I had just gotten up from a long, disturbed nap with a banging headache, my eyes spinned around which made me lose balance and my feet were wobbly and too weak to carry me. So I laid back in bed, feeling like my life had lost its colour.
In school then, I happened to be one of the students my lecturer particularly liked, Mr Jide used me as an example to my coursemates, telling them to emulate me as I was an obedient student with good grades. I was quite a serious student and I think these qualities endeared me to Mr Jide.
"Hey young man, leave my class, you came in late and I do not entertain lateness"
"Sir, I’m sorry, the bus I boarded broke down on the way."
"Look, do not let me repeat myself, I said leave!!" Mr Jide said angrily. This was typical of Mr Jide.
Back then I also had a friend, Daniel who was close to me, we were roommates at a time, we went to school together and read together etc. I was initially skeptical about making friends because I doubted their genuity, but as time went on, I was happy I had a genuine friend in my space.
One afternoon, after a draining lecture, I sat outside one of the school canteens munching fried meat and gulping it down with a bottle of Pepsi.
"It looks like Mr Jide is very fond of you, can you tell me the secret? if you were not a guy, people would have probably assumed something else" Daniel blurted out while taking his position opposite me.
"Hahaha, I’m surprised myself. I do what I do effortlessly without being overly cautious, so I have no secret to share". I laughed off his remarks.
"Is that so? You know you can tell me anything". Daniel replied.
At that point, I was uncomfortable and confused at the same time, with the barrage of questions Daniel asked…
"what does he mean by I can tell him anything, when I just told him I have nothing to hide?"—i thought quietly.
"Daniel there’s nothing else to say or to tell, please let’s switch the topic” —I replied him coldly
He looked at me and just nodded.
One cold evening, after it rained cats and dogs I was trying to get some sleep when I heard a resounding knock on my door—it was Daniel.
"Can i come in?" Daniel asked.
"Yes, you can but are you okay?" I asked while opening the door for him to come in.
"Please I’ve an urgent favour to ask of you”
"What favour?" I asked.
"I have an accomodation problem, can i please squat with you, at least for some time before I could get another place."
There was so much desperation in his eyes, how could i reject him?
So I decided to let him stay just to help him out, but I didn’t like the idea deep down because I had heard of how friends became enemies in most cases when they lived together. But I couldn’t abandon my friend.
He had stayed for almost a month and we became even closer. This time, it was the period of our exams—I discovered that while I burnt the midnight oil in preparation for the upcoming exams, Daniel would do everything in the world except reading.
"Exams are fast approaching, don’t you think it’s important you prepare for it?” I asked one evening.
"You dont have to tell me what to do because I’m squatting with you, I’m fully aware of the upcoming exams and I’ll read, at my own time" Daniel replied as he barged out of my room.
I was shocked at the reply and wondered why he acted that way—"someone probably annoyed him" I surmised.
On the last day of my exams—we had papers and it was the course taken by Mr Jide. Of course I was well prepared for it.
"What have you done?!! I thought you were a responsible student" Mr Jide yelled at me as I sat outside the exam hall after I was done with his paper, I hadn't seen him burn with so much fury.
"Good afternoon Mr Jide"
Keep your greetings, you’ve been suspended till further notice" He said.
The words hit me hard like a hammer while I tried to understand what was going on.
Incriminating pieces of paper with some questions solved, was found under my desk by the invigilators right after I left. I looked on in shock because those were the papers I did my revision in. "How did they walk from my room into the examination hall?
I tried to explain that I did no such thing, that I was framed, but my argument appeared lame and therefore fell on deaf ears.
my paper was cancelled and I was suspended for a while due to examination malpractice.
Daniel had framed me up because he was jealous of me, jealous of the fact that I was a good student. The betrayal from Daniel stung me, it was then that I remembered the several times my mom had warned me against keeping close friends and how I have learnt my lessons the hard way. It was then I realized that those pieces of advice from my mom were just what the doctor ordered and I should have just stuck to them religiously.
Thank you very much for your continuous support 🙏