[Story] Love, Lust And Lost

8 years ago

[Story] Love, Lust And Lost

“Hanha! What do you mean by that?” Zainab questioned. Her facial expression stood like a false question mark – drawn in a wrong direction.

“I mean say, me self been come meet una make una buy food for me” he replied while his friends took to a bench. Later they stood up to serve themselves doughnuts and took drinks from the cooler afterwards.

Laz on his own, haven’t done anything yet. He still stood close to the door entrance, talking to the girls.

“Don’t you know Lazarus is stingy?” Fatimah mocked.

“Hahaahahaha! Fatimah, for your mouth?” Said Laz, he covered his mouth now as he wanted to laugh a dry laugh. He did laugh and came to take his seat by Fatimah’s side on the bench.

“You wey I know!” Mariam cut-in “you stingy like mad!” She added.

“How you take know say mad stingy?” Laz make joke as always.

The girls went silent for some seconds looking questioningly at each other, then three of them laughed at the same time. Laz was more serious now, as if he were a professor examining his students project.

“I ask una, you Mariam especially. How you take know say mad stingy?” Now using his hand to ask the question the way he spoke.

No one had ever been detemined as Laz the way he behaved at the moment – asking a matter-of-fact question which looked stupid to both friend. They knew this clown was driving at a joke and they were enjoying themselves laughing.

“Well, as una no fit answer make una pity me buy me doughnut and drink” he pleaded but the friends looked at one another, laughed again. Stood up without making a speech – in unison.

They collected their doughnuts and drinks and headed out of the kiosk. Laz looking at the way they moved and walked.

“Stingy asses” he lashed out “Iya dough, abeg give me 5 doughnuts and one Pepsi abeg. Make I use `coolem’ my mind.”

Meanwhile,………..

He sat first, on the chair. Then later he stood up. Walked some step towards the blackboard but turned back. He sat on his desk staring into the board but nothing seemed to be on his mind, yet he was restless. He knew he was not himself but couldn’t say exactly what it is. He stood up again, this time, went towards the wooden window and leaned on one of the 8 that ventilated the room.

The classroom was big enough to contain 70students. About 35 chairs and desks were well arranged in the rows of 5, – 7 on each row. He had chosen the second row to the door. The only door in the classroom which was well etched at the side-back of the classroom. Though, the architect or whoever might have done the job must have deemed it a job well done but to many of the students, it was a wrong and a bad job done in the negative.
what on earth would have made such person put the door in a position that, when teachers come into the class, no one would know or have a clue a teacher was standing behind them – watching their activities.

It was a mistake to make such move but it was a bigger mistake it had been the class assigned to be the Art class. But it won’t last for long, he thought.

He turned and removed his resting arms from the window, facing the classroom again and staring towards the fancy block windows or rather decoration blocks. He saw Daniel and Vincent ruminating on their books. The Biology and the Commerce they’ve done that day before the bell for brake rang. He sure knew they were good, especially Daniel in which they had attended the same primary school. The boy was a genius and he remembered how they had done some great things with the jet club back then.

Daniel had changed his surname at the primary 4 from Onikoyi to Ojuade but they still looked same thing, so long it was still the letter `O’ that started the two. Only God knew why his parents had changed the name but he was less concerned about that, for now.

“Arh, God! I don go give this guy money wey suppose help my life to chop. Now, na 60naira remain for my hand, how I go take chop food of 40naira inside then, the remain 20naira for transport?” He thought.

Deeped his hand into his right pocket and view the whole 50naira and 10naira note, then later pushing it back into his pocket.

“Wooooo! Make I go buy this ten ten naira kpako gala 3 and drink ten naira sachet (pure)-water on top joor” he resolved, stood up and was making for the door when Izu met him coming inside.

“Guy, how far? Where you dey go” Izu questioned.

“I just wan reach field. I wan go buy gala and water. Like this, I dey H badly.”

“Okay, may be we go talk later,” Izu said and made to leave but Adefemi called him back.

The two had been a close friend since Izu joined his class at primary 4. They were perfect example of the two friends given in one Macmillian reader back in the primary school. One was fat and the other was thin, black and fair. Igbo and Yoruba natives.

They had really been close to the extent, Izu’s dad had always wanted them to be together after school.

Izu also often brought to school then, what helped Adefemi keep his stomach intact. Fried eggs, plantain with bread. That was some delicacy he always loved to eat from Izu. He had often said, that was the food that made Izu fat and he couldn’t resist eating with him, so he could also add weight.

“What about Theresa? When last you hear from her?” He asked looking into his friends face which happened to have changed “this one wey she no come school today, wetin do her?”

“Omo guy, forget that girl joor. She don travel out” Izu said swerving his mouth.

“Arh!!!” Adefemi exclaimed “you mean am?”

“Guy, how I go dey play with that kind thing. The babe don go abroad joor”

“Hmmmm, na wa o” he said and walked out on Izu.
His thoughts now, had spread. What if Tosin and Zainab A. also decided not to come again, what would happen to him?. They both hadn’t come to school today and with what Izu had just said about Theresa, he felt insecured.

“Anyway! Today is the first day of school. There is still time. Probably next week for them to come!”

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At the other hand,………

Two boys with a woman appeared from the school gate. One was in his Junior uniform while the other, in mufti. The woman tied a blue fashioned wrapper to her waist below the white lace blouse she wore. Her face looked bright in her make-up.

They approached two students they saw at the foot of a mango tree close to the SS1 science class.

“Good morning” they all greeted the student

“Morning ma”. They replied the woman rather ignoring the two other guys. It was still 11:47am.

“Please, where is the principal’s office?” Arizona also known as Austin asked.

“Go towards that building, I mean the Junior school. That left end is the principal’s office,” they directed watching them leave.

“Come guy, see as this guy huge! Omo, this one na `kefty’ (hefty) o.” A student on the first floor said to his friend that leaned on the railings with him.

“Mehn, this one go beat teacher for class o” his friend said.

“How teacher go take control this kind person? The guy suppose to go dey fight boxing or do bouncer.”

“My mind tell me say the guy na SS1 him wan enter. E go hard o”

They bickered continuously as their focused images moved further close to the Junior school building.

The whole school after he had later settled with the principal and had been asked to come with some other documents, seemed to be marveled at David’s height and fierce look. His face was totally rugged, packed and sq££zed in a frown. Such person would not know how to laugh when other’s laugh, they thought and later forgot about him once the bell rang for the close of school. He had picked art class againt arizona’s choice of science. The class of many `ruggedians’ as himself.

“Guy, abeg `mook’ (make) we reach school 2,” Maxwell said to some of his friends.

School 2 as fondly known is not always a cozy place to go to but still – students in their groups often received afternoon lectures there. It had always been so since their junior schoo.

Indeed, afternoon lectures it is. Such lectures they were unable to grab in school 1.

“Come James, follow us! I swear you go like the place. Them dey sell fried fish there with confirm chillings” Maxwell persuaded James, a very short boy. It’s sure, he was the shortest amongst the SS1 students.

James was from a well brought-up home just like Maxwell but his parents weren’t as endowed materially as Maxwell’s.

Maxwell lived in one of the rich houses in Dolphin Estate while James lived in the lower class quarters of the Dolphin Barracks.

“Wetin dem they do there?” The timid little James asked.

“No worry, just follow us, you go know when you get there!”

To Be Continued….