The young Cavalry

Chapter 6

***THE BITTER CITY***

It kept on happening like this, everyday Mrs. Binta to us to school she leaves me at the gate to trek after closing. One day I went back home looking very rough and Umma was wondering of what happened, she held my hand and drag me to Mrs Binta. She was sitting in the parlour and was watching her favorite tv show. 

Umma: Good afternoon madam......

Mrs Binta: mhmm mhmmm...?

She doesn't want to talk.

Umma: It's about Ali, look at him..

Mrs Binta: (frowned) yes! ... I can see him, I guess their lesson time has been added. Who brought you back Ali?, your lesson teacher right?

I nodded yes because she warned me well of telling the truth about the matter.

Umma took me to her room with an angry mood, she asked me to removed my dirty uniform so that she can soak it in a detergent, she brought out her cellphone charging cable which I thought she was going to plug her phone. "Ali, Ali, if you fail to tell me the truth I'll beat the hell out of you this afternoon." She scoldingly  told me.

I was very afraid because since my first day in the house I haven't seen her mood changed from smiling face.

Umma: Mrs Binta told me that you're taking an extra lesson at school, is it true?

"No, I am not taking any extra lesson" I replied 

Umma: so why are you not coming back home with zainab and what happened that am seeing a fresh wound on your elbow?

"She always used to ask me to trek back home everyday the school closes, and a friend pushed me on the street while I was coming back." I replied.

Umma has been a very sensitive and caring  one on everything that happened to me. She felt sorry for me for hearing what I've said, "Ali I'll be the one to pick you from school everyday Mrs Binta take you to school. What I want you to do is don't leave the school's gate , wait for me always. I promise I'll come.. You hear?" Umma said to me.

So she had to sneak everyday Mrs Binta drove out of the house to pick zainab, she had to trek too to the school and we trekked back home together. Sometimes  we used a tricycle.

Things continued to happened bitterly and getting worse.

It was late in the night I felt  vibration through my stomach, I woke up and realize that it was Umma's phone that l was sleeping over while she slept off and left me playing game on the phone. I waked her up by saying " UMMA UMMA." 

She woke up and answered the phone while I layed my head back on the pillow and continued to sleep, i then heard a crying voice talking through my sleep but that didn't woke me up. Till in the morning I saw Umma packing her clothes and she was crying. She couldn't talk to me and she went out of the room carrying her bag, I tried to follow but before then she's gotten a tricycle and left already.

I went back inside the house wondering  of what would make her cry but most important is who would make me food and take care of me.

Mrs Binta glanced through the window " HEY, will you go and wear your school uniform or you're waiting for me to come and dress you?" She shouted.

That day I dressed improperly putting my bow tie on the neck instead of under the collar, I couldn't stock in my shirt well, I looked very rough. Mrs Binta shunned my dressing and took me to the school like that.

I trekked back home alone and played a bit with some children who were living in the life that I lived when I was in MALAM Idi's school. My uniform got dirty, I reached home and met breakfast left overs in a leather pack waiting for me in the room. That didn't bother me because I've eaten so many times from garbage. From then I used their launch left overs for my dinner and their dinner left overs for my breakfast. 

That how the cycle continued. The following day I carried my uncleaned uniform to the school again and on my way home I met the same children we played together the previous day. I stopped there again and we played, I took me so much longer than that of yesterday to go back home.

After we finished I searched my school bag everywhere but I couldn't find it and I was starving. The told me that they were going to beg for food, I followed them. They brought some almost spoilt food from one house. As I saw the food, it stinked and I instantly told them I couldn't eat that. From there I went straight to the house without my school bag.

I met Mrs Binta standing by the door with her both hands on her west waiting for me to come back, she tied me up with a rope and and shattered my serenity till my uniform got torn. She locked me up in Umma's room with nothing, not even water.

I was locked up in that room from 5pm in the evening to 5am in the morning when she woke up from sleep. She threw two slices of bread and a bottle water for me.

Mrs Binta:(hitting the door with her hand) Ali, Oya eat this, enter the bathroom and  bath yourself. And yesterday I've not seen you with your school back, where the hell you left it?.

I looked down with my swollen eye, " I lost it." I replied crying 

Mrs Binta:(Hissed) It's left for you.

I ate the bread with the water and bathed my self, I wore the other new piece of my uniform. She took us to the school as usual but I stayed at the gate till her car's bumper went out of my sight. I refused to enter the school because I was feeling very shy to let my friends look at me with a swollen eye and some other bruises.