THE MAGIC PEN

It was a hot Saturday afternoon as Dave and Alex stepped out of University of Uyo town campus library and made their way to the student care cybercafe to print out some reading materials. They were both 100 level students of the department of Sociology and they had been preparing for the first semester exams that was billed to start in a week’s time.
As they approached the mini stadium, they noticed a sizeable crowd on the pavilion stand.

“Have you seen that crowd? i wonder what they’re doing” Alex said to Dave.

“well, it could be one of these political meetings” Dave replied.

“Let’s just go & find out” Alex offered and they walked towards the crowd.

In the center of the crowd was a man who appeared to be in his late 40s, dressed in a white tee shirt & a black jean trouser. He had a sky blue bag hung around his neck. Students were milling all around him.

“Excuse me bro” Alex said as he lightly tapped a student at the back, what is happening here?”
“Oh this man is selling magic pens, he claims they have the power to turn everything you write on your answer script into right answers when your paper is marked by the lecturers”.
“This is ridiculous, you must be kidding me!” Dave exclaimed. The student shrugged his shoulders & turned away.

“Make una buy this pen, e dey work well well!!! i don sell am for evriwhere, na just N500 flat for one! no suffer your self to read too much! anything wey u write go turn to correct answer! e for be N5000 but na becos i wan help una na im make i bring down price to N500 naira”. 

The salesman was shouting at the top of his voice, waving frantically with his two chubby arms, his beady eyes glistening while drops of sweat rolled down his fat cheeks. The crowd of students swelled with each passing second, some jeering at him, some deep in thought contemplating the possibility of buying the magical pen.

Dave surveyed the crowd and discovered that majority of the crowd were his colleagues; freshers who were all anxious about the upcoming exams. A girl stepped close to the man & passed a mint N500 note to him, he quickly pulled out a pen with a yellow tip from his bag & handed it to her...is that not Monique the lady gaga wannabe who wears thick makeup on her face? Alex nudged Dave. A second student bought the pen and they both recognized him as Kabosky the happening guy, rumoured to be currently dating Miss theater arts. More students brought out money & started buying the magical pen.

“Let’s leave this place”, Dave said to Alex who was staring intensely at the salesman. 
“what if this man’s claim is legit’? Alex replied......“i have a feeling he may be real and it won’t hurt to be a little adventurous & try it out. Pls wait for me, i”ll go to the Atm & withdraw some money to buy this pen". Without waiting for a reply from Dave, he dashed off towards Ecobank Atm machine located opposite prefab girls hostel.
 “Come back!” Dave shouted at him.

A black saloon car suddenly pulled up close to the crowd and four hefty guys came out. They were wore body hugging polo shirts on top of sagged skinny jeans with black sneakers and D&g caps pulled low over their eyes. They took brisk steps towards the crowd. This could be a sign of trouble, Dave said to himself as he started backing away from the crowd.

“Na him be that!" One of the four guys said in a husky voice while pointing a finger towards the salesman. The new arrivals roughly pushed everyone aside until they came face to face with magic pen salesman. 

“we don catch you at last!! No be u come sell this fake pen for Unical last month? Upon all the assurance wey u give us, we come fail all the exams wey we carry this ur yeye pen write, we don dey look for u everywhere! U go refund our money today!!!”.

The salesman wasn’t given a chance to reply as the first blow landed on his left cheek, he staggered on his feet like a drunk. However with a sudden agility he jumped off the edge of the pavilion, landed on the ground & took to his heels speeding away in the direction of Akpan Ekpo market small gate, his pot belly wobbling like an tennis ball.

The realization of having being scammed sparked outrage in the buyers & potential buyers who joined in the chase.

Alex rushed back from the Atm disappointed as all the machines were temporarily unable to dispense cash. He met an empty mini stadium & with a confused look on his face he looked around for Dave & the magic pen crowd, all he could see were bic biros with yellow tips smashed & scattered on the floor.