Those days

I remember the day i received a notification of my admission into the university,the joy and happiness that flooded in me was divine.i remembered how long I have waited to finally receive that even though the wait was just 2 years. The frustration of those days I don't ever want to remember. After I received my first admission letter but there was no money to pay I had to decline the admission and look towards the next year, at least with that ,my family would be able to plan better for my finances.

I prepared to go to school buying all sort of new things as expected , new clothes, shoes, bags even though it was but a few and used. I washed ,ironed and packed them in clean bags.

The night before I traveled to school, mama called me , prayed for long hours and gave me series of advice ,one of which was "to be careful with men".. emphasis was on it because

I guess as a young girl with raging fantasies of a new life needed to hear that and somehow that didn't really go well in the long run

I woke up early the next morning to prepare for my journey to school which was two states away from home..a journey of 6 hours.i didn't have a place to stay yet and I have never being there before so I had to reside with my grand aunt for a little while before I finally settled in an apartment.

The journey went easy but the price inflation of transportation wasn't. As a newbie in town I guess was clearly written all over me, cab and bike riders coerced around me asking for description to my destination..one even going to the extent of carrying my bags inside his cab like he already knew my destination and thereafter giving me a price beyond my budget ,after a little while of haggling and arguing, he finally succumbed to a Price which I realised later on was still inflated and above the regular price.

I got to my grand aunt's place late in the afternoon .one of her daughters whose name I later knew was sharon helped me with my luggages while guiding me from the junction to the house.On getting in ,I saw her other children sitting in the living room and playing games not Minding who was that that came in ..my aunt was anxious waiting for me and with a warm welcome hugged and checked me like I was a doll .That was the first time seeing each other and immediately she called my mom to Inform her of my safe trip.

Sis Sharon took me to a room which she stays with her younger sis lizzy.The room was way too small for two grown up adult to sleep in . Two flat student sized bed, a sewing machine resting at the opposite side of the bed, wigs hanging on the wall, worn out bags too small to contain the amount of cloth in it displayed at the far end of the room.I motioned to where I was told to keep my things and carefully dropped them before heading back to the living room.

I sat beside my aunt who was picking vegetables , I volunteered to help her which she declined at first but courtesy won't allow me to just sit and stare without trying to help out . suddenly a young and pregnant lady walked in from the kitchen whom I later discovered was the wife of one of her sons she welcomed me so well and she never for once all through my stay there made me feel alone .she was a tall ,ebony skinned ,and slender her hair as dark as her skin and her eyes as dark as the night .my grand aunt otherwise was short ,fat with a very round face.her children, 4boys and two girls were graduates and some students at various colleges .I settled down, took my bath and assisted in the kitchen even though my aunt wasn't quite comfortable with that being my first time of visiting,but I helped out anyway . after eating and taking a shower ,in the night , her husband came back from work and I was introduced to him who welcomed me warmly .I got to talk to the children or should I say my extended cousins before finally taking the night devotion which was led by their dad and was extremely long for a night devotion I'd say .each children took turns praying and reading a verse from the bible and explaining in details what they learnt excluding me because it was my first time and I was treated nicely but that didn't happen in the morning as I wasn't left out in the turn taking.

After staying there for more than two weeks I finally moved out to my apartment, with a girl I met online who became my roommate and a short term companion.she was 4 years older than I and quite small for her age.i was 18 while she was 22.we both settled down looking forward to the new life as an undergraduate.

School finally resumed and I was as anxious as any other fresher on campus. I woke up early in the morning ate and cleaned up , I made sure I wore a very nice clothe because who knows, anything and anyone could approach you.getting outside my apartment I was surprised at the number of student streaming out from various corners I haven't for once taken a thought on seeing so many people and less buses to convey student to school.it was a battle and a survival for the fittest and that ruined my first day. I was lucky enough to get on a quick bus with an inflated price as t-fare ,but I was still grateful because I got to school quite early and enough time to locate the lecture room. After series of approach and questions plus deception from people I eventually found my class which without checking the time i barged into the class thinking I was already late for lectures until the lecturer called me to ask if I was a member of the class and instantaneously I realised I was in a wrong class , though the right one for my supposed lecture . I eventually realised that the ongoing class was for the Islamic student .I was so embarrassed, announcing myself as a fresher to everyone with my attitude but thankfully, the lecturer didn't reproach me but instead cajoled me to join the class which I respectfully declined.at last my lecture commenced and it was indeed rigorous.the lecturer didn't take it easy on us , we were grouped as well as given a personal assignment to be submitted in the next class. I must confess, that lecture really took a troll on me and thankfully that was the only lecture I had for the day . Time moved pretty fast and an elective course took must of the time I had for leisure for that semester . The course was a theatrical course which will be performed in the school theater as part of the grading thereby making us to rehearse day and night and most times returning to our Various homes very late at night .I made a few friends as well but I must confess ,the rehearsals were full of fun and punishment. One of the few friends I had eventually became my first romance.

One cool evening while sitting inside my room, new neighbors arrived into one of the empty apartment upstairs.they were two brothers and a cousin.one of which was the author of the play I was a doing. I recognized him and quickly introduced myself to him , his younger brother as well.we eventually started to talk slowly.one day I got bitten by a scorpion in my room and a friend of mine known as Dan came to my aid , he came with his friend who was the younger brother of my dear author they requested for help and was finally assisted , thankfully it wasn't something critical.The next day I went to him to thank him and his friend and that was how myself and Rolex became good friends , we shared everything from food stuffs to clothes , we were really a family.

The semester was gradually coming to an end , we performed our play which was a traditional drama, and was awarded a " B" - that was not so good though compared to our efforts and presentation .some cried and some were happy that it finally came to an end while I on the other end just wanted to go home and relax .I waved my friends goodbye and Rolex and I went home together , mind you Rolex was in the department of anatomy while I studied English and literary studies. On getting home I decided to freshen up and go relax at Rokex's, but then something happened.He kissed me.

At first I thought it was a mistake but then he did again..I got angry and left and the second day he approached me to apologise .I forgave him and we moved on we started to talk more often after the play and after writing my first semester examination, he traveled home while I remained in school.we chatted pretty well until he eventually one day asked me if I would be his girlfriend . without thinking twice I said yes , even though something inside me didn't approve with it but then I gave in to my feelings instead .we resumed for the second semester and our relationship blossomed.his brother and siblings became aware. I considered him a good friend and companion until a Day came when I eventually knew it was all a facade .

I was walking to his apartment one day when I heard the conversation between him and Dan ,a supposed friend and brother, using me as a topic of discussion . insulting and humiliating my self esteem , initiating how cheap I was to have fallen in Iove so quickly ,I couldn't tolerate it anymore and had to barge in, I didn't say a word but my countenance declared my infuriation. I hated myself, cried all night , thinking how stupid and gullible I was .that was the last thing I ever wanted to experience from a guy .I was one who was always afraid to open up myself to a guy after a series if sexual abuse in the past and then this happened,oh I wanted to kill myself.my roommate didn't understand what was going on and didn't bother to ask either.I was left alone and ashamed.after a week I wore my bruises inside my garment and made up my mind never to speak to him again or make friends with any other guy but then that was only short lived.

After a month he called me to apologise to me . telling me everything we ever had began to make sense to him after the incident and he was truly sorry.in the midsts of the conversation I realized I indeed still had feelings for him and without thinking twice, I accepted and declared his intentions genuine and so we started to date again.we dated for 3 years .I ended up the relationship eventually because I couldn't manage my family and personal trauma with a love life.and if still asked today to go back to him ,,I will surely succumb for he was indeed my first true love .

Stella looked at me after keeping quite for a long time ,then she asked

" Would you like to tell the story? It sure looked like you got more you wanna talk about .I stared at her for a long time before finally saying ;" not yet, maybe some other time".