Safe

Twelve

    Wednesday morning saw Nike setting out the ingredients her students had brought in for their practicals. She knew letting the children measure and weigh ingredients themselves would be better for them but it would take too much time and with how excited they were for the practical, they would never get anything done so she took it upon herself to help them.
She only taught one class on Wednesdays, SS3 who  would spend their period studying in groups since they were preparing for their final secondary school exams, which lessened her workload considerably. She would also need all the energy she could get for the SS2 class the following day.
After finishing with the ingredients, she returned to her desk to continue reading the book she'd borrowed from the school library. It was an intruiging non fiction about the Niger Delta that was doing a great job of keeping her busy while she waited for the next batch of assignments she would have to grade.
Eventually two students brought her their class's assignment, a meal plan for a convalescent child, dumped the books on her desk and left. Of course they didn't actually dump the books but with the amount of work they just brought in, she was sour already.
She set about marking and grading the assignments while keeping an eye out for students who'd copied each other's work. She set the copied ones in a different pile from the others keeping it in mind to make the students redo the assignment.
A shadow falling over her desk surprised and jolted her from work mode and she looked up just as Nengi the social studies teacher came in.
In the short time she'd worked at the school, she'd developed a cordial relationship with many of the teachers except this particular one. Nengi didn't like her because she suspected that another teacher she had her eye on was interested in her which amused Nike endlessly since she had nothing to do with said teacher and didn't care much for Nengi.
"Good afternoon, what can I help you with?" She greeted first.
The other lady pulled the door closed behind her as she came in causing Nike to protest quickly.
"Leave the door open please."
Nengi ignored her and came to stand in front of her desk leaving Nike no choice but to stand since she didn't want her talking down at her.
"I know you've been talking to Charles a lot more than usual and I came to warn you to stay away from him!"
"I haven't spoken to Charles in a long time so I don't know what you mean." Nike responded.
"Don't lie! I saw the two of you talking outside the staff room a few days ago."
Nike raised a brow at her and stepped back, out of her personal bubble before telling her emphatically that she had nothing to do with her love interest. That seemed to annoy Nengi who instantly started ranting about how Nike thought she was better than everyone else.
"You think you can ride everyone here just because of your fancy car? Or because of your expensive clothes? You need to check yourself to avoid a problem with me!"
Fed up with the other woman's behaviour, Nike stood up to her and put her in her place quickly.
"Listen Nengi, I have better things to do with my time than listen to you bitch like a child. I already told you I don't want your man! If I wanted him, you wouldn't be competition and if my fancy car and my expensive clothes bother you so much then why don't you stop stalking me?
You're the one that needs to avoid a problem with me because if you piss me off, I'll buy this school just so I can fire you. Now leave and don't come back!"
Nengi gave her the most hateful look she'd seen in a while before stomping out of the room leaving the door open behind her.
Nike paced in front of her desk more annoyed with herself for stooping low enough to spar verbally with the other lady than the actual interruption.
It irked her that Nengi couldn't have come to her like an adult and instead chose to act like a fifteen year old on her first crush.
It also irritated her that she'd brought up her apparent wealth. It wasn't a secret that her family was wealthy, she drove a car that could pay all their salaries for half a year, but she'd tried to leave money out of her relations with the other teachers.
She didn't need the job, it was something to keep her grounded while she recovered from her trauma but she enjoyed it and it made her sad to know that the other staff members possibly thought of her as some high and mighty, spoiled girl that was taking opportunities from people who actually needed them. She did need the job. Not for the obvious reason but because having something to do filled her days and being around the kids gave her enough strength to fight through her nights. The nightmares were far between now but when they came, it was with an intensity that almost always left her breathless and disoriented. It broke her heart to think the sphere of safety she'd created for herself at work had been breached and she hoped that Nengi would be too embarrassed to mention the incident to anyone else.
With a sigh she returned to her work and graded assignments till her class filed in. They spent the two hours studying and asking questions. Nike helped as much as she could although her mind was far from present.
At four o'clock, she grabbed her things and high tailed it out of there or at least she tried to. No sooner had she stepped out of the building was she accosted by the subject of her distress. Charles in his usual flamboyant manner approached her with a smile and started chattering about something Nike wasn't really listening to. She was busy looking around to make sure no one was watching them and with the crowds of children milling around, it wasn't an easy task.
She needed to escape, pronto and she almost sang with joy when she spotted two students she knew went home themselves and lived along her path. She excused herself and called out to them, waving them over. The kids came, all smiles at the prospect of being given a ride home. Nike handed her bags to them and told them to wait at her car, put on her most contrite face and said to Charles.
"I'm so sorry to cut this short but I don't want to keep the kids waiting."
"Oh, yeah! We'll catch up another time."
"Hopefully!" She beamed and waved goodbye before walking away quickly.
She let out a relived sigh as she entered her car and drove out of the premises. 4 o'clock traffic was in full swing and moving more than two feet at a time was wishful thinking. Nike sighed and drummed her fingers against the wheel muttering to herself. The kids were in the back talking and laughing seemingly ignoring her.
Spotting a yogurt vendor, she fished out her wallet and bought some for herself and the kids hoping it'd hold her off till she got home. She hadn't eaten that morning and was starving beyond explanation.
It took longer than expected for her to drop the students off and get home and when she did, she collapsed into bed not wanting to do anything but sleep. Unfortunately her stomach wasn't going to fill itself so she got up and trudged downstairs to the kitchen where she found her dinner in the microwave.
She warmed it up and texted Hannah while she ate her plantain porridge. Hannah was talking about new stock coming into her store in a few days and was encouraging Nike to come and take her pick before the store was restocked. It was an opportunity Nike would normally jump at. High end, gorgeous clothing that cost more than her present salary? Just what she needed to make herself feel better but showing up in expensive clothes wasn't going to help her at work especially with Miss jealous spreading god knew what rumors about her.
With a sigh she sent a reply to Hannah.
Nike: "Not sure I need that rn"
Hannah: "What?? Why? It's especially hot stuff this time. You know I get the best things."
Nike: "Yeah but I don't need to show up at work any dressier than usual."
Hannah: "Oh pls 🙄 that bitch has nothing on you."
Nike: "Hannah! I'm serious!"
Hannah: "So am I babe. Come after work tomorrow, we'll find you gorgeous pieces and start the weekend early."
Nike: "Ok 😔"
Hannah: "Fix that face girl. You're fine."
"Gtg babes. Hameed just got here."
Nike chuckled as she rose to wash her bowl while thinking about Hannah and her newest relationship. Hannah was a serial dater, she loved them then left them as quickly as she found them and with her beauty and background, there was never a shortage of men at her door.
It wasn't her fault, she just got bored very quickly besides most of the men she'd dated couldn't deal with the fact that she didn't need them for anything but affection, something Nike had learned men didn't like.
Her new beau was a shy, hausa Muslim, so far from Hannah's usual type that Nike had been surprised when they met briefly.
Although he didn't look like it, Hammed was very reserved. He was tall and lanky, his skin almost as fair as Hannah's which was saying something, and very well spoken. According to the gist Hannah had given her, he was an accountant who worked for his family's company, a huge one that was popularly known for producing household and kitchen utensils although they were involved in so much more.
Anyway, Nike doubted their relationship was going to last since Hameed was very pious and Hannah's only religion was her quick temper although her mother was muslim. She swore and drank and was generally very liberal, something Nike had heard northern men didn't take well to. It was going to be interesting to watch them together for sure.
Nike turned off the lights and went up to her room, showered and crawled into bed. Saturday couldn't come early enough at that point.
She slept well that night. So well in fact that she didn't hear her alarm go off and was woken by a soft knock on her door. She groaned and squinted at her phone screen then sat up straight.
"Oh god!"
She stumbled out of bed and rushed past Lola who'd been the one knocking, into the bathroom.
"Did you oversleep?" Lola chuckled as she sat on her sisters bed. She received a grunt in reply as the shower was turned on.
Barely two minutes later, Nike rushed back out and started getting dressed in a hurry.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready too?" She asked glancing behind her at Lola.
"I'm working from home today."
"Lucky you. How didn't I hear my alarm!"
"You were probably too tired. Mum said you didn't eat until later."
"Um, yeah. I was too tired to come back downstairs."
She ran a brush through her hair and held it back with a scrunchie then grabbed her bag and shoes and shuffled out of the room.
Realizing she'd forgotten her phone, she went back in and grabbed it then waltzed back out leaving Lola to follow.
"Slow down gosh it's not even seven yet."
"You know I like being early." Nike complained.
"I'm sure they won't notice you coming late once. Anyway I wanted to talk to you."
"About what?" Nike asked as she put some cereal in a bowl and poured milk over it.
"That's a lot! No wonder the milk finishes so fast. You deserve Dano not this."
Nike sent her a stern look.
"What did you want to talk about?"
"Tobi wants me to invite you to brunch on Saturday."
"And you're telling me now why?"
"I might have forgotten to relay the message. Anyway that's not important. You said you wanted to meet him and here we are!"
"Um.. okay. I'll go. I'll forgive you airhead for forgetting since I get to meet him."
She finished her breakfast and slipped on her shoes.
"Okay, bye!" And was out the door before Lola could even blink.
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         Hey guys, I hope you enjoy this new chapter. I just want to say that some of the views expressed in this chapter on tribe and religion are not mine, just how I imagine my character to be and since I'm not Muslim, I might misstep. If I do, please forgive me, I promise it's not on purpose. Please correct me with love and help make this book better.
That said, enjoy and please comment and vote to make me happy 🙏.