle to the end for me, this wasn't just any battle but a battle for my pride as a woman and you won it, and most of all by understanding me, you showed me the true meaning of friendship” I said as he engulfed me in one more heartwarming hug.
“True friends bring true happiness, I’ve found my own happiness” I thought to myself as I couldn’t help but smile in his arms.
Life is short, but with the right people around you, you realize life is worth living. True friends are your family, they encourage you, fight for you and most importantly they love you.
If you are lucky enough to find someone with all these qualities then be joyous because you have found true happiness.
-Echua Emmanuella-
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