The university gates open to a sky heavy with
dust and the scent of burning incense. The
Campus Queen walks through them, her head high,
her skirt hem brushing the cracked tarmac. She
is known for her sharp tongue, her goldrimmed
glasses, and the way she commands the lecture
halls with a flick of her wrist. But no one
knows the weight she carries beneath her blouse.
The dormitory walls whisper of omens. A pastor’s
daughter has been seen walking alone at night,
her eyes hollow. The hostel matron warns of
curses, of spirits who take what they want. The
Queen’s closest friend, a theology student,
presses a Bible into her hands and says, “You
must confess.” She refuses.
The first rule bites when the dean discovers her
swollen belly. He calls her to his office, the
air thick with the smell of old paper and fear.
He demands an explanation. She lies, saying the
child is not hers. He storms out, but not before
warning, “In this place, secrets are not safe.”
The second rule emerges at the campus chapel. A
Pentecostal preacher stands before the
congregation, shouting about sin and redemption.
The Queen kneels in the back, her hand on her
stomach. The preacher points at her, namecalling,
calling her a “daughter of shame.” She leaves,
but not before a group of students follow her,
their faces lit by the glow of mobile phones.
She is pregnant. The campus is divided. Some
call her brave, others a fool. A rival student,
a tech startup prodigy, offers to help, but his
motives are unclear. He speaks of marriage, of a
future beyond the university walls. She resists,
knowing that in this world, a woman’s choices
are never her own.
The final turn comes during the annual cultural
festival. The Queen is to perform a dance, a
symbol of strength. Instead, she steps forward,
unzips her dress, and reveals the child. The
crowd gasps. The dean arrives, his face red with
anger. The preacher steps forward, demanding she
be excommunicated.
She does not speak. She walks away, her head
held high, the weight of the world now on her
shoulders. The festival continues, but the Queen
is gone. No one sees her again.
The campus remembers her as a ghost, a story
passed between students, a reminder that in a
land of change and conflict, even the strongest
must bend.
