The Teacher's Exit

Chapter 5

"Teacher is gone!" Kadada peeped into her daughters' hut to announce. She then walked away.

"Gone where?" Rihana asked, bewildered. "Gone away!" She screamed as if dealt a deadly blow. The young lady rushed out to check Emeka's room to confirm the news, after which she began to weep, laying on the bed.

Amina maintained a studied silence for a moment before picking up a broom. She jerked forward as if to console her younger sister, but thinking better of it, stayed mute. This whole situation looked familiar.

"He didn't even tell me anything." Rihana raised her head on the bed, whimpering. "He just left like that." She flung hands in the air as her face turned gloomy.

Amina chuckled, handed off the broom and tightened the wrapper around her torso. She then pouted, opening her eyes wider than normal to mock her sister. "At last your eyes are clear now. Why should he tell you he was leaving? Were you lovers?"

"Yes, of course. He's the first and only man I ever knew. He made me a woman."

Amina broke into fits of laughter, bowing and raising her head several times before finally holding her tummy. On pausing her laughter, she leaned towards Rihana. "He looked at me with one eye closed. He wore black jeans because of me. He made me a woman...this and that. Fool. You better wake up and face the truth. Mister Emeka was just sampling you like he did to other students in his class. You're here talking rubbish."

"It doesn't matter. I was the first he invited to his room – the one he likes the most. All the girls in the senior class know that. They wrote my name on the chalkboard and used me as an example."

"Shut your mouth!" Amina's hands landed on her waist. "Why didn't he tell you he was leaving Gwarzo?"

Rihana stayed quiet for a moment. Her jealous sister seemed to have a point. Had Emeka truly cherished her, he would have bid her goodbye before leaving. She glided out of the bed and stepped out of the room. Her wandering eyes pierced far beyond the undulating mountains in the distance while she did some reflections.

While Emeka lived here, he always considered seventeen-year-old Rihana naïve, regardless of her bulky frame. Every time she entered his room, romance featured prominently on the agenda. Not once did they have a heart-to-heart talk about her ambitions. Perhaps, a chat about her career and future might have won his respect. Now that he had departed: there would be no chance to make amends.

Perhaps she would ask around for his phone number in school. Thinking of it, a man that fled the village wouldn't hesitate to change his phone number, Rihana mused on. She couldn't rely on mere phone calls. She bit her finger for not asking him for his Abuja address. Regrets filter into Rihana's mind as she cut a lonely figure out there in the foggy morning.

Amina who ought to offer words of consolation pelted thorny jibes. But she couldn't blame her older sister for being insensitive. She, Rihana, had equally mocked her the year before when Ayodele left in like manner.

Just then, Amina stepped out of the hut and observed thoughtful Rihana. "Won't you do your housework today? The compound is dirty, and you're here looking at mountains as if they'll bring him back."

Rihana didn't blink.

"I'll leave you to imagine your nonsense. Mrs Emeka Okorowanta." Amina snapped, hurrying back into the hut.

Five minutes later, Rihana entered the room but soon emerged with dirty clothes and buckets. Next, she fetched water from the well, bracing up to begin her laundry. Hardly had she started washing when loud knocks bounced off the wooden compound gate.

"Knock! Knock!"

Rihana moved over and opened up to find her school's vice-principal and Mrs Gambo, the economics teacher. Her heart skipped a beat as she greeted, "Baraka da rana."