Have you ever experienced deceit from someone close to you? I, like others, have had my fair share of deception from someone close to me.

This is a story of a lady who used to be my friend many years back. Juliet(but I fondly call her Julie) is a neighbor turned friend. Our Parents knew one another as they attended community meetings and other landlords forums, though they are not close as we were.

Juliet and I are in the same age bracket, we were both born in the same month, just two weeks apart from each other(with me being the eldest).

This is probably why we became so close when we found out we have the same birth month. Juliet's house is on the other side of my street. She barely visits me but I do visit her often.

Juliet, just like me, is imperfect as I do have my own flaws but then hers seems to be way more. At first, I turned a blind eye to some of her characters as I mostly don't see them as a big deal.

One of such characters is trying to be competitive with me even when I am not competing with her. She had on several occasions talked about how she wished she was tall like me even when I told her she is beautiful with her average height.

Despite the way she sometimes speaks rudely to me, giving snide remarks, I held on to our friendship. Another flaw in her character is deceit and I believe that was what broke the camel's back between us.

What could have happened between you two? I guess that would be the first question on your mind.

Let's travel a few years back…..

“Rukkie”, Juliet shouted my name, waving at me from a distance.

“Hey Julie”, I responded, while waiting for her to catch up to me.

“What's up? Are you set for Sister Latifah’s wedding?”Juli asked me, panting like she just ran a marathon.

I smiled, “Of course”.

“There isn't much preparation anyways, I am just looking forward to all the food I will eat there”. I said to her as we nearly approached my house.

“You and food”, she said, giving me the side-eye.

“Of course, why won't I like f…”

“Let me see your dress”, Juli said, interrupting me while looking around my room.

“I didn't get a new dress, I would just wear this blue dress I owned”, " I said, showing her the dress I planned to wear to the wedding.

“What about you?”, I asked, even when I knew the answer.

“I got a new dress, of course, It's a purple dress, with some embroidery designs”, " she said gleefully.

“That's good, but try not to be more beautiful than the bride”, I said, sarcastically, and she just smiled.

The bride, Sister Latifah, is an acquaintance of ours. We both knew her from a youth event we once attended. She is like a big sister we never had. So when she invited Juliet and I to her wedding, we knew we had to be there.

A day before the wedding, I told Juliet that we should try reaching out to Sister Latifah to ask if she would be needing our help with anything but Sister Latifah assured us that the wedding planner had things under control, that she only needed our presence at her wedding.

On the day of the wedding, Juliet and I got there, we sat amongst other guests but we made sure Sister Latifah knew that we were there.

As the wedding ceremony progressed, I saw that the bride was called by a woman I assumed to be the wedding planner. I didn't know what was discussed but I could see from Sister Latifah’s countenance that she wasn't happy about something.

I quickly left my seat and went to the back of the venue to know what the problem was. It turned out that the girls the wedding planner hired to help serve the guest didn't show up. The wedding planner tried reaching out to her colleagues if they could get girls to help with serving all to no avail.

I immediately saw Sister Latifah looking sad. I don't need to be told before knowing exactly what to do. I quickly went to call Juliet to inform her on what was going on and I told her we needed to help her.

At first, I saw that she wasn't happy with my idea, probably because she planned to just enjoy herself at the party rather than working. But, later on, she agreed and we immediately got to work.

We both helped in serving the guests, washing plates, serving drinks and so on. I could see the happiness emanating from Sister Latifah as she kept thanking us every two seconds.

People from her husband's family also joined in to help us. I knew Sister Latifah as an orphan, so people who showed up for her were her relatives and her two friends who decided their main job was to help her collect money and gifts.

At the end of the event, I also helped with arranging some of the items used. The couple kept thanking Juliet and I for all our help.

Before we left, I went to see some last minute cleaning in order to ensure everything was in order.

When I got back, Juliet handed me a bag filled with food, drinks and other souvenirs and told me Sister Latifah gave that to us as a way of showing her appreciation. I also saw that she received the same bag.

I went to thank her and her husband before we finally left. When I got back home that day, I barely got out of my dress before crashing on the bed, completely exhausted.

Some weeks after the wedding, I was at Juliet's house when we heard a familiar voice.

“Isn't that Sister Latifah?”, I asked Juliet, listening intently as the voice drew closer.

We heard a knock on the door and Juliet opened the door to reveal Sister Latifah standing in the doorway.

I stood up excited to see her as I jumped, while shouting her name. We exchanged pleasantries as she came inside and sat down on the chair in the room.

“I thought the honeymoon was supposed to last for months”, so I asked coyly.

She laughed, “We've already had our honeymoon, my husband has even resumed work”

“I came to thank you once again for allowing your help that day. I hope you didn't think the money my husband gave you was so little, we would have added more but we had other things to settle”, she said smiling warmly.

“Money? What money”,I asked and immediately I noticed Juliet shifted uncomfortably.

Sister Latifah looked at me and then at Juliet and it soon dawned on her from my surprised look that I knew nothing about the money.

Apparently, Sister Latifah’s husband had given Juliet a sum of twenty thousand naira that day to be shared between Juliet and I for the help we rendered and Juliet concealed the information from me and only gave me the bag containing food. Afterall, I am a foodie, aren't I?

I turned to look at Juliet and saw her looking down from the shame of being caught.

Sister Latifah asked why she didn't give me my own share of the money and she was dumbfounded. I could see the disappointed look on Sister Latifah before she finally took her leave.

After she left Juliet started apologizing and told me the reason why she didn't inform me was because she needed money for something.

“If you had told me you needed some money for somethings, you knew I would have spared you some even from my share of the money”, I said, still reeling from the shock of deceit from someone I called friend.

That wasn't the first time she had not been straight with me while I have always been transparent with her. I knew right there that our friendship won't last if she continued that way. To my utmost dismay, she withdrew totally from me after that day, probably because she knew I had seen her for who she truly is.

She never gave me my share of the money and I didn't bother asking because I knew there was no way she could afford to pay me.

It got to a point that I also decided not to fight for the friendship anymore. We are more like acquaintances now, as we seldomly throw a “hello there” whenever our path crosses once in a while.

Thank you all for reading.

This is my first time posting here. Your comments are very much appreciated. Thank you all.
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