Campus hustle
Episode 9
"I wish we had a prophet. who would have told us Rukayat would die so early"Nike said walking around the room.They all sat looking gloomy as Rukayat's parents came to pack her belongings. Rita remained on her bed sobbing silently.They had just returned from Rukayat's grave where they went to pay their last respect. None of them spoke, they shed silent tears as they remembered their precious moments together.
"Hello"someone greeted from outside.Nike cleaned her face, standing up to open the door, eversince Rukayat died, their room had never been devoid of sympatizers some were those they were familiar with while some were strangers.Nike returned back after some minutes with a man behind her. Amaka sat up immediately watching as the stranger sat on one of the chairs in the room. He cleared his throat when he noticed all eyes were on him
"I was a very close friend of Rukayat"He stated. The room became silent except for Rita's occasional outburst
"We were together few days before she returned back to school". Rita stopped crying and shifted her attention to what the man was saying.
"I know you all have come to conclude on what was responsible for your friends death", he said looking at everyone."But I am here to prove you all wrong" he paused as he swallowed uneasily "no one used Rukayat for ritual, she died due to disobedience and negligence"he paused again ,cleaning his face."She had HIV/AIDs"he declared. Amaka shifted uneasily on the chair, the rest were dumbfounded.Nike's vocal cavity could not process a single word, she stared at the man like he was insane.
"I told her to start treatment 3 years ago but she refused, she felt there was no reason to try to secure her life since she might eventually die" He stood up and walked around the room "she wanted to live the remaining of her life happy, so she started partying and go out,she couldn't bring herself to tell her parents and also you guys, she wanted your memory of her to be crystal clear without no dent but it is like her wish never came through" he said, cleaning his tears "I know you are all wondering where she got the disease from" he sniffled "she got it from me!" He said loudly. Nike flinched at his sudden outburst
" When I noticed I had HIV/AIDS, I was bitter at God, I blamed him for my calamity, I questioned why of all people in the world would be infected, I had just one sexual partner,so I didn't see the need for protection during sex, she was faithful too but we didn't know where things went wrong,she became infected and unknowingly infected me too.I was angry with the world and decided to take out my anger on any girl I see,Rukayat was the first person I met, she fell for my good looks and I also liked her and didn't want to hurt her, but one thing led to another thing and one day I was drunk, nike was around and we had sex, that day I cried my heart out, I wished I could turn back the hands of time that night but the deed had been done.After that night I cut contact with her due to guilt but fate has its special way of doing things, we met at a colleagues birthday party, I didn't have anyother choice but to tell her.That day will forever remain memorable, she almost killed me, she couldn't stop crying,she stormed out in anger, few days later she called to tell me she had forgiven me.We became great friends up till the day she died" he concluded burying his head in his hands,his body shaking in tears.
"I just came to tell you she wasn't promiscus like you all thought"
The whole room became silent,everyone alone in their thoughts.Nike couldn't stop crying, her eye balls were red and puffy.she looked at Rita as she sobbed into her pillow while Amaka stared into space, oblivious of her environment. No one looked up as the guy stepped out, suddenly Amaka couldn't keep it in, she let out a loud sob, Nike hurried to her side and craddled her, their tears mixing together, Rita came down from the bed and joined them, they cried together till they fell asleep.
The death of Rukayat shattered them all, they were sober till the end of the session, Nike cut tieswould with Ayodeji.Things were going on smoothly till one fateful Friday...You can read the previous episodes on my blog.Thanks for reading,don't forget to upvote