Lola and Wumi sat and listened, teary-eyed, to their mum as she gave them words of advice on how to go about their lives in the university. They have both been offered admission that year into the same university. Lola, the elder of the two, was offered admission to study Biochemistry, while Wumi was to study Communication and Language Arts. Although they had anticipated the day they would get into a university, they find it painful to leave home.
The two girls had been brought up like twins, although they were half-sisters. Lola’s mum was the first wife of her dad, but died when Lola was just a year old. It had been a terrible blow to her dad but for the sake of his little girl, he decides to get another woman who would be a wife to him and a mother to his daughter. This was how he came to marry Wumi’s mother, who accepted him and his daughter, Lola, with love. She gave birth to Wumi when Lola was 2 years old. The birth of Wumi did not prevent her from taking care of Lola.
On the day of their departure to school, the whole family; the dad, mum, the two girls, and their younger brother, sat together as the girls were given pieces of advice. After these, the family prayed and committed the girls into the hands of God. They were then driven to school, and amidst tears and hugs, they parted. Getting settled in school, with the ups and downs of registration, lectures and the likes, soon got their minds off homesickness. They had to concentrate on their studies so as not to let their parents down. With this spirit of theirs, they finished the first year successfully, with high grades, making their parents proud. The dad was so pleased, that he promised both of them a car each as their convocation ceremony gift if they kept up with such performance.
The next session started fine for them until Lola noticed some changes in Wumi. The caliber of friends she kept was nothing to write home about, and these had started to reflect in her mode of dressing, manner of approach and her academic performance. Lola, who had been saddled with keeping her sister safe, called Wumi to speak some sense into her. She pleaded with her to desist from ill practices such as smoking, drinking of alcohol, late night parties, but all these fell on deaf ears.
She gave instances of those who have done it before, and how they all had to face the consequences of their actions. But Wumi was adamant and refused to stop her ways, deciding to catch fun to the fullest, as she considers Lola’s way of life boring. During a short break in the semester, Lola decided to notify their mum before things got out of hand. Alas! to her greatest surprise, their mum did not believe a word of hers and accused her of trying to “black-mouth” her own daughter. Lola tried to explain, but it was to no avail. Wumi, on her part, denied indulging in any immoral act and she kept up pretense at home fully aware that her parents won’t be pleased with her new behavior.
This went on semester after semester. Her behavior got worse. She smoked, drank and had lots of ‘sugar daddies’. She turned deaf ears to her sister’s implorations while her friends kept influencing her misbehavior. Her academic performance started to deteriorate and when her parents demand for explanation, she blamed it on the lecturers, giving flimsy excuses.
Three years gone, the girls were in their final year. Lola puts in all her best to excel. Wumi, on the other hand, was unperturbed by the fact that she needed to be serious. She kept up with her wayward ways which eventually affected her negatively. She was caught with cocaine and was immediately arrested. The school authority took immediate action as this was a serious offense. It came as a big shock to her parents when they were informed. Her mum could not believe it. She couldn’t believe that Lola had been right all along. A committee was set up to look into her case and it was found that she had been into drugs for a long period of time. She was therefore rusticated from the university. To crown it all, it was realized that Wumi was 2 months pregnant.
This was too much for her mum who almost cried her eyes out. She blamed herself for being careless and unmindful of her daughter’s behavior. She also blamed herself for not listening to Lola when she warned her, as she thought Lola was only being jealous of her half-sister.
When Wumi got home, she went down on her knees and apologized to her parents, even though apology could not turn back the hands of time. Her parent forgave her and decided to take care of her and her unborn child, before thinking of how to further her education from where she stopped. Lola graduated with a first class honours from the University. She was so overjoyed and could not wait for her convocation day. On that day, as promised, her father gave her a car as a present. She stole the event, as she was presented with a lot of awards. Her family members were all there to rejoice with her. And although Wumi was happy for her sister, she couldn’t help but bite her fingers in regret.
