Blinkered - Season 1 - Episode 4

Episode 5 years ago

Blinkered - Season 1 - Episode 4

Ben paced restlessly around his room, fuming with so much aggression. He was on a boysenberry trouser and a white singlet revealing his fair skin. The house belonged to the students’ union and its rooms are quite spacious. This room particularly is the widest among all the rooms in the building maybe because it belonged to the presidency. Gadgets ranging from a television to different types of speakers, a standing fan and a refrigerator decorated the room alongside the wardrobe, the shoe rack, bookshelf, well-la!d large bed, the deep blue rug lining the floor, the reading table and chair, just everything in the room, depicts clearly that Ben was a perfectionist. Blue-grey curtains hung over the windows accurately blending with the uniquely designed bistre and baby blue paintings on the wall. Ben’s bossy nature makes him cautious to a fault in the way he does and arranges things including differing the general care-free norm peculiar to guys about colours and decorations.


“But did she have to stare at him like that? l mean she totally forgot l was still standing there…” he said again for the umpteenth time in the past hour gloweringly

Akoji also kept giving him the same reply as often times as he complained, but he doesn’t seem to bulge…

“Seriously dude, l repeat again, you have to apologise to this girl!, l understand how you feel man, but she is just a girl and a girl she will always be. Don’t be quick to judge her, moreover we don’t know the real situation, you already started accusing her before even giving her a chance to explain. ”

Ben swallowed bitterly…”Akoji, what do you think l should do now?” he said throwing the tennis ball in his hands vigorously against the ceiling again, with so much frustration.


Akoji has been friends with Ben from their first year. They both had political dreams of rebranding the students’ union government right from those fresh days and have been working at it ever since. However their dream just came to manifest now that they are in their final year, he now serves as the vice president to Ben. He is tall, dark and chubby and with very handsome looks. He has wits and guts too, sweet-tongued just like Ben. He only was superior to Ben in the area of patience and tolerance. That virtue made him Ben’s confidant. Ben is always comfortable talking about everything with him, anything! Of course most especially ladies. Akoji seem to master the art of analysing issues related to women, and for someone like Ben, he always knew how best to pacify him. But that effort has been proving futile in this case. Tonia’s. It has lingered since Monday and nothing seem to calm Ben, he keeps getting impulsive whenever he remembers it.

Ben’s rather sympathetic face while asking the question made Akoji burst out into a scornful laughter. Ben dropped the tennis ball on the floor and fixed his stare at Akoji, his left leg beating impatiently against the rug on the floor as he wondered what amused his friend, but Akoji was engrossed in this jesting moment

“Hey, what’s funny? Don’t irritate me the more man!” Ben said hitting Akoji hard on his leg

“lf l didn’t know you well Ben, l would think you are genuinely in love with this girl” Akoji confronted him

“Well,…” he shrugged and drew his falling trousers up to his waist “of course l am, she is on high points in her class, she is beautiful and well behaved, such good girls are made for real men like me… and not that punk that calls himself the chief judge of the school” he said cynically
Akoji laughed even harder now but stopped when he noticed the hostile cum bitter look on Ben’s face. Ben was truly getting pissed off. Akoji walked up to him and patted his shoulders
“Cool man!! You have to really open your heart to one of these ladies, before you get tied up in your own ropes one day. You are in your final year for crying out loud, you have the money, you have the looks, you have the fame… shouldn’t you get serious now?” Akoji asked
Ben scoffed. “Come off it man! Are you preaching to me right now? l can’t get tied up by anyone… no one. And by the way, am working on truly giving my heart out, maybe to Tonia, who knows?”.

Akoji smiled. He knew Ben can be beguiling.
“But how do l get this babe back Akoji, she hasn’t even called my phone since Monday, it’s Thursday today” he took a thoughtful breath, “l actually missed her, l love using her company a lot, she is smart and really fun to be with…”

Akoji stayed quiet staring out through the window while Ben talked on. Ben heard the sound of the gate open and hurriedly walked to join Akoji at the window when he noticed an image approaching the house, he quickly drew closer, stretching to see who it was but the figure was already at the door. Ben’s heartbeat could shake the foundations of a building as he heard the voice of the person at the door. He stared firmly at Akoji who said nothing to him
“d-i-d y-o-u c-a-l-l h-e-r h-e-r-e?…” Ben muttered inaudibly amidst clenched teeth as Akoji moved towards the door. He quickly picked his white fitted v-neck polo from the bed and put it on

“l am saving my boss from an untimely death which is bound to happen if he doesn’t see this beauty one day longer” Akoji whispered as he opened the door and let her in. Ben just stood still, he was so nervous that he almost was unable to raise his head. Akoji hugged her and excused himself from the room, closing the door behind him.

She walked towards Ben and stood deadpan too, gazing into thin air for many minutes, her hands firmly tucked in the pocket of the amber jacket she was wearing on cadet-grey boot-cut trousers. Ben glazed speechless in front of her for a long while. He then gathered the strength, gained composure and broke the deafening silence.

“Hi Tee…”
“Hi…” She replied without looking up
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“Wow!!! Dad! And you are just telling me?” Jerry said to his father over the phone. A little frown danced around his face. For him, the news about his family’s relocation was a mixed feelings. He shut the door lightly as he stepped in and dropped the books and I-pad in his hands on his reading table. He went over to the window and drew the curtain letting in the cool night breeze. ‘How on earth was he going to cope with this new environment?’ Or.. maybe that’s not even his problem now, ‘Why do they have to wait till they settled down in that town before calling him’. They didn’t even inform him about his father’s retirement from active service at the office. Not that it will change anything though but he prefers to be duly aware of decisions that will concern him… way ahead of time. That has always been the problem with his parents, even at twenty-five, they see him more or less like a baby. He jerked back from his thoughts when he heard his mother’s voice.
“Hey my big brother, please don’t be angry with us o. See we were just all through a lot of things…” he listened with his hands resting on the protective rod of the window as his mother continued apologising.

‘Big brother’ has always been how his mother called him. She will always say Jerry looked exactly like her late elder brother, in fact Jerry was named after his uncle. Jerry quietly listened to all the stories and explanations his mother was giving, none could justify them not informing him on time. His father feels Jerry listens and believes his mum more, so he will hand