Just a little tap by Enagwolo U

 

“Tunde, your principal is on the phone,” my mother shouted.

My heart raced faster as I quickly got off my bed and slipped my feet into my slippers. It was weird; I was simultaneously dragging my feet and quickening my pace as I moved to the living room. On one level, I wanted to hear what he was going to say; to know what the next chapter in the saga was going to be, and on the other, I was scared to hear what he had to say. Maybe if I’d been a different type of person, I wouldn’t have been in such a mess.

Wednesday, March 10^th began like every other day. The rest of the school had gone back to the dorms after afternoon prep but like always, I stayed behind to finish up my assignments. My Integrated Science homework was a little more difficult than I’d anticipated, so I needed some water to cool off. The walk to the tap had put a little strain on my wounded leg so I leaned against a wall for a quick rest. That was when I looked across and saw a group of senior boys laughing and kicking something in the sand.

*

“About this matter with Chike…” Principal Okorie continued.

Yes, Chike. It was the first day of Form One and as I was unpacking my trunk, a skinny dark-skinned boy bent over and picked something out of my bag.

“What’s this?” he asked, looking down at me.

“Garlic.”

He crinkled his nose. “For what?”

“My asthma. My doctor said I should take it.”

“As in, eat it raw?”

I nodded.

He threw it back into the bag and laughed. “Pele o.”

And thus began our friendship. Even though we weren’t in the same arm, the fact that his bunk was about ten feet from mine meant that I saw him everyday. As most boys normally did, we wrestled and played so it wasn’t particularly odd when about 2 months earlier, he brought out the two carving knives he had stolen from the school kitchen and asked me to fight “kung-fu” with him.

The events still remained sketchy but all that I remember was that one moment, I was listening to the sound of clanging metal, and at the next, his knife was deep in my thigh. It was one of those surreal moments where I didn’t even feel one ounce of pain till I looked at my thigh and could only see the handle.

As some of the other boys carried me out of my room -my leg leaving a red trail- I looked into Chike’s begging eyes and realized that I needed to be a true friend. So when I later got questioned by the school authorities, I maintained that I mistakenly stabbed myself with a knife I’d stolen. They were skeptical about my tale but I didn’t budge so they had no choice but to accept my story and punish me. I realized they were being very lenient by only sentencing me to spend every Saturday till the end of the term cutting grass or pounding clogged toilets, but I realized that it was much better than having Chike suspended, or worse, expelled so close to our JSSCEs.

*

He cleared his throat and continued, “As I told you, Tunde, we only wanted to get to the bottom of it. All we needed was confirmation.”

Because unfortunately, my word would never have been good enough -not that I’d believed otherwise on that afternoon on March 11^th, when the assistant head boy interrupted my lunch of Pako flakes to inform me that I was being summoned by the principal.

He left me at the door of the building and I walked in to see that the principal’s secretary was away from her desk. I hesitantly knocked at the door and waited for his answer. After hearing his response, I walked in to see five boys kneeling by a wall.

“Tunde, why don’t you sit down?” he ordered before I could properly digest the scene in front of me. “Do you recognize these boys?”

I nodded.

“From where?”

“I have seen them around the school.”

“Anywhere else?”

I knew ratting out my seniors would be tantamount to suicide so I shook my head.

He slowly stood up and walked from behind the desk.

“So why did they identify you?”

My mouth fell open. “Me sir, as what?”

“As one of them - they say that you also attacked Chike.”

My tongue suddenly felt heavy. I swallowed hard. “It’s not true, sir. I don’t even know them. Why would I do that? I was the one that took him to the sickbay. Chike is my friend,” I said quickly, not bothering to take a moment to breathe.

“So are you saying these boys are lying?”

I looked at their hard faces and said, “Please sir, I didn’t do anything.”

He leaned against the desk.

“ I see. Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

I took a deep breath and gave him the details.

*

“As you know, as one of our top students,” his voice crackled from the other side of the phone, “I only wish the best for you.”

I had to do everything in my power to keep from scoffing. Wish the best for me? Yeah, right.

If I were to describe myself, I’d say that I was someone who loved a good challenge. It’s not that I loved school, but I saw it for what it was and did my best to conquer it. The same went for sports. Some said the high came from participating, but for me, the aim of the game was to win. And I loved every single minute of it. I found that I was athletic and made sure that by my JSS2, I was winning every short distance race in the junior category. If the rules could have been bent, I would have loved to beat the seniors too. It wasn’t even about getting the prizes -as they were always something pointless like a book on Calabar art- but about knowing that I was the best – and no drug-induced high could ever make me feel as good. And that was what made Linda Okorie so appealing.

Sure, I wasn’t the only one that noticed her walk in and out of her father’s house in her blue checkered blouse and solid blue skirt. And sure, I wasn’t the only person that saw that even though she was a little plump, she had a pretty mouth. But I knew I was definitely the only junior boy that had the guts to approach her.

It hadn’t been easy dodging the school prefects as I tried to hang around the staff quarters every evening. But my persistence paid off and eventually, she ran into me.

It had been a Thursday evening and even though it was still sunny, the air was a little cooler as Harmattan was around the corner. I was getting ready to go to the Dinning Hall for dinner when I heard the rustling of feet behind me. I turned around to see her staring at me.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her lips twisted in a smirk.

With the most poker face I could manage I said, “I am looking for Mrs. Ojo’s house.”

“Oh…” she lifted her brow. “I think it’s 2 houses behind that one.” She pointed to the third house on the left.

“Okay, thank you,” I replied, looking over then lowering my eyes. After another glance at her, I reluctantly turned around.

“Hey, are you alright?” she called.

I hid a smile and turned back around. “Yes. Mrs. Ojo is my family friend and I just wanted to know if there was any news about my mother.”

“Your mother? What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s…” I didn’t know what disease to pick as I was a little superstitious and didn’t actually want it to befall her. “… not feeling well.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” her forehead creased in worry. “Do you want to come in and use the phone here? You can call your house.”

But before long, she wasn’t much of a challenge -all I needed to do was add two years to my age and tell her all the things she wanted to hear. Soon after, the thrill came from finding a way to always be at her place without getting caught. But as expected, the inevitable day arrived when her father walked in with some Christmas decorations and saw my hand up his daughter’s blouse. At that moment, I realized that a new challenge had arisen; one where he’d try to find a way of punishing me without exposing her. So I really wasn’t surprised when I was called back to the principal’s office later that afternoon.

I sat in the waiting room watching the principal’s secretary paint her nails with an artist’s precision. I sat still, trying my best to look confident and unaffected even though inside, all I could think about was what the principal had in store for me.

At around 4:30, the secretary gave me the go ahead.

I pushed open the door to find my frowning father sitting across from the principal. He stood up as I walked into the room.

“Tunde, as I told your father, you are on indefinite suspension starting from today. Go to your room, pack your bags and come back here.”

What? I wasn’t sure I could trust my ears.

My father nodded and said, “Son, go and get your things.”

I stared at him then turned to the principal. “But excuse me sir, I didn’t do anything – ask Chike.”

“As you know, Chike doesn’t remember you being there, but the other boys insist that you only kicked him when he was unconscious.”

“Why would I do such a thing, sir? He is my friend!”

“Well, till we get to the bottom of this, you have to go home.”

Not knowing what else to do, I got on my knees. “Please sir, I swear, I am innocent, I didn’t do it. Chike is my friend, why would I hit him? They are just lying on me!”

“Well, for now, you have to go home. We cannot tolerate this type of nonsense here. If you are telling the truth, it will come out sooner or later. But for now, my hands are tied.”

*

“Anyway, everything has been taken care of and you can come back to school.”

For the first time in a week, I breathed easily. “Thank you, thank you sir.”

“There’s no need to thank me. Several students came forward and confirmed your story. They all admitted to seeing all the other boys kicking him but no one remembered seeing you. The other boys have been expelled.”

“I see, sir.”

“As I told you, the truth will come out and now, we know you were not involved.” He sounded a little disappointed.

“I see sir. When should I return?”

“Since it’s already Thursday, why don’t you return on Saturday so that you can have time to catch up with your notes?”

“Thank you, sir.”

 

 

***

I’d barely waved my parents off when I turned around and ran to Chike’s room.

“Ol boy, how you dey now?” I asked, taping him on the arm. He was sitting on the lower bunk, looking into his locker.

He looked up at me. “How, now?”

“Shey everything is okay?” His face was still slightly bruised but otherwise, he looked fine.

He nodded then stood up to face me.

“Anyway, abeg I need to borrow your physics notes. Men, I have so much copying to do and Mocks are in two weeks. And you know I must pass. In fact, add biology to that too,” I said smiling.

Wordlessly, he turned around, pulled his bag from behind his locker, found the two notebooks and held them out to me.

“Tunde, everything is balanced now, abi?”

Still smiling, I grabbing on to the books. “Heh?”

He held on to the books and looked into my eyes. “I said it’s finished. You don’t owe me anything and I don’t owe you anything. Okay?”

I nodded slowly. I hadn’t realized that he’d known all along.

***

It really had begun like any other day. The walk to the tap had put a little strain on my healing leg so I leaned against a wall for a quick rest. I was looking around when I saw a group of boys kicking something in the sand. I immediately turned my face and started to leave when I heard someone call my name. I turned around to see a senior boy in his white crisp trousers gesturing for me to go to him.

“Do you know this boy?” The rest of his friends stopped kicking and backed away so that I could see his face.

I barely recognized Chike underneath the blood.

I shook my head vehemently.

“Why are you lying?”

“Senior Ahmed, I am not lying.” He was the only one in Yellow House with us.

“Really? Then how come I always see you together?”

My lower lip quivered. “I… I don’t know.”

“This isn’t your friend?”

I shook my head again.

“Then prove it,” said the yellow skinned Igbo-looking boy at the other end.

“How?”

“Like this.” He kicked him.

“But… but, he didn’t do anything to me.”

“And so? If you don’t know him, you will kick him.”

“But…”

“Are you deaf? Kick him or face punishment.”

From the looks on their faces, I knew that if I didn’t comply I’d face the same fate Chike had. Maybe it was a challenge I should have attempted to conquer but at that moment, all I could see was Chike’s swollen face. So I chose to give him a little tap. But the pain in my right leg made it difficult to lift it high. Then I looked down at his face and saw the source of that pain –the reason I’d missed a lot of classes, the reason I would not be competing in the Interhouse sports or even in the football match against our biggest rivals and as I thought of this, the soft tap transformed into a succession of hard kicks and I just kept kicking till their robust laughs permeated my anger.

My body went still.With an uneven mix of shame and relief, I looked from their animated faces to his lifeless body and slowly limped away.