Millennium

Good day gone bad

While unaware of the time, I kept on playing, then unfortunately and fortunately I hit my toe on a stone and got an ugly wound. So I had to stop the game and went back inside to treat myself.

The fortunate thing was that a few minutes after I went back in, My dad showed up, but the unfortunate thing is the fact that I can't hide the injury from him, he'll always notice even if I don't tell him, and when he does, he'll blast my life with insults starting with what lead me outside in the first place when I was supposed to be reading,that this is why I don't know anything and keep bringing bad results home.

But then I realized something, this isn't the first time he'll be telling me those words so why should I care about hearing them again?

But I didn't go directly to him, I showed my mum then she told my dad so he could help treat it.

He called me, asked to see the injury and complained as usual. I just sat on the floor starring anywhere but his face. He asked for hot water and massaged it. I drank a few meds and went to my room.

Shortly after that, my sisters 'Cynthia and Judith' returned from school,

Cynthia was the eldest and was in ss3 and the other was in js3. They both attend lectures after school hours except for Fridays.

There was one thing that always troubled me about them, Its the fact that they always return the way they left.

clean uniform, clean white socks, clean shoes, there's never a trace if dust or dirt on their shoes but I on the other hand is quite the opposite. My socks always look like I wore them to the Sahara desert, they are never clean. Even when I started carrying extra socks to school, they still end up dusty once I put them on when heading home.

So when they had settled, I decided to ask them once again to tell me the secret, but instead they just laugh and say "its why we're girls". I just starred at them, thinking, there's gotta be something, I had the feeling and it wouldn't go away. so I waited for them to head to the kitchen or anywhere but the room we were all in so that I could search their bags for clues.

Eventually they did, so I checked Judith's bag first and found a water polish. "Bingo!" I exclaimed. But then something came rushing through my head "this is polish, meaning its meant for the shoes, so what about the socks?, what's the secret?" and then Judith walked in

"I knew you'd check my bag,you want to know why they are never dirty?

its because we're girls, we don't play a lot like you boys do, we don't move about at school, we don't play football like you do with your shoes on, we just do our girlie thing and that's it, nothing more. so... don't bother thinking its because of that polish, I only got that polish for emergency reasons, just in case I forget to polish my shoes before leaving the house". I starred at her, realising that what she had said actually makes sense. I do play football with my shoes on, so definitely its bound to get dirty right?? even though I play with them on grass. so knowing the secret wasn't actually a secret but just common sense, I rested my investigation and and went back to my assignment that was given to me at school and attempted to do it on my own. After series of failed attempts, I got fed up once more and threw the note away. Shortly, it was time for dinner so I had to assemble in the parlor so that we could all eat together. My family has this tradition of eating meals like Eba in group, its not separated individually like other meals, we all get to eat from the same plate.

But before getting to the parlor, the lights came on, and it made everything feel okay, there was this cozy feeling in the air that just spiced up the atmosphere a little and that made the dinner feel nice.

Shortly afterwards we were done, Cynthia took the TV remote and tuned the station to MBC 2, I was tempted to stay and watch but I was feeling a little and needed to get ready for school the next day, so I went back to the room then shortly afterwards I slept off.

"What a waste of potential, release me! release my power! and all that you seek shall be yours" this was what the shadowy figure said while stretching out his hand to reach for my face, I had no idea where I was, it was like an empty space, no floor, no walls, nothing, it was completely empty ,just me and the figure...

Immediately, I woke up, and checked the time, it was about 4:35am and I had just had the weirdest dream ever.

one thing about my family was that, whenever anyone gets a nightmare we just make the sign if the cross and ask God to destroy our enemies. So I did what we practice and headed for the bathroom to take a piss.

Nuelll... I heard from the shadows, the voice was faint so I couldn't completely tell if I was hallucinating or if someone was truly there. I turned on the lights but no one was there, I got creped out and hurriedly dropped the payload and ran back to my room and forced myself back to sleep before my dad wakes us all up and calls us for morning devotion, Even though it felt futile,for I had just 22mins before the devotion, I still felt it was necessary to get back to sleep, for nothing is better than a good sleep, it's a necessity.

And then suddenly It was 5:05am.Get up!!!!, my Dad exclaimed at the door.

while I rolled my head on the bed wishing if time could stop for a while so I could sleep a little, but I couldn't, so I got up and went straight the parlor.

I was so tired that I didn't notice that the injury I had had completely healed.

It was until I was getting ready for school and putting on my socks that I noticed it but I felt maybe its because it was just a scratch, so I pondered no more on it and left for school

upon leaving the house, I saw Dirty-Joe, he was a weird Man that takes out trash for the neighborhood.

[ Nuel]: Good morning DJ!!.

[Dirty-Joe]: Heyyy, Nuel, How are you? I can see you're heading for school, take care.

we both waved at each other and went our separate ways.

It was around 8:05am, assembly had just concluded so i was already seated in class

we were gonna have computer studies first, this is supposed to be a cool subject but because of the teacher. I hated it or should I say everyone in Js1F hated it . Her name was 'Asemota', we all dreaded the name. And not just the name, her face also, everything about her was a nightmare. She always wears this scary look, like that of a serial killer, never smiling and always pissed. Her classes never felt like how a normal class should be, they always felt like prison or some sorta black site were one can be tortured and the authorities won't even bother intervening, not even the principal could stop her if she planned to m******e us all. But yet it was a Friday morning, Fridays are my best days and i really dunno why, maybe its probably because I was born on a Friday.

And I don't joke with my Fridays, I always hope for good things every Friday, so she had better not ruin the start of my day or it will be seen as an act of war!

The passageway to my class was a bit rowdy, its how it always seems to be once the assembly has just been concluded, students with which their teachers haven't arrived begin to move about. But then all of a sudden students started to hurl back to their classes, it was as if they had seen terror, the whole place became silent i had a feeling who it was, there are only 5 teachers capable of causing panic to the hearts if students in the junior session, and out of these 5, only 1 takes js1, so it had to be her, it had to be voldemort (Asemota) and there and behold she walked in, we all got on our feet immediately to welcome & greet her her "Good morning ma!, we're happy to see you and may God bless you" so we all said, but deep down, we felt like fleeing.

[Asemota]: You may sit..

Where's the class rep?, she asked.

Lisa was our class prefect, she was short, not too plumpy but also kinda bold though, but I could bet that just a scream from Asemota would be enough to break Lisa's will in doing anything.

[Lisa]: Yes ma??!

[Asemota]: Where's your note, where did we stop in our last class?

Lisa flipped through her notes like her life depended on it.

[Lisa]: Basic programming languages.

[Asemota]: Alright, take down.

she started dictating from her note, so well all started writing.

20mins had gone by and we were still writing, she was dictating too fast, I was getting tired, couldn't bare it anymore so I uttered something(waka) and gave the hand sign then I dropped my pen.

Divine, a girl sitting directly opposite my bench saw the hand sign and exclaimed "ah!". This drew the attention of voldemort, and then I knew I was a dead man.

[Asemota]: Who said that!?

Divine raised her hand out of fear.

[Asemota]:Get out of my class.

she didn't even want to know why she said it, she just wanted her out.

Divine on the other hand couldn't keep shut,she was the most annoying girl in the class, every guy/girl disliked her.

She was a very nosy fellow that could never mind her business, she would do anything to save herself trouble, even if it means it comes at a cost of sacrifising others.

[Divine]: Ma, he told you waka, that was why I exclaimed.

waka is a Nigerian insult, it involves pointing all five fingers directly at a target. It could mean a lot of things like "you're crazy, you're stupid etc"

[Asemota]:Who!?

I knew I was burned from the moment divine saw me, there's no way out of this one, she would definitely implicate me without blinking, so I said to myself that I was going to deny, but then I couldn't, something in me just wanted to accept what I did, the feeling of telling her waka was just so sweet, so I relaxed and waited for her to point at me, and she did.

[Asemota]: Is it true what she says?

I just sat there staring at her face, then she asked my seat partner, "Gabriel"

Gabriel doesn't lie, he's always about honesty and all that. So he immediately confirmed it that its true, he did hear me mutter it.

[Asemota]: Stand up, get out of my class and never enter it for the rest of the term, but firstly, go outside and kneel down facing the wall, for you must serve your punishment.

I knew it was over for me, even if I called my Dad, he would only make things worse, who knows, he might do a tag team with her and knock the hell outta me for bringing him issues.

so I quietly did as she asked and made no attempt to apologize, for that might even make things worse.

During the first 7mins of my stay outside the classroom, I noticed a weird feeling in my chest, it was like a panic attack but then it suddenly stopped, it was as if something was stirring me up and of which I know its definitely because of her.

so I leaned my head on the wall with my eyes closed and I began to yea footsteps coming towards me And then I lifted my head up to take a look and there came monsieur Dave, a French teacher, my friend though, the only teacher I get to enter his office and have lunch inside.

His office was located in our classroom at the back. So he was probably heading there.

I knew he would stop to ask why I was kneeling outside but I didn't know how to tell him what I had done.