FARAWAY FROM Reach

Chapter two

_two_

Everyone has their own backup person and for me, that's my beloved mother. Mrs Ufoma Efe. Even on good days. Like ehn I got my admission, I called her and on bad days when school feels so difficult I call her. She somehow always has something to say to make me feel good.

I don't know how long I laid in bed thinking about my life, ignoring my friend Sarah's call or my sister Bibi when she told me she was going for class or whatever, or the over two hundred plus messages on my departmental cruise lane group chat.

My entire focus was on how well to continue the semester, how to keep focus, read for my exams that's I. Six weeks time cause I was f**k as hell not sure of how to concentrate. For someone who hardly comes middle or fail courses I sure felt like I hit rock bottom. I don't know how to deal with the attendance deadlines or the fact that I spent hours praying in church fo a good result or that I fasted and prayed in church to get good grades or that I placed a pledge on getting good grades and now this?? with everything that's happened i don't know how to cope or what to feel but I know that I needed and that was my lovely my mother.

As much as I love my mother I can't deny that what suit us best is long distance relationship or parentship in our case. I love her better from afar and this works cause when she's finally close to me I feel so much love for her but and yes there is a but. But when we're together for too long we tend to disagree about a lot of things and I hate that more than I love being so close to her, close to home so I know that this long eight months of not seeing her sure as f**k made us feel closer than we normally would if I was home.

Dailing her number which I saved as oxygen on my phone, I placed it on speaker and abandoned my harbinger of bad news (that's my mobile phone by the way) this morning somewhere on the bed still laying placing my head on the pillow like I did before searching for my phone to call her.

"Hello." Her ever cheerful voice rang out from the speaker soothing my aching heart like balm and calming my nerves like ice cream and I thought I was done crying but the tears seems to come back with the sound of her voice.

"H-he-" I paused taking a deep breath. "Hello, Good afternoon ma." I greeted her before continuing my feat of tears.

"Toor what happened? Why are you crying?" She asked worry taking over the cheerful tone that said hello to me seconds ago.

"I saw my results today and I failed 2 courses that I was supposed to have aced brilliantly." I said crying out loud more like wailing at this point. I know she must have rolled her eyes cause as long as it's not regarding life and death nothing seems to be good enough to bring tears to anybody.

"So is that why you're crying?" She hissed before continuing her statement. " I thought something happened to mma or bibi." She said in a more cheerful tone. Mma is a name we all call her mother, my grandmother. They called her that long before I was born and everyone just seems to go along with it including friends and extended family members. Bibi is short name for Bibiana my immediate younger sister that I happen to be two years older than.

"No ma they're both fine nothing happened to them." I said still crying.

"Okay so is that why you're crying? I thought something more serious happened. See am my heart cut and my B.P( blood pressure) wey I dey manage too come rise once. She said in the popular pidgin english language spoken in the country.

"You don't understand. I did everything right. Every test, every assignment, I read so we'll for the exam and even after the exam I was expecting nothing less than a B. I can't be having an F for crying out loud." I said resuming my crying feast.

"Well I know you tried all you can, your father and I, your siblings too. We know and we see it but In all God has the final say." She said pausing for a minute probably to wait if I have any questions or any objections to make cause I'm so fond of doing that. But as the silence stretched longer she found out I had no plans of doing that so she just continued.

"It's not the end of the world dear. Nwa mo oma. (Igbo dialect for my good child) You can always do better next year or come home. Nobody is chasing you away." She said waiting for my response.

When I didn't reply she added "inu(you hear)" To which I responded "anyhow mu(I have heard.)

" But all my friends will laugh at me and it will be so embarrassing going back to retake a class I should have aced. " I lamented feeling quite better as I have stopped crying by now.

" Nothing should make you embarrassed my dear. E zuru oshi( did you steal?)" she asked.

" Nba (no)" I responded.

" So you see, the only reason you should be ashamed is that you stole something and you did not. Life happens to everyone me too. And anyone that laughs at you despite knowing how hard you've tried is not your friend. Cut them off or I will do it for you." She said.

"Now, tell me how Ada mummy (mummy's first daughter) is doing." She said. By now the air feels lighter and I've stopped crying. I know that I'm probably gonna continue crying in a few minutes or the next day but for now, in this afternoon talking with my mother about school, village, family, her friends and thier family I felt good, Like I belong and lighter than I felt in the morning.

" Kele remu mma oo Inu?( Greet mma for me oo. You hear?) She said indicating our time was coming to an end.

"Oo" I replied.

"Tell her that I called and I'm proud of you." She said.

"Greet Williams and the rest of the siblings as well as Daddy for me oo."

"They'll hear. " She responded before ending the call with an I'll call you tomorrow promise.

After she ended the call I went to our department group chat and saw that the 2 unit course had about 60 percent of the students failing it. And yes, it did help my mood cause we all know how the lecturer can be but the 3 unit course anger outweighed any form or sort of happiness I might have felt.

I shouldn't have let my mother's words of retaking the exam enter my mind cause my resolve to file complaint for missing script was shaking and if it didn't shake I won't have met him, joshep and if I didn't I won't have known what love growing over time was.