Beans Bender… Senior Wacko! Secondary school series 2 (SSS2)
Gbam! Gbam!! Gbam!!! Went the bell for the evening meal, students started running here and there in search of either their plates or spoons. “What are we going to eat this evening,” I asked one JSS3 student. “Beans…watery beans”, he emphasized and hurried off.
The Prefect on duty and a host of other SS3 seniors were already banging the hostel gate, threatening hail and brimstone on anyone that would come to the gate where they stood after their count of 20. they were already on 18. I was still in my room.
I picked up my plate and spoon from under my bed, still unwashed from the last meal, and off to the dining, I went. I ran with all my strength perhaps I might beat the count. But low and behold I was just on time, and I received the first dose of hail and brimstone, sincerely they were not empty threats. Nobody made empty threats those days. I wanted to cry when I remembered I had girls as table mates so I “chested” the pain.
Dinner was served and I watched as others enjoyed their meal, the rain of beatings had snatched away every ounce of appetite I had. So I said to myself, “why not take the food to the hostel and eat later”, although it was not allowed. I waited for everybody to finish eating and I made sure those seniors had left the hostel gate, then I snicked out with my food… my delicious plate of beans.
As I approached the hostel's gate I noticed some SS3 Seniors waiting for their boys to bring their food for them into the hostel, as it was a culture for big boys not to enter the dining hall. In fact, some would brag that since they entered SS3 had not gone to the dining hall to eat, as if it was a WAEC result.
Here I was calculating how to get this my loving beans past these guys, immediately I came up with a plan.
“Who get that food,” Senior Varex asked me, “na for Senior WACKO” I lied. Just then I remembered I had seen him at the “market” while returning to the hostel. The lie gave me a pass.
You might ask a market in a boarding school? Yes market, but in this market we don't buy and sell goods and commodity, is like a barter system kind of market were two people of opposite sex meet and exchange sweet and nice talks, sometimes with hugs and kisses, and then the guy comes back home feeling like he has convinced the fish that is ok to leave on land (call it sec school love, I call it madness).
I was in my room lying down with my face staring at the cobwebs hanging under the other bunk in my room. Then came my roommate, Kroy, from God knows were, as he opened the Wardrobe I had my eyes fixed on him, silently praying he wouldn’t open it.
“Mehn, who get this food,” he asked, reaching out for a spoon, he dished the first spoon.
I was on the bed swelling like a frog, how can this fellow eat the beans I went through a lot to get. I thought. Can someone tell this guy "I fit shoot for beans."
As he was about dishing another spoon, I charged towards him like a mother-hen does when you get to close to her chicks, “what’s up with you nah”, I mumbled. He just laughed. Kroy is not the kind of person you would say stop and he stops. I still couldn't stop him so I decided to let him take few spoons more from it. That guy was a joker.
Twenty to thirty minutes later, we were chatting and arguing in my room about the match we played against SS1C when someone started shouting my name, Obi! Obi!! From the tune of the voice, I knew this person must be desperate. “Who be the Obi sef?” the person said softly.
I walked out of my room and guess what? I saw this huge tall and dark person called Wacko asking a junior student something, the Junior boy just turned and pointed to me, he advanced towards me and said, “where my food dey? The coldness and calmness in his voice increased my heartbeat and sent shivers down my spine. Immediately I realized Senior Varex must have told him I brought his food into the hostel.
He asked again, “Were my food dey?” “I... I... I...”. There I stood stammering.
He took hold of me by my shirt around my neck. So tightly, I could barely breathe. And dragged me upstairs (our hostels was a story building and the big boys preferred staying on the top floor). At this point, I was practically gasping for air yet he held and squeezed his grip even more.
I was scared, what is this guy going to do to me now. This was the second time I would be his victim. My first experience with him was still fresh in mind. He flogged to kill. I had also heard dreadful stories about him. A mate we all nicknamed ‘bigfoot’ had to hang like a man riding Okada for up to an hour, another of my classmates was flogged with a cutlass by this very senior dragging me upstairs. Today had to be the day I would die.😂
I prayed silently. Dear lord, if you deliver me today from this wicked boy, I’ll stop jumping the fence to go and eat outside the school.😂
A thought came to my mind, tell him the food was still available, "abeg, make I go bring am" I said.
“So the food still dey sef na it you dey stress me”, he freed me to go and bring it, as I went back to my room I said to myself how do explain to him that I ate from it, I came back with a plate covered.
“Open am” he ordered. I opened it, What he saw brought out the beast from within him. “Na me you dey give this dog food?” he was furious at this point. He gave me a resounding slap. all this happened at the staircase. How I found myself on the balcony I don't know.
He rushed at me again and dealt me a blow, this time I wished the ground could just open and swallow me as I have had enough only for one day. Another slap landed on my face, then he pushed me from the balcony, and on the ground I was.
That was when I noticed the plate of beans was still in my hands.
Not a single seed of beans fell from that plate neither was there a single scratch on me. Call me the beans bender. But I survived.
(this fiction is based on true events that happened to Arome Joshua)
To be continued…
Nice one bro....keep it up!!
ReplyDeleteNice one bro, more grace
ReplyDelete