Rock Paper Scissors – Sapphire Mclaniyi-Agbley

CHARACTERS

Oyinademi – A young confident  queer Nigerian woman

Blessing – 24-year-old religious/conflicted Nigerian woman

A one-bedroom student apartment. A medium-sized bed, a wardrobe against the wall, a table and chair in the corner, cooking station at the other corner. On the bedside table, there’s a small collection of items like hair ties, a water bottle, etc.

(It is evening. Oyinademi lies in bed, scrolling through her phone. Blessing walks in wearing pyjamas, but stops watching Oyinademi for a moment before entering.)

OYINADEMI: (Without looking up) Are you going to stand there all night, or…?

BLESSING: (Forces a smile, walks in) Sorry, I am just… tired.

(Oyinademi pulls back the duvet, making space for her. Blessing hesitates, then moves to the opposite end of the bed, placing her head where Oyinademi’s feet would be.)

OYINADEMI: (Slowly sets phone aside, stares at Blessing) Okay, what’s this?

BLESSING: What’s what?

OYINADEMI: (Gestures to their positions) This. 

BLESSING: (Still facing away) That’s how I typically sleep when there is someone else around.

OYINADEMI: (Sharper) We have shared this bed a hundred times, Blessing. We have been friends for how many years? What game are you playing?

BLESSING: (Turns slightly, defensive) It’s not a game, Oyin.

OYINADEMI: (Stands up, paces to the window) Then what is it? Because yesterday you were fine. Yesterday you were… (stops herself)

BLESSING: (Quietly) Yesterday was yesterday.

OYINADEMI: (Turns around) And Mark’s little comment about me being ‘your lesbian friend in love with you’,  has nothing to do with this new sleeping arrangement?

BLESSING: (Sits up suddenly) I already told you I don’t want to talk about what happened, and no, it has nothing to do with what happened.

OYINADEMI: (Voice rising) But see, that’s the thing, Blessing. You said it was fine. You said you wanted it. You said, “I wish this had happened sooner.” (Moves closer to the bed) So which is it? Because I am getting mixed signals here, and I do not do well with mixed signals.

BLESSING: (Reaches toward her) Oyinademi, can we just…

OYINADEMI: (Pulls back) No. No, we cannot just. Because now you are lying at the opposite end of the bed like I am some kind of predator. Like I am going to pounce on you in your sleep. (Voice cracking) Do you think lesbians are just… just horny animals with no self-control? Is that what this is?

BLESSING: That’s not…

OYINADEMI: (Pacing again, hands gesturing wildly) Because I am sick of it, Blessing. Sick of straight people thinking they need to ‘protect’ themselves the moment they find out someone’s queer. Like we are walking around just waiting to corrupt the innocent. How much more, my friend? (Stops, voice becoming lower) You know what really scares me? That I have been reading this wrong the whole time, maybe I pushed you into something you didn’t really want.

BLESSING: (Stands up, voice strained) It’s not about you!

OYINADEMI: (Stops moving, shouts back) Then what is it about?

BLESSING: (Voice breaking, sits back down) I don’t know where Mark got this theory from, but it’s not about you being in love with me. It’s about… (long pause, hands fidgeting) I liked it too much, Oyinademi. I was waiting for it to happen, and now I don’t know what to make of how I feel or what this means.

OYINADEMI: (Softly) Blessing…

BLESSING: (Not looking at her) At 24…in Nigeria… (whispering) I feel like I have been playing Rock Paper Scissors my whole life, you know? Always trying to figure out the right move, the safe move. Rock beats scissors, paper beats rock, scissors beats paper. Simple rules. But with you… (looks at her) I do not know what we have been playing anymore.

(Oyinademi moves to sit on the edge of the bed, keeping some distance)

OYINADEMI: What do you mean?

BLESSING: (Wipes her eyes) I mean, I thought I knew who I was. A future wife, mother. I had my moves all planned out. But every time I’m with you, it’s like… (voice gets low) I don’t know

OYINADEMI: I don’t know. I thought we were just… being us (Pause) I’ve been scared too.

BLESSING: Of what?

OYINADEMI: (Looking down at her hands) That I misread everything. That what felt real to me was just… confusion for you. That I’d lose my best friend over a moment of pleasure and confused that maybe, you don’t feel the same way I have felt for… (trails off)

BLESSING: (Looks up) How long?

OYINADEMI: (Meets her eyes) Does it matter?

BLESSING: (After a long pause) I used to pray for God to take these feelings away. These… thoughts. About you. About us.

OYINADEMI: (Quietly) And?

BLESSING: (Chuckles) He is not very good at answering that particular prayer.

(They sit in silence for a moment)

OYINADEMI: So what now? Because I can’t sleep opposite you like we’re strangers. And I can’t pretend nothing happened. So what do we do?

(Blessing stands up slowly, walks to the bedside table)

OYINADEMI: (Watching her) And do you trust me?

BLESSING: Again, it is really just my head.

(Oyinademi goes back to bed. Blessing hesitates, then lies down beside her, both facing the ceiling. they lie quietly, hands intertwined.)

BLESSING: (Whispering) Oyinademi?

OYINADEMI: Yeah?

BLESSING: Tomorrow… can we talk about this in the morning? 

OYINADEMI: (Squeezes her hand gently) Tomorrow, we can talk about whatever you want. Or we can just exist. See what happens.

Sapphire Mclaniyi-Agbley is a Nigerian-Ghanaian storyteller. As a poet, essayist, fiction writer, and playwright, her work covers themes of love, grief, abuse, and the complexities of human relationships. Her work has been published or is forthcoming in Isele Magazine, Brittle Paper, Almanak Media, IFA Journal, and Naija Feminist Media. Her dedication to centring women’s narratives finds expression in her work with The Abebi AfroNonfiction Foundation. Sapphire is an alumnus of the 2025 SprinNG Writing Fellowship.

*Image by Bunting Kargbo on Unsplash