MANGO

I finally graduated from the University on June 2021 and while I prepare to move out of my Lodge in school, I could not help but think about some of the memories I have of school.

It’s been a long ride, four years extending to five years ( Covid-19 pandemic and ASUU strikes left no stone unturned when they decided to disrupt school year), a city girl like me growing to love a small town like Owerri in the most unusual ways, experiencing the good and bad sides of living off-campus, experiencing personal growth over the years, making friends, losing friends, and having crazy experiences.

While submitting the final copies of my project a few days ago I had this craving for mangos which is very weird because if you are in Nigeria right now you will know that mangos are not in season so it is next to impossible for me to get one. This craving, though unsatisfied brought back a really funny memory I had of my first few months in a school lodge.

I had just moved into an Off-Campus lodge in Owerri and I was introduced to who will become my first ever roommate. Let’s call her Nee. At first, I liked Nee, not just because of her mouth-watering physique but because she was namesakes with my little sister. But for reasons, I will never know Nee did not like me. I was eighteen years old and Nee was twenty-six years old which made Nee eight years older than me ( so she said) and one year ahead of me in school. I wanted to have a sister-sister kind of relationship with her but she was not having it. Since we paid equal rents, Nee had divided the room into two parts, her side, and my side. The division was very obvious to anyone who walked into the room. The kitchen and wardrobe were not spared off Nee’s division either. I had no problem with this as we all had our separate properties and utensils that will enable us to live independently of each other. This does not mean Nee and I never had any “friendly” conversations as I am talkative when comfortable and sometimes I blab away while Nee nods her head and gives her input where necessary. I guess we were one of those roommates that lived strictly by the term “ROOMMATE”.

One thing I noticed about Nee that I did not quite understand was that Nee loved to share her food with everyone. She did not mind cooking for you as long as you provide foodstuff and whenever she cooked her food and someone visits, she will always offer the person food and insist the person eat. Ironically, Nee NEVER eats anyone’s food no matter the situation or the food in question, she just won’t accept it. I didn’t like this fact at all. Not that I liked other aspects of Nee but I understood them but I did not understand this part of her. I noticed this when she always offered her friends food and never collected theirs. They would complain severally and tell her how it made them feel and she would reply “ that is how my parents raised me”. This Nee’s habit was not only exclusive to food but all edibles including snacks and fruits. So I decided never to collect any edible from Nee since she would never collect mine if offered.

So here is one thing you need to know about me, I love mangos. The sight of mangos makes my heart leap for joy, activates my taste buds, clears my head, blurs my reasoning so all I can think about is MANGO. There are very few fruits that have this effect on me and unfortunately, mango is the only seasonal fruit on that list so I only get to satisfy my craving for mangos a few times a year. Not a fair situation if you ask me.

The mango season made a grand entrance that year but I missed it as I wasn’t anywhere close to a mango tree and I had so much to do with the money in school and buying mangos was not on my priority list. Before you say “but mangos are cheap” let me tell you, You are not in anyone’s pockets so you never know how broke anyone might be and I was a new student and I needed every penny that I could get. But I love mangos so much it felt like a sad time for me that I could not have any and I had to control my craving till I had the chance to travel to my hometown which was about forty-five minutes drive from Owerri, where I can get an endless supply of mangos thanks to the many mango trees my ancestors thought to plant. The only thing that could have helped my situation was if I got offered a mango by friends but unfortunately my friends did not seem to share this extreme love for mangos as I did. The only person that shared this love for mangos was Nee. And just like me, she was craving it but since her hometown was closer to Owerri than mine, she was able to get a few ripe mangos and she brought them home.

I had just gotten back from yet another stressful day at school and the only thing I wanted to do was eat and sleep. I already planned to make noodles when I got to my room and take a nice nap after eating it but when I walked into the kitchen to start my cooking Lo and behold there were mangos in a bowl. My heart raced and my mouth watered. Why would this girl do this to me? What did I do to deserve such punishment from the Universe? I have been controlling my craving for mango knowing fully well that sooner than later I’ll make that long-awaited trip to my hometown and have as many mangos as I can carry but this was too much for me to handle. Delicious-looking mangos sitting right there in a bowl waiting to be devoured.

“ Cleo if you want mangos you can have some,” she said to me from the room where she was busy on her phone. “Oh no thank you, I’m good,” I said with tears in my heart. If this girl did not have the habit of rejecting people’s food I would have had no problem with accepting her offer of mangos. This is all her fault. I reluctantly stepped away from the mangos, fighting the temptation to take one of them and be done with it. I made my noodles, ate my noodles, had my bath, and finally sat on my bed to start chatting with my few social media friends.

We heard a knock on the door and she opened the door to two of our neighbors who also happened to be her coursemates and friends. She offered them mangos and they accepted with no delay. I watched in agony as they enjoyed the mangos while chatting about school and people. My eyes went to the bowl and I realized there was only one mango left and that was Nee’s own but she was not ready to eat it. “Can this girl just eat this mango and end this torture she has subjected me to?” I thought to myself as I pretended to be glued to my phone. The neighbors left after an hour and Nee told me she was traveling to see her mother and won’t be back till the next day. She dressed up and as she was about to leave she took a knife and cut a small part of the mango and ate. “Cleo this is for you,” she said again acting like I had not rejected her first offer earlier. “No thank you, I don’t like mangos” I lied. She ignored me and kept the mango on the table and left.

Now, why would she do that? Leaving me alone with a mango I had rejected twice! There is no way she will tell me she doesn’t know I rejected that mango because of her habit of rejecting food from anyone including me. “ Well, she will come back and meet that mango sitting right where she left it because I have no plans of eating anything that comes from this girl,” I said to myself. I lay on my bed and started imagining things as I usually do, keeping my mind as busy as I can, hoping to fall asleep and not have to think about the mango on the table. But how could I fall asleep? I could smell the mango from my bed and this was not easy for me. “No matter how much I love mangos nothing will make me eat that mango, she will come back and meet it exactly where she left it,” I said out loud to myself.

I’m sure you already guessed what happened. She did not meet that mango when she got home the next day. But I have a very logical explanation for that.

I was already about to forget about the mango on the table when I remembered she cut a part of the mango and ate. If I had left that mango on the table, it would have spoilt before she returned the next day and she would have to throw it away. My mum had taught me never to waste food and I remembered that somewhere in the bible (I don’t remember where) Jesus said not to pay evil with evil. I think the best way to win Nee over and make her realize that I’m not her enemy and she can share my food with me is by sharing her food with her. One day she will get tired of her high walls and just accept the food I offer her at times. With this great realization coming to my mind I decided to take the mango from the table, washed it again, and finally, I ate it.

OH MY GOD! So this is what I would have missed! The delicious taste of the mango tickled my taste buds and I ate it slowly because I could not bear the thought of this wonderful moment ending so quickly. This is great and purely natural. If you are a person that enjoys fruits you will know that fruits that are grown naturally have the best tastes. I finished the mango and felt a sense of fulfillment. I felt like I had accomplished a goal. I had satisfied my craving and I was happy about that.

Unfortunately, Nee was not thinking like I was thinking. She still never accepted any food, fruit, or snacks I offered her throughout the year we lived together. But the most important thing is, I satisfied my craving and enjoyed a delicious mango.