Nikki Larry: The Repressed Memory

How it came to be that of all my girlfriends, and very much against the man code,
I failed to tell you about the most beautiful of them... remains a mystery. And in not telling that story, I missed out on the OTHER story, of my only true Nigerian girlfriend. These, friends, are the two most important episodes--the reasons for these posts.

Nikki:
...was a biracial butterfly. One of those. She was, without any sort of doubt,
the most beautiful young lady on campus. As fate would have it, she worked on the third floor, I on the second. As destiny would have it, I had just become famous on campus for my writings. Her mum was and still is an international christian evangelist. Within weeks we were dating... serious stuff... to the point of marriage... She was, I always tend to think, my first TRUE girlfriend... but then many many things happened... to both of us.. psychologically... and we broke up... remained friends for a while... but then she has a complex life and had a tragic childhood... lupus ... used to swig vodka by the bottle... no jawke...so, no, at the time I couldn't handle her.... she woh wild... but boy was she gorgeous... She became, later, assistant pastor at church.. we spoke of marriage... but that didn't work out... anyone who marries such a woman is the luckiest man alive.. me? well if I saw her today and it was still there, that's a bet... she's a lawyer in DC now... high level.

Jackie:
My first TRUE nigerian-girlfriend-in-the-diaspora.
We were just two young bunnies, free from previous constraints... got me to thinking that I can marry a naija woman... she's, like the others, a big woman today... jet setting executive.. .but she called three weeks ago and we talked... they both, jackie and nikki, still harbor a grudge against me.. i am now convinced it is eternal.. .

I saw Nikki last just before I entered grad school... we had lunch and then she was off to take her bar... chastizing me all the way..
I wanted to ask about her lupus... but ... it didn't happen... but she was sharp... very very sharp... had grown tremendously.. and ws just, in everyway, an outstanding black woman.. .or, as someone called her that day, "a stunner"... I don't have low self esteem, but I can't compete with her... I know what I'm saying...
..
so... that's it...