Assistant girlfriend episode 7

“You’re really not like they said you are.”
Mark’s statement made me smile a little and if I was light-skinned, there would certainly be a blush on my cheeks. I thanked him and proceeded to leave but he was not done with me.
He walked with me to the empty class where I planned to do some reading and filled my ears with all the nice words. I felt flattered that Mark would pay me any attention so I indulged him and rather than spend the evening reading, we chatted about nothing and everything. It had been so long someone paid me some form of attention like he was doing that I felt like a dying flower suddenly rejuvenated by water and sunshine.
Who is Mark? Well, Mark is one of the older guys who stayed in the boys quarters. He had graduated a year earlier after spending six years for a four-year course. He was currently on youth service and had recently been redeployed to the state.
We had been neighbours for close to a year and had only said hi and bye to each other by way of communication. But he wasn’t the only one who’d had a skewed first impression based on rumors. I also had the mental image of him as a hard guy because of the fact that he rarely smiled and rumors, which were confirmed to be true, that he’d been a cultist in his undergraduate years.



Not just any cult but the deadly Black Sailors who at the mere mention of their name sent terror down the spine of hapless victims. I had also seen him and his friends deliver ‘matchet drills’ on the back of another neighbour who had insulted him. The matchet drills included using the side of short matchets to administer blows on the back of the victims. The beatings rarely drew blood but the pain was searing enough.
His cultist activities had been the reason he’d had to spend six years in the university instead of four. He and some other friends had been arrested and found guilty of manslaughter. Luckily for him, the school hadn’t been notified of this so he had deferred his admission till he served time; a mere two years based on the corrupt justice system.
He was a dangerous guy but I’d gotten to the stage in my life where I didn’t care anymore. I was beginning to get worn out with my relationship with Jack because it only seemed to be deteriorating each passing day.
Our last beef had been caused by my snooping. I’d had the strong urge that he was cheating on me so I put my detective skills to work, he’d caught me at it and things had gotten nasty.
Throughout my two-week exams Jack and I didn’t speak to each other. I was still so pissed at him that I didn’t call or inform him when I left for home.
Mark had been really kind throughout my exam period and even though we hadn’t been close as neighbours because of his notoriety, I found myself giggling when he chatted me up on Whatsapp on the bus home. I was only enjoying all the attention he gave me. And I wished Jack could see how another guy obviously wanted my company