The Inferrer

3

"Are you sure you are with your photo card? Don't forget to put your phone on silent and remember to call me when you are there!" Her mother said to her. "Yes ma!" She replied. Her mum practically woke her up by 4am that she should start reading her book reminding her that she is writing her jamb that morning.

'But mum I have been preparing for it all these while let me have a good sleep now'  she whined.

'No oo okomi, today is the day you need to prepare hard, oya start reading.' She read till 6am, performed her solat and do some house chores before time because her dad would be the one to drop her at the jamb center.

"Use your seat belt my baby." Her dad said. Bringing her back to the atmosphere.

"Okay dad!" She did has instructed. Her dad put on music from his car stereo and they sang along.

"My love I trust you so much not to let me down, I wished you success my baby girl, don't forget to call me when you are through, remember daddy loves you" Mr Adeyanju said.

"Thanks Daddy i love you much more" she replied and blew her dad a kiss while she get down from the car. She saw several students standing outside the school gate used has a JAMB center, she joined them as well.

'It is still early in the morning and this sun is doing no good to my body.' I lamented. Looking around I found a big stone I rolled it under a tree near where am standing earlier and sat on it, then I brought out my phone reading the JAMB PDF sent to me by my tutor.

"Hello can I join you in reading?" I heard from a cool voice.

"No problem, you are welcome" I replied and I shift a little for him to sit on and we began reading together, few minutes into reading I look up to see a Lady on a big hijab, from her head to her toes, including socks and gloves. I usually see them in this clothes 'What's is this called? Why is she standing under the sun?' I questioned myself absentmindedly.
Even when I didn't dress like her, I'm feeling much heat not to talk of someone who covered everything in her body. She turned to my side and saw me staring. Did she hear my thoughts? I quickly said my greetings to her. "Salam alaikum". I greeted but she doesn't replied. 'What is wrong with her? Why didn't she replied?' I asked myself subconsciously.

"This people with big hijab sef, that's how they do, you will greet them yet they won't reply neither would they greet you first." I looked beside me to know where the voice is coming from, it's from the stranger I met few minutes ago, he is even rolling his eyes to what he said.

"Don't judge people based on what you see or hear instead be different! At least you should have given her an excuse that she didn't hear you" I scold him. Then I turned to the Lady.
"Salam alaikum sis, am a Muslim, Maryam is my name, do you mind sitting on this stone here under this shade?" I said pointing to a stone near where am sitting.

"Walaikum Salam warahmotullah wabarakatuh, thanks for your kind gesture" she said and smiled, bringing the stone to sit close to me. I gave the stranger a look of 'you see now.' "Am Sekinah, nice to meet you" she said as she extend her hands for a shake.

"it's my pleasure". I replied. "Meet..." I couldn't finish my statement as I don't know the name of the stranger beside me.

"Moses!" The stranger finished for me then I realized we've not introduce our names to each other.  Sekinah only smiled at him. We read together and asked questions amid ourselves, I realized that we have different questions, we treat them together  till it was time for our exam. We stroll in and sit differently.

The air conditioner in the exam hall did no justice to my nervousness, I was sweating and my palms are already wet, they began shaky after a while, I managed to calm myself after some minutes and answered the questions. Very few of what I read was in the questions, I couldn't blame myself for my sleepless nights for this particular exam. Luckily most of the questions Sekinah, Moses and I treated together was asked. I owe them, I think.  After I'm done, I still scroll down to check if I answered the questions well, when I'm sure of it, I clicked submit and went out of the hall.

"Oh! Thank God! Finally, I'm done with it. God please bless it for me" I uttered with a sigh. The exam is hard abeg, they wan kill somebody's daughter, I said soliloquizing to myself. "Hey!" I heard, I  turn to see whom it was, I'm not surprised to see the Moses guy. "Hello! How was it?" I asked.

"It was fine ooo" he replied singly. I smiled at his reply. Sekinah walk up to us.

"How was it?" she questioned, asking no one in particular.

"It was fine" Moses and I replied chorously.

"It's okay! Barakallah fee Kum" she said. I don't even know what that means, I only looked at her puzzledly,even Moses has the same awkward look on his face, I shrugged.

"Okay guys can we exchange numbers?" I asked to lighten the mood. We exchange numbers and left separate ways.

Sitted in the bus, waiting for passengers to come in. I and two women were the only one in the bus, shortly after a man joined us. By then I'm already suffocating. 'God the heat is too much, I wish I could have carried the AC(air conditioner) at the exam hall with me'. I thought inwardly.

🎵🎵 Afefe ire, daakun fe wa so do mi o
Bami gbe ire wa le jo wo o🎵

My phone is ringing, who could that be? I said absentmindedly bringing it out from the small bag I carried will me. Mum! I forget to call her.

"Hello beautiful angel, I was about to call you now" I lied.

"Ose okomi, iyeru okin olofa mojo, wa pass lagbara olohun, have been praying for you since, may the Lord bless what you have written and pass you graciously, adura mi lo ri e agba, esi Ayo lama gbo, orimi to sin e lo aje ki o moke, ori ti e no oni ta ko e..."

She kept on praying and praying, all I was saying is 'Amin.' I'm tired already and the prayers seems to increase the level of my tiredness. 'God! this woman should just wait for me to come home!' I screamed to myself. After what seems like forever, she ends the call.

On getting home I'm already weak to the core. The journey seems longer than I thought, it was the same route I passed through this morning, perhaps, it was because the bus has to stop at every bus-stop for passengers to come in and go down and it was Dad that take me through the route this morning.
I managed to call Sekinah and Moses to know if they are at home already, I got a positive response from them, I just took my bath, eat and sleep tiredlessly.