Yam Pepper Scatter Scatter
There are three caveats before we start this story: first, it did not happen to me but it happened; second, all the identifying information has been fictionalised; third, there are no morals here.
Now, let us tell the story properly.
ONE
It all started several months ago when Ayo resumed college. Ayo is a fresh-eyed second-year medical student; Prof, a consultant here at the university teaching hospital. Classes that fateful day dragged long like they would not come to an end. And it was almost 5 PM when Ade decided that since her daddy wasn't Hipoccrates, nobody would care if she abandoned dissection and just went home to eat and sleep. So, she packed her books into a bedazzling handmade bag, discarded her gloves and nose mask, folded her labcoat that smelled of formalin, and literally, dead bodies into the bag, and headed home.
The layout of the teaching hospital was to make it a connected structure, hence departments are linked by unending long walkways. Ayo walked from trauma, down to the male surgical ward, till she ended up at the neurosurgery car park. She crossed the road that led towards the staff quarters gate when a Mercedes slowed down beside her. The driver, a man in simple Englishwear started a conversation.
"Hello."
"Hi. Good evening sir."
"What's up? I have seen your face before around the hospital. Are you a clinical student here?"
"No. I'm not yet a clinical student but I do read around Old CHS."
"Wow. Really? Where are you going let me drop you off nau."
"I stay off campus and my place is just a few blocks after the gate ahead. Thank you for the offer, but it is not necessary."
"No nau, it's nothing."
Prof tries to open the door to the seat beside him, but Ade stops him.
"I insist sir. I can't enter your car. Thank you for the offer."
"Toor. If you say so. Girls of nowadays. Will you at least give me your number?"
Ade contemplated for a few seconds, then reeled off her WhatsApp number. He typed it into his phone and mumbled something.
"Thanks. I'll see you around," Prof said, revving his car and speeding off.
TWO
Barely two hours later, Prof called Ade after sending two WhatsApp texts that got delivered but she ignored them. Ade does not like calls, and she isn't comfortable talking to a stranger. Two more call attempts from Prof and she picked it up. He asked if she'd be coming back to campus but she declined. He said he wanted to see her again and after what seemed like an eternity on the call, they agreed to meet on a Friday at Skyland restaurant inside the teaching hospital.
On their first meeting, Prof was already there waiting for her. He placed an order for snacks and soda and ordered for her too. Afterwards, they discussed on several topics including personal information and tech, medicine, and life in general. At the end of the meeting, around 7 PM, Prof offered to drop Ayo at her place, and this time, it was difficult to refuse. From the meeting, Ayo learnt Prof was a consultant in internal medicine and was not as old as she thought he'd be. Also, Prof learnt about her age, and class, and talked about how he knew all her current lecturers. He went ahead to mention their names and some other impressive information about them.
On the drive home, Prof made his intention clear that he likes Ayo, and would like to have her around. Ayo did not say much. Her head was lost in thoughts: this wasn't what she hoped for herself. First, Prof is married with kids, they are both Muslims and what he suggested was beyond platonic friendship. She told him she'd need days to think about it. She chipped it in that Prof looked younger than his age and that she loved his well-groomed beards too. Prof smiled like a child receiving compliments for the first time, and when they got to the junction around Five Star, Ayo highlighted. She asked Prof where he stayed and he said Arkilla.
THREE
If anyone had told Ayo that she'd become this barely a month before she met Prof, not only would she vehemently deny it, she'd curse the person too. What started as an attraction developed quickly into a romance. Ayo, indeed liked Prof for quite several reasons: he dressed well and used one exquisite perfume, he complimented her a lot because of how she spoke, he was academically sound, and most importantly, Prof did not treat her like a child.
Ayo would learn that Prof's kids are not in the country at the moment, and his wife is abroad. Prof's house in Arkilla is managed by a guard and his own small family. Often, Prof spends time shuffling between Sokoto Abuja and Lagos.
The first time they were to have sex, Prof sought her consent explicitly. He did not play games with her. Prof had asked her to come over to his place and sent her twenty thousand naira to get him condoms when coming over. He asked her multiple times how old she was, made deductions by asking her other questions, and finally said he'd love to have sex with her.
Ayo refused and Prof did not push further. He asked one of the boys to go get them food from the Chicken Republic since Ayo complained that Skyland's food sucked. They ate in total silence and afterwards, Prof wanted to know if Ayo needed help in any of her courses. She informed him about her Renal Physiology and how it was difficult to learn much from the foreign teacher assigned to them. That night, Prof explained the micturition mechanism, renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, and plasma control of extracellular fluid osmolarity like a pro. They passed the night together, cuddling.
Prof did not ask for the twenty thousand naira back. A week later, he raised the idea of sex. Prof reminded her that it was almost three months since they started going out. Ayo thought hard about it and finally gave in. That night, Prof sent her another twenty thousand naira. They would go on to be intimate many more times and each time, Prof would send her money afterwards and put food as the narration.
FOUR
When it was about two months before Ayo's exams, she informed Prof about it and asked that she not be disturbed. That was the first blow that struck their relationship. Prof thought Ayo saw their relationship as a mere disturbance. They had their first quarrel that evening and for days Ayo held out. She did not call the Prof and waited for his apology call. Prof did not call either. Four days later, Ayo sent a cryptic message and Prof replied. They met around the hospital gate and Prof took her home. This time, Ayo wanted to have the upper hand. She decided to show Prof what he'd miss if they should break up. She went wild that night and tried BDSM with Prof who liked it very much and wanted to do it again the next day.
For weeks she prepared for her exams, did overnight reading, went for group discussions, and would ignore Prof anytime he raised the idea of coming over for sex. Nonetheless, she tried to keep the romance alive via virtual means. Once, she sent view-once raunchy videos to Prof and begged him to give her the time to concentrate. Prof would go on to rant about how the exams before her weren't serious one and that her coming over to see him would not be the reason not to pass.
Ayo's exams came and it was intense. She had done her best and was hopeful, and at the same time fearful. She feared that she had not done enough. She prayed and prayed. She informed Prof who told her he'd work on it, and indeed, worked on it. Ayo passed within the fifties range.
FIVE
Things soon began to not augur well. Ayo's relationship with Prof started to go off in many ways. In her own words, Prof gaslights very often, holds too much power over her and she couldn't say no to his intense sexual urges. She likes him for many things including the fact that he spends decently on her, but she hates the idea that Prof isn't someone she could say no to. Academically, Prof helped her, financially, he footed a huge chunk of her bills. Ayo doesn't like that Prof was very dismissive of the idea of taking her in as a second wife, lords over her most often, and sometimes expresses weird mood swings.
It has been a week since Ayo called it quits with Prof. She had gone to his office that day and broke the news to him. She did not delete his contact, she did not block him. Radio silence from both ends. Once in a while, Ayo curiously went over their old chats until one day she took the courage and deleted it all. Afterwards, she blocked him everywhere.
Now, she goes to the teaching hospital daily with one prayer: to not have to cross paths with Prof.