johnysky
Season 2 – Over The Fence
episode 13
PALE MINDS
It has been 2weeks since my arrival to the school, i have been a little accustomed to the life at the school at least i wake up with the alarm now after having to stay 2 extra hours after clas-ses mopping the floors of the clas-s cus i was late.
The teacher wouldn’t take “i oversle-pt” as an excuse, in fact it seemed that excuse made matters worse and he gave me 2hours instead of 1 hour like Dave said was the usual duration.
Nothing much interesting had happened throu-gh out this couple of weeks except that i finally met the Biology teacher, Miss Anita. many times of course during her sessions on biology.
She was obviously fresh out of the university, rocks a foreign accent, flawless face and b©dy, her figure was typical hour glas-s shape and i enjoyed looking at her more than what she wrote on the board.
A couple of times though, the second and third teachers that also taught biology had our clas-s instead. I nearly fainted, having been waiting for biology clas-s since morning with much anticipation to have a fat black complexioned lady walk in instead.
Spent half of the clas-s duration hissing after Dave explained it was the second biology teacher and they were like 5teachers covering biology for all s£nior clas-ses.
Princess still haven’t mentioned my name or tried talking to me since the day she said that nons-en-se to me.
She avoids looking at my direction, or so i thought or maybe she is now minding her own business and leave her nose out of people’s business.
Today, biology clas-s was the last session and the biology teacher had given us an as-signment on Hereditary, I wouldn’t miss doing this as-signment for anything in the world.
I had hurried back to the dormitory after several attempts to establish eye contact with princess who seemed eye proof, her eyes never drifted to where i was.
I couldn’t talk to her. Maybe it was fear or maybe i still haven’t gotten over the blunt way she talked to me. I mean, who does she think she is to talk to me like that? My mum?.
Dave was alre-ady in his corner, wearing a white short and t-shi-t. He sat on his be-d with his legs spre-ad wi-de across it, his note open in between and he fli-pped the pages in fast succession.
I have never seen Dave re-ad anything, even when we go to the General re-ading Room he’d rather pl@ythrowing the crumbled book pages with others or his usual meander with Angela than spend the greater p@rt of the night re-ading.
The alarm blew at 9:00pm, it was time for general study. Any student that choose to can freely go to the general re-ading room to re-ad every 9pm- 10:30pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
It was the only time girls and boys were allowed to interact together after 6pm.
The general re-ading hall was hvge and shelves filled with books bordered it all around.
Dave never missed a session of it, it was the only time he freely talked with Angela and many a times i had seen his hand stray naughtily disappearing un-der her Sk-irt while his eyes peeled sharply checking the hall to be sure he wasn’t noticed.
I packed my biology text book and as-signment exercise books and headed to the General re-ading Hall with Dave who kept a sm-irking face all throu-gh.
The hall was humming with buzzing whispers and little chuckles.
It was not as filled up as it use to be because today was Champions league game between Real-Madrid and Barcelona, no sane guy would leave their house dormitory where there is a t.v for soccer games and movies and go waste time in the re-ading hall.
I wasn’t much of a soccer fan, i’d rather give this Aunty Anita a flawless work on hereditary than watch soccer and Dave who even though was a die ha-rd football fan, am sure would rather miss all the soccer matches in the world than miss out a night to see Angela.
As we headed into the hall, it wasn’t ha-rd to sp©t Angela who was exactly on the same sp©t she usually sits with Dave, dimly lit from the bright white light of the florescent bulbs being in the far corner of the west side.
She threw an excited wave at Dave and I grinning ha-rd , Dave grinned back and nudged me ha-rd and made to rush on to her before st©pping abruptly.
In the center of the hall where the lights are most intense sat Princess, she was clad in the usual sweater though it was a yellow one this time thrown over a tank t©p and three quarter white trou-ser.
Seating beside her was Victor Eke, the same rude intelligent guy that t©ppled me in the scholarly exam in our school.
They were both focused on the pile of books spre-ad on the desk, it seems Victor was teaching her something but he had his left hand over her shoulder.
My face twitched as i looked on at them, princess scribing busily on her books while Victor ushered her a lot of instructions and corrections obviously very proud of himself now.
My heart sank ha-rd , anger and another untold feeling surged throu-gh me. Could see Dave shrug and get on his way to Angela who alre-ady was getting impatient.
“So sky you decided to come and re-ad today” I heard Victor’s voice sip into my ears as i made to pas-s and head to a corner to work on my as-signment.
“Victor i come here a lot” I said, My twitched face was almost a full glare.
“Sky we all know you are among the un-serious students who are here on scholarsh!p, i even wonder how you managed to pas-s that exam and earn a sp©t” He said again sm-irking at me and ti-ght£ñing his grip on her shoulder.
Princess looked up a bit then looked back down again and continued what she was doing. It was a sum in mathematics ‘Pythagoras theorem’ from what i see, and from the way Victor instructed and corrected her, am sure he was feeling like Pythagoras himself.
“Idiot” I cursed un-der my breathe.
“Sky you better start re-ading now if you want to pas-s any subject this first term at least with a ‘P’, you know am always the ‘A’ guy” He intoned again chuckling mischievously and throwing me a sharp wi-nk.
I wonder how anyb©dy could cope with this guy’s rude attitude and the way he always b!ows his own trumpets.
It took a lot of restraint to st©p myself from throwing a nose breaking punch on his sm-irking face and nothing in the world could have made me happier.
“I hate this guy with pas-sion” I cursed on moving to a fairly lit corner to get on with my as-signment.
Could see Dave and Angela fixed on one open book on their desk. Dave’s left hand was missing while Angela’s right hand was also missing.
My eyes drifted towards Victor and Princess, He still had his hand over her shoulder and still pointing at the exercise book.
“How did he even make friends with her this fast sef, we have both only being in this school just 2weeks”
am sure all those ‘i too know’ stunts he pu-lls in clas-s was in a bid to impress her and it seems it was working really well.
Princess tilted her eyes suddenly towards my corner unexpectedly. I quic-kly re-moved my eyes from them but i could swear she saw me looking.
Hissing ha-rd , i tried to focus on my as-signment and wipe that stupid sm-irk on Victor’s face off my memory.
It was way past 10pm before i headed back to the dormitory. Angela had retired for the night so Dave alre-ady rushed out to catch up with at least a little p@rt of the football match.
I had finished my as-signment many minutes before 10pm but somehow was glued to my seat peering at Victor and Princess hacking throu-gh series and series of works and his hand now behind her back this time. I left 5minutes after Princess, something in me always gets angry seeing Victor’s sm-irking face and his hand resting on Princess.
The night wore a cold gloomy look, the skies were starless and a misty stillness in the air.
I entered the house still cursing and swearing at Vincent, was met with an image of Dave sitting on his be-d in his usual position, Ebuka- a tall fair complexioned boy who always visited the school barber every week – also sat with him several cans of beer lying on the be-d.
Dave was holding a shiny white android phone observing it keenly.
“So you went over the fence last night” He asked Ebuka dreamily who nodded and took a wild sip from his beer.
“How come you went over the fence and i didn’t know and we are both in this hall eeeehn?” The always curious Dave insisted on Ebuka peering suspiciously at the proud elegant guy that pas-sed for Ebuka.
“Taaah sharra-p you weh deh sleep like dead meat, you were even still slee-ping when i got back sef” Ebuka aired out.
“Abiola of Hall A went over the fence last week and his mummy gave him 100k” Ebuka went on still gulping down beers.
“Sky, you are back, How did it go?” Dave asked still fidgeting with the phone.
“That Victor is a bastard” I cursed out with clenched fist.
“Dave where did you guys get those?” I pointed at the beers on the be-d looking at the door suspiciously.
“Oh, i have some inside my luggage and Ebuka went over the fence today and also bought some” Dave said getting me even more confused than i initially was.
“what if someone or one of the hall supervisors comes in now and see you and what exactly is over the fence” my eyes were popped with questions still peering de-eply at the door expecting it to open any moment and a supervisor stepping in.
“Relax joooor, Hall supervisors don’t visit Halls after 10:30pm and don’t worry about the boys here, whatever happens in Hall B stays in hall B” He smiled mischievously opening another can of beer.
“Ok, what is over the fence?” I went on still tensed at what was going on.
“Aaaaah sky you too deh ask questions. See, over the fence is what we students from poor families do to meet up to nee-ds, if you roll with us you will be leaving school every term far more richer than you ever dreamt of” Dave’s voice was bold and loud, his eyes sparkled.
“What did he mean ‘we poor students’. . does it mean Dave is not from a rich family like i thought?, how was i supposed to get rich with this over the fence thing and what exactly is over the fence still???”
I mulled in my mind seeing that Dave only told me the benefits of over the fence and not what over the fence really is.
“Dave i don’t un-derstand” I intoned
“Sky don’t worry we will fill you in later, shak beer jaree” Ebuka said throwing me a lone can of Heineken that l@yon the be-d.
OVER
THE FENCE
Today is the day, i would be going for my first Over the fence mission, Dave and Ebuka had been sure i would be earning more than 50k if i pla-yed my game well.
Its been a week since Ebuka c@m£ back with a new Samsung galaxy phone. Of course it was illegal for a student to have a phone in the school but that wasn’t my problem. i too will like to have my own phone and not to mention the cash involved, imagine what i could do with that.
It would be good rolling with the big boys and having new trendy clothes not the almost washed out plain trou-sers i c@m£ with.
Ebuka and Dave hadn’t told me categorically what ‘over the fence’ entails but as long as it was as plea-surable and easy as they have said it was and not to talk of cashful and doesn’t involve robbing a bank then am all for it.
Clas-s was dull all throu-gh, even Biology teacher couldn’t steer my mind off the thought of having a lot of cash to count after tonight, The geogra-phy teacher’s bu-sty b00bs didn’t do the trick.
Or the strick baritone croaky bark of the Maths teacher- whose attitude towards me had always being very hostile since he first caught me whispering with Dave in his clas-s and wouldn’t waste anytime to met out some punishments on me at the slightest provocation – even his strong roar couldn’t move me or take my mind off my prize.
Princess gave a slight wave at me after clas-ses, herl-ips forming a mild smile. Ignoring the wave i made for my dormitory for lunch and possibly get re-ady for the night.
“sky i hope you are re-ady?” Ebuka whispered to me on the refectory during dinner, could see his hair neatly carved and i was sure he had been to the barber for the second time in one week.
I nodded at him feeling a bit nervous and reluctant to carry on with the plan.
A cool still version of papa’s voice ringing in my mind all over “sky stay away from bad company”
The night was starry and the moonlight was bright, no clouds where visible and no trees moved, the air was still and a gloomy doom hung in the air.
“Sky, we are moving out in 10minutes” Dave said from his corner, he was clad in a black jean trou-ser and black snickers and a black T-shi-t, Ebuka c@m£ over too clad in the same all black outfit.
I sheepishly wore the only jean in my luggage, a black T-shi-t Dave gave me and my school shoes, the digital clock showed 11:30pm and the night-out bell for fridays alre-ady sounded since 11pm for the s£niors and 10pm for juniors.
We walked pas-s the rows of be-ds in the hall, the guys giving us some whispering goodbyes and demands.
“abeg no forget to bring beer o” Emmanuel said as we walked pas-s his corner where he was pla-ying Wh0t with Desmond.
“seems everyone here goes over the fence?” i asked Dave, who laughed at my naivete.
“No but many of them do and the ones who don’t won’t say anything, like i told you what ever happens in Hall B stays in Hall B”
The hall door creaked open with a gro-an , the pas-sage way to all the halls were extremely quiet and deserted. We slowly walked throu-gh the pas-sage ma-king sure nob©dy made a noise with his feet. The refectory l@ylike one lonely parlour, the hvge dinning in a stale stillness and piercing silence haunted my heart.
“Go back, go back it’s the hall supervisor” Ebuka whispered with urgency to the hearing of Dave and i who turned round immediately to head back towards the pas-sage.
“wait, there is a footstep coming from the pas-sage” i said in dismay, frenzy and frightened to the marrow.
“Jesus, am dead” my heart lamented, i had a bad feeling about this why didn’t i back down. Now the hall supervisors are heading to the refectory from both sides.
“Follow me” Dave called out yanking me throu-gh my shi-t and we headed directly into the refectory and sli-pped un-der the gigantic table, Ebuka’s legs slightly moving a dinning chair which let out a screeching gro-an .
We went as dead as real dead bodies un-der the table, my breathing was heavy and i tried ha-rd enough to make sure it didn’t make any noise.
The first footstep bec@m£ clearer and clearer st©pping just beside the dinning table. A pair of black boots worn by the hall supervisors, i held my breathe as i watched his boots pace two steps forward and backward.
In a jiffy another pair of shoes appeared from the direction of the pas-sage way, it was walking briskly and the ha-rd thumping sounds it made with the ha-rd tiles seemed to thun-der louder inside my ears. Dave’s whole b©dy was numb and his eyes were glued to the two pairs of shoes pacing around the refectory but he seemed more composed than i who was alre-ady shaking with heavy fear.
“Sheey you heard something now” A first voice with a squeaky baritone shade addressed the other.
That must be BullDog, a stern looking man who was in charge of supervising the Halls in the left wing of the Dormitory from hall E to H. He was nicknamed bulldog after he had boasted he was more ferocious than a bulldog when dealing with stray Students.
“hear something?, noo we-tin you hear” a second voice c@m£ this time in a throaty tilt like he had cough blocking his throat.
“Yeah i heard something like a shifted furniture around here” said bulldog his legs still pacing around.
“okeeeeey maybe na the time weh i shift that chair weh deh that pas-sage” c@m£ the second voice now more casual than the first time.
“Are you sure, you know say this students no deh sleep for night abi no be make we search here small” Bulldog c@m£ again still maintaining his intimid@t!ngvoice.
I could feel myself almost we-tting my p@n-ts, i couldn’t breathe, my hands were dry but sweat ran down my face.
“what if we are caught, i will enter the school’s Black book within weeks of my admission”
“Leave that thing, no nee-d nee-d searching na me shift the chair” the second voice replied.
“Come make we go drink the orijin i buy this afternoon” he c@m£ again ma-king towards the door.
Bulldog’s boot lingered on for seconds then in ha-rd long strides he walked off towards the door and shut the door.
“Bulldog na bastard” ebuka laughed out as we all crept out from un-der the dinning table, stretched our crea-sed shi-ts and trou-sers, my breathing was still heavy, b©dy still shaking and sweats still tickling down my face but i tried to maintain a steady posture and appear tough since Dave and Ebuka alre-ady were ma-king a joke out of it.
We sli-pped out of the dormitory throu-gh the kitchen door which somehow Ebuka had a key that opened the door easily. I looked at him suspiciously as he sli-pped an obviously locally smithed key back into his pocket.
The moonlight bathed around the still night, the silvery rays gave us a shadowy look in our black outfits.
Running throu-gh the flower gardens at squ-atting levels hiding at any slightest noise. We c@m£ to the east wing of the school, the gigantic fence towering high at nearly 10ft.
I looked questioningly at Ebuka and Dave, seem they re-ad my mind and they started clearing the gras-s at the base of the fence.
Looks like the gras-ses were placed there intentionally and was used to cover a rusted metal board which was covering the lower p@rt of the fence, Ebuka yanked off the metal board to reveal a large hole in the wall, it was jaggadly circular and was large enough for a full grown man to crawl throu-gh.
We slid out of the hole and Dave covered it with another wooden lid from the other side.
Ebuka took out his phone and dailed a number.
“Mummy, am on my way now” He sang on first word.
“aaaah yes i also brou-ght with me the guy Madam diamond asked for, he is extremely cute tell her we will be there in a few minutes time” The line went dead and Ebuka smiled at Dave who was l!çk!ng hisl-ips. I think am catching the joke now but still nee-d to see how this night will pl@yout.
We walked to the bus st©p beside the school gate still looking out for the school security guards, we hitched a taxi for #5000 and ebuka paid without breaking an eyelid.
The taxi dropped us at a magnificent gate somewhere i don’t recall ever being to before but it was surely a very rich vicinity. Ebuka and Dave exchanged plea-santries with the gateman who seemed to know them so well, they introduced me and he greeted me with even an ‘oga’ on t©p of it.
The building was a double storied edifice with sparkling foreign lighting system ma-king the whole house shimmer in a shade of white lights, gold and red. Ebuka led the way as we walked dee-per inside many thoughts running throu-gh my mind in river speed succession.
“You sure say these guys never wan sell me for rituals?”
Faint bas-s thumping music sipped out from inside the building, it kept getting louder and clearer as we got nearer. Dave pushing the door open in a jiffy and a p@rtying scenario was revealed.
A glowy red light bathed the room in a dim shade, Figures of women perching at different angles of the scene, young boys clutching bottles of alcohol, bikini clad girls dancing at the center of the floor, their b©dy twisting plainly to the music.
“Sky pl@yyour game well, if you give it to this woman well you won’t regret ever coming here” Ebuka whispered into my ears as an averagely thick woman approached us with a relatively thick grin on her face.
“Baby you are finally here” she intoned throwing her hands around Ebuka’s n£¢k and a loud k!ss.
“Dave how are you, she’s over there” the woman addressed Dave who nodded and headed towards the direction still wearing that n@ûghty sm-irk.
‘Is this the one? ” She asked Ebuka running her eyes all over me.
“Yes” Ebuka said smiling at me. “Sky meet my pie, Lola”
“Good evening ma” i said sheepishly trying to appear bold.
“plea-se just call me Miss Lola. Hhmmm such a handsome one, how are you” she asked me, her eyes still running all over my b©dy with keen emphasis on my crotch region.
“Am fine ma”
“Welcome young man, am sure you will enjoy yourself well” she patted my hair fluidly.
“Baby take him to Diamond, she has being dying to meet him since you called, then come over and meet me inside” She walked away in graceful strides.
“Sky see, if you ban-g that Mrs Diamond well, your life will change for good” Ebuka whispered to me.
“Ebuka but…… ”
“Guy chill, enjoy yourself and make your money. By the way throw this into your mouth before you start anything” He said sli-pping a tiny white pill into my hand.
I followed him into a pas-sage then we turned into another pas-sage to the left, climbe-d the stairs to the first floor and another left turn. A woman stood beside the door of one of the rooms beaming down on us naughtily.
“Ebus, is that him? ” she asked.
“Yes na, trust me wella naa i don’t mingle with ugly dudes” ebuka win-ked at her edging me on.
“Hhmmmm, welcome dear lets go in” She said opening the door wi-der to let me in then closed it shut behind her.
Continued in Next episode…