Chapter 15 Mike plans to take Gabrielle out of Bangkok

Plans to take Gabrielle out of Bangkok

Brian felt a gentle tap on his back. He turned slowly and was surprised. Uka, one of the twins in room 4 was standing behind him smiling seductively. 

He looked around, searching for a free seat, however, all the seats were occupied. He stood up and gestured to her. Uka sat down and grinned. 

One of his friends who was sitting close to him created a space for him. Uka took the wrap of weed he was smoking from him. 

Brian rolled another weed. Placing the wrapped weed in the corner of his mouth, his long fingers then searched the pockets of his brown tweed jacket and finally emerged with a match. 

"Uka is Meche out of town?" Brian asked. Uka nodded with a grin. Meche, her boyfriend, had warned her to stay away from the group. He once fought the gang for giving her weed to smoke. 

"His mother invited him over. He is going to stay with her for a whole week," Uka said. Meche was the son of one of the University lecturers. People wondered why he kept following Uka of all people around. He was so obsessed with her and did not really care about her immoral lifestyle. 

"She ditched you right?" Uka asked Brian. 

"Who?" 

"Your girlfriend," Uka responded. 

"Does he have a girlfriend now?" One of his friends asked. 

"Yes, the girl lives in my lodge," Uka said with a grin. 

"Manga, you don't seem bothered. Anyways you know it would come to this when you left all the low-class babes around and went after a classic one," Uka smirked. 

"Come to what?" Brian who had been looking away turned to her. 

"Your girlfriend is with another guy as we speak. Their giggling sent me out of the room. They were so noisy." 

"By another man, you mean Mike, the tall guy or someone from your lodge?" 

"Mike, the basketball player," Uka responded. 

"I just spoke with him a while ago." 

"Did he tell you he was going to sleep with your girlfriend?" Uka asked with her eyes wide open. Brian could not explain how he felt. He bit his lower lips and cut Uka in when she wanted to say more. Her words were making him uncomfortable.

"Uka, please let them be," Brian said. His voice sounded quite unusual. Warlick turned and stared at him. His friends burst into laughter. 

"My guy has fallen in love," Warlick smirked, patting Brian's shoulder.

Brian stood up, adjusted his trousers, and began to walk home. They fixed their gaze at him. 

He could not explain how he felt over what Uka told him. Probably, the feeling of anxiety he felt was the result of the weed he just smoked. He thought the weed obstructed his brain, making it harder for him to think clearly. 

Mike went home and got himself covered with his duvet. Jane searched for him everywhere in the school but he was nowhere to be found. She hastened down the narrow path that led to his lodge. 

There were female shoes in front of his room. She frowned her face and flipped the curtain with annoyance. 

The girls sat on his blue chair. She recognized one of them. She was one of the auxiliary nurses that worked with a maternity home that was close to the University's third gate. 

Female students always visit there when they need pills and other drugs that help them to avoid unwanted pregnancy. 

"Nurse Rose, what are you doing here?" Jane asked, trying to remove the duvet. 

"Let him be; he is feeling cold. I have given him an injection, he would be fine. His temperature is okay now," Nurse Rose said. He needs more injections, but he said he has no money."

Jane looked at Mike who was vibrating under the duvet and stared up at the nurse. 

"How many injections does he need?" Jane asked.

"He needs ten more, and the injections are quite expensive," Nurse Rose replied. Jane got annoyed when she added the last part. 

"Nurse, please forget about the price of the injections, I'll pay. Will he be alright?" 

"Why not, he would be fine once he completes the required dose." 

"How much do you need to give him the best treatment and attention?" Jane asked. 

"For the injections and my services, I would need ten thousand rand." 

"Okay, I'll go to the bank now. Come back in the evening for the money," Jane said.

"Okay, I'll come with the second injection," Nurse Rose said before leaving the room. A young girl that accompanied her to the lodge walked behind her.

Jane turned and looked at Mike, she was heartbroken. She hadn't seen him so down. She quickly wore back her shoe and ran out of the lodge to withdraw the amount needed for his treatment.

Luck shone on Jane as she walked into the bank. The queue was not as long as she guessed. After about three hours, she came out of the bank with the money. She hurried down to Mike's lodge. She also bought food for him. 

Jane kept the money on the small table when she returned from the bank. She removed the duvet and helped Mike up when. Mike leaned weakly on her shoulder. She brought the food out and began to feed him slowly. 

They lay down on the bed as they wait for the nurse.  

Brian alighted from a bus when she arrived at the University's second gate which was the final bus stop for all the vehicles coming from Queenstown. 

He tried to hide when he saw Gabrielle and her friend crossing the main road. However, it was too late as she had seen him. Gabrielle stood still waiting for him. He looked so weak and tired. 

Agatha kept  looking around, wondering who she was waiting for because she could not believe she was actually waiting for that dirty guy coming towards them. Agatha threw her face away when moved closer to them. 

"I waited yesterday and you didn't show up," Gabrielle said, staring at him pathetically. Brian looked into her eyes and looked away. 

"You had company and I decided not to meddle. You needed some privacy," Brian said. 

"He slept over because you didn't show up. You know I value your presence a lot. I'm comfortable having you around," Gabrielle said with a quiet tone. "Please, come and keep me company; are you coming?" She asked. Her invitation was quite a passionate challenge, hard to resist. Brian nodded his head and walked away. Gabrielle stood staring at him. Agatha stood with her hands Akimbo, staring at her friend. 

"No wonder Mike calls him a dirty pig. Did you just invite him to your lodge?" Agatha asked. 

"Listen, Aga, Brian is better than Mike. If he had been a student of this university, I would have liked to have him as my boyfriend," Gabrielle said and Agatha laughed. Her friend knew she was just joking. 

Agatha bade her farewell when she had seen her off enough. She turned and began to walk back to the hostel. 

Gabrielle walked home alone. The boys in her lodge were no longer a problem to her since they knew she was dating Brian. 

The boys turned and fixed their gaze at her as she walked majestically to her room. She quickly bolted her door when she entered her room. 

Gabrielle needed to shower but she couldn't, so she lay down and waited for Brian. 

She was woken up by Brian's knock on her door. She happily threw herself at him when she opened the door. She was so excited to see him. It was as though her God had come again. Brian lifted her up playfully like a baby and slowly brought her down. 

"Thank God you are here. I want to bathe. Have you bathed?" Gabrielle asked. "Obviously, you have," she answered her question without waiting for him. Brian shrugged and grinned. 

Gabrielle came back to the room when she had finished bathing and joined him on the floor. 

"Who told you Mike was here yesterday?" Gabrielle asked. Brian pointed at the connecting door that connected room four and room five. 

"Oh, okay." 

"Why do you prefer my company?" Brian asked after a long silence. 

"I feel safe when you are around. You are a nice person but people did not know," Gabrielle smirked and touched his well-carved beard. Brian looked away shyly. Gabrielle brought his gaze back and laughed again.

"Why are you so timid?" She asked. 

"I'm not timid," Brian grinned. 

"Okay, tell me a story," Gabrielle lay beside him, bending her knees, waiting for him to talk. Brian kept quiet with his eyes closed. Gabrielle swiveled and mounted on his belly. He quickly opened his eyes. 

"Okay, I'll tell you a story," he opened his eyes and grinned. Gabrielle came down and sat beside him. 

"Gabby, are you aware that I'm a man and not a girl?" 

"To me, you are a girl," she responded. 

"What?" Brian said a bit loudly. "Did you just call me a girl?" 

Gabrielle gave out a great bellow of laughter. 

"You are like a brother to me, so I see no reason why you should be acting like a stranger all the time. Be free, talk to me, I'm like a sister to you." 

"You know, I'm not much of a talker right?" 

"I know but if you are free with me, I will know. You always act as though I'm your boss." 

"Okay, let's share ideas. I am a secondary school dropout. I have no certificate at all, and I want to be great. Do you think I would ever achieve my dream of being a great man?" Brian asked. 

"You are hardworking, and I think you will be a great man tomorrow. You can achieve your dream If you can go into the production of goods and services." 

"Production of goods requires a lot of capital to start up. Since I don't have the required capital, what do you think I should do?" 

"Take the first step which is learning how to produce the goods. You must establish a small company that would later grow into a big one someday.

My elder brother is also a Secondary school dropout. My dad took him to one of his friends that produces toilet paper to learn how to produce toilet paper. 

When he was through with the six months of training, my father could not buy the machine that he needed. He began to visit highly populated elementary schools applying for contracts.

He used public machines to produce the toilet papers and paid per hour. He was able to save up money for his own headbox. He is saving up again to buy a Yankee cylinder. Once he succeeds, that would be goodbye to poverty for him. Brian, You can do it too or go for something similar." Gabrielle said. Brian kept quiet. He was in deep thought. 

"Thank you Gabby, I think I know what to do now," Brian said. 

"It's your turn," Gabrielle said. Brian turned and fixed his gaze at her. 

"I have a friend. I met him two years ago when I was in Senior high. I was just sixteen and he was thirty-two…"

"What does he want from you, marriage or friendship?" Brian asked. 

"He wants to marry me, but he has conditions," Gabrielle grinned. 

Brian drew a pillow from her bed and supported his head. He wanted to hear her clearly.