Nobody moved for a few moments and then more than half of the class moved to the left. Alaba’s face fell. It was even worse than he thought. His hard gaze returned. There was nothing else for it then.
He glanced to his right. A stack of bone white canes lay on the floor, tied in a thick bunch. Leaning down he picked one up. He had never flogged a student before; well today was going to be his first time.
“Hold out your hands__” He barked striding towards them.
Chapter Seven
7 hours later
Wole stood in front of the school gate waiting for Tunrayo and Chike to turn up. Students poured out of the school compound in droves circling around him. If any of them wondered why he was standing in the middle of the road staring into space, their faces gave no indication of it.
He rubbed his palms absentmindedly. They still smarted slightly from the thrashing he had received from Mr. Olorunsogo earlier. His back too was tender. Another teacher had taken a cane to them because they were making too much noise in his class. He had to be careful not to move his backpack too much, so it would not rub against his welts too badly.
Mr. Adepeko his math’s teacher enjoyed beating the students, so being flogged by him came as no surprise. Mr. Olorunsogo’s beating shocked him. The guy had never laid a finger on any student before, so what had changed?”
“Daydreaming are we?” Tunrayo said in a droll tone.
He turned facing her smiling slightly. “What kept you? I was beginning to think you guys wanted to spend the night at school.”
“E beans?” Tunrayo shot back with a laugh speaking in Pidgin English.
“Staying in school from 8am-2pm is more than enough for me thank you very much.”
“What is more than enough for you?” Chike asked suddenly appearing beside them. Tunrayo and Wole gave him long exasperated looked before sighing and walking away.
“Hey wait__ what is more than enough?” Chike cried hurrying after them.
“Never mind Chike. Let us just get home.” Tunrayo snapped not turning around.
He sighed, the look on his face growing hard. He was on the verge of giving Tunrayo a stinging retort when he spotted the hard look on Wole’s face. Taking a deep breath, he continued walking with a glum look on his face.
His face brightened considerably when he spotted Eze the mad man crouched beneath the large tree a few feet away. He appeared frozen in time. He was in the same position he had been in when they walked by in the morning.
Smiling Chike edged towards him. He had barely taken two steps when his shoulder was seized in a viselike grip. Tunrayo furious gaze moved closer stopping just five inches away from his face.
“Don’t even think about it.” She spat out through clenched teeth.
“And why not?” Chike growled refusing to be intimidated.
“BECAUSE WE WILL SLAP YOU SO HARD YOUR HEAD WILL FALL OFF.” Wole snapped bearing down on him, looking even more furious than Tunrayo did.
He was a bit taken back by the fury he saw on both of their faces. He regularly butted heads with Tunrayo so he wasn’t surprised by her reaction. Wole on the other hand was another matter. He usually stayed out of it when he and Tunrayo had their little squabbles. To have him support Tunrayo now came as a great surprise.
“We are serious Chike__” She growled still looking furious. “__this your fascination with Eze must stop. If you keep making fun of him the way you have been doing he is going to attack you, mark my words.”
“Oh really__” Chike began breaking towards his right in a fast sprint heading towards Eze.
Wole and Tunrayo tore after him pulling to a halt when he stopped two feet away from Eze.
“Chike stop it!” Tunrayo yelled thoroughly incensed now.
“Oh really? And what if I decide not to stop it? You go beat me?”
Having no answer to that she simply glared at him; she couldn’t say what vexed her the most. The fact that he was stubbornly refusing to stop taunting Eze or that he was speaking in Pidgin English. The look in her eyes grew so frosty that a shiver ran down Chike’s spine.
“Stop fooling around Chike. Your obsession with Eze is getting scary.”
The look on Wole’s face was just as hard as Tunrayo’s own. Chike met their hard gazes with a defiant one of his own for a total of thirty seconds before he sighed and walked away from Eze. He turned after three steps and stuck his tongue out at him. As before, Eze’s eyes and body remained motionless. His eyes and body were fixed, focused on what he alone could see and feel.
Tunrayo sighed in relief and started after Chike. Wole gave Eze one last look and hurried after his friends. He glanced back after ten steps and was shocked to discover that Eze’s cold dead eyes were following them. His cold gaze made his heart skip a couple of beats. Steeling himself, he turned and hurried after his friends with Eze’s eyes fixed on his back until he disappeared from view.
45 minutes later
Wole walked down the long narrow street leading to his house. He was alone now. Tunrayo and Chike had left him at the point where the bush path joined the main road. He sighed as he remembered the cold silence that had engulfed their ranks as they made the forty-five minute trek back home.
Tunrayo was furious with Chike. He could not say he blamed her. Chike could sometimes be as stubborn as a goat. She had barely glanced his way as they walked. The few times she did, her eyes blazed with rage. Chike returned her angry looks with defiant ones, as was his way.
He sighed again as he considered this. He had known Chike long enough to realize that he was very stubborn. If he came back to the world again, Wole was very sure he would come back as a goat.
It was the things you insisted he did not do that he loved doing. If you did not want him to do something, it was better you told him to do it. Then chances were he would not do it. He had never met anyone quite like Chike before.
The strange thing was, as annoying as he could be Wole could not help liking him. He suspected that Tunrayo also felt the same way. A smile lifted the corners of his lips as he thought this. Tunrayo was furious with Chike now, but he knew she would not be for long. Their fights hardly ever lasted more than a day or so, so he was not worried.
“You appear deep in thought. What worries you my dear boy?” A warm very pleasant voice asked rousing him from his deep thoughts.
He turned slowly, his eyes coming to rest on the wizen old man seated on a wooden bench on his right. The bench was backed against the concrete walls of the sunflower bakery, which was the only bakery Oraromi had. The old man wore long baggy trousers made out of faded Ashoke* material (expensive Yoruba ceremonial cloth). His wrinkled torso was covered by a dirty white singlet, his jaw line almost hidden by scraggy looking facial hair. The shock of white hair on his head was growing afro style.
Scattered around him were more than two dozen shoes, all in various states of repair. Directly behind him was a wooden box like container, which held needles, razors, pins, threads, bits of leather, shoe polish, and half a dozen other things, which he needed for his trade. After all a cobbler was nothing without his tools.
“Good afternoon Baba Adora.” Wole said bowing low; his bow was a sign of respect for the old and elderly in Yoruba culture.
“Good afternoon Woleayo.” Baba Adora replied looking pleased by his bow.
Wole sighed. He could not understand why Baba Adora insisted on calling him by his full name. He shrugged with a disinterested look on his face. It was probably something old people enjoyed doing.
“You look well young Woleayo. How was school today?”
“It was fine sir.”
“Hope you learned well?”
“I did my best sir.”
“Diplomatic answer__” Baba Adora said chuckling. “I like that. You are well on the way to becoming a great man.”
“Thank you sir!” Wole exclaimed looking very pleased. His smile disappeared a few moments later at Baba Adora’s next words.
“Don’t let praise ge
t to your head. That is the first thing you have to learn. Be meek and humble. Add hard work to the mix and you will discover that the journey to success is already half done. Praise has been known to have brought the downfall of many great men so beware.”
For some strange reason, the way Baba Adora said it made dread steal into his heart. He could not dwell more deeply on the ramification of that feeling because Baba Adora was speaking again.
“You go home and rest young man. A glorious future awaits you.”
Looking a little puzzled, Wole walked away, heading towards home. Baba Adora watched him until he disappeared from view. When he could no longer see him, he turned his attention back to the shoe in his hand, which he had been stitching with a long needle and shiny black thread.
As he bent down to continue his task, he paused glancing at the small cluster of blue-black clouds gathering on the horizon. A sad somewhat fearful look stole into his eyes.
“The blue-back clouds gather once again__” He murmured, seemingly unaware that he had spoken out loud.
He continued working choking back a deep sigh. He could not allow himself to think of such things. Not now, at any rate; he considered that thought once again. NOT EVER! Thinking only brought the bad things closer. Maybe this time, the bad things would not come.
Chapter Eight
Collins and Judith
He was furious. Yeah that was really the understatement of the year. He was enraged. How could Judith do this to him? He took several deep breaths to calm himself. If he continued in this state, he could well strangle her when he saw her.
He had to reason with her and try to talk her down. To succeed he knew he had to be logical and not emotional. She clearly was not thinking straight. Their entire conversation flashed through his mind as he thought this.
“Hi baby__what’s up? Wasn’t expecting your call.”
“A lot is up Collins. I know you are not going to like what I have to say so I will just go ahead and say it. Collins I AM PREGNANT!!”
His eyes hardened as the words I AM PREGNANT flashed through his head. Maybe she was kidding and this was her idea of a sick joke. Who knew? With women there were no certainties.
As much as he enjoyed sleeping with them, he had not quite figured out how their brains worked. He could not figure out how they reasoned or if they even reasoned. In his opinion, the average woman’s mind was a control hub filled with bad wiring.
It seemed almost a travesty that the sweetest piece of equipment to pleasure a man had to be found on a woman. In many ways, he found them unworthy of such a gift. The good God sure had a weird sense of humor. On the other hand, maybe he simply got a kick out of watching women screw up men’s lives.
It took every ounce of self-control he possessed not to slap himself in the head. This sort of philosophical thinking was not solving his immediate problem. His eyes became even harder when he spotted her house at the other end of the street.
“Let me off here.” He told the okada* rider (motor cycle rider).
He quickly removed fifty naira from his pocket and paid the man before climbing off the motor cycle. He strode to her house with long purposeful strides. His jaw jutted out and hard with his displeasure.
The door to her house opened as he approached and Judith stepped out. Even as furious as he was, he could not help pausing to admire her beauty. She was the prettiest screw he had ever had. With his record with the women, that was really saying something.
She had on a blue body hugging dress, which showed off her assets. Her flawless hazel eyes were red and swollen from crying. His face that had been softening since she came out instantly hardened. He took a deep breath and continued walking.
Her face did not light up the way it usually did when she saw him. Instead, it grew even more glum and sullen. That was not a good sign. Taking a deep breath, he drew level with her.
“Hello__” He said trying to make his tone sound neutral.
“Hi.” She replied. She sounded sad but strangely determined. His heart skipped a couple of beats. Licking his dry and parched lips, he took a step closer and spoke.
“When did you find out?”
“This afternoon. My periods are never late. When I didn’t see anything for two weeks I went to check.”
“And?”
“What do you mean and? There is no and. I am pregnant.”
“How far gone are you?”
“About a month and half.”
A long silence stretched on after her response. A silence Collins eventually broke.
“What do you want to do?” Collins asked after taking a deep breath.
“What do you mean what do I want to do? You are talking as if it’s my problem alone. It’s our problem Collins. Not MINE! OURS!” She spat at him.
He took another deep breath and counted to ten in his head.
“I didn’t say it was your problem alone__” He began slowly.
“But you sure as hell implied it.” Judith shot back her eyes blazing with rage.
A muscle twitched in his jaw as he struggled to control his temper. However, of course she was not done, not by a long shot.
“Awon Okunrin sha! Won ma fe doo obinrin. Ti oyun bay o, won fe sa! O le sa fun mi lai lai*
“Men! They want to sleep with women. When pregnancy ensures they will want to run. You cannot run from me__ never!!”
“Calm down Judith.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down. Admit it; you just want to run away don’t you?”
“The thought hadn’t occurred to me till a few moments ago. Now would you calm down and let us discuss this like adults?”
His voice was cold and dangerously low. There must have been something in his eyes because she immediately became silent and he could see fear steal into her eyes.
“Now that we are both CALM__” He began, stressing the calm. “What do you want to do about this?”
When she did not respond, he pressed on. “You know there is only one obvious choice here?”
“Which is?” She asked looking suspicious. He took another deep breath and counted to ten before he spoke.
“You are going to have to abort the pregnancy.”
“I will DO WHAT??” She screeched bearing down on him menacingly. His eyes grew as hard as pebbles. He had had enough.
“SHUT UP YOU SILLY COW!” He roared. She jumped startled taking several steps backward. She looked at him with eyes filled with fear. The frightened look in her eyes filled him great satisfaction. Yes let her be afraid. If he frightened her well enough maybe she would get rid of the damn pregnancy and leave him free to continue with his life.
“Let me explain some things to you in case you are too stupid to figure it out on your own. I am not ready to have a child at the moment__” He ignored the pained and shocked look on her face as he continued.
“__and if you want to really honest with yourself you’d realize you are not ready to have a child either. Let us face it Judith, we are both still in school. Where are going to find the money to look after a child? What will your parents say? How will your father react? You know as well as I do how strict he is__” He paused letting his voice drift off to give her time to consider all he had said.
The tears brimming in her eyes spilt down her cheeks in long streaks. “I thought you said you loved me.” She asked. Her voice was teary and broken.
He had to fight the urge to snort. “Love? Was she for real? Girls were so dumb. A guy had stripped you down to nature’s bear essentials and just as he went for the kill; aiming to slide into you, you go and ask him whether he loves you. What in the world do you think he is going to say?
Of course he will tell you he loves you. He might even tell you that he will kill his mother for you. He would say anything to make sure you keep your legs wide open long enough for him to slake his thirst with your body. However, he did not say any of this aloud.
“Of course I love you, but we have to be realistic. We cannot afford to have you pregnant now. You
have to remove it.”
A heavy silence ensured after he was done speaking. There was no more to be said.
Chapter Nine
Sighs burst from Collins lips as he walked away from Judith’s house. That had been a close one. He vowed to use protection from here on out. Dallying with a woman carelessly had its consequences. The most annoying part was the silly creatures never had the good sense to insist that their lovers use protection.
In fact, most of them preferred the skin on skin contact. He sighed again. Well he had sure learnt his lesson. No more risk taking for him anymore. A small voice in his subconscious reminded him of the numerous times he had said the same thing. He had made the same vow more times than he could count and still he found himself doing the same thing.
Ignoring the recriminating voice, his thoughts drifted back to Judith. A sense of relief threatened to overwhelm him. He could not get over his good fortune that he had been able to convince her to get rid of the pregnancy.
They had an appointment with Doctor Desmond by six pm tomorrow. His eyes narrowed as soon as he thought of Desmond. The man was a slimy character. Most of Oraromi’s residents were not that generous in their estimation of him. Quack, danger to society and a real sordid man were just some of the unsavory adjectives used to describe him.
If he were in a better place financially, he would have taken Judith to a better doctor. He had no choice now since he was desperate. A dog he hated did not deserve to be neutered by Doctor Desmond. Being strapped for cash always put you in an uncomfortable situation. He knew he would have to borrow money from his mates to pay the bill.
He could not help thanking God for two things. One the good doc was cheap and two he had mates who were willing to lend a hand. He could not wait for tomorrow.
Night
Alaba stirred the cocoa in his cup watching the milk, sugar and cocoa turn into a creamy brown liquid. His mouth watered as the sweet scent of cocoa wafted into his nostrils. Joke sat on the bed a few feet away with a wan look on her face. Her eyes kept fluttering. He knew it would not be long before she fell asleep.
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