"He dey bother you" He addressed Freda with pidgin English. Fire blazing in his eyes. His muscles propped up. I swallowed bile. Physically, he was more than double my size, tall and muscular. Staff dreaded him, let alone, students.
For a boy of nineteen, he was abnormally big. Age wise, he was quite too mature for our class. Our peers were usually between fifteen and seventeen years of age. We were in our final year of secondary school and this was his third year repeating the class. He only had the luxury of repeating this much because his folks were rich, else he would have been expelled. His father was a known politician infamous for thuggery and abuse of power.
"I asked you a question" his voice thundered. Students who were closely started clustering to witness, but as he turned in their direction, they scampered. Freda shook her head with dread, but as his gaze fixed on her, it turned into a nod.
I panicked and swallowed bile again. By this time, Ahmed had already positioned behind me. "Hehehe...so you want my gal, right? Bruno charged, his hand folding into a punch. "Em, I, emm, no ooo, em" I was no longer coherent. My eyes were moist, my palm moist, yes the paper in my palm; 'How do I make it varnish?'
Bruno reached for my jaw suddenly. His strong right hand clasping my face with force. The impact cutting across my neck and chin. His long finger nails dug into my skin and tore the first layer. I try to pull his hand away with my both hands, but my effort was futile. The next thing I knew, my two legs had left the ground with a sweeping kick by Ahmed from behind. I landed hard on the floor with my buttocks. Bruno raised his left leg to bring it down my groin but something paused his motion.
He brought his leg down gradually and picked up a piece of paper folded neatly and lying by my ruffled self. He unfolded and perused. When he was done he passed it to Ahmed and faced me with a scowl. He fixated on me and then at Freda(she was already whimpering dreadfully at a corner).He retrieved the paper from Ahmed and faced Freda. "He wrote this, abi?" She half shook her head and half nodded.
Still seated languidly on the floor, I tried to look around to see if any staff or grown up was in sight. There was none. Even if they were, I wouldn't be surprised if they hid away. No one really wanted to meddle into Bruno's business. It was safe to say I was done.
The piece of paper landed on my laps. Bruno squatted to face me. "Na you write this thing to give my babe?" before I could respond, two dull slaps angled my face to be parallel with his. My teeth caught my inner lips in the process and I tasted blood.
At that moment my life was contemplating flashing before my eyes, I guess it decided it was too soon. Instead, my head started spinning, different thoughts cascading my mind. I had never gotten into trouble from my elementary school days, but now, just like that, I was swimming with sharks.
The proximity his face made with mine gave my nostrils unrestricted access to the stench of hemp and beer. He was obviously hooked on the combination.
"I dey follow you talk! Or you don tire for this school? I say na my babe you wri..." Binging! Binging!! Binging!!! The school bell jingled indicating the end of break period. The sound had interrupted him, he was caught between drilling me further or disengaging before any staff appeared in the scene.
He chose the later as he looked me straight in the eye, smiled cynically and poked a finger to my chest. Without any further word, he straightened, gestured to Ahmed with the slight tilt of his neck, then reached for Freda, pulling her by the hand as they made their way into the class.
I already got his unspoken message; 'I'M NOT DONE WITH YOU' screamed through his gesture. My heart was pounding. I looked rough and dazed. I was beginning to attract several stares from the students returning to class from break. It was an unusual sight to see a student sitting on the floor all ruffled up close to a learning hall.
Embellished in ridicle and shamefacedness, I picked myself up with the quickest pace I could manage. Before I was completely up, I felt a hand steadying and assisting my quest. I turned to see Raymond, he must have witnessed the later part or maybe the entire fracas.
With my face kept down, I proceeded to brush off dirt and dust off my clothes and body. I couldn't afford to engage eye contact with anyone. I wasn't a fan of being on the spot neither was ridicle my pastime. Raymond continued his benevolence by helping with getting me brushed off. He kept saying "please, try and appease Bruno fast. Please o, that guy is dangerous... And don't bother reporting to school authority, please, for your own good".
He parted my back when he was done, I thanked him as he marched towards the class.
I raised my head a bit to see if I was still a spectacle. Relief hugged me as I could only see few scores of students hurrying towards their respectively classes. No one paid me any further attention.
I spat out the little blood that was residual in my mouth. I needed to get to the rest room to tidy up properly, I also needed to get my shirt well tucked in. But then I feared being caught in the restroom alone with Bruno and his gang, the thought alone froze me. I hung my head in thought momentarily, my gaze fell on the piece of paper that had earned me a slap. I stooped to pick it up, curious to know what was written in it.
'I know you like me too. What is stopping you, him? Don't worry about that'
My mouth flew open as the words took meaning inside my brain. A combination of excitement, dread and uncertainty glided through me.
"Why are you outside? C'mon get in the class" the authoritative tone of Mr Adams nullified every preexisting nuance as I jetted into the hall with no second thought.
The story continues...
Please, drop your comments as feedbacks will be appreciated.