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The Whistleblower.
They say, 'The ones closest to you are the ones who hurt you the most.' I learned this the hard way.
When I was 17, I was involved in a car accident. Although I got out of that accident alive, I didn't go unscathed. I had hit my head during the crash, which resulted in brain trauma. My village people were solidly against me because it didn't just end there. Due to the severity of the trauma, I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
I was a smart, beautiful, charismatic young lady, but I was epileptic. As I went on into the dating world, I made sure to keep that one flaw a secret until I was certain the guy was someone who loved me a lot and would willingly turn a blind eye to my flaw. So I developed what I termed the 'three-month rule.' Actually, my twin brother Tolu came up with the term. The rule was simple; I was to divulge the secret to whoever I was dating only after three months.
This seemed like the perfect plan until I was served my first breakfast, then the second, and before I knew it, I had been served five good times. Coincidentally, my boyfriends just happened to break up with me all on the same day and in a similar pattern. It always happened on our third-month anniversary, right before our date. They all lamented about the fact that I had hidden a huge part of my life away from them by concealing the fact that I was epileptic.
The thing every smart person knows is that if it happens more than twice, then it cannot be defined as a coincidence anymore. After the fifth breakup, which was humiliating ( the guy had called me a scammer who was trying to trap him into marriage), I was pissed. I was sure of two things, there was a whistleblower, and I was going to catch him or her. So I got out my spreadsheet and wrote a list of the people who knew of my secret and then crossed out my family members and those who didn't know of the 'three months rule.' I had three names, and each of them had at least a motive as to why they would want to ruin my life.
First on the list was Kemi, and she was at the top of my list of suspects. For as long as I could remember, Kemi and I had a cold rivalry going on. At first, we only struggled to surpass each other in exams before it evolved into something a lot more toxic. We strived to be the best dressed at any mutual event and tried to score the best guys. It was tiring, but Kemi always claimed that it was a great strategy to motivate ourselves to do better. So yes, Kemi was a suspect.
Next on the list was my best friend, Doyin. You might think me a terrible person for not trusting someone I called my best friend, but I knew Doyin and just how far her jealousy could push her. Once, she had almost drowned a classmate because she had gotten asked to prom by a guy Doyin had a crush on. Doyin was never lucky in relationships. In fact, I have good reason to believe that Doyin was and is still suffering from a curse.
She had, on multiple occasions, relayed to me just how much she envied me and wished she had half of my luck. She knew my secret and also knew of my 'three-month rule.' So yes, Doyin was a suspect.
The final person on my list was Daniella, who was nicknamed 'Holy Mary' because she was a stunt believer in the gospel. She recited the Ten Commandments verses of the Bible whenever one of us did something wrong. If I could get a penny for the number of times Daniella softly whispered, "A relationship built on lies, half-trusts, or omitted truths never ends well" into my ears, I'd be well on my way to becoming a billionaire by now.
I couldn't confront any of them on these bases, so I made a scheme to find out who my whistleblower was. I hired a handsome gentleman named Daniel to pose as my boyfriend. The plan was to switch things up a bit. I informed my friend of my plan to disclose my secret to my new boyfriend on our second-month anniversary, which was a bit earlier than I did with the previous 'three-month plan'. This way, I was sure only these three were aware of my change in plans.
As usual, they were supportive of my decision even though Dani, our resident 'Holy Mary,' kept whispering her prejudices into my ears. Kemi was nonchalant, and I could feel Doyin's envious glares trailing my every move. My fake boyfriend was to gather information and relay it to me. I wasn't surprised that all three of my friends warmed up to him pretty easily; he was a great actor, even though I got lost in our act sometimes. He was that convincing.
When D-day finally arrived, I invited all three of my friends to help me prepare. Kemi complained about how I wasn't a five-year-old who needed help getting dressed, but she came; all of them were present, including my twin brother and my maternal aunt Shola who always loved to pop in for a visit without prior notice. Daniel called that night; a few minutes before our date, like all my previous boyfriends, my eyes flew to deep brown eyes that stared right back at me as Daniel droned on and on, but I had stopped listening after the first sentence.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as we stared at each other, and for the first time, I could see something akin to hate swirling in his eyes. " Why Tola, why?" He released a breath of relief, like he was glad that he didn't have to pretend anymore. "That's the exact question that has plagued my mind all these years, Tolu; why? Why did God choose to let you survive instead of your parents? You caused the crash, and yet you walk around with a chip on your shoulder as though you are better than the rest of us. I only wanted you to feel a little bit as miserable as I've felt all these years."Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that my flesh and blood would be the cause of my misery, but it is just as it is written in Mattew 10:36. "A man's enemy will be the members of his own household."
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They say, 'The ones closest to you are the ones who hurt you the most.' I learned this the hard way.
When I was 17, I was involved in a car accident. Although I got out of that accident alive, I didn't go unscathed. I had hit my head during the crash, which resulted in brain trauma. My village people were solidly against me because it didn't just end there. Due to the severity of the trauma, I was diagnosed with epilepsy.
I was a smart, beautiful, charismatic young lady, but I was epileptic. As I went on into the dating world, I made sure to keep that one flaw a secret until I was certain the guy was someone who loved me a lot and would willingly turn a blind eye to my flaw. So I developed what I termed the 'three-month rule.' Actually, my twin brother Tolu came up with the term. The rule was simple; I was to divulge the secret to whoever I was dating only after three months.
This seemed like the perfect plan until I was served my first breakfast, then the second, and before I knew it, I had been served five good times. Coincidentally, my boyfriends just happened to break up with me all on the same day and in a similar pattern. It always happened on our third-month anniversary, right before our date. They all lamented about the fact that I had hidden a huge part of my life away from them by concealing the fact that I was epileptic.
The thing every smart person knows is that if it happens more than twice, then it cannot be defined as a coincidence anymore. After the fifth breakup, which was humiliating ( the guy had called me a scammer who was trying to trap him into marriage), I was pissed. I was sure of two things, there was a whistleblower, and I was going to catch him or her. So I got out my spreadsheet and wrote a list of the people who knew of my secret and then crossed out my family members and those who didn't know of the 'three months rule.' I had three names, and each of them had at least a motive as to why they would want to ruin my life.
First on the list was Kemi, and she was at the top of my list of suspects. For as long as I could remember, Kemi and I had a cold rivalry going on. At first, we only struggled to surpass each other in exams before it evolved into something a lot more toxic. We strived to be the best dressed at any mutual event and tried to score the best guys. It was tiring, but Kemi always claimed that it was a great strategy to motivate ourselves to do better. So yes, Kemi was a suspect.
Next on the list was my best friend, Doyin. You might think me a terrible person for not trusting someone I called my best friend, but I knew Doyin and just how far her jealousy could push her. Once, she had almost drowned a classmate because she had gotten asked to prom by a guy Doyin had a crush on. Doyin was never lucky in relationships. In fact, I have good reason to believe that Doyin was and is still suffering from a curse.
She had, on multiple occasions, relayed to me just how much she envied me and wished she had half of my luck. She knew my secret and also knew of my 'three-month rule.' So yes, Doyin was a suspect.
The final person on my list was Daniella, who was nicknamed 'Holy Mary' because she was a stunt believer in the gospel. She recited the Ten Commandments verses of the Bible whenever one of us did something wrong. If I could get a penny for the number of times Daniella softly whispered, "A relationship built on lies, half-trusts, or omitted truths never ends well" into my ears, I'd be well on my way to becoming a billionaire by now.
I couldn't confront any of them on these bases, so I made a scheme to find out who my whistleblower was. I hired a handsome gentleman named Daniel to pose as my boyfriend. The plan was to switch things up a bit. I informed my friend of my plan to disclose my secret to my new boyfriend on our second-month anniversary, which was a bit earlier than I did with the previous 'three-month plan'. This way, I was sure only these three were aware of my change in plans.
As usual, they were supportive of my decision even though Dani, our resident 'Holy Mary,' kept whispering her prejudices into my ears. Kemi was nonchalant, and I could feel Doyin's envious glares trailing my every move. My fake boyfriend was to gather information and relay it to me. I wasn't surprised that all three of my friends warmed up to him pretty easily; he was a great actor, even though I got lost in our act sometimes. He was that convincing.
When D-day finally arrived, I invited all three of my friends to help me prepare. Kemi complained about how I wasn't a five-year-old who needed help getting dressed, but she came; all of them were present, including my twin brother and my maternal aunt Shola who always loved to pop in for a visit without prior notice. Daniel called that night; a few minutes before our date, like all my previous boyfriends, my eyes flew to deep brown eyes that stared right back at me as Daniel droned on and on, but I had stopped listening after the first sentence.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as we stared at each other, and for the first time, I could see something akin to hate swirling in his eyes. " Why Tola, why?" He released a breath of relief, like he was glad that he didn't have to pretend anymore. "That's the exact question that has plagued my mind all these years, Tolu; why? Why did God choose to let you survive instead of your parents? You caused the crash, and yet you walk around with a chip on your shoulder as though you are better than the rest of us. I only wanted you to feel a little bit as miserable as I've felt all these years."Never in my wildest dreams would I have believed that my flesh and blood would be the cause of my misery, but it is just as it is written in Mattew 10:36. "A man's enemy will be the members of his own household."
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