IRAWO: My Quest for Freedom 7

 

Chicken Palaver (Continued)

We learnt that Ehiedu’s father made him do menial jobs like bricklaying and heavy household chores. He was fifteen years old at this time. He was made to do all these tasks in order to raise the fine for participating in the chicken theft. He was also tortured in other ways by his father. Ehiedu could not take it anymore. He hung himself on the ceiling fan in his room; he committed suicide!

The news affected us all. This news also affected another classmate of ours. The shock of this news affected him. He suffered from bipolar disorder. He felt that he was the cause of the deceased because he was the one that invited the deceased to help out with the stove which Ehiedu designed. 

It took the support of this other boy's parents for him to complete his exams too. All the chicken thieves also felt very guilty. They felt they had a hand in his death. 

What an abusive father! How much did a chicken cost back then that he could not afford to repay for his son?! 

Anybody who could afford to send his or her child to my school back then was comfortable. Only God will judge him. I hope that guilty conscience has already killed him! Ehiedu would have been 37 if were alive, probably a great inventor that would have done Nigeria proud. 

This is a lesson for us as parents not to over do our children's punishments. He could have just been scolded but not punished in a severe manner.

Continue to rest in peace, Ehiedu. I will always remember you.

Ring Boiler Palavar

Ring boilers were a taboo in the hostels. If Miss Kareem caught you, you were already dead!

In one of the numerous ring boiler escapades, the common room was the venue. The common room was a place where we could go relax and chill out. 

Then, it became the lost but found dumping ground. Then, it became another room, an extra room, as new students struggled to find a place to sleep. 

In my mind, I wondered why the school management board would continue to admit students they could not adequately cater for. Later, my questions were answered. Another hostel would be built. It was built but I had left the school before it was commissioned.

In the common room, dinner number 2 was almost served. Of course, we had eaten dinner but you know students will always want to do aseju. Miss Kareem, our strict and notorious house mistress would come in unannounced. 

She went far this time, dressed in a re-washed and neatly pressed lost but found house wear.  She covered her head with a scarf. She stood amongst the students getting set to eat dinner number 2 as the rice and corn beef and sardine stew was served round and they got ready to eat, she shouted, 

“Hold it! Hen hennnnnn! When you are supposed to be observing light out, you are eating round 2. Oya stay there o! Stay there o! I have seen you, Helen Osika! Oya come out o!.........”

Little did we know that Helen, my senior, was nursing a pain quietly under her wrapper. She did not know when she shouted, 

“Yeh! My bombom! Yeh!”

“Yeh kini?” asked Miss Kareem

“ My bombom oooooo! I sat on the ring boiler!”

“Hen! Oti gbe l’eni! Oya get up! All of you that I caught, one, two, three, four …..........All of you see me with your cutlass tomorrow”.

Helen Osika’s buttocks was badly burnt, she could not walk properly for days. She also cut grass, burnt buttocks or not. I hear she is late now.  May her soul rest in peace.

In another edition of the ring boiler escapades, I was there. I was one of the cast in this story. The ring boiler was mine.  

I stood at the entrance of the door ready to flee at the sight of danger. Danger came in the form of Mrs. Otokiti. She was our Literature in English and English language teacher. 

She was a dark skinned and bespectacled lady who had a daughter that suffered from rickets. I did not like her and her classes. She was too straight to the point; no jokes, straight face, etc. I endured her classes because literature in English was my best subject.

I fled like I planned to. The ring boiler was mine but when she asked who owned it, the shock of the moment did not let anyone of my accomplices remember anything. I flew on my bed, covered my head with my wrapper and my mosquito net and pretended to have been sleeping forever.

The following day, they all served punishment. I did not go near that area. I was free!

To be continued.

IRAWO:My Quest for Freedom 6

Hello.

I continue my story;my memoirs about some events in my memory.

If you would like to read from the beginning of this series, kindly start reading from here.

Chicken Palaver

In 1994, a few months to our SSCE examinations, some male students, my mate and juniors went to the school poultry and stole some chickens, slaughtered and ate them. They tasted delicious and so, another batch of boys, along with some of the old batch, went back to steal more chickens.

A stove was invented by my classmate, Ehiedu Isimoya. He made it from different sizes of old beverage tins and used an old towel to make the wool. He was a scientist in the making. His father wrote some physics and chemistry textbooks and some were used by the science students as part of the curriculum. In the boys' hostel, Ehiedu used to invent many things like touch light, fan, etc. 

Batch two chickens tasted even better. The period of the raid was during the Ramadan fasting period. Two Muslim boys amongst them gave their girlfriends some chicken to chop for Sari. The two girls took some to the hostel and also gave some to their friends. Those that could not get a share became angry and katakata happened and the truth came out in the open.

All the culprits, except their girlfriends, were called out during morning assembly. They were made to cut grass and were suspended for two weeks. Upon resumption, they were to pay a certain amount of money to make up for the stolen chickens.

Ehiedu was a shy boy. Whenever he spoke to me, he was always shy to look at me in the eyes. He was fair in complexion, chubby and short in stature. He had a cute smile. Best of all, he was a genius, a very brilliant boy.

One day, whilst in JSS 1 and in our temporary site at Government College, Epe, we had a math class on a Saturday morning. I had done my laundry and I washed all my house wears, sport wears and school uniforms. 

There had been a water shortage a week before then so my laundry was large. This day was the best day to do all my laundry. I put on a pair of mufti shorts which I had with me; it was not a recommended wear and I prayed that I would not be caught. I wore my cardigan too. My breasts were still as small as the smallest agbalumo seeds. They were visible through the holes of the cardigan. I knew that. I did not care.

Ehiedu got fascinated at my chest. I concluded afterwards because when the class was over, he did not leave. He was not in JSS 1A like me. He was a member of JSS 2B but he had to come to my class for the combined Math class. I told you earlier on that I always stayed back in class to study to avoid hostel gbege. I hated being sent on errands by my seniors so I always went to study in class every Saturday after Saturday inspection.

I would pack some provision to munchh on and water or juice to drink. After lunch, I would go back to class to study more and sleep. I would go back to the hostel after dinner to prepare for Saturday social nights.

I was standing by the window with my elbows on the seal. He came and stood in front of me. He was staring at my chest. I did not move. I watched him, wondering what he was up to. Then he slowly raised his right hand and touched my right breast with his index finger and looked into my eyes. Then, he dropped his hand and said he was sorry and ran out of the class. Apparently, the holes of my cardigan were large enough for my nipples to peep through them.

Egba mi! I wanted to kill this boy! I stood there transfixed wondering if what had just happened was a dream. Did it happen? Was I dreaming? I wanted to catch him and punch him. I figured how I would do it in my head. Maybe when he was settled down to eat in the dinning hall, I would go behind him and punch him hard. I looked forward to doing it in reality. 

All of a sudden, I felt pity for him. Probably, he was just curious. He had just had his little adventure………..on me!

Ehiedu avoided me until we got to SS 3.We were fixed on the same table in the dining hall. The story of seniors bullying juniors over food was becoming rampant. So, the school authority decided to fix table space according to classes, so we could pick our own mate to bully. 

In our set, his number and name came before mine; E= Ehiedu, F= Famugbode for mock and SSCE examinations.

We became friends but I never mentioned our JSS 1 experience to anybody. When girls planned to retaliate a strike at table, he would plead with me to reserve his food. 

Striking or Consuming were slangs used when a student or a group of students took all the food in the pot for themselves as a form of greed or retaliation of a past irrational serving. 

So I said,

“When the boys strike, you should also keep my food. When we strike, I will keep your food. Failure to comply with this agreement, the deal is off".

"Deal?”

"Deal!"

Henceforth, I started to look out for him, watch his back and gist with him. Sometimes, I would go to him to help me out with my Math.

A few days after the chicken thieving culprits were caught; Ehiedu’s father came to our school to protest that he was not going to pay his son’s fine. 

According to him, he sent Ehiedu to school to come and learn and study and not to be thieving chickens. Even if he was going to pay the fine, Ehiedu would have to pay for it. He would have to do menial jobs to get his hard earned money back because he has been disgraced. With that, he stormed out of the vice principal’s office and out of the school premises.

Our SSCE examination was fast approaching. All the suspended boys had paid their fine and had resumed school. 

When Ehiedu did not show up for his first paper, Oral English, we all knew something was amiss. We suggested that someone living close to him in the metropolis should go and make enquiries about him to find out specifically why he had not resumed school for his exams. Yemi Branco was selected and he agreed to go.

His feedback would shock us!

I will continue in my next edition.