~Sarima's POV~

"Omo, I'm fucking tired of this hard life mehn, wetin sef, who I offend?"  I curse, picking up the ruined materials from the bag that my gum had poured into.

Homa was helping out, a frustrated look on her face.

"What's this nau?" I was beyond frustrated, flinging off the stuff in my hand. Cause why did life keep on testing me like this?

Homa, who was helping out, flinched at my outburst.

"Na you wan dey suffer sha, as you fine reach, see as your life be, you nor sabi wetin you fit use your beauty do? Just dey make noise for person ear since,"

All eyes in the room turned to Kome as she hissed and continued to operate her phone like she'd not just said the most insensible thing just now.

"You wey don knack half the Agege yahoo boys, how your own life come be like? Iyawo Escobar." Somi, who was arranging her final year project material in a file, stopped midway, eyes shooting daggers at Kome.

Homa nodded in satisfaction.

"Excuse you?_" Kome looked up from her phone.

"Leave that English wey you wan dey speak madam, No be still the same Agege we dey live? abi no be your mates dey use Ashawo buy house for Lekki and Victoria Island?" Somi clearly didn't like the girl and didn't hesitate at any opportunity to set her straight when she started acting possessed.

"I no understand, na because I find Onome come this your nonsense house, you wan dey insult me? " She stood up from the bed to face Somi. "Abi you think say you better pass me as you dey knack rich man but you no get anything to show for am... abi you think say he go marry you?" She laughed mockingly at Somi.

"I go choose to dey delusional than to be agege public cum bucket anyday, anytime! No try open your mouth tell my sister rubbish again, no be everybody want make their life spoil like your own."

I hissed at her, glad that Somi had taken up my fight. I was in no shape to face fools.

"Rest abeg," Somi turned away from her. And she dragged her arm, jerking her to turn back around.

"For your life, no try am again." Somi sternly warned, her voice getting louder as she pulled her arm away from Kome's hold.

"As envy wan kill you and your sister because I dey pull men wey dey take care of my bills, you dey tag me ashawo_."

"_You no get shame for body as you open your mouth dey vomit that nonsense?" I chipped in. "See agbaya wey dey owe me 7k o."

"You no go blame am nau, beggars these days don dey get choice." Somi continued for me.

Kome, fed up with our ambush, roughly pushed her cousin Onome who was innocently napping on the bed.

The latter, who'd initially cried herself to sleep after a misunderstanding with her boyfriend, woke up with bloodshot eyes, her brain trying to process what was happening.

"Where you keep key, I wan dey go house." She muttered abruptly at a confused Onome who had her brain still on reboot. "Key nau, I wan go house abeg!" Her voice rose octaves higher.

"Try drop my sister money before you comot from here, abeg,"

She shot Somi a glare.

"Doh!" My sister sarcastically added her local dialect which meant sorry.

She snatched the key that Onome was stretching her way, opened her wallet and counted out some money, then flung it my way. She then exited the room, banging the door behind her.

Onome, who was about to go back to sleep, raised her head, glaring at the door, before resting her head back on the pillow.

"If you spoil am, you go pay for am too." Somi shouted after her.

Homa picked up the scattered notes from the floor and handed them to me.

I put the damp notes into my purse, my attention returning to my ruined materials.

I took a deep breath as tears threatened to escape the corner of my eyes.

My phone began to ring, and I had to control myself not to stone it to the floor as the noise intensely irritated me.

"Kene is calling you," Homa, who'd checked the caller, announced to me.

I ignored her, trying to keep my emotions in check.

Somi, who had been intently staring at my face, worriedly commented. "I'll transfer money for you to get new materials."

The phone started ringing again, and I picked it up, throwing the half-damaged phone out of my sight and earshot.

Homa, who was close, jumped in shock before rushing over to find where it'd fallen to.

"Sorry nau," Somi said to me begrudgingly.

"Leave me abeg, I have deliveries to make this week, and my project defence which I haven't completed, has its submission deadline this same week, and now this?" I didn't know when my frustrated tears poured down.

Her look softened as I broke down and she slowly came to me to envelope me in a hug.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next few days were practically hell for me, but my sisters came through. Somi assisted me in getting new materials with her money, while Homa helped me complete my project strictly under my set-out instructions.

At the same time, I had sleepless nights working on my customers' orders.

My project was due for submission today, and I was already leaving the overcrowded printer's shop after paying through my nose to facilitate the process. So I slipped the project into my big tote bag, finally heading to my Project Supervisor's office to drop it off.

I was practically starving, I'd left the house by 6 am, and I had been at this printer's shop since then until now. I looked at my half-dead phone to check the time; It was 2 pm. It took quite a lot of time to make the kind of hard cover our supervisors had instructed us to use instead of spiral binding the A4 sheets, and I was lucky to have come to the shop earlier cause other students were rushing to get theirs done also due to their close deadlines.

My phone started ringing, and I looked at it again.

Ayo

I slipped the phone alongside my project into the bag, not in the mood to hear him talk about how I abandoned him after our date and urging me to come and cook for him at his place.

The audacity sha.

I frowned.

"Who dey vex you this hot afternoon?" Coming out of a rowdy lecture hall, Boma asked me with a broad smile as she leaned in for a hug. I smiled in response as she pulled out and inspected my face.

"I want to go and submit my project material to my supervisor before he leaves his office," I informed her while she nodded.

"Chai. You look so stressed. Sorry my love."

I nodded, "I need to get going."

"Alright, meet me at the faculty cafeteria when you're done. Don't worry. Bills are on me." She assured me, noticing that I opened my mouth to protest.

"No, it's not just that." I chuckled. "I have customer's work to finish up and deliver."

"We won't waste time, just 20-30 minutes. It's been a long time since we hung out. You're always so busy."

I smiled in consideration, then nodded my okay. "Let me hurriedly send this to Mr. Frank's office."

"Alright then."

I dashed off, feeling my phone vibrating in the bag. I brought it out, skipping the pavements to where the lecturers' offices were lined.

Kene.

I put the phone back into my bag.

Now he has my time, abi?

He should better leave me be and stay with his girlfriend, Elsie.

I tentatively knocked on the ajar door of the office, before ducking my head in.

"Good afternoon, sir," He nodded at me, peering through his spectacles.

I fully entered the hot office, bringing out the project from my bag.

"I came to submit my project, sir."

"You're almost late," He spoke and continued writing away like he was initially doing when I came in.

I stood awkwardly, resting my weight on my right foot. My eyes rested on the shelf beside his table, holding old encyclopaedias, dictionaries, manuals, and textbooks.

He pointed at a spot where identical materials were on his old desk, and I placed mine on top.

He distractingly brought out a sheet and pushed it toward me. "Mark the line with your name and Mat number, and sign on it."

I frantically rummaged through my bag for a pen and couldn't find one. Looking at him and meeting his judgy eyes on me. "Here." He pushed an old biro to me.

"Thank you, sir," I picked it up, scribbled down my signature, and ticked my name as he'd instructed after finding it and the matric number.

"That's all." He dismissed me as I looked up at him in anticipation. "Help me raise the blinds and open the windows before leaving, please." He nodded toward his window.

I cornered my way to it, avoiding the sharp edge of the iron waiting chair, and did as he told me. After which, I left his office.

A little burden lifted from my shoulder after I left his office. I could finally pace myself between making my most recent deliveries and reading for my exams and defence. The defence  should be after exams as No date has been fixed for it, though, but still.

I let out a shaky breath walking to the faculty's Cafeteria to meet up with Boma.

After a few minutes between bouts of saying hi to acquaintances and familiar faces on the balcony and responding to Ronke's messages on my WhatsApp, I finally saw her at a spot, eating the last of her moin-moin on the table while I stood at the Cafeteria's door.

Our eyes met, and she waved, beckoning for me to come over. I walked into the almost empty Cafeteria to her and pulled out a chair. She had company, though. The male Tsola from my department was with her.

"Hi,"

"Hi!"

We exchanged pleasantries, and he stood up to leave but not before saying to Boma. "So you'll think about what we discussed?"

She nodded, and he left.

She gave me a knowing look until he was out of earshot before shaking her head amusedly.

"He's toasting you?" I asked her and she chuckled, confirming my question.

"My turn don reach for Tshola the serial toaster." She teased herself. "What do you want?" She asked, standing up to get food for me.

"Jollof," I responded in a monotone.

She went over to the counter and returned with a tray containing a plate of rice, moin-moin, and some pieces of fried beef with bottled water, in about a minute.

"Here," she said, placing it before me.

My worms jumped at the sight of food. I just realised how hungry I was, and I picked up the spoon and dug in.

"Thank you," I mouthed between mouthfuls, and she laughed.

"Calm down, Sarima, the food no dey run."

"Hmm," I moaned, slowing down on the food before I choked on spice.

"So howfar? It's been long,"

"Omo, I'm just managing life."

"You were in a hurry to submit your project earlier, it seems your supervisor stipulated today as y'all's deadline."

I nodded, gulping down my water. "I was lucky to have even met him still inside his office."

"That man is too strict, thank God I'm not under him." She drank the rest of the liquid in her bottle. "Me, I paid my supervisor o, I no get strength."

"How much?" I asked as a tiny belch escaped my throat.

"120K."

"Ah, you have money o."

She shrugged casually. "I collected from my parents."

My eyes reached hers and she laughed. "No, not like that. I actually lied to get it. I collected the rest from Kevin to complete it."

"Lucky you." I scratched my head. "And that's true, how's Kevin?"

"He's fine," she responded with a blush.

"Hope, you're still not having those squabbles over irrelevant things with him."

She giggled, "No, not at all."

I halted my smile, finishing the rest of my food as my phone rang.

I ignored it, clearing out the plate's last grains and moin-moin residue.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Boma questioned, looking away from her typing for a second.

I looked at the cracked screen.

Kene.

"No," I shook my head.

"Is someone disturbing you again?" She looked up from her phone, eager for gossip.

"No," I rolled my eyes.

She reached for my phone, and I snatched it off the table before she could get it.

"You're hoarding gist from me, ehn?" She laughed. "After I got lunch for you."

"Yes," I taunted her.

"Oh, wow!" she feigned hurt.

"Omo, I need to get going. I have work to do." I finished up my water.

"Stop trying to change the topic, madam." She stood with me, gathering her purse and other stuff on the table as we headed off.

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