EPISODE THIRTEEN
The light was taken and I decided to sit in front of the locked shop adjacent to my hostel, so I can witness what’s going on in the street. I was re-ading one of my favorite books by John C Maxwell when Uche c@m£ disturbing again.
Uche: What’s up supervisor
Me: Uche you miss road?
Uche: How do you mean?
Me: I heard you saying supervisor
Uche: that’s you now
Me: Confirmed, you are lost
Uche: Thanks for yesterday
Me: You are welcome. What brou-ght you here?
Uche: We c@m£ visiting a friend at that blue hostel. Why are you sitting alone?
Me: I love it that way
Uche: (She checked the book I was re-ading) I don’t know what you people see in this type of book you re-ad
Me: Which kind do you suggest?
Uche: Who is suggesting book when you can just watch movie or go p@rtying
Me: Thank you. We’ll see on Monday, oh! I mean we’ll see when we see.
Uche; Are you chasing me away? By the way how was your d@t£ with Janet yesterday?
Me: I never told you I was going out with Janet, neither did I tell you I was going on a d@t£.
Uche: Anyway, I hope you know she’s just using you
Me: How do you mean?
Uche: Well, for your information, Janet is engaged for marriage though the guy is currently out of the country.
Me: And how did you know that?
Uche: Hello! She was my friend. I’m sure she’ll have told you I snatched her b©yfri£nd
Me: Did you?
Uche: It wasn’t snatching, she was just pla-ying the guy like you
Me: So you snatch the guy
Uche: I only told him the truth, I never told him to love me
Me: Wao! Nice snatching excuse
Uche: I did not snatch him and don’t think I’m trying to snatch you too. Though it might be ha-rd to say no if you come asking
Me: really? Well, I’m not d@t!ngJanet, so no snatching in this case.
Uche: So you are saying you like me
Me; You seems to be drun!k, plea-se let me enjoy my book
Uche: That’s how you guys normally do, you’ll soon come begging
Me: Accepted, till then bye.
Uche: I’ll like to invite you to my birthday p@rty next week Saturday at my hostel
Me: Happy birthday in advance, but I don’t attend night p@rty
Uche: I did not say night p@rty. It’s 4pm during the day
Me: Okay I’ll think about it
Uche: You’ll come. I’ll make sure of it. Take care (She try to t©uçh my cheek)
I don’t know what she meant by “I’ll make sure of it”, waiting to see how she’ll tie and bundle me down to her p@rty. Maybe she’s planning to use Janet to lure me and if that’s the case, she just entered one chance.
Later in the evening I received a text message from Janet saying “baby I’m missing you. Can you come over plea-se?” but I ignored the message. Funmi also s£nt a message saying “thank you” for the reception I gave her earlier and I replied her message with “thank you for coming over, I’ll love to see more of you here and around me. Good night.” I put a call throu-gh to Temmy but he was not picking up so I decided to go to night clas-s alone. Truth is, I’ve been unease since the time I saw those guys re-ading by the libr@ry shed and that led to my decision to start a full scale re-ading towards the coming first semester exams.
It was so surprising for me getting to the hall and discovered there are many people alre-ady engrossed in serious re-ading. “So I’ve been watching away my life in Game of Throne camouflage”. The beautiful thing about night clas-s at this period of the semester is that, only the serious minded ones are there to re-ad and not the other type of students who come to night clas-s to eat, drink and meet friends.
I chose a lonely corner with bright white light reflections, less distractions and sit directly behind a lady fully covered in an overall dress. I started re-ading around 8pm and was so focus dissecting mechanics till around 11pm when the lady sited in front of me knock my table and said “I’m leaving”.
Me: Funmi! (Surprised). So you are the one sited here all this while
Funmi: I saw you when you entered the hall and even thought you were coming to meet me here
Me: Honestly I did not know you were the one. I only chose this place because of the light. Since when have you been coming here?
Funmi: I started last week, exam is closer you know. I’ve been here since 7pm and should have left before 10
Me: So why the extra hour?
Funmi: I was waiting for you
Me: Hmm. Do you come to this hall every evening?
Funmi: Yes for now, till when the hall will started getting rowdy.
Me: why can’t you re-ad in your room? You stay alone right?
Funmi: Yes I stay alone but my room was never free of the girls. They are either watching movie or just there to gist which is why I do excused myself out to study
Me: I get it. It’s late alre-ady, I can’t allow you to go home all alone. Give me like 10 to 15min to finish up this p@rt so we can leave together.
Funmi: Alright, give me your phone, let me be checking pictures.
I handed over the phone to her and continue with my mechanics till I met my target for the night. I followed her down to her hostel and got back to my room some minutes to 12 midnight. She called me later to confirm if I’m home and we chatted on Whatsapp till around 2am before we called it quit. Night clas-s bec@m£ our meeting point as I reschedule my time so I can always get there by 7pm for us to leave by 10 or at most 11pm.
After neglecting numerous texts and calls from Janet and refusing to go to their hostel for 2 or 3 days, she st©p asking about me to my delight, as we only see occasionally. Uche did try to use Janet to lure me to her p@rty by also inviting Temmy and Rachael, but I still refused to go. Besides, going to p@rty will mean missing my now usual evening meeting with Funmi on the said day.
On Friday while I was seeing Funmi off, back to her hostel from the night clas-s, she told me she won’t be coming to re-ad the following day.
Me: Why? Are you traveling?
Funmi: No, I’ll be going to a p@rty in the evening and will probably be tired after that.
Me: Oh, you like p@rty that much?
Funmi: I do rock p@rty a lot but I’m trying to reduce it now.
Me: There is no way you can reduce it if you are still keeping those friends of yours.
Funmi: It’s not easy to let go of them
Me: You do bypas-s them to study at night clas-s
Funmi: That’s different. My social life is built around my friends
Me: But you can bypas-s this very p@rty
Funmi: The lady has been on my n£¢k over a month concerning the p@rty. I”ll love it if we can go together
Me: Thank you, I’ll pas-s.
Funmi: what will you be doing at that period?
Me: It’s Saturday, there are numerous things to do
Funmi: Things like?
Me: Choir rehearsal, though I’ve received a message saying it won’t hold tomorrow.
Funmi: So?
Me: New Premiersh!pseason has started, I’ll go watch soccer.
Funmi: Who watch football over p@rty?
Me: I do. Football is at the center of my own social life. Outside it, my social life is zero.
Funmi: Anyway, if you change your mind, give me a call. I’ll come pick you.
Me: I don’t see that happening though, but I’ve heard you.
The unimaginable happened on Saturday by 4pm, the time Uche’s p@rty supposed to start. I received a call from my supervisor dishing out instructions in his usual manner without allowing me to make any point.
Me: Hello sir
Supervisor: You this boy, where are you?
Me: Watching football sir
Supervisor: So it’s true you won’t be coming to your colleague’s birthday p@rty?
Me: Sir I’m not . . .
Supervisor: What kind of person are you? I’m currently there and I want you to meet me there immediately or you lose 20marks
Me: Excuse me sir, this does not. . .
Supervisor: I am not arguing with you boy. Just remember your scrotum is in my hand (He terminates the call