4. Knight in Jeans and Polo

Chisom

"What's his name?" Jessie whispered.

"Collins David, we just call him David. He's married and with kids." I emphasized the last word because she kept talking about how he looked young, the way his muscles moved with each step he took. 

I didn't like that. David was one of my best lecturers but he was also a father and husband. There was no way I would support her on this; he was out of bounds.

Jessie's forehead was pressed on our desk with an opened bottle of coke in between her legs. Her hands made no noise as she struggled with her bag to retrieve the last slice of okpa and I kissed my teeth.

Most students liked okpa; I didn't. Maybe because I spent most of my childhood in a city where it wasn't common. I believed it wasn't worth the hype with its horrible taste. Yet everyone, including Jessie loved it.

"Can't you admire a fine man when you see one?" She argued with her mouth full.

"You can." Admiring a fine specimen was totally normal, they were created to be admired. "When he's married? Maybe. With kids? Definitely not."

Thankful for the food in her mouth which cut short her reply, I fixated my attention on the blackboard. There were letters and figures jumbled together, almost in a pattern. As hard as I tried to piece it together, none of it made any sense to me.

Maybe now is the best time to quit school and start selling okpa. I'll make small money.

Mathematics wasn't always my first option, the same could be said for most of my course mates. For fear of being idle at home, I had gladly accepted it. One year later and I was still stuck looking for x and now, maybe y. Would we ever find them?

Baby I got me, baby I got me . . .

The shrill ringtone of my favourite device interrupted my thoughts and I hurried to turn it off. Phones were not allowed in class, if we wanted to bring it in, it had to be on silent mode or switched off.

"Whose phone was that?" Mr Collins's voice boomed, he sounded angry and an angry Collins was an unpredictable Collins.

His eyes moved in a predatory manner from one student to another until they rested on mine. I squirmed in my seat, unwilling to let go of my new Tecno C9.

"Give yourself up or you give up your phone when I get it." His words were slow and deliberate as if giving us a chance to process it. I only relaxed slightly in my seat when his gaze rested on someone else.

"Stop shaking," Jessie muttered through clenched teeth. I looked down at my limbs and truly they were trembling.

In an attempt to distract myself, I bit down on my lower lips, tapping my feet on the ground. There was nothing here for me to count and my earpiece was far from reach.

The whole class was silent, so silent you could hear a pin drop. Without warning, his head turned in my direction and I started coughing. I should have given myself up.

"Give me the phone." Mr Collins was beside our seat in seconds where he loomed over us like a giant, his lips pulled into a frown.

Gulping inaudibly, I brought out the phone to drop it in his outstretched hand.

"You had to wait for me to come here, okwaya? Say goodbye to the phone." His face carried a look of disappointment. 

I was the quietest student in the class, most of the lecturers took it to mean I was a good girl and student. So, this was unexpected.

"I'm sorry, Sir."

The moment the voice registered in my brain, I whipped my head to the left to stare at my seat partner who was apologising.

"It's my phone, not hers," Jessie continued, "I forgot to put it on silent mode."

My foot met hers under the table but she refused to acknowledge me. I took another look at the sleek phone in Mr Collins hands, it was my phone, not hers. This girl!

"Who are you? Why are you in my class?" He was fast growing impatient; you could tell from the way his left eye twitched.

"Jessie. I am a member of this class." She braved on and for a moment, I was proud to be friends with her. I might not have been able to do the same, fear wouldn't let me. 

"Is Jessie somebody's name?" He shouted.

"Yadilichi Jessie," she corrected, unfazed by his display of anger. Yes, that was my new friend for you. How she managed to remain this calm? I would never know.

"Ik?" Mr Collins called.

"Yes sir, she is a direct entry student," Ik volunteered; he looked worried for us.

Satisfied with Ik's explanation he turned to her, the frown still on his face. "Come out."

At those words, my heart thumped loudly. He was about to embarrass her and as much as I admired what she was doing, I couldn't let her take the fall for me.

"Excuse me, Sir?" My voice sounded small, almost inaudible. Both of them stopped mid-stride and turned to stare at me. While his face held anger, Jessie's held boredom.

"Yes?" He barked at me.

"It's my phone, not hers," I said.

Mr Collins let out a hoarse laugh, his eyes twitched so much I was afraid he would reach out and smack both of us. 

"Do I look like a clown to the both of you?" He asked. Without waiting for a reply he continued, "go to the board. Join her."

The boredom on Jessie's face transformed to shock and then amusement. She looked like she was trying to hold back her laughter and I could only shake my head in pity, fearful for the mathematical calamity that was about to befall us.

He wrote down a few equations on different sides of the board and asked us to solve it. If we failed any of it, no more Algebra classes for us for the rest of the semester.

"Five minutes. Ik, time them." He stood behind the both of us, arms on his waist.

The questions were different so there was no way we could copy each other. Clearing my throat, I picked up the chalk and wordlessly sent a prayer of help for us.

Three minutes passed and the answers still eluded me. Jessie was scribbling furiously while I continued to stare hard at the board, hoping by some miracle the answers would appear. This was not part of the plan!

"Time's up." A clapping sound followed his words and I turned to notice his attention was on Jessie's solution.

Her solving spanned the entire half of the board and I gawked disbelieving at it.

When did she learn all these?

"Who taught you that?" He sounded impressed and his lips curled slightly at the side into a smile that would vanish once he saw my invisible solution on the board. 

"Nobody," Jessie replied. She was pleased with herself and he seemed so too. 

His head tilted to the part of the board that was supposed to contain my answers.

"Chisom?" 

Suddenly my feet became very attractive. I have ten toes and they were all coated in red nail polish. 

"Do you want to help her?" I could tell it was directed to Jessie. The questions were something I had never seen in my life.

"Yes."

"If you get it wrong, both of you will have to leave my class." She replied by collecting the chalk he held up to her.

The whole class watched in silent admiration as her fingers moved swiftly on the board, no moment of hesitation, just passion for what she was writing down.

Mr Collins didn't get a chance to call her out on the time spent because she finished before the five minutes elapsed.

"This is ..." Excitement blazed in his eyes as he perused the solution line after line.

"Wrong." His hands went to his waist and he peered at the solution again. " This is wrong," he ended on a flat note. 

He was disappointed as was the whole class; if the looks on their faces were a sign to by. I was a little surprised, Jessie had been writing like she was sure of it.

"This should have been minus instead of plus, that was your only mistake," he pointed to a line, his head bobbing up and down as if in deep thoughts. "Good job."

"Now, both of you. Out of my class."

I was certain the look of shock on some of my course mates faces mirrored the exact one on mine. My feet were rooted to the ground, only moving when Jessie pulled me by the arms.

***

We were sitting outside the class which was meant to end in ten minutes. I would have left but I needed to get my phone.

Jessie's head was bent over the phone she was playing a game of Subway Surf. It looked like she was happy to be out of the class, laughing out loud when her avatar hit a train. The action annoyed me and without a single thought, I smacked her on the head.

"What was that for?" She held the back of her head, her big eyes boring into mine.

"For what you did in class. Don't ever do that again, do you hear me?"

"Yeah, whatever," she muttered with an eye roll, her fingers already tapping the play button on her phone.

"No, not whatever. Say, I won't do it again." Her phone was in my hand now, forcing her to listen to me.

"Yes, mother. I swear never to be the Knight in jeans and polo to my Lady Alexandra ever again." She replied with a mock bow and I was tempted to smack her head again.

Someone thrust a phone into my face and I raised my head to see Mr Collins standing in front of us with my phone.

"Good job, Jessie." 

The compliment was received by a smiling Jessie who thought it funny to stick her tongue out at his retreating back.