This is a story from imagination but also real in some other world.
I was narrating my ordeal with my Social Studies teacher to my sisters when our mother barge in after listening to the story outside their door. She praised me and went on to advise my three sisters against pushing their teachers to the limit. While she spoke, Omar, my only brother entered the room with a good news – he had been offered admission to study Law in Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. Ummi promised us all a big celebration of the news once our father is back. And Omar also mentioned that Dad had promised to get him a smart phone for his admission. But until he came, we all sat outside, drank Zobo and listened to Ummi’s stories about her admission and how Omar’s own will be a life changer for him.
Ummi started with a particular scene at her screening venue which involved Salma Mohammed and a young lecturer. Salma came for the same screening but was quite frustrated with the delay. She expressed her frustration by making harsh remarks about lecturers even to the face of a young man who, unknown to her and others, was the Screening Officer. The students were shocked when the young man entered the office after it was cleaned and Salma was full of shame. Afterwards, Ummi proceeded to the department for her Matric.Number. The secretary ushered her into the office of the HOD’s who seemed to be making advances at her and that got Ummi angry.
Back home, dad mentioned our quiet neighbour and how humans were unpredictable. That reminded Ummi of the experience she had during her registration, especially in the HOD office.Upon hearing the HOD’s incident and after laughing, dad told Ummi that the HOD was his friend and that he was the one that helped him with her admission.Knowing that dad and HOD were friends, Ummi was no longer angry nor embarrassed about the office incident. Omar then asked for the story of the “quiet neighbour” and Ummi started. A couple had been childless for long and decided to visit a native doctor after which they had a boy child. He was named Talle because his mother died shortly after his birth and was called “the quiet one” because he spoke less. Talle worked as a Local Government driver but after losing his both parents, he suddenly started to spend a lot more money than he used to, which called for suspicion. So much that Hakimi, the District Head, invited him over to defend his sudden source of wealth.However, While they spoke, the police barged in asking for Talle who accompanied Zaki to kidnap a boy for ransom. Talle, the quiet one, was then taken by the police and never again seen in Lafayette community. Ummi rounded up Talle’s story by advising us, especially me, not to trust anyone.
The story of Salma continued. After her screening, she proceeded to complete her registration in the 100 Level coordinator’s office of Dr Dabo. Dabo was a disciplined lecturer but on seeing Salma, he tried to ask her out. Salma refused his attempt and also insulted Dr Dabo who immediately felt remorseful. Next was hostel registration, which Salma completed at Queen Amina Hall. At first, Salma disliked her roommates who were Tomiwa, Ngozi and Ada, but later, she grew to like them all, especially Tomiwa. A disagreement almost ruined their friendship one day when Salma was on her way back to school from home. Two men, Habib and Labaran, in a Benz had stopped to offer her a ride to school which she accepted... The next evening, Tomiwa’s phone rang. It was Habib. Apparently, Salma had lied to Habib that she was Tomiwa and also gavehim her roommate’s phone number when he asked for hers. Towima was told to play along to the lie and she did. She went out with Habib who happened to be a Politician andLabaran, his driver. Habib confronted Tomiwa for impersonating Salma but they sorted it out and Tomiwa came back with lots of goodies from Habib, which got Salma jealous. So jealous that she insulted her roommates and they had a disagreement but settled that same night. Desperate Salma eventually ended up dating Labaran and was disappointed that he was, indeed, Habib’s driver. The girls continued with their peaceful and friendly lives, their academic grades were very good but something happened during their final paper.
THE LIFE CHANGER
Ummi continued.
She stated her easy the final paper of Moral Philosophy was, and that Salma had read only the past questions because they were been repeated for 3 years and counting. In the exam hall, Salma was shocked to see that past questions were not repeated and with that, Salma knew no answer to any of the questions. Kolawole Abdul soon yielded to her persuasion, wrote some answers on a sheet and sneaked it to Salma. An invigilator later caught Salma with the expo and made her sign the EMAL form. Kolawole signed too but only as a witness because he wasn’t caught. However, Salma implicated Kolawole and they were both expelled. At first, Salma tried to escape the expulsion by asking Habib to help her with his position as the Speaker of the House, but Habib only knew Dabo whom she had insulted during her registration. Eventually, Salma slept with Habib for a substantial of money to bribe the Chairman of the Malpractice Committee. She met Dr. Muhammed Kabir who posed as the Committee Chairman and duped her of N100,000, part of the money gotten from Habib. On the day of her trial, She neither found Dr Kabir as the Chairman nor member of the Committee and out of frustration, she mistakenly mentioned Kolawole’s name
Muhammed Kabir was neither a Doctor nor part of the EXEC but he was a Laboratory Technologists in the University and also a chronic gambler. Meanwhile, Salma had told Labaran how she was duped. She cried for justice, and so Labaran hired Zaki to go after Kabir. Habib permitted it but was not comfortable with Zaki again because he had once sent him to kidnap a young boy but he involved Talle and they both failed the mission which almost implicated him. At the gambling joint, Kabir won N300,000 but when he left after winning, a thug was sent after him and Zaki also followed. The thug attacked Kabir. Zaki attacked the thug, collected all the money from Kabir and took it to Labaran who, for personal reasons, refused to give it back to Habib. Omar asked if Habib ever got punished and Ummi replied that Salma didn’t say but there’s always justice after death. That reminded Ummi of the death of Salma’s father. It happened while she was still i school and Ngozi and Tomiwa had argued over the reasons why Muslims bury their deadfaster than Christians. At one point, Teemah teased Omar about chasing girls with his phone and that again reminded Ummi of a nasty experience Salim once had with chatting. Salim was a guy that Salma later went into a serious relationship with. He started online dating after get his new Samsung phone and soon encountered a beautiful girl on one of the social media. Salim asked his friend, Lawal, to follow him to her place. Lawal refused and Salim went alone but soon came back disappointed because the girl was not as beautiful as her displayed picture. Lawal was advising his friend to quit and that reminded Salim of another ordeal he once had with the same online dating. He told the full story to Lawal of how a prostitute was used to used to almost hijack his car. Salim concluded to shun all those dangerous adventures and settle down with Salma. In the end, Teemah teased Omar again and Ummi suggested that they should altogether tell their Dad about Omar’s admission once he got back.