by Kiru Taye
“No way.” Bile rose in Tessa’s mouth at the thought of going on the prowl, hunting for men who would pay to have sex with her. Now watching her friend get ready, Tessa shuddered at the knowledge she had once been a part of this weekend ritual. “I’m going to head back to Park Hotel. Why don’t you come with me? We can chill out a little, eat food while watching movies. That way we’ll be refreshed to do more studying tomorrow. Come on, please.”
“I’m not going back to the hotel. If they see me they’ll want me to work tomorrow.” Her friend replied, picking up her bag and checking the contents.
She took out the extra packs of condom from the drawer and shoved them inside as well as a small tube of lubricant. They always made sure they had the supplies ready in case the men were not prepared.
“I already told you the manager gave you the weekend off work so you can study. And if you come back to the hotel with me, Peter would know that you were studying because I would be your alibi.”
“But I don’t want to study tonight. I want to party.”
“So we don’t have to study tonight. As I said, let’s watch movies and chill out. We can study tomorrow.”
“But I want to party tonight. Why don’t you come with me to the club and afterwards we can go back to the hotel. We don’t even have to pick up any men. It can be just the two of us having fun.”
Tessa shook her head. “I can’t. I told Peter I would just chill out this weekend.”
“Then don’t tell him you went to a night club.”
“I can’t do that. I promised I won’t lie to him anymore.”
“Then don’t tell him any lie. Just tell him that you decided to go the club and afterwards we went to the hotel.”
Tessa started pacing the short space of the room. “That’s even worse. The minute I tell him I went to the night club, he’ll think I was with another man. I can’t have him think of me like that. I’m not that girl anymore.”
Anuli grabbed her arm, stopping her movement. “Well, he’s going to have to trust you. Otherwise what is the point of your relationship?”
“Ha.” Tessa gave a bark of laughter. “You want him to trust him. After everything we did to him. Not to mention what I did at the ranch he took me to.”
“Yeah, how is that your fault? He’s the one who took you to the ranch as punishment.” She did air quotes with her fingers. “He’s the one who put you up for auction. He can’t then complain if someone else buys you and fucks you. So you called his bluff and you earned five thousand dollars. I see that as a win for you.”
Tessa growled in frustration. “Did you not hear a word I said about that? Did I not tell you that I felt dirty and degraded afterwards? That I was disgusted with myself when I had to go back to Peter while my body was aching and smelling and caked with another man’s semen. I never want to put myself through that again.”
Anuli rolled her eyes. “That’s what you say. But you still got five thousand dollar and you and Peter are all made up now. So as I said, you won.”
“This is not about winning or losing.”
“Yeah. Whatever. All I’m saying is that Peter should trust you. You’ve told him you won’t be with other men. He has to accept it. Otherwise, if you have to watch your back all the time and only do the things he wants, then it’s another form of slavery. And remember we ran away from all that. You don’t want to put yourself in that kind of situation.”
The implication of Anuli’s words made Tessa anger. She snapped and shoved Anuli. “Don’t say that crap about Peter.”
Anuli reared back. “It’s like that, is it now? You’re defending Peter and you want to fight me? Is that it?”
Tessa glared at her. “I don’t want to fight you. But Peter is nothing like my father or Uncle Joe. You can’t compare him with those disgusting men. He has never treated me the way they did. And I resent that you would think he’s like them.”
“Okay o.” Anuli lifted her hands in the air. “I give up. I’m now the devil while Peter is the saint. Don’t come crying to me when everything crumbles around you.”
Her friend picked up her bag, yanked the door open and stormed out.
“Anuli, wait.” Tessa ran after her. “I’m sorry for shouting.”
Her friend brushed her pleas away and kept on walking.
Downtrodden, Tessa returned to the room, packed her things and returned to the hotel.
When Peter called that night she told him about the bust up with Anuli. He tried to console her on the phone and it soothed her for a little bit. But Anuli remained on her mind for the rest of the weekend.
On Monday she was in school for her first exam paper. Although her mood had been soured by the argument with her friend, she did her best on the English exam and hoped to get a good result.
As she walked out of the exam hall, one of the students approached her. “Tessa, you are requested at the Dean Preye’s office.”
“Me? Why?” She’d never had any problems in school and never had any reason to be summoned before the dean.
“I don’t know.” The student shrugged. “He said you need to report to his office immediately. I think there was a man with him.” The girl walked off.
A man? Tessa couldn’t figure out who it would be. Had Peter arrived back to Nigeria already and decided to pay her a visit? She didn’t know any other men who knew of her studies at this university apart from Peter. Unless it was Christopher or Tope. But why would they come here.
Oh no! Had something bad happened to Peter? God please not. She ran, hurrying to get to the office and find out what had happened.
“I’m Tessa Obum,” she told the dean’s assistant. “I was told to come here.”
“Yes,” the woman replied. “Dean Preye is waiting for you. Go straight through.”
“Thank you,” Tessa said and knocked on the door leading into the dean’s office.
“Come in,” a male voice said from the other side.
She turned the handle, pushed the slab open and stepped in.
Her heart stuttered in her chest and a cold finger of dread slithered down her spine.
Dean Preye sat in his chair at the other side of the desk. But it wasn’t him that got Tessa’s attention. It was the man sitting on one of the guest chairs, with his body turned to look at who had arrived.
Telema George.
What was he doing here? He had a smug grin on his face as if he knew something she didn’t. How did he find out about her school? She always made sure to keep her school life separate from her work as a call girl. She even went as far as changing her appearance every Friday and Saturday night so people wouldn’t recognise her afterwards.
Tessa’s heart thumped so hard, she thought everyone in the room could hear it.
“Come in and sit down, Miss Obum,” the dean said and waved to the spare seat.
Tessa walked tentatively to the chair, and sat down gingerly making sure not to make any contact with Telema.
“This is Mr George. He is an alumnus of this great university and we’re proud to have him visit us today,” Mr Preye said in the way of introduction. “Mr George, this is the young lady we have been discussing.”
Telema nodded but didn’t say anything.
What the hell was going on? What had they been discussing about her? She never caused any trouble in school and her attendance to classes was almost, if not, one hundred percent.
“Sir, what is this about?” She asked as her skin prickled under the stare of both men.
The dean coughed and leaned his arms on the desk. “It has been brought to my attention that something is wrong with your registration her at our esteemed institution. It is alleged that you are here under false pretences.”
Shit. She was in big trouble. Her legs bounced off the floor as her body trembled.
When she and Anuli ran away, they couldn’t take any identity details with them like birth certificates because they had been in a hurry. When they got to Port Harcourt and they started earning some m
oney, Tessa wanted to go back to school because she’d missed so much. But she couldn’t because she didn’t have any ID.
In the end they’d had to get fake ID card printed for her when she turned eighteen. She’d changed details of her name and state of origin so that she couldn’t be traced back to her old home in Okigwe.
“We do not tolerate such things in this school. You are suspended with immediate effect, pending further investigations. You should note that we may also call in the service of the Nigerian Police Force.”
Did he say suspended? She had exams tomorrow and for the rest of the week.
“Please, sir. You can’t suspend me. I have my final exams to complete. I can explain everything.”
“You can explain everything when you are invited to the disciplinary hearing. In the meantime you are no longer permitted on the school premises. I will send a memo immediately informing all the affected lecturers.”
“Dean Preye, would you mind if I have a talk with the young lady privately,” Telema said in a calm voice.
“Of course, Mr George. I will excuse the two of you while I speak to my assistant.” The man stood up and left the office, shutting the door behind him.
“You did this, didn’t you?” Tessa rounded on Telema.
“Of course, I did. You didn’t think you’d get away with insulting me over at Park Hotel the other time. I told you I’d get you. Here we are.” He waved his hands in the air.
Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and counted to five. She wanted to strangle Telema and wipe the smile off his face. But she had to calm down. Perhaps if she grovelled he would feel better with his ego.
“Look. I’m sorry. I panicked that night. I don’t know. My head wasn’t in the right place. And when you accused me of stealing I just didn’t want anything to do with you. I was worried about what else you would do if I went back to your room.”
“All I wanted to do that night was to fuck you. I still want to fuck you.” Telema traced the tip of his finger down her arms.
Her skin crawled and she tried not to pull back. “I’m not that girl anymore. I don’t go to the club anymore. I’m not interested in doing that again.”
“Yes, I noticed you stopped going to the club. I also noticed you are now hanging around with the owner of Park Hotel.”
She reared back. “How did you know that?”
He shrugged. “I’ve had you followed. How do you think I found out about you? I paid someone to follow you and find out about you.”
Oh God. She scrubbed a hand over her face. “You had me followed. That is just weird. I’m just a girl you met for one night. It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It might not to you. But no one ever says ‘no’ to me. I always get what I want and I want you.”
She shoved back her chair and stood up. “And you’re willing to ruin my life because you want me. Because I wouldn’t have sex with you.”
“I don’t care. I do whatever I have to do to get what I want. All you have to do is come back with me and I will tell the dean to forget the allegations and reinstate you into the school. I will tell him it has all been a mistake.”
Shit. She clenched her hands into fists. What was she going to do now? The exams she had were important. She needed to take them and get good scores in order to get a place at this university to do a full degree programme. And the exam tomorrow was one of the most important. If she didn’t sit it and still sat the others, she wouldn’t get entry.
It looked like she had no other option but to agree to have sex with Telema so he could call off this thing with the dean.
Even if she appealed, it would still take days—weeks—for her case to be heard and dealt with. In the meantime she would miss out on her exams and would have to repeat the whole year.
Peter wasn’t even back in the country to help her and Anuli wasn’t talking to her.
What was she going to do?
Throw a whole year of studies away or have sex with a man who wasn’t Peter?
She had been working on reclaiming what little dignity she had in the past few days. Giving into Telema would be selling her body again, this time so she could stay on in school.
Yes, she’d worked so hard for this school place. All the years of studying to get her GCEs and get enough to get an entry into the pre-degree programme. It had been her blood, sweat and tears. She’s sold her body to get money to pay for tutorials. She’d burned the candles at both ends just to make it through.
And now it looked like she was going back to square one anyway.
Well, she was done letting men like Telema bully her and force her into doing something she didn’t want.
“Do you know what, Mr George,” she spat out. “If you were the last man on earth, I wouldn’t have sex with you. Even if you paid me a million dollars. So you can go to hell and take the school with you.”
She stormed out of the office, not even paying attention to the dean or his assistant. She kept her head high as she walked out of the school and got on a bike all the way back to the hotel.
It wasn’t until she got into the quiet solitude of Peter’s suite that it all dawned on her and she broke into tears, curled up on the sofa.
Everything she’d worked hard for over the last few years had just been lost.
Chapter Twenty-Three
“It’s been a fun weekend getting together with the lads. But sometimes I can’t understand you guys,” Paul said on the flight back from Barcelona.
He sat next to Peter in the first class cabin. Michael sat on the other row, next to another friend of Paul’s, Tunji.
“How do you mean?” Peter asked as he flicked through the in-flight magazine he had in his hands.
“Well, I understand Michael is taken with Kasie, although when they’ll finally bite the bullet and set a wedding date I don’t know,” Paul replied jovially.
“Yeah. He’s still navigating his future in-laws. And considering the arrogance of the Bosas and the pomp and ceremony they will demand which isn’t Michael’s thing, I don’t blame him for being reluctant.”
“You got that right.”
“Actually my money is on them eloping and getting married in secret and coming back to announce it to everyone.”
“I hadn’t thought about that but I think you could be correct. Michael is not averse to defying tradition. This brings me to you, Peter.”
“What about me?” Peter quirked up his brow.
“Well, it’s been five years since Naaza,” Paul said in a sober tone that conveyed both his respect for Peter’s late fiancée and his sympathy at her loss. “I know what she meant to you and I hope you don’t misunderstand me. But you seemed so far away in Barcelona. It was as if you weren’t even there half the time. You’re never going to meet someone new if you won’t even let any woman close. I was hoping you would loosen up but you were worse than everyone else.”
Peter sighed. His friend had a valid point. All through the weekend his thoughts had been consumed by Tessa. He’d joined in with most of the activities everyone else was participating in. In the night clubs they’d visited he hadn’t interacted with any female company.
He’d kept thinking of Tessa and the first night they’d bumped into each other. The way they’d danced and him nearly taking her back to his suite that night. She’d eventually ended up in his suite under different circumstances. Now they were dating.
“I met someone,” he said to his friend.
Paul made a show of slumping over in this chair. His expression was incredulous. “Say what?”
Peter rolled his eyes. “I said I met someone.”
Paul pretended falling over again.
Michael leaned in their direction, having noticed his friend’s antics. “What’s going on over there?”
“Peter said he met someone.” Paul had a huge grin on his face.
“He did. When? Where? How?” Michael rattled off.
“I’m getting the entire gist first,” Paul called dibs.
; “Then we’re swapping places so I can hear the story too.” Michael grinned.
Peter laughed. “The two of you are not serious.”
“Come on, tell me. I want all the gory details.” Paul rubbed his palms together. “What’s her name? Where did you meet her and when do we get to meet this woman that snagged your attention.”
Paul chuckled as he answered the questions. “Her name is Tessa. I met her in Port Harcourt and you get to meet her at your traditional wedding.”
He kept to the simple facts. Tessa had vowed not to work as a prostitute any longer and he saw no need to mention that to his friends. It would remain between him and her.
“Wow. This is serious. You’re bringing her along to meet everyone at the same time, including you family. That’s making a statement.”
“You know me well enough to know that I don’t do casual. But I like Tessa.”
“Like?” Paul looked at her as if he didn’t believe him.
“Okay. I care about her a lot. When I think of her I think of all the things that are possible in my life. I think about having a life partner again and loving again. It’s scary but it’s freeing too. And the weird thing is that she is so different from Naaza and still there are similarities.
“Wow. I’m so happy to see you talking about someone. How about Tessa? How does she feel about you?”
He shrugged. “It’s early days. But I think she cares about me. At least from what I’ve seen so far.”
She’d made him so happy in the time they’d spent together after their weekend in Richa. It had been as if they were both new people. Just having her around as he’d worked on his laptop and she’d studied for her exams had been exhilarating.
They connected on a level beyond the physical. Even when he couldn’t see her just knowing she was close by relaxed him and put him in a great frame of mind.
He’d called her every night while he’d been in Barcelona. Now on the way back to Nigeria he couldn’t wait to see her again.
He knew she had exams this week and probably should leave her alone so she could concentrate on her papers.