Against the Bloodline | It Was A Forbidden Love…!!!  

I could walk like this forever. Some love stories begin with flowers. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? Laughter, just us, and promises. But some begin with a warning. A warning from family. A warning from tradition. A warning from people who believe love must first ask where you come from before it is allowed to grow.

Tola was Yoruba. Chinenye was Ibo. And in the eyes of the world around them, that was enough reason for their love to fail. You know, the first day I saw you, I told myself, “This girl is trouble.” Trouble? Me? Yes, beautiful trouble. The kind that makes a man forget his assignments. So, that was why your grades dropped that semester.

Exactly. You owe me compensation. I owe you nothing. You chose to be distracted. And I would choose it again. Tola, are we really ready for this? For what? For what people will say. Your family, my family, culture, language, everything. I am not marrying a tribe. I am not loving a surname. I am loving you.

Words are easy when love is young. Then let time prove me. It’s okay, oh. Cross my heart. Tola, sit down. You said you wanted to discuss something important. Yes, Mommy. Hope it’s not money again. No, it is not money. Okay, what is it? Yeah. It is about someone I want to marry.

Ah. Finally. Who is she? Which family? Her name is Chinelo Okafor. Chinenye what? Okafor. Igbo? Yes, Ma. Tola, you are joking. Mommy, I love her. Love? Love? Is love a family name? Is love an inheritance? Is love a lineage? Mommy, she’s a good woman. Good woman from where? You want to bring a stranger into this house? She’s not a stranger to me.

But she is a stranger to your blood. Mommy, I came to seek your blessing, not your permission to love. Then you are already lost. Your voice is not fine. My mother refused. I knew it. But I did not refuse. Tola, don’t fight your family because of me. I am not fighting them.

 I am choosing my life. And what if one day you get tired of choosing me? That is what I fear. Not your mother, not the tribe. I fear the day pressure becomes louder than love. That day will never come. Promise me you will not let them turn me into a mistake. I promise. So, you are the girl confusing my son? Good afternoon, Ma.

Don’t greet me. Answer my question. And do not good afternoon me. Did your people not teach you to leave another woman’s son alone? Ma, I love Tola. And he loves me. Love does not build lineage. Respectfully, Ma, children come from God. Do not preach to me. Listen carefully. If you enter this family, you will enter with tears.

Ma, I did not come to steal your son. I came to love him. Then love him from far away. Tola, what are you doing? The world may not agree. My mother may not bless it today, but I know what my heart has chosen. Chinenye Okafor, will you marry me? Hello, that’s all right. My father wants to see you tomorrow.