The Housemates – Episode 28

THE HOUSEMATES – Episode 28

A story by Kennedy C Katongo

 

ILLUSIONS.

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Rose who had a rough day kept her mouth zipped and abstained from making any comment on the issue.

“So you are saying building a relationship is vital?” Bwalya asked.

“Its not just vital, it’s a must. Having such doesn’t make one fill fulfilled. In fact, it just increases ones emptiness and void. That’s why making out is for those who share a bond, a connection. That way you don’t feel used at the end of the sex.” Maluba commented.

“Guys, some of us are still watching the movie…” Max jumped in.

Both Maluba and Bwalya complained as the spark of their chat had just caught fire. However, they kept silent as the awkwardness continued in the TV room.

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“Hi… Can I have a word with you?” Samuel asked as he called Maluba. Max was teaching a class at as this was happening.

“Hey Samuel!” She responded as she stopped in her steps. Samuel wasted no time and rushed to were she stood.

“How are you doing?” He greeted her. Gathering all the ounce of courage in his body to approach her wasn’t an easy thing. But this had to be done.

“Am fine thanks.” She responded with a smile.

Maluba was aware that Samuel was attracted to her. From time to time their eyes would lock as she could find him strongly gazing at her from a distance in the staffroom.

She had not approached him about it, after a few weeks at the School, it was obvious Samuel wasn’t going to man up and actually talk to her in the absence of Max. But that didn’t seem to be the case .

“I was kinda Wondering, are you going to be free this weekend?” He asked her.

“Not really. Unless something will come up which I hardly doubt.” She giggled.

“I was thinking maybe we can meet up, you know, take a walk or something…” Samuel said. One of his feet kept hitting the break that covered the flower bed. It was certain he was nervous and anxious about the whole thing – after all, getting denied by a lady is the only thing that he feared.

“Oh! That would really be nice. I will have to get back to you about it though…” Maluba added.

“Sure thing. I mean we still have like three days before weekend after all.” He commented shyly.

“But if you would like to chat, am going to be in the Debate Club Class, Max is going to be observing me.” She smiled.

“That sounds like a plan.” He responded in a rush.

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“Okay. this marks the end of today’s class. Any questions?” Max always had a habit of asking if his pupils had questions at the end of his teaching. These questions where not limited to academics only.

A young boy raised his hand with a smile, Max immediately pointed at him. It was like this was the segment that everyone in class looked forward too.

“Sir, I wanted to find out… Is it okay to give a girl money in a relationship?” He asked.

The class exploded in a applause as everyone was excited about the question. “Give us iwe!” The voices of those from the back echoed loudly.

Max couldn’t help himself but blush before he could respond to the question.

“Its an interesting question. His asking what many young adults have failed to actually figure out. Many relationships have actually ended because couples never address the topic of money.” Max said as he walked around the class. His black jacket following behind, perfecting his awesomeness.

“In a case were you are dating, yes, you are required to help your partner with money.” He said as he wrote his answer on the black board. All the girls in the room began blushing and smiling with a bit of giggles flying around.

“Take note of my answer, follow it word by word and you will notice that it does not hang to a specific gender.” As he spoke, he continued and underlined the words REQUIRED, HELP and also PARTNER WITH MONEY.

“You all know my love for debate. So treat this answer like a motion. That means it’s not just about the sentence but about every word that Is present in that sentence.” “Now to shade more light on the answer, Giving money is the duty of both the boyfriend and girlfriend, please note that giving her/him money is not an obligation but a requirement to meet a specific need, not excluding appreciation. Many people think a man should give a girl money but neglect the fact that a girl needs to give a man money as well.” Max smiled as he spoke. The class was silent, it was like the young ones where confused. The girls began to murmur.

Max got his books and laptop as he prepared to leave, “A relationship is a contract between two individuals. That means both have a role to play to ensure that the conditions stipulated on that paper are met. Don’t just date without knowing what the benefits of that relationship are going to be. See you next week Monday.” He said as he walked out.

On his way down the corridor to the staff room, he ran into Doris. It had been a while since the two had a chat.

The weirdness that he felt not knowing what to do, was he going to say hi? or just walk by.

“Morning Sir!” She said warmly.

“Hi Doris, how are you?” He responded.

“Am okay. I was expecting your message but you just left me on seen.” She said. They were now standing on the way to the offices as they spoke.

“I totally forgot.” Max responded in shock. After all, he didn’t think she was serious when she texted him her number and asked him to text.

“I knew you were going to say something like that.” She sighed disappointedly, “Give me your line and I will text you.”

Max thought of hesitating but nope! that didn’t work, he ended up giving her his line.

“Thank you.” She said as she walked away.

Max just smiled and continued on his way, the last thing on his mind was hoping to find Samuel already in the staff room.

“Hello…”

“Hi sir!”

Max was liked and adored by many pupils at campus, he didn’t hit any corner without being greeted by someone. When he got to the staff room, Samuel sat behind a hip of books that he was marking.

“I’ve never liked marking books.” He commented with a laugh.

“You ain’t a teacher until you marking something.” Samuel responded as he popped his head from behind the books.

“How was your class?” He asked with a smile. He couldn’t wait to tell him of his little ran down with Maluba.

“It was lovely, seems like we really need a councilor at this school after all. These kids have questions that they need answers too fast. Otherwise teenage pregnancies will still be coming up.” Max responded as he sat down. “Don’t you think it’s weird that we are always the ones who are early for lunch?” He added.

“And I thought am the only one who noticed.” Samuel laughed.

“You seem happy, what’s going on?”

“Am always happy, you just don’t notice Sir!” Samuel responded with a wider smile.

“Okay, spill the beans. What’s going on?” Max said as he moved closer to sit next to his friend.

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“What! She seriously said she would think about it?” Max exclaimed. He was as surprised as a owl.

“Oh! and I thought the only thing that would surprise you was me finally standing up and approaching her.” Samuel commented.

Max laughed, “I always knew you could do it. Hope you didn’t drink anything.” Max said jokingly.

“You two again!” A deep voice sounded from the door. It was Big MP, His small necktie sleeping on his tummy with no shame at all.

“Hi sir!” Both Samuel and Max said.

“How come you two are always first… hope you don’t ditch your classes.” He said as he walked in.

If only he knew how passionate the two were about teaching. He went to the fridge and got a bottle of mineral water and left them. Just then, other teachers began to walk in and the staff too was flooded.

Just then, Max received a text from an unknown number.

UNKNOWN: “Hi sir!”

MAX: “Can I please know who this is?”

UNKNOWN: “Try and guess.”

MAX: “Am not the guessing type, so if you can’t Tell me who you are then am going to block you.”

UNKNOWN: “Sorry. This is Doris.”

MAX: “Okay, I will save your line.”

DORIS: “I wanted to find out, I hear there is going to be be Debate Class today in the afternoon. Since am not a member can i come?”

Max raised his head to check if their was someone who was being nosey. He got his phone and passed it to Samuel who was still busy buried in his books.

“What is it?” He asked as he got the phone.

“Just read. and if you can reply kindly do.” Max said in a low voice to avoid catching the other Teachers attention.

Samuel took one look at the messages and began smiling as he typed. Instead of showing Max to approve of the message, he went on to just send it.

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– What If the sky were turning red!

– I know you would be safe, right here in my bed.

– Laying face to face!

Maluba was busy singing as she sat in her car. Little did she know that someone was listening to her.

“What song is that?” He said sharply. Almost hitting her head on the dash board by the sound of the unexpected voice.

“Am sorry I scared you…” He said with a smile.

“It’s okay don’t worry. Its ah! 2012.” She responded with her hand on her forehead.

The man that spoke to her was in his mid 30s if she wasn’t mistaken.

°°°°°TO BE CONTINUED°°°°°