The students had been given a two day break after the dance before school activities returned to normal. And even though it had been two days since Joshua had fought with Buchi, he could still hear the students talking about it in the halls.
"I was there when it happened. There was so much blood and even though Buchi passed out, Joshua kept on hitting him." A boy said.
"Really? How can he be so heartless. Poor Buchi. I hope he's okay," a fan girl of Buchi cried.
"What led to the fight?" another student who didn't attend the dance asked.
"I heard it was because of a girl," the first student was quick to tell. "Apparently Joshua has this huge crush on the girl and when he saw Buchi dancing with her, he got really mad. That was when he walked over to them and beat up Buchi."
"Who is this girl anyway? She's so damn lucky to have two hot guys fighting over her," the fan girl stated.
"It was that new girl in that recently got admitted to the final year's class. I think her name was Kamji or something," the boy replied, "I will advise you to stay away from her if you don't want to face Joshua's wrath. I heard Buchi got admitted to a hospital because of his injuries were fatal."
The girl rolled her eyes, "You're just exaggerating. There's no way that the fight was that violent."
"It was really," the boy was desperate to convince the girl, looking around as if to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, he whispered, "I heard Joshua's mother was an ex-convict. People from such backgrounds are usually very violent. It's best you avoid them."
The three students suddenly stopped talking when they saw Joshua walking past. They unconsciously moved some steps backwards away from him. He didn't spare them a glance as he walked, though he had heard everything they had said. It wasn't the first time he was the center of gossip in the entire school and he couldn't care less of what the students said about him.
The gossip seemed to have increased to a thousand fold when he had been summoned to the Principal's office using the public address system.
Although he hated being summoned when classes were still going on, he went to answer, knowing fully well why he had called. He had knocked before entering into the office and could see a woman talking to the Principal while gesturing widely with her manicured fingers. If he didn't know any better he could have thought it was just a medium that she used to flaunt her expensive bracelets and rings.
"Take a look at my son's face. How could you let such a thing happen under your watch?" the woman demanded.
"Calm down Mrs Williams. I promise we are going to get to the bottom of this. I already sent for the student your son claimed was responsible." The principal replied. She soon noticed Joshua standing by the door. "How nice of you to join us Joshua, please have a seat."
He sat on one of the sofas nearest to the door, not in the least bothered by the chilling glare the sent in his direction.
Principal Ebere had begun the introductions, "Joshua this is Mrs Williams and this is her son, Buchi Williams who is your colleague. You might be acquainted with him."
Joshua's eyes trailed on the duo as they were introduced. Mrs Williams was dressed in an expensive designer dress and matching bags to go with it. Her face looked almost doll like and unreal. Perfect symmetry with the perfect nose, he could tell such things were only achieved with the aid if cosmetic surgery. So it was quite hard to discern her age as her face was padded all those Botox and lip fillers but he could tell she was quiet old.
Buchi sat beside his mother with a band aid on his nose and he made use of an arm sling to support his left hand. Joshua could tell it was just an act and his hand was never broken in the first place. He just wore the arm sling to gather more pity and sympathy and ofcourse make Joshua look bad.
"What a disrespectful brat. He can't even greet his elders properly," Mrs Williams snapped when she noticed Joshua staring at them with a bored expression on his face.
"I will do the talking from here Mrs Williams." Principal Ebere said before she began to address Joshua. "Buchi here tells me that you walked up to him and beat him up for dancing with a girl you liked during the Love Feast two nights ago. Is this true?"
"I admit to punching him in the face," came the reply, "It felt good."
Mrs Williams released a gasp. Standing up, she sent a slap across Joshua's cheek. "How dare you? You good for nothing lowlife. How dare you lay your filthy hands on my son and not feel remorseful."
"Mrs Williams. You have no right to hit any of my students who aren't related to you in anyway." Principal Ebere's voice was firm and you could tell her patience with the woman was running out.
"So I am not allowed to hit any of your students. But he's allowed to beat up my son in the school permisis?" the woman snapped, "My son has a broken arm and you expect me to stay calm."
"I expected you to let me do my Job and get to the bottom of this without interrupting in-between. If you can't do that. I suggest you leave while I talk to the two boys alone."
Mrs Williams gave a huff before settling back down on the sofa, her arms crossed and a displeased expression on her face.
Joshua could feel a sting near the corner of his mouth that the woman had hit. One of her rings had pierced into his skin, injuring him. He had used a finger to clean the little blood that had come out.
"I am sorry about that Joshua. Make sure you visit the school's clinic later to have them take a look at your wounds," the principal said, turning her attention back to the teenager. When Joshua said nothing, she continued. "Can you tell me the reason why you hit Buchi?"
"He molested a girl. I stopped him" he replied bluntly.
"That's a lie! You got jealous because both of us were dancing." Buchi spat.
"I ask that you remain quiet Mr Williams. I am well versed with your own part of the story," She chided him, turning to Joshua she continued. "You do know what your accusing him of is a very serious offense which is punishable by the law and if that accusation is found to be false you can be charged with slander."
"Yes," Joshua replied unfazed.
"Don't tell me you believe a word this boy says?" Mrs Williams piped in. "There's no way my son is capable of doing such a thing and all these are nothing but false allegations."
"Maybe if you had spent less time filing your face with plastic and focused more on teaching your son common etiquette, he would have been a decent person by now." retorted Joshua.
The woman's lips fell open and she sputtered, "Did you just hear what he said to me? He said my natural youthful face is fake." she emphasized on the word natural.
The principal Ignored what the woman has said and asked Joshua, "Are you familiar with the girl that was harassed? Do you know her name?"
"As a matter of fact, I do." came the curt reply.
"Well, who is she?"
"It's your niece."
Kamji could tell her Aunty was furious with her after she had confirmed what Joshua had said was true. She had given her a look that said 'we are going to talk about this at home' before dismissing them from her office to have a private conversation with Mrs Williams.
Kamji had noticed the split wound on Joshua's mouth and she could imagine what had happened earlier in the office when she had been absent. She didn't like Mrs Williams. The woman had accused her and Joshua of conniving together to sully her son's name.
"She hit you, didn't she?" she asked lifting a hand to touch the wound. "Do you want me to get some drugs from the infirmary?"
Joshua caught hold of her fingers before she could touch it, "I would rather you not touch it as it's still tender and you might infect it."
Kamji nodded and he released her hands before walking off. Buchi who seemed to be watching the exchange between the two felt his blood boil.
"I am hurt too. Can't you see what that monster did to me?" he gestured to his nose and arm. "Don't you care about me too?"
"The only monster here is you. And couldn't care less if you got locked in a trunk and thrown into the sea to drown." she hissed. Ever since what happened that night he had made it to the top of her hate list. She detested being in his presence and wish he would just disappear.
"That breaks my heart." Buchi placed his good arm over his chest in mockery, a sinister smile on his face. "I will advise you to forget about Joshua and come over to my team now that I am still willing to accept you. Except you want to go down with him."
Kamji had turned around and began to leave but she could still hear Buchi yelling after her.
"Mark my words. You're going to regret this and come crawling back to me." he sneered and Kamji thought he sounded like all those Villains in movies and all that was left was for him to do an evil maniacal laughter.
That evening when she came back from school her Aunty had summoned her immediately.
"Why didn't you tell what happened to you at the dance that night?" she demanded. Kamji could see the woman was clearly pissed.
"Because I didn't think it was important. Buchi didn't get a chance to hurt me because Joshua showed up immediately."
"And what if Joshua hadn't showed up? You can't keep hiding things like these from me." There was a worried look on her face, "Your father placed you in my care and I wouldn't want to disappoint him. Aside from that, it's my responsibility to look after you. You automatically became my daughter when your Mom, my dearest sister passed away."
Kamji's face turned pale at the mention of her mother. Aunty Ebere seemed to notice this and wrapped her hands around the girl, giving her a hug.
"I care about you a lot Kamji. Don't ever feel like you're a burden to me. You can always approach me whenever something is bothering you, Okay?"
She nodded her head in reply broke away from the embrace. "Joshua isn't in trouble, is he?"
Her Aunt released a sigh, "Mrs Williams is a very difficult woman to begin with. She and her husband are respected members of the school's board. She is planning to have Joshua's scholarship revoked or worse have him expelled."
"She can't do that right? Joshua was only trying to help me in the first place." Kamji said. She wondered if this had been what Buchi meant by Joshua's downfall. "Can't you do something about this?"
"All decisions regarding the school are made unanimously by the administrative board. I have no authority over their decision but I am going to do the best I can to see Joshua isn't expelled," she assured.
"I can make a statement during the meeting. I can tell them what Buchi did to me and Joshua wouldn't have to be punished." Kamji proposed.
"That would have been a great idea but there's no physical evidence to support your claims. However if we can get few testimonies from some other student. it just might work."
Kamji frowned upon hearing this, there was no one who had seen what happened that night as it was quite dark and everyone had been doing their own thing. She had wondered if bringing River to testify would be a good idea but then it would only make it look like they were really conniving against Buchi since they were related."
"I know you want to help Joshua but he really broke the rules and fought in the school permisis. That alone is enough reason to get him suspended but like I said you don't have to worry. I know how to handle this."
Kamji still had her doubts but she had no other choice but to trust her Aunt was going to handle the situation.