DIARY OF A CORPER — EPISODE 13: THINGS FALL APART
When life begins to hurt, it doesn’t happen all at once. It happens bit by bit, and then suddenly everything falls apart.
Even though I was happy that Femi had finally been discharged, I wished I could go back to those days at the hospital, where I spent my time talking and doing almost nothing. I didn’t feel like resuming work at all.
Unfortunately, fate had its own plans for me.
I woke up late that morning unintentionally. By the time I got dressed, got a bike, and reached the office, it was already 9:45 a.m.
As soon as I entered the gate, the security man smiled.
“Ah, corper! Good morning o.”
“Good morning, sir.”
“Ah ah, you travel? I no see you for some days now.”
“Not really, sir. I had a family emergency.”
“Okay, no wahala. Ehn, dem dey do general meeting for lobby. E never too long wey dem start.”
I froze for a second.
General meeting?
So this is how fate wants to deal with me?
I would finally meet the new director on the exact day I arrived late.
“Thank you, sir,” I muttered and hurried towards the building.
The lobby was already filled with staff members, some standing, some sitting on any available space. I slipped in quietly, hoping not to draw attention.
There he was, talking. Only his voice seemed to be heard. I instantly knew he had to be the infamous director.
For a brief second, his eyes met mine. Then he continued speaking.
“Good morning,” I whispered to the people closest to me.
That was when it happened.
“You’re late and you’re still talking?”
The director’s voice thundered across the lobby.
My heart jumped. I was at a loss for words. He kept looking at me as if he wanted a reply. I gathered all the courage I could muster.
“Sorry, sir. I wasn’t talking—”
“Then what were you doing? Distracting others?”
The entire lobby became dead silent; a pin could actually be heard dropping.
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“You are a corper, abi?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So that’s why you resume anytime you like, chat during meetings, and just do anyhow you like?”
I could feel dozens of eyes on me. What kind of public embarrassment was this? Why was this man acting as if I had been a repeated offender?
He hissed.
The meeting continued, but I heard almost nothing afterwards. My ears were hot, and my chest felt tight. I kept my eyes on the floor, praying for the meeting to end.
When it finally did, everyone dispersed quietly.
I went to my desk, but I couldn’t concentrate. I opened a file and stared at the same page for almost ten minutes. Even typing ordinary sentences felt difficult.
The humiliation kept replaying in my head.
You’re late and you’re still talking?
If only Chioma were here, we would have probably joked about it.
I could not wait for 4 p.m. so I could leave the office. By closing time, I had done almost nothing meaningful.
When I got home that evening, I decided to settle things with Taiwo. We had barely spoken for almost two weeks, and I was tired of the tension.
I walked straight to her room from the gate and knocked.
A few seconds later, she opened the door.
She didn’t smile.
She didn’t step aside either.
She simply stood there, blocking the entrance.
“Can we talk inside?” I asked.
“I’m very busy.”
“Should I come back?”
“Anything you want to say, say it now.”
The words stung.
“I just want us to settle this. I don’t like the way we haven’t been talking.”
Taiwo folded her arms.
I looked at her, unsure of where this was going.
“So because you, almighty Dewa, don’t like it, I should suddenly feel like talking to you?”
Almighty Dewa? How did we get here?
“Taiwo, that’s not what I mean.”
“Not everything revolves around you, Dewa. Everybody should not always like you.”
I stared at her, shocked.
“What do you mean? What exactly did I do?”
She looked away.
“Taiwo, is this about Femi? Because I honestly don’t know what you think, but there’s nothing between us, and I have no intention of dating him. I know you like him, but I don’t know where this misunderstanding is coming from.”
Her eyes snapped back to mine.
“Did I mention Femi?”
I opened my mouth, then closed it.
“Everything does not have to revolve around you,” she continued. “And besides, I’m going through my own things right now. I don’t have the energy for this.”
At that moment, two girls walked past the corridor.
I suddenly became aware that we were standing outside, arguing where everyone could hear us.
Embarrassment crawled up my neck.
Especially because they seemed to be listening. I wasn’t even sure whether they had heard the part about Femi. The last thing I wanted was to become the topic of gossip in this compound.
“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “Forget it.”
I turned and walked back to my room before my voice could betray me.
Once inside, I wondered where I had gone wrong.
I was getting emotional already. I’d had a terrible day.
I felt like talking to someone.
Anyone.
I called Bassey.
Not reachable.
Right. He was in camp.
I checked Chioma’s number, then dropped the phone.
What if hers wasn’t reachable as well? They were both in camp.
For a moment, I considered calling Femi.
He had called me twice after he got home just to check on me.
But if I called him now, wouldn’t that only make everything worse?
Wouldn’t it look exactly the way Taiwo already imagined?
I sighed and stood up to change my outfit.
Then my phone fell.
I picked it up and saw that the screen had a crack across it.
Can this day get any worse?
I stared at the phone, not knowing which hurt me more: being estranged from Taiwo or seeing my phone screen broken without a screen guard.
I was losing it already.
That was when my mother’s call came in.
I picked it immediately.
“Hello, my dear. How are you doing?”
The moment I heard her voice, something inside me cracked.
All the pain, the loneliness, the confusion, and the embarrassment I had been holding in suddenly rushed to the surface.
“Adeewa?”
I swallowed hard.
“Mommy…”
My voice broke.
Her tone changed instantly.
“What’s wrong?”
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “I want to come home.”
There was a brief silence.
“What happened?”
I opened my mouth to explain, but no words came out.
Instead, I burst into tears.
Not the quiet tears I had been fighting all day.
This time, I wailed.
End of Episode 13
To be continued…
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Next: ➡️Episode 14: Home Is Bliss
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