Clearance

"There you are."

"What happened?"

She lowered her voice. "That lecturer came looking for you. He asked one of the girls if you still stayed here."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him I didn't know."

"You lied?"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid."

I barely slept that night, not because I was afraid of him, but because I hated unfinished business. Mr. Abdul wasn't the kind of man who accepted rejection. Men like him considered rejection an insult, and that, in turn, meant revenge.

On Monday morning, the department was unusually crowded, as graduating students stood in long queues holding files. Everyone wanted one thing, which was clearance, because without it there was no graduation, no transcript, no future.

I joined the queue, silently praying that my file wouldn't have any surprises waiting for me. But of course God must have laughed.

When it was finally my turn, the secretary went through my documents, and everything looked fine, until she stopped.

"Where is your project approval signature?" She frowned.

"It's there."

She turned the page toward me, and the space was empty.

My heart skipped.

"No… It was signed."

She shrugged. "Well, it isn't from where I’m sitting."

I stared at the paper. The signature had simply vanished as though it had never existed.

"Who supervised your project?"

"Mr. Abdul," I swallowed hard.

She sighed. "You'll have to see him."

His office door was open, and he looked up as I entered, then smiled victoriously.

"I was wondering how long it would take."

I remained standing.

"The signature disappeared. What did you do?"

"It didn't disappear." He folded his hands. "It was removed."

"You removed it?"

"I corrected an administrative error."

"You had no right!"

"I have every right." His voice remained calm. "You haven't fulfilled all the requirements."

"What requirements?"

He leaned back in his chair. "You know exactly what I mean."

There was an awkward silence.

"I told you before..." His eyes were fixed on mine. "...I don't like hearing the word no."

For a brief second, I imagined picking up the bottle of water on his desk and throwing it straight at his forehead, but instead, I smiled.

"What do you want?"

His smile widened. "There she is." He stood and walked toward the window. "You've changed."

"I've grown."

"No." He shook his head. "You've become expensive."

I frowned. "What does that even mean?"

"It means I've been hearing things." He turned around slowly.

"What things?"

He laughed.

"Do you really think lecturers don't hear things?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I’m sure you don't." He walked back to his desk.

My heart was pounding.

"I don't discuss my personal life."

"You don't have to." He picked up my clearance file. "I already know enough." He tapped it lightly.

"This is your future, and unfortunately… it is sitting on my desk."

I left his office without another word. The game I thought I was playing outside the university had somehow found its way back inside.

As I reached the staircase, my phone rang. It was Tunde.

I stared at the screen, and I didn't know whether telling him would solve my problem… or make it worse.