The first two days were awful and I was very cranky which caused my father to state, �I can�t wait till you leave. I am tired of your wahala.� Wahala is the Nigerian slang world for �bullshit.� Anyway, by the third day I pretty much lost my appetite and went back to my pseudo-normal personality.
I guess Juan had fun at Amber�s party because he emailed me about how he�s �so grateful for [his] invite and glad [he�s] finally met some people around [his] age and now [he] thinks Wisconsin might not be as bad as [he] thought.� He was obviously on some crack because in my opinion, this joint is worse than anybody thinks, but I�m happy for him � I guess Trace is working her magic. I got a call from Linda. Apparently, she loves Detroit and congratulates me on my new job. What else? Let me see� Yeah, on Thursday, we had a sort of send-off party at Trace�s and I wasn�t surprised when I arrived at 8pm and had to help fry the freaking chicken. Yeah imagine this crap, I had to cook for my own send-off party and the worst part of it is I couldn�t even eat it! To worsen it, Trace�s disorganized butt hadn�t even bothered to buy any fruits so �Timmy the dog� had to run out for some. Sometimes I wonder about that girl.
My flight was at 3:25pm so during his lunch break, my father came home to bid me farewell (I sound like I�m in a Russian novel, �Farewell my love. May the wind blow happiness your way�). As usual, he gave a speech.
�Femi.� He said as he hugged me. �Remember what you are going to New York for.� I stared at him. �This is not a holiday. This is for work, it is serious.� Like duh. �Make sure you do your work and don�t go gallivanting around the streets of New York. Face your work, make sure you impress them and live up to the family name.� Lord. Daddy, which family name? They can barely pronounce it. Sometimes this man makes me so mad, we are not in Nigeria and our family name is certainly not important in this country. Besides I already have the freaking job � I can stop the ass kissing now.
�Do you hear me, Femi?�
�Yes, Daddy.�
�Make sure you visit Aunty Toyin in Brooklyn. I already told her you would.� I groaned. She must be the most annoying person on the planet. Besides we are not even related, her late husband was just an old friend of my Father�s.
�What is that sound?� He wagged his finger. �Make sure you visit her. She loves to see you.� I nodded my head. �Do you hear that?�
�Yes, Daddy.� Why can�t he realize that I am almost 23? I am not a child.
�O.K my darling.� He hugged me and kissed me on my cheeks. �I have to go back to the office. Call me when you arrive. O.K?�
�Yes, Daddy.�
He frowned. �Don�t �Yes, Daddy� me. Make sure you call� don�t leave it till next week like you usually do. O.K?�
When Amber came to pick me, my mother came to the door. She hugged me. As I hugged her back I could tell she was crying. What da hell? I was away at college for 4 years. And I don�t even remember her crying back then. Suddenly she�s crying like a baby. I ignored the tears, kissed her cheek and when I got to the car, waved to her as we drove off.
The hotel is pretty nice �at least there�s room service and I�ve got an O.K view. It is in mid-town Manhattan and just three subway stops from the office. On a cool day I could even walk.
So on Saturday, I went to a nearby cyber caf� to check my email because I�d forgotten my laptop at home. As I was sitting down, reading one of Juan�s silly forwards someone came behind me and said,
�Stop stalking me.�
I wasn�t expecting it so I almost jumped out of my chair. I turned back to find the culprit and guess who it was � guy from the club. You know the one, the one with the jacket. I decided I could take one of three approaches. 1) I could smile at him but basically ignore him. 2) I could be the bitchy person he is accustomed to or 3) I could be friendly and chat, because let�s face it, I don�t know anyone in New York. I decided the 3rd approach was most preferred.
I smiled, � I think you might have this wrong. After all, you�re the one that came in here and almost scared me out of my skin.�
He sat next to me and smiled. He raised his right eyebrow, �Femi, right?� Except he pronounced it like �Fee-mee� instead of �Feh-me.� So you know I had to correct him.
�Oh I apologize. Femi then.�
I got embarrassed, �I�m sorry but I can�t remember yours.�
�Mine?�
I laughed, �Don�t be silly. Your name - I know it starts with a K.�
�You do huh?�
I didn�t know what to say to that so I sat silently.
�Keith. Keith Jenkins.� He stretched out his hand. I shook it.
�O.K Keith. Keith Jenkins.� He was smiling. �You�re a sucker for punishment, right?�
�Excuse me?� He looked confused.
�I think it�s fair to say that I�ve been rather rude to you in the past and yet you�re here talking to me. Instead of walking past me like every normal guy would do, you took time out of your day to say hello to me� I was teasing.
He laughed. �I guess I�m not that normal after all.� I could see the glint in his eye. �And you�re not being rude today.� Well Keith, I�m just one option away, I could have chosen option 2 now, couldn�t I?
�Well, I have my days.� We were both smiling stupidly. I heard smiling works out a few hundred facial muscles� I guess I lost some weight that day.
�So what in the world are you doing here?� He asked.
�Training for my new job.� I paused and looked at him pointedly. � And no. It�s not Starbucks.�
He laughed. Nice laugh might I say �it showed off his pretty dimples. �I didn�t think it was.� He asked me about the position and I told him the boring details.
�Cool. So how long are you here for?�
�About 5 weeks. And you? You haven�t told me why you�re here.�
�I live here.� Oh really?
�And what were you doing in my hometown?�
�Just my job rotation. I had to work at that office for a month. Lucky me.�
He told me about his job, something about being a financial forecaster or something like that. Didn�t have a clue� and really, does anybody really understand anything about stock and bonds? �Dow Jones is down 12 � points.� �Microsoft is up 1 � points but shareholders are still antsy about their portfolios.� It was all gibberish to me.
Anyway, we exchanged email addresses and he said he�d email me sometime. I think he�s a cool guy but I don�t think I am attracted to him. When I think of it, I didn�t really think he was cute till Trace said she thought he was� he�s O.K I guess.
Femi, 12:15pm, Sunday July 14, 2002
