Must Read: Ade

Episode 7 years ago

Must Read: Ade

The footsteps we heard were Shola’s.


They were distinct from every other person’s in
the school, an observation only known to
Rotimi and I. The others in the school, to
the best of our knowledge, were oblivious
of this fact. We had tested them on various
occasions and they hadn’t been able to
know she was the one approaching.
That day, she sang as she came and I must
say, Shola has one heck of a voice. A
sonorous voice that the angels would envy.
No wonder she hides under it to perpetrate
her evil acts.


She sang to the tune of Tupac’s ‘Shoot em
all’. I knew the song courtesy of my uncle,
Toyman, who is ardent fan of the late
singer. She flicke her fingers as she sang
the song, in a way the Igbos would say that
she had been enveloped by the spirit of the
song.


She entered the room and all heads turned
to look at her. We too had been singing
Gbenga Adeboye’s ‘Choices’. With the track,
‘Nje e ti gbo’ on our lips as she stepped
into the staffroom. Rotimi and I increased
the tempo with which we played the
characters in the track. I playing Gbenga
Adeboye, Rotimi playing the backup and
followers.
We intentionally laughed aloud and dared
anyone to talk especially Shola. But she
never said a word, rather, she stopped her
song and greeted everybody generally and
walked carefully to her seat. She walked as
one who had hot coals on the floor would,
picking her steps and looking at the floor,
thereby avoiding our eyes. We had become
a terror to her. Are we to blame?



I knew the other teachers too would be
wondering what was wrong with the ever
boisterous Shola, especially her two
accomplices. They looked from one to the
other and then to Shola and then to us as
they made efforts to know what was
wrong. The look on their faces told us of
severe brain wracking and it triggered
another round of laughter between us. I
must say, we were criminals!
All went back to their work and those not
working were packing their bags in
anticipation of going home to a good or
bad night rest. We, on our own, faced our
business of marking and in less than thirty
minutes, we had almost dealt with the piles
on our tables. We joked and talked on as
we marked. We were almost through with
the books when I noticed a shadow across
my table.
I had never been aware that someone
approached me at all and I was sure that
Rotimi too was caught unawares. The
owner of the shadow had either moved
stealthily or we had been engrossed in our
working banter that we didn’t notice. I
looked sideways at Rotimi to see his face
crease into a deadly frown. But the person
was facing me and not him. He looked at
me questioningly and I replied that I had
no idea what the person wanted. All the
while I had not looked at the person. But I
was begining to feel suffocated by the
person’s presence.


I raised my head to look questioningly into
the smiling face of Shola as she stood tall
over my table looking as if she had just
heard that she would win Miss World with
that smile of hers. I wondered what she
was looking for but something told me
right then that she is up to something.


Either good or bad, I was not told.


”Hello, Ade, we finally have a chance to talk.
I have been waiting for this day. Finally, it’s
here. I love the stunt you guys have been
pulling since break time. The reason for it,
we will talk about. But before then, I must
commend you for your good sense of
judgement and influence. You have
succeeded in winning your friend over to
your side.” She said as Rotimi moved over
to my side of the table. A drama was about
to begin.


”Shola, what do you want from me or us?
For the past two terms or so, I have done
my best to avoid you and I think I did it
well. And I can’t remember having any
unfinished business with you. If there is
any, please let me know and we settle it
fast and we end this unholy chat.” I rolled
out angrily.
She took it coolly. She still had that
annoying smile plastered on her also
frustratingly beautiful face. I don’t know
why I still noticed her beauty in spite of my
bitterness towards her in such a bad time.
She sat herself on my table and made
herself comfortable. Then she asked, ”Can’t
you remember my face? Rotimi, you too?”
Still very bitter, my trusted friend replied,
”We don’t need to look into your face. We
don’t know people like you.”
Again, she just smiled or let me say, she
began grinning.
”Well then, since you both seem to
remember me. You might not get it so
clearly. But I will toggle those handsome
brains of yours. From the first day you guys
had been employed and you stepped into
this room, I had been looking for a way to
get familiar with you. I thought I was
wrong about having met you, but I get
more convinced by the day that we had
met somewhere. Then I began my research
till I got it. Now, I knew why you don’t
remember me. To cut this long story short. I
will ask one question. Where did you guys
do you National Service?” She asked, still
grinning at our furious faces.