It was a bright day and the weather wasn't cloudy or harsh. I was sitting at my usual spot, as the loud noises were oozing all around as usual, and then the playing ground was filled with students playing football.
Looking through the printed text that was on my lap seated crossed legged, reading it and got engrossed with it when a sudden reflection of a shade casting a brief light shadow across which gave a movement of something from my point of view and I raised my head up to see Ajose, a senior student standing beside the chair I sat on looking swollen like a bread that was dropped in a bowl of water.
“Good afternoon sir” he said with a light frown that looked as if he had drunk a cup full of lime water which means a cheek
“What is wrong with you, that you are looking as if you drank scrub bitter leave water” I asked jokingly with a funny smirk and he replied, “Sir, my group scored an average mark in the impromptu assessment.
“ Yes, so what can I do for you” I asked with a smile knowing how worried and troubled he looked but also appreciated him coming forward to express his grievance instead of reacting to it.
“Sir, after you left the class when you were summoned, the students made use of AI to attempt the question.
While a few of us were racking our brains to write what we know, the other group called us names like, “ I.T.K ( I took know), holy holy gang and laughed at us.
The mockery got to the prime when they saw their results and confirmed that they scored much more than us” he said grumbling.
“ I knew they cheated” I replied firmly and I saw the disappointment on his face as he believed that I was biased but my reason was what made him want to hear more of what I wanted to say.
“Why can you scold them” he asked and I laughed out loud.
“ You all knew that I have condemned cheating and have been complaining about that but today, I have nothing against them though I knew from their solution that the snakes have hidden hands in their bellies.
All I know for sure is that receipts will be displayed later in their lives” I replied.
“ Receipt as how” he asked, confusingly looking as if he had lost something and reckoning where the lost thing was kept.
“ It is all about personality, the results of any examination you face in life will serve as the receipt just like purchasing something from the market.
What kind of receipts are you willing to tender? I asked him and continued.
"If you cheated for instant result, it feels great and you will think you have achieved in due time but at a longer rate, what gives you the assurance that you can defend your success” I uttered to clarify his confused state and to brighten up the atmosphere.
“ Thank you sir”, he said and from the way he shrugged things off, I thought the words of encouragement that I said entered through his left ear and came out through the right ear but I was wrong.
Days became weeks and weeks became months and time moved in its tide and that set of students graduated and ventured into what followed And I wish them all the best.
Last week, I was at home playing weekend street soccer and my phone rang in a distant familiar volume, so I called back the missed call.
“ Hello,” I said after I noticed the call had been answered.
“ Hi sir, this is Ajose, an ex-student you taught”, a familiar voice answered, and I recognized it immediately. He is one of my favorite students so it isn't far-fetched to identify his voice after a few years.
“ Hi friend, I believe all is well with you” I replied.
“ Yes, all is well” he said and laughed gigiantically that his laughter made me laugh too.
“ You are right sir” he finally uttered after his laughter and I was confused about what I was right about.
“ I have been given admission to the university and you are the first person that came to my mind to tell” he said.
“ Oh, congratulations” I replied.
“ All you used to tell us back then, about the receipt, I now know,
I did J.A.M.B, Post U.T.M.E, and passed in flying colours so I knew all your warnings were for our sake,
If I have made cheating a normal thing, what if I met myself in a situation where cheating is not allowed,
So I stood on the legacy of showing a receipt that can be tendered in all ramifications of life" he concluded.
I smiled and wished him all the best as he dropped the call appreciating a simple gesture I couldn't even remember.
