‘MAN MI, I’M SAPIOSEXUAL.’ UNDERSCORE UNTOLD.

 

The year was 2014, in the month of February. The day was Saturday; location was Maryland. The two of us, Underscore and I, were inside one of the two eateries at the Maryland junction. He was fresh from his 2-year scholarship program in Miami Ad School and we had hooked up to generally just do some “boys talk.”

 

Underscore was seated with his back to the entrance while I was across, facing it. In the course of our chitchat, I suddenly spotted a lady walk into the eatery. The lady looked very familiar, and immediately, I recognized her. Mariam.

 

We had all finished from Moshood Abiola Polytechnic (MAPOLY), though Underscore and I were a year ahead of her. Back then; Mariam had a big crush on Underscore. Unfortunately, Underscore was too busy with school politics to even have time for any mushy-mushy (actually, we were both knee-deep into school politics). Besides, Underscore was always on and off school due to health issues.

 

So Mariam walked into the eatery that very day but didn’t see us. Immediately I nudged Underscore to checkout whom the wind just blew in. He did; recognized her too, but quickly turned his face away from her direction. 

 

“Life, o gbadun o” (Mike, you’re not okay o), he muttered.

 

I almost jeered him with laughter but quickly stifled it so as not to attract Mariam’s attention. I pried on why he was avoiding her, he strongly looked at me and said: “Man mi, I’m sapiosexual, don’t you get it?”

 

Sapio-what? What the hell is that! I’d thought.

 

Underscore must have seen the confused look on me because he suddenly taunted me with laughter. Somehow, we both ended up laughing like two drunkards, attracting almost everyone’s attention, including Mariam. On surprisingly seeing us, Mariam then approached our table excitedly.

 

SAPIOSEXUAL is a neologism that has caught on with today’s social media loquaciousness. It’s used to describe someone that is solely attracted to intelligence. A sapiosexual individual is never swayed by looks or physique; rather, such an individual is habitually attracted to resounding intelligence. In other words, they fall for mental prowess and not physical attributes. 

 

Underscore was truly sapiosexual. He loved bright minds. He was all about resounding intelligence and self-growth. He started displaying this attribute of his way back during our undergraduate days in MAPOLY. Back then, he wasn’t your typical “serious student” that sits in the classroom and listens to some long-winding lectures. Hell-no! During lectures, he was usually somewhere else, perhaps learning the profundity of life: how wind permeates mass, or how the life force makes leaves fall off trees, etc. Regardless of his anti-classroom stance, when it came to assessments and exams, he tops. 

 

He was equally the go-to guy when it came to copywriting assignments under the Advertising course. Mariam (and a host of other students) usually crowded him; with the pen in his hand, he habitually solved the said assignment quite effortlessly. In fact, he was heavily involved in campus politics solely because of his writing prowess. He was the no-holds-barred publicist behind some “rich” aspirants. Though frail in health, he almost destroyed opposition camps with his pen, such that earned him the appellation, “lege-lege can destroy!”

 

Mariam sure “destroyed” his barricade when she joined us at the table on that fateful Saturday. 

Clearly, she has grown mentally: broader mind and matured dispositions. They spoke for long and almost from the same wave length. Quite interestingly, I caught Underscore slightly blushing every now and then. At the end, they not only exchanged numbers, Underscore actually said something to the effect of him not minding to start a relationship with her.

Perhaps if he were to be alive today, their union might have gone official. 

 

Mariam still grieves.

 

And we all still miss him even though he forever lives in our memories. 

 

Keep Resting In Peace, brother-man. {fcomments}

 

Facebook Comments