I could have been six or seven years old then- can't recall precisely
but events of that fateful day linger fresh in my memory.
The day was friday and school- Loral International School, Festac- had
closed by 2pm. While waiting for the arrival of the driver to come
take us home, the boys: myself,my twin brother and other boys decided
to pass time by playing the brand of football know as "monkey post".
My elder sister, who was in company of her friends, was deeply engaged
in girlie banter; a few of them played "ten-ten" while a few others
busied themselves with purchasing snacks from Mama Coca-Cola.
Mama Coca-Cola was an institution on her own. She was the sole
proprietor of her snackand essential commodities business. She
operated from her Coca-Cola branded kiosk.
No student, butti or pako, was consisdered a complete student of Loral
if you were yet to visit the kiosk of Mama. Such was her impact in the
school. Could have been the strategic positioning of her kiosk-
adjacently opposite the school gate.
We were in this relaxed state of enjoyment until disaster struck.
We, myself and my brother, were currently in the heat of the
"football" (the football in question was an empty Ragolis bottle) as
we just eliminated a set and were on course to eliminate the present
set.
We were a team of five boys- myself, Kehinde (my twin), Ojurayo, Toye
and Dennis.
Toye had taken on and dribbled an opponent and passed the "ball" back
to me. I sighted my twin brother running towards the opponent's post
and decided to put a through ball to him.
In his attempt to meet the ball in the open space where I played it,
he took his eyes off the on-coming player from the other team, and was
blinded by the need to reach the ball.
The opponent went for a two-legged challenge on my brother. And then,
there was the fall.
He flew foward like Ironman after colliding with the legs of Emeka.
The difference was he wasn't Tony Stark and he didn't have any Ironman
suit save for his uniform.
The only thing we all noticed after he eventually "landed" was the
blood on his uniform, chin, knees and the side of his head. I thought
i heard the snapping of a bone.
The match ended.
Everyone rushed to Kenny's direction trying to help. Someone suggested
the Sickbay and we all headed there.
Almost instantly, our driver, uncle Daniel, arrived in daddy's volvo.
We split up. Some followed my injured brother to the sickbay, the
rest, lead by my sister, went to brief the driver of the development.
She had with her our lunch boxes and school bags.
The ride home was in pin drop silence- we were in daddy's soup.
The clock ticked away reluctantly. Mum's arrival from work didnt do
anything to douse the tension. She was only too happy that the worst
hadn't happened.
She sensed our anxiety and could only assure us that she would preach
the leniency sermon to dad. She, like the three of us, knew beating
was sure.
On sighting dad's car- a yellow mercedes benz, around 7pm, my sister,
Yinka, gave out the cry we all had been waiting for.
"Daddy is back". Armaggedon!
Instantly, an idea formed in my head.
Being a friday, dad would wear native. He beats us with his belt. He
won't have any belt on him. Bravo!
I ran into his room like Flash of the Justice League fame, without a
second thought- straight to his wardrobe and removed his belts, five
in number.
Like I was under a spell, i hid them in d dark corner in his room, the
space behind the dustbin. He definitely won't check there.
In less than two minutes I was done and joined my "comrades" in our room.
Dad must have sensed all wasnt well as there were no chants of "Daddy oyoyo".
Where were his children?
Mum welcomed him and set the mood for theevents that followed.
"The children are inside.....we thank God it wasn't something serious,
Kenny got injured playing football."
"Injured?? K-e-h-i-n-d-e!"
The call was clear. It would be foolish to wait for the second call.
We all followed Kenny.
"Gbo, kilon shele si e?" Lines of worry crossedhis face as he saw his
child all bandaged up. They were immediately replaced by those of
anger."
Mum took the explanation from us.
******************
Please read the concluding part here and don't forget to hit the "like" button:
http://goo.gl/lrRYO
* This is my entry for the Sterling Bank's 'Story of Sacrifice' competition*
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