Chapter 4 FOUR - ROOMMATE

The night was quite long but day finally came and I packed my luggage into the boot of my father's car. My mum was standing on the verandah watching me while my dad sat in the car waiting for me.

After packing my luggage, I turned to wave to my mother. She signalled for me to come so as to receive her motherly blessings and I smiled for I knew what she would say. I had heard this motherly blessings countless of times; enough to store in my memory.

"Concentrate on your studies. Remember your dream to be the best graduating student this year. You can't afford any nonsense that will ruin your perfect cgpa. Know your company of friends." My mum began her litany and I groaned inwardly.

Ever since she knew about my 5.0 cgpa, she kept ringing it in my ear that any mistake would bring me down from my standing. I knew all these so it was annoying to hear them over and over again.

'I know all these mum. Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just take care of yourself and don't worry about me." I assured her.

"You know you're my only child. I can't afford to lose you." She held my face.

"You won't mum. I promise." We hugged and I got into the car. My mum kept waving till we left the compound.

The drive to school was silent as the soft music from the radio played. I sank into the chair thinking of my new roommate. I was beginning to give the whole getting an apartment outside school a thought but then, living in school had its comfort.

I didn't have to worry about getting to my room late. I could leave the library whenever I pleased without thinking of how dark it was. Besides, I loved the curiosity of discovering what new roommate I had each section. It was like an adventure.

We got to school late in the afternoon and I asked my father to wait in the car while I searched for my room. The rooms were numbered, making it easy to find my room. I opened the door and to my greatest surprise, I saw a guy lying on his stomach, watching a movie or so.

It dawned on me it was porn when I heard the weird sound coming from his laptop. He hadn't noticed my presence for he was quite engrossed, so I quietly stepped out of the room and let out a big sigh of frustration. So this was my new roommate? Great! Just what I needed!

I walked back to my dad's car outside the building. My dad was leaning on the car looking at his watch. I knew he was a busy man and he valued his time so much but I felt he should loosen up a bit and spend more time with his family.

"Did you find your room?"

"Yes I did." I answered as I brought my loads from the boot.

"Great! Let's carry your stuff inside then." My father moved to join me.

I stiffened as he said that. I couldn't let him find out what my roommate was like. I knew he'd make a scene and that would be an embarrassment to me.

"There's no need dad. You don't have to stress yourself. I'll carry them myself." I smiled hoping he was convinced.

"But your loads are quite a lot. You can't carry them at once." My dad replied.

"I'll carry them twice then. You don't have to worry." I smiled again hoping he would give the matter up and he did.

My roommate was just leaving when I got to the room with some of my luggage. I could tell from the wetness on his trouser that he had just masturbated. It was gross he didn't bother changing his trousers and my tummy did a flip up at the sight.

"Hey, you must be Daniel?" The moderate height idiot asked me.

"Yea?"

"Wow! I'm Tony. Your roommate." He brought his hand for a handshake and I reluctantly did the same. I knew that instance I had contaminated some bacteria and I made a mental note to wash my hands immediately he left.

"I'll see you around, Daniel. I'm heading to my friend's room. I'll introduce you later." He told me and I watched him go.

I shook my head. I would rather lock myself in the room than go anywhere with him.

I heaved a sigh of relief as I dropped my luggage and headed for the rest. My dad waved to me as I carried the last set of luggage into the hostel while he sped off.

I arranged my things at the appropriate place and laid my bed. I was exhausted when I finished so I took a quick shower and laid on my bed. I stared at the poster of artistes on the wall.

There were pictures of porn stars and I sighed in disgust. There was a drawing board and a Tee-square lying beside my roommate's bed. Tony was the direct opposite of what I wanted.

I closed my eyes as I thought of the misfortune that had befallen me.

I woke up due to the bang at the door. I rubbed my eyes sleepily as I watched my roommate walk into the room.

"Hey dude! Didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's okay. I would wake up eventually." I replied standing up to use the toilet. I could hear Tony's movement in the room. He was sitting on his bed when I came out of the toilet.

"So what are you studying?" He took a biro from the reading table and began to spin it around.

"Accounting." I replied coldly. I did not want to have any discussion with him.

"Accounting?" He yelped. "So you wan de count money, sheybi? This guy!"

I ignored his comment as I sat on my bed thinking of what to do to disrupt any further conversation he might want to make. I picked up one of my textbooks and began flipping the pages, staring at nothing in particular.

"I study Architecture." He chirped.

"Mmmhm."

"Are all those textbooks yours?" Tony asked.

"Yes, they are." My speech were slurred.

"Wow! How can you have all these textbooks? U go finish am?" He looked genuinely shocked. I was surprised. Why would having my complete textbooks be a shock to him. I wanted to Ignore him but I was curious to know why he was so shocked.

"Don't you have textbooks?" I blurted out.

"I have some on my phone, but not all. I can borrow some from my friends besides, I don't like reading textbooks. I prefer materials. They are shorter and summarized. Straight to the point!"

"Well, I prefer textbooks. They are more detailed and comprehensive."

"That doesn't justify you buying all the textbooks. Why do we have friends or the library? I see it as a waste of money to buy all textbooks recommended to you."

"Well, Mr Economist, my friends use their textbooks also. What if they want to use their textbooks when I'm requesting for it? And for the library, you can only keep borrowed books for a month. A month is not enough for me."

"Wetin u de read wey one month no do you? Semester never even start well well, you don de read. Scholar! Scholilo, I wan be like you when I grow up o." Tony laughed.

I ignored his sarcastic statement by pretending to be reading something on my textbook. When he became silent, I threw a glance at him. He was putting on his shoes.

"Are you going out?" I asked.

"Yep. I'm stepping out for a bit. I'll be back tomorrow. Hope you'll be okay all by yourself?" He winked and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Scholar, Take care. Good night."

I watched his retreating figure and heaved a big sigh. His presence was suffocating. With the way he spoke, I could tell he rarely read. I wondered how life would be with him.