SPLASH

His feet were cold. His hand were sweaty. He was a man of few words. He talks less. Very few. They include hey, how are you, I’m fine thank you. etc, etc. He is used to solitude. He refer books. Write funny stories that he ends up in the trash. He entered into a banking hall and sat alone, quite, and of course, minding his business. There was a little crowd that never settle. The people that prefer standing than sitting. These could be the same people that sleep at night while their mouths are open. There were social media attendees and even the girls of different figures: one, eights and twelves. He was to reply a message on a phone when this girl came by. She look confused. He saw her from the corner of his eyes and never bother to ask her. The girl stood there for a maximum of one minute or more and then, instead of going, she sat on one of the empty chairs on his left hand side. “Hey?” He turned and in silence. “Hey?” “I’m Sandy.” And he looked at her and then he wanted to tell her that his name is Saw Dust but that would be too harsh. Who on earth love saw dust? Not even the people who works at the carpentry workshop loves it. Why not an empty box of pizza or Jojo Biscuit? He swallowed his pride. “I’m John. Have we ever met before?” She shook her head in disagreement.You know the name John, it can be anything. A dog that barks a lot is Johnny. A guy that play girls is John. A guy that shouts a lot at the beer joint when a team like Arsenal concedes a goal is either John or Peter and of course, the list of those who will never do any wedding ends with John. She looked down and then advance to pick a red book that was placed on the seat with a leather bag. He hurried to save his white headsets because he didn’t want to lose them again this time. He, at one point, lost his headsets to a girl that he was traveling with. The headset were eaten when they reached their destination. I mean, the soft part. “How come?” his sister asked. Of course, he didn’t know either. “Wow! This is a book. OMG! I love reading. Reading is my hobby,” she said. “Really?” “Yep! And my favourite book is THE GIRL WAS MINE BY CHINUA ACHEBE.” He zoomed his eyes out. “Did you mean THINGS FALL APART?” “No. I meant, THE GIRL WAS MINE. Didn’t you read that book? OMG! You should read it. It’s a very nice book.” “I see.” “Yeah. By the way the way, the starting is so dope. It started at the university, hall 109…” blah, blah, blah. “I see. I will give it a shot,” he said and before he find the right word to tell her next, time came for him to be serve.”Next customer please”, called the lady with a soft at teller eleven. “It was nice chatting with you,” he said. “It was nice meeting you too Mr. John.” He stood up and went to the counter.By the way, there are books that are lend out at Advance Youth Radio. In case you’re a serious reader, kindly visit them. They’re located at 4th floor, Eastern Plaza, Airport Road.