A knock jolted me awake from a sweet afternoon nap. I wondered who had interrupted my precious sleeping time and cursed silently as I looked for my house keys. Finally, I located them and made my way to the door. I promised myself that if it was the annoying neighbour who always knocked on my door to “say hi” I would give him a tongue lashing that would keep him away for good.
Indeed, it was him but he had shown up with someone else which made me hold back my anger.
“Do you know my friend?” He asked excitedly.
I took a quick glance at his friend and said, “no.”
“This is Derrick.”
“Okay.”
“Can you come by my place?” He asked.
“I’m busy.”
“What are you doing?”
“Stuff.”
“Okay. Let me know if you get time to come by.”
“Okay.” I said then slammed the door in their face and went back to sleep.
Once I was well rested, I had a change of heart. I informed Alex, my neighbour, that I was coming to his place in a few minutes then started getting ready. I took a quick shower, got dressed then went to his place. The music that was coming from his house was enough to make me turn around and go back to my place but I was so bored that I was willing to put up with it.
Alex’s girlfriend came to open the door which was a surprise since I hardly saw her. The guy that had accompanied Alex was inside, sitting all alone. I greeted everyone then went to sit next to him. He didn’t say much. I had to initiate the conversation which was a struggle for me since I wasn’t used to it.
“I’m Cindy.” I said after a long awkward silence.
“Derrick.”
“Yes, I remember.”
We were quiet again. We kept making small talk for a good few hours. However, we got more comfortable with each other once we got a little drunk.
“Can you tell I’m not from here?” He asked.
“Where are you from?”
“Congo.”
I nearly spit my drink. The whole time I thought Derrick was a Luhya from Busia because of his stature but it turned out he wasn’t even Kenyan.
The night turned out to be better than I expected. Drinks were in plenty, the music was good and the vibes were even better. We stayed up till almost 4 am drinking, talking and enjoying the music. When I was ready to call it a night, Derrick escorted me to my place. We chatted a bit at my door before hugging each other goodbye.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said.
I thought it was the usual thing that people say and he wasn’t really going to come to my place the following day but early in the morning, he woke me up with a loud knock on the door.
I let him in but I was still sleepy so I went back to sleep. Hours later, I woke up to the smell of fried sausages and French toast.
“Where did you get sausages from?” I asked, happily surprised.
“I went to buy them while you were sleeping?”
“Have I been sleeping for that long?”
“Yes. You’re a deep sleeper too. I tried to wake you up but you didn’t answer.”
“Oh. Thanks for breakfast. I’m so hungry.”
“I know. We drank a lot last night.”
Whatever hesitations I had about Derrick disappeared. He had won my heart with that simple gesture. However, I needed to make sure that he was not putting on an act to impress me. He stayed consistent with the sweet gestures so I was convinced that he genuinely wanted to make me happy.
However, I didn’t consider that he could be love bombing me which was exactly what he was doing. For the first couple of months, Derrick was the perfect guy. He did everything that a good boyfriend would. The best part is we didn’t argue. We may have had a few disagreements but he instantly conceded.
Suddenly, he started picking fights with me. He particularly had an issue with me hanging out with Alex which he didn’t before.
“Why are you always at Alex’s place? Are you two sleeping together?” He asked.
I laughed because it was an absurd question. Alex was the last person I would ever sleep with yet the person I had shared a bed with for months thought I was sleeping with him.
“Why are you laughing? You think it’s funny?” He continued.
“It is funny. Why would you think I’m sleeping with Alex?”
“You’re always together. Whenever I call you, you’re at his place.”
“I thought he was your friend. I’ll stop talking to him if it makes you uncomfortable.”
I cut off Alex but it didn’t help with the situation. It was like Derrick had a weapon. He used to use Alex anytime he wanted to pick a fight with me. He would remind me of things that didn’t happen.
At some point, it became evident that Derrick was just fishing. I stopped engaging in any arguments and let him talk to himself until he got tired. The tactic seemed to work since the arguments lessened. However, we still argued occasionally and it was taking a toll on my mental health.
I had to walk on eggshells around him so we wouldn’t argue which turned me into a shell of the person I was. I might not have been the most social person but I was the life of the party when I was around people who I liked.
The last straw was when Derrick and I were standing outside my apartment and we ran into Alex. I was so scared of saying hi to him that I ran back to my apartment. I knew that there was no way I would live my life in fear like that and had to break up with Derrick immediately.
Since I wasn’t going to get rid of him easily, I invoked the help of the police. I went to report him for being in the country illegally. They knew that they would extort money from him so they went to arrest him immediately. He spent the night in the cell and by the time he came out, the message was loud and clear. I was not the one to be messed with.
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