Citrus

bonus chapter two: how it all began

Contains brief descriptions of violence and bullying, viewer digression is advised.

Bisola
Ten Years Ago.

Seated on a wooden bench, I stared at the open field clustered with boys in dusty shirts and shoes, chasing a worn-out leather ball and shouting frantically into the mid-morning air.

"Hey, Bisola. Are you listening to me?" A feline voice came in, waving her hand towards my face. I turned to look at Sewa and nodded at her.

"I am," I said. That was a lie, I hadn't heard a single thing she had said.

Her round cheeks reddens as she gazed at me with worry, but then she sighed and continued with her story. I didn't bother to listen.

Gazing distantly at the field, chewing softly on a few balls of puff-puff Sewa had bought for me earlier, I watched as our class boys played football with their seniors, their sweaty bodies gleaming in the sunlight. As I wiped my oily lips my stomach still growled in hunger, but I tried to ignore it. My class girls-or rather-my bullies had thrown my food in the dustbin.

I sighed, wiping my oily lips with the back of my palm and throwing the transparent nylon into a nearby dustbin.

"I told him that I can't date him o, that he's too young for me," Sewa trailed off and I nodded my head at her, pretending that I was listening to what she was saying. I was in a very sour mood today, and the only thing i wanted to do was go home and cry myself to sleep. God knew i couldn't keep up with all this.

As if it was fault that I was fat.

Ever since we had moved from Ikeja to the island, and I enrolled into Kingsville college, my life had been noting but utter hell. I had been humiliated ever since the day i got here because of my weight, and the only good thing that had happened to me was meeting Sewa, nothing else. Sometimes it drove me to the brink of insanity that it makes me want to--

"Watch out!" Sewa yells beside me, but it was already too late for as I turned to face her, wondering what the matter was, a huge ball comes crashing into my face.

The entire world went black for a second.

And then my ears began to ring, and the side of my face throbbed in pain. I could faintly hear the muttering of students who crowded me, and the worried questions from Sewa who sat beside me.

Whoever had kicked that ball had the legs of a god.

"Bisola, does it hurt?" Sewa asks. My head ached but I managed a nod, cradling my cheek with my palm, my skin beetroot red. "Who was the one that kicked that ball sef? Are you mad?"

The boys who were once playing on the field now hovered over us, mummering lowly to themselves. I knew quite well that if this went on, it would cause a commotion and I had to avoid that at all costs. I tried to stand but my head felt heavy, and it spun, making me unable to think straight.

"You guys should better talk. Who was the one that kicked the ball? If anyone does not say anything I'll tell Mrs. Adeola!" Sewa threatened.

I took my gaze up to look at her, "Sewa please don't-"

"It's me," A voice I didn't know said through the mummering crowd, or maybe my head was too messed up to recognize it. A boy with a crew cut, his jersey and shots stained with dirt stepped forward, giving me an apologetic look.