You have two minutes more. Ms warned sternly, seated on her usual spot on her plastic blue chair in the middle of the compound and playing ominously with the large cane in her hands.
There was a mini uproar and I caught sight of some persons running towards the back with their bowls, while some others hastily and carelessly tossing their cloths into their rinsing bucket, and the rest like myself still busy washing as quickly, anxiously and furiously as we could.
Saturday's were our one and only washing day. Washing on any other day was a very illegal activity and if caught came with a very severe punishment. Some persons were unfortunate to have been caught in the past and it never went down well.
Normally we were entitled to washing on Thursdays as well. But according to what was said by those who had been around since the very beginning, Ms banned it after the first week, on the claim that they were too sluggish and wasted too much time.
Few times Ms had caught some persons flaunt the rule and it never went down well. I had only begun washing about three minutes ago and on my first uniform. I squeezed it quickly, threw it carelessly into the rinsing water and lunged for the second.
One thing I had learnt from my first hostel washing experience was to start off with my uniform. On my first washing day I started with other less important cloth items, naively thinking that we'd be given enough time. I was horribly wrong!
I couldn't really tell how I had managed to wash off all my clothes at the end of that day, but it had been a total mess! I lunged for my under wear sets. Those were the second most important on the list though. I liked to wash one at a time, it seemed more hygienic and effective than putting all the clothes into the washing bowl at once, like some persons.
I was washing as fast as I could and throwing into the rinsing bucket beside me.
"Guy how far?" I yelled at the girl beside me as large sods of foam splattered on my legs from her bowl. She had been washing so aggressively, and the lather from her bucket kept splashing on my leg. I meant to ignore at first but it was getting too much.
"Sorry." She apologized.
I hissed loudly.
"One minute more. If I were you I'd start running." Ms voice came. There was another little uproar. I was nearly done with my under wears now, what was left was my night wears. I again caught sight of a multitude of people rushing towards the back, their buckets and bowls in hand.
I wondered if they were done. Washing at the back wasn't allowed, that also was very illegal. I began washing two at a time in desperation while occasionally glancing from my bucket to Ms and back again.
"Bye." The girl by my righthand side waved to me as she rushed off with her bucket towards the back.
We stayed beside each other every washing day and also inadvertently always began and finished our washing at the same time. Now she was leaving before me. I scrubbed with even more fury and desperation. The good thing was that they were still a handful of people around and I only had two few clothes left.
I noticed a slight movement from Ms direction. I glanced over to see her rising slowly from her plastic blue chair in the distance. It just remained just my school beret and socks... I could make it in time before she got to me..
" 5, 4, 3, ..." Ms counted walking slowly in our direction at the right hand side of the compound. I could probably still finish I continued to tell myself as she walked slowly on towards us. The only thing was, myself and the some others were the closest ones to her on the compound! At this point I had stopped glancing back and forth, all my attention was on her but I continued to scrub furiously at the clothe in my hands.
