Previously On Dirty Diana.....
I did not break into any house, and neither did I steal any money” I said
“I have a proof”
“Joyce you have proof? Beautiful!
“This is where I wanted to burn it if not for the timely intervention of my husband”
“You can now go”
I turned to leave and Mrs Joyce protested
“Ah! Principal paaaa!! just like that?” She asked
“Don’t worry woman! I have a better plan” Wili-wili said.
I walked out of his office as tears began to caress my cheek, I wondered what was on the Principal’s mind, I was like an ant to a giant like Wili-wili and if he decided to vent his anger on me I’ll be doomed
The bell for morning assembly was rang, we both walked to the assembly hall.
” I would be quick and precise with my announcement, where is Diana Osaah?”
The crowd chorused “Dirty Diannnaa”
The moment my name was mentioned, I began to walk to the front of the Assembly
“This is the face of the thief, I want to use her as a lesson to you all
“She will be flogged 24×2 strokes by Mr Boateng right here on this table.
CHECK THE PAGE FOE EPISODE 6
S01E07
From the crowd of pupils I could see Diva, she looked at me with a face and hand gesture that conveyed the message ‘be strong’,
I walked to the table climbed on it and laid down on my tummy and my butt facing up, I was thankful in my heart that it wasn’t Wili-wili that would be the one oozing out his venom on me with his revered whip, Mr Boateng walked to were I was lying with a long cane, he faced the crowd as he raised his hand up
The cane landed on my buttock in a rather odd way he wasn’t flogging me hard as the crowd joined almost immediately in counting
“One!, Two, Three,… Six”
He was barely flogging me as the cane was used to give my buttocks a light pat, Mrs Joyce got angry as she walked from where other teachers were lined up, walked to the table, dragged the cane out of her husband’s hand and said
“Your not flogging this silly girl well, excuse me please” she sighed as she held the cane so firm and looked at the crowd saying
“You guys would join me in counting again, let’s start afresh” she said
There was instant shouts of injustice
“Aaah Aunty its unfair o” a voice from the crowd said, She smiled and said “Yes, its not meant to be good, this would make none of you to try such act again”
She then used her hand to arrange my skirt straight and then pressed my buttocks to know if I had anything like a padding under to reduce the pain, that’s some trick we student implore to resist the harsh strokes of the likes of Mrs Joyce and Wili-wili
When she touched and felt I had nothing under, then she began to flog me and the crowded joined immediately to count, the pain from each stroke was like a hot metal placed in a furnace to get red-hot and then stamped on my skin to leave its imprint of horrific pain
I had resolved not to cry or shake no matter how painful her strokes were, all I did was clench my fist and closed my eyes, by the time she got to 30 she was breathing like a sprinter who just finished a 100metres race, gasping for breathe as her strokes became weaker and students burst into laughter screaming
“Burner! Dirty Diana!”
Mrs Joyce raised her head up and flashed her eyes at the crowd as there was instant silence!, she then screamed
“Let me just catch one person, infact if I hear a word! from anybody here, you guys would cut grass the whole day”
And she continued with her flogging, I did not shake neither did i cry, I came down from the table, walked to join my classmates as we stayed in rows, the ovation I got was the loudest the school had ever received since its inception, the students went wild in celebration screaming
“Dirty Diana!! Burner!!”
We all were asked to kneel down and the principal ordered that all students should be punished, we were shared into groups and made to work on farmlands and the school football field.
How I turned from the ‘Dirty Diana’ in the real word to a very popular student in less than three weeks was a huge surprise to me, the more my popularity grew, the more the thick wall of enmity between Shemima and I grew
TO BE CONTINUED
