EPISODE 1
“Story time!” Omolabake called out to
her daughter. Poojah screeched with
excitement and ran towards her
mother. Labake watched as her
daughter arranged herself at her feet
and suddenly overwhelmed by the
wave of love she felt. Poojah was a
nickname her daughter had chosen
for herself after watching an Indian
movie and the name stuck. At times
Labake herself forgot that Peju was
her real name.
Poojah stared at her mother, waiting
patiently for her to begin. “Once
upon a time…” Labake began. She
went on to tell a folktale she’d heard
from her grandparents, the story of a
mischievous tortoise who had a
knack for involving other animals in
his hair brained schemes. She
couldn’t help but notice the animated
look on Poojah’s face so she made
gestures to add spice to the story.
Poojah collapsed into a heap of
giggles and Labake felt her heart
swell.
After the story, Labake watched
Poojah as she played with her dolls,
she said a silent prayer of thanks and
exhaled in gratitude. “Everything
about our lives seems so perfect,”
she thought. “But it wasn’t always
this way. It was such a long and
painful journey.” She closed her eyes
and began to relive it, the struggle,
the heartache. All of it, as if it were
yesterday…
*****
Born to strict parents, Labake and her
brother, Tolu, were taught that
morals, etiquette and education were
paramount. “No one remembers
number two,” Labake remembered her
mother saying. From childhood she
vowed to always finish first. The
Ezekiels were perfectionists. Labake
and Tolu rarely fell short of their
parents high standards. They
became reference points throughout
their college days beating records
and amassing numerous awards.
Labake was proud of herself for
keeping her vow, she had done
everything right. She’d won every
award available and finished first all
but once.
Labake collapsed onto her bed after a
long, exhausting day. Lectures had
become so draining because
lecturers were rushing to cover topics
that the ASUU strike had disrupted.
She was worn out.
“Sorry dear, lectures wan kill you
abi?’ said Tope her roommate as she
walked into the room.
“Nawa for them,” Labake replied
without looking up. Her stomach
growled and she silently wished she
had a house help to help her cook.
“I cooked rice,” Tope announced, as
if she had read her grateful
roommate’s grateful mind. Labake
hopped up from her bed and made
her way to the kitchen.
“Ah ah, I thought you were tired,”
Tope mocked.
Labake dished the rice and ate with
relish.
“Thanks for the meal,” she said
between bites. “Even if na
concoction.”
They both laughed and talked about
their respective days. Tope was still
talking when she noticed her
roommate had fallen fast asleep on
the couch. “She always does that,”
Tope thought, tempted to launch a
pillow at her unsuspecting friend.
She looked at Labake and blessed
the day they met. Since she wasn’t
feeling sleepy, she started clearing
away the plates.
***
It was way past midnight when
Labake woke up. Tope was asleep by
then. “Ugh, I’ve overslept,” she
thought. She took a quick shower
and sat down to study.
“Can’t wait to be done with school,”
she whispered fighting off
drowsiness. It took a few minutes to
get into her books, but before long
she was in full flow. She didn’t
bother waking Tope up, she slept like
a log, it would be hopeless. Labake
studied until nature got the better of
her and she fell asleep at her desk.
“Babe, you don late for class o,” said
Tope as she tapped a dozing Labake.
Her roommate sprang up instantly
and rushed into the bathroom.
“Thank you,”she yelled slamming the
bathroom door. She hurriedly did ‘rub
and shine,’ washing her teeth, face
and feet.She grabbed her bag and
ran out of the door so quickly she
didn’t even shut it behind her.
She beat the lecturer to class by two
minutes but the lecture theatre was
full. She saw a space open up and
made a dash for it but someone got
there before her. “Damn!” she swore.
Standing throughout a lecture was no
fun.
“Hey, you can have this seat,” said a
deep voice from behind her. She
turned and a stranger removed his
bag to create a space.
“You are a lifesaver,” she smiled as
she hurriedly sat down. She scanned
his face quickly. He looks a little
familiar, she thought.
“Whew! I was lucky,” she sighed with
relief.
“Indeed you were, because there’s
going to be a test today,” her ‘saviour’
informed her.
Just then the lecturer appeared,
closing the door behind him
“Good morning everyone, test time,” he
announced.
***
“That was close,” she said, after the
last test paper had been collected.
“Very close,” her new friend replied.
“So what’s the name? ” he asked
putting his books in his bag.
“Omolabake Ezekiel,” she replied.
A smile spread across his face, “I
knew it,” he said, ‘I knew there was
something familiar about your face but I
didn’t want to push it’.
She searched his face, hoping she
would remember his name.
“Seni Hassan, ” he said
“Wow!” she exclaimed shocked by
the memory. The first and only time
she took second place was because
he took first.
“Small world,” they said in unison as
they walked out of the lecture
theatre.
They exchanged numbers and
promised to stay in touch. Labake
smiled as she made her way to her
next lecture. Wow! Seni Hassan , she
thought, small world
******
My Mistake continues; you can still catch up if you've missed it so far. www.realyans./2016/02/11/links-to-my-mistake/