"Remember what I told you son, don't go to the University chasing after girls, focus on your education and see to it that you graduate with a first class from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka"; Mrs Johnson said to her son who was packing his bags and baggages for his trip to Nsukka.
"I am not a womanizer mum, you of all people should know that"; Martin said, not looking towards the direction of his mother who was standing next to his bed post.
"I do, I know the calibre of son that God gave me, but still, life in the university has the potential to change a boy from good to bad"; she replied, this time walking towards her son to help him in the arrangement of the clothes that he was putting inside his box.
"I am not handsome ma, I doubt if girls will even be interested in me throughout the years I will spend in College"; Martin said, with a slight show of sadness on his face.
*Ever since he was a boy, Martin has never thought of himself as the type that was attractive in the eyes of ladies. He has brown hair, with brown eyes and a lower red lip. His nose was a little bit pointy, and he had a nice set of teeth that was worth dying for. He was tall, moderately muscular and always walked in a gentle manner. He wasn't particularly good-looking, but above all, he was extremely shy of women*
"The last time I told a girl I was crushing on back in high school that I liked her, I got insulted ma"; Martin said, with tears almost building up in his eyes; "I don't want to put myself in a situation whereby anyone would want to treat me in such a way again".
Mrs Johnson stopped what she was doing, drew her son close to her chest and gave him a warm hug. She knew the kind of life the boy experienced whilst growing up, the constant bullying he experienced from his peers in school who made fun of his facial looks at every chance they got; she remembered the countless nights that Martin soaked his pillows in tears and that hurt her. A lot.
"My boy"; she continued, raising her son's face to meet her face; "I understand what you have been through in life, and I know that the only thing which keeps you going is the love you have for I, your sister and your father"; she said.
"But"; Mrs Johnson continued; "I want you to stop bothering yourself over what people have to say about you, the world we are in today, people always have something to say about others, which could either be negative or positive"; she said.
Martin wrapped his arms around his mother's waist and smiled. She was always the one who understood him better than everyone else. He then went on to continue packing up his bags for the journey ahead.
Just then, a mild knock was heard from the door and a young voice, particularly the one of a female teenager was heard.
"Martin, can you open the door, I want to talk to you"; the voice rang out.
"Not now, Rebecca, I and mum are busy, please, go bother Daddy"; Martin answered.
*Rebecca is a 16 year old girl and the only sister of Martin. She was the jovial type and derived a great deal of joy in doing things that are aimed at making her brother mad, at least in a harmless manner. Unlike her brother who was an introvert, Rebecca was by fan, an extrovert. And she would always tell whomever that wishes to listen to her that she was a goddess, or at least she descended from one. In some way, she was good-looking and well-built*.
"Becca, what do you want"; Mrs Johnson said, this time ignoring her son's directive and opening the door for his sister.
"I want to help my brother mommy"; she answered.
"Are you sure you're not here to cause trouble for him"; Mrs Johnson asked, raising her eyebrows at the smile that was building up in her daughter's face.
"No mama, big bro is a University boy now, last thing I'd want to do is to start causing trouble for him"; she replied, whilst grinning.
"Fine, ma, she can come in"; Martin said, whilst zipping his bags and then proceeded to polishing his black boots.
It didn't take long until his sister began to arrange his socks and other things she feels her brother might need right next to his smaller bag.
"Don't forget to take your power bank and your phone charger with you, the last time you traveled to your friend's house for the holiday you forgot it here"; Rebecca said, whilst shifting her brother's attention to the phone charger that was hung above his window's pole.
"Thanks for reminding me Becca, you're a real one"; Martin said, walked over to where his charger was located and then proceeded to place it right inside his bag. He then took up his power bank, wrapped it carefully with a black polythene bag and placed it directly in his bagpack's back pockets.
"Has your father returned from his trip to the tennis country club?"; Mrs Johnson asked, shifting her gaze to Rebecca.
-"No he hasn't"; she replied; "Though I have already warmed his food for him and I have placed it on the dining table".
"That man and tennis, I wonder why he loves that sport so much"; Mrs Johnson said, as she stood up and began walking towards the door.
"I'll leave you two alone, Incase if there's any other thing you need Martin let me know"; She said before proceeding to leave the room.
"Okay mama, I will. Thank you for everything"; Martin replied as he watched his mother leave the room.
"Big bro, by what time will you be leaving for Nsukka tomorrow"; Rebecca asked her brother who was visibly worn out from the long hours he spent arranging his clothes, sheets and ties.
"Hopefully, by 6am"; he answered; "I don't really know how far Nsukka is, but from the information I got on Google maps, I think it's over 3-4 hours drive from here in Onitsha".
"Will Daddy be the one to take you to Nsukka?"; Rebecca asked.
"I don't see him doing that, back when I was in secondary school, how many times have you seen him drive me to school, his car is always developing faults"; Martin answered, this time waving off the flies that were flying around his face.
*And in truth, the boy was right. Mr. Johnson was by far, a successful businessman who went from grace to grass. Growing up in a polygamous family, his father wasn't the type that cared so much about educating his kids. Sadly, he wasn't able to have a proper western education before he got married to Mrs Johnson. He labored hard for his wealth and as fate would have it, he became wealthy. But he has sworn that nothing on earth would prevent him from giving his kids a world class education, even if it means flying them out of the country*
"I will ask him to take you to Nsukka with his car, I doubt he will refuse me that request"; Rebecca said knowing fully well that whilst the father was sometimes difficult on Martin, he was always willing to do anything for the sake of his daughter.
"Do not trouble yourself sister''; Martin said; "I am already used to the troubles that comes with public road transports"
"Ok, if you say so"; the teenage girl replied in a hushed tone.
"Well then, I leave you to go know what Mama's up to"; Rebecca said as she stood and tapped her brother's head gently in a playful manner; "and when dad comes back from the country club I will let you know"; she said as ran out of the room giggling, leaving his door wide open.
Angrily, Martin walked towards the open door and closed it, making sure that no one would bother his inner peace by turning on the locks on his door.
He then walked towards his window and looked outside to see a mother hen and her chicks feeding on the tiny particles of rice that was washed up from the gutter located close to their house. He then looked up to the tree that was located next to his window and saw two squirrels that were playing on it.
"Life must really be stress-free for these creatures" he thought and continued to admire the little show that the squirrels were displaying right outside his window.
To his horror, from nowhere a hawk swooped down on the tree, grabbed one of the little squirrels and flew away.
Martin watched with pity as the other surviving squirrel made sounds of sorrow whilst it watched its companion being led to a point of no return.
"Perhaps, life isn't all that beautiful" Martin said as he watched the hawk fly out of his line of sight; "sorry little guy, you deserved better.
He then went on to close his window, dressed his bed and even placed his huge backpack on the floor. He whipped out his phone to see what his friends were up to on Whatsapp and realized that nothing serious was happening there.
Scrolled over to his childhood friend, John's WhatsApp profile handle and realized that the bloke wasn't online. He then decided to see what some of his mates were doing and realized that nothing interesting was happening there.
As usual, Veronica's WhatsApp status was filled with videos of herself twerking and Damian's were filled with stoic motivational quotes.
"When did Damian start digesting contents that deal with the philosophy of stoicism"; Martin thought out loud to himself but didn't push to inquire an answer to his question from the horse's mouth.
He then closed his WhatsApp and opened his X app to see what was going on there and it was the usual "Davido and Wizkid" tweets that were popping up on his timeline.
"Rema's better than both Wizkid and Davido"; he tweeted and knowing fully well how unprepared he was for the heavy banter he'll receive from both fans of the two musical artists, that he'll receive for tweeting such, he went offline.
Feeling his eyes growing tired due to the amount of screen time he had exposed his eyes to, he placed his phone on the side table located close to his bed, and stood up and then proceeded to turn on his big standing fan. The thing made a lot of a noise as it helped in cooling down the hot temperature that was evident in his room.
Feeling satisfied, he then laid down on his bed to rest a bit and as he began to think about what kind of life awaits him in the four walls of the University of Nigeria Nsukka, he began to feel his eyes growing heavy and before he could tell what was happening, he fell asleep with a little bit of a smile found on his lips.