One wrong turn Episode 11 & 12

ONE WRONG TURN
EPISODE 11
 
 
Mr Makanjuola walked away briskly, taking Sarah’s bag along with him. We walked silently into our clas-sroom. Thankfully, there was no teacher in the clas-s. I sat on my seat, with my head on the desk. I was in a panic mode. My father would kill me if he had any idea of what had transpired today. Sarah and Hannah were de-eply involved in a discussion at the other end of the clas-sroom. Sarah walked up to my seat, and t©uçhed me lightly, interrupting my thoughts.
“You look so tensed Ruth”
“Shouldn’t I be? My dad will kill me if Mr Makanjuola reports. I’m finished” I said, almost sobbing.
“I’ll handle Mr Makanjuola, he won’t report. I’m going to see him right now, I ‘ll take care of everything” Sarah was one handy friend. I was quite reas-sured by her words, as she left the clas-sroom. I knew what she was capable of.
The next lesson proceeded as usual. Except for an interruption from the principal, reminding us that we would begin extra lessons the following week.
As soon as the teacher left, Sarah entered with Hannah’s bag firmly rested on her back.
She dropped it on Hannah’s desk and walked up to me. I was quite surprised she got the bag.
“So what happened?” I asked rather excitedly.
“Forget about it, that man is a dog, I simply gave him what he wanted” Sarah’s response shocked the daylight out of me. My mouth opened in surprise. Perhaps I had misinterpreted her response, so I asked again plainly.
“You mean you did it with him inside his office just now?”
“what is your own?” Sarah fired, sounding a little angry. That was when I knew the kind of friends that I’m really involved with.
“Or I should have allowed him to tell your parents? I did that because of you, so get over it.” I was perplexed. I wasn’t sure which was more surprising, Ruth’s affair with Mr Makanjuola, or the complete indifference she showed.
I kept staring at her with my eyes and mouth wi-de open.
My gaze must have embarras-sed her a little, as she waved her palm across my face.
“Do you think I’m the only one he has sle-pt with”? Sarah asked defensively, leading my gaze towards our clas-s captain. I shook my head, everyone knew Mr Makanjuola to be a serial womaniser. Rumour had it that he almost m©l£st£dour clas-s captain in his office when she went to submit as-signments.
Seeing that Sarah was slightly upset, I thanked her for coming to my rescue, and tactfully changed the subject.
“Principal said we would begin extra lectures next week”
“Really? Sarah said excitedly.
“Hope your mother will not be coming to pick you after the lesson?” Sarah asked, eagerly anticipating a response
“Probably not” I replied
“Good, because we are so grooving it. There’s this place I‘ll like Matthew to take us to…..”
The closing bell interrupted her mid-way, and we both got up. I transferred all items belonging to me from Hannah’s bag into mine and headed for the car park to meet my mum. I looked around and sp©tted her Black Mazda. In her usual sp©t. She was often the first parent to arrive for school-run, hence her sp©t was always free. I greeted her as I took my seat beside her. She responded, fixing her gaze on my wrist.
“That’s an expensive wrist watch, whose own is it?” She asked, focusing all attention on me.
“It belongs to Sarah, I forgot to give it back to her” I lied
“Okay, better return it now before you spoil it”
I stepped out of the car and carried my school bag along. I walked all the way back to my clas-sroom, in search of Sarah.
She and Hannah were walking towards the gate house when I sighted them. I caught up with them and handed my wrist watch and phone over to her.
“My mum is asking questions ” I said hurriedly. Sarah accepted the items, keeping them safely in her bag.
“Don’t forget them at home, see you tomorrow”
I hurried quic-kly towards the car park to meet my mum.
The rest of the week was uneventful. We were eagerly anticipating the commencement of our lessons the following week.
It would turn out to be the week when the “ good girl ” died.
ONE WRONG TURN
EPISODE 12
Monday morning c@m£ accompanied by its usual excitement and rush, but this one held something different for me. Extra lectures will begin today, ss3 students will stay in school till 5:30pm. It was supposed to help us prepare for our upcoming WAEC and UTME examinations. It would afford us time to cover our syllabus in all subjects. But my friends and I had different plans. It was going to be fun all the way.
Over the past week, we have been busy perfecting our plan. Fifteen subjects were taught in ss3, but every student had the liberty of picking only nine. Whenever it was time for a lecture we do not offer, we are allowed to leave the clas-s. The timetable for the extra lesson was arranged in such a way that we would receive three lectures between 2:30pm and 5:30pm. But here is the catch, since we don’t offer all the subjects, there were free periods in between. Sometimes we even have one or two lectures only, leaving us a few free hours before 5:30. My parents won’t be expecting me home till 6pm, so I could be anywhere I wanted to be.
The six o’clock alarm brou-ght me back to reality. I have been awake, but a little lost in fantasy. I looked at my door handle, to make sure it was properly locked. As I reached un-der my pillow for my phone.
I had been in possession of it for a few days now and devised a means of hiding it from everyone in the house. It was always on silent mode, I do not make or receive calls around the house. The important people in my life were on BBM and Whatsapp. I simply locked myself indoors, and chat away.
Whenever anyone knocked, I tuck it back un-der my pillow before opening the door. I rarely made calls, but when I had to, I move out of sight, a little far away from the house. Recharge cards weren’t a problem, I had Sarah and Matthew to get that done for me, all I had to do was ask. No one knew I had a phone in the house.
I gr@bb£d my phone and looked throu-gh my Whatsapp and BBM application, there were loads of messages. At times, I wonder how people got my contacts which are mostly males, the males re-ading this post are in the best place to explain that. I only accept their invite though but never chatted them up or reply their pings. I scrolled to the one from Matthew, and re-ad it in a hurry
“Looking forward to tomorrow, hope we would have fun, don’t forget your promise…… love you”
I smiled to myself after re-ading it, it was s£nt the previous night. I must have fallen asleep while chatting. “Love you too” I replied, and tuck the phone back un-der my be-d and joined my family for morning devotion.
Again, I was only pres£nt in physically, my mind and heart were far re-moved from the prayers. I had plans today. At the sound of the final Amen, I headed straight for the kitchen to do my chores. The excitement I felt was familiar, it reminded me of the previous Monday. Much like it, I was going to take another big step.
I had promised Matthew I would have S-x with him. A decision I never wished for but due to my friendsh!pinfluence and the genuine love which I thought I’d found in Matthew, I decided to reciprocate his love by accepting his proposal. Although I was still a little bit scared inside, I just wanted to know what it felt like. Sarah had infused a lot of confidence into me. She told me Matthew will never leave me for life for whatever reason if I can re-lease my vir-ginity to him. I can’t imagine loosing my one and only MATTHEW to those tiny-legged ladies.
I took my bath quic-kly and got dressed for school. I looked throu-gh my wardrobe, and picked my favourite blue go-wn, folded it carefully and tuck it inside my bag along with my phone. I was good to go. My mum was alre-ady seated in the car waiting for me. I took my seat next to her, and we headed for my school.
The trip to school was quiet as usual, I and my parents rarely talk. But I had to break this news to my mother this minute
“Mummy, we are starting extra lectures today. ”
“And It’s only now you are telling me?” She replied, a little offended.
“Well I forgot earlier” “so when will you close?”
“5:30”
“I can’t pick you up at that time, you will have to come home yourself”
That was the exact response I had envisaged and prayed for.
“Oh that’s not a problem, I can find my way home” I replied excitedly. My mum must have caught the excitement in my voice, as she warned sternly
“Come straight home after lectures, you should be home by 6 at most.” Those words went in throu-gh one ear and out the other. I still wish I had listened to her instruction then.
****
The morning as-sembly started with the usual hymns and national anthem before we marched to our clas-ses. Unlike every other day, today will be long and unpredictable. I didn’t quite know how it will turn out for me. I strolled to the principal’s office to check out the timetable for the day.
It was perfect for my plans, I had only one subject, which means I could leave the school by 3:30. That would mean 2 hours with Matthew.
As I walked back to the clas-s, I pinged Matthew, to inform him of the time-table. He agreed to pick me up by 3:30. Everything was set. The day went by very fast, I could ha-rd ly focus in clas-s. All I had on my mind was meeting Matthew later. I planned something special for him today.
At the end of lectures that day, we stayed behind as other students made their way home. The school was rowdy as usual, hundreds of students made their way towards the gate. The car pack was fully occu-pied by different br@nds of cars, with parents waiting eagerly for their wards.
It was a little strange for me. I wasn’t hurrying to get my stuff together, I wasn’t rushing out to the car park to meet my mum.
I just sat there in clas-s, looking out the window and enjoying. the freedom I had. I could do anything I wanted, and walk back home without feeling any remorse. This is the time in my life when my parent control began to wane. There was little that could be done to salvage me, my heart has chos£n a poor course.
As time progressed, the compound began to empty slowly. Most of the students had gone, the car park bec@m£ empty. Only my clas-smates were left in the school. Those who brou-ght lunch had started eating, others went out to buy snacks. I had neither. The money my mum gave me that morning was ba-rely enough for my transport. I didn’t think I would nee-d lunch, Matthew would take care of that. All I took was extra clothes. That was all I nee-ded. I was becoming an expert at absconding from school. I spent the lecture break chatting with Matthew, giving him minute by minute upd@t£ on events around the school.
At 2:30 the bell rang, signifying the commencement of the first lesson. The subject was English. All throu-gh the lesson, I sat there fantasising about what my afternoon will look like. The vibr@tion from my phone jo-lted me back to reality. I rested my head on the table, with my phone beneath the desk to check out who it was.
“Baby, I’m around waiting for you.” The message was from Matthew, he was waiting alre-ady. I glanced at my watch, it was just five minutes before the lecture ends. I couldn’t wait…
 
 
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 13