The excitement is often palpable during orientation on the campus. It is a mixture of hope, naivety, and freedom. Yes. Freedom especially for those who lived lives akin to Ebola patients – quarantined by parents. It is also on this day or days that older students go fishing. Fresh meat, they say.
It was an exciting time for Fiona Cheruto. The family and a few church members had seen her off to campus, by word of prayer, encouragement, and snippets of wisdom. She had been admitted to the University of Eldoret to pursue a Bachelor of Arts degree in education. She would major in English literature, she loved English.
On the day she got admitted, she met this guy who was handsome, charming and seemed caring. His name was Enock. Most of all he was popular. Everybody seemed to know him. Fiona later learned that he was the president of the students' union. She fell in love with him, moved in with him. Enock lived in a one bedroom house provided by the school by virtue of his position. He also drove a car.
Once she settled in, she found some clothes belonging to a female in the house. Enock assured her that it belonged to his ex and that she would come and pick them sometimes in the future. It should have been a red flag, but Fiona was too much in love. She broke up with her boyfriend, with whom she had been ‘dating’ since they were in form two. Fiona gave herself to Enock, despite having told her former boyfriend that she was waiting for marriage. And she gave in before a week elapsed.
Enock laid down ground rules for the relationship: Fiona was not to have a facebook account, was not to accompany him to parties, and was not to take any picture with him. she complied like a sedated, hypnotised human being. And so she became a wife – cooked, washed, and attended matters pertaining to the bedroom. In return, she got a dozen promises from Enock.
He promised he would leave the house for her when he left abroad to pursue his masters, and that she would be in charge of one of his many companies. Fiona had made it in life when her peers were focused on backbiting her and trying to make her leave the man of his life. She would post on her WhatsApp status about how much she was in love. Enock never did such things, because he is a student leader and should not be caught doing ‘little things’ such as show the world he indeed loved her.
At this time, she never even wanted to hear anything negative about Enock. The messenger always had ill intentions, especially to a perfect love that she and Enock shared. He went about his leadership duties that sometimes extended into the night, showing up at ten in the morning.
Being a leader, Enock gave a perfect excuse to convince her. One time he told her that a few students' leaders would be coming over, where they would deliberate wide-ranging issues that involved students welfare. These students' leaders would spend their time in ‘their’ house, for a week. Enock asked a female friend to accommodate her for a week.
When Fiona left, Enock packed her remaining clothes and carted them away to a friend. The week elapsed and the meeting had not reached an agreement, where members agreed to extend it for a few days. During this time, Fiona was not to be seen near the apartment. She obliged.
It turns out that Enock was in his last semester, and was kind of married to another student, also a leader, and that she was on a long holiday. At the time Enock asked her to live with a friend, it turns out the real wife had come for a conjugal visit. The clothes that apparently belonged to an ex were hers. The end of the semester was fast approaching and Enock had to find a way of getting rid of Fiona. And he was blunt. Extremely blunt about it.
“I want you to leave. My wife is coming to live with me,” Enock had told her.
Fiona’s world caved in. All the time she had been in love alone. Enock had finished her. She had believed all his lies, done everything he had asked because he was the one. He had even promised to marry her, and he was going to see her parents ‘very soon.’
Broken hearted, Fiona lives her life posting messages every single day, about how she is moving on or has moved on. She got used and dumped quite heartlessly.
#hivisasaoriginal #MyLifestyle