Feeling drizzle

"A week later, Edu had already finished his exam and was ready to leave for the city. His dad had just arrived in his Lexus 350 to pick him up.

Oyo hadn't considered Ali human after over eight years of meeting him. She turned her back on him, ignoring him completely. Edu walked up to her and spoke in a low tone, telling her that their divorce didn't mean she should treat him as if he didn't exist. He advised her to at least show him some respect, as they hadn't met in over eight years since she left him in the city.

Oyo reconsidered what her son had said and greeted Ali with a tight face. She couldn't bring herself to smile, remembering how he had mercilessly beaten her almost every day, leading her to request a divorce before losing her life in the name of marriage.

Ali was like a snake hiding under a beautiful flower. He appeared kind and generous outdoors, but was a beast indoors. Oyo never wanted her son to live with him because of his manipulative habits, but she had no choice. The court ordered Oyo to take care of Edu until he was old enough to live with his father, while Ali was to send them money every month for Edu's upkeep.

That's how it had been for over nine years now. Ali believed it was time for his son to start living with him, and there was nothing Oyo could do about it, even though she didn't wish for her son to leave her side. She felt hurt, mostly because she knew that he could negatively impact her son's life.

Ali responded to her greeting with a warm smile, telling her how much he had missed her. Oyo didn't reply but went straight to her son to say goodbye before going back inside.

Oyo didn't help Edu carry his luggage to the car because she wasn't thrilled about him going to the city to live with his dad at all. She had tried to convince Edu to stay back in the village by asking him to tell his dad he wanted to continue living with her, since the court had already said that Edu could decide whom he wanted to live with when he was old enough. But Edu refused to listen to her, saying he wanted to explore life in the city and decide which one best suited him. Moreover, he knew his mom didn't have enough money to send him to university.

"I'm coming back to see you in a few years, Mum," Edu reassured his mom, seeing the sadness written all over her as he was about to leave.

"Safe journey and always be careful. Don't let anyone change who you truly are. I've raised you to be a very kind person, and I want you to always remain like that," Oyo advised her son and prayed for him as they drove off.

Edu begged his father to drop him off in front of the Modern Secondary School, where he had recently graduated from, claiming he forgot something in his friend's hand.

Ali hesitated for a while but eventually agreed due to Edu's desperation.

In the classroom, Bassy was writing a note on the chalkboard given to her by their chemistry teacher for others to copy. The entire class shouted "Juliet" as Edu appeared at the window. Bassy knew that to be her nickname ever since she and Edu started walking hand in hand on campus. Her attention was distracted, wondering why they were calling her that awkward name now. She tried to ignore them and keep writing, but couldn't as it continued persistently. She tossed her gaze furiously from the blackboard to ask them what was going on, but they all pointed at the window, smiling at her. Wondering what was at the window, she turned slowly, and her eyes met Edu's, who had been looking at her.

A shiver ran through her spine upon realizing Edu was there. She shyly walked out of the class to meet him. "I told you to stop coming here. What if one of my classmates tells my aunt we were together..." she began.

"It's fine, my love. This is the last time that person will ever get that opportunity because I'm traveling already," Edu reassured her.

"Traveling already?" Bassy asked, dumfounded, her mood swinging already to a very sad one. She took a quick glance at him, realizing how well-dressed he was. "I thought you said it might be in a month or two."

Edu peeked at Bassy with sadness covering his gesture. "Yeah, but I said I'm not sure when. My dad arrived this morning, and I couldn't say no to him," he uttered with a very low tone, barely audible.

Bassy was speechless for a while before telling him it's fine, but she had fixed her mind on missing him already.

Edu dipped his hand into his pocket and brought out thirty thousand naira wrapped in a black nylon.

"I've been saving this money for the past eight months. I broke my piggy bank today. You can have all of it," he handed the money over to Bassy.

Bassy refused to take the money from him, but he reminded her that he was doing it out of love.

They both had a warm hug as Bassy finally accepted the nylon from Edu.

"I love you," they said in unison, which made them chuckle as they looked into each other's eyes.

Edu remembered his dad might be losing his patience by now and said that he needed to start leaving.

"Okay, safe trip," Bassy replied. She wanted to see him off to the car, but the chemistry teacher was already walking towards them, so she promptly dashed back to the class as Edu pivoted.

A month after Edu had traveled out of the village, Bassy was spotted washing dishes in their local kitchen when she felt the urge to vomit. She quickly went to the backyard to vomit before continuing with the dishes. She had been feeling feverish for over two weeks now, taking turns of malaria and typhoid drugs, but nothing seemed to change. The fact that even her favorite food, jollof rice, now smelled bad to her was something she couldn't figure out. She felt like talking to her aunt about her strange feelings but couldn't, as her aunt had become the worst person in her life ever since she heard the rumors of her dating a boy. They used to be more like best friends with a mother-daughter bond, but everything changed just because her aunt heard she had a boyfriend.

She really felt like discussing it with her but decided to keep it to herself as her reaction could be really unpredictable.

Bassy was spotted sleeping in class that day, and the teacher asked if she was okay. She replied that she was fine, but it felt like she was catching a cold.

"Cold under this hot weather?" the teacher replied puzzled. "Yes, sir. I've not been feeling well lately," Bassy replied with a cold and crackly tone.

"Hmm, hope it's not what I'm thinking," the teacher muttered in a funny gesture that made the entire class laugh, embarrassing Bassy even more.

"Go home if you aren't feeling well," the teacher said sympathetically, gesturing towards her.

"I'm fine, sir. I don't want to go home," Bassy answered, her voice slightly above a whisper.

"It's fine if you say so, but you need to stop sleeping in my class because I'll send you out

if I see you sleeping again."

"Okay, sir, thank you," Bassy answered softly.

The teacher continued teaching, but a few moments later, one of the students grabbed his attention again, suggesting he should send Bassy out as she was caught sleeping again.

It was Emma, one of the bullies in class. They never liked Bassy because she was smarter than them, beautiful, punctual, and always composed herself well in class. He thought this would be the best time to get back at her because she was always writing his name in the class block list to put him in trouble.