Daniel listened intently to the deep voice of

　　the dean of his faculty booming over the

　　mic. It had been almost three hours since he

　　started his 'introductory speech' and it

　　didn’t seem like he was going to stop

　　anytime soon. So far it was talks of

　　welcome, rules, how to excel in the

　　university and of course, the olden days

　　speech of how he suffered in his youth and

　　was able to breakthrough with

　　determination.

　　Daniel sighed for the thousandth time in annoyance, wishing the old man could just get it over with. Another

　　thing he regretted was not eating before

　　entering the big hall as the results began to

　　manifest in form of a growling stomach.

　　He glanced at his watch: it read 2:30pm.

　　Throwing his head backwards, he let out a

　　frustrated groan which caught the attention

　　of his friend sitting beside him.

　　“Dude, just try and endure,okay.”

　　Daniel turned to him. “ Easy for you to say,

　　Jake. My stomach is killing me. You know I

　　didn’t eat before leaving the hostel.”

　　Jake chuckled. “ And who’s fault is that?”

　　Seeing the glare Daniel gave him, he became

　　serious. “Oh come on, we were already

　　running late.”

　　“You mean late for a speech that started

　　two hours ahead of time?” Daniel rolled his

　　eyes.

　　“Well pardon me for not realizing African

　　time exists in universities” Jake said.

　　“It exists everywhere, man.” Daniel replied

　　“Tell that to your boss when you go late for

　　work in future.” Jake laughed..

　　Daniel leaned back in his seat and was just

　　about to doze off when a sudden feeling

　　overwhelmed him. That familiar feeling that

　　had felt for almost a decade now. The

　　feeling that he was being watched. But

　　who? He sat upright and glanced around

　　the auditorium, his eyes narrowing in

　　suspicion. The auditorium was crowded

　　alright, but his instincts never failed him in

　　the past and it wasn’t going to fail him now.

　　He glanced to his right and his suspicions

　　were confirmed. He saw her.

　　Sitting a few seats from him was a girl of his age with a

　　no-nonsense look and sharp eyes. She was

　　wearing a black T-shirt and dark blue tight

　　jeans. She was dark in complexion, with

　　pointed nose and red lips. Red? He kind of

　　found that weird. Her long unbraided hair

　　was tied back in a ponytail and it glistened

　　under the lights of the auditorium. What

　　fascinated him was her eyes. A light brown

　　in contrast to the dark black of the average

　　Nigerian. As soon as she saw him staring,

　　she narrowed her eyes at him and he

　　quickly glanced away.

　　“The hell is her problem? She stared first” He

　　grumbled silengtly.

　　“What was that?” Jake turned to him.

　　“ Oh nothing jare, don’t mind me.” he replied

　　leaning back to his seat once more and

　　closing his eyes.

　　Jake looked at him for a while and

　　shrugged. Daniel was always one to keep

　　things to himself. More of a reserved dude.

　　He had known him like that from primary

　　school to secondary school to well…now. He

　　had stopped bothering on that a long time

　　ago.

　　“ And finally.” The dean announced. “

　　Remember there is a difference between

　　passing through school and letting the

　　school pass through you. Have a wonderful

　　semester and I wish you the best . Thank

　　you”

　　With that, he dropped the mic to a reception

　　of applause and relieved sighs. Daniel

　　laughed at this. Apparently, he wasn’t the

　　only one tired of the 3 hour speech. One by

　　one, the students filed out of the auditorium

　　to begin their normal activities.

　　“Hey, Dan.” Jake said as they trotted to their

　　hostel.

　　“ Yeah?” Daniel replied.

　　“There’s a welcome departmental party for

　　freshers this evening at the park. You

　　coming?”

　　“Well…” Daniel hesitantly replied.

　　“Before you come up with your lame speech

　　on how 'Terrible things' happen in parties”

　　Jake interrupted using his fingers in quote. “

　　Alcohol is banned from the party. Plus it

　　would give you the chance to mingle with

　　people and socialize. I don’t want you

　　graduating from this school a miserable old

　　man”

　　“ Screw you too.” Daniel grumbled and they

　　both laughed.

　　“So what do you say?” Jake pressed on.

　　Before Daniel could reply, his phone rang

　　and he fished it out of his pocket. Looking at

　　the screen, he sighed.

　　“ It’s my mom” He turned to his friend. Jake

　　nodded understandably and Daniel picked

　　the call.

　　“Hello, baby” The feminine voice of his mom

　　came over the speaker. “ How are you?”

　　“ I’m fine, mom” he replied. “ And you?”

　　“ I’m alright. In fact am in front of your

　　hostel”

　　“Really?”

　　“ Yes . I brought some things for you.”

　　“ Alright hold on. Ill be right there” he

　　replied and cut the call. Turning to his friend,

　　he blurted. “ Jake, she’s in front of our

　　hostel”

　　“Good, let’s go” Jake replied.

　　The two boys hurried over and saw Mrs

　　Johnson standing by a Toyota camry. She

　　was wearing a white tight blouse and dark

　　jeans that showed her curves and her hair

　　was fixed in a brazillian hairstyle. She held a

　　big white nylon in one hand and the other

　　was placed on her hip. she removed her

　　hand from her hip and started drumming

　　her fingers on the bonnet of the car patiently.

　　On seeing her attire, Daniel

　　groaned inwardly at his mother’s attempt of

　　once again trying to look younger. Not to

　　say she wasn’t good looking. She was still

　　attractive at the age of 42,having had Daniel

　　at a young age. But after the death of her

　　husband, she still wanted to make sure men

　　found her attractive much to the chagrin of

　　her son. He never hesitated to make his

　　grieviances known to her on that issue

　　which she found adorable and wave it away

　　with a pinch of his cheeks, leaving him more

　　frustrated than before.

　　“ Good evening, Mom.” Daniel said as he

　　approached her. She smiled and drew him

　　in a tight embrace.

　　“ My baby.” She smiled warmly, ignoring his

　　protests as he struggled against her, while

　　Jake laughed at this.

　　“ Mom!!” Daniel choked out and began to

　　panic as their embrace drew in a little

　　audience. “ This is embarrassing!!”

　　“ Hush, boy” She replied with a giggle. “ You

　　don’t know how it feels being alone in that

　　house.”

　　She finally released him, much to his relief.

　　“Good evening, ma” Jake said, bowing a

　　little.

　　“ Jacob” She turned to him. “ How are you?

　　it has been a while. Wow, you are looking

　　like quite the young man.”

　　“ And you look beautiful, ma'am.” He smiled

　　back.

　　“JAKE!!” Daniel glared at him.

　　“Oh, lighten up." His mother replied. “ It’s not

　　everyday I get compliments from the male

　　gender.” Turning to Jake, she continued.

　　“Thank you dear. That means a lot.”

　　Daniel rolled his eyes at that.

　　“Anyway” Mrs Johnson handed the nylon to

　　her son. “This is for you. Provisions,

　　mosquito nets and other stuffs.”

　　“Thanks mom.”He smiled warmly, collecting

　　the bag.

　　Reaching into her purse, she counted some

　　money and gave Daniel. Then gave some to

　　Jake which he politely declined.

　　“Ma, I don’t think…” Jake began.

　　“ Just take it, dear” she smiled. “ Or you

　　want to start forming big boy?” she

　　added and they laughed. Jake smiled and

　　accepted the money.

　　“ Thank you ma.” He said.

　　“Okay, boys.” she said as she opened her

　　car. “ I'm off. I will check on you from time

　　to time. Remember to study well and stay

　　away from distractions. Make friends but

　　sensible ones. Socialize and interact with

　　people. Don’t join bad gangs okay? And

　　always remember to pray.” She hugged Jake

　　and gave a tighter hug to Daniel which he

　　rolled his eyes at but he smiled at returned

　　her embrace all the same. “You know..” she

　　whispered in his ear. “ You are the exact

　　copy of your father. In image and character.

　　Even if he isn’t here, I have you to remind

　　me of him and that is all I ever want. I love

　　you, my baby.”

　　“ Love you too, mom.” He whispered back

　　and rubbed his hands soothingly over her

　　back. Daniel never knew his father as he

　　died two months after he was born and the

　　cause of his death was never known. His

　　mom and paternal grandfather had been

　　the only family he knew and they made sure

　　to take care of him. Overprotective? sure.

　　But they were the best people in his life and

　　he wouldn’t trade them for anyone.