In the Loving Arms of Servitude

14. First Day at Kandore High

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ad-VER-tise-ment!... Repeat after me... Ad-VER-tise-ment!", Mr. Olaye, the English teacher proclaims to the students in class. And they all concur,
"Ad-VER-tise-ment!!!"

"Exactly!" he affirms again.

He is a man in his late thirties. Although, it almost seems as though he dyed some patches of his hair grey, in order to look older or more experienced. His beard also, is quite long; a bit too long for a teacher's. And the blue tint on his glasses are melding with the mirror-like reflections of light from their surface, making him look even more ominous. He is putting on a grey short-sleeved cotton shirt with neatly ironed ebony-black trousers. And goodness! His shoes! They are so shiny and perfectly spotless. How he manages to keep them that way all day is still a puzzle to everyone, and the leather on them is exquisite. This man seems to have good taste in clothing.

After the whole class responds, he continues, "... The stress is on the second syllable, and NOT on the third! These little errors can cost you marks in your Paper-Three. As an English student, I see no reason why you shouldn't score all sixty points in the oral English aspect of your WASSCE. It should be a piece of cake!.."
The sound of the bell interrupts him. And then James, who is sitting by the window at the middle-right corner of the classroom heaves a loud sigh of relief; making sure that Mr. Olaye notices his witty exclamation.
In response, Mr. Olaye adjusts his glasses and then sneers at James saying,"James!... Thank you so much for your relevant contributions to today's class discussion... During our next lesson, you will publicly present a letter of apology to the entire class for your inappropriate conduct during English lessons, afterwhich you will submit to me, a comprehensive essay of not less than a thousand words, on 'The Adverse Consequences of Digital Divide in Nigeria' ...I will definitely grade you on it. So you'd better take it seriously."
As he ends his monologue, the entire class begins to murmur. However, Uju makes sure to maintain a plain demeanor. Thereafter, Mr. Olaye picks up his book and white board maker from the table.
"Good day, everyone!" he finally echoes, before majestically exiting the class.
They all reply, "Good day, sir!"

Afterwards, the entire class descends into chaos. Some girls quickly gather to form a cluster at the window and start to chatter endlessly. Whereas, others are going about one form of business or another; some busy with their phones; some singing; some trying to finish their notes, and others just frolicking about. The next teacher has not come in yet, therefore, Uju remains seated behind her desk. She is new here, and she really does not know how things work, so she does not intend to do anything stupid.
She has missed the first two weeks of second term. And she still has a lot of notes to complete. Thus, she borrows a chemistry notebook from Stella, the nice girl whose desk is beside hers. Stella is a very kind and friendly girl; one who Uju would really love to get acquainted with as time goes on.
Hopefully, Uju will be able to finish copying the notes on Chemical Equilibrium before the Maths teacher arrives. In the heat of this busy moment, she feels a tap on her shoulder, afterwhich a slightly thick voice asks her, "Hey!... Your name is Uju, right?"

She turns back to look at him.

Truth be told, the day has been so hectic that Uju had not even notice the boy sitting behind her. Ever since she stepped into this class, she has barely even turned sideways, let alone looked behind. Well, now she has.
"Hm? Sorry... Yes. My name is Uju." she replies politely. Then Bayo smiles warmly and continues, "Alright. Please, could you lend me your English note?.. I didn't get the last part of Mr. Olaye's lesson."

"Okay." Uju replies swiftly and hands him her English notebook, afterwhich she immediately turns back to continue the dreadful task before her.
After collecting Uju's notebook, Bayo stares at her a bit longer, as though anticipating further discussion. But Uju is busy as a bee and does not even seem to remember that she just handed her notebook to someone. So he echoes at her, still pining for her attention, "Thanks a lot"

"Yeah, no problem." she responds almost unconsciously, as her hands scribble away. A bit dejected, Bayo gloomily drops the book on his desk and then opens it.
Afterwards, the mathematics teacher walks in. And immediately, everyone starts scurrying back to their seats. The group of girls quickly breaks up and Bolanle, the queen bee gracefully glides to her seat. Uju as well, quickly closes her chemistry notebook and adjusts herself properly behind her desk.

"Bolanle!... Give me that phone, right now." Mrs. Obi commands immediately she sights the cellphone in Bolanle's hand. Bolanle hesitates a bit, but then reluctantly stands up, rolling her eyes as she does so.

"If I slap the hell out of you this morning.. you'll ditch that attitude of yours! Are you allowed to bring cellphones to school??? Huh?... Answer me!" Mrs. Obi is pissed. This isn't the first time Bolanle has broken the rules. Mrs. Obi has warned against sneaking cell phones into class several times, because cell phones are not allowed within the school premises.

"No, ma.", Bolanle replies; her head down, although not in shame. She is a pretty girl; hence her status as queen bee of Kandore High. These days, her fame even surpasses those of S.S. 3 girls. She is always in charge of many social activities in school, such as singing, dancing, sports and of course, partying. Truth be told, this girl does know how to throw a good party; she and her co-socialite, James. They both virtually run the school now, since the S.S. 3 students are preparing for their WASSCE and JAMB examinations.

In a slightly remorseful manner, Bolanle gives the phone to Mrs. Obi.

"I don't know why you act so stubborn, Bolanle! You are not a bad person... But this foolish desire of yours to impress your peers through rebellious behaviour will be your downfall. And I tell you... if you do fall, none of them will support you. None of them will stand by you. Do you understand me? They are all just sycophants!... In the meantime, I am confiscating this phone. And after closing hours, I will give you your punishment." Then she pauses to catch her breath, as Bolanle walks dejectedly to her seat.

Mrs. Obi is the Form Teacher of S.S. 2B class. She is also their mathematics teacher and she is like a second mother to her students. Well at least, she tries to be. She is concerned about each student's well being and usually treats everyone fairly, although she still has her favourites. She came a little late to class today, because she was in a meeting with some other staff at the principal's office. "Good morning, everyone." she officially greets the entire class.

"Good morning, Ma!!", they all echoe.

Then she continues, "Before we begin today... I would like to introduce a new student in our midst- Obianuju Umeh!"
Uju immediately rises from her seat with a humble and docile smile on. Then they all clap; well, most of them. As the applause gradually ends, James makes sure to give a loud final clap, staring devilishly at Uju like a predator sizing up its prey.
Uju looks at him and turns back to Mrs. Obi, who then continues,
"... She is from Imo State. And she will be your classmate from now on... So I expect that you all will treat her with kindness and respect; and that you will assist her in learning the ropes here..."

"...Yes, we will!!!", James echoes loudly from his seat and then everybody laughs.
Uju is quite shy and a bit uncomfortable with all this, but she does not show it. Instead, she maintains her plain facial expression.
Mrs. Obi ignores James and continues,
"...Uju has missed two weeks of classes. Please assist her in catching up, by lending her your notebooks whenever you can... And for her sake, I will no longer give you guys a quiz today."

"Yes!!!..."
"Oh, thank God!..."
"O ṣeun ooo!!!..."
"Thank you, Uju...! "
Numerous remarks fill the air, as they all rejoice about the postponement of their quiz.
In response, Mrs. Obi proclaims earnestly, "..The quiz will be the day after tomorrow! So don't rejoice just yet."
"Awww!!!"
"Whyyy...???"
"Noooo...!!!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GLOSSARY
S.S. 3 - The final year of high school; equivalent to the '12th grade'.
S.S. 2 - The penultimate year of high school; equivalent to the '11th grade'.
WASSCE - West African Senior School Certificate Examination.
JAMB examination - Joint Admission and Matriculation Board Examination.
"O ṣeun ooo!!! ..." - "Thank youuu!!!..."

✨Thank you for reading! Please remember to vote if you liked this chapter.✨