Chapter Thirty-Five

Three days later, Philip, Joe, and Bianca were transported to Bianca's home, since that was the only viable option remaining for them. They later get to know that it was James Brin who died in the fatal accident, while the lady was Esther, Joe's former girlfriend, who was placed in the hospital for treatment. Joe had been depressed and distressed about his burned properties. He learned that everyone in the house had been brutally murdered.

Joe wondered why Esther could be this cruel, heartless, and dangerous to him. He remembered how he stood by her in every situation that seemed turbulent and fiery to help her breakthrough. He remembered how he shared a quarter of his income with her every year before breaking up with her. So, this was all she could pay back with. To destroy his mansion, wreck his life, and make him start from scratch.

Bianca observed that Joe was always gloomy and refused to chat with anyone in the house after that deadly incident. She then went to him to console him.

"Darling, cheer up; it has gone; no amount of thought will bring it back again," Bianca said, patting him on the back.

He nodded sorrowfully, then tears welled up in his eyes. She continued consoling him until it attracted the attention of Bianca's father, who came and sat down opposite them, facing Joe directly.

"Oh, how will I start up my life again? Where would I start from?" said Joe.

"That was my thought when I was tender. You had just imagined Bianca getting married. Who would have believed it ten years ago?"

Joe kept nodding his head.

"This is not all," Bianca assured. "When something greater is about to happen, a disaster sets in, but if you can overcome it, then you will enjoy the good things."

"I am married now; how would I start thinking about life again? Children would come; how would I train them properly with all the necessities of life? God! Esther, you are a wicked soul, so this is all you can pay me with. Bianca, do you know that she called you a 'witch' that came to destroy me? In fact, all of the negative things she said about you successfully ruined my feelings for you. She was the key person who led me to chase you out of the house."

Bianca nodded, and tears trickled again from her eyes.

How many days into our marriage have I started crying again? Why doesn't Satan want me to enjoy the good things in life? Bianca deliberated.

"Life is not a coastal ride, my dear couples," Bianca's father began. "If I told you about my life, you would know I had passed through a lot."

Bianca breathed out heavily, wiping her tears with her hand.

"Should I tell you that I lost my wife and children in a road accident? Did you ever think of that? Do you realise how much more painful it is to lose a person than a property? Just think about that. And here I am still hale and healthy. Just recently, when I thought I was training with my last breath, I never knew the enemy was just laughing at my sweat and hard work and just waiting for this year to end before slaying my only blood daughter. And I am alive today."

He stopped talking and went into the room and took a basketball out, bouncing it all the way from the room to the sitting room.

"Just look," he said, smiling, "do you know what I want to say?"

Bianca and Joe just stared at him in agony.

"Have you ever thought that life is like this ball?" he chuckled.

"Did you just see how the ball bounces up and down?" he asked, pausing to look at them.

They nodded.

"Yeah, life is like a ball that bounces up and down. It flies for a short time in the air before falling; it continues in this manner until it becomes tired, at some point it will roll and stop. What I mean is that every good thing represents when the ball is in the air, stays there for a while, then goes down, which means we expect bad events to occur because they must occur as far as the ball goes down too. When life is tired, it rolls sluggishly, which means when we are old and cannot do anything, we are just like the ball, rolling slowly, then suddenly we die, which means it finally stopped rolling."

Bianca and Joe were rejuvenated with his words; he then beckoned on them to bounce the ball.

"Come, Joe," he beckoned, throwing the ball to Joe, "catch it."

Joe caught it.

"Bounce the ball and digest every single word I have spoken into your memory."

Joe bounced the ball, beating it to make it go up and down.

"Beat it faster," he commanded, "faster, faster, now slowly, slowly, slowly. Finally, stop."

Joe stopped it. The ball bounced up and down. It then came down and rolled sluggishly on the floor and stopped. Joe smiled.

"Then it's your turn, Bianca," Bianca's father said, picking up the ball.

"Catch it," he said as he tossed it to her. She fidgeted a little but managed to get hold of the ball.

"Bounce the ball and digest every single word I have spoken into your memory."

She bounced the ball, beating it to make it go up and down.

"Beat it slowly," he commanded, "faster, faster, now slowly, faster. Finally, stop"

The ball did the same routine.

"Oh, no wonder Mary is full of advice, which she freely gives out."

"No. It is in their genes; she inherited it," Joe said, with much liveliness.

All of them laughed.

Bianca went back to school a week later in order to wrap up her academic session. Everybody greeted her, fully aware that she had been married earlier in the week. Some of her classmates teased and congratulated her by calling her a variety of nicknames. She was now the most respected person in the school despite having so many married women who had given birth presently in her faculty, but still, they kept on hailing her. Bianca just smiled and thanked them for praising her to this level. Her roommates were now calling her 'Mrs. Bianca'. The boys just saluted her whenever she walked into their presence. She didn't allow it to make her conceited. She read in the library as usual; no more James Brin interruptions; his era had passed. She read with peace and joy flowing through her mind. Her roommates were open to her. Stacy confessed that had been chosen as a spy by James Brin to monitor Bianca's movements. Bianca nodded sympathetically when she heard it, but uttered no word to her. Stacy pleaded for her forgiveness. Bianca forgave her. With all this joy and peace flowing into her mind, she smashed unimaginable records after the marking of her final third-year exam. Everybody was surprised by her feats. The distractions that came her way were not capable of pulling her down. The VC was awed by her feats to the extent that he discussed them during the school senate meeting. Lecturers who didn't know about her existence searched for her identity. She was now the school's poster girl. Several faculty students different from hers were coming to identify with her. She then remembered her father's words, "You are a gold to be cherished," despite all the misfortunes that had befallen her during her childhood. This was where it was taking her. The school closed for the session. Everybody went home for the holiday season.

********************************

Finally, the day had come to reality that Bianca's aspiration, her dream, and her yearning to become an accountant were alive. She graduated as the University of Ibadan's overall best graduating student, a chartered accountant. Nothing could shake her dream, despite the higgledy-piggledy, distractions, and ups and downs. Despite all the failures in her life, she remained focused and believed that one day she would rise above all odds.

The ceremony was held in the largest hall of the school. Huge personalities such as the vice president, the governor of the state, and his deputy, followed by his entourage, all came to the event. Bianca was the gold of the day. Almost all events revolved around her—the school's progress, the university's ascension, and the production of the best graduating chartered accountants in the entire country. After the peripheral events, the main event that Bianca, Joe, and her adoptive father were waiting for, came, the vice chancellor came up on the stage, took the microphone, and commenced the events. He began by greeting all the high-ranking guests that came to witness the beautiful ceremony that was held. Then he goes on to tell everyone about the benefits of perseverance and diligence in the face of adversity. It sounded like a poem. He discussed it for twenty minutes, kept a five-second silence, and then kicked off again. He began by discussing the characteristics of the personality he was about to mention—the courage—and never forgot to mention the difficulty the personality faced, almost committing suicide but being prevented by his intervention.

Bianca's heart pounded as she listened to the vice chancellor's sermons. She was also imagining her steps towards the stage and which steps would be best suited to this special honour that would be bestowed upon her. With all these thoughts racing through her mind, the vice-chancellor mentioned her name and summoned her to give a dignitary speech. Surprisingly, she stood up, took up the basketball that was under the chair, and bounced it all the way to the stage. Everybody gave her a standing ovation and was amazed by the action she performed.

The microphone was handed to her; she smiled and then began her speech by greeting everyone equally. She began narrating her life from childhood, the trauma she endured, the slavery period she endured, and then how she met a divine helper who assisted her in rediscovering her purpose on Earth, then in secondary school, where her father decided to adopt her as a daughter and train her to this stage despite the fact that he had lost his own blood daughter, Just that year, she was about to graduate as the best graduating student. She narrated how frustrated she was and how she almost committed suicide, if not for the intervention of the vice chancellor, who encouraged her. She remembered to appreciate the unseen voice that kept encouraging her in all the turbulent times she found herself in.

She bounced the ball.

"I know that everybody was surprised at what I did when walking down to the stage. I never planned it, but it just came to me. Our lives are like this ball; it bounces up and down, which means life is full of ups and downs, but how well do we manage the periods when we are down in life?" she said. "My fellow new students who entered recently: there would be a period when everything seemed to be working against our success, I, too, went through those periods; it was never easy. I tell you. But my advice is that, always remember that a ball goes down and comes back up; do not allow the down period to draw you back or make you feel depressed. Just keep in mind that life is like a ball. If it seems like it isn't working, get a ball and bounce it like I did when I was depressed."

The whole crowd applauded her. Her words, especially her last statement, caused some to be calm, some to start shedding tears, and some to nod in a pitiful manner.

When she was about through, she pleaded that her father come on the stage to give a speech. Her father walked like a king to the stage; he was full of himself and cheerful. A standing ovation was observed as he walked to the stage.

He commended her action by allowing him to give a speech, and then he narrated what made him take the bold decision to sponsor her.

"I remembered when my daughter, Mary, was back then in secondary school, she was always telling me about a girl who was her friend. Who was kind to her, and who helped her understand difficult subjects? In fact, I personally observed my daughter performing very well in school. When I asked her, she told me it was a girl named Bianca. An orphan. She pestered me to sponsor her feeding and her school fees because she noticed that Bianca wasn't eating when her friend was eating during break periods. She fasted, yet explained to my daughter as if she had eaten. To cut the story short, in my mind, I was ready to help, even if in a small way, but I lacked the resources. So, after a long time, I mean years, Mary, my daughter, saw her again, and she told me that she had seen a longtime friend of hers back in secondary school, and she has no accommodation to stay in, so she allowed her to stay in the building I built for her to stay in whenever she returns from university. It was at that time that I took her as a daughter, and it paid off today. Mary, may you rest in peace. Thank you."

And everybody said "Amen" piously and clapped when he finished the statement. The programme ended when the vice president appeared to present Bianca with a check for twenty million naira, following the administration of the state governor's sponsorship of her to the PhD level and the gift of a jeep.