After his final exams, Roy travelled home to be with his family. I couldn't go home because I knew my reactions would betray me the very moment I got home. I knew how observant my mum could be and it'd be a disaster if she found out about this little secret of mine.
Roy and I had talked about it several times. He felt I should at least go home and let my parents see me after being away for so long, but I maintained my stance of not seeing them until I've written my final exams.
I called my mum and told her I was staying back in school because we had people from our school fellowship that were organizing tutorial classes all through the holidays for those of us that had issues with our grades last session. She was excited to hear that I was returning to my serious self.
'Hello dear' I spoke into my phone's receiver when Roy answered my call. 'Babe' he returned. 'I've been trying to reach you since morning. What happened to your phone?' he asked me.
I was glad to hear that he had tried to call me. I was beginning to imagine that his calls were not as regular as before. When he first went home, he'd call in the morning to know how I slept, he'd call by noon to know if I had breakfast and he'd call at night to know if I was missing him. But after a while, the calls were waning out
We spoke at length that evening and he told me about something good that would happen to us shortly. I enquired to know more but he wasn't saying a thing. He even told me clearly not to press further because he wanted it to come as a surprise. The only hint he dropped was that it has to do with my fees.
'Well, whatever Roy has to give me as a surprise must be a pleasant one' I told myself and relaxed. I spent my days thinking of how I'd react if he was planning to propose marriage already.
After he left me in school to visit his family, Roy visited once and promised to visit every weekend. But he never got the chance to come. It was probably because he couldn't raise the transport fare to come see me, I reckoned.
I wanted to go home with him, at least to get a chance to meet his mother and siblings, but he told me he wanted me to go home after we're engaged. I didn't want to argue with him, he was always right, full of wisdom when he spoke, so I never argued with him.
I loved the fact that he was already planning our tomorrow, so I let my worries slide. Two weeks before resumption, I called Roy again and he also told me he was working hard to see how he'd raise the money for my fees. We both knew that failure to pay my fees this time would mean a forfeiture of my admission.
I was beginning to get worried. What if he couldn't raise the money? What if my parents found out about my deadly commitment to this relationship and its toll on my educational pursuit? The answers to these questions got my heart racing wildly.
'What if I dropped out of school, losing the four years I have spent here and Roy someday abandons me for someone he may deem fit for his status as a medical doctor? This thought almost gave me a heart attack! I was even confused which made me more frightened; losing my education or losing Roy.
School resumed and Roy came to see me as promised. I was super glad to see him, but he didn't seem happy himself. He sat me down and began a very long tale. Starting from how he first saw me waiting for my turn to get my documents verified at the clearance hall that day, how we were to have a fight over the number tag mix-up, how he loved me so much and how hurt he'd be if my educational pursuit would get truncated because of him.
I was getting agitated with this overly long sermon. 'Roy, if you were unable to get the money, then I'll just have to--' I was saying but he shook his head and brought out a cheque which he passed to me.
It was written in my favour. I looked at it in utter confusion. 'Whats going on Roy?' I asked 'This is a cheque of one million dollars. My fee is nowhere close to this amount, plus I don't know how you got this!' My head was aching from the confusion of what was playing out. His countenance was aggravating the situation the most.
When it seemed like I had already asked tons of questions and was almost out of my breath, he spoke up. 'See Anita, I have been thinking of how to tell you this, but I haven't been able to come up with the best approach. After I left school, my mum's friend who stays in Canada visited with her children. One of them, Stephanie used to be my childhood friend'
I was listening so attentively to his story, but I wasn't seeing the connection to the question I asked him. 'I'm sorry Roy, but I didn't ask about how you spent the holidays, I asked you about this!' I said waving the cheque in my hands to his face. I was clearly getting upset with whatever prank it was that he was playing.
'Ok, in clear terms Anita, Stephanie and I were childhood friends, but being together these past weeks, we found out that we have grown to love each other. Our mothers are thrilled about the relationship and they think we should get married.' he said so casually that I had to laugh so hard at the unreasonable prank he was playing.
He continued like he didn't even notice my reaction. 'My family has been through a lot since I lost my dad. I may not love Stephanie as much as she loves me but the truth is that my family needs hers. So, I told her about you and she offered to help pay your fees and give you something extra as a way of compensation for the extra year you had to get because of me.' he concluded.
My hand moved faster than any of us anticipated. The slap landed so harshly on his cheeks that he held onto it, trying to soothe the tingling sensation the hot slap left there.
'How dare you Roy? So this is all you think I'm worth? A million dollars? I gave you my heart, I made you my priority, and you dump me like a sack of rotten potatoes at the slightest chance!' my head was spinning and my heart was beating wildly in the ribcage. Memories of the warnings I'd got before started flooding in. I was losing my mind.
I pushed the cheque into his pocket and told him to leave. He was adamant as he kept emphasizing how important it was for me to collect the cheque at least for the sake of my education.
'I'm sorry it has to be this way Anita, but put yourself in my shoes. Would you allow your mother and siblings to keep suffering when you could at least make life easier for you all? Plus, without her help now, how do we raise the money for your fees? I don't want to live with the guilt of making you drop out of school. Please accept this cheque, I beg of you' he kept speaking from both ends of his mouth.
I walked calmly to the door, raised the curtain and told him to leave. He opened his mouth to speak again, then I thundered 'Roy, get out of my house before I do something silly!'
I'll forever be grateful to God that he left that instance; there was no telling what I would have done next. I slammed the door so hard after him, the door frame almost fell off.
Tears rolled down on my cheeks freely as memories came flashing. I remembered Sophia, my room mate in year three, she never liked Roy, she felt something was odd about the way he looked at me. The poor fruit seller had tried so hard to advise me! I cried so bitterly that day, I thought my eyes were drying up forever.
But then, I told myself Roy wouldn't meet me on the ground where he left me. I ensured he was history with the slamming of the door, then I made myself so strong again somehow. And I never had to waste any of my time on him since then.
But then, I needed to get money for my fees, I had to make sure that I raised that money, no matter what I had to do. I dressed up and set out to see Sophia.