by Paul Washington Uduk
I stood starring at my shoes. Raising my glance again, I tried to confirm if what was going on was real. I couldn't fully absorb it. Looking down again at my shoe, I noticed the carpet underneath it was red.
I've been on many red carpets, but this one was different. There was so much white flashes, the recurring scream of thousands kept an exciting atmosphere, and many of these people kept yelling my name - it felt weird.
There was a heightened burst of excitement close to where I stood. Raising my head to observe the scene, I saw her.
Vibrations tingled all over the surface of my skin. My eyes watered a bit, and I felt my heart lose its rhythm.
Then, Tunde tapped me. When I didn’t respond, he dragged me by my right arm and led me in the opposite direction of where I had seen her. With the way he dragged me, you would think that there was about to be an explosion. I turned to look at him. For some strange reason, he reminded me of my cousin - a very troublesome but playful one I remain fond of.
Although we've been long time friends, it has been his unshakable believe in my singing talent that has made us close. And, it has been that believe that has produced whatever award I was nominated to receive on this night.
I had been a slave to self doubt and utter disbelief in my abilities for so long. It ate through me and left me in stages I never find pleasurable to recall.
On a particular night, during one of my despondent episodes. I browsed through the internet with my phone for some content. I came across a saying:
“Paul, you are going to be on a round table with Tolu. Take this list, it is…” Tunde said.
“Eh! Wait, Which Tolu? Who is Tolu? What table?” I interjected.
“The one you were gawking at just moments ago?” he said.
“Don’t mess with me Tunde! Why not just tell me that you have arranged a one night stand with Beyonce?”
“That one night whatever-you-called-it would involve just one of us here, and I’m dead sure you would not get the memo” he replied smiling.
“You’ve been scheduled to be on “The Juice” this coming Monday and I thought it wise that you two build a little rapport through this dinner before the interview." He continued.
“And you chose to just drop the bomb now?! You do this all the time!” I responded.
Before long, I’m sitting next to Miss Toolz and four other people including Tunde. My throat is dry. And, the table seemed to radiate an awkward vibe.
It had to be me. Everyone else was laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Even though I had responded to one or two small-talk questions, I remained quiet.
What if I end up saying something wrong? Will what I say make sense to any one of them? How would I even…
“Hello… Paul, is something wrong?” a voice said interrupting my train of thoughts
I looked over to see Toolz starring into my eyes from across the table.
“Is something wrong? You seem disenchanted.” she asked again
I thought her voice on the radio was enchanting. What she just said put her radio voice at “just there”. This one sounded like magic. Clear, fluent and bold.
“No, I’m very o.k.” I responded. “I’m just a bit overwhelmed”
Flavor’s Shake suddenly drowned the atmosphere with delicious melody. Screams made the setting electric.
“O.M.G!!! I love this song” Toolz was on her feet “Come Paul; you have to dance with me on this. Dancing always relaxes me and I’m sure you would love it”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” sounded an excited scream from me, almost pushing to me feet to gladly oblige. Unfortunately, it was in my head. And, I remained as composed as ever.
“Oh no, I’d rather not” I said, promising to kill myself later for mistaking being reserved for courtesy.
“Oh come on” she said gently pulling me by my left hand to my feet. “This song is too good to waste.”
I stood right in front of Tolu as she danced without a care. She seemed so fearless. Her contagious vibe got to me and my body moved to her rhythm which followed the music.
This had to be one of the most memorable moments of my life.
“Paul!!!” a voice shouted my name in almost regular repetition. It was Tunde’s voice. I ignored it.
The singular source of my name began to echo. It grew louder as the scene before me began to fade.
Suddenly, a pressure began to build; I felt it on my left shoulder. The pressure spread to the whole of my right side. My upright stance became a pyschic horizontal lie on this right side.
My eyes opened to reveal my cousin tugging my left shoulder and saying my name in loud repetion. Upon realizing that I was awake, he rose from the bed and asked:
“Where do you people keep bathing soap is this your house?”
I felt my left eye twitch twice. A nerve of anger began to signal my vocals to lash out whatever curse I could muster to punish him for the unforgivable sin he had just committed.
But, I quietly stood from the bed. And, I headed for my wardrobe to pick up a new bar of bathing soap. In silence, I walked into the bathroom with the soap, taking care to lock the door, with mind that he would have to beg for something. If not for forgiveness, beg and yell for me to leave the bathroom. That was punishment enough.
As I stood in the bathroom, starring at the mirror and recalling sections of the moments I just had. I felt a sense of calm. I grew up to have one of my favorite songs to be “Dreams Come True” by Westlife. Maybe they were not referring to this type of dream. But, it remained cool to remember that Dreams Come True!
Thanks for Reading.
I stood starring at my shoes. Raising my glance again, I tried to confirm if what was going on was real. I couldn't fully absorb it. Looking down again at my shoe, I noticed the carpet underneath it was red.
 |
| Photo: Bella Naija |
I've been on many red carpets, but this one was different. There was so much white flashes, the recurring scream of thousands kept an exciting atmosphere, and many of these people kept yelling my name - it felt weird.
There was a heightened burst of excitement close to where I stood. Raising my head to observe the scene, I saw her.
Vibrations tingled all over the surface of my skin. My eyes watered a bit, and I felt my heart lose its rhythm.
Then, Tunde tapped me. When I didn’t respond, he dragged me by my right arm and led me in the opposite direction of where I had seen her. With the way he dragged me, you would think that there was about to be an explosion. I turned to look at him. For some strange reason, he reminded me of my cousin - a very troublesome but playful one I remain fond of.
Although we've been long time friends, it has been his unshakable believe in my singing talent that has made us close. And, it has been that believe that has produced whatever award I was nominated to receive on this night.
I had been a slave to self doubt and utter disbelief in my abilities for so long. It ate through me and left me in stages I never find pleasurable to recall.
On a particular night, during one of my despondent episodes. I browsed through the internet with my phone for some content. I came across a saying:
"Sometimes you have to tap into the believe of others in you, until your believe kicks in"I really didn't see whatever 'talent' others saw in me, especially not 'singing talent'. But, Tunde always said he had chills when I sang. Then, he proposed to be my manager. Then, he secured me a record deal. And then, two singles in the release album got nominated for MTV awards.
“Paul, you are going to be on a round table with Tolu. Take this list, it is…” Tunde said.
“Eh! Wait, Which Tolu? Who is Tolu? What table?” I interjected.
“The one you were gawking at just moments ago?” he said.
“Don’t mess with me Tunde! Why not just tell me that you have arranged a one night stand with Beyonce?”
“That one night whatever-you-called-it would involve just one of us here, and I’m dead sure you would not get the memo” he replied smiling.
“You’ve been scheduled to be on “The Juice” this coming Monday and I thought it wise that you two build a little rapport through this dinner before the interview." He continued.
“And you chose to just drop the bomb now?! You do this all the time!” I responded.
Before long, I’m sitting next to Miss Toolz and four other people including Tunde. My throat is dry. And, the table seemed to radiate an awkward vibe.
It had to be me. Everyone else was laughing and seemed to be having a good time. Even though I had responded to one or two small-talk questions, I remained quiet.
What if I end up saying something wrong? Will what I say make sense to any one of them? How would I even…
“Hello… Paul, is something wrong?” a voice said interrupting my train of thoughts
I looked over to see Toolz starring into my eyes from across the table.
“Is something wrong? You seem disenchanted.” she asked again
I thought her voice on the radio was enchanting. What she just said put her radio voice at “just there”. This one sounded like magic. Clear, fluent and bold.
“No, I’m very o.k.” I responded. “I’m just a bit overwhelmed”
Flavor’s Shake suddenly drowned the atmosphere with delicious melody. Screams made the setting electric.
“O.M.G!!! I love this song” Toolz was on her feet “Come Paul; you have to dance with me on this. Dancing always relaxes me and I’m sure you would love it”
“AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!” sounded an excited scream from me, almost pushing to me feet to gladly oblige. Unfortunately, it was in my head. And, I remained as composed as ever.
“Oh no, I’d rather not” I said, promising to kill myself later for mistaking being reserved for courtesy.
“Oh come on” she said gently pulling me by my left hand to my feet. “This song is too good to waste.”
I stood right in front of Tolu as she danced without a care. She seemed so fearless. Her contagious vibe got to me and my body moved to her rhythm which followed the music.
This had to be one of the most memorable moments of my life.
“Paul!!!” a voice shouted my name in almost regular repetition. It was Tunde’s voice. I ignored it.
The singular source of my name began to echo. It grew louder as the scene before me began to fade.
Suddenly, a pressure began to build; I felt it on my left shoulder. The pressure spread to the whole of my right side. My upright stance became a pyschic horizontal lie on this right side.
My eyes opened to reveal my cousin tugging my left shoulder and saying my name in loud repetion. Upon realizing that I was awake, he rose from the bed and asked:
“Where do you people keep bathing soap is this your house?”
I felt my left eye twitch twice. A nerve of anger began to signal my vocals to lash out whatever curse I could muster to punish him for the unforgivable sin he had just committed.
But, I quietly stood from the bed. And, I headed for my wardrobe to pick up a new bar of bathing soap. In silence, I walked into the bathroom with the soap, taking care to lock the door, with mind that he would have to beg for something. If not for forgiveness, beg and yell for me to leave the bathroom. That was punishment enough.
As I stood in the bathroom, starring at the mirror and recalling sections of the moments I just had. I felt a sense of calm. I grew up to have one of my favorite songs to be “Dreams Come True” by Westlife. Maybe they were not referring to this type of dream. But, it remained cool to remember that Dreams Come True!
Thanks for Reading.
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