Greetings from Room 1045 land 😃 One of you actually sent me a whole blogpost full of break up lines for Joan! 😂 (I should just add that to the 1000 reasons why I love you guys! Best best readers in the entire universe! 💜) Also, welcome to all our newbies and returning visitors 😃. Starting this Friday, we are going back to our #FollowerFriday tradition on our Instagram page. Please follow the page if you haven’t and who knows, our reader of the week spotlight might just fall on you. 😉 And now to this week’s story!

There is always one person who sells everything on the block- from eggs to blades to shaving sticks to super glue to phone credit to brown envelopes. The main hall blocks that is. Nii Okai always wondered how those people’s roommates felt, having people always knocking on their door, especially at odd hours.

Imagine his amusement the first time Joan panicked because the convenience store in front of her hostel was closed.

‘Can’t you get it from one of the students who sells stuff here?’

‘Sells stuff where?’

She laughed.

‘Nobody would do that. Over here, they sell body splash, human hair, sneakers and PS4 CDs. The cool kids won’t be caught dead selling sanitary towels. Goodness, I am toast.’

‘We could go and get some.’

‘From where?’

‘I don’t know, wherever sanitary towels are sold.’

‘It is not just any sanitary towel. I need that specific type. I bleed heavily- listen, this is too much information, even for a boyfriend as sweet as you.’

‘I am not complaining, am I?’

Joan smiled. He was doing it again- being oblivious that he was perfect. He looked more worried about her sanitary towel situation than she was.

‘Okay fine. I hate Always because it cuts your skin. I have to get Kotex.’

‘Kotex. Got it. Is there a specific colour or something?’

‘Nope. Anything Kotex should be fine.’

‘I will be back.’

He didn’t know where he was going to get Kotex at 8pm but this was Sparkle we were talking about. There was no way he could say no to her. He ended up leaving campus to go and check one of the 24/7 service pharmacies in the area. They had three different types for heavy flow so he bought two of each. Never mind that this was not a budgeted expense and he would probably have to rely on gobɛ for a week or two to recover.

‘Show boy nti!’, he chuckled in amusement as he walked out of the pharmacy.

When he showed up at her door an hour later, drenched with sweat but with the proudest, biggest smile on his face, her squeal made it all worth it.

‘You bought more than one?’

‘So you don’t have to run out of them anytime soon.’

‘You are doing it again.’

‘Doing what?’

‘Being perfect. No, this isn’t a complaint, it is a compliment. It is a ‘Thank God for you’.

‘Ladies and Gents, this is what they call catching feelings.’

‘Okay bye!’

---

‘Paapa’

‘I love it when you say my name with such seriousness.’

‘I am glad you can tell I am serious.’

Ohemaa’s forehead was furrowed and she was definitely not in the mood for the ‘flirting and etc’ he had in mind. It wasn’t often that she came to his house. He had planned to take full advantage of the opportunity.

‘My mum knows about us.’

He tried to keep his shocked reaction as natural as possible. Too much and she would see right through him. Too little and she would suspect him of already knowing.

The woes (and thrills) of dating an intelligent woman.

‘She does?’

‘You don’t sound very surprised.’

‘Well, this is the university. When you are Dean of Students, after a while very little surprises you. What do you want to do about it?’

‘Nothing. I am not a 16 year old girl anymore. She can’t tell me what to do. Nobody can tell me what to do.’

Her tone was defiant. She was obviously upset about something but he knew better than to push her into talking now. If they did get to his only agenda for the day, she would start spilling all her inner thoughts once they were snuggling. She’d probably start by complaining about the hair on his chest and how it was pricking her cheek, then she would probably talk about something funny she saw on Twitter and before long, the doors of her private thoughts would have flung open.

This is why most guys don’t like snuggling. Next thing she will be asking you things like ‘What do you love about me?’ Now, come and see boys thinking through all the things she would like to hear because ‘I like everything about you’ is never a good answer.

‘Are you going to stay a bit longer?’

‘Yes, if you don’t have any other plans.’

‘There is a Senior Members meeting this evening. They want to go on strike right after the exams. But none of those pot bellied men is as fair as you, my maiden.’

‘Like an ancient accent would make a difference in this situation.’

Her face still looked serious but her eyes were dancing. As predicted, the reason for her furrowed brow came tumbling out of her mouth when they were lying in bed. She was worried that her mother was up to something because she had sent Ibrahim to the house.

Paapa agreed.

Darn it. What are you up to, Adelaide? I told you to find the snitch, not distract your daughter. Or perhaps she wanted to kill both birds with the same stone.

He made a mental note to call her over the weekend to put this to rest.

---

I need to go home.

The urge kept getting stronger. It was almost like God wanted Chris to get the message loud and clear.

By 3pm, he had made up his mind. He was going to head home that evening. It was better now than next week, because exams were just around the corner and he would rather get this over and done with than write the exams with this feeling hanging over him.

‘Guys, I will be heading home today. I just want to spend a few days with the family before exams begin.’

‘Senior Man, cool koraa! We will make sure that nobody uses your bed for any illegal activities. Our regards to the family.’

Chris smiled. Bryan was always the most mature of the lot. He also seemed to know how to handle sticky situations. Everyone knew he was worried about his wife cheating on him and was probably thinking it, but Bryan had managed to circumvent it rather neatly.

When he got to the gate of his house, he psyched himself up for the worst. The kids were playing outside and as soon as Kwesi saw him, he ran towards him with loud shouts.

‘Dada aba ooo!’

His siblings followed suit, the youngest one a little unsure about what was going on.

I should come home more often.

‘Where is Mama?’

‘She is inside.’, Kwesi answered, gesturing towards the kitchen. Indeed, she was. He could smell the okro stew even before he got there.

‘Agnes?’

She turned to look at him. If she had missed him, it was definitely not showing on her face.

‘You are back.’

‘Yes, I thought I should come and spend time with you before the exams start.’

She waited until Kwesi had gone back to play with his siblings, before she said what she wanted to say.

‘You shouldn’t have come?’

‘What do you mean by that, Agnes? Listen, I am trying here. Whatever reason you have for building this barrier between us, let’s talk through it.’

‘It is too late, Chris. I am leaving you. That is why your coming is just going to make it harder on the kids.’

Conflict resolution. That was one of the weakest points of their marriage. The way she interpreted his words and his actions always left him bewildered. It was like they were speaking two different languages and there was no interpreter at hand.

‘Agnes-‘

‘Chris, this isn’t working. We all know it. Don’t make me look like the bad person because I don’t want to stay in a bad situation.’

‘What about the kids?’

‘What about them?’

‘Are they mine? Is any of them mine?’

‘What sort of question is this?’

‘One that requires an honest answer. Are they mine?’

‘I am not going to respond to this. If you suddenly doubt that you are their father, go to court. Get a paternity test done.’

---

Kesewa was kicking herself and silently wishing that Chukwuemeka wouldn’t wake up.

This was a mistake. Joan was right.

She had come by the night before to check on him, to see if he needed anything else or if he had run out of medication. That was the lie she told herself, the reason she gave herself to silence her conscience and the rage of every part of her body that had ever felt the wrath of Chuks’ raised hand. Of course, being with the Casanova who knew all her weaknesses and who was also feeling indebted to her for saving the day was bound to end badly; but she told herself that nothing was going to happen.

Right?

She could hear Joan in her mind’s ear: ‘Then explain what you are doing in his bed? Administering medicine? Checking his temperature? Kess, we spoke about this.’

She brushed her thoughts aside and tried to wiggle her way out of his arms without waking him up. Just when she got to the door, she heard him say with what most certainly sounded like a sneer, ‘I always knew you would come back to Daddy. This is where you belong. Welcome back.’

Apologies for the delay. PDS showed me who’s boss. (For my non-Ghanaian readers, it means I had electricity challenges.) See you next week, folks and don’t forget to follow the IG page for #FollowerFriday! ❤️