Just do it √

Eleven

    

It was a tough battle but I managed to defeat Ms Nancy with the help of my gravely annoying and brilliant tutor Rasheed. My results still weren't that great but it was good enough to keep me in SS2.

We left the school compound early to catch the morning bus to Lagos. Of course I had other reasons like not wanting Abike to know what I was up to, I had told her I was going to keep my things at the front of the administrative block when she saw me taking them from the room.

Rasheed knew I lived here in Calabar and when he asked why I was going to Lagos instead, I told him my mom had called and asked me to come meet her there at my grandfather's house. Luckily for me he bought it.

Part of the story was true though, I was going to see Alade but mom knew nothing about it.

The bus had began loading so we got in and headed straight for the backseat, I bullied Rasheed for the window seat.

Every park is the same with hawkers and drivers screaming their destination despite the fact that there are already written in cardboards and taped to the front of the vehicles.
Rasheed got us egg rolls and zobo for the road.

A few minutes later, a guy about five years older than me and a girl whose lithe stature made it hard to think she was any older than me got into the bus.

As they made their way to the backseat, I noticed the bump in her belly. She greeted us with a smile that would've been considered impossible on her tired face.

A quick glance at the boy's face and I could tell he wasn't in the best of moods. Why would he be? He was going to be a young daddy by his teenage girlfriend who looked like the world had turned against her but was still full of hope.

Maybe that was the case, maybe they were eloping. Maybe he was worried he would be a bad father, maybe he would be. Maybe he was scared they would all die of hunger, maybe they would. Maybe he was afraid she'd die in labour, I hoped just like mom, she wouldn't .

I looked out the window as other passengers filed in, watching people say goodbye to relatives who had come to see them off but mostly thinking about Abike. How would she feel when she realized what I had done? Would she panic? What would Mrs Dapo do? Call my mom? Report to the police? Would mom be able to guess where I had gone?

'Amanda'.
I turned to face Rasheed.
'I was showing you a billboard of Jidenna'.
'Sorry, not a fan'.
'How can you not be a fan?' He asked, eyes wide.
'I'm guessing now is not the right time to express my shock at you knowing a pop artist and even fanning him'.

'I do not live in a hole, ma'am'.
'Oh. Good thing we've gotten that cleared up'.
'Are you?.. Okay, if you aren't a fan of jidenna then who?'
'Yemi Alade, Timi, hassani, davido, wizkid sometimes, Ycee, ol..'
'Ycee? You are into rap?'
'Not really but I'm into Ycee. I just like his sound'.
'You have a celebrity crush!' He said louder than I would've liked.

I was about to tongue lash him a bit when someone interrupted.
'You can't blame her, Ycee is kinda hot and unlike a certain baba nla, he isn't all over himself'. The girl from earlier said.
'I couldn't agree more'. I said and she smiled.
She took the guy's hand in hers.

'Baby, it's fine'. I heard her tell him before leaning her head on his shoulder.

He just kept staring out the window. I saw a pained expression cross his face and he shrugged her head off, unlinking their hands. The girl sighed small, a bead of tear in her eyes, before scooting a little closer to Rasheed who apparently had been talking to me all this while.

'So, if you look at it closely you will see that bad governance takes root in the family. Family is everything, the orientation you get from your family is the one you carry with you throughout your life'. He was saying.
When did he get there?