The duo got back to their dorm room. For Ifes, it was good to be back in her room again after a whole day of intensive studying, But Mandy's sour mood was sapping the positive energy out of the room.
Ifes knew something was worrying her roommate. She had never seen her in such a mood, but she didn't want to pry.
Maybe she will tell me in due time.
As the day wore on, it seemed more and more like that was not going to happen any time soon.
Now that Ifes thought of it, she realised that this gloom had not fallen on Mandy all of a sudden. For sometime now, Ifes had noticed her gazing into space and losing herself in her own thoughts. Ifes had thought nothing of it because she felt, well, they all had to sober up for Dr Adams' test as it tended to possess the ability to draw one's blood.
But this was like nothing she had ever seen. In fact, it seemed like it was the test that kept Mandy's worrying at bay.
A few times, Ifes saw her mumbling incoherent words. She could guess it was most probably related to what was going on with her. Ifes decided to drop her former resolution and pry a little.
"Mandy, you are in need of someone to talk to. And hey! Don't you dare launch into that silly reply about how you are fine, and then give a dumb excuse to cover up the problem." Mandy let out a long sigh.
Ifes, encouraged that she might be getting somewhere, moved closer and held Mandy's shoulder.
"Please, be real with me. I might not be able to help but I know it's good to verbally process thoughts. Plus, we can pray about it, if it's something that words cannot solve." Ifes ended her speech, feeling talking to her wasn't so bad after all. Mandy's next action almost made her regret asking.
"You won't understand. I'm outta here," Mandy exhaled deeply and sped out of the room.
Ifes ran after her to stop her from leaving the dorm, but Mandy got to the door first. By the time Ifes got to the door and opened it, Mandy was gone.
She searched around the dorm building, asking students if they had seen which direction Mandy went. Her efforts were futile as all those she asked said they hadn't seen her.
Folding her arms across her chest, Ifes stood at a particular spot for close to ten minutes, looking forward to Mandy's return. She got tired of waiting, and resignedly dragged her feet back to her dorm room.
Upon entering the room, Ifes plonked down in her double-sized bed.
"Where's Mandy? Where did she go?"
She stared at the ceiling, folding her arms and crossing her legs, pondering over the possibility of her going to any of her squad of friends' dorm rooms.
Ifes decided to call her friends and find out if she was with any of them.
Stretching out her right hand towards her phone which was a couple inches from the right side of her bed, she remembered that she didn't have all their contact numbers. Bradley recently gave her his, and she had Mandy's, Anne-Marie's, and Avery's contacts. But Hunter, Ryan, Skylar and Megan did not exchange contacts with her for reasons best known to them.
"What to do now?" She tapped her forehead as she considered her options.
"Call her friends whose cell phone numbers you've got. If she is not with them, you can ask for the contact numbers of her other friends," a voice echoed in her head.
"Yeah!" she exclaimed, sitting up to start putting a call through.
Ifes stared at the screen of her phone that was tucked in her right hand after deciding to call and ask of Mandy's whereabouts.
She saw ten missed calls staring back at her from her phone's screen. Opening it, there were two missed calls from her Brother Obinna, five missed calls from her mother, and three from her father. Those calls came in during the period she was searching for Mandy.
Ifes knew that it wouldn't have been up to ten missed calls if her doting mother hadn't been worried sick over the fact that she wasn't picking her calls. Mother must have pressured her brother and father to try calling her with their own cell phones.
The first time Ifes was unable to take her calls because she was in the lecture hall, she got as many as twenty missed calls. She had gotten worried and so, decided to return the calls, only to hear her mother telling her that she was worried sick that she wasn't picking her calls and that she only wanted to speak to her daughter. Even the expensive international rate of making calls couldn't stop her from pestering.
"My dear, are you okay?" Ifes had heard her mother's voice asking from the other side of her phone,
"Yes, Mum, I'm fine."
"I was scared if you were probably in any sort of trouble that made you unable to pick my calls."
"Is that why you had to call me twenty times?" Ifes exhaled deeply.
"Yes ooo. Why shouldn't I? I am your mother."
Ifes had smiled. "I was actually in the lecture hall and lectures were going on."
"Thank God you are fine, dear. I just wanted to hear from you."
Ifes had to explain everything to her mother so as to stop her from being worried whenever she didn't answer her call.
Did it stop her? Well, no. It only made her reduce the number of calls, and this current ten missed calls was one of them.
"I have to return the calls. Who should I call first?" Ifes started contemplating. Mother? Father? Or Obinna? She was still contemplating when her phone chimed. It was a call from Obinna. Decision settled.
Pressing her answer button, she put her phone to her left ear.
"Hello, hello!" a female voice said from the other side of her phone. It was a voice she was already too familiar with—her mother's voice.
Ifes was elated with the news she got from her family that day. Her mother announced to her one of the best news of her life. Her brothers had gained admission into the University of Lagos. Her father was now gainfully employed by a multinational company, and he was one of their board members.
Ok, that last part startled Ifes. It was possible for her father to be employed by a multinational company, but how was it possible that he became one of their board members?
"It's a lie!" Ifes exclaimed in a high-pitched voice after her mother told her everything.
"Haaa! But you know I can't lie to you about this."
She slapped her forehead, giving herself a mental chide. This was her mother for God's sake. "Sorry, umm! I meant, how did it happen?
"Your dad and I were no longer comfortable with our situation. We were worried, so we decided to pray about it, asking God to remember how faithful we have been in our tithes and offerings despite our low income. We reminded God that every time we gave, we didn't give grudgingly, we gave with all our hearts. We reminded him of his word in Isaiah 1: 19."
"Yeah." Ifes remembered that chapter of the Bible so well and nodded to what her mother was saying despite knowing she couldn't see her. "Isaiah 1:19, If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land."
Mrs Ebube continued talking. "The next day, your father came back on a commercial bike. I stood at the door, watching him pay the bike man."
"When he came inside and didn't say anything about taking his bus to the mechanic, I suspected something was going on."
"Mmm!" Ifes exhaled. "So, what did you do about it?" she asked her mum.
"Out of curiosity, I decided to ask him about it, and his reply startled me to my bones!"
"Hmm!" she exclaimed, shifting uncomfortably in her bed.
"He said he was led to sell his bus which was his only source of income and sacrifice the money to God."
"Jesus! What?" Ifes sprang to her feet, her whole body vibrating in astonishment.
"I accepted what he told me, and we praised God that night before going to bed."
"Wow! This is unbelievable!" she exclaimed, sitting on the floor like one whose strength had been drained.
"On the night of the same day he made that sacrifice to God, the Holy Spirit gave him an idea worth millions and directed him to the company that needed the idea. He did as he was led by the Holy Spirit."
"En-hen?" She listened keenly to the part her mother was heading to, her ears seriously itching to hear what happened next.
"He drew up the proposal, called his lawyer friend and made contact with the company. They were interested."
"After the whole paperwork and contract signing, your dad's money was sent to him. I mean, your dad became a multi-millionaire by one act of faith!"
"Jesus oooo! Ewoo!" She placed her left hand on her head, her right hand still grasping her phone tightly.
"Your dad was retained by the company, so as to not just keep the idea, but also the source of the idea. Though he's starting as an intern, he will be going to the UK for an eighteen months' course."
Ifes could no longer hold back her glee as she disconnected the call. Rolling on the floor, she started giving thanks to God by doing what she knew how to do best—singing all the songs of praise she knew how to sing. She literally jumped around her dorm room, scattering things and taking them out of their proper positions. If anyone had by chance entered her room at that time, the person would have concluded that she was literally running crazy.
"All the glory must be to the Lord,
For he is worthy of our praise,
No man on earth should give glory to himself,
All the glory must be to the Lord."
Tears stream down her cheeks.
In the Book of Isaiah 1:19, it says that if we are willing and obedient, we will eat the good of the land. Ifes and her family obediently and willingly served God.
They won souls for Christ. They invested into the kingdom by praying for God's kingdom to be established on earth. They were faithful in their tithes, offerings and sacrifice. And God's words came to pass.
The book of Matthew 6:33 says to seek first the kingdom of God, and its righteousness, and all these shall be added unto those who do thus.
Solomon sacrificed one thousand sheep to God. Abraham almost sacrificed his son, Isaac, before God stopped him. David made a powerful statement in the Bible as regards sacrifice. He said in the book of 2nd Samuel 24:24 that he would not give God what will not cost him. And God blessed them with wealth, health and everything their heart desired.