“Orange Polo shirt, low cut, that’s Oluwatosin. She sat right next to Sukurat when I visited. Remember Sukurat – the dark skinned shy girl with the black scarf? Yes. Tosin, like Sukurat, does not say much but she more willingly speaks especially after a tease. I notice that she is more willing to respond when I ask questions in Yoruba so I stick to the modus that works. She attends Ojoo High School and she is in J.S.3 and that by May, she’d be writing the Junior Secondary School Certificate Exam.

“When you pass your qualifying exams, what class would you go to – Science? Commercial? Arts?” I ask.
“I will go to Science class,” she replies.
“Why Science class?”
“Because I want to be a surgeon when I grow up.”

“Do you come to the library every Saturday?”
“I try to come as often as I can. I don’t live around here but because I love to read, I leave our place and come here on Saturdays.”
“How far is your place from here?” I ask.

Oluwatosin falls silent.

“Is it a trekkable distance?” She shakes her head. “So how do you get here?” She is silent for a while then she closes her book to face me, “I have to take Keke to get here and back home.” I nod as I let that sink in. Finally, I ask her: “So much do you spend on transport just to come here and back to your house every Saturday?” She looks at Sukurat, and then looks at me. “The keke is N50 so I spend N100 to go and come. That’s why I come only when I can.”

[END]