Out of Focus |finished|

36- dr. forson and jamal

After two lectures that fateful Wednesday, Jamal was tired and wished he could go straight home and rest but this was the night they were going to meet Peter.
The night they'd be a step closer to nailing the Chill Network to the cross.

Straddling his backpack over his shoulder, he walked to Malachi's place, his earphones blasting Drake's song God's Plan into his eardrums.
As he got nearer to Malachi's room, memories of how he had gotten entangled with Dr. Forson in the first place hit him.

Nine Months Ago

Jamal sat in the lecture hall an hour early for his Statistics class. His parents were gone, his sisters asked of them all the time and they had no family member to help. He bowed his head, closed his eyes and wished that when he opened them, everything would go back to how it was a few weeks ago.

He heard shuffling of feet beside his desk and when he lifted his head up, it was Dr. Forson, the Statistics lecturer.

Dr. Forson smiled at him, "Always a pleasure to see students interested in my class. Jamal is it?"

Jamal nodded and gave a weak smile. "Good afternoon sir."

It didn't take a genius to see that Jamal was obviously in pain of some sort. His eyes were red and heavy, his face looked sad and his shoulders were drooped.

Dr. Forson placed his hand on Jamal's shoulder and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing sir," replied Jamal and even as he said it, he tried not to choke on the tears and sadness within him.

Everything was falling apart and he had to stay strong for his sisters. A Herculean task he didn't want to face but had no other choice.

"Students normally don't trust lecturers but we aren't monsters you know. I can help you with whatever you're going through."
The lecturer sat beside him and offered a kind smile.

And so with that, the dam inside Jamal broke and he told Dr. Forson everything. He listened to the young boy speak with hurt in his voice and immediately felt sorry for him.

The following day, Jamal received a text message that an amount of money had been deposited into his bank account. It was from Dr. Forson.
That was how it began. ​Monetary help now and then until Jamal asked him for help in paying for his sisters' school fees. Dr. Forson asked him to come for the money in his office
The turning point of everything.

From then on, the lecturer introduced Jamal into a lifestyle made Jamal feel like he was trash and a rent boy. He had nothing against the LGBT and he never would but Dr. Forson was making him do things he never would have done on his own will.
All because he had no one to help him and his sisters.

Dr. Forson grew attached to him and began to tell him about the Chill Network on campus. It was then that an idea began to form in his mind. If he could get leverage of any sort against Dr. Forson, he could blackmail him to finally leave him alone.

If only he knew that this single idea that would cause a ripple of events and in the end, make him lose –

"Jamal?"

Malachi looked at his friend with his head against the door of his room. He seemed lost in thought and hadn't heard Kai call out his name thrice.

When Jamal snapped out of his memories and turned to face Malachi, he realized his friend's face looked different. "Holy Shit! What happened to you?"

Malachi smiled, "You like it?"

Jamal stared at Malachi as he opened the door and they entered. This change was so surprising.
Malachi's afro was shaven off. Now instead of the thick and huge afro on his head, he had a buzz cut. Anyone who knew him might not notice him because it had changed his whole face.

"Why did you cut your hair bro?"

Malachi shrugged, "I figured we had to anything possible so that Peter doesn't recognize us tonight. I'll wear a cap too."

"But this change. Whoa. You look so different," Jamal studied him.

He gave a mock bow and laughed, "Thank you thank you."

The two boys went over their plans over and over again. Jamal would go to the park 10 minutes before Kai and be on the pews at the top and far from Peter and Malachi. He'd zoom in the lens of the camera and take multiple shots when Peter handed the drugs over to Malachi.

Because it would be dark, Malachi had to try and get Peter to face Jamal so that they got a clear shot of him. Their whole plan relied mostly on that.
After that, they'd wait for a few days and call Peter to get them the List or else they'd mail the photos they had of him to his father.

"Are you sure Peter wouldn't recognize you from Simi's place?" Jamal asked.

"Positive. My afro is gone and I'd wear a cap. I don't think he'll suspect a thing."

"Good good."

None of them wanted to admit it but their nerves were skyrocketing. It was almost evening time and if things went wrong, they would be in for some trouble.

Malachi played a game on his phone while Jamal doodled on a paper on the study table.
Immediately it was half past six, Malachi called Peter and arranged to meet him half an hour later.

When they walked out of the room and Malachi was done locking the door, Jamal turned to him, "Ready for this bro?"

Malachi gave him a steely look. "Let's get this son of a –,"

Discussion Area

Do you think everything will go as planned? I don't know but I'm getting bad vibes. What they're doing feels eerily familiar. And Malachi's haircut! Do you think it would look good on him or not? ( Please refer to the cast chapter)
Thank you for reading!