Christy! Sir!

Christy! I love that sweater, I want it'.

Christy! Food!

Get off the bed Christy! Bed, get off it, am tired. Figure out where you can stay in the meantime, not in mine though.

Christy! Go

Christy! Come

Christy! Shoes

Christy! Kiss, nah, kidding, I am a woman. And, I don't share.

Sir, how is the wife?

Sir, should we say something today?

Sir, why Christy?

Sir, how's your daughter in Christy's class?

Sir, any assignments for Christy today?

Oh, Sir, we could rehash the history of women since the suffragettes, even though not in the syllabus, it is a good place to begin as a girl's school, don't you think so.

Sir, what happens to a teacher who creeps on their student? General knowledge time mwalimu' Khalayi winked.

The name Christy and the word Sir made the duo jump out of their skin even if it was not Khalayi calling them. Christy's once bubbly self was currently haggard and anxious. Her school work was almost neglected. Three-quarter of her time outside class was spent around Khalayi. The comments by Khalayi were unsettling yet subtle enough to not reveal the scandal. Basically, her voice made her skin crawl and heart stop. The teacher was not in a better condition. Khalayi was subtle in front of others; however, that was never the case if he was in the company of his wife, especially after she discovered that his wife must have known. His wife gave him a difficult time not because he had done something so despicable but because he got caught.

'Despicable repeat offender', Khalayi muttered after watching the wife's reaction.

The only source of light in the room was a table lamp. Shadows of three figures shimmered through the room. One shadow was bent looking at a book and another had reclined on the bed looking at the shadow fidgeting nervously on a seat. The fidgety figure belonged to a pretty, flawless and curvaceous 16 years old. Her beauty matched her grades that had always been impeccable since she got into high school. After profiling her for the past two weeks, Khalayi had not figured what she gained from her relationship with the teacher. The curt comments and bullying were aimed at pressuring her into revealing the unmatched relationship. Two weeks was enough to make the young lady crumple into confessing. She had been threatened. Threatened with an expulsion when he found her not only smoking at the school's rooftop building but also gazing at a letter from her girlfriend within the school. She took the fall for both of them. If she was the only person involved, she could wiggle her way out. But, the love of her life was involved too. Regardless of how loathsome it was, it was better than watching her girlfriend's future crumple considering the fact that it took blood and sweat for her to get in the school. She revealed other girls like her, held hostage in this cycle of abuse and oppression. At the end of the day, her girlfriend was not spared either. At the end of the narrative, Khalayi dismissed her coldly, warning her not to appear in front of her that year. Some balls needed to be crushed.

'There goes another victim', Nasike muttered. The bile laced in her words and disgust accompanying it swooshes through the room.

'Am evil and despicable, not vile,' Khalayi turned in her bed, switching off her bedside lamp.

Is there a difference', Nasike snapped.

'Yeah, huge one,' Khalayi murmured and began to snore.