CAMARADERIE TROUBLES novel Chapter 4

"Granny!.. granny!" Alicia called out with excitement. She had some piece of bread in her mouth. They were having breakfast at the dining table.

"Yes, dear" Mama Gloria sipped from a mug of tea.

"Tell me something, maybe a gist, a story, or whatever. I just want to discuss with you Mama, any." She said with curiosity.

"But you know is wrong to talk while having a meal yeah?"

"I know" she cut in.

"They had Alicia's best food that morning. Alicia continued biting loaves of bread. She made sandwiches with the slices and scrambled eggs. she crushed each piece in her mouth, sipping her tea. She had more than she could chew in her mouth.

"Don't get yourself convulsed, you'd be constipated." Mama laughed.

She would never hear that. Mama Gloria must have repeated herself an umpteenth time.

Bukunmi came to clear the table.

"Ok Mama, how abaau my request?" she clung to her. Mama swabbed small crumbs of food from the dining table-cloth.

"What exactly do you want to hear?" She smiled at her loving granddaughter.

"Maybe a gist about something that happened at your workplace or so, just anything". she replied.

"Oh my, I got so many things to talk about here darling. I've been working there for about a decade now, so the gist would be endless."

Alice's face brightened. It was exactly what she wanted to hear. She was quite excited her granny had a lot to say. She adjusted the dining seats and turned it to face mama, she sat. "Mama, please take off. I can't wait to hear." she beamed with a curious countenance.

"What's the time?" Mama Gloria asked.

The huge wall clock that hung behind the dining room arch had stopped working. It needed new batteries, yet Mama wouldn't cease to glance up at it anytime she needed to check the time. Weird!

Alicia pulled out her iWatch series 5. "10:00 AM" she answered.

"There's this new man we've got in our company who just lost a son. Practically, his son killed himself."

"For real?" Alicia replied, astonished.

"You see, I really don't know what's going on with the teenagers and youths of these days. You people seem to be more 'matured' than your age. They get to know many things even adults don't know."

Alice laughed. "Mama, the world is evolving. Information spreads like wildfire. Ignorance is primitive, and technology has advanced. Any kind of information is easily accessible through the internet and other mass media."

"Alice, you remind me of my good old days at high school. I was to oppose a motion that states 'Tech has done more harm than good'. I said the exact words you just said"

"And who won the argument?" Her eyes bored into Mama.

"My opponent" Mama Gloria laughed.

"Mama, you really mean you lost in an argument to your co-debator? despite bazillions of points you can raise to back up that argument. The argument was much to your advantage."

"Yes, I know dear. It isn't really about the number of points being raised. There's a wide range of other criteria required in a debate. I was to compete with Samson, the school senior prefect boy. The guy is so ... I'm short of words." Mama paused.

"You mean like, dope, outspoken?" Alice asked.

"Yes, something like that." She continued.

"He had a very big confidence. His competence was second to none. He was well dressed that day. I remember that one of the teachers remarked that he appeared like a banker. Regardless of the looks, he was eloquent. He spoke mind-blowing grammar. His orals, diction, and vocab were breathtaking. This was a major spec girls at my high school drooled over in him. He performed so well during his debate session. I was swept off my feet before I climbed the stage after he supported the motion. In fact, I felt intimidated. I had an awkward performance. I couldn't even back up my points properly. I just talked about the importance of technology and I accepted defeat gracefully. The rest is a story for another day." mama concluded.