"Can you help hold this? I'd like to get some project materials from my project mate." Mandy tossed her handbag towards Ifes after their last lecture for the day. They had had series upon series of lectures and now Mandy was feigning fatigue.
"No! I'm not helping you with that."
"Like you have a choice." Mandy stuck out her tongue playfully and bolted to another direction.
Ifes shrugged and returned her gaze to her desk as she continued packing up her course materials. She felt someone staring at her, then tilted her head to see Ryan's gaze fixed on her. She was supposed to be happy to see him, but there was something about the way he looked at her. He was staring, no, glaring at her with so much disdain.
Oh, God, what is happening here? Why is he glowering at me like that?
She flashed him a grin; he only narrowed his eyes, shooting lasers from his eyes at her.
"Hi!" Her smile slowly faded away as he still didn't respond. She was perplexed to see what was unveiling before her. Why was he glowering at her like that?
Wasn't he one of Mandy's squad of friends? For all she knew and remembered, she wasn't having any issues with either Mandy or her friends. What did she do to get such a disdainful look from him?
She went close to him and held one of his hands. "What is the–?"
"Take your filthy hands off me!" Ryan barked, cutting her short mid-sentence as he slapped her hands away sharply.
She gasped and drew back in fright.
"Don't you dare come close to me in your ****ing life or I'll kill you!" He was fuming, hailstone and thunder.
She stood dumbfounded as Ryan poured out his threats and walked away.
"Ifes!" She jerked when she felt a tap on her shoulders.
She whirled around to see Mandy giving her a concerned look. "Oh! It's you?"
"Yes, it's me."
"You are back so soon?"
Mandy gave her the look that read, "What are you saying?"
"Umm! Never mind. Let's go."
"Are you okay?" Mandy raised a brow questioningly.
How was she supposed to answer that question? Should she go ahead and tell Mandy what she just experienced from one of her friends? With the way Mandy spoke of them, was it possible that she was going to hear and believe anything she told her?
"Ifes!"
"Y– yes?" Ifes stuttered.
"What happened to you in my absence?"
Ifes forced a smile. "Nothing, let's go. The hall is almost empty."
One look into her eyes and she knew Ifes was hiding something from her. Mandy grabbed her handbag and walked ahead of Ifes so Ifes could not see the look of disappointment on her face.
I'm not good enough. I'm not good enough for her, so why should she trust me? Mandy thought.
Just when she was beginning to see Ifes as a sister, Ifes clearly showed her that she was not welcomed. She was a fool to think that even a Christian would give her a chance. As far as she knew, karma would continue to haunt her family and her for the rest of their lives. She used her handkerchief to quickly dab the moisture that collected in a film that glazed her brown eyes as they walked back to their dorm room in total silence. She swore never to go past her boundaries with Ifes or anyone else.
She wants me to stay away from her. Then, so be it!
Ifes was perplexed, seeing the distance that was growing between herself and Mandy. Mandy seldom spoke to her, she went to school without her, and did everything they usually did together on her own.
First, it was Ryan, now Mandy. Oh, Lord, have I missed it in any way? Where am I getting it wrong?"
When Ifes couldn't take the silent treatment Mandy was giving her, she decided to ask Mandy to make peace no matter what.
"Here, these are your clothes," Ifes said as she thrust Mandy's clothes that she helped to wash, towards her.
Mandy glanced up from her reading table. "You shouldn't have washed those clothes. Just drop 'em on the ground." She returned her gaze to her reading table.
"Mandy," Ifes called out. She held Mandy's hands and felt her body stiffened. "Did I offend you in any way?"
Mandy was quiet for a while then jerked her hands free from Ifes. "Stay away from me. You hate me."
"What? What are you saying?" Ifes asked, appalled by what she heard Mandy utter. "Who said so? Who said I hate you?" Several questions kept pouring from her mouth.
"You don't need to say it. It's quite obvious."
"Can you tell me what is happening here?" Ifes gave Mandy a confused look.
"I should have known better, I'm supposed to know better." Mandy covered her face with her palm and sobbed.
Ifes hunkered down in front of Mandy. "What were you supposed to know?"
"I knew it already. It's just that I followed my heart instead of my head."
Ifes stared at her bewildered. "What did you know, Mandy?"
"That I was the least to ever get any chance of friendship with a Christian."
Ifes abruptly stood, mouth agape as she glanced down at Mandy.
"Karma will continue to take its course for the rest of my life."
Ifes removed Mandy's palm from her face and stared directly into her eyes. "Look at me, Mandy. Who is telling you all this?"
Mandy hesitated but later told Ifes everything that was happening in her family, and the evil her parents did in the past.
"So, you see why God would never want to have anything to do with my family and I?"
"What if I tell you that it is not true?"
Mandy gave the African a shocked expression.
"What if I tell you that God loves you more than you could ever imagine, and what the priest told your parents was not exactly as God sees it?"
Mandy pointed her right index finger at Ifes, glowering. "You! How could you of all people say this to me? You feel telling me a lie would make me feel better, right?"
"I won't gain anything by lying to you." Ifes brought out her Bible, opened it, and flipped over to the book of Romans 3:23.
"Romans 3:23. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
Ifes looked up from her Bible to Mandy. "So you see now that I'm not lying? You only need to believe in Jesus and confess him as your Lord and Savior. That is all."
Ifes beamed, unable to contain her glee as she shared the good news that God has given to the world. All the excitement inside her died as soon as Mandy finally spoke up.
"This is the reason I will never forgive myself for hurting a God that is so soft-hearted, and easily forgives by a small confession. My family and I deserve to suffer. This is the only way we can show God how sorry we are."
"W– what!" Ifes felt like grabbing Mandy and shaking her if that was what it took to get the message clear into her head and her heart. Did Mandy listen to her at all? Ifes wanted to tell her again that Christ had already paid for her sins and no amount of suffering or self-imposed punishment would show how remorseful she was or save her. She opened her mouth to speak, but Mandy waved her hands in dismissal.
Ifes quietly walked back to her bed, faced the wall in turmoil .
"Oh, God! I spoke to her. I gave her your good news."
Oh! If only Mandy knew what she was doing? Ifes had never seen such an emotionally wounded person in her life.
"Oh, God! Please tell me, how can I help her?"
"Mandy is emotionally wounded and I don't know what to do. Help me to get to her Lord, help me."
The still small voice spoke and she understood. She had sown the seed, it was time to water it. She would start praising God on behalf of Mandy, her family and friends, believing that God is committed to his word.