Encounters

"He bought that car as a birthday present for me, and he wants me to accompany him to London for his upcoming leave." She began, pausing along the way as if seeking advice. "Within three weeks, he's given me more money than I'll ever make in my life!" she exclaimed.

"have you already figured out how all of this is going to wrap up?" I inquired to ensure she was aware of what she was getting herself into. "I don't get it." She responded. "This sort of thing never yields good results." I recommend that you take as much money as you can and flee while you're still alive yourself." After I said this, she smiled. She seemed relieved that I wasn't chastising her. Why should I reprimand her for her behavior? She is not accountable to me for her life.

We made love again before I left that morning. She made me promise to return whenever I had the opportunity. "Be safe." "Be careful," I warned her. "I will." She said this after dropping me off at the park.

Chifawu stayed at home for the duration of her vacation. We communicated via phone calls and text messages. Summer vacation was in full swing at secondary school. It was scheduled to reopen in a few weeks, making it a two-month vacation.

I had established myself at the poly within two months. The coordinator suggested that I take Mat 211: Laplace Transformation as an additional course.

I had taken a lot of math courses as part of my engineering degree, but Laplace transformation was a pain! I made certain that I conducted extensive research using the school library's resources in order to create an excellent lecture note for the students.

The person in charge of the lecture was always present to monitor my progress. He was always busy, as are most lecturers, so the coordinator suggested he delegate the majority of the work to me, and he agreed.

I collaborated with Dr. Sowald in the Math department because I was handling his course for him at the part-time program. He began inviting me to give tutorial lectures for his main courses for full-time students soon after.

Dr. Sowald, despite his intelligence, was sloppy and careless. He had a carefree attitude toward life. He was also a visiting lecturer at the state's agricultural college, shuttling between the two institutions.

With his permission, I had tutorial classes with students, using his lecture hours to teach the students and solve problems together. One of such days, I met Nina, who was studying applied chemistry at the poly on full time basis. 

She happened to be staying in same lodge I moved to. We became acquaintances and she started coming to my room frequently, sometimes for tutorials; or so she claims, and other times to watch movies. But it was obvious she wasn’t interested in laplace transformations as I noticed she was always drifting away whenever we had tutorials.

 “you are not really interested in this course?” I asked one evening as she came to my room with two seasonal movies to watch. 

She just smiled as she let herself fall freely on my bed, her cloth jumping up to expose a fleshy chunk of laps. I let her relax fully, stretching her full length on the bed. “I'm not interested in anything going on at this school again.” She said. 

“I’m trying to gain admission into the federal university here. I’m just whiling away time with this admission in this school.”  She went on to explain how her parents didn’t value polytechnics and she finally agreed with them and re-wrote JAMB.  

We had a brief chat and I tried to encourage her to finish up with her OND, which could be an added advantage over others at the labour market. She helped herself to play the movie, and after few minutes, I left the room for her. 

I returned and met her sleeping peacefully on my bed. It was already late and here was she, comfortable on my bed.  Funny ideas started running thru my mind. I craved for her right away, her laps glittering under the dim lights of my room, her bossoms trying so hard to get loose from the strap shirt holding it back;  then I made up my mind. . 

I walked into my bathroom, took my bath, changed and lay beside her. I shut my eyes and tried to sleep.  I was thinking of no other than chifawu, who I had totally fallen in love with. I wasn’t going to complicate things with another girl, living at the same lodge.

 Love, they say is blind; I actually, I think love is blind, deaf and dumb.  I really wanted things to work out between the both of us. I had built the relationship to an enviable level; just a few steps away from having sex. I remembered the hiv test I had with her. 

The results must have been ready by now. I had discussed it with her once over the phone and asked for her permission to go get the results but she bluntly refused. She had insisted that we get them together.

 I was still waiting for her. . . I drifted off to sleep. . . The next morning was my CDS. Nina was already awake before I woke up. She kind of looked surprised, maybe at the fact that I didn’t make moves on her all through the night. i had noticed she rested her legs on mine last night. 

I felt the heaviness and woke up with her lying so close to me. I shut my eyes back and had slept off.  “hope you had a nice night?” I asked her and she nodded her hair. She prepared breakfast, I ate, freshened up and we left the house for my community development service (CDS).

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

Despite joining the HIV awareness group at the camp, I changed my cds group during my ppa. I discovered that the hiv awareness cds was the most difficult, with members required to visit secondary schools throughout the community to deliver lectures to educate young peers about the dangers of STI.

I chose to join the CDS for road safety. It was less stressful and less demanding. We held meetings with endless discussions, occasionally going to one of the busy intersections to control traffic.

My phone rang during one of these discussions, and lo and behold, it was chifawu. "I'm back at the Corpers Lodge!" she exclaimed as I answered the phone. I returned to the corpers' lodge to meet her. We exchanged hugs for a few minutes.

She looked great, stressed but good. We talked all day as I took her out to get her something to eat. We were chatting like kids, holding hands as we walked down to the corpers’ lodge. 

She picked some of her things as we headed to my room. “your room looks great!” she exclaimed after taking a mini tour of my room. “How could you afford all these?” she asked.  Of course she was right, I couldn’t afford all I decorated the room with. 

It was kind of over comfortable. But how was I going to tell her that my small adventure with ms enoh had paid the bills? “its God’s doing,” I lied, “if God says yes, who am I to say no?” I consolidated on the lie. 

We picked up from where we left off 2 months back, kissing and caressing each other like our life depended on it. There was something special about my romance with chifawu; it stirred up a special feeling deep inside me. 

The love I had for her stemmed from deep down my heart, it was special and it meant a lot to me. “I love you so much.” I said to her and she smiled after breaking loose from my kiss. 

A knock on my door and I ventured only to meet Nina standing on the door with a super-sexy night wear, a black silk sleeveless gown that did little to cover her bossoms. She smiled at me as she walked past me and entered the room. 

She came to a halt when she saw Chifawu on my bed. They exchanged glances and locked their gaze on me. For once, I was glad I hadn't pursued Nina. I boldly introduced Chifawu to her as my girlfriend, and she introduced Chifawu to her as a friend. They exchanged pleasantries before Nina left after only a few minutes with us. It pays to be dependable! I was thinking to myself.

"I'm returning to the corpers lodge." Chifawu spoke up after Nina had left. "I thought you were going to spend the night?" I inquired, attempting to sound like my ex-girl Rita.

"I hadn't considered that. Furthermore, with you all over me, I need to be cautious." She chuckled and smiled. After she made me promise and swear that I wasn't going to pressure her for sex, I finally convinced her to spend the night.