ROLE MODEL
She is tall, elegant, and dark skinned
with no blemish or spot from the hands of lightening cream we see this day. She
is just as she is from birth if not for the physical and mental growth she is
passing through as it is general in the life of man.
Her second skin leaves me in bewilderment.
From head to toe she carries a symbol so common but hers is magnificently
unique.
The first time I saw her was the day she
was introduced by our co-ordinator to us as a member of our internship group.
That should have made us friends right? But no! Ever we remain acquaintance
because I know nothing about her, other than we exchanging greetings, nothing
comes out of that mouth of hers, after we trying to rhapsodize about our little
misdemeanour during home going. She never joins.
Biola, Balikiss, Aisha and Remi thought
she is a fake that I had to accept. Does
it mean nobody has offended her? Does it
mean she loves everybody’s dressing? Does it mean she likes Tola, the bebestic
girl? No! It can’t be gossip is for everybody, it is a way of knowing other
people’s opinion and perception about happenings.
I remember the other time I told Biola
what Tola told me, she made me understand what Tola really meant, it made me
felt bad and I have vowed that I will never talk to her even when she was my
best friend prior to that. I don’t care to hear her own side of the story, how
could she asked me to be using that thing?
She is insinuating that I have a
body odour was the entire grudge I have against her.
A month later, we were preparing to
record our script in the Dubbing Studio when the coordinator discovered that
the high accelerated recorder has been tampered with.
‘Who tampered with this? He growled,
looking at us one after the other while we shift uncomfortably.
‘Do you know the levity of what you have
just done to a government property?’ He reinforced the offence, expecting us to
point to the doer of the action but to us nobody does it.
‘It is not me; we defend ourselves
If you wouldn’t point to the person, I
will write to your schools to report the offence and you shall all pay for it
dearly; He emphasized, go ad call the rest of you
I walked to the live studio to excuse my
colleague out to the Dubbing studio. They all want to know what had happened
but I was to scared to utter what the case is.
The coordinator’s voice echo throughout
the room in firmness, he never delayed their reason of being there.
‘Who locked the cassette in the
recorder? He reiterated
‘I am’ I heard the voice not far from my
right so small for everybody to ear yet so deep that it made us release our
long hold breath
You mean……..’The coordinator could not
finish in surprise
‘’I am sorry sir’ she said profusely
The rest can go; he dismissed us, while
she was being given some punishment.
After some minutes, she came to join us
in the reception.
I am sorry for making you go through
that, I wanted to tell somebody when Mrs. Cole sent me on errand; she said to
us
No problem; Aisha said still unhappy
You mean u could say the truth when
nobody sees you and you are still here saying sorry’; I blurted out, I could
not take it anymore, this is no fake, this is righteousness that worth
emulating
Why not; she said, Say the truth even if
it is bitter
In my home, the picture came, when
anybody commits any offence, big or small, nobody does it. We cover up for
ourselves thinking it is the best thing but now I doubt every percent of it as
I sit opposite to hers.
I have not even told you are name; she has
a name routed in the Arab country even when she is birth in a man’s land
‘Lagos’. She is called Zainab and I think that should be enough for now.
According to Paul D. Shafer, ‘the most
important single influence in the life of a person is another person…….. Who is
worthy of emulation.’
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