Forgotten

Forgotten-a love Story by LJ Kundananji

When he left, he left without saying goodbye—or at least not in the manner he should have. If he knew that he would have been gone for so long a time, he would have done more than say goodbye.

As he sauntered along the corridor, the memories flooded his mind. He paused and rested his elbows on the rails to take in the scenery below. He watched a little girl throw bread crumbs to the fish in the pond and gasp with delight as the fish surfaced, snapping at the crumbs. With a slight smile, he observed a boy and girl at the other end of the pond, taking photos of each other. They seemed to be in their own world, totally oblivious to the happenings around them. He could not blame them because he had been there before.

As he looked around campus, which had hardly changed, he unconsciously relieved those moments he had spent with Nancy. He recalled how the two of them would seat by the pond, chatting endlessly as they fed the fish and also how they would take walks together, lost in their own world. Yes, Nancy was one of the few friends that he had ever had.

The old Jacaranda tree by the cafeteria, under whose shade they used to spend many afternoon days battling away with assignments, was still there. Adorned with its purple blossoms, it was quite beautiful. He was suddenly filled with nostalgia as he recalled that afternoon he had bid farewell to Nancy. He sniffed loudly as his eyes filled with tears.

It was the day before he left campus. He had been packing his bags all morning. Though he looked forward to going home, he did not look forward to leaving his friends behind—especially Nancy. He really cared about her, and not a single day passed without him thinking about her. When he was done packing, he decided to go and see her for the last time and bid her farewell.

He found her in her room, reclined on her bed. She sat up when he entered. There was a big welcoming smile on her face. It lit up his heart, dispelling any darkness that was residing there.

“Hi!” she greeted warmly.

“Hi Nancy,” he reciprocated, slumping onto the other bed.

“How has been your day?” she inquired with an expression of intense interest.
“Not so fine—I detest packing,” he growled.

“Oh…I understand,” she looked around her room wearily. “I have not even started. You’re definitely better off.”

“Well, I have no choice—I am leaving tomorrow.” He said with a sinking heart.
“Tomorrow?!” she shrieked.

“Yeah…I told you, remember?”

“I thought you said after you’re done with your last paper.”

“Mm hmm—that was yesterday.”

“This is so wretched, Aaron! I could have thrown a party for you!” she whined in despair. “I was thinking you’ll be done on Friday because that is when I’m writing my last paper. So I assumed that you would leave on Saturday.”

“Hey—there is still time to throw a party, isn’t there?” he asked with a cheerful and hopeful expression.

“It’s too short a notice…” she said in a low tone.

“It’s okay—I am not the party kind.” He laughed.

“You deserve one—you have been a very good friend of mine.”

“So have you,” he stared into her big round eyes. He shuddered slightly.

“But I should really do something. I owe you one,” she rolled her eyes thoughtfully, pressed her lips together, then said, “How about I cook you a meal?”

“That would be--” he paused and stared at her incredulously. But she seemed serious enough. “It would be awfully nice.”

“Good, that is what I will do,” she shot up to her feet and slipped on her apron.

Aaron looked on with envious round eyes. She looked quite pretty in her blue little apron. The straps, tied neatly into a ribbon around her neck did nothing but adorn it. When she was cooking, she always tied her hair together with a ribbon. This would pull up the skin on her face a bit and enhance her facial appearance.

Nancy was quite a dexterous girl. She heated up some water in a kettle, mixed some maize meal with some cold water in a little pot and before long, a thick porridge was steaming away on the little two-plate cooker that was placed on the floor under one of the study tables.

“Can I help?” Aaron offered, standing up.

“No!” she said in a gruff voice, drawing her brows into a severe frown. He immediately slumped back onto the bed, his heart throbbing. “I said I am going to cook you a meal.”

He was somewhat surprised. He had never seen this vehement side of Nancy before. It was, ironically, subtly enchanting. She was now cutting the vegetables so swiftly and with such prowess that he could not help murmuring.

“You are good at that,” he said with obvious amazement.

“My mom taught me,” she declared quite proudly. “I do a lot of cooking at home you know. Look—I can even do it with my eyes closed!”

She closed her eyes, but the knife continued slicing through the vegetables that she held in her hand.

“Hey, you will cut yourself!” he said in alarm.

“Oh please…” she laughed. “I have done that a time too many to worry about it anymore!”

About half an hour later, the hot steaming food was placed on the table before an expectant Aaron. The aroma made his mouth water and his hands quiver. He had had no idea how hungry he was. Nancy beamed as she uncovered the food. The sight of the meat balls immersed in rich thick soup almost knocked him down.

“Go ahead—dig in,” she said with an enamouring smile.

Aaron eagerly, and perhaps in a slightly greedy fashion, shaped the inshima(a thick porridge made from maize meal that is eaten along with relish) into a nearly perfect ball, dipped it into the rich soup and threw it into his mouth.

“Wow!” he said, a look of amazement spreading across his face.

“Don’t talk with food in your mouth!” Nancy scolded him. “You’ll choke or something!”

Aaron nodded in amusement and gorged on in silence for a while, stealing glances at her now and again. She was very dainty, Nancy. She sat on the bed, spread out her apron over her dress, and placed the plate of food on her laps. She ate neatly and in small amounts, almost as if she did not really want to. He, out of embarrassment, tried to do the same, but it was too hard and he, inadvertently, returned to gorging down the food.

When he had finished all the food on his plate, he had to resist the urge to lick it clean with his tongue.

“Wow! That was the most fantastic meal I have ever had this term!” he breathed.

“There is still more!” she said with beaming eyes as she handed him the pot of relish.
“No thanks,” he declined, “I am full—really I am.”

“Come on Ary,” she urged persuasively. “I cooked all this food for you.”

“I am fine thanks,” he said, “I am so full I could burst!”

“Very well,” she stood up and got a dish and the kettle. What she did next totally amazed him and made him feel more special than he really was. She knelt beside him and held the dish under his hands. She poured out the lukewarm water from the kettle over them. He hardly looked at her as he washed. For some reason, he suddenly felt acutely shy.

“Thanks—a lot,” he said in a small voice as he shook the water off his hands.

“You are welcome,” she said sweetly as she got up to her feet.

Next, she made him some juice so that—as she put it—he could wash the food down.

“This is really a party on its own!” he said with a big smile.

“If we’d invited all your friends, cooked plenty of food and played enough music—it would have been a party,” she said as she cleared the plates off the table.

Aaron suddenly looked a bit despondent. “I have very few friends—you maybe the only friend I have.”

“That is—sad,” she uttered in a low voice as she took off her apron and hung it on a little nail embedded on the side of the bookshelf. She walked back and sat on the other bed, looking him in the face sympathetically.

“Most of them friends I have never really care about me. Most of them are really more concerned about what they can get out of me…you are the one who really likes me for who I am.”

“I had no idea,” Nancy said looking down, as if in an attempt to hide the slight look of guilt on her face.

“That is why I came to bid farewell…I just could not leave without seeing you.”

She placed a caring hand on his and looked into his face affectionately. They did not have to say anything at all—their eyes conveyed their most intimate feelings.

“Would you mind going for a walk?” Nancy said, standing up. “One last walk?”

“No, I wouldn’t at all—in fact I would appreciate that very much.”

And so that is what they did. They took one last walk around campus, trying to say all those things that they never had in the past year. They spent some time at the pond, feeding the fish and also at the basketball court where they chased each other around, bouncing an imaginary ball. Finally, they found themselves standing under the Jacaranda tree by the cafeteria. Its purple blossoms looked most beautiful. That is where they parted.

“Three months is a long time,” Aaron said. “I will miss you.”

“So will I,” she admitted.

“I will be communicating…” he promised.

“So will I…” she leaned forward and hugged him lightly. “Have a real safe journey!”
“You too,” he was almost shading a tear.

That was the last he had seen of her…As he now stood watching the Jacaranda tree from the aerial walkway, he shed one or two tears.

He thought he would have gone for only three months. But things had gone drastically wrong. He failed to pass his exams and hence could not come back to University. His parents sent him instead to a college in another part of the country.
Though he had promised to communicate, he could not. His phone got stolen. Nancy’s number got lost along with all his other contacts.

But never did he, for a single day, cease thinking about her and the wonderful friendship they had shared. Deep down his heart, he had never ceased hoping that he was going to meet her again.

And now, here he was, five years later, staring at the spot at which they had parted. He clearly remembered the look on her face—that look of deep affection.

As he watched, he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and voices. He immediately recognized one of the voices. He turned his head sharply, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

There were two people walking towards him—a man and a woman. He did not recognize the man, but he definitely knew who the woman was. His heart pounded furiously and his blood rushed with excitement. Though she looked older and more beautiful, she had not changed much. She was smiling and laughing in the same way she used to. She was so engrossed in her conversation that she did not notice him staring goggle-eyed at her.

“Nancy!” he called, as she bypassed him.

She stopped and looked back at him. There was a look of bewilderment on her face.
“Nancy, Nancy—I am so glad to see you again!” he exclaimed breathlessly as he caught up with her. The man beside her stared at him in annoyance. He was obviously not happy to have his conversation interrupted. The look of bewilderment on her face grew bigger.

“I am sorry—do I know you?” she inquired.

“Of course you do!” he blurted, obviously thinking she was joking.

She shook her head with a frown. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else…”
“No I haven’t—Nancy Mwape; isn’t that your name?”

“Yes—how do you know me?”

“We were friends, remember?” he said desperately.

“No…” she shook her head.

“Aaron—Aaron Kangwa…” he said with brightness in eyes, thinking she would definitely remember him now.

“I am sorry,” she said apologetically, seemingly raking her brains, “I don’t remember such a person.”

Aaron was petrified from shock. He stood gazing at her with an expression of horror. The man next to her was now looking at him with disdain. He put his arm around her shoulder and slowly turned her away from him.

“Let’s go dear,” he said in a somewhat mocking tone, “this person is obviously mad.”

She took one last and pitiful look at him and then slowly lowered her sunglasses over her eyes. The two of them walked away briskly—as if they did not want anything to do with him whatsoever.

Aaron could hardly believe what had happened. He remained standing where they had left him—rooted to the spot. He watched them till they disappeared round a corner.

What had just happened? Had his only friend forgotten him? Just how possible was that? Had he changed that much?

“Aaron, is that you?” a voice said. He quickly turned and saw Trevor, who had been his roomie while he had been here, standing a few metres away and smiling broadly at him.

“Um…yeah…” he said with a great deal of effort.

“It’s so nice to see you man!” Trevor exclaimed, giving him a warm handshake. “You have not changed at all!”

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