Moses
"Guy, I am telling you. If you follow that road, BB will break your legs. This na real life wahala o!" Moses whimpers, his grip on my school uniform. We had just walked out of our school gate and Moses had pinned me to a spot with his iron hands.
"I am not scared of him. I need to go home so I must pass that road."
"Lolade, let's follow back road na. We can squeeze ourselves in between those abandoned houses and use shortcuts to reach your place," he says and pulls me backwards. I stagger, lose my footing and crash to the ground. "If you follow that main street, you will be dead."
I frown, lying on the floor, the sun on my eyes. He extends his hand to help me but I ignore him, rising to my full length. "Why should I be scared of man?"
"Ode! God did not say you should catwalk into danger," he hisses and eyes me. Three students walk out of the school gate and down the road Moses forbids me to follow. We both know that at the end of the street which is a long walk from here, BB and his gang will be waiting for me.
"I am not catwalking. I'm following the normal route to my house. I cannot be scared of man."
"Lolade! Lolade! How many times have I called your name? E be like say you wan go hospital today, abi?"
"I am not scared! Period!" I bark and wiggle my fists in the air.
"Ewo! You don die be that na," Moses cries out, frantically. "I'll eat your burial rice. Don't worry."
"I won't die."
He presses his lips together and sucks in a draw of air, the veins in his forehead twitching with seething rage. "Do you remember that insect documentary we watched in your house and how the soldier termite killed the ant?"
"Moses, don't even dare to insult me."
"I'm sure you get the picture."
"You mean I'm the termite right?"
"I want to laugh but this isn't a joke. Look at yourself. Are you a boy that beat BB?"
"Yes!"
"My guy, you lie."
"Moses, you are a coward."
"I'd rather be a coward and be alive than to miss my external exams because an idiot beat me up."
I take a step towards the road and pause. A strange sensation (uncertainty and a big chunk of fear) slips down my back like the red slide in the playground of our school that has the laughter of children in the air. My breath is bated. I glance at Moses and he nods, stifling his laughter as he knows wisdom has dawn on me (like the bird that had perched on the school fence that is high to protect a three-storey building).
"I'm starting to see the sense in what you are saying," I comment.
"Ehen! Because we have many of our dreams we haven't achieved. BB is just enemy of progress. Who knows whether the devil is using him to stop you from writing your WAEC."
"Bro... That’s true," I chuckle.
"I am a wise guy na! You dey whine me?"
"But– "
"The dog?" He knows my thoughts.
"Yeah!"
"It's in the sewage already!"
"How, why and how do you know that?"
"A man ate it with his okoro soup!"
"Goodness!" I exclaim. "That big dog?"
YOU ARE READING
Forever Amiss
Teen Fiction"Why are the petals falling?" Two voices, two worlds, two goals! Rachel and Lolade are speaking. What will be their conclusions? Rachel has lost her beloved friend and like a detective, she shuffles through various suspects and reasons. Whereas, bur...
