Chapter 5, Episode 4

Last updated on December 30th, 2023 at 04:11 pm

I was at the bus park. It felt like I came back home yesterday and now I had to go back to school, thankfully I already found an I.T placement. It was at one of Daddy’s friend’s company. I had to convince my parents to let Elizabeth drop me so we could have more time to gist.

While we waited for other passengers, I stayed in the car with Elizabeth as she talked to her camera. After a while, she dropped her camera and turned the radio on. Soon we were jamming to the song blaring from the speakers.

“Madam!” Elizabeth tapped me and reduced the volume of the radio.

“Ehn? Ogini?” Apparently, she had been calling me, but I did not hear it over the music.

“Madam, so what’s the exact plan with this Tochi dude? You know I am your accountability partner, I need to know how you intend to achieve your plans.”

“Na wa o. Okay, I would like you to know that I have blocked him.”

“That’s good, that’s good. But what about when you get to school?”

“Well, if you mean me avoiding him. I would try to avoid him since I know his route and schedule.”

“So, when he comes to your hostel?”

“Honestly, I don’t know.”

“I can switch my room but I am only in school for about two months before I begin my internship. Is it worth the stress?”

“True, true. Just know your ‘why’ and you should be good.” My why. I really didn’t have a substantial reason for doing this. It was a subtle feeling. He was not toxic, he was friendly and caring. But sometimes his jokes got to me, I guess I was sensitive. Like how he jokingly taunted me with my height. He was also cavalier many times, but that was it. I didn’t know my why, frankly.

“I have heard you, sweetheart. Thanks for dropping me.”

“Aunty wey dey car, why you come garage if you know say you get car wey fit carry you go where you dey go.” One of the guys at the park shouted, obviously talking to me. Elizabeth and I shuffled out of the car.

***

I had been in school for over two weeks now and successfully avoided Tochi. Many times, I’d been tempted to pass by his hostel or department just to see if we would see each other. It was weird that we had not seen each other in such a long time. Well, about a month now including the holiday.

I didn’t know if blocking him was the right thing to do. Was it too harsh? I was sure that by now he had gotten the message that I was avoiding him and had decided to allow me to be. I would do the same too considering this was not even the first time I blocked him. But what’s the big deal? We were just friends, why did I want so much accountability?

I was spiralling. I picked up my phone and dialled my mum instead. I needed some of her stories to distract me. Just a month more—roughly four weeks. 

“Hello, my baby.”

“Mummy, how are you?”

“I am great. How is my Angel?”

“Fine o. I wanted to-”

“Angel, honey. I am a little busy right now, can I call you back?” My mum was a matron in a big hospital. Many times, she was even busier than my dad though she tried to make time for us. So I understood whenever she couldn’t talk on the phone.

“Okay, mum,” I replied feeling deflated. What to do?

…

Please leave a comment below and share if you enjoyed it!