Maya and Lola

Chapter3-The Video

"MAYA! LOLA! I KNOW YOU ARE UP THERE! COME OUT NOW!"

Maya's hand went ice cold in Lola's.

It was Chiamaka's voice. Sharp, loud, and now filled with fake tears. And behind her, the heavy footsteps of Mrs. Adeyemi, the hostel mistress — the most feared woman on campus. If she caught you doing anything behind the library, you would be on the disciplinary panel the next morning.

Lola's eyes went wide with pure panic. Not for herself. For Maya.

"Maya, hide," she whispered quickly. "If Mrs. Adeyemi sees you here with me, she will think —"

"I am not hiding," Maya said, and for the first time in her life, her introverted, shy voice was firm. "I am tired of hiding. I hid my feelings for you for three years, Lola. I will not hide now."

Lola stared at her like she was seeing her for the first time. Her cozy, quiet Maya — the girl who never talked back to anyone — was standing up straight, her eyes blazing.

Downstairs, Chiamaka was putting on a show.

"Aunty, I swear! I saw them! They were... they were doing abominable things behind the literature shelf! As a good Christian girl, I could not let it go! I had to report!"

Mrs. Adeyemi's voice boomed. "Where are they? Chiamaka, show me!"

Footsteps started coming up the stairs. Heavy, angry footsteps.

Maya quickly shoved her phone into Lola's hand. "Delete the message. Now."

"What? No—" Lola started.

"Delete it! If Mrs. Adeyemi sees that message about the video, she will think you are being threatened and she will call Chiamaka's father, and then your school fees —"

Maya didn't get to finish. The two of them appeared at the top of the stairs.

Chiamaka first. Her lipstick was perfectly re-applied. Her eyes were red, but Maya knew they were fake tears. She had cried like that many times to get what she wanted. Behind her, Mrs. Adeyemi, tall, in her long ankara gown, holding a big stick that she used to scare students.

"There!" Chiamaka pointed dramatically. "There they are, Aunty! See how they are standing together! I told you!"

Mrs. Adeyemi looked at Maya and Lola, standing close, rain hammering the windows, both of them looking guilty and disheveled.

"What is going on here?" she asked, her voice low and dangerous. "What are two young ladies doing alone in a locked library after closing hours?"

Maya's heart was beating so fast she thought she would faint. She was not good at lying. Lola, however, was.

Lola stepped forward, putting herself slightly in front of Maya, like a shield.

"Mrs. Adeyemi, good evening ma," Lola said, her voice suddenly calm and respectful, that charming extroverted smile back on her face. "We were just studying. The rain started and we got locked in. We were about to come down."

"Studying?" Chiamaka scoffed. "Studying while kissing? Aunty, I saw Lola kissing Maya! I swear on my mother's life!"

The moment she said that, Maya saw Lola flinch.

Because it was a trap. If Chiamaka said she saw Lola kissing Maya, then Mrs. Adeyemi would punish Maya and Lola. But if Lola denied it and said "I was kissing Chiamaka, not Maya," then Chiamaka would have proof that Lola was with her, and Maya would be heartbroken again.

Chiamaka was smart. Very smart.

Mrs. Adeyemi turned to Maya. "Maya Obi, is this true? You are one of my best students. Quiet, respectful. Are you doing this... this lesbianism thing with Lola?"

The word hung in the air. Lesbianism. On their campus, it was enough to get you suspended.

Maya felt Lola's hand secretly find hers behind their backs and squeeze it tightly. A silent plea: Please, trust me.

Maya took a deep breath. She looked straight at Mrs. Adeyemi, then at Chiamaka.

"No, ma," Maya said, loud and clear. "I was not kissing Lola. Lola was kissing Chiamaka. I saw them myself. Chiamaka was holding Lola against the wall and kissing her. I came to borrow a book and I saw them. That's why I shouted. That's why my books fell."

The silence was so heavy you could hear the rain.

Chiamaka's mouth fell open. She did not expect that. She expected Maya to be too shy, too scared to tell the truth.

"You are lying!" Chiamaka screamed, forgetting her fake tears. "You are a liar! You are jealous because Lola loves me! She loves me!"

"Oh, does she?" Maya said, and she felt a strange, new power rising in her chest. She pulled out her own phone — she had taken a screenshot of the threatening message before telling Lola to delete it — and held it up.

"Then why did you send me this message, Chiamaka? Why did you threaten to post a video of Lola begging you if Lola loves you? Why do you need to blackmail a girl who loves you?"

She showed the screen to Mrs. Adeyemi.

Mrs. Adeyemi collected her glasses and read it. As she read, her face changed. From anger to shock to disgust.

Chiamaka's face went white. "No — Aunty, that's not — I didn't — she edited it! Maya edited it!"

"Did I?" Maya said. "Then let's play the video you said you have. Let's see who is begging who. Let's see the full video. Show Mrs. Adeyemi the full video, Chiamaka. Show her what you recorded without Lola's consent."

That was the killing blow.

Mrs. Adeyemi was very strict about one thing: recording students without permission and blackmailing them was a serious offense. More serious than kissing.

"Chiamaka Bello," Mrs. Adeyemi said slowly, turning to Chiamaka. "Did you record another student without permission and threaten her? Did you lie to me to bring me here?"

Chiamaka started crying for real this time. "Aunty, no, I was just jealous! Lola promised to be with me! Her mother — I helped her mother! And she still wants Maya! This bush girl! What does Maya have that I don't have?!"

Lola finally spoke. Her voice was tired, broken, but honest for the first time that night.

"What Maya has, Chiamaka, is a heart that doesn't blackmail people," Lola said. "Maya has never asked me for anything. She never used my mother's sickness against me. You did."

She then turned to Mrs. Adeyemi. "Ma, punish me if you want. But don't punish Maya. Maya did nothing. She is innocent. If anyone should be on the panel tomorrow, it should be me and Chiamaka. Not her."

Mrs. Adeyemi looked at the three girls. The rain, the drama, the tears. She sighed a long, deep sigh.

"All three of you, my office. Tomorrow morning. 8am sharp. With your parents on the phone. And Chiamaka, you will delete every video on your phone in front of me. Do you hear me?"

"Yes ma," they all whispered.

Mrs. Adeyemi turned and walked downstairs, her stick hitting each step loudly.

Chiamaka glared at Maya with pure hatred. "You think you won? You think Lola will choose you now? Her mother will still die without my father's money. Let's see how your cozy love will pay for surgery, Maya."

She walked away.

Now it was just Maya and Lola again. Alone in the library. The storm was still raging.

Maya was shaking. Not from fear, but from adrenaline. She had never stood up to anyone like that before.

Lola slowly walked to her. She cupped Maya's face in both hands. Her hands were warm.

"You defended me," Lola whispered, amazed.

"You defended me first," Maya whispered back.

Their faces were close again. Closer than before. This time, there was no Chiamaka. No lipstick from another girl. Just rain, books, and three years of feelings that had never been spoken.

"Maya," Lola said, her voice breaking, "If my mother dies because I choose you... will you hate me for choosing you?"

Maya's eyes filled with tears. She didn't know what to say. Because she knew Lola's mother was everything to her.

And before she could answer, Lola's phone rang.

The screen showed: MAMA - KADUNA HOSPITAL

Lola's hand shook.

The hospital was calling. In the middle of the storm. At night.