That night, sleep didn't come easily.
Mike lay on his thin mattress, staring at the ceiling fan that rotated lazily, making a faint clicking sound with each turn. The room was quiet, except for the occasional laughter of other corpers outside.
Ibadan felt different.
Not just the environment… but something deeper.
He turned to his side and picked up his phone, scrolling aimlessly. A message from his elder brother Nathan popped up.
Nathan: "Hope you don settle? Remember why you dey there o."
Mike sighed.
He didn't need the reminder.
Every day of his life had been a reminder.
His mother… the struggles… the expectations.
He typed back slowly.
Mike: "I dey alright. I go manage."
Manage.
That word again.
It had become his life.
He dropped the phone and stared into the darkness.
For a moment, his mind drifted back to Delta… to the familiar streets, the people he knew, the life he understood.
Here, everything was new.
Unpredictable.
He closed his eyes, trying to force sleep.
But something about that evening—about the girl he had seen—kept replaying in his head.
Her walk.
Her silence.
Why didn't she answer him?
"Maybe I'm just overthinking," he muttered.
But deep down, he knew he wasn't.
Something about it didn't sit right.
And for reasons he couldn't explain…
He felt like that moment wasn't over yet.