It was announced on the assembly that Godwin has been removed from being a prefect for some certain reasons they kept away from the entire students. Godwin’s position was replaced with another brilliant boy from his class and Solomon was made to assist him.
“Another issue concerns the SS 3, you just resumed from suspension which was as a result of your misconduct. We are hoping you will come back here as changed people but obviously you are lagging. Your hairstyles doesn’t match with another. You do different things altogether, both boys and girls. You wear any kind of shoe you want. You fly your shirt and do all sort of things.
For the fact that you are currently the outgoing students doesn’t make you law breakers. You are not above school policies. As long as you are still under our tutorship you must, I repeat, you must abide by every rules. Understood?
I heard a girl, still from your class, SS 3 got pregnant and went to have an abortion but unfortunately she couldn’t make it. She lost her life at the process. This is what we keep talking about. We warn you, caution you, advice you, beat you, employ all the possible means to help your lives but you don’t heed. You neglect us, you follow your hearts, do whatever pleases you.
You think we gather you here to mislead you? Whoever drags a goat to the market is surely entering the market and must be ahead of the goat. We can not do anything bad to you. It will bounce back to us someday. It may not be same way. It may not be to us directly but our children. Nobody knows tomorrow so when we do things let’s reason.
Stop this notion you build in your minds that you will stress us, you are not doing anything to anyone. You are stressing yourself and destroying your future instead. Stay away from all what you know that is not helpful. I don’t need to list them one after another. You know them. You are old enough to distinguish the good from the bad. So for your own good do what is right. There’s time for everything. What you can not do today tomorrow you will have more than enough time for it. So be patient and have self control. I have said my own. A word should be enough for whoever wants to live a better life” The principal said.
Classes were noisy as it usually be when assembly is over. Before teachers would come in for their lesson students will use the first minutes of the day to hold their own meetings.
Recently teachers have improved in attending their lessons. Godwin have frequently reminded them until they got use to it. However, they always have it in mind even if Godwin doesn’t come. Godwin himself apparently declined due to the situations that have recently developed against him.
One afternoon he went to the market side, either to buy something or to watch. He spread his handkerchief on stacked remains of brisk to protect his uniform from the green stain. As he sat, he maneuvered all sides of the premise, then he saw a small boy on the veranda crying. He was a JSS1 student from looks. Godwin beckoned him over and demanded to know his problem. He explained that his money was stolen in the class, and that was supposed to be his breakfast.
“How much?”
“Hundred naira” He replied looking pitiful. Like every other new student his uniform looked loose and unfitting.
“Do you know your form master?” Godwin asked with kind eyes. The little boy nodded. “You will report it to him. But before that take this, buy whatever you want. If there’s any balance then bring it to me” He gave him two hundred naira and the boy thanked him and walked to the market side. The way he greeted him made him feel deeper spot for the boy. He imagined it was his own brother.
“Godwin” Somebody called. Godwin turned and saw Amara. He smiled at her. “You are a very solitary person” Godwin still had nothing to say. He only maintained the smile on his face.
“Where are your friends?” Now she was close. She looked as clean as she usually look. Just like many of his mates. It’s hard to point at a particular person as the neatest because majority of their mates were perfectly clean. So are so neat that you’d begin to wonder if dust and dirt’s were enemies. The only difference is that some look smarter in their uniforms than others. Godwin and his pals are among.
“I don’t know. They will be somewhere doing their work”
“They are not as workaholic as Solomon has been”
Godwin smiled. The type that best explains his intentions.
“He have carried the entire school on his head. He does everything, leaving his pair with nothing. Even the one meant for me and Lovett, he’s taken over it. Notice me! He want to be tagged the most hard working prefect”
“He doesn’t cooperate with his fellow prefects, not even Mike his superior pair” Godwin managed to add.
“I told you he does everything. And he doesn’t want to hear from anyone. He knows everything and does only what his heart tells him”
“That is his own problem. It doesn’t concern me. So where were you going before you saw me?”
“My dear, just strolling. No destination” She cleared the brisk to join him. “The boy you sent is not coming back. Is he waiting for me to leave before he returns?”
“I sent him to buy not for me but for himself”
“You didn’t tell me you have a younger brother in this school”
“He is not my brother. I don’t know him, not even his name. I saw him crying over there, I felt pity on him so I called him….” Godwin narrated to her the remaining part of the story. She was surprise that Godwin has a soft heart.
“Game master said we should announce to each class that games will be from 2pm to 3:30pm. It’s no longer morning so that it doesn’t interfere with other school activities. I gathered them and told them. So we planned to go during break but before that time Solomon have announced it to all the classes”
“Hahahah!” Godwin found it amusing. Amara, watching him laugh, found it funny too “His behavior doesn’t surprise me again. Am used to it. Anyway, he is helping you guys ease the stress. A helpful affectation however”
Their discussion continued until they were ready to return to their class. The little boy thought to have used all the money to buy something returned the balance of hundred naira to Godwin. That act made him like the boy more. Amara too liked him for same reason. Though Godwin collected the money because he had a purpose for it but he had considered the boy as a good boy.
“I have been looking for you. Where have you been?” Lovett asked Godwin as he returned to the class. Her mood was unpredictable. Not elated, not sad. Godwin followed her from the door to their seat.
“I was outside when Mr. Stones sent for me. That’s before the bell rang. There he was telling me that I can see he has the power to change anything anytime. That he have removed you from being a prefect the same way he made you one. He said he can do more to anyone who doesn’t want to work with him. He also told me that, removing you from being a prefect didn’t end the misunderstanding, that the more I keep avoiding him the more he will keep frustrating you”
“Not even the more he keep seeing you with me. Why will someone despise another for no reason” Godwin looking indignant.
“There is no way you can avoid him, the aggravating part of it”
“Then, since it’s like this I will stop spacing from you. He rather beat me for being with you than for nothing”
Lovett spun agitatedly at this statement.
“I will surely see that he regret all these” She said.
“I don’t think there’s anything you can do to him. He has an upper hand in this school. Nobody will listen to you as long as it concerns him. Only what he says they will believe”
“Maybe not through me but certainly he will go down someday”
“Teachers in this school doesn’t regard the students. They treat us like we don’t matter. They do whatever they like to whomever they want without interference. If you are on their side then you are free. Peter and David said they are the reason for the bad selection of prefects. Every teacher select whoever he likes and not by merit”
“No wonder there’s no prefect in SS2 you can count on. All of them are just bunch of idiots. They can’t go to the junior classes and teach, they can’t help, settle disputes or suggest what will help the school go forward or even themselves. All they do is bully, beat for no reason, seize items and use them. They have programmed sentences they use whenever they want to go out. When they come to the class you can only hear them say, where is the class monitor? write names of noise makers, Come out if you know you didn’t do morning function, If your name is on the list of noise makers don’t hesitate to fall out otherwise… They don’t say more to avoid mistakes and embarrassment from the Juniors”
“I also heard they reserve top positions for people they want. It shouldn’t happen to us”
“Somebody like Mr. Stones will make it happen”
“Definitely he will start with me. That man Is a failure. Let’s forget about him. Do you know our mates want to take that same method of not taking things serious, but I speak to them from time to time and fortunately they are doing well. And there’s one more thing I want to do”
“What’s that?”
“I want to group the class into three or four groups so that we will be studying together, competing among ourselves, helping the dull ones, reducing distractions and waywardness. Don’t you see how amazing Junior has become? Thanks to Peter who transformed him. He reads all the time, he perform well in all his assessments. So I think some of them here also need same directions and encouragement. We can change the school by ourselves and better our lives doing so. We can’t wait for the teachers to do everything. We ought also to decide something by ourselves”