They did not sleep at night but Kelvin was sleeping throughout the night. Did he know of their discussion? nothing concerned him? what he knows was them to pay his school fees.
When he woked up, he went and knocked at their room so they will give him what he will eat because he was famished.
His father called him, "hope you know you are the person who that caused this problem? Initially l started in time to save your school fees there are are persons your school fees are small money to them but to me it is a big money. Is this suffer l suffered and gave you that kind of money, you spent it big eating and drinking cupiously at the restaurant of Mary's Mum and forget that "the child that eats, spent his/ her parents money. Is what you did that kept you in bad condition you are. What did l do that made you to spend your school fees? you want to be poor like me? or you want to be an illiterate like your mother? Answer me, you are the one am asking".
Kelvin did not utter a word the only thing disturbing him was they did not gave him breakfast.
"Kelvin is it not you that your father is asking questions? What kind of Child are you?" his mother pushed him when she was asking him those questions.
Kelvin opened his mouth and manage to say "I will not do it again".
His father started telling him saying" hope you know it is tomorrow that your school exams will commerce. Hope you also know you will not be among those that will take the exam. This one does not touched you, your problem was just to eat, finished. Let me see Linda giving you food I will chase two of you out of this house today.
You are not suppose to use these your mouth to eat again let me know if you will have sense".
Kelvin cried and went out of that place. It was the same crying he did until his mother gave him food.
To see that Kelvin went bankrupt to school and followed his mates to write the exam, Adrian and his wife agreed to sell the pregnant goat that is about to give birth. "What l got as profit was three hundred naria" Bryan said that when he return from market he raned to the school and paid Kelvin's school fees, the properitor greeted him him enough the way he made it to see that his son goes to school. Adrian used the same time and pleaded with him to see that his son, Kelvin stopped following his friends and be going out of the school vestry.
After paying the school fees of Kelvin, use the remaining money and bought two bleats, they kept those bleats in replacement of the one they sold. Kelvin returned back to school the next morning and followed them to start the eaxm. His hearts was full of joy because he was with his fellow classmates to write the exam, that school exams was very hard but Kelvin managed to graduate from that level and entered the next level (SS2).
Adrian and his wife gave thanks to God because all their suffering was not in vain.
When Kelvin returned from school one day, his father begged him to stop keeping those friends that are leading him astray.
He begged him to take his studies very serious and study it hard. he told Kelvin that schooling is very good, "the person who graduate has everything. there is nothing he does not have". He used people like Nnamdi Azikiwe as example the white men feared the wisdom inside of him that made them to hand him over the administration of Nigeria and departed.
He also told him that Azikiwe has travelled to different countries in the world because he was educated. He further told Kelvin that if he will humble himself and graduate that he will be like Azikiwe. "please my son l beg you to stop keeping Harris, Alex, Bryan and Ofiso as friends, character of those children is not good and secondly if something happens now, they have people that will speak for them but you don't have anyone, there is no place reached.
l don't have what l lived with, l don't have money so stay on your own in case of necessity.
One day Kelvin was preparing for the second term exam of SS2 when he was reading on his own, then Harris ran to him and gave him question paper he stoled from their teachers. He told Kelvin that is of no use for them to kill themselves with reading anymore. the two of them went to Bryan house and showed him the question paper.
Bryan brought out money and and gave to one person named Martin schooling at senior secondary school (SS3) to answer those questions for them.
When Martin finished answering all those questions they used book and rewrite all those answers and put it inside their inner pockets, five friends all went with their own answer to the exam hall.
Kelvin left what he supposed to read and hoped on the answer script they have, when the exam was going on, one of the teachers named Javier saw where Bryan is looking into his cloth. Javier gently moved to Bryan and caught him doing Malpractice, Bryan shouted asserting his God has killed him. Javier kept quiet and took him to the school proprietor, Bryan refused that he will not suffer it alone he started calling his friends names.
Javier ran to the exam hall and called out others, they include Kelvin, Alex, Harris and Ofiso, he removed all their clothes to find out where they hide the answer script of that exam.
They only ones they found it on was Kelvin and Ofiso, Harris and Alex, at the initial time threw away their answer script when Javier caught Bryan for this reason Harris and Alex denied that their hands and legs was not involved, to say that when a child starts stealing he also starts lying.
Later they released Harris and Alex but took Kelvin and Ofiso to properitor's office.
Properitor told them to lay down flat, the three of them did and he flogged them at their back six strokes of cane, Kelvin started crying but to no avail.
The next day Bryan and his father came to the school and he pleaded with the properitor to pardon his son, he brought the properitor one wine drink he bought from the town and gave him a huge money, that devastated the proprietor.
The properitor accepted the offer and allowed Bryan to start schooling hastily.
Ofiso followed and start schooling the next day because he was a child of one of the properitor in the neighboring village and properitors know themselves that was why he pardon Ofiso to return back to school.
Hastily Kelvin was the one that did not return back to school because he came from a prospective home.
Harris, the person that brought the idea was writing his own exam at school, all the pleadings that Adrian pleaded with the properitor to pardon his son so he can return to school to write his exams was no avail what he knew the properitor did for him after Kelvin have completed the one month suspension was he gave space for him to rewrite the ones he did not write.
Do not allow the apple you picked up in a straight-forward way to fall off your hand in a quadrangle, if you allow that then you are the most foolish of the blind, Adrian thought to himself.
He refused and still keeping company with those four friends of him.
One day Patricia mother named Rose sent her out to go and fetch water from the stream, Patricia went first to Kelvin's house when she got there she asked him to accompany her to the stream, they agreed and left as they were going, on their way they started discussing about things.
Patricia advised Kelvin to stop keeping those his four boyfriends as his friends. Patricia also told him that all the problem he had was from the hands of those friends of him all started.
She stuck Kelvin hand and said to him "Is it when you die that you will hear something?".
Kelvin told Patricia that it will hard him to leave those his boyfriends because they are very important to him. "Let me tell you" do you know am eating in school today is because l and Bryan are friends, that small boy have excess money. He is a cheerful giver, if l lake money is him l will meet.
My friend again is Harris, if l leave Harris, it will be difficult for me, that boy has one bone he is very strong that anyone he beats falls to the ground, if anyone wrong me is him I ran to for protection.