CHIMWEMWE
I hope you said no.
ME
No, I told him that I will think about it.
MWELWA
Mwandi, don’t say no. Michael is a good man, and he loves you. I always see how he looks at you.
CHIMWEMWE
I won’t say anything. I know how you guys love ubuchushi saana.
ME
Yeah, I am going to say yes.
After three days, I said yes to Michael’s proposal. That day, I saw the excitement in his eyes. From that day, we became a couple.
Months later, we continued studying together with Michael and Mwelwa. Still, Chimwemwe was no longer interested in schoolwork because her father was now rich, so she considered school a mere waste of time. She even stopped attending lectures and would go home for weeks without us seeing her.
Mwelwa had challenges in one of the courses. Even if she had studied it, she would still fail the test, so she kept hoping for better results after the sessional. We tried to help her study it, but to no avail.
After three months, we wrote our sessional exams. Weeks later, the results came out, and I made it to third year.
That same night, Mwelwa called me and told me that she failed the same course, but the fortunate part was that the comment section said she could proceed and carry on, so we were definitely going together in the third year. Even though she proceeded to the next grade, she wasn’t happy with it, so she cried the whole night.
When we opened school, we discovered that Chimwemwe had failed in all her courses and was now on part-time. When Mwelwa heard this, she laughed.
MWELWA
I was even crying, kanshi I am even in third year. Elo Bambi tabapashileko nangu ni course imo.
CHIMWEMWE
What is it supposed to mean? EEE, anyways, my father is a very rich man; he can even take me to another university if he wants.
ME
Our friend with a rich dad.
CHIMWEMWE
Daddy?
ME
I mean, Dad.
After weeks, the registration window was about to close, but Mwelwa wasn’t able to register for the course she failed because she needed K10,000. She called home, but her father was not able to do anything about it. I couldn’t help her because we all knew that I also came from a poor home. We both decided to go and ask Chimwemwe for help.
MWELWA
You are my last hope; please help me.
CHIMWEMWE
I will help you, but you just have to work for it.
ME
She is your friend; just help her.
CHIMWEMWE
Angel, stay out of this! Moreover, nothing comes for free. I will show her the way, and she will have more than she wants.
MWELWA
Meaning?
CHIMWEMWE
You should prepare yourself for tomorrow evening. Make sure you look very pretty, and believe me, you won’t be disappointed.
The following day, Chimwemwe and Mwelwa went out around 18:00. I decided to wait for them to come back, but they never came back. I tried to call them, but their phones were off. I got very worried about them, but Michael told me not to worry since that’s what Chimwemwe does every time.
They came back after two days. When I saw Mwelwa, she looked very drained, pale, and weak. She looked as if she had been sick for days. She wasn’t even able to stand and walk properly.
ME
Mwelwa, what’s wrong?
MWELWA
Mwelwa wasn’t able to say anything.
CHIMWEMWE
Don’t worry, she will be fine. She just needs to rest.
The following day, Mwelwa woke up very energetic, and I heard her whispering to Chimwemwe.
MWELWA
I just received K60,000 for just doing that.
CHIMWEMWE
Don’t worry, there’s more from where that came from, my love. Just continue being a good girl.
MWELWA
No, I don’t want to go back there. This is enough for me.
CHIMWEMWE
(laughs) My dear, once you join, there’s no quitting, especially since you saw what you saw… Just get used to it.
MWELWA
What?
CHIMWEMWE
Fyo! You heard me right.
After I came back from class, I found Mwelwa crying.
ME
What’s wrong?
To be continued…
