TEENAGE TRAUMA

Chapter 8- Too far

The next Wednesday, our tests began and Tricia had still not shown up at school and Amber of course, sat in her seat during the tests and most probably cheated. The tests were going smoothly and Kevin and I seemed to be on good terms, none of us even spoke about Tricia at all. I guessed he already decided to go without me as I had proposed. Everything was going smoothly until Josh decided to pull a huge stunt on our invigilator, Mr. West.

Mr. West was a really strict teacher who looked like he was in his late  60's. He always wore a formal tux with a plain and boring tie. His hunched back, complimenting his bald head and long cane, fondly known as 'Mr. Do good' which he sometimes used to support his balance. Apparently, Mr. West and Josh were like sworn enemies. Mr. West never liked Josh because he was almost impossible to control and Josh hated him back since the day he informed the principal about Josh smoking in the school toilet with some men outside the window. The principal got Josh suspended for three weeks and Josh had ever since made his hatred for Mr. West well known.

During our test that Friday, Mr. West, being the only teacher in the room sat on the available teachers' desk in the room looking really tired. He asked the whole class to submit their papers, though most people refused. He wearily looked around confirming that all students had placed their papers on the front desk and slowly gave into the sleep he had clearly been fighting since he stepped into the class.
Many students saw this as an opportunity to cheat and probably have a look at the questions of other forthcoming papers but Amber and Josh sternly instructed the class to play along with what they were about to do. Josh placed bottles of alcoholic drinks and a rolled piece of paper which definitely looked like cigarettes on Mr. West's palm. I didn't quite understand what it was but I'm sure it was drugs as I wouldn't be surprised if Josh had something like that. He dashed out of the classroom, together with some guys to the principal's office and soon, the principal appeared in our class.
I felt very bad for Mr. West though I had no idea what exactly Josh had planned. "What on earth is going on here?!" The principal, Mrs. Bisi exclaimed, fuming with anger as she shot Mr. West scornful looks with her fire dominated eyes. "Mr. West, what's all this nonsense?" She continued. Mr.West, still unaware of the situation, rather shocked, shook his head and looked around perplexed. "Do you need me to do something, Miss?" He inquired.
"Yes, I need you to explain your self! What do you think you're doing? Is this man drunk or something?" Mrs. Bisi raged.
       "I just took a short nap and..." Mr. West stated but was immediately cut off as he looked at his table. He tremulously reached for his glasses in his breast pocket, put them on and exclaimed.

      "What is this?" He inquired in bewilderment. He paused for a moment and the look of realisation filled his face, he knew this was definitely bad. "I don't know, you tell me!" Mrs. Bisi answered, "This does not look good for you at all, sir, not only did  you leave the students unsupervised during a test, you're also on drugs in a classroom! These are probably even illegal! Oh, you are so fired and only a miracle can stop me from having the police confirm these aren't illegal! Join me in my office in less than a split second, Sir. Say your goodbyes because I can assure you, you will never step foot in this building, ever again!". "No, wait, I promise these aren't mine, hear me out please, I can't afford to loose this job, I have to feed my youngest kid and I will never do anything to jeopardise this job. It's all I've got please. Children, please! You're my witnesses, please tell your principal what actually happened. All I did was take a nap, please, kids, who put these here? Ho-how did they even get here? Say something". Mr. West pleaded dearly with the students and with the principal, I could've sworn I felt tears drop down my cheeks, I knew the truth, we all did. But Josh? No one dared go against him. It felt like an arrow in my heart seeing an old man on his knees, begging me. He cried and cried and then I realised how much he must have needed the job. I felt so powerless and I hated it as I knew snitches definitely got stitches. Silence filled the class and the tension in the air, you could cut with a knife.

            I looked at Kevin and it was impossible to miss the melancholy in his eyes too. All I could do then was pray, pray that Mr. West will be proven innocent and Josh is the one who goes down for having such substances. "Ę jòó, èyin àwon omo yìí, ę sòrò-(Please, you children, Talk!) Mr. West said. The principal obviously felt bad for him as she kept quiet and just stared at him, not in pity, not in disgust, not in anything at all! No one could tell what was going on in her mind. "Get up, sir, let's continue this in my office" she finally spoke and left the classroom. Mr. West picked up his stick and followed, leaning on two students who volunteered to support him to the principal's office.
       Josh walked up to me immediately he left the class. "What's up?", trying to initiate a conversation. "F*ck off, Josh!" I replied, trying not to do anything I'll regret. "Oh, please! You're not mad because of what just happened now, are you? He deserved that, okay? You're being dramatic" he said, rolling his eyes.
       
     "Deserved? You're saying he deserved that? What the hell is wrong with you, you're crazy, Joshua, crazy! I always knew you were nothing but a dangerous wannabe but this? This is just a step too far, Josh! Have you no shame? Remorse, a heart? You had no right at all to do that and you know it. Now you come to me like you think you're worth it but you're not, you worthless piece of sh!t! Those actions of yours could've killed someone, you know that? I don't even care what he's done to you, at least according to what I've heard, you know that all he said about you is true, isn't it? You think you're cool, all because you're now known as a criminal, you think it's a cool legacy? News flash, idiot, it's not! Do your worst? What are you gonna do anyway? Send your gang to attack me in the middle of the night, or frame me for a crime? You seem to think you're an expert in that with that tiny brain of yours, obviously too underdeveloped to understand that there's no evidence of Mr. West doing that nonsense and there's more than 30 witnesses! So yeah, you're not such a mastermind as you thought. An old man tried protecting the school from you and you think you're the victim here? My dear you're far from being the victim. You and your so called friends. I guess Birds of the same feather do flock together. Now get the hell out of my face" I screamed at Josh with bloodshot eyes, unable to hold back my tears. Why am I crying? I cry when I'm angry. It's a good way for me to let out strong emotions🤷🏽‍♀️.