THE EXTERNALS

Chapter Four

Thursday
For a reasonable amount of time, I occupied one of the desks in the front row of my classroom, thinking about the similarity between Khadijat's case and mine. Even if my dad was really never available to fill the void mom left, I knew he loved me and my siblings very much. Still, I couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen if his other wife gave him a male child. I wondered if he was going to stop sending me to school, because people do say, "women eventually end up in the kitchen no matter the educational height they attain in life".

"Where exactly did you travel to?" My English Teacher waved five of his fingers over my eyes.

"Sorry, sir" I comported myself and opened my school bag to bring out my notebook.

"You can take that back. I'm not here to teach you", He grinned."Just give me the press club minute book".

"Oh..."I started feeling uneasy.

From being an ordinary member of the press club, I turned secretary because I knew how to compose the news to be read by selected students on Friday mornings, yet I found it difficult to keep an accurate record of the meetings we held and do things that will add spice to our gatherings, which was a major reason studeats hated joining our club. I wished I could do something to change that but I was too preoccupied with studying, and the support gotten from my club members was nothing to write home about.

"If I don't see it by Monday, you'll be in soup", Mr. Yemi roared and moved out when he got tired of waiting for me to bring put the minute book which I prayed to be in my bag by mistake but never saw. Besides, our marketing teacher also came in and pretended like he was going to teach me. He was a real lifesaver.

By noon, I had already forgotten about Mr. Yomi's threat. My mind was occupied with the thought of visiting John who was one of my favorite classmates too. When you see the light-skinned guy, you can't help smiling because his eyes look like that of a vulnerable lady but underneath that lies the expert who the whole of GMC runs to when they have issues with their electronic gadgets and a hardcore teenage who wouldn't hesitate to scam anyone if he had the chance to do so.

There are lots of reasons why I shouldn't have liked John, yet I did. I would use any opportunity I get to discuss important issues with him or tease him well but I have never wished to have him all to myself. He was fond of talking about swindling white girls on social media, especially with his allies - Kenny and Matthew. Not once did was he ever serious about dating a girl. Aside from attending school, John also registered with an establishment where he goes regularly to learn how to operate computers perfectly and that was where I went, trying to find out why his sorry ass hasn't been in school.

"Good afternoon, sir", I greeted his boss who was staring at me suspiciously.

"What can I do for you?"He said sternly.

"I'm here to see John, an apprentice here who's also my classmate", I explained to him.

"Oh..he went home to get something for me", His voice became more friendly.

"Is it going to take a while before he gets back?" I asked.

"I don't know but if you're in a hurry, you can go meet him there", He suggested.