MERCY IMMEDIATELY exited the hall as soon as the boring and lethargic GST lecturer was done with his lecture. That was the last for the day. She had had series of lectures from eight o'clock in the morning till four in the evening without recess. She was fagged out; her head throbbed. Was this how all week days were going to pan out for her? She thought exasperatedly. She definitely wouldn't keep up. She needed time for herself. For people. She needed to have some fun. The plan wasn't to spend most of the day in a crowded hall trying to make out what the lecturer was saying coupled with the deafening noise of the mass of students like they were in the market place; the lecturers completely indifferent, and then after long hours, leave the lecture hall thinking of the tons of assignments that was to be done. This was obviously not the life she had come to live.
"Hey!" A guy whose name was Lee ran up to Mercy as she was walking tiredly back to her hostel. Light and fresh skinned, almost closed-set eyes which were covered with black rimmed glasses like a nerd and a short curly hair— he looked Asian. He was five feet two tall just like Mercy and that was short for a guy, so she thought. She hadn't seen him before let alone known him, so she wondered what he wanted from her.
"Hi." She said dryly and kept walking.
"I'm Lee and I'm a fresher just like you." He sounded like a typical Nigerian, to Mercy's surprise.
Mercy looked at him amusedly. He was dressed casually. She thought he looked quite young for university and very boring to catch her fancy. "First of all, are you from any Asian country and secondly, how do you know I'm a fresher?"
He chuckled. "I saw you looking so bored in the GST class and no, I'm Nigerian. But I was born in Korean because my dad is Korean and he wanted me to be given birth to over there. I spent my toddler days there but when my dad passed on, we moved here to the giant of Africa!" He said the last part with so much pride.
"Hmm, a patriotic citizen we've got there. Anyway, I'm sorry about your dad."
"No problem. It's been a long time ago."
"Oh. Can you speak Korean though?"
"No, not at all. I know very little about their language and culture. My mum is a typical Yoruba woman and she doesn't understand Korean so she speaks only Yoruba to me."
Mercy wondered why he had to give detailed answers. She really wasn't interested in being friends with him. He looked too nerdy for her and she didn't like nerdy.
"Oh okay." She said curtly like she wanted to end the conversation there.
Lee didn't want to end the conversation anytime soon so he said, "So uh, what course are you here for?"
"International relation."
"Hmm, sounds cool."
"Uh-huh." Mercy nodded her head smugly.
"Did jamb give you the course?" He chuckled as he asked, "Or you chose it yourself?"
Mercy furrowed her brows as she snorted in a chuckle. "You're funny. No, jamb didn't give me. I chose the course."
"Well many people in Nigeria universities study a course that was given to them by jamb."
"Yeah, I know, right? Those that don't meet up to the requirements of the course they want to study. So you, what category do you fall under? The category of those that jamb gave courses or the ones that are studying the course they want?"
"The latter. I'm studying computer science."
Mercy snorted. "You don't say!"
"Why?"
"Everything about you screams computer." She chuckled as she said.
Lee cocked one of his brows. "Really, how?"
"For one, you look like those geeky Asian kids and... you just have that computer freak vibe around you." She shrugged.
"Oh, well I actually am a sucker for video games. So yeah, I'm here to know how to make one myself."
"Cool!" Mercy didn't know what else to say but she was really enjoying the conversation so she hoped for him to pick up the thread of the conversation which he did.
"So why international relation?"
"I just like the name." She shrugged her shoulders and when she noticed he wasn't saying anything, she looked at him and he was staring at her incredulously like she had four heads. "What?"
"You went for a course just because you like the name?"
"Err, not just that. I actually love to interact a lot, meet new people, travel and learn different languages and since the course allows that..." She trailed off, shrugging.
"Now that's cool." There was a brief moment of silence before Lee spoke when Mercy was already a stone throw to her hostel, "Lemme guess, you stay at Moremi hostel."
"Obviously, you?"
"Trust me, you don't wanna hear it."
"I'm dying to hear it."
"I stay at Jaja hostel." He said it like he was expecting to see Mercy's reaction, but Mercy expression didn't change.
"And what's with Jaja hostel?" She furrowed her brows quizzically.
"You've not heard of the popular Jaja hostel? That's unbelievable!"
"I've not. Tell me about it."
"No, I'm even ashamed to talk about it. Go and do your research." He smirked, causing Mercy to roll her eyes. He was sounding like those lazy lecturers that always told her to make researches for a particular area of subject they themselves knew nothing about. She made a mental note to ask her roommates about the hostel anyway.
When Mercy got to her hostel, she said, "So geek Lee, thanks for escorting me to my hostel. You seem like a nice young man. I hate to say bye now."
"Geek Lee? Seriously?" He face palmed. "Anyway, I didn't get your name though."
"Mercy."
When she got to her room, she chucked her bag at one corner of the room, climbed up to her bunk bed and collapsed on it. What a stressful day, she thought aloud.
"You're just beginning my dear friend." Faith, who was the only one in the room, chuckled. "That's what we've been enduring o."
"Where are the others?"
"I didn't meet them when I got in. Ada should be in a class I guess." Faith responded.
"What about Brianna? She never attends classes?"
"Not really. Just leave Brianna's case for now."
"Hmm." Mercy looked in askance. She wondered what was about Brianna that everyone kept evading a conversation that had to do with her. She was curious and itchy to ask Faith to furnish her with information about Brianna but she thought better of it. She knew even if she did, Faith wouldn't tell her anything. She would say she doesn't gossip.
Before long, Ada walked in looking so worn out. She took off her wig, her hand bag, and her shoes and tossed them at different corners in the room and then she laid down on her bed.
"What's up? How has your day been?" Mercy asked her.
She heaved a sigh before responding. "Really hectic."
"Class?" Faith asked.
"I skipped class today. I had a shoot appointment to meet up with."
Flummoxed, Mercy scrunched her brows as she asked, "Shoot?"
"Yeah, I'm a model." Ada said.
Even though Mercy could have easily guessed because Ada was six feet tall and had a body shape that was cut out for modeling, the revelation took her aback. She didn't just think it was going to be possible joggling school and work at the same time in Unilag. It was her first time hearing it.
"You work and learn?" Mercy asked, surprised. She wondered how Ada was coping. She that had a lot of assignments to do before the next day dawns, she barely even had time for herself and there Ada was schooling and working.
"It happens." Faith said immediately. "But only that it gets you extremely busy that you barely have time."
"Yeah, that's right." Ada said. "I work and learn. I can't be in school and be broke."
"Don't your parents send you money?" Mercy asked. Speaking of parents, she was actually beginning to miss hers. She wondered how they were doing back at home— praying or reading their Bible perhaps. She made a mental note to place a call on them before nightfall.
"Five thousand naira after every two weeks, that one na money?" Ada hissed. "They don't realize that five thousand naira sometimes don't even last me a day."
Faith scoffed, "Ada! Be contented! Some people don't even get that five thousand naira that you get in a month, so be grateful that at least you get that every two weeks."
"Abeg, let's face facts here, the money is small. Can you manage five thousand naira for two weeks?" Ada looked down at Faith who was sitting on her bunk bed as she asked.
"I very well can. It's not like I need to buy clothes or cook something expensive. When leaving home, I take with me foodstuff and ingredients that I'd use to cook in school, so if my parents even gives me money, it's mainly for books and some projects and assignments and it's not every time I need money for that. I guess it's because you guys like to buy wigs and clothes to keep up with latest trends, that's why you girls think five thousand naira is too small."
Ada rolled her eyes. "Oh I've forgotten I'm even talking to holy Mary, the second!"
Mercy stifled a laugh and looked at Faith to see if she was offended. Faith curved her lips downwards like she pitied Ada for calling her that. Mercy knew Faith acted a little too sanctimonious but she just didn't like the fact Ada and Brianna rubbed it on her face because she knew if it were her, she would have taken offence and held a grudge.
Mercy thought of all that they were talking about. She had no problem with making do financially because she had so many foodstuffs and her parents had dropped fifty thousand naira in her bank account and had told her to call on them whenever she needed anything, so money wasn't a problem for her.
Later in the evening, Mercy phoned her parents and they asked how she was doing to which she whined that school was already stressful for her and her parents burst out laughing at her. She and her parents talked for a long time— her parents mostly advising her to behave herself in school and to always pray— that even when her credit got exhausted, they called her and continued to talk. Her parents ended the call after praying for Mercy.
"Na your parents you dey follow talk since?" Brianna, who had entered the room while Mercy was on a call with her parents, asked. It was already quite late and Mercy wondered where Brianna could have been throughout the day.
"Yup." Mercy said, popping the p.
"Wow, those guys must really miss you o."
Mercy smiled not knowing what to say. She wasn't really comfortable around Brianna yet and she didn't even know exactly why. She guessed perhaps it was because Brianna had bullied her on her first day in the hostel.
"I feel like eating suya. Who wants to eat?" Brianna asked everyone.
Ada immediately sat up from her bed, "Me o! You'd not believe that I've actually been thinking of suya since."
"I want too." Faith said and that surprised Mercy and also gave her the boldness to also confess that she wanted to eat suya.
"Great then! Mercy, please follow me to go and buy the suya." Brianna requested and Mercy's heart literally skipped a beat. Nothing prepared her for that. How could Brianna call her, out of all the other girls, to escort her. Wouldn't it be awkward? What would they talk about? But looking at it from the bright side, maybe this was an opportunity to get to know Brianna more and find out what was about her that Ada and Faith were always evading.
When Brianna noticed Mercy's hesitation, she said reassuringly, "Don't worry, it's not far from the hostel. It's not that close either, but not to worry, I'm not a boring person."
"Why can't I just follow you?" Ada asked.
"Alright let's go." Mercy jumped down from her bed and wore her slippers.
She and Brianna left the room and at first, there was a long silence between them but the instant they both walked out of the hostel and saw a male and a female making out with each other, Brianna decided to initiate a conversation.
"So are you single?" She asked.
Mercy wondered why Brianna asked the weirdest of questions, but she wasn't ready for anything that would grate on Brianna's nerves so she answered upfront. "Yeah."
"Searching?"
"Err, not really. But if I find the right guy, I'd go for him."
"So you're one of those girls that are searching for Mr. Right?"
"Not like I'm seeking perfection from a guy, but I just think there's a right guy for every girl."
Brianna laughed in a way that Mercy thought to be derisive. "I don't think so. I think we make our guys right by loving him the right way. And how's that? By giving him what he wants, and from experience there's one thing that I know every guy wants — Sex! Trust me girl, there's no guy you'd be in a romantic relationship with that would not demand this from you. Even if he claims to love you, once he asks for this, and you don't give to him, he'd dump you and look for another girl that is ready to love him the way he wants."
"Then that's not love. That's lust."
"So tell me, what's love then?"
Mercy thought for a brief moment before she gave an answer. "Love is more than sex. It's a deep feeling and strong affection towards another."
"That's what your dictionary would tell you and so I thought too until I actually had experiences that has made me think it through. Have you ever sat down to wonder why we feel sexual desires towards the one we claim to love?"
Mercy was silent.
"Why do couples have sex the instant they get married? To prove their love for each other. The dictionary even calls it to make love." Brianna laughed. "Why does a spouse feel unloved if the other partner doesn't want to have sex with or better put, make love to him or her? The simple answer to that question is that you can't love without sex. So love is sex."
Mercy was silent, although she didn't agree completely with Brianna. She knew Brianna was looking at it only from the angle of romance, but she didn't want to counter. Brianna seemed to have formed a philosophy about love which Mercy didn't think she could easily bend. One counter from her would result in a thousand counter-attacks from Brianna. She knew this, so she decided not to say anything.
Brianna looked satisfied thinking she had convinced Mercy about her point of view. "Anyway they're a lot of fine boys in Unilag that would catch your fancy. Just make sure you choose the one with cash in his pocket."
Mercy laughed.
"I'm serious." Brianna shrugged.
"So are you single?" Mercy returned the question.
"No."
"So who's the lucky boy?"
"They're many. I don't date boys. I date men. Men with cash." Brianna said and the revelation shocked Mercy. So this was why Brianna had an iPhone X, always looking flamboyant and not attending classes, Mercy thought.
"Wow!"
"I think I've told you so much for the night." Brianna said once they got to the place the suya was sold. "Here we are. Abeg gimme suya one thousand naira." She said to the suya seller.
Mercy was lost in thought. She couldn't get over what Brianna had just told her. So Brianna was a gold digger who dated men for just their money. She thought about her father's advice. Stay away from the wrong association. Was Brianna the right association to be around?
"Taste it." Brianna intruded her thought by offering her a piece of the suya.
Mercy took it and put the suya in her mouth. "Hmm, very spicy." She said and then looked up at the suya seller. She wasn't expecting the black beautiful male her eyes met. He was too handsome; she literally drooled.
___________
Thanks for reading!
Do you agree with Brianna? If not, why?
Check out my other book Daniella if you still haven't.
Please tag your friends to read this novel here.
Thanks!
PS Suya is just a popular meat in Nigeria and West Africa.