CONFLICTED

Chapter 57| Letter

Chapter 57: Letter

Christopher

I was graduating high school. There was no better joy than this concept. I spent just my senior year at Chrisland and I could remember Richard and I agreeing we had just six months left before we left the shitty walls of secondary school for good. Now that we were putting on our red gowns and mortarboard with yellow tassels, we were rather sulking than jubilating. It was more or less the last day we got to see each other before we all went our separate ways and that's just sad.

Hilltop high, however, only held memories of me being a troublemaker and that's why Chrisland held more significance to me than the school I attended in Lagos. I came in Kelvin's car while my parents came separately in theirs. Hilltop was having their sendoff party the following week so Kelvin was able to attend my graduation before having his, which I planned on attending too. His parents and his kid sister also promised to be around for me and just everyone I had as family was more excited about this than I was.

I actually preferred to have my testimonial mailed to me than attend the shitty ceremony but that's not an option for my dad who's always been obsessed with his son making great achievements and being there to smile into the camera when I got celebrated for it. I also had a famous pop singer for a girlfriend that I'd rather be with as she graduated but here I was. Although, we planned to meet up in her school once I was done with the most part at mine. The ceremony was yet to begin but I was already looking forward to our rendezvous.

The auditorium was our ceremonial building today and it was gigantically sat in the center of the school's territory. The parking lot got crowded with different rides before ten a.m that some had to go park their cars elsewhere. The grand hall was built to accommodate up to thousands of people and a thousand more seemed to be around for the occasion. There was the ground floor and two more floors above it and people were starting to fill the seats already. I went to find my seat in the front row seats on the ground floor already labelled as the graduand section. Each seats had name tags pinned on them and once I found mine, I dropped my rucksack on it and left for the dressing room to get my gown.

"Have you heard?"

Charlie came up to me in his gown partially exposing his dressed to kill attire beneath while I was about putting mine on.

"What?" I grunted.

Besides seeing the guys once again, I really was getting bored out of my mind here. The lacklustre get-together had better ended soon or I might as well toss my little modesty aside to vociferate my strong distaste.

"Tim is not graduating with us." he said and I scoffed, adjusting my gown on me.

"Why am I not surprised?"

I remembered Timothy. George Timothy, the proprietor's only adopted son. The proprietor of Chrisland was an Indian and his husband was English. Timothy happened to be the spoilt bastard that got adopted by the gay couples here in Nigeria. The thought of him alone made my stomach churn in rage as the only time I had a business with him was when he brushed his scrawny hands up An—I mean Rose's skirt. He deserved that slap after all.

"He failed Waec." Charlie continued, "The entire school know of it already. Oh, he's in rehab too. Apparently, he's been doing drugs the whole time."

"And you're telling me these because..?"

I really had zero empathy for him and neither should it be of much concern to Charlie but he was looking down in the dumps by the news.

"I just pity him, I guess."

"He chose to be a junkie, okay? I don't even give a fuck. He was a bully to everyone too and he's done us a huge favor by not showing his crack ass up in here."