Living In The Ghetto - Episode 27

 

"Really?" Chimaobim asked.

A memory flashed through his mind and he remembered articles he had read online on how freshmen in the universities are being extorted when some undergraduates notice they are new to the environment.

"Okay. What about we walk to the door and you hand me the file before I pay?"

The man hesitated, rounded up his arm below his waist and shook his head. Kai, this one smart like this, he said in his mind . "Err... No worry. I dey come back," he said, rolling his hands in the air while he walked away.

Chimaobim glanced at him as he kept walking without looking back. He widened his leg and dragged the middle of his trouser to make it comfortable.

"This one thinks he has seen a maga," Chimaobim said. 

He laughed and walked into the multipurpose hall. Entering the hall, different chairs were arranged opposite the tables and they were listed with their various faculty names. Students stood at a side and arranged their files. Chimaobim stood and stared at them, then noticed a girl staring at him. He walked towards her and they exchanged handshakes.

"Do you know me before?" the girl asked.

"No, I thought you knew me too," he said and laughed.

The girl blushed so hard. "Have you arranged your files?" she asked pointing at the instructions pasted on the wall

All episodes of this story can be found here >> https://www.ebonystory.com/story/living-in-the-ghetto

. "That's how to arrange the files and numbers  of other required documents."

Chimaobim smiled. He brought out his documents from the envelope, scattered them on the table and started arranging them one after the other. The girl walked close and placed her hand on his back. "Oh, your name is Austin," she said.

Her gaze was fixed on his files. Chimaobim wanted to correct her but took a look at his documents again, 'Okeke Chimaobim Austin.' Though he had Austin as his baptismal name which doubled as his middle name, he had never been called that before.

He nodded and continued arranging his files. After he was done, he packed them into the envelope.

"You never cared to ask of my name," the girl said.

"Oh, I'm sorry,' he replied.

"I am Simi," she replied.

"Oh, another Simi."

"Another Simi?"

"Yes, I had a Simi I knew way back in secondary school."

"Oh. What's your course?"

"Law. And you?"

"English Education."

"Nice."

They shook hands and walked to where their different faculty were assigned. Chimaobim sat in between a fat boy and a girl. They kept moving from chairs to chairs while they are being answered in threes. It finally got to his turn and they moved in three.

It was a woman that screened him. She had a soft smile which was obvious whenever her mouth was closed. Her nerdy glasses accentuated her look and she could pass for a pretty nerd though she had some weird facial features.

"Your name?" she asked.

"Okeke Chimaobim Austin."

She skimmed through the wide paper on her table. Rolling her hands downward and slowly, it stopped and she raised her head up. She stretched her hand. "Your file?" she asked.

Chimaobim pulled them out from the envelope and handed it to her. She glanced through them and nodded at each glances. "I love your wassce result. Whoop."

Chimaobim muffled his smile at her praises. "English, Literature in English and Government are all A's. I'm impressed. I hope you'll keep that up here, and come out with a first class," she said.

He smiled again. "Yes, I'll try my best."

His screening was successful and he set out to his faculty to get cleared. Walking with his earpiece plugged to his ear, he heard someone called him and he pulled it off. Turning slowly, it was Tobi.

He waved. "Hey, Tobi," he said. 

He stood and waited for him to come close. Tobi walked close with a grin on his face and they shook hands and flashed their teeth at a go. The weather was getting thick and it looked like it was pregnant and would pour out rains in a bit.

"Are we safe while standing here?" Tobi asked.

"Maybe."

They sighted a bustop and walked inside. Seated at the other end, were two girls; one concentrated on her phone while the other kept chattering to her. Chimaobim and Tobi stood, resting their hands on the iron barricade used to demarcate the enclosed bustop with outside of it.

"You finally got admitted to study Medicine and Surgery?" Chimaobim asked rhetorically.

Read " The Thorny Path " by the same author ( Obinna Tony )

. "Congratulations."

Tobi smiled and tapped him. "It's not MBBS please. I was given Botany."

"Wow. Why didn't you write another jamb?," he asked. His face flaunted confusion and he asked again, "And what does MBBS mean?"

"Bachelor in Medicine and Bachelor in surgery."

Chimaobim thought as much, nodded and smiled. 

"Well, my sister said I should take the course since I never liked Medicine and Surgery and she wants me to finish university quickly and find a job. Things are getting hard for us."

Chimaobim gazed at Tobi and smiled. It all dawned on him that he came to the university to nurture his dream and hoped it would be worth it when he finally graduated. Some people in the ghetto had congratulated him. "Chimaobim, na better course you dey study. No worry you go dey chop money when you graduate."

But what he had seen online about Law as a profession, had not been encouraging. Some people don't practice? There are more lawyers than the country need? He sighed.