Deola didn’t fight the girl, she only promised to deal with her and somehow, that girl got a beating of her life about a week later. She had bumped into a guy on campus, (although she later recalled it was the other person that intentionally bumped into her) and before she could apologize, about 3 guys pounced on her and beat her silly for what was supposedly a mistake.
The look on Deola’s face when the girl got back to the
room was enough for me to know she had something to do with it. It wasn’t long
before other people started to connect the dot but there was no proof.
The girl that got a beating was a cousin to one of
Deola’s “high class” friends (which explained why she knew enough about Deola
to call her what she called her) and this caused a rift between them which made
their other friends pick sides. The drama was too much that people considered
allies ended up being moles from the other side.
It got so bad that Deola decided to move out of the hostel
to a BQ (that’s what we called them…they were like private rooms on campus and
they cost so much). I felt so bad when she told me she was leaving…then she
asked if I wanted to come with her.
“Me? Where will
I get the money from?” I asked in bewildermentShe told me it was free and all I had to say was yes as she didn’t want to be there all by herself and didn’t trust any of her other friends enough to live with them either.
I asked if I could check with my folks and she didn’t
object. I informed Sister Grace, I could tell she had her reservations but when
I reminded her of my bathroom infection susceptibility and how this would help,
she told me to go ahead but that she would come over so she could know where I
was moving to.
When I went with Deola to check the room, it was
tastefully furnished…it had a refrigerator, a gas cooker (the type you take for
camping) a color TV, it even had a video player and the best part was the
bathroom. Fewer people meant cleaner and infection-free bathrooms…how could I
say no to that?
Long story short, that was how I started to live with
Deola. It was more of my room on weekends because Deola was hardly around. There
was even a weekend that sister Grace came around and passed the night…I begged her
to stay till the next day and she agreed. I had to tell her Deola went home to see her folks when my sister kept asking where she was.
“Do you have a
boyfriend?” Deola asked, out of the blue, one evening while we were making
dinner. I laughed and responded that I didn’t…I told her I had a bigger fish to
fry and I would never jeopardize my education for some stupid campus love.
I asked if she had one, because I had never seen one
with her…she laughed and said she was not into boys.
She could tell I had questions and told me not to worry
as she was not a lesbian either.
“You have to be
a man…a real man, to date me” she added with a wink.
“A man?” I
asked rhetorically, but before she could say more, I shared my experience of
the only man I had ever lived with and how that formed my opinion about every man.
“Men are not
that bad o. You just have to know how to deal with them and you can have them
licking your feet”
“I have seen
wickedness done by men and I have also tasted the kindness and generosity of
men. You just need to know which side of the aisle you want to be, because it
determines what you get out of them” Deola responded
I wanted to know what she meant by that but she got a
call and stepped away so we didn’t go back to the discussion.
About 2 weeks after that, Deola returned to school with
a brand new Honda CRV…it was blue. I was sleeping that Sunday evening when I
heard the horn blaring, I stepped out to check what was happening and it was
Deola.
I was a little confused and asked whose car it was, she
said it was hers and it was an early birthday present from her uncle.
“This your uncle
sha…” was all I could say.
I had never been in a brand new car before…ever, “who
dash my monkey banana?”
I hopped in the front seat…the AC was so cold, I
started to shiver. The car had a different scent and it felt good. We cruised
around campus for about 30 minutes and later went to the popular on-campus Ice
Cream place. It’s one of the busiest spots on campus and it was even busier on
weekends. Everyone was looking at us, the car was just too beautiful to ignore.
Deola said she needed to “show” her detractors and
enemies, camouflaged as friends, that she was not on the same level with them.
Later that evening, Deola told me “You know you can have your own car…if you want it?”
“Don’t worry
about it o…in as much as I can ride in yours I am fine” I replied jokingly
She looked at me, shook her head, smiled and said “You know I could teach you how to fish for
yourself instead of giving you fish once in a while” as she stepped out of
the room to take a shower.
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