.
.
.
.
EPISODE 5.
#ARRANGEDMARRIAGE
.
.
.
.
EPISODE 5.
Life at UNZA was so fun that time seemed to fly so fast that before I knew it, exactly four weeks had passed since the guys and I had made the Gillen bet. And now even though admitting the truth was almost impossible, it seemed I was on the losing side and Ben and Dalitso saw to it that they mocked me every chance they got. They had a point, only two days were left before the deadline came to an end? What could I achieve in these two days that I hadn't managed to achieve in 28 days? Nothing!
I had just finished taking a quick shower and only had a towel draped around my waist as I entered my apartment. I found Ben lying on my bed doing only God knows what on his laptop.
"Knowing you," I curtly said, grabbing a bottle of Dawn For Men cream from a drawer. "You're watching porn."
"What if I am?"
"Ben, get yourself a girl man! There's so many of em' out there. You can even get a hooker if you like but please divorce your hand." I mockingly said, applying a bit of cream on my body.
"Tom," said Ben, his gaze focused on the screen. "Whether I masturbate myself to death or not, I don't think that should bother you. Why don't you worry about the money you'll be losing in two days time? I mean, K1000 on a silver platter. I pity you, man. That Gillen needs a pat on the back, she really knows how to keep her legs closed. If half the girls were like her, then promiscuous behavior would have at least been minimized."
What Ben said sounded like gibberish to me as I grabbed some t-shirt and jeans from my wardrobe.
"Why don't you just shut the hell up and find yourself a girl huh?" I said, slipping into a black Calvin Klein boxer.
"You know I don't like the drama that these girls bring with them, not after the Rita phase. Man, am literally a father of a dead child." scoffed Ben.
"C'mon, Rita had an abortion. The baby was just weeks old! Don't be so melodramatic." I was now pulling on some jeans. "Don't tell me you'll spend the rest of your pathetic life watching porn and-"
I was cut mid sentence by Dalitso whose euphoria was almost contagious. He had just stepped into the room, beaming.
"What's got you so happy?" asked Ben.
"Haven't you guys heard?" said Dalitso, sitting on the bed. "That Gillen girl's in trouble. She's pissed off some guy on campus and he's waiting for her. He's probably gonna give her a good beating. Isn't that wonderful? I mean, Tom, the girl's put you through hell with her attitude. At least some guy's gonna do your justice by kicking her proud ass huh?"
I shook my head disbelievingly as I put on my shirt hurriedly. "Dalitso, you sound like a girl you know? What sort of man stands by the roadside waiting for a lady so he could beat her? I would like to see that coward." and I was out of the room.
I could hear Ben and Dalitso trotting after me. Minutes later, I was approaching a small crowd that clearly spelt commotion. I shoved a couple of students out of my way and finally came to a clearing where some bully called Levy was almost forcing Gillen to give him a kiss.
"You gonna kiss me, babe." he was saying.
Impulsively, I pushed him off Gillen, pulling the girl behind me so that Levy and I now stood face to face.
"What the fuck?!" cursed Levy loudly.
A pungent smell of stale alcohol gave him away, the guy was drunk.
"Yo Levy," I sternly said. "You oughta give these ladies some respect."
"Look whose preaching to me," mocked Levy. "Man, you and I are one and the same. We like too many pussies."
I sighed, mustering all the patience I could afford. "You're drunk," I said. "Go take a nap. And yeah, brush some teeth and chew some mint cause your breath stinks."
Levy's reaction was a hard blow on my face.
Chuckling and nursing my broken nose, I shook my head. I was well built and made out a lot so this skinny guy standing before me was no match. I turned and grabbed Gillen's arm firmly.
"You okay?" I asked her.
"Your nose is bleeding," said her friend, Thandi. "Let's leave this place and get it fixed. This Levy guy's a lunatic."
I had just taken a single step forward when another blow on the back of my head made me turn on the spot. It had been long since I had been involved in a street fight so I did myself justice by re-arranging Levy's face, giving him hard blows back to back.
Some guys finally pulled me off him and Levy and I went our separate ways.
"Thank God for you," said Thandi gratefully.
I was now being ushered towards Thandi and Gillen's apartment, Ben and Dalitso in my wake.
Gillen was awfully quiet but I did a rough guess about what was bothering her. She was too proud to thank me for saving her from Levy's humiliation and I didn't blame her. She was probably feeling ashamed after having chastised and cursed me for four weeks.
"There," announced Thandi, plastering the small cut on my eyebrow. "That should do. Thanks once again. This campus is full of losers. I mean, so many people were present at the scene but non of them bothered to come to Gillen's aid. Can you believe that Levy even had the audacity to slap Gillen? I was so infuriated I felt like-"
Gillen cleared her throat, interrupting Thandi.
"What?" said Thandi defensively.
"I think you've said enough." replied Gillen, who was staring at me intently despite talking to her friend.
Silence.
"I think we'll be leaving now," I finally announced, urging the guys to follow suit.
"Yeah," said Ben sheepishly. "Nice place you have here."
"Thanks." Thandi blushed.
Gillen decided to walk us out. "Thanks for your help," she said in a barely audible voice. "I really appreciate it. Don't know what I would have done without you. Just hope I haven't gotten you into some trouble with the principal."
I chuckled.
"What's funny?" asked Gillen at once.
Ben and Dalitso were now briskly walking ahead of us, out of earshot.
"I never knew you could be this calm," I said. "Seeing how you're always yelling whenever am speaking to you."
Gillen sighed. "Do you have to remind me?" she said quietly. "Am sorry."
"I didn't hear that." I was mocking her.
She hit my shoulder playfully. "I said am sorry." she screamed.
"Okay, okay." I raised my arms in surrender. "Apology accepted."
"Friends?" Gillen extended her hand.
I shook it. "Cool, friends then. And don't worry about the principal, this small incident won't reach her. I'll see to it. Besides, this ain't high school. People here are more mature."
"Sure. To make up for my rudeness, how about a date?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Gillen the proud goddess wanted to go on a date with me?
I grinned, displaying my perfect white teeth. "Only a fool wouldn't wanna go on a date with you."
•
Am outta here. See you mu next...
