Yellow Tales of a Nigerian Housemaid (completed)

Chapter Thirty Eight

I was mentally counting the ticking sound of the clock, when a sudden gush of adrenaline pumped in excitement into my system. I sang and clapped happily as I remembered the nutrition article I'd written. It was strange though, because I was certain I'd written off points in my work. But I feel I was being happy simply for the fact that I was partaking in the school competition, for the very first time. The assembly ground was beside the school field, the croaky voice of the students roared high up in the sky and the thunders from their claps, chased the hovering birds away. The sound of the morning praises was a mixture of right and off keys, which was caused by students who were struggling to sound better than the others.

About four teachers stood by my right, with another maneuvering through the spaces created by the rows of students. He had a huge cane in hand and awkwardly sang along in the praises. His eyes flashed like torchlight as they bore warning signals to our misgivings, while his cane danced comfortably to the rhythm of the songs.

I glanced at my bag which sat comfortably on the rough dusty floor, and my lips curved into a smile when I remembered my article hidden in there. For the first time ever, I was going to participate in the school's activity and the thought alone satisfied me.

With the assembly finally over, I scampered to my bag just as the students rushed to class. Dusting and slinging it over my shoulder, I turned right and made my way to the staffroom. The staffroom was an old bungalow which was built at the other end of the school, away from the classrooms. The next building after it was the administration and non academic block. At the far left from the admin block were the students hostels which were named after religious saints. I haven't ever been there before and have always longed to see how the interior looked.

I stopped beside the staffroom, suddenly losing my confidence to knock and walk in the door. After waiting in futility to see if any teacher would walk out the door, I sighed and made my way towards it. I climbed the brief stairs and stood before the door which was firmly shut, and once more, I lost my confidence. I stepped away to the window, pacing along the passage beside it. The louvres used for the windows were closed shut and I hovered impatiently trying to regain my composure. To my surprise, the louvres opened suddenly forcing me to take quick steps away from it.

"What is it? Why are you pacing along the corridor? And why are you not in class?" An elderly woman asked with her eyes bulging through the black iron protector.

She had a round facial structure with a dark curly wig sitting loosely on her head. I know you would ask how I knew it was a wig? Well it was very similar to that of Mama, and the fringe was hanging free like a bird ready to fly away.

She had a glass on which from my point looked like a double lens. The spectacle sat on the tip of her nose like that of an old professor.

"Good morning ma" I greeted trying to force a smile.

"What is it?" She repeated ignoring my greetings.

"I want to submit my article on nutrition" I was as confident, as I could ever be. She raised her eyeglass a bit to view me properly.

"And why are you submitting now?" Her tone was as cold as ice.

"I wasn't aware until yesterday ma"

"And how long has the announcement been going on?"

"Two weeks as I heard ma"

"Sorry you're late, the article has been submitted for review, Get out!"

I stepped back a little and the louvres were shut once again. A pool of tears rushed to my eyes but I batted my eyelids severally to fight them back. I never envisioned this disappointment, and therefore never prepared my heart for it. I lowered myself on the brief stairs while resting my feet on the rough sand. I kicked my legs slowly in the sand and watched it sprinkle on my sandals. I kept swallowing hard spits, and slowly lost myself to deep worry.