Vagrants

Chapter 39

The exams went on for days as everyone worked very hard to fulfill their duties. Myself and Mr. Akinola were marking the scripts one afternoon. We just finished conducting Economics exam for the SS2 students. I had told him that we needed to mark them immediately instead of piling them up while waiting for the day the SS1 and SS3 students would have their papers.

"So Adeola, how are you?" He asked.

"Sir?" I found this, way out of the blue. He never really asked me that. We only ever spoke about school work or the students.

"I asked how you were doing."

"Oh, I'm fine. Thank you sir."

"And your baby?"

"It's fine sir."

"And it's Father?"

I swallowed hard. Damba's face appeared in my mind's eye. "Fine too. Thank you sir."

"I hope all of you are fine and not stress..."

"How many papers do we have left to mark sir?" I asked.

He looked across the table. "About 55 or so."

"Okay." I hoped he'd keep quiet while I continued marking quietly.

"So your boyfriend or husband, where...?"

"I don't want to talk about it sir." I was at the brink of tears.

"Why?"

I sighed. "He ditched me."

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that."

"Thank you."

"Adeola," He touched my hand. "You've been a good person to..."

I shoved his hand away and got up. "I think we should split the scripts and take them home to mark."

"Why? You were fine with marking here." He paused. "Did I do something wrong?"

Yes, you did! Why did you touch me?! I don't like guys touching me, ever since Damba, I found guys disgusting. But since this one is just friendly and cares about my well-being, I let it go.

"No, I'm just tired. Thank you." I took half of the scripts and put them in my bag.

"Okay." He smiled. "If you need help, you can turn to me. You've been a great person to everyone so I wouldn't mind helping you in any way I can."

"Thank you!" I said and walked away.

*

I walked into Cassandra's house angrily to see her marking scripts.

"Why are you vexing?" She asked.

"Mr. Akinola touched me!" I hissed. "I hate when guys touch me."

"Abi his touch sent a shiver through your..."

"Ayanma! Never!" Eew! I hissed. "Why do you think I'd like that man?"

"I'm just joking now." She got up. "Oya come and sit down."

She offered me water. "Thank you."

It made me calm so I smiled at her.

She smiled back. "What do you want to eat?"

"I'm not hun..."

"Who is talking to you? My baby jare, what will you eat?"

"The baby said he is not..."

Cassandra put on a serious face. "Adeola, you're not taking care of yourself. How will the baby grow if you don't feed it?"

"I..."

"Let me go and warm rice for you to eat. Even if it is small that you would eat, just make sure you put food in your mouth."

"Okay."

Cassandra went to the kitchen to re-heat the already cooked rice while I was busy marking the scripts with the guidelines Mr. Akinola gave me.

She came out after a while and hissed. "You this girl. Stop overworking yourself."

"I'm not."

She moved the scripts aside and placed the food there. "Eat up now. You must finish it oh."

I smiled. "Okay, thank you."

She continued marking her scripts while I ate.

Afterwards, I continued marking the scripts while listening to music on Bluetooth speaker. I had reduced the volume so as not to disturb Cassandra when she increased the volume.

"You think I don't like noise. I can even dance."

"Is that so?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Should I dance Shaku shaku for you?"

"No. Continue marking your scripts."

She chuckled. "You this girl. You are scared that I might dance better than you."

"Whatever. Sha finish marking your script on time so we can watch a movie together."

"Really? We're going to the cinema?"

"No oh. There are movies on my tablet." The tablet didn't actually belong to me. I couldn't afford it. It belonged to Damba. I had found it among his things so I started using it.

"So which movie are we going to watch?"

"Finish what you're doing first then we would watch it later."

She nodded and we both continued working in silence. When we were done, none of us spoke about watching the movie. We were both tired that we drifted off to sleep immediately.