Double Spear-Episode one

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Professor Osarodion drew his cigar thoughtfully, these university people had said he should allow a graduate trainee to handle his course because many students complained he never attended lectures and only set his exams from the mandatory materials he sold, he let the smoke out in puffs, making his office cloudier. The man loved to smoke.

He wasn’t even allowed to choose the assistant himself,  they had sent him one baby-Kingsway who had her gotten her first and second degrees in one country like that – Philippines. 

Who leaves Africa to the Philippines anyways?  Everyone usually either went to England, America or Canada. She studied in a random country and the Dean treated her like some expatriate. He took another long drag from the diminishing cigarette.

He couldn’t fault her father, he mused. He himself had shipped his 2 kids to Ghana. As a part of the system, he knew very well the downsides of schooling in Nigeria and if Ghana was a better option, maybe Philippines was too. But Philippines? he hissed loudly in disgust. 

A light rap on his office door interrupted his quiet. “Who?” He coughed.

“Sir, it is I” A shrill  voice called out. 

She didn’t even sound African,. A Yoruba girl teaching in southern Nigeria. He should tell her to stay off his business, teach and do as I say, and they would both be fine. “Come in”, he replied.

Tayo opened the door gently to minimise the creaking of the hinges, she then slipped in slowly as if it would stop him from seeing her.

“Hello Doc” she smiled.

Doc? Osarodion thought to himself, but soon forgot about it as he ogled her.

“How are you?” he replied.

“I’m fine, I thought to stop by on my way to the first Soc 406 class with the final year students today.”

“Oh, that, I actually sent them hand-outs through their class rep already so if you do not feel up to it, you can just join me at the staff guest house for lunch”.

“Oh, no…thanks” she stammered,; the man could stare a corpse back alive. “I can actually teach the class,; I saw the teaching materials and will use them. I also sent you an email with the lecture notes I prepared”.

“Yes, I saw those”. He had only glanced through them, and it appeared she had done her homework. “You can go to class, and please stop by later to brief me on how it went”. He smiled, showing his tobacco-tainted teeth.

“Will do Sir” She gasped as she stepped out of the office. She had never been so close to anyone who did not hide their intention to undress her with their eyes.

***************************************************************

Dayo strolled into the teaching hall with his head down and shoulders slumped, he hated these classes.

He was doing well everywhere else, he had  huge social media presence that he had turned into a successful business for himself, but his graduation had been delayed by another session because he had to retake a course this semester. 

He lowered his head to the desk to avoid meeting the eyes of any of his juniors who might recognise him like he had recognised seniors retaking this course in his time. Osadolor’s course was a nightmare and it brought people back every year. 

“Hello everyone,” a small voice called out to the class. 

He raised his head, had they changed his lecturer for his this semester? He had heard rumours about an anonymous sanction written against Prof. Osadolor, but he knew too well that the man couldn’t be removed easily. He sighed as the voice carried on to explain that she was only assisting him on this course and there were two of them who would be working together to help the students this year. 

She seemed familiar, was this not Tayo? Tayo he grew up with, he was about 2 years older, if he remembered clearly.  He was suddenly mortified. After this class, he would not come in again for another, he told himself.

 

He rushed out as soon as the class was over to avoid being seen by her. 

Tayo rushed after him. She had recognised Dayo as soon as she spotted him while she gave the short introduction and arranged for the next class. Dayo was well known on the social media space and though she had contemplated sending him a private message a couple times, she assumed he would not respond since he had thousands of following on social media and looked like a handsome body builder. He also did YouTube reviews for gadgets, electronics, phones and everything tech and had a huge fan-base from that she guessed. “Dayo!” she called out as she closed in on him.

Dayo stopped when he heard his name but took his time to turn around.

 

“Were you trying to avoid me?” she queried as she caught up with him.

“No, of course not” he denied. 

“Even if you were, I’d have noticed, you are Dayo the celebrity tech guru. Have you forgotten?” She blushed. 

He shrugged. Gosh she looked pretty as ever. 

“How does an art student go into tech reviews by the way.” She asked ending the almost awkward pause.

“Oh well, all you need is mostly user experience and a little tech knowledge. Plus, I love gadgets so I’m always buying them, I actually have a diploma in computer science so that works for me as well. But after you review a few, you can begin to tell the difference in experience with each gadget” 

“You make it sound really cool. Why did you switch to the arts from the initial Computer Science?” 

“I wanted a degree in Media and Journalism to help with my future projects.” 

Over the next hour, their conversation helped him learn that she had obtained a bachelor’s degree and masters from Philippines; while she learned that his studies had been delayed by an indefinite strike that eventually lasted a year and then prof. Osadolor gave him an extra year. So, he had spent almost 6 years trying to earn a 4-session degree. Finally, she walked him to his car. 

“This is your car?” she asked. 

“Yup!”

“I guess I am in the wrong profession” she laughed. 

“Are you now?” he joined her laughing. 

“I should call you later Tayo, I am so glad we reconnected.” Dayo said 

“Chased you, you mean?”

“ Oh wow, that’s an exaggeration of how things went but I guess it’s now my turn to chase you.” He smiled.  She blushed as they exchanged phone numbers. 

to be continued.....

Disclaimer- All stories on this blog are completely fictional and are products of the writer's imagination.