Not This Time, Love Pt 3

Before Lucy’s mum left my room, she handed me an envelope. “Keep this on you,” she said, “and use it when you get to school.”

I thanked her profusely, convinced it was money—plenty of it.

When she finally left and I was alone, I opened the envelope carefully. What I saw nearly stopped my heart. Money. Not just money—a thousand cedis. Gh₵1000!

I counted and recounted, refusing to believe it at first. Then I spread the notes across my bed like a brand-new bedsheet and lay on them. I rolled from one end of the bed to the other, laughing to myself. That was when I realized the truth: money is sweet. Very sweet.

I was still “swimming” in my pool of cash when my mum walked in.

She didn’t look surprised. She didn’t even flinch. She just ordered me to arrange the money neatly and put it back in the envelope. I obeyed quickly. But just as I was about to slip the envelope into my school bag, she said, “Hand it over.”

Wait. What? That was my money. Lucy’s mum had given it to me. Why should my mum take it away? Did she think I couldn’t keep that much on me?

But I didn’t argue. I handed it over.

She took the envelope, pulled out Gh₵50, and gave it back to me.

“Take this. Manage it well, because you won’t get a pesewa from me until you vacate. If you lose it, that’s all you have for the whole term. I’ll keep the rest.”

And with that, she left the room.

My head buzzed with unanswered questions, but my mum wasn’t one for “unnecessary” questions. Not when she had made up her mind.

I sat on the bed, sulking, then drifted into thoughts of what secondary school life would really be like. I had heard too many stories—how seniors bullied juniors, how some boys went to wild lengths just to impress girls.

I had promised myself never to fall in love again—not with anyone apart from Lucy. But could I keep that promise? Especially after Lucy’s mum had reminded me that there would be “beautiful girls” waiting at school.

The more I thought about campus life, the more tense and confused I became. Eventually, I collapsed on the bed and drifted into sleep.

About an hour later, I was jolted awake. My mum was standing in the room, shaking me.