It was early in the year, around February. I had visited the house of a friend, Chinedu. They were tenants in a two-storey apartment. They lived on the second floor, overlooking the expressway.
We exchanged pleasantries, I and him and his mom, who happened to be around that time. There was a power outage at that time so the windows had to be opened to provide illumination for the living room. I had gone to ask for his assistance on a particular matter, but unfortunately he couldn't help out.
“I'm sorry I can't help with that.” He was saying. He was leisurely sprawled on the red sofa, shirtless. “I would if I could.”
“No problem,” I replied “I will ask another.”
We went into further discussions, laughing all the way.
This was the first time I had visited the house of Chinedu. We became close friends about 5 years before that. From the very beginning, it had seemed our friendship was fated to be, or written in the stars, you could say. From the time we joined acquaintance, I quickly discovered we had almost the same view in most matters. The times we spent together, we often did, either to learn, engage in a project, or just to discuss. Most of these moments were refreshing. Chinedu seemed like a kindred spirit.
I also made the acquaintance of his parents. Both of them were likable people, especially his dad, who's now late, unfortunately. I would stop by their house and we would engage in long refreshing and educative conversations. His dad would sit in a chair across from me and would just let the facts fly from his mouth. And they weren't just any facts, they were either enlightening, or educational, or hilarious, so hilarious that deep belly laughs often followed. I would all the while be contributing to the conversation. Or sometimes I would go to their house to view soccer matches or live sports events. It was always an amazing time, especially if his dad was around. I have scarcely met anyone with an extensive knowledge of history and current affairs like Chinedu's late dad.
No matter what happened between me and Chinedu it could never severe the cord that formed the bond. We often has disagreements or falling outs but would reconcile afterwards. I've had several close friends, Joshua, Ebenezer, Samuel, Onyeka, and others but none was like my friendship with Chinedu.
There was always something to learn or laugh at during every discussion we had. We would talk long hours, going from intellectual matters to the funny ones. I always left those conversations feeling better.
We would often talk about our goals and aspirations. We would work out plans together, we would also make joint investments, or engage in evangelistic events together. I'm deeply introverted and I don't flow in conversations easily with just any person. But with my friend I can go nonstop for hours and things to talk about won't ever be lacking.
This reminds me of the friendship between Albert Einstein and his professor friend, the Jewish Jon Von Neumann. The duo sometimes spent hours on end, after academic work, talking and laughing and not even the slightest strain of boredom interfering. I think they collaborated on several Important academic papers. So also was the connection between Bill Gates and Paul Allen who both went on to create a thriving trillion dollar company.
I'm convinced, I could read it from the starry blinking lights, that I and Chinedu are fated for something extraordinary. I've had that feeling, and I can see the path clearly leading to that. We are both intellectually inclined, so maybe it would be both of us creating billion dollar inventions or companies, etc. However it goes, I think our destinies, though different are bound to meet at a certain point in time.
All images generated with Meta AI.
Thanks for reading.