Daniel listened intently to the deep voice of
the dean of his faculty booming over the
mic. It had been almost three hours since he
started his 'introductory speech' and it
didn’t seem like he was going to stop
anytime soon. So far it was talks of
welcome, rules, how to excel in the
university and of course, the olden days
speech of how he suffered in his youth and
was able to breakthrough with
determination.
Daniel sighed for the thousandth time in annoyance, wishing the old man could just get it over with. Another
thing he regretted was not eating before
entering the big hall as the results began to
manifest in form of a growling stomach.
He glanced at his watch: it read 2:30pm.
Throwing his head backwards, he let out a
frustrated groan which caught the attention
of his friend sitting beside him.
“Dude, just try and endure,okay.”
Daniel turned to him. “ Easy for you to say,
Jake. My stomach is killing me. You know I
didn’t eat before leaving the hostel.”
Jake chuckled. “ And who’s fault is that?”
Seeing the glare Daniel gave him, he became
serious. “Oh come on, we were already
running late.”
“You mean late for a speech that started
two hours ahead of time?” Daniel rolled his
eyes.
“Well pardon me for not realizing African
time exists in universities” Jake said.
“It exists everywhere, man.” Daniel replied
“Tell that to your boss when you go late for
work in future.” Jake laughed..
Daniel leaned back in his seat and was just
about to doze off when a sudden feeling
overwhelmed him. That familiar feeling that
had felt for almost a decade now. The
feeling that he was being watched. But
who? He sat upright and glanced around
the auditorium, his eyes narrowing in
suspicion. The auditorium was crowded
alright, but his instincts never failed him in
the past and it wasn’t going to fail him now.
He glanced to his right and his suspicions
were confirmed. He saw her.
Sitting a few seats from him was a girl of his age with a
no-nonsense look and sharp eyes. She was
wearing a black T-shirt and dark blue tight
jeans. She was dark in complexion, with
pointed nose and red lips. Red? He kind of
found that weird. Her long unbraided hair
was tied back in a ponytail and it glistened
under the lights of the auditorium. What
fascinated him was her eyes. A light brown
in contrast to the dark black of the average
Nigerian. As soon as she saw him staring,
she narrowed her eyes at him and he
quickly glanced away.
“The hell is her problem? She stared first” He
grumbled silengtly.
“What was that?” Jake turned to him.
“ Oh nothing jare, don’t mind me.” he replied
leaning back to his seat once more and
closing his eyes.
Jake looked at him for a while and
shrugged. Daniel was always one to keep
things to himself. More of a reserved dude.
He had known him like that from primary
school to secondary school to well…now. He
had stopped bothering on that a long time
ago.
“ And finally.” The dean announced. “
Remember there is a difference between
passing through school and letting the
school pass through you. Have a wonderful
semester and I wish you the best . Thank
you”
With that, he dropped the mic to a reception
of applause and relieved sighs. Daniel
laughed at this. Apparently, he wasn’t the
only one tired of the 3 hour speech. One by
one, the students filed out of the auditorium
to begin their normal activities.
“Hey, Dan.” Jake said as they trotted to their
hostel.
“ Yeah?” Daniel replied.
“There’s a welcome departmental party for
freshers this evening at the park. You
coming?”
“Well…” Daniel hesitantly replied.
“Before you come up with your lame speech
on how 'Terrible things' happen in parties”
Jake interrupted using his fingers in quote. “
Alcohol is banned from the party. Plus it
would give you the chance to mingle with
people and socialize. I don’t want you
graduating from this school a miserable old
man”
“ Screw you too.” Daniel grumbled and they
both laughed.
“So what do you say?” Jake pressed on.
Before Daniel could reply, his phone rang
and he fished it out of his pocket. Looking at
the screen, he sighed.
“ It’s my mom” He turned to his friend. Jake
nodded understandably and Daniel picked
the call.
“Hello, baby” The feminine voice of his mom
came over the speaker. “ How are you?”
“ I’m fine, mom” he replied. “ And you?”
“ I’m alright. In fact am in front of your
hostel”
“Really?”
“ Yes . I brought some things for you.”
“ Alright hold on. Ill be right there” he
replied and cut the call. Turning to his friend,
he blurted. “ Jake, she’s in front of our
hostel”
“Good, let’s go” Jake replied.
The two boys hurried over and saw Mrs
Johnson standing by a Toyota camry. She
was wearing a white tight blouse and dark
jeans that showed her curves and her hair
was fixed in a brazillian hairstyle. She held a
big white nylon in one hand and the other
was placed on her hip. she removed her
hand from her hip and started drumming
her fingers on the bonnet of the car patiently.
On seeing her attire, Daniel
groaned inwardly at his mother’s attempt of
once again trying to look younger. Not to
say she wasn’t good looking. She was still
attractive at the age of 42,having had Daniel
at a young age. But after the death of her
husband, she still wanted to make sure men
found her attractive much to the chagrin of
her son. He never hesitated to make his
grieviances known to her on that issue
which she found adorable and wave it away
with a pinch of his cheeks, leaving him more
frustrated than before.
“ Good evening, Mom.” Daniel said as he
approached her. She smiled and drew him
in a tight embrace.
“ My baby.” She smiled warmly, ignoring his
protests as he struggled against her, while
Jake laughed at this.
“ Mom!!” Daniel choked out and began to
panic as their embrace drew in a little
audience. “ This is embarrassing!!”
“ Hush, boy” She replied with a giggle. “ You
don’t know how it feels being alone in that
house.”
She finally released him, much to his relief.
“Good evening, ma” Jake said, bowing a
little.
“ Jacob” She turned to him. “ How are you?
it has been a while. Wow, you are looking
like quite the young man.”
“ And you look beautiful, ma'am.” He smiled
back.
“JAKE!!” Daniel glared at him.
“Oh, lighten up." His mother replied. “ It’s not
everyday I get compliments from the male
gender.” Turning to Jake, she continued.
“Thank you dear. That means a lot.”
Daniel rolled his eyes at that.
“Anyway” Mrs Johnson handed the nylon to
her son. “This is for you. Provisions,
mosquito nets and other stuffs.”
“Thanks mom.”He smiled warmly, collecting
the bag.
Reaching into her purse, she counted some
money and gave Daniel. Then gave some to
Jake which he politely declined.
“Ma, I don’t think…” Jake began.
“ Just take it, dear” she smiled. “ Or you
want to start forming big boy?” she
added and they laughed. Jake smiled and
accepted the money.
“ Thank you ma.” He said.
“Okay, boys.” she said as she opened her
car. “ I'm off. I will check on you from time
to time. Remember to study well and stay
away from distractions. Make friends but
sensible ones. Socialize and interact with
people. Don’t join bad gangs okay? And
always remember to pray.” She hugged Jake
and gave a tighter hug to Daniel which he
rolled his eyes at but he smiled at returned
her embrace all the same. “You know..” she
whispered in his ear. “ You are the exact
copy of your father. In image and character.
Even if he isn’t here, I have you to remind
me of him and that is all I ever want. I love
you, my baby.”
“ Love you too, mom.” He whispered back
and rubbed his hands soothingly over her
back. Daniel never knew his father as he
died two months after he was born and the
cause of his death was never known. His
mom and paternal grandfather had been
the only family he knew and they made sure
to take care of him. Overprotective? sure.
But they were the best people in his life and
he wouldn’t trade them for anyone.