My mind as a teenager – episode 30
My mind as a teenager
episode 30
That night,Raymond called me.
We talked at length (that was the era of
midnight calls). He told me about his
family,his dad was late,his mum was still
young and took care of the house,he was the
only son and he had two sisters. I also
repeated my own family story to him. I got to
know that he lived beside my church. The
house they were living in belonged to his
uncle so he gave to them to reduce some
burdens from their mum.
He also told me that he was crushing on me
back then in primary school but hebfelt I was
still too young to be approached then.
We laughed over it and talked about other
things that were not even important.
The summer lessons became more fun.
I stopped waiting for Vivian before leaving for
the school,I won’t even bother if she came
around or not. Lois was always there,from
the class to the canteen,back to class and
we’ll head home together and part at the
junction.
Patrick called sometimes,the same with
Skipoo.
One afternoon on my way home,I met Frank.
Goodness gracious,I had forgotten he was in
existence and I regret ever taking that route.
Frank: My run away girlfriend
I smiled
Me: I’m not your run away girlfriend o.
Frank; Ah! Then what are you?
Me: I don’t know.
Frank: Heard you now go to my school. Is it
true?
Me: Yes. But just for the summer lessons.
Frank: Hope nobody is disturbing you there?
Me: Not at all.
Frank: Let me walk you home.
Me: No,thanks. I’m doing fine on my own.
He looked squarely at me and shook his
head.
Frank: What have I done wrong?
There was this calmness in his voice that I
had to think twice before answering.
Me: You did nothing.
Frank: What did I say wrongly?
Me: Nothing Frank.
Frank: Then what is it? Why are you treating
me like this? You claim to love me yet you’re
avoiding me.
Sweet Jesus! How was I ever going to erase
that from his mind? The love I claimed was
just for him to beat Vivian and he did just
that.
Can’t he just see I don’t even think about him
let alone loving him?
Me: Frank,you need to stop living with the
impression that I love you.
What was that I saw? Shock or
disappointment?
Not my business so I continued.
Me: You’re not my type of guy and I came to
realise that very late. You smoke,you’re a
cultist,you hit women,even the ones I don’t
know yet. Frank,I can’t date you and the
earlier you understand that,the better for you.
We can only be friends and that’s all.
He looked at me and smiled.
Frank; You’re joking.
Me: I’m not.
Frank: You dare not talk back at me.
Me: And who are you?
I was filled with rage now. I need to show
him that I’m a strong woman.
Lawrence and Nenye broke me because I
failed to stand up and fight my enemies.
Now,I’ll do that which I failed to do in school.
Frank: You now talk back at me?
Me: You’re nobody. Frank please,I won’t love
to regret my actions or words later. Excuse
me.
I turned to leave but he stopped me with a
tear rendering slap. He held my shoulders
fiercely and was scre-ming on top of his
lungs.
Frank: You’re mine. If I can’t have you,no one
will. And if I can’t have you,you better stop
parading yourself in this street.
He forcefully pushed me and walked away.
How dare he? He slapped me and still had
the guts to shout on me. I stood there and
lots of things came toy mind. I’ll talk to Lois
about this guy. I need someone who will tell
me things about him.
I don’t know how I took myself home that
day. I called Skipoo and after greetings,I
asked him if he knew Frank. I called his
surname and Nickname too.
Skipoo: Who doesn’t know him in this
school?
Me: He is a cultist right?
Skipoo: Nooo. But he knows people that
knows people.
I struggled to digest the number of knowing
and the number of people.
Skipoo: Is anything the matter?
Me: Nope. Just that I need to know stuffs
about him.
Skipoo: I’ll tell you what I know about him on
one condition.
Me: Which is?
Skipoo: We’ll go out on a date on Sunday.
I thought about it and felt it was cool.
Me: Okay.
Tell me.
Skipoo: He is a notorious gangster. He was
not even a student of this school.
I was shocked.
Me: What do you mean?
Skipoo: He never schooled here. I doubt if he
ever went to a senior secondary school.
He was just known here because of his
girlfriend. She was a student here. I don’t
know her real name but her nick name is
School fees. She wrote waec last year.
Chai! And Vivian fought for him?
Me: Are they still together now?
Skipoo; Yes. But why are you asking?
Me: Nothing. I heard people talking about him
on my way home.
Skipoo: Okay. We will see tomorrow in class
so we’ll talk about our date on Sunday.
Me: Okay. Take care.
Skipoo; You too.
Tbc
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