If you are seeing my story for the first time, you can check my profile for more..

This one is short but more is coming.

A SECOND CHANCE
[STORY CATEGORY; General Fiction]

SERIES ONE

It was supposed to be a five years journey, but I had to spend extra one year in the university to correct my mistakes.
My name is JOSHUA Abayomi and I’m a graduate of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH). I got admission to study GEOLOGY, I initially applied to study COMPUTER ENGINEERING and after a very long wait my name came out with the supplementary batch but not the course I wish to study.
I am the only child of my mum, My parents got divorced when I was 9 but my mum did not remarry, my dad relocated abroad (Canada) and remarried with 3 children after. I didn’t have a good relationship with my dad and my mum wasn’t my best friend because she dedicated more of her time to her work, she was always quick to remind me that she is doing all what she do for me. That was true but then the parental effect/influence I lack affected the way I see life in it’s entirety.
It used to be me and my grandma at home after my secondary school because my Mum worked as a full-time medical doctor and she was also a medical researcher/scientist in a government hospital in SAKI, OYO STATE, We lived in SAKI in OKE-OGUN. My life before I entered the University was very boring, I was an introvert and it was two years after my secondary school I got the admission. My mum wanted me to study medicine but my first jamb score was below the cut-off mark in LAUTECH, although I was given admission in a private University which I chose as second choice but my mum insisted I study in LAUTECH because she believed the University produces one of the best medicine graduates in Nigeria which was true, and they also have a good standard teaching Hospital.
I wrote jamb again the second year and I scored exactly what was required as cut-off mark for medicine but unfortunately I was given veterinary medicine but I didn’t take it. I wrote jamb the third time but this time I didn’t meet requirement again so I changed my course to COMPUTER ENGINEERING which was what I initially wanted to study from the beginning and I chose it as my second preferred course in jamb. My mum had to allow me this time because grandma interfered and begged her to let me study what I wanted, I was given GEOLOGY when the supplementary batch was released but I reluctantly took it because I was so desperate to leave home.
A day before resumption I travelled to OGBOMOSHO (Same OYO STATE) with my mum, she had already booked a room for me in the hostel, the room has three bed space but my mum did not want me to have roommate , I didn’t know her reason and I didn’t ask why. The following day which was resumption day I attended a class, Use of English I (GST 101) which was a general course for all 100 Level students in the University. Majority of the courses I offered in 100 Level were general courses except for Experimental Physics, Experimental Chemistry and Experimental Biology which are practical in 100 Level both semesters, we started those practical almost 6weeks of resumption so it was a bit difficult to know who and who is your course mate.
After one week I met a guy, TIJANI. He was in my department and a 100 Level student. He came from BAUCHI STATE and you will hardly know from the way he dresses and look but his Northern Accent and intonation says it all. TIJANI became my roommate in the hostel during the second semester of 100 Level, he was initially staying off-campus but he stayed with me in the hostel during the first semester exam and after the exam I asked if he would like to move to the hostel permanently, I didn’t have to say much to convince him before he agreed. TIJANI came from a middle class family and he was the sixth and the last child of his father’s second wife. His father married 3 wives and the man who was a politician couldn’t do much for the family in terms of finance after his tenure as the Chairman of their Local Government, one of his brother who was a teacher and a farmer was the one sponsoring his education but there was little the man could do because he too has had a family of his own.
TIJANI always complain of not getting enough money from home which I was aware of so I used to assist him even before he asked for it. Being the only child and mummy’s treasure I get whatever I want from home be it money and materials, it is safe to say TIJANI was the brainer and I was the guy with the money…
I became lazy with class assignments and other school activities when we got to 200 Level. TIJANI do the assignment for the both of us and he would usually help me in Class Assessments (Tests) as long as we share same seat or seat close to each other, and if TIJANI couldn’t help me I’d always find my way. I only read for exams and I read to pass, I was never interested in getting A’s or B’s because I saw school as an option, a synonym of what people called SCAM today. I started clubbing in 200 Level and I used to attend almost every party around (Outside Campus). I was rolling with some bad guys in the campus, I drink and smoke stuffs and I was close to getting addicted. TIJANI confronted me so many times but I told him there was nothing like that. He couldn’t have known because most of this guys I roll with were not even student of the University, they were once student though but that’s their own story so I wasn’t interested. All I was sure of was that they were fraudsters and two of them were member of one of the strongest confraternities (Cults) in the campus.
They do their thing in the town but there was a club not far from the main campus where they always come mostly Fridays and Sundays and sometimes Wednesdays, it was the same club I used to go every Wednesdays and Fridays. I couldn’t go on Sundays because my mum insisted I come home every Sundays when she used to be around and she would drive me back to school the following day (Monday). I know these guys from that club, they used to threaten me to join what they called LEFU LEFU GANG but I told them I can’t but I can be rolling with them and they agreed. One night I got to the hostel in the middle of the night from the club and I realized TIJANI had moved his belongings from the room. I was a total waste that night, one of the guys was celebrating birthday for her girlfriend and for the first time in my life I tried Cocaine and Sherm (PHENCYCLIDINE). I called TIJANI the following morning when I got my senses back and he told me to read the letter he left for me at the side of the bed. From the letter he said he knew about everything I was doing, about the drugs and everything. He said he got a room apartment off-campus and he doesn’t want me to come look for him unless I change my ways…
We entered 300 Level and we got a new Vice-Chancellor in the University, he brought a new policy that every parent should know their wards academic performances by creating parent/guardian link in the University Website (Portal) where they can access all academic activities and performances. When I heard the news I could immediately imagine how horrendous that could be for me because I told my mum I was in SECOND CLASS UPPER, she never bother to confirm because she believed me. They released our 200 Level second semester result and it was the worse result I ever wrote so my CGPA (Cumulative Grade Point Average) dropped to THIRD CLASS from SECOND CLASS LOWER, and I was having deficiencies in 3 courses coupled with 2 outstanding courses of previous semesters, making it 5 deficiencies. One of the five outstanding courses was a prerequisite course so I knew already I’ll be having extra year.
I didn’t tell my mum when they released the result on the portal and she didn’t ask, not because she was that busy but she trusted me. I told TIJANI about the result and he promised to help me as long as I’m ready. It was very difficult but I changed my ways for real. I couldn’t leave drugs completely even after some months but I was really determined to get back on my feet and I eventually did. I started attending night classes and I became a regular library user even though sometimes I will end up sleeping. The first three months (part of 300 Level first semester) was very difficult because I find it difficult to cram and assimilate like before and my night classes was a dead struggle, It’s either I end up sleeping or I forget everything I read the following day. I went to a clinic outside campus and the doctor asked if I was into drugs so I told him everything because I was scared at some point that I thought I was going to lose my mind. The doctor told me not to stress my brain so much and he said I should stop reading at night for that semester, I asked why and he told me part of my brain cells may be too weak or temporarily dead due to effect from the hard drugs. He said I don’t need medicine and that damage from psychoactive substances are not repairable in some cases so he asked me to come back in 3days for proper check up that the equipment is not readily available for use that day.
When I got to the hostel I cried the hell out of my eyes, I was very scared and the only feeling running through my mind was suicide. That night I wrote a letter, in the letter I told my mum to forgive me that I just can’t continue with life and I wouldn’t be able to withstand the shame and pain I would cause her if what I feared happened. I cried for more than 2hours and I was in that state when I slept, grandma called me the following morning at exactly 7:24am, her call woke me and after missing six (6) of her calls she kept calling and it was very unusual. She couldn’t have kept calling if it’s just a HELLO call. I picked the call and my grandma told me to come home that my mum had just been rushed to the hospital and it’s serious. I dropped the call and I couldn’t think, I went completely destabilized and I started thinking of suicide again. The world seems silent and I didn’t see the need to move on but then I needed to see my mum. I got to the hospital in the afternoon and it was the same hospital my mum was working in SAKI. My mum was sleeping at the time I got to the hospital and grandma was with her, I asked grandma what happened to her and she said my mum was diagnosed with leukemia. My mum knew she had it months ago but she kept it from us, especially from me. I was expecting to get the worse news of my life that it’s only a matter of time before I lose my sanity and then my mum was down with a cancer, she was the only one I had and loved. I felt traumatically helpless and for the first time after I won the battle against addictions, the thought of drugs surfaced again!
WATCH Out For The Next SERIES.
Written and Arranged by ABDULMALEEQ Oriyomi Shuaib.
Proof-Read And Edited By OYEWOLE Taofeeqah.

A SECOND CHANCE
SERIES TWO
An hour after I got to the hospital my mum woke, she called out my name because I was already dosing on the plastic chair I sat next to her. I hugged her and I asked how she was feeling and she only said “FINE”. Grandma asked if she would like to eat the custard she had prepared for her and she said yes, while she was eating she asked how I was fairing in school and I told her everything is going fine. My 300 Level first semester exam was close at the time so she told me to leave for OGBOMOSHO before it get dark but I insisted on staying with her for few days before going back. Me and grandma slept at the hospital that night and the following morning as we were about to leave for home to freshen up and bring food and other things my mum requested the doctor that was treating my mum showed up but my mum was still sleeping. The woman probably in her late 40s was also my mum’s friend and she used to come to our house with mum mostly on Sundays, I asked the doctor if anything bad is going to happen to my mum, she shook her head with a wide smile before giving me a response.
“Nothing is going to happen to your mum Abayomi, she obviously work-stressed herself forgetting there is limit to the ups and downs she can do even after seeing the signs from the cancer”
“If I heard you correctly ma you mean my mum knew she is having leukemia?”_ I asked inquisitively.
“Yes she knew but don’t worry yourself too much your mum only need enough rest and medications, In a few months time she should be on her feet and fight back. She is also a professional and she can take care of herself.”
I left the hospital for school two days after, my mum was already playing games and working with her Laptop and there was a good news that her cancer still remain in the bone marrow and Is limitedly (not completely) spread to other organs which means no genetic abnormality will likely be occurred. Fast forward to when I went back to the clinic I was told to come back for check up three days after I got back to school, I could have went their earlier but I was very scared. From what I saw after visiting my mum in the hospital I realized she was trying so hard to make me feel she was fine even when she was hurt, I couldn’t be more selfish and at the same time I was more scared to die than ever.
I went to the clinic and after some series of scanning the doctor told me the same thing he predicted that part of my brain cells is weak, he recommended some brain-related tips for me which he said will recuperate the cells in a matter of time. The doctor also reminded me to avoid reading at night and that I should be visiting the clinic at least once in a month. It was a huge relief and I thanked God for giving me another chance, “A Second Chance”. The semester result was released and I was able to clear one of the two outstanding courses I re-registered, I offered 10 courses with the exclusion of the two outstanding courses and because I couldn’t cram much and go extra length with my reading that makes it difficult.
Fast forward to 400 Level second semester when I was about to finish my 6 months I.T (Industrial Training) and resume 500 Level, I still haven’t told my mum I failed a prerequisite course which I can’t carry over until after my normal year of study (5years). I couldn’t summon the courage to tell her, I knew how hurt and disappointed she would feel because she always remind me how proud she was to have raised me and her dream of making me a man my dad would be proud of if he eventually come back to Nigeria. All her friends and colleagues at the hospital she worked used to call her president’s mother because my mum would tell them she is raising Nigeria future president even though she may be joking about it, and I knew the fact that some of my mum’s friend too didn’t forget my five years study in the University will supposedly end in about a year time. I finally put words together and I told my mum during the first semester of 500 Level and to say my mum was very shocked and sad would be an understatement, she shouted “Jesus Christ!” like someone that saw a ghost and she stared bitterly at me for more than a minute before going to her room from the lounge (Sitting room) without a single word. If there is a way I can put up this story without mentioning my 500 Level I think I would have consider it, I felt so lonely like never before, my mum stopped calling like normally and we barely talk even when I go home on Sundays. I couldn’t blame her because I knew my mum was not very good at concealing and repressing her feelings and negative emotions. I started isolating myself from some of my friends (TIJANI inclusive) in the department unless there is a class or practical of which we could be grouped and have to work together as a team. I didn’t find it difficult to cram anymore and I was reading very hard both days and nights to boost my C.G.P.A.
We finally did our 500 Level second semester exam (My supposed final exam) and my colleagues were inducted, I saw their pictures on Facebook where I am having some of them as friends but just like what you (readers) may be thinking I didn’t feel bad or sad, although I didn’t put any comment or a post for any of them but I called my close friends and congratulated them, and they also wish me luck. After two weeks out of the six weeks of second semester break I applied for a teaching job in a basic and secondary school, I was employed and teach their SS1 and SS2 class Geography and Biology respectively, The school was a private school and is located at the next street to our street. I decided to teach because I was only having two (2) outstanding courses to clear (One prerequisite and one non-departmental course) and the two courses were second semester courses. My mum had finally forgiven me and she also took the blame for not playing the complete role of a mother for her only child.
After teaching for five months I finally resumed my final semester but before I leave the school I met a young beautiful lady named CHARITY, she was the new proprietress and the first child of Mr Ifalere Alabi Davids who is the owner of the school. We get along so well and we became friends during my stay in the school. The hospital my mum was working happens to be their family hospital according to her but I didn’t know until I told her few things about myself and where I was living when we became friends. I liked her but I couldn’t tell her my feelings not only because she is 5years older than me but she was about to get married at the time so we stays as friends. Finally I cleared my carryovers and i graduated that year. One months after my NYSC (National Youth Service Corps) charity called me and asked where I am (she has finally gotten married), I was at home that day so she asked me to bring my C.V to the school that afternoon, I met her that day with my C.V and that’s where my success story started. Her dad who was a deputy manager in a reputable firm in Lagos was about to retire and one of the staff of the company whose position is close to the man’s position was expected to take up the position leaving the person’s position vacant. Mr Alabi Davids was given the slot to recommend someone who is qualified for the Job and whom he has trust in and that’s where I come in. CHARITY said she wasn’t interested in working for people and her siblings were still in school (Two in the University and one in the College). I got the Job and the Pay is a six (6) figure salary with accommodation and an official car.
My mum shed tears of joy the day I left for Lagos where I’ll be working and we talked about how my delay in school turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I told TIJANI about the Job and he was very happy for me, at the time he was running a fish and poultry farm for one big business man in BAUCHI State and he was doing well for himself too. Almost all my friends in school then called or chat me to congratulate me when they heard either directly from me or from other friends and they told me how lucky and favored I am but I didn’t think it’s luck, I believe the entire journey of every creature has been scripted by the supreme being (God) we are only playing by the script. What must be must surely be, a man only need to struggle and fight for his own share where it’s been trapped, and what will not be will never be even if a man leave the surface and go beneath, and from beneath to the sky he will only gets tired and will never get close.
But I have seen where constant prayers and determination turn things around from bad to good so if you are in the same situation I was, don’t let anybody discourage you or make you feel like a failure and please don’t act like one by giving up, because you have the opportunity of “A Second Chance”, a second chance to make it better and become a better person than your colleagues… A wise man once said and I quote; “To give anything less than your best in your second chance is to sacrifice the opportunity”.
Thanks For Reading and don’t forget to share!


Written And Arranged By; ABDULMALEEQ Oriyomi Shuaib.
Proof-Read And Edited By; OYEWOLE Taofeeqah.
AUTHOR’S INFORMATION;
E-mail: Abdulmaleeqshuaib@gmail.com
Facebook: Abdulmaleeq Oriyomi Shuaib