The College of Tears by Stanley Mungai (red white royal blue txt) 📕

bed sheets waited the day to end and the same life cycle to continue until when one sane man would rise and rescue him and thousand others from this undeserved fate.

 

 

 

No one to love.

 

She was walking down the sloping pavement in springy steps, so delicately as if she was afraid to hurt the ground. The long flowing dress that caressed the concrete added gaiety to her movements and the low cut near her neck exposed a magnificent pair of lungs. Her chocolate complexion set off her dark hair hair that hung desperately to her well-shaped head. The irresistible up and down juggling of her hips turned heads from pervert students who whistled deviously as she passed along a pair of books in her hands. Female students booed her presence, jealous of the so-much attention she was getting from the male colleagues. Their exposed legs were no match for her womanly figure in the silk enclosure.

She smiled knowingly as he approached. Though she had ignored all the ‘hey’ and ‘whoo’ from the other, she was not going to ignore the genuinely appreciating eyes of Soili.

“Oh my God, Haizec!, you dressed all this for a commerce lecture?” Soili asked.

“You missed the Lecture, so you would not know.” She answered shaking his hand gingerly.

“Well you look stunning. I doubt the lecturer was looking anywhere else.”

They both laughed mouthfully. They were friends. Since Soili had found Haizec writhing in pain in one of his lonely night walks, they were inseparable. He had taken her to Hospital and taken care of her till she was discharged. It would have been heartless to ignore this Hero who had saved her life on her first day in Campus when no one was watching and no one cared.

“Anyway why did you miss the lecture? This is important Soili. You will fail if you continue like this.” She asked patronising him.

He opened his mouth to defend himself and found no words. She looked at him straight in the eyes knowing he spent the night outside again. “Oh shit, ok then, I am making coffee, so unless you want to stand there and freeze to death.”

Soili understood this was an offer half of the male population in campus were ready to lay their lives for. Haizec never ever invited anyone for coffee, except Soili. He dropped all the plans he had for studying alone in the fields to cover up for the lectures he had missed. This can wait, but coffee in Haizec’s room was an opportunity not to be wasted. A girlfriend was not something he had thought of and so he had kept his relationship with Haizec as a strictly friendship. Although there was a live rumour going around campus that he was dating her, he decided to keep quiet about it. He would enjoy the moment for as long as it lasted. He had one girlfriend in his High school days who had left him for a richer guy. He wished to keep this lady friend who everyone seemed so interested in. One thing though has been plaguing his mind. He hoped Haizec was not waiting for so long for a closer relationship move from him. He did not want to disappoint her and he still did not want to find out that she was not interested in him in that way.

After four years of friendship Soili could swear his head that he was the sole man in this lady’s life and so he was not going to be in any hurry to ask her. He had intended to so and had practiced every move when he was alone. Just at the time when he thought he was ready to ask her, he had thought of more ingredients to add to his approach.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The multi-purpose hall was almost to its carrying capacity. The scarcely-any fluorescent bulbs flickered on and off at irregular intervals and one could only wonder why they were there at all. You could hardly tell who was who in the dimly lit hall. The pane less windows clattered against the wall once in a while disturbed by the howling wind outside. The chill flying in from the open windows almost froze the students to the bones but none of them faltered. All their eyes and ears were for the full-bearded fellow whose arms looked too long for his body.

Soili was half-listening and half-staring at his mobile phone expectantly. He could have easily decided to skip this session but hell! It was about relationships; something that had plagued his mind since the last breakup he had immediately he joined campus. His high school girlfriend had walked out on him for no apparent reason, as he had figured out until he saw her new catch. It was a “Blinged” fellow with all sorts of jewellery on his arms, legs and even ears, nose, eyes and tongue. He looked like he had blinged each of his common senses that he reasoned a little less more than a Columbus monkey.

After Soili confronted her, she had told him that her feelings for him had just vanished into the air. This was not true because after the metallic dude dumped her, she had come begging on her knees. He had told her to go to Lucifer’s den and come back riding on the smallest demon in hell. He had not dared date anyone else after that for the three years in campus. Not that he ever felt for the hot-looking girls here; just that he was not sure about another commitment. He had given his last relationship his best shot and still it failed. He could not figure where to “Put more Effort.”

The speaker for this Thursday night was a Pastor Jeremiah invited by the Campus Crusade for Christ. He was going over the topic of relationship with relish. Soili could tell that most of the Students came to grasp something funny to laugh about. For him, this was something close to life and death night. He had attended other sessions like this organized by different organizations in campus, both religious and social. Soili preferred the religious ones when he noticed that the social groups taught from a very permissive point of view. However, he had noticed that even the religious speakers taught from their own points of view. He had decided not to attend these talks on relationship anymore as they were confusing him. But tonight, he needed every bit of information he could lay his senses on, however frail and untrue.

Tonight, he had a date and he was going to give his proposal for a relationship to a lady he had known since he breathed the first college air; three years ago. They had bonded and become good buddies and Soili thought that it was time he gave the whole thing a commitment. He was sure she could not decline his offer. No! Not after what they had been through together. Haizec Kai. He had always mused with the fact that this name sounded like Korean or Chinese. He wondered whether these campus girls used their real names at all.

“Your mind is not inside here.” A lady seated next to him whispered and suddenly his mind detached from its wandering and refocused on the oldster who had already started making the whole thing a sermon. He glanced at his watch on knew that it will not be long before Haizec called him. He had told her that he wanted to talk and she had agreed. The agreed time was 9pm in the football field. He had decided to grasp a few tips at the relationship event before going to drop what the students called a CV. He preferred calling it a CH; Contents of the Heart.

“Some of these girls will not have made up their minds and they will keep you waiting and so dude, let go and move on.” The preacher said.

Soili just recalled that this was what he had to do with the last girl he had proposed to. He could even catch a silhouette of her seated on the front row of the hall. He could not miss the shape of her head and the hairstyle she always wore. You would think she was born wearing that hair. Her name was Sirodi. When he proposed, she told him that she wanted time to pray and seek the face of the Lord concerning the issue. He caught her later openly kissing a lecturer and wondered for a moment whether this old fellow was “The Lord” after all. It was hard letting go but he told himself that; when a roll of tissue paper falls down the stairs, just let it go because when you cling to one end, you risk losing all of it. They always did that for better grades anyway.

“It is always good to bond before you decide to commit yourself to a relationship.” The pastor continued amidst expressions of disappointments. This was because most fourth years did what was called “Gold Rush.” It consisted of grabbing the latest arrivals in campus- the First years when they were still confused and naïve. To this, Soili gave a nod that was a hundred per cent for himself and not for the pastor. He had bonded well with Haizec; for three years. She had also shown a lot of interest in him. In the real sense a lot of students actually thought she was already his girlfriend and no one dared approach her. Even her buddies showed some humble respect in his presence. He played the game well and she seemed to like it that way. You could almost see the expectation in her eyes on when this dude was going to be hers formally.

Pastor Jeremiah moved on to speak about certain risks of introducing your girlfriend to your buddies and Soili stared at his watch again. It was 9pm and she had not called. There was a great temptation to rush out and make the call himself but he had always told himself that patience was a bitter herb that bore sweet fruits. He would wait. He evaluated every point the pastor made and he was almost sure that by the time he slept tonight he would formally have a girlfriend. His closest friend Sayona had always told him that he was lucky to have such a beautiful catch. She was a close friend of him too but he trusted him. He had deliberately decided not to tell Sayona of the event tonight though he hardly kept anything from him. He wanted it to be a Friday surprise for him.

The phone rang. He almost rushed outside but it was just a friend asking his whereabouts. He wondered for the umpteenth time why she was delaying. He knew that she was nervous since he had given her an idea of what they were going to talk about. “It is about us” he had said when she inquired. He wondered whether she was also going to pray and seek the face of the Lord. He didn’t mind; only hoped that the Lord this time was the real one in heaven.

The phone rang again and this time it was Haizec. He knew that she would call or he would go for her from her room a few meters away from the hall. She had postponed some previous appointments like this but in this, there was no escape. Soili was not eager for this meeting per se. He was full of butterflies. He had allowed them to get the better of him until he had gotten used to them. How many times he had postponed the proposal. The last butterfly fluttered in his stomach as he picked the call and knew that today, there was no way back. Even her voice on the phone told you that she was ready to walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

“Get me in my room.” She said. He wondered what had happened. The original plan was the field and he hoped