The Harvest Of Hardship - S01 E10

Story 3 weeks ago

The Harvest Of Hardship - S01 E10

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 10

The sun rises and sets the same way for everyone, but for the students at the university, the world was starting to look very different. In the beginning, Tobi was the star. He had the biggest trunk, the newest laptop, and the most money. But as the weeks went by, something began to change. Life at the university was not like life in the village. In the village, Aunt Clara could shout and make everyone do things for Tobi. But here, in this big school, nobody cared about who Tobi's mother was. They only cared about what Tobi could do. And the truth was starting to come out. Tobi could not do anything for himself.

The tide began to turn slowly at first. It started in the dorm rooms. Tobi had already spent all the money his mother gave him on expensive snacks and lazy friends who only liked him for his cash. Now that his pockets were empty, he did not know what to do. He did not know how to manage his things. He would go to his neighbors and ask to borrow a bar of soap. Then he would lose the soap or leave it in the rain. He would borrow a pen to write his notes, and then he would break it because he was frustrated. He became what the other students called a liability.

A liability is a big word, but to the students, it was very simple. It meant that Tobi was a person who always took things but never gave anything back. He was like a hole in a bucket. No matter how much you put in, it just disappeared. People started to avoid him. When Tobi walked into a room, his classmates would suddenly become very busy. They would look down at their books or pretend to talk on their phones. They did not want Tobi to ask them for money or food. They did not want to hear him complain about how hard life was.

The most painful part for Tobi was the group hangouts. In the university, students often gathered together to talk, share ideas, or plan parties. At first, Tobi was always invited because he would pay for the drinks. But now, he could not contribute anything. He did not have money, and he did not have any skills to help. He did not know how to fix a light, he did not know how to cook a meal for the group, and he did not even know how to organize a simple meeting. He was a person who just sat there and waited for others to serve him.

Because he was so helpless, a new name started to travel around the campus. The students started calling him the hand-fed baby. It was a name that stuck like glue. Every time Tobi walked past the cafeteria, he would hear someone whisper, Look, there goes the hand-fed baby. Someone should bring him a bottle of milk. The nickname made Tobi's face turn red with shame. He wanted to shout at them. He wanted to tell them that he was a big man. But how could he be a big man when he could not even wash his own socks without making them look grey and dirty?

While Tobi was becoming the person everyone avoided, Seyi was becoming the person everyone wanted to be near. Seyi did not have a fancy laptop or expensive clothes. He still wore his old shirts, but they were always clean and neatly pressed. He did not have a lot of money, but he always seemed to have everything he needed. This was because Seyi had become the Solution Man.

The Solution Man was a title that Seyi earned with his hard work. If a student's computer stopped working right before a big project, they went to Seyi. He would look at the machine, find the problem, and fix it with a calm smile. If a group of girls in the hostel had a leaking sink that was flooding their room, they did not call the busy plumber. They called Seyi. He would arrive with his small bag of tools and fix the leak in minutes. He did not charge them a lot of money. Sometimes he just asked for a small piece of bread or a little bit of help with his library books.

Because he was so useful, the most important and influential students on campus began to invite Seyi to sit with them. These were the students who ran the school government and the top clubs. They did not invite Seyi because he was rich.

They invited him because he was smart and he knew how to survive. They liked the way he talked. He was quiet, but when he spoke, he said things that were wise. He was a person who could solve any problem.

One afternoon, Tobi was sitting alone in the big university cafeteria. He was holding a small piece of dry bread that he had found in his bag. His stomach was growling, and he felt very miserable. He looked across the large room and saw a big table near the window. Sitting at that table was Seyi. Seyi was surrounded by the most popular students in the school. They were all laughing and sharing a big bowl of rice and chicken. They were listening to Seyi talk about a new way to fix the old water pump in the hostel.

Tobi felt a hot fire of jealousy burning in his chest. It was not fair. Seyi was supposed to be the servant. Seyi was supposed to be the one sitting alone in the corner. Tobi was the one who deserved the chicken and the famous friends. He looked at his dirty fingernails and his stained shirt. He felt like a loser. He felt like the whole world was laughing at him, and it was all Seyi's fault. In Tobi's mind, Seyi was stealing his life.

Tobi pulled his phone out of his pocket. It was the only expensive thing he had left, but even the screen was cracked. With shaking fingers, he began to type a message to his mother, Aunt Clara. His heart was beating fast as he wrote the words.

Mother, you have to help me! Tobi wrote. Seyi is doing terrible things to me here at the school. He is telling everyone lies about me. He is making me look like a fool in front of all my friends. He is shaming me every day. Everyone hates me because of him. Please, Mother, I am starving. Send more money right now! I cannot live like this anymore. Seyi is acting like he is the king and I am his slave. You must do something!

He pressed the send button and watched the little icon spin until the message was gone. He felt a small bit of hope. His mother always fixed things. She would send him a huge amount of money, and then he would show everyone who the real boss was. He would buy even better friends than Seyi had. He would make Seyi scrub the floors of the cafeteria.

Back in the village, Aunt Clara was sitting on her porch. She was drinking a cup of tea and looking at her garden. Since the boys left, the house had been very quiet. She missed having Seyi around to do all the heavy work, but she was happy that her son Tobi was finally becoming a great man at the university. She spent her days telling the neighbors how Tobi was the best student and how everyone loved him.

Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She picked it up and read the message from Tobi. As her eyes moved across the screen, her face changed. The smile disappeared. A prickle of unease started at the back of her neck and moved down her spine. She could feel that something was very wrong. Tobi sounded scared. He sounded like he was losing.

Clara stood up and began to pace back and forth on the porch. She did not like this at all. She had spent years making sure that Seyi stayed at the bottom and Tobi stayed at the top. She had worked so hard to crush Seyi's spirit. How could he be shaming her son? How could a boy with a sack of garri be winning against a boy with a laptop and a trunk of gold?

She looked at the message again. Seyi is shaming me here. Those words made her blood boil. Clara was a woman who lived for her pride. She could not stand the thought of people in the city looking down on her son. She could not stand the thought of Seyi being more important than Tobi.

I should have known, Clara hissed to herself. I should have known that Seyi would try to be clever once he got away from me. He is a weed that keeps trying to grow in my beautiful garden. If I do not pull him out by the roots, he will ruin everything.

She did not send the money immediately. She knew that money might not be enough this time. If Seyi had turned the students against Tobi, then Clara needed to go there herself. she needed to show everyone who was in charge. She needed to remind Seyi that he was nothing but a servant. She needed to put him back in his place once and for all.

Clara walked into her bedroom and pulled out her big traveling bag. She began to pack her most expensive dresses. She packed her loudest jewelry and her most intimidating shoes. She was going to the university. She was going to make a grand entrance. She was going to walk onto that campus like a queen and make sure that everyone knew that Tobi was the one who mattered.

She felt a cold, hard determination in her heart. She was going to find Seyi and she was going to make him regret the day he ever tried to be more than a servant. She would humiliate him in front of his new friends. She would show the school that he was just a charity case from the village.

As she zipped her bag shut, the room felt heavy with the weight of her anger.

Outside, the wind began to blow, shaking the leaves on the trees. A storm was coming, but Clara did not care. She was the storm. She was going to the city to protect her son and to destroy the boy who had dared to succeed despite her cruelty.

The journey from the village to the university was long, but Clara was already planning her words. She was imagining the look of fear on Seyi's face when he saw her standing at the dormitory door.

She was imagining Tobi's happy face when his mother arrived to save him. She did not realize that the university was a different world. She did not realize that the harvest of hardship was already too strong to be stopped by a few angry words.

Clara walked out of her house and locked the door. She headed toward the bus park with her head held high. The war was moving to a new place, and the final battle was about to begin. Seyi was sitting in the cafeteria, laughing with his friends, completely unaware that his greatest enemy was now on her way to find him.

Will Aunt Clara be able to stop Seyi's success? Or will the city prove to be too much for her village ways? The tension is rising, and the next time they meet, everything will change forever.

Why do you think the students started calling Tobi a liability and a hand-fed baby?

Seyi is now known as the Solution Man.

Do you think being useful is more important than being rich in a place like a university?

Tobi told his mother that Seyi was shaming him. Was Tobi telling the truth, or was he just embarrassed by his own failure?

Aunt Clara is coming to the university to put Seyi in his place. What do you think she plans to do when she gets there?

If you were Seyi and you saw Aunt Clara arriving at your school, how would you feel? Would you be scared or ready to face her?

The Battle of the Century is Coming!

Aunt Clara is on the move! The woman who made Seyi’s life a living hell is coming to the city to try and finish what she started. But Seyi is not the same scared little boy anymore. He has friends, he has skills, and he has the respect of the entire campus. What will happen when the village bully meets the city’s Solution Man?