Damzy and I have ported from Bishop Alex’s lesson center to the Cathedral Library following the leaked poem and the way people looked at us there.
We became friends but I wanted to be more than just a friend. All my attempts to take the friendship deeper fell met a stiff rock.
Damzy told me that she actually loves me but she loves me as a friend and that was it. I sank into that saying that half bread is better than none.
Seeing Damzy daily, talking to her, getting goodbye hugs, chatting with her on 2go, reading with and gisting with her was a half bread worth keeping.
We would often spend most of our time inside the old Township Primary School building located inside the Cathedral.
It provided us avenue to gist about a lot of things, still read and sometimes hold hands. Most of which were not permitted inside the library.
We would only be occasionally disturbed by the Catholic Charismatic Renewal people.
Due to their noisy and incantations-like prayers, the Bishop Emeritus, Bishop Okobo had chased them down to that Township building where they won’t constitute a nuisance.
Their prayer pattern looked more like infusing the traditional Igbo religion into Christianity with all the violence and incantations-like prayers prayers. Their prayers weren’t for the weak and faint hearted.
They would clap loudly vehemently, stamping the ground so heavily that if the Township building wasn’t strong enough, they would pull it down literally because indeed, their weapon of warfare is carnal 😂, matched with their long gowns, trousers and heavy shoes that looked like what was used to fight in Burma.
No wonder why their members hardly look fresh. I recommend that organization for those who want to lose weight. You can’t come out from their Tuesday program without losing 20 pounds. And they don’t share food. Only Yale Cabin biscuit.
No wonder why the good Bishop Okobo chased down down down like the gentiles.
Don’t mind me, I am just annoyed by the numerous romantic moments they ruined for me.
Days turned into weeks, and before we could say Jack! JAMB was at hand.
We wrote it. Result came out, I passed, she passed. Glory be to God.
I scored 267, Damzy scored 250. We both applied to study Law at UNN. We were overjoyed. The good Lord has done it for us.
Ladies and Gentlemen, University of Nigeria Nsukka released their cutoff mark and Law was pegged at 290 merit, 285 Catchment Area and 270 for Educationally Less Advantaged Areas.
Ọgini ka m ji isi m wéé kote na ụwa?
At that moment, Oswald Mtshali’s boy on a swing was playing in my head repeatedly!
“The world whirls by:
east becomes west,
north turns to south;
the four cardinal points
meet in his head.”
I was totally confused. My parents insisted that I studied Law. As at then, only Law and Accountancy were seen as the meaningful (professional courses) in the arts discipline.
I wasn’t good at calculations, so it’s either law or it is law. No two ways about it.
I sat cold like one who was bereaved. Like that Lamb they mention during station of the cross. That one a-akpụchasi ajụ? JAMB na UNN ji aka ike na ikpe mmegbu, duru m pụọ. Enweghị onye nkasi Obi, nke m na enwe onye na-asi m, jisie ike.
I was in that mood when Damzy told me about her intention to buy a shopping form to study any of the lesser courses.
She pressured me but I refused. Law is the only thing that will make sense to my parents.
That year, she got admission into the department of Social Works in UNN. All way na way, she said. Indeed it was.
Did Damzy remain my friend after she entered the university or did ndi oke udele na eri oke ozu snatch her away from me?
We’ll find out in the next episode.
Stay tuned…
DUKE THE NIGERIAN
(PASSING JAMB, Season 1; Episode 7) was brought to you by Ugwuagbo Emmanuel Chizoba Daniel (Zoba De Great)