Yoke Of Love

Exchanging Girl Friends

The following Saturday, Kolawole came into the swimming pool at eleven in the morning; he paid for three hours duration at the pool section. Buckit and his son Alex came into the pool area thirty minutes later, and when Kolawole saw them; he quickly approached the father and son.

Buckit introduced Alex to Kolawole, the boy looked at the tall black man towering above him with wonder on his small face; and before the boy could make up his mind about the tall Nigerian, Kolawole stooped down to the boy’s height and said; “Hello Alex, smiling at the boy. Alex liked the friendly Nigerian and smiled back at him.

Without wasting time, Kolawole led Alex to the children section of the swimming pool and started teaching the boy how to swim; Buckit was impressed as he was also watching Kolawole’s swimming teaching method from the distance.

Buckit liked the way Kolawole was leading Alex as he cleverly taught the boy how to swim Olympic styles to the delight of the boy. When the training session was over, Buckit asked Kolawole to join him at the bar for a drink; and he asked Alex to go and stay with his driver who was seated at a safe distance from the bar with a bottle of beverage in his right hand for Alex.

Buckit was already nursing a bottle of beer in his hand; and he ordered for the same brand of beer for Kolawole with a bottle of Coca-Cola sent to his driver. Kolawole was not expecting further favor from Buckit other than the agreement to teach Alex how to swim every Saturday.

Shortly after Kolawole sat down beside the British man, Buckit gifted Kolawole four hundred naira (Nigerian currency) for the two hours swimming training session with his son; and he also handed the small note paper of instruction from McQueen to Kolawole.

“I suggest you take that note of instruction in your hand to the paint company next Monday and ask for the woman mentioned in that note; she is the one that would handle your employment process,” Buckit said calmly with a gentle smile on his face.

When Kolawole read what was written on the small note, he exclaimed; “What! You mean there is a job prospect for me?” Buckit busted into laughter seeing how excited the note from McQueen had caused the young man; and he asked; “Did you think I will not help you further than coaching my son with few Naira notes?” Kolawole nodded his head shamefully.

“Well, I am a man of my words, when I promised to do something for anyone, I don’t stop until I fulfill that promise,” Buckit said confidently. Kolawole Adegbola was the first son of Mr. Olusoji and Mrs. Funmi Adegbola, Mr. Olusoji was a civil servant and his wife was a petty trader in Ijebu-Aiyepe town.

However, Kolawole lived in Lagos, sharing a room with his friend Tunde Oredara who was the son of the Landlord of the ten rooms’ bungalow; Kolawole shared a room with Tunde in that house with the permission of Tunde’s father. Tunde Oredara studied Electrical and Electronics Engineering in the same Polytechnic with Kolawole; and both friends graduated from the Polytchnic in the same year.

Tunde Oredara was already employed at the time; he was the Electronics Engineer with Sanyo Nigeria Ltd.Tunde was a good looking and fair complexioned young man; he was plump but strongly built, and of average height, he was a year older than Kolawole who was twenty-four years old.

However, the age difference was not an issue in their friendship; both friends considered themselves age mates. During their Polytechnic days; they exchanged their girlfriends sexually.

There was a time when Tunde was tired of his relationship with his girlfriend; he asked Kolawole to go ahead and date the girl; and Kolawole also reciprocated that funny arrangement when he exchanged his girlfriend with Tunde few months later.

Some times the exchanged girl would refuse to date her lover’s friend, but when the friend informed her that the other friend was no longer interested in her; they usually played along.

The funny part was that some of the undergraduate girls don’t really mind dating two friends at the same time; they considered it as “College funs”; but the boys were just having flings with the girls.

The two jolly good friends still continued their flings with the girls when they graduated from the Polytechnic and after their National Youth Service to the Nation. One day, a married woman who was living in the same house with the two friends saw Tunde kissing and romancing with a well known Kolawole’s girlfriend in front of their house; the woman reported the matter to Kolawole who was in their room; and the young man jokingly informed the woman that sharing their girlfriends was what they started since their Polytechnic days, and that he was aware of what Tunde was doing with his girlfriend outside.

The woman was shocked, she was not expecting such reaction from Kolawole, and she said; “What kind of friends will have sex with each other’s girlfriend and joke about it? If both of you don’t stop this nonsense now, you will not be able to stop it when you are married!” The woman hissed loudly and walked out of their room angrily.