It was a set up episode 1

IT WAS A SET UP (EPISODE 1)

I met Linda at a JAMB center where I went to write my JAMB at one Secondary School at Calabar

By then JAMB was Paper and Pencil Test (PPT)

We both had the same center

My seat number was 342 and hers was 343

She was from Rivers State while I came from Akaw Ibom
She was very beautiful

We exchanged phone contacts after the examination, just to keep in touch till the results were released

I did not even bother to waste my airtime to call her because I knew she was beyond my reach

Poor me!

That I got her number at the examination center was not my doing

She demanded for my contact, so I gave her. And she in turn gave me hers

She was too classic, so what would I tell her if I called?

I decided to respect myself and maintained my limit

After all, there was no way on earth I could see her again

About 3 weeks later, I came back from the farm to see her missed calls

She had called me twice and since I did not answer the calls, she dropped me a message

“Hello dear. Long time. What’s going on? Not even a call. I hope you’re ok. I’ve checked my result and I have 299, what about yours? Please call me as soon as you get this”. That was the message Linda sent

My heart skipped as I read her message

I did not even know the results were released

‘She scored 299?’ I asked myself

I became ashamed to even check my result

The thoughts of calling her struck me, but then I had no airtime
By then to buy airtime was not easy

That evening, I took my scratch card to the café

When my result was checked, my brothers and sisters, I scored 181

How I got 181 is still a mystery till today, because I did not even know what I wrote

Besides, shame did not allow me to ask her for help during the examination

At around 8pm that evening, I sent Linda a ‘please call me’ sms
She didn’t call

I sent another one

There was yet no call

I exhausted my 5 please call me that day

At around 10pm, my phone rang

When I checked, it was Linda. I picked

“Good evening Linda. I missed your calls and I didn’t have credit to call back”

“Good evening Ezekiel. How are you doing?”

“I’m fine”

Her English was well polished and her voice could awaken a dead man

On hearing her voice, I leaped for joy like the Biblical infant John, who leaped in Elizabeth’s womb on hearing the voice of Mary, the would be mother of Jesus

We spoke for about 10 minutes

10 wh0le minutes

That was the first time I was on phone for that long during the day time

I only made MTN free night calls back then

But that day I spoke for about 10 minutes

The conversation was going smooth until Linda chose to humiliate me by asking of my JAMB result

“Before I forget, what have you scored?”, she asked

Just then, a cold breeze blew me as if I was standing near an air condition in a banking hall

“Me?”, I asked as if there was a third party in our conversation
“Yes, you. What did you score?”

Shame did not allow me to tell her the truth, so I lied

“Ok. I scored 233”

She was very excited to hear that I scored 233

“Congratulations. I wish you good luck sourcing for admission”, she concluded

I accepted the congratulation; after all, I was qualified to take part in the aptitude test that would be conducted in my school

We ended the conversation and bid each other good bye

Months later, I went to write aptitude test in one of the universities in the southern part of the country

To my greatest surprise, I saw Linda

“Hey! You. What are you doing here?”, I asked

“Hey! I’m so happy to see you again. I didn’t expect to see you. How are you doing?”, she responded without answering my question

“I’m fine. But you never told me this was your most preferred choice”

“Yeah. I changed. I changed my most preferred choice from my former one to this school. I would have called but I lost your number. Please give me a beep let me save your number”

I felt she did not want to talk about that, so I stopped asking further

I gave her a beep and she saved my number

We sat for the examination and by the grace of God, we both gained admission

Linda was my course mate in the university.

We were in the same department

She was very brilliant and her beauty was second to none

Everybody wanted to associate with her, but she had only one friend – me.

She confided in me so much to the extent that I knew everything about her, including when she had her period

We were so close that people thought we were dating

She stayed in a flat while I managed my life in a one bedroom apartment

She was from a rich family

One day as we were returning home from school, she said;

“I am not very comfortable with you using my phones to do assignments. You should get an android phone”

That statement would have meant nothing if Linda was a talking type

We can spend up to 3 hours together and Linda would not utter a word

So for her to make that statement that day had so much meaning to her

She had two apple phones and a laptop, while I was still managing an old Nokia phone that was given to me by my Uncle

Was she trying to mock me?

I was ashamed, but I managed to respond

“I will get a new phone as soon as possible. My uncle will be coming home next month and he promised to buy me a phone”

She knew I was not saying the truth, but she did not respond

We both went to her place and she made something for us to eat

After the meal, I left for my house

At around 7pm my phone rang

I checked and it was Linda

“Hello Linda. How far?”

“Come over to the house”

She did not respond to my greetings, neither did she spend time on the phone

That call was strange

I had only N100 left with me

So N100 would take me to and fro

I got to her house and knocked on the door

“Who’s there?”, she asked

“Linda”, I called

She recognized my voice and hurried to open the door

I went in,side

She was watching television

“Go to the bedroom, there’s something on the bed for you”

I went to the bedroom and I saw a small bag with something in,side

I opened it

Behold! It was an android phone

That was my first android phone

I rushed back to the sitting room to thank her

“Thank you so much, Linda. I really appreciate. God bless you”

She smiled and said “You’re welcome dear”

I left for my place that night

That was the kind of relationsh¡p I enjoyed with Linda until things began to change

© Ezekiel Umoren