It is only five months to go and we are on tenterhooks preparing for the imminent Certificate of Primary Education. The National Examination that will sanction our High-school recruitment. Even though it's a long way off , the tension of being a CPE candidate can't simply be abased.
Fortunately, we have completed the syllabus beforehand and so it is- and will be - a series of numerous tests, examinations and revision with Jasmine topping and I grasping his tail. It pains me so bad to be an all-time runner-up. However, I am not disheartened a trifle. I want to be the best of me and one beneficial friend who I counted on will surely make me understand the seemingly unintelligible concepts of Geometry.
Rodgers Odiwuor
is definitely a hotshot at Geometry and every early morning before the school fills up he will always expound Geometry for me. Yet ,
today he is completely forlorn because he had failed the previous week Math's test .
The first week after the holiday we were given a Math's test so that we could be conferred our Index slots for the impending National Examination.
I had been assigned Index two slightly beneath Jasmine. Rodgers got Index Ten . Antony , index five. They damned really passed with flying colours but I have to admit that the exam was easy. Antony and I were happy except for Rodgers. I didn't think that the trauma of failure would still plague him even after a span of week which is enough for a brokenhearted lover to recuperate.
Glancing at the crestfallen Rodgers, I stand up from the desk and chuck him brotherly on the shoulder.
"Hey Roj want some dough..." I proffer him a round jelly doughnut which I had bought at the canteen while on my way to school. He looks at me sheepishly.
"Thanks Chris." Taking it from my jutting hand , he says while shooting me a grateful glance.
"My pleasure."I say smilingly as I my gaze shifts on a broken window which I guess I saw yesterday still intact. I avidly look at it.
"Heard the news on the radio , C.P.E on 26th November. M.E said so." I say as I surreptitiously move to the side of the window.
"M.E ? What's that?" asks Rodgers with a creased brow.
"Minister of Education . Of course, what the freakin do you think it means ?" Antony chips in.
At the cracked window , I notice a sleek card with numbers 5555 and a scary crip etched on it . I put it into my pocket after affirming no one saw me. It has really piqued my curiosity. What the hell could it be ?
It is apparent that somebody had put it strategically at the window. Why would it be put here? I breath heavily not to stray from reality but doubts still wander about in my mind.
My attention turns to our little confab.
"Oh ! I bet am not so perspicacious." Rodgers grunts bashfully his face reddening in embarrassment. He seems to be behindhand in primary school jargon.
"You better be." I say as I get back to sit on the class teacher's table .
"Mr Dick will come in soon to find us on these tables .....'Why are you sitting on my table? You'll pay for it if it gets broken now bugger off !' "
Antony parodies Mr. Dick's baritone voice. We giggle at him.
" He's such a puke .. What did I just - " Rodgers enlivened voice trails off as I interrupt him.
"Ok , let's not gossip about teachers . Too risky ."
"I get you nerd."
"Who?" I ask peeved.
"Who do you think I'm referring to?"Rodgers looks at me rubbing his lips with his tongue playfully.
"Well it might be that you're referring to yourself." I sass looking at him with feigned contempt. Even though I don't love his harlequins I have to admit that they're truly maddening and it seems as he has never changed a zilch since we joined this school.
"Huh! Just say you're a swot once and for all."
"Then if I say what will happen?" He's gradually getting on my nerves by his banter.
"We will celebrate you." He chuckles tauntingly.
"Screw you." I hiss back at him.
"And I fuckin don't like your scallywag antics."
"Ok ! Ok ! Guys . Are you not going to stop bickering?" Antony utters in annoyance. I hate being called a nerd even though I am. Being a nerd is not totally doltish as most of my classmates think but I simply can't understand why they take it to a great deal that even ridiculing me.
The class is now brimming with everyone conversing here and there. It is so noisy and cacophonous. I touch my right pocket to feel if the card is still there . I heave a sigh of relief as I feel it's smooth exterior. I wonder what it is.
We stop prattling and Antony as well as Rodgers settle on the desks head buried in books. I realise I don't have any book and I get up dusting my butt after it has been dirtied by the table.
I pinch my way to my locker at the back of the class while mumbling sorries and excuse-mes on the way as I accidentally stepped on some of my classmates.
I open the locker marred by graffiti that talked vulgarities, and retrieve a book full of creases; Breakthrough Science.
As I make my way towards my desk beside Rodgers , Jasmine abords me in big pounding strides and asks in a bluffly if I can accompany him to his desk. I accede as I quizzically look at him. I rack my brains trying to root out what the heck he wants from me. He sits down and I glance at him. It was a mere glance, but the eye contact was enough to tell him I was desperate to leave.
After an unnerving silence , a deep guttural voice escapes from his mouth."Would you mind helping me with my Math's project please ? Found no partner to gang with ."
I feel a little surprised but hastens to rearrange my facial features into a sneer.
"What for ? I think you have Faith Bross as your partner and of all people here you only saw me ." I shake my head "I am busy."
I had heard that he had chosen Faith Bross as his partner.
Or maybe is he trying to throw up his usual tantrums with me?
God forbid! If he tries that today then I promise I am going to batter his ass like a Cherokee drum.
I make some calculations in my head as I anticipate his reaction to be riddled with threats and derogatory remarks.
He looks a little peeved. He touches his lips briefly , as if contemplating on what he should say, then abruptly jeers at me with a menacing voice:
" You're not so special Chris , I only wanted to choose you as my partner because you don't understand geometry. Right ? That was out of my kindness you brat . Scram off this place toothless dog ."
That is what snapped me out my last shred of rationality. With a devious grin I retort :
"Oh hoo! Jazz you stinking buffoon actually sought my help. I thought you were a genius . Erudite and smart , Right? Why do you now behave like a mindless dolt ? You are a -" I suddenly stop on purpose choking on my words. I was going to utter one of my vulgar clichés but held back . Morbidly, anger is vanity . I console myself but the tension doesn't slacken a zilch.
My chest heave up and down in unquenchable exasperation.
Hardly had Jasmine tried to vent yet another barrage of acerbic insults at me when Miss Flakey walked into the classroom .
The class is now staring at us intrigued by the commotion that I had just stirred up with Jasmine.
Miss Flakey shoots an appealing gaze on me - her favourite student.
Her eyes imbued with a questioning flare as they tried to seek answers from me. Finally with a long breath she hisses : " What is going on here ?"
"I .. I...I nothing Miss , just a minor affray." I stutter.I feel a bit flustered before I manage to pull out the suffocating words from my throat .
"You call it minor and it was a just a moment ago you were going to rip each other part. Now tell me !What is it?"
Miss Flakey squeaks in an acid tone as her freckled face knits slowly into one of irritation.
The shrill voice nearly throws me off-balance but I quickly regain my stance and explain all the details of the altercation while Jasmine eyed me for any hint of mischief.
As I areed her , in a sotto voce, of the implicit details of the affray , my bitter tone gradually increases in tempo and finally arriving at a high-pitched harangue it ends with a - That's all - laconic suffix.
Her fingers stuck in her puckered lips and head poised in a contemplative vibe, she assumes the disposition of an erudite, and then her lips moves a bit to pull out a curt reply:
"It's ok. Sit down and I don't want any of that again ."
We sit down simultaneously while the class pull away their sickening gazes away from us to land on the dark beautiful figure , in the limelight , adorned in an exquisite flowing gown that flutters gloriously as the cool morning wind trickles in the classroom.
" Today's topic is Properties Of Matter .Who can define matter ?."
The flamboyant voice gets drowned in the shouts of " Teacher!Teacher ! that ensues as nearly the entire class raise their vigorously shaking hands to draw the attention of her.
Science lessons are sure lively number two from English.
I mutter under my breath as the boy beside me - Rodgers - stands up after the Science Teacher's hand pointed at him to answer the up-to-the-point question.
"Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass."
As he raves out the answer , the storm of hands that had been excitedly raised gradually subsides and by the time he finishes , the class is strangely dead-silent .
"Is he correct, class?."
Mr Flakey asks as she nods at Rodgers with a look of approval.
"Yes."
We all agree in unison . No denying it . It was the perfect definition and we couldn't think of any other.
The Science lesson continues for another hour before being interrupted by chimes of bell indicating the time for recess.
Mr Flakey rants for another a quarter of an hour ,explaining the concept of matter and assigning us a mound of tasks to be done , before walking out .
I stand up amid the din of shouts, yells , conversations and desks being constantly driven aside that ensues after her lesson.
I hobble out and stand on the stoep before sweeping a fleeting gaze across the confines of the bustling school adjoining a vast maize plantation.
A long file wounding its way into the door of the school kitchen forms in a few minutes .
I join the line waiting for my gruel.
Today the school closes early in the morning for Holiday. After we take the sugarless gum-like porridge , we rush to the Assembly point for release.
As I walk back home carrying my examination results, I make sure to make a mental note for doing the assigned Holiday Math's project lest I forget and also handing this enigmatic envelope to Catherine even though I had an urge to tear it open and look at its contents.
Miss Garie had not come for Today's lesson and she had handed me assignment papers to distribute to the class tomorrow morning saying she was a bit preoccupied even though through my prying eyes I noticed an anomaly in her but dared not point out.
Few hours ago she had sent a newbie to call me. Confusedly, I had lumbered up the rocky ground to the Staff Quarters where I saw her unzipping a green leather briefcase which was placed on the table arrayed with piles of books and papers.
She looked shagged up as her full bosom rested on her folded arms .
"This is now serious ." Said Miss Garie Crater as I entered the room.
"What now?" William Snyder asked as he raised his eyebrow in a questioning poise.
"They're right on our tracks."Mr Garie said as her face glowered in anxiety. I tried to make out what they were talking about but I ended up confused like never before. I approached Miss Garie face buried in the ground.
"Ohhh Chris , you're here." She opened her porch retrieving an envelope , " give your mum this envelop and don't you dare open it. " She imbued warning in her words and dismissed me.
William Snyder was his cousin , and a remnant of the polished-off family in a tragic month of June in 1990 . As she had told me , her entire clan was wiped out from the face of the suburbs of Hilwa by an infamous gang reputed to be the Jakachinja Clandestine Organisation , to which even the Police ranks had been infiltrated by their devilish dealings in the corrupt-stricken ridges of Oyugis.
She had narrated to me her biography which now lies dust-covered in the shelves of The State Library. She had written it with the hope that the injustice done to her will be redressed but the corrupt dealings of Jakachinja silenced her.
*************
We once lived a good life in the solitary rurals of Hilwa - my birthplace, until one ill-fated day when an elusive gang raided our house. I was young and naive ; after which they left leaving gruesome carnage in their wake. I moved away from my hideout where I had sneaked into, and what I had seen etched indelible marks on my brain. My dad was sprawled on the ground riddled with bullets and my mother was stabbed in her head right into her brain.
My grandparents were not spared from the homicide either.
Two years later , my cousin and I was adopted by a Janitor who had showered us with motherly affection and in those two years I realised that it was a mysterious briefcase they were searching for and which my father was in possession of . It carried all the details about their crimes and it was good evidence that could vindicate their arrest.
I had sworn to study forensic pathology in order to file a treatise for the advocation of the murder of my parents and my relatives who are now gradually getting killed with each passing day and are on the hideout just like me. Four years later, I had gone back to my ravaged parental home and found this sought-after briefcase in the basements of our home still intact.
Years seep as I am an itinerary fugitive of my own home. Just imagine that .
*************
She had cried as she narrated her story and that was the saddest day I've ever had. I couldn't bear it . Seeing my beloved teacher weeping was a huge blow to me. My heart still aches when I remember her story . Her story that lies in the shelves without hope that it will ever be redeemed
That was two years ago she had openly narrated her biography to me . I had - and still is - strangely gotten connected to her that we displayed a quintessence of familial attachment.
I reach home , take a shower before bounding into my bed . I fish out the sleek card and start examining it . No matter how I tried to look at it , it seemed ordinary thus I choose to keep it in my most secret place – under the bed– wrapped in a satchel.