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My Best Friend Paid My School Fees for Two Years. Then She Asked for One Thing.
D
Dancing Flamingo from Uyo
about 2 months ago
I was 22, in my third year at UI, and my father had just lost his job at the cocoa board. One week I had school fees, the next week I was packing my bag to go home. That was when Bimpe, my roommate since 100 level, sat me down on her bunk and said, "You are not going anywhere." Bimpe was from a family that was not rich, but her mother had a provision store in Bodija and Bimpe had a small thrift business selling thrift clothes to girls in Queens Hall. She paid my fees for two years. Not once did she make me feel small. She would just drop the teller on my bed and say, "Pay me when you blow." We graduated in 2019. I got a job in Lagos through my uncle, small pay but steady. Bimpe stayed in Ibadan, her thrift business grew, and we still talked every Sunday. Then in 2021 she called me. Her mother was sick, and she needed 400,000 naira for surgery. She said, "I know you don't have it, but I don't know who else to call." I had 250,000 in my account. I sent her 150,000 and kept the rest because my rent was due. I told myself I would send the balance after salary. I did not send it. I bought a phone instead. I don't even know why. I still cannot explain it. She never asked me again. Her mother survived, but Bimpe stopped calling. I stopped calling too. Pride and shame are the same thing when you are broke and guilty. We have not spoken in three years. I see her posts sometimes. She is doing well. I am doing well too. But that friendship died from a wound I caused, and no amount of money can bring it back. What I learned: the people who help you when you have nothing are not the ones you owe money to. You owe them your loyalty. And if you ever find yourself choosing between paying them back and buying something you don't need, remember that a phone can be replaced. A friend like that cannot.
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