COME WHAT MAY

CHAPTER FOUR

Two months later,

 Lolita walked into the office of the school Principal on a terribly cold July morning. He had left a message with her colleagues in the staff room to inform her to see him as soon as she arrived.  

"Good morning Sir. You asked to see me." She said with a polite smile. Mr. Joseph was a small man with a permanent smile on his face; not that it was a good thing.

"Miss. Badmus, a good morning to you too. Please take your seat." She obeyed. 

With a weak smile, he handed her a white envelope. He insisted she opens it right away. He looked away and stared blankly at the computer screen in front of him.

Lolita's heart sank. Her employment contract was not renewed. 

"Sir, I don't understand."

"Miss. Badmus, the school has been going through a rough patch financially because of stiff competition with other schools. We are trying to cut costs and save where we can. You are a great teacher which is why it is better you leave because you won't have problem finding work elsewhere. Besides, you are not the only one being let go." He said quickly as if he had been running a marathon.

"Sir, this...I need this job." She cried in despair. He wasn't even making sense at all. Why her? 

"Miss. Badmus. I will personally write you a letter of recommendation so you wouldn't have to struggle finding another work elsewhere. We are sorry to let you go."

He didn't mean any of that. He wasn't sorry at all!  Her legs felt weak, her brain seem to have hit a road block and her heart raced like a horse galloping down a rugged road. Where would she start from? Another nightmare has just exploded right on her face.

She wanted to give in to despair but she was glad it turned out as it did. It was her ticket to finally leave her father's house and start afresh somewhere else. A blast of cold air slapped hard at her face as she left the Principal's office. She rushed to the staff's bathroom and cried for almost thirty minutes there. Soon word got out that she was leaving. Her colleagues comforted her and promised to visit her at home and that when one door closes a better one opens up. She decided to call Lorato;

"Is that bald wizard out of his mind?"

"Don't call him that Love." Lolita said weakly. 

"I have to call Desire and start a search right away to find you another job before your permit expires." Lorato was totally livid and wanted to physically attack the ungrateful principal. Her best friend had worked so hard and surely doesn't deserve to be betrayed this way.

At the end of the call, Lorato was still really furious and her best friend felt weaker in spirit.

Lolita on getting home began packing her clothes little by little. She called her favourite Uncle who was a lazy bum living in Nigeria. Uncle Dele has never worked longer than three months in his entire adult life. He was a live model of a leach and he was proud of it. He consoled her and even promised to come to Botswana to get her. She had laughed and took it as a joke until her father came back from work. Hell was about to break loose and especially with the news of her state of employment.

Prof. Badmus loved Lolita more than anything else. They went everywhere together even to his office when she was younger. As she grew older, their bond became even stronger. He was her best friend and confidant, prayer partner, role model and mentor. Her mother was even afraid she might refuse to get married just to remain with her father but surely all of that was changing. Lolita almost jumped out of her skin when the gate opened and her father's White Toyota Hilux drove in. In the past, she would wait impatiently for her father to arrive from work. She would have prepared his favourite dishes, set the table and wait for him right at the doorstep of the house. Now, the sound of the gate opening fills her with dread.