Tiwatope’s Redemption – Episode 2
Tiwatope’s Redemption – Episode 2
By Kayode Odusanya
They had gone off to get an early breakfast after the party, and it was dawn by the time George drove her back to school. She asked him to drop her off a few meters from her hostel gate. Even though she didn’t give a rat’s a$$ what anyone thought of her at this point, she still didn’t like being dropped off by a guy this early in the morning; it went against her independent woman rules.
George was one of her cool male friends who never seemed able to cross the friend-zone with her, and this outing was just like the previous ones; safe. She knew he had been bragging amongst his friends that he had slept with her, but she didn’t care.
It was exactly 7:25am by the time she dropped from George’s black Mercedes Benz, and there were already students rushing off to class. At the club the night before, she had been walking around in jeans and just a white bra top, showing her flat belly; but now she had a denim jacket on, and a face cap she got from Gorge to cover her face. She didn’t think it would do much to hide her identity anyway as her signature full curly black hair always gave her away.
She stopped by a kiosk on the road-side to get peppermint, and as she continued her slow walk to the hostel, someone startled her with, “Hey! What’s up?” She turned around to be face with face with the weird guy from her class she had seen outside David’s room yesterday night. He was wearing an oversize black short sleeve shirt and had a smile on his face. His well combed afro made him appear taller than she had remembered him being. Without responding, she kept walking.
She wondered why he didn’t get the hint, as he kept walking by her side. ‘What the hell is he is so happy about?’ she thought to herself, pissed off at his smiley face.
“Ours is worthy of thanks.” He said all of a sudden.
“What the…” she was saying and stopped to hold her head in pain. “What the hell are you talking about? And why are you following me?”
“Your name; the meaning of your name is ours is worthy of thanks.” She stared at him with a puzzled look on her face as she continued to walk in silence. “I looked it up yesterday.” He added.
“Wait. Why are you looking up my name? Are you some sort of stalker?” They had reached the front of her hostel gate now, and she stopped walking. He still had the silly smile on his face as he crossed to the other side of the road and waved at her.
She stood there, confused, watching him walk away, and then he turned around and said, “See you later. We have Professor Ojo by 9 am.” Disoriented, she opened the peppermint in her hand, popped two in her mouth, and walked into her hostel.
___
The text message read, ‘Tiwa, I can’t deal with your ways any longer. We are over.’ She stared at her phone screen till it went to sleep mode and she saw the bags under her eyes from her reflection on the Samsung’s screen. She sighed, put the phone back in her hand bag, and looked up at the lanky professor gesticulating in front of her. The man said something and laughed. He stopped laughing when no one joined him. Maybe the joke was funny back in 1977, Tiwatope thought to herself. She looked back to see if anyone had understood the joke, but everyone had tired looks on their face. Her eyes caught someone smiling and waving at the extreme right corner in the back, and when she focused, she saw it was the weird guy again. She stared at him with a frown on her face for a few seconds, and then looked away.
Her stomach growled and the girl sitting next to her looked at her with a smile. She smiled back at her. The chocolate bar she ate in her car last night was the last edible she had had; everything that had gone into her system afterwards had been liquid. Her principle was never to party back to back, but she broke her rule yesterday because of some memories that she didn’t want resurfacing.
“Don’t forget your field trip is next week Thursday.” The professor said as he prepared to leave. There was a thunderous “YES SIR!” from the students and the man had a smile on his face as he walked out of the lecture theater. Tiwatope rubbed her eyes as she thought of what to do next. Instinctively, she looked back, towards where her stalker was seated and saw him pushing through a sea of people, heading her way. She quickly grabbed her bag and headed out of the class.
……….
After having a plate of fried rice and chicken at her favorite cafeteria on campus, she felt refreshed. Sitting in the cool joint, picking her teeth with a plastic toothpick, she saw one of her boyfriend’s friends, Chuka driving into the premises. Not wanting to talk to anyone right now, she quickly got up and started heading out. Just as she made it past his white VW Jetta, he yelled out her name, “Tiwa!” She cursed under her breath before turning around with a smile. He got out of his car, leaned on diver’s side door and waved her over. She reluctantly walked over to him. He was about the same size as her boyfriend; tall and buff.
“So, word around campus is that you are now single.” He said with his signature baritone voice as he adjusted the collar of the red Arsenal football jersey he had on. She lifted her eyebrows, like, ‘what are you talking about.’ She was standing a few inches away from him and he pulled her even closer. He smiled a mischievous smile when she got out of his hold and took some steps back. She straightened out the white gown she had on and adjusted her silver wristwatch. “Nothing leaves the circle Tiwa. Nothing leaves the circle.” He said in a low voice. “Do you understand?”
She still had the quizzical look on her face even though she had an idea what he was talking about.
From the corner of her eye, she saw him walking towards them; as usual, he had a smile on his face. She turned to face him and gave him a look that said, you don’t want to get mixed up in this, but he kept approaching.
“Tiwa, is this guy bothering you?” He said as he walked over to her side.
“No…no…” she stuttered.
“Are you sure?” He said as he stepped in front of Tiwatope and sized up Chuks. It was a funny sight. Although he was a few inches taller than Chuks, he was a skinny guy, and anyone looking would bet on Chuks to win in a fight.
Tiwatope pulled him to the side, and in a whisper, said, “Do you know who that guy is? Please, just go.” He smiled and stepped up to Chuks again. “It seems you’re trying to intimidate my friend. You should know better than that.” He said.
Chuks had a smile on his face as he looked from Tiwatope, to the skinny guy in front of him, and then back to Tiwatope.” He laughed lightly and then got in his car. As he backed the car out of the spot he had parked it, he looked at Tiwatope’s savior one last time before zooming off.
To be continued