Banjo hustled up to the door irritated by the insistent knock that was being pounded on it. He knew very few people who would dare pound on his door like that and quite frankly, he did not want to see any of them.
He swung it open and stopped in surprise when he saw Olly leaning against his lintel. Yeah, he supposed Olly would be one of those people who would beat his door down. It had just been a while since he had done so.
“Hey bro!” Olly greeted as they gave each other a shoulder bump and Olly sauntered into the house. Banjo smiled, he had always admired the ease with which his friend carried himself. For a man as largely built and as brawny as Olly, he moved with what could only be described as feral grace.
“Haven’t seen you in this hood in a while.” He half accused as he followed his guest to his living room. Olly had sprawled on his long settee with his eyes closed and his facial expression blissful by the time he joined him.
“Can I get you anything?” Banjo asked. Olly popped open an eye and shot him a look of derision.
“I know where and how to entertain myself. Why would I let you measure out my drinks when I can get them myself?” he derided.
Banjo put his hands up with a wry smile. “I was just offering, good host that I am. By all means, help yourself.” He flung his hand outwards to indicate that he could feel free.
Olly looked at him intently from his sprawled position. “How are you?” he asked.
Banjo shrugged as he bent to pick up the TV remote. “Much better. Hardly any pain left. Weaning myself off those painkillers.” He tossed his friend a carefree smile. There were few people he could be carefree with and for a while when he had first started dating Alero, he wondered if he would have to give up one of them. Fortunately, he had not had to.
Olly nodded as he adjusted himself into a more upright if hunched position. “Good, good.” He said and then clasped his hands between his knees as his brows furrowed in thought.
Banjo watched his friend as he realized that this was not a simple visit as he had thought.
“What’s up?” he prompted his friend.
Olly swung his head from side to side and then looked at him.
“What’s going on between you and Alero?”
Banjo sighed and slumped back on his chair. “See bro, I don’t want to talk about it just yet.” He complained.
“When then?” Olly confronted not backing down.
Banjo just shook his head in response.
It was Olly’s turn to sigh as he hunched a little deeper on his frame.
“See Banjo, you are my bro any day but I’ve got to be straight with you, sometimes, sometimes I really want to deck you a big one.”
Banjo turned a surprised expression to him.
“’Deck me’ why?” he asked a mildly scowling Olly.
“Do you love Alero?”
Banjo chuckled. It was not an amused sound.
“Well do you?” Olly persisted.
Banjo was quiet for a long moment before he turned a glare on his friend.
“What do you think?”
“I think that you quit too early every time.” Olly responded adroitly. Banjo cast him another look of surprise.
‘What does that mean?”
Olly sighed. “Do you remember when your parents threw that welcome home bash for you?” he asked and then continued before Banjo could respond. “You had badgered me for days about Maggie’s friend and if she was coming to your party and if she had a guy and slyly checking out what my relationship with her was?” Olly trailed off and looked at his friend to see if he remembered as clearly as he did himself.
Banjo looked steadily at him. “The point of all this being?”
“You quit before the games have even started every time.” Olly announced enigmatically.
Banjo shook his head in exasperation. “I don’t get it. Can you come to the point?” his voice turning fierce with each syllable.
“I remember Olumide jerking your strings that day. I don’t think you realized how transparent you were. You liked this girl. Your guard had dropped over this girl. You, our suave, cool and collected friend was asking questions about a girl incessantly. It was enough to throw us off loop. And so Olumide jerked your strings about it you know. And what did you do? You backed down.” He cast him a look of pure irritation.
Banjo stared blankly at the floor as he cast his mind over those events that Olly tried to bring to the fore of his memory.
“What are you implying?” he asked his voice harsh with introspection.
“Do you love Ally?” Olly asked him again.
Banjo sighed. “What does it matter what I feel? The right question would be, does she love me?” he turned pained eyes to his friend.
“We’ll come to that shortly.” Olly blustered. “So?”
“It was…I don’t understand Ally. I love her alright but I don’t know what she wants of me. I’m just a guy…doing the best I can to be with her but…” Banjo trailed off an intense scowl marring his handsome face.
Both men sat in almost identical hunched positions as they ruminated over the same thing from their own perspectives.
“Why did you let it all go? Are you done with her?” Olly asked.
Banjo smiled. He could hear the hope his friend was trying so hard to keep out of his voice. If he said he was done, Olly would make a play for Alero and he would not stop until he made her his. Banjo knew it with a certainty that suffused his soul.
“I guess I just needed to sort a few things out.”
“You’re far along on that?” Olly inquired in overly polite tones. Banjo cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Look Banjo, I can’t deny that I’ve had a thing for Ally for a long time now. But I backed down so that you could make your play because you seemed so intent on her. So if you are not going to carry through, I need you to make up your mind.” Olly laid it out baldly before him.
Banjo had already come to a decision. He allowed the truth of it wrap around his being as he stared at the floor in front of him. After a few long and tense minutes, he heaved a sigh.
“Olly, you are a very good friend bro. One of a kind.” He began.
Olly raised an eyebrow at him. Banjo tossed him a feral grin. “I love you men for real.” He continued. Olly kept his expression neutral as he tried to staunch the pain blooming in his chest even as an answering feral smile bloomed on his lips.
“But I will not stand back and let you move in on my girl.” Banjo stated emphatically.
“Your girl you say? You have some way with holding on to your girl.” He scoffed with a snide smile.
“We are all allowed a bit of stupidity.” Banjo smiled as his mum’s defense of Alero came back to him. “But I’m done with foolishness. I love that girl.” He said with a wry headshake. “If I have to shake some sense into her…but I won’t just stay here and watch another man move in on her and be her husband. God forbid!”
Olly burst loudly into laughter. “Okay bro! I’m convinced. You have me convinced.” He chuckled.
“Go get her man!” he smiled at his friend, his pain temporarily forgotten. It would return, he knew. It would sneak up on him when he least expected it. But he would be okay someday. He knew that too.
For today, he would just be happy for his friend. And he was.