I'm sincerely sorry for the late update. Please forgive me. 

**

"OKAY SERIOUSLY, what's up Mercy?" Faith asked, putting down the course material she was studying. She had cut into the deafening silence in the room between her and Mercy. The others had not returned from their outing. Since Mercy got in, she had been laying, face to the ceiling, on her bed thinking about Tony. He was a breath of fresh air and thinking about him helped take her mind off her tight spot with the lecturer, at least for now. Her crush on Tony was massive. "Yesterday, you were withdrawn looking all gloomy. Today, you're all to yourself smiling dreamily. What's going on? You've seldom spoken to anyone in this room since your issue with Ada. Are you okay?" Faith asked.

"I'm fine Faith. Thanks for the concern." came Mercy's response. She suddenly remembered the lecturer and, at that instance, she became perturbed. 

There was a brief silence before Faith spoke, "As much as I'd like to know what's going on inside that head of yours and to help the best way I can, I won't force you to tell me what's bothering you." Though she said that, Faith was still very much interested in figuring out what was up with Mercy. 

"Nothing is bothering me Faith. Just go back to your study." Mercy, on the other, was not ready yet to let her roommates know about it. The only one that knew was Lee and that was because she trusted him enough to keep it to himself and not report it to the school authority. She couldn't afford to get into more trouble with Mr Adigwe. Not a word about this to a soul unless I'd make your life in Unilag miserable. Those words frightened her more than she getting anything less than a second class upper. Lee however hadn't taken the news lightly when he heard it. He was pissed that an old lecturer would threaten to fail a student young enough to be his daughter all because he couldn't control his libido. He wished he could do something to get the Mr Adigwe sacked from his job but Mercy had told him not to do anything but keep quiet about it. 

"Okay if you say so. Just know that we're not roommates to only occupy this room. We're here to have one another's backs. A problem shared is a problem half solved. We shouldn't go through our problems alone. We should be able to share what's bothering us and somewhat help one another out of bad phases. We should be a family here." That said, Faith picked up her material and fixed her eyes on it in a bid to continue from where she had stopped. 

Mercy gave some thought to what Faith had just said. She found so much sense in it that she considered letting Faith in on her predicament. Perhaps Faith could help her out of it. 

Mercy sat up on the bunk bed, her back against the wall. "Well, there's something that has been bothering me lately."

Faith dropped her book immediately and was all ears with what Mercy had to say. "Which is?"

"You remember the case I told you I had with a lecturer, yeah?"

"Yes, of course. I do. I do remember!" Faith nodded her head eagerly. "You went to his office. Did he accept your apology? Don't tell me he didn't."

As Mercy was going to respond, a call came in. The caller ID read mummy. Her brows furrowed as she wondered why her mum was calling. "Hold on. I gotta' pick this call. It's my mum."

"Sure, no wahala."

"Hello, mum." Mercy said as she pressed the phone to her ear. 

"Hello darling. How are you?" came her mother's response. 

"I'm good mum. How are you and dad doing?"

"We're doing well. We're just missing our baby girl. Hope you're coping fine with school.

Mercy nodded her head in the negative like her mum was there with her. She wanted to tell her mum the truth, but her mouth lied instead. "Yes, school is fine and I miss you too."

"You hesitated, Mercy." Her mother sounded alarmed. 

"Mummy, school is fine, just a little stressful."

"I had a terrible dream about you this afternoon while I was taking a nap which is the main reason I called. I had been trying to reach you since but your line wasn't reachable."

"What was the dream?" Mercy could feel her hand sweaty. 

"I dreamt that you were raped in school."

"God forbid!" Mercy immediately exclaimed. 

"The dream seemed so real. I've prayed against it anyway, but hope you're not having any boys trouble."

No mummy, I'm not having any boys trouble. I'm having a lecturer trouble! Mercy had the urge to scream, but she thought better of it. 

"Mercy, are you having any trouble with guys?" There was fright in her mother's voice for Mercy had not answered the first time she asked. 

"No, not at all."

"Please don't o. I understand that you're now in the university and at this point your dad and I can't and shouldn't really monitor your every move, but mo be o ni oruko olorun, keep away from boys. Yeah, you can have male friends— responsible ones. But for romantic relationship with them, try and stay away from that for now and focus on your books. If you need anything, call your dad or me and we'd provide. Okay?"

"Okay." Mercy said flatly. Her mother's words didn't sink; they entered one ear and escaped through the other. She had been restricted from having a boyfriend in her secondary school, not again in the university. She was seventeen and in her opinion it was okay for her to have a boyfriend at that age. And with Tony in the picture, nothing could even stop her. 

"You're okay, right?" Her mother asked. 

"Yes mummy, I'm fine. Is daddy there? I want to speak to him."

"No, he hasn't returned from work but I'd let him know that I called."

"Alright mum. Bye."

Mercy thought that the conversation was over until her mum asked, "When's your matriculation day?"

"Next week." Mercy and other freshers had been informed that the university was going to be holding her matriculation ceremony on Friday the following week. She would have been excited about it if her parents weren't attending and that day wasn't the deadline for her to give the lecturer a response. But for now, that day terrified her. 

"Your dad and I will be there with some friends and family to celebrate with you." Her mother said. 

Mercy rested her head on the wall exasperatedly. "No, not friends and family. Just you and dad please." She sounded whiny.

"Okay then, your wish is my command. Take care dear. I'll be praying for you. Bye." 

"Bye mum." The call ended. Mercy exhaled deeply. 

"So you were going to tell me something before your mum called." Faith said, lifting her head from her course material. She had been trying to go back to her study while Mercy was on the phone but Mercy's voice didn't let her so she resulted in laying her head on her material. 

"Yeah I was going to say that the lecturer didn't accept my apology."

Faith expression morphed into a sad one. "So meaning you're going to carry over his course?"

"He asked me to sleep with him and that only then will he make me pass his course even without studying for it."

"That's nonsense!" Faith sat up on her bed, looking irritated. "Don't tell me you slept with him."

"I didn't and I don't want to. But then, I have to if I want to pass his course." Mercy sounded bleak. 

"You don't have to dear. You're going to report this to the school authority. I mean—"

"Report what?" Mercy cut in. "The lecturer said he's going to make my life miserable if I dared to utter a word about this to anyone."

Faith scoffed, "And you believed him? Are you that naive Mercy? That is just an empty threat to keep you silent and for you to do what he wants. Get him reported and when he's fired from office, let's see how he'd be able to make your life miserable then."

"But what if the school authorities don't believe me? I mean, I don't have any evidence against him."

"That's true o." Faith bit her fingernails thoughtfully. 

"That's exactly my problem right now. I have no evidence to back up my claims and for all I know, the school authorities might not take the matter seriously because I'm just a fresher and the thought of an old man asking a young girl like me to sleep with him is unbelievable—"

"But it happens." Faith immediately butted in. 

"Yeah, it happens. But rarely is the case. Who knows, they might even think I'm trying to frame him."

"It would be unreasonable of them to think that way. I mean, you're new to the school. Why would you want to frame him?"

"Because err..." Mercy trailed off. "Well you make a valid point there. How I wish I got our conversation at his office recorded."

Mercy and Faith were silent for a moment until Faith had a light bulb moment. 

"Aha, that's it! Thank you Holy Spirit."

"Huh?" Mercy was confused. 

"When are you going to the lecturer's office again?"

"Not so sure, but the deadline to give him an answer is on matriculation day."

"How about if when you get there, you get your conversation between you both recorded. He would definitely ask again for you to sleep with him and that would be a proof to the school authority that some male lecturers in Unilag threaten female students to fail them if they refuse to sleep with them."

"That's a brilliant idea Faith. How did I not think of that?"

"You didn't involve God, that's why?"

Mercy snorted as she smirked, "Did you?"

"Yes, I did."

"Anyway, thank you."

"Thank God."

The following day, Mercy was strolling back to her hostel accompanied by Lee. They were both returning from the orientation programme that was held for all newly inducted freshers to acquaint themselves with everything about the university. While they strolled, Mercy had told Lee about how she planned to get the lecturer to pay for his sins. Lee liked the idea and gave her his full support. 

"So tell me things about you that I don't know of." Lee said to Mercy with both hands dipped in his trouser pocket. 

"If I start to list them all, it will probably take the whole day."

Lee smiled, "Okay then, you don't have to list them all. For now, you can just start with a few."

"Hmm, where do I start from now?" She tapped her index finger at the side of her lip thoughtfully. 

"Let me help you, you can start with your hobbies or your likes and dislikes."

"Oh well, I love to sing—"

"Oh really?" Lee widened his eyes in amazement. 

"Don't interrupt me." Mercy warned jokingly. 

"I'm sorry ma." Lee bowed his head in a playful manner. 

"Good. So as I was saying, I love to sing— I love music generally. I don't like church, though my parents run one."

"Wait, what? You're a pastor's daughter?" Lee was surprised. 

"I said don't interrupt me." Mercy rolled her eyes. 

"I can't help it. I find this revelation about yourself... well, quite shocking. I mean, never would I have thought that your dad is a pastor."

"Do I look so much like a sinner for you to be this surprised?"

Lee laughed, "No, it's not that. I just wasn't, you know, expecting that one."

"Well I am and, trust me, it sucks. Asides from my parents always disturbing me to do religious activities and all that stuff, there's this stereotype that comes with being a pastor's child. Everyone looks at you with a certain standard they expect you to live up to and if you don't meet up or you slip, you'd be judged. Generally some folks think being a pastor's child or even a pastor comes with perfection. They sin; it's okay, they're just humans. But when we sin, it's a different ball game entirely. We're judged and condemned, forgetting we ourselves are only but humans like they and we make mistakes too."

Lee studied the expression on Mercy's face to read what she was feeling at the moment. She sounded solemn but her face held no expression. It was stoic. "You sound like you've been judged before."

"What would you call this? You do something or you dress in a certain way that isn't what they expect of you and then they say things like 'and you're a pastor daughter' or 'you're forgetting you're the daughter of a pastor'?"

"Well, I think of it as not only being judgmental, but also manipulative. They're trying to control how you live your life and I'd advise you ignore them and live."

"No next time it happens, I'd look that person in the eyes" She turned to look at Lee. "And tell them to get a life rather than dictate how others should live theirs." She sounded dauntless.

Lee chuckled. "I'd love to see that scene though."

"Lee you don't understand, I've been judged because of who I am, especially by the so called religious folks. I grew up trying to live life the way they wanted me to. I've not really gotten to live life like I want. That's why I'm so happy and relieved now that I'm away from home where I can get to really enjoy my life."

"Speaking of which," Lee rubbed the nape of his neck sheepishly. "Can we like uh, hang out tomorrow?" 

Mercy scoffed, "Hang out? I don't think my type of fun is your type of fun. I don't like computers yunno."

"Oh." Lee was hurt.

Mercy noticed when she looked at him. "That was insensitive of me. I'm so sorry."

"It's okay." Lee shrugged. "I wasn't thinking of us going to a computer lab anyway. I was thinking of us going to the cinema to see a movie."

"What movie?" Mercy asked.

"Why don't you be the one to decide?"

"Definitely not a sci-fi movie."

Lee said nothing but smiled and shrugged.

"I like Nollywood movies and I'd like to see Living in Bondage. I heard it's an epic movie."

"Great! I like Nollywood movies too." Lee lied. He wasn't really a sucker for movies but if he was to see a movie, then it had to be a Hollywood sci-fi or action movie and not some ‘fledgling Nigerian movie’ as he often called it. He hated Nigerian movies with a passion. "Who's your favourite Nollywood actor?"

"There are so many of them but I'd say Natasha Akide."

Lee feigned an amazed look, "Wow, you'd not believe that's my fave too."

Mercy halted and looked at him, folding her arms around her chest and shaking her head. "I just made that up. Natasha Akide is a former Big Brother naija housemate and not a Nollywood actor." She chuckled, biting her lips. 

"Oh." Lee chuckled, scratching his head in embarrassment. “I don’t watch Nigerian movies.” He confessed.

“I know.” Mercy had gotten to her hostel. "So I'd see you tomorrow. Bye." She waved at Lee and sashayed into the hostel while Lee stood at a spot, grinning from ear to ear. 

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Writer's block had me. It was terrible. This is prolly your worst chapter so far. I'm sorry. I'd do better next time. Have a nice time. Follow on IG @dan_lexicon